Pokemon GO
Its hard to not hear about this game now that its out. I really wasn't interested in this game since I didn't think it looked good. I downloaded it anyways just to see what the hype is. Since I don't go out often, this is just a review for someone who is more of a homebody.
This game is pretty darn simple. It requires allowing it to know your location since its about catching pokemon in the real world. If you are a fan of pokemon or have at least played pokemon, the game starts off with a professor giving you a choice of three pokemon to choose like in the regular games. Then you practice throwing a pokeball on your chosen pokemon. You also get to make your character which doesn't have much cosmetic choices unfortunately. The game will produce a simple game like map of where you are with your character as your pinpoint. There will be a circle pulsing around your character, and pokemon will pop up within it. This is where you can discover and capture pokemon. Just tap the pokemon you want and it will go to a battle like mode. The game uses your camera, but you can also use a fake background which to me looks better. You just flick the pokeball and try to aim it at the pokemon to capture it. So far there is 133 pokemon you can capture. Within less than a day I got 6 pokemon and I didn't leave the house. So far I've gotten 30 pokemon from my house. They're only the common types so I doubt I can catch any uncommon or rarer type pokemon.
Since you don't get unlimited pokeballs, and certain pokemon appear in different areas like water types near bodies of water, this is a game that requires you to go to real places to really progress. Of course you can always spend real money and buy items that will lure pokemon to you as well as pokeballs and eggs. To go to pokestops and gyms you will need to be around recreational or point of interest places like a zoo or parks. So if are like me who don't outside often, this game will be hard to play. It may be more fun for those who live in the city or have a more outgoing life style. This game is kind of fun at first, but I think after awhile it may not be something a homebody like myself would keeping playing. Also rarer pokemon seem to appear more at night which to me is quite dangerous, and hope they would change that. Since its not a very big game, I don't mind having it on my phone and checking every once in awhile. It will be interesting to see where it goes from here though.
As for tips, I have read the maker of this game Niantic, made a similar game called Ingress. This game also uses the Google maps, and unlike the map in Pokemon Go, it is more detailed. It shows you where the nearest point of interest is and how far. It will even mark it on the map for it to help you navigate to it. The game has tiny dots on the map which is important because they match the moving grasses in Pokemon Go. This gives you a better clue where you can find Pokemon nearby better. The more dots and denser it is the better. The game also has an Intel map on their website that you can look up point of interest spots.
The difficulty does increase when you level up. At level 7-8 the Pokemon will start to flee so you will need razz berries to keep them occupied. Razz berries unlock at level 7-8. Later one you can unlock different types of pokeballs.
At the moment, players who live in urban areas benefit the most since there are many pokestops and gyms. Players can easily level up and there are user made google maps where you can find certain pokemon on. Its easy to find a spot that has 3 pokestops to use lures one and just sit there to gather items and catch pokemon. Your bag that holds items actually has a limit of 350. There is a system that I see players do to get the most advantage in the game. First they catch a lot of common pokemon like Pidgey. There's an item called Lucky Egg which you can buy at the shop or given by pokestops. This item grants you double experience points for 30 minutes. During that time you are to evolve as many common pokemon like Pidgey as you can. This is a fast way to level up. Leveling will increase the level and CP points of your pokemon. The cap for wild pokemon is level 30 and eggs are level 20. It is best to keep pokemon that have high CP. This is so the cost of leveling it up will be as little as possible.
Do not play this game while you are driving! Definitely be careful when playing since there have been accidents. Please use common sense. If you are on the passenger seat, it is a possibility of hitting pokestops and finding Pokemon. From my experience, the car goes too fast to use pokestops. Pokemon hasn't pop up for me too much on the road but you can catch it when it does pop up. It won't go away when your car is still going. Use incense to get more Pokemon to pop up while on the road. Pokemon would appear as soon as a minute per but if you are standing still it's about 4 minutes. The best thing is stop and go traffic because you can hatch eggs and hit pokestops the best this way. So check the game the next time you're stuck in traffic but of course don't endanger yourself or others on the road please.
Overall I got pretty addicted to the game. But since I live in a rural area pokestops and gyms are few and inconvenient. I do kind of hope more AR games will be made. It's kind of interesting and different.
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