Why You Need to Play Pokémon Go in 2023
Pokémon Go took the world by storm in 2016 when it was released for iOS and Android. Pokémon Go is an augmented Reality mobile game that was published by Niantic in collaboration with Nintendo and the Pokémon Company. The game uses mobile devices with GPS to locate, capture, train, and battle Pokémon. Pokémon Go is a free to play app but does however have in game purchases which includes items and equipment.
When Pokémon Go came out everyone, not just Pokémon enthusiasts, downloaded it. If you had a phone, odds are you had Pokémon Go on your phone. eventually however the Pokémon go craze died out and many of the players stopped playing. This could be for a number of reasons, there wasn’t enough Pokémon in the game, players could not battle/trade each other, the game killed your battery, or you just didn’t want to spend money and ran out of items. These were all criticisms that Pokémon Go faced but since its release Pokémon Go has fixed all of those big problems.
When Pokémon Go was released the only Pokémon that could be caught were those in the Kanto Region. This is roughly 150 Pokémon. When players first started playing Pokémon Go there was not much variety of Pokémon. Most of the time when you go out on a Pokémon adventure you catch alot of Pidgie’s, Ratatata’s Caterpies, and Weedles. Maybe on a lucky day you would catch a Nidoran or Meowth but catching these Pokémon constantly got repetitive. Since its release Nintendo has added many more species of Pokémon to the game. Pokémon from the regions of Johto through the Hisui have been added. This adds roughly 700 new Pokémon to be caught and traded in the game.
In addition to the species of Pokémon added in the game there are also different variants of them as well. Shiny versions of the Pokémon have been added and they will appear randomly on your travels. If you’re lucky you may encounter one. Each month there is a community day, where a specific Pokémon will appear more frequently and the odds of a shiny one appearing are much higher. Shiny variations are not the only versions of Pokémon that have been added. Players can team up with their friends to defeat powerful Pokémon in the form of raid battles. After completing this raid battle you can catch the Pokémon. There are some events where the Pokémon will be wearing an outfit. For example, one week there was an event where Mewtwo Raids where appearing, and Mewtwo would be wearing the armor from the film “Mewtwo’s Revenge.” Another example would be the holiday events where the Pokémon will wear Halloween costumes or Christmas outfits. These exclusive Pokémon are quite fun to catch and can even be quite rare, especially if you are able to catch a shiny Pokémon wearing an outfit.
Many of the trainers who downloaded Pokémon Go right when it came out were saddened to see that they could not battle or trade with their friends. There was not much interaction between the players other than dropping off a Pokémon at a gym and having other trainers battle it. The Pokémon that was left at a gym was controlled by an AI, so really there was no multiplayer. This feature however has been added in the time since its release. Now players can trade legendary, shiny, mystical, and regular Pokémon with each other to help them complete their Pokedex. Players can also battle their friends and other trainers through the battle league. Each player must choose three Pokémon to battle the other trainer. The player will earn experience points and stardust for competing and upon winning the battles you will receive items. This is just one new feature that makes obtaining items much easier. The other feature is sending and receiving gifts from your friends. Each day you can send each of your friends a gift that will contain random items such as pokeballs, berries, and potions. These gifts really come in handy especially when you have a lot of friends.
Since its initial release, Pokémon Go, has undergone much improvement. Nintendo listened to what players wanted and slowly began adding these new features. Now Pokémon Go has over 700 Pokémon that can be encountered as well as an improved multiplayer mechanic. Pokémon Go definitely is worth playing in 2023 and you should download it and experience these new features.
