Pokemon Go: Is it Still Fun 100 Pokemon in?

Veteran trainer James ponders how the game that became an instant phenomenon when it launched in July really feels, now the hype has died down and many trainers have hung up their baseball cap.

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​by James Michael Parry

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@james_parry

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So it’s come to this: years of collecting gems, bounding across platforms and murdering countless enemy forces and my greatest gaming achievement of 2016? Catching some Pokémon.

When Pokémon Go was announced a couple of years ago it immediately caught my interest. Not only was I a fan of the original Red and Blue games from the Game Boy days (and even the animé), but I’d given Ingress, developers Niantic’s previous game, a go and liked the concept of it - though there was nothing to hook me in. Throw in some cute imaginary animals though? Sold.

According to the game, I’ve travelled 225.12km in the past two-and-a-half months. That number alone is a testament to its success, and even if I stopped now there’s no denying I’ve got my fair share of enjoyment. Of course, like any game, there’s been a fair few frustrating moments too.

Working my way up to 100 creatures in my Pokédex certainly requires patience. Due to the game’s reliance on location, where you live has a real impact on how much progress you can make. If you’re out in the middle of nowhere, you might run into a few wild pokémon here and there, but the game relies on you visiting Pokéstops (specific places tied to real world locations which reward the player with items and XP with a quick swipe) and, to a lesser extent, taking on gyms to fight for your team.

Since I tend to walk to work, on a typical day I get about 45 minutes to an hour of play time, walking roughly 2km, passing three Pokéstops and a gym. There’s no doubt if I hadn’t been anywhere else in the past few months that I would be far further behind than I am now, but therein lies the other fun aspect of the game - exploring new places.

Though I haven’t visited places specifically for Pokémon Go, locations like the South Bank in London, Sheffield and High Wycombe have all presented their own pokémon ecosystems, as I discover hidden works of art, graffitti and historical buildings which I might not have even noticed if I wasn’t playing the game.

The experience has also started to evolve as the months have gone on. First the nearby pokémon feature stopped working, then an appraisal feature was added - for you to rate the effectiveness of your favourite creatures and, most recently, a buddy feature which rewards players with the odd candy as they wander around with a specific pokémon in tow.

Those looking for a Pokémon gaming experience like they remember from their childhood are still going to be disappointed

Each of these changes evolved (no pun intended…) the experience of playing the game, adding different levels of depth and interest to how it is played, but ultimately the game is the same now as it was when it launched - and it isn’t for everyone.

Those looking for a Pokémon gaming experience like they remember from their childhood (anything up to 20 years ago, let’s not forget) are still going to be disappointed. The game is less of a game and more of an accompaniment to walking around, its strength is that some pokémon are so rare, or require so much patience to get hold of, that the satisfaction when you finally do is tremendous.​

For example, my 100th pokémon was Machoke, nothing special you might think, but around this neck of the woods, finding Machop (its un-evolved form) is something few and far between, meaning I had to rely on the patience of hatching eggs (and crossing everything each time one hatched) and using the buddy feature to grab that all-important last candy.

Since you only get three candy for each pokémon you catch (and another if you sacrifice it by transferring it to the professor) reaching 100 candy to evolve can be a long process taking weeks - or, in the case of Magikarp and Gyrodos, two-and-a-half months and counting.

While they say patience is a virtue, the game can be cruel in its reliance on chance, specifically with hatching eggs. There are three different tiers (2km, 5km and 10km), each of which have the potential to give you different pokémon. You might walk 2km for a common-as-muck Pidgy (actually Muk isn’t that common) or trek for 10km and be rewarded with a Magmar, but you can also technically get any pokemon from the lower tier eggs in a higher one, meaning you could - potentially - walk 10km and get a Pidgy. Thankfully I haven’t had that misfortune, but the game does seem to enjoy giving me Jinx and Goldeen for some reason.​

It’s not just hatching where frustration lies of course, there’s also the process of swiping Poké Balls to catch ‘em all in the first place, which is far from an exact science, as some animals bolt at the first sign of a shiny sphere coming their way while others simply beg to get caught.

Fixing the nearby pokémon feature must be high on Niantic’s priority list, since it makes the process of catching more about seeking them out than waiting for them to spontaneously appear nearby, and the promise of trainer vs trainer battles in the future may lead to some interesting encounters as well.

Already I’ve had dozens of conversations with other players about the game while walking about, complete strangers who I’d have no reason to talk to otherwise, and yet immediately we had something in common we could relate to. From the trainer who rallied all the nearby Mythic trainers she knew to help me hold my first gym, to the huge crowds hanging out at Trafalgar Square late on a summer evening, there’s an amount of real-world camaraderie and even friendship going on which is usually reserved for large-scale gatherings like Comic Con or getting stuck in traffic for 10 hours.

In all though, I plan on keeping playing - in fact, thanks to the buddy feature alone - I’ve managed to get another three new pokémon in the past couple of days since I started thinking about this article, and while it may feel like the end is in sight, I have faith that by the time I reach that goal there will be another new challenge to strive for.

Have you been playing Pokémon Go? How many have you caught so far? What team do you swear your allegiance to? (FYI the correct answer is Mythic). Comment below and let us know.