Been doing some reading up, and there's no news at all of 1v1 battles with other players nearby or of battling against the pokemon you want to catch.

Literally no reason for me to play this game it if this remains the case. The major reason I ever enjoyed Pokemon was building my team and throwing them against challenging opponents. Collecting is sorta fun but I'm not a collector by nature so that aspect doesn't appeal to me.

Seems like the accusation of this just being an Ingress reskin is pretty solid. Could not be more disappointed.

 

For me it's actually right up my alley. I like going for walks when the time permits and I'm in an area with mountains, grasslands, forests and sea. I don't mind just collecting. If I want to battle I'll use the main series games.

 

Most of that work has been done with Ingress, so I assume they'll just copy the database from there.

 

I'm disappointed with what I'm hearing. No 1v1 battle mechanic, the evolution concept is just brutal.

It seems like they made Ingress featuring pokemon characters rather than creating the Pokemon in the real world experience

 

info from the Japanese beta.

 

I just downloaded this stupid thing, lol. I think it's only available in Australia/NZ in English right now, but you can probably download it anyway if you're not.

I'm in it for Gengar and Ninetales, then I quit, lol.

I'm not actually sure how it works though? I hope it sends notifications when I find a pokemon instead of forcing me to keep the app open, otherwise it's utterly pointless...

I'm also not sure how the 'game' works. I'm not sure how I get the 'items' in there without spending real money, or how I get the 'Charmander Candy' needed to evolve my Charmander.

Weird, weird thing.

 

Just watch, in a week's time you'll be spending all your time catching Pokemon, while still going 'This is a stupid game! It - it's not like I like it or anything!'

 

I had a dark thought, wondering if i should drive to a cemetery to see if i can find Gastly...

 

Just downloaded it, got a Bulbasuare instead of a Charmander...

Its a lot smoother than I though and the amount of local content is impressive considering I am in a small town in the South of Germany.

 

I was somewhat confused that you got it but I can't. Apparently they're staggering the release by country - I guess you have an NZ Apple account?

 

Or maybe you don't have enough badges, scrub.

 

Yeah my iPhone is technically New Zealand despite being in Esslingen and having German SIM card.

 

NA's version still isn't out.

Dammit, I wanted to be the first Albuquerque gym leader but if I miss out when it releases I'm not gonna get the chance. D:

I wasn't incredibly optimistic about this (I mean, really, it seemed too good to be true), but it's looking like it might be pretty damn fun to play.

 

It's pretty fun so far. I a suitably impressed with the way it interacts with the environment. I imagine patches will just make it better.

 

It's live in NA.

 

Wanted Bulbasaur, accidentally caught Squirtle.

Oh well, still good!


Also had an Eevee right outside my house, which is pretty cool.

Anyone know how to exactly interpret the tracker info? Like I have a dratini that's got 3 footprints by it, which I wanna catch.

Edit: And the servers went down before I could figure out where the hell it was. Like it must have been out in the ocean, which is super lame.

 

I walked around outside for an hour and caught a handful of pokemon. It looks like there is some pvp, but only at pokemon gyms for now.

I also got an egg from a nearby pokestop. It wants me to walk around for 5km to hatch it, and I want to know whats in the egg, so maybe it'll work as an exercise incentive after all.

My best guess about footprints is that the number of footprints represents how far it is from you. I only caught pokemon that showed up on the radar as 1 footprint.

 

Got this. Have spent an hour or two messing around with it.

Initial Impression: this needs improvement. The lack of dedicated pvp seems wrong, the interface is unclear, and the servers definitely need an upgrade.

But fuck it. I've got a Bulbasaur. Best game ever. 10/10 stars.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Yeah it is still obviously in the beta. I am sure they will add features as they go, especially PvP.

But here is by journey so far... I am in a Town called Esslingen in the South of Germany.

My town shown in game, the blue things are poke-stops, the blond girl is my avatar (By the way, there is no back button while setting up, so if you choose the wrong avatar or the wrong first pokemon there is no going back).



Whats this? A wild Ratta appears!



A Drowsey at my town gym! I'm not level 5 yet so I cant fight him. Multiple gyms in the area, but this is on the city council and seems bigger, so I think there are main gyms and smaller ones, I imagin Berlin would have a epic one.



Right next to a fountain in town I find a Goldeen and Horsee!





Then on the walk home this guy comes out of the sewer!



This little fucker took 8 pokeballs to catch!



And my catch of the day!



Pretty fun so far, and you really do have to walk around! Its great for kids to get out and about, I would some how design PE classes around this, as it records the miles you walk make homework to catch 5 pokemon and walk 3 miles.