What Is It?
Pokemon GO is the long-awaited Pokemon smartphone game that combines the lovable creatures with the technology of augmented reality. Just as is the ultimate goal in any game in the series, in Pokemon GO you’re tasked with catching ’em all. To do this, you’ll explore the real-world, using your phone as a viewfinder of sorts to spot Pokemon hiding around you.
Exploring new areas will yield different creatures to be captured, meaning the more you venture and explore, the more impressive your Pokedex is going to look. Once you’ve found a Pokemon, you’ll grab the Pokeball that appears on your touchscreen and throw it toward the target. You’ll have to be careful though, as a poorly thrown Pokeball could lead to your target escaping.
Starter Pokémon
In the beta, everyone started off their exciting new Pokemon adventure alone. Fortunately, this is not the case in the final build of the game and the first thing you do in the game is pick your companion for the road. They don’t really do much apart from sit in your inventory, but it’s a nice little touch to have them by your side.
Pokemon GO chooses to keep it old school, with Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle as your three options to choose from. Which you decide to pick is completely up to you… we’re not going to start the debate over which is the better one right now.
Microtransactions
Just like many free-to-play games out on the market, Pokemon GO has some microtransactions available for people to take advantage of. While these will enhance your experience, they’re certainly not crucial to enjoying the game to its fullest. As you can see from the image above, Pokemon GO’s microtransactions revolve around Pokécoins. This is the in-game currency which can be used to purchase large amounts of different items in the game such as Pokeballs, Lucky Eggs, Lures, and upgrades for your equipment.
All consumable items can be acquired from heading to your nearest Pokestop. The only catch here is that this comes down entirely to luck. You don’t get a choice in what the Pokestop gives you. Therefore, if you’re really after certain items, the microtransactions are certainly going to be tempting, but for those who aren’t a fan of them, you can continue to play without them being shoved in your face every five minutes.
Trading and Battling Pokemon
As of the current time of writing, trading and battling Pokemon with your friends are not available in the game. Currently, the only battling that you can do in Pokemon GO is during the gym battles (we’ll get to these properly in a minute). As for trading Pokemon with friends, despite the feature being shown off in the announcement trailer as seen above, this is not currently offered.
You should expect these two features to get included in an update at some point in the future, but don’t go holding your breath for now.
What Is There to Do?
Without being able to trade and battle with your friends, it may seem like there isn’t all that much to do… apart from, y’know, capturing the hundreds of Pokemon hiding around the world. In order to keep you playing, other real-world locations that haven’t been turned into Pokestops will assume the role of Gyms in Pokemon GO.
When you reach level five, you will be asked to join one of three teams. Once you have joined one of these, you’ll be able to assign Pokemon that you’ve caught to empty Gym locations or to a location where another team member has placed one of their own Pokemon. You must then defend the gym from other teams from taking control. It is at these locations alone that you’ll be able to battle other trainers.
Unfortunately, battling doesn’t take the same form as it does in the series’ main games. You won’t have the option of four moves to choose from. Instead, attacks are executed by tapping on your opponent’s Pokemon, and you’ll evade attacks by swiping left and right on the screen.
Optional Extras
While the main game is completely free to download from the Google Play or iOS app store, those who want to get the ultimate Pokemon GO experience can pick up a Pokemon GO Plus.
This is s portable device, as shown in the image above, that connects to your smartphone via Bluetooth and will notify the player of events happening in the game. The appearance of Pokemon nearby, a nearby Pokestop, or something going on at a gym you’re defending will all ping a notification to the Plus, which will vibrate and flash an LED light.
Players can also catch Pokemon and perform other basic actions by pressing the button on the device.
Unfortunately, the Plus is temporarily unavailable in the pre-order phase. We can only assume that Nintendo has sold through its initial stock. Hopefully, these will appear back in stock on the Nintendo online store soon.
When’s It Out?
Pokemon GO has officially launched in Australia, North America and New Zealand already. It seems that The Pokemon Company, and Niantic opted to give the game a soft launch, meaning that they’ll release the game in stages across territories. Though we have no exact date on when to expect the game in Europe and other territories, you can rest assured it’ll be won’t be much longer to wait.
Will you be picking up Pokemon GO when it finally appears on your app store? Let us know in the comments below.
