Pokémon Go Review Panel

Conni

Well, right now Pokémon Go is fun from the start to level 30. There are a lot of features during the game, like the different levels of Potions and Pokémon, and it's very interesting to catch Pokémon, spin PokéStops and collect items, and battle Gyms on a daily basis; however, after level 30 I personally think Pokémon Go reaches a standstill.

There isn't really anything to do once you're in level 30-40. Yes, you can catch Pokémon at their max CP, but that's the only thing left to do as of now, catch and battle. If you ask me, once you reach this point, it becomes slightly boring and there just isn't much to do, so I would assume people would stop playing the game. Everything else is fun and has met the expectations of many people, and most of the glitches were fixed, which is really great because with the enormous number of people playing Pokémon Go, I'd guess that they would have to fix it quickly. I also like the new sightings mechanic, as it tells you where the closest PokeStop is to the Pokémon; I think that this is really creative and that they should be developing more creative and new aspects to the game. Also, the mechanics everyone had high hopes for turned out good I guess, since a lot of people do use augmented reality when catching Pokémon Go; however, polls show that people don't really use it to not waste their battery. Sometimes it's like Pokémon Go gives out these cool features but people don't really accept them when playing, and then that just makes the feature that is not being used pointless.

I also think that the items were made really nice, as there's the Incense and Lure Module as an alternative to catching, but I think Pokémon Go lacks a small oomph that would make people right now highly interested in Pokémon Go like a completely new feature or addition that will draw more people into the game; currently it just feels like people are doing the same thing, catching, hatching, and so on.

Conni

In Pokémon Go I'd have to say that the best feature I've seen in-game is the catching mechanic itself. I like the idea of having to swipe the Poke Ball onto a range of a Pokémon in the screen. I feel like this is really creative because it's like you actually have to pay attention and focus to catch a dodging or jumping Pokémon. The curveball mechanic is also really smart and adds a new aspect to battling, since you have to time the curveball right, and it actually guarantees most of the catches because it usually lands in the catching range-circle. Although missing a Poke Ball might be frustrating, it's nothing new, really; it's kind of like catching Pokémon in the canon games, but you just have to fling the Poke Ball manually, and you actually have to try and determine your own catching success. There's also that, like I mentioned above, you can fail catching because the Pokémon jumps up and down or it just simply dodges the Poke Ball, so you actually have to stay determined and try your best, also to prevent the Pokémon from running away, and there is a feature with the Razz Berry where you can make the Pokémon stay instead of fleeing, kind of like the Safari Marsh features in the canon Pokémon games. Overall I just like how they added different features to catching and yet kept some from the original games.

Another good aspect of this is the augmented reality, because it feels really cool when you're catching a Pokémon on the ground or the sidewalk, and it really makes you feel like you are the Trainer that's in a Pokémon Go game; however, a lot of people turn it off because it interferes with the battery, since it uses the back camera. Still, I feel like it makes your whole catching experience better in terms of creativity and whatnot.

Conni

Honestly there still just has to be work in progress for Pokémon Go, since there is currently more than one bad feature, but I'll just list the most important one. In my opinion I think that the battling system isn't really good in general. Like in the canon games you are allowed to pick moves; however, there you cannot dodge (though sometimes the accuracy of the move might make it miss), whereas in Pokémon Go you can just attack and dodge completely by free will. I know that there is DPS (Damage Per Second), but it just isn't really fun in general; attacking and dodging and charging up your secondary move is kind of boring, to be blunt. Although it does add strategy and precise timing to battling in Pokémon Go, they really need to make it more entertaining, because there isn't any fun in just simply attacking, dodging, and charging.

Maybe if they can add one of the old features of being able to choose what moves you can use, like the regular two moves, but then add DPS to it so that the stronger move has a higher DPS than the primary move, like Water Gun is the primary move and Hydro Pump is the secondary move on Vaporeon. Also the dodging aspect of Pokémon Go really makes the bulky Pokémon too overpowered or broken, since they can just tank out the opposing Pokémon and then defeat them, which isn't really fair because some Pokémon just completely shred other Pokémon in terms of Pokémon Go battling. So maybe the dodge option can still be used, but it should have a time limit of its own so you'd have to wait a little while until you can dodge. This would make the game fairer, since Pokémon would have a choice at attacking the opposing Pokémon instead of missing every shot because the opposing Pokémon keeps on dodging at the right time.

Conni

I think that on its current path Pokémon Go undoubtedly will die out, because if they don't really change the current problems and add anything new, I think people will start to lose interest and get bored, because it isn't really fun catching the same Pokémon all over again, and it's not like there is anything to do after you have all the Pokémon in the Pokedex. So I think that Pokémon Go should have a series of minigames to keep people entertained, like maybe you have to complete certain missions like catch five Pidgey in a row or catch three Pokémon in a row that all have higher than 100 CP, etc.

These "missions" or minigames would be fun because after you do catch all the Pokémon in the Pokedex there is absolutely nothing left to do, because some people can just travel and catch the region exclusives and catch the legendary Pokémon once they're out and whatnot. These missions or minigames keep the game alive because it's like a side thing to do instead of mainly focusing on catching Pokémon; they would be also cool if people were still catching Pokémon for the Pokedex because you might get a prize for completing a minigame or mission, which would keep people playing them.

Conni

Honestly I don't have much more to say after what I said in the answers above, and I just have the final comment that Pokémon Go really needs to step up its game to add new features and fix some things, because if it continues on the same track, the excitement will turn into boredom and the game will lose interest fast, whereas if you garner more attention while the audience is still big, then it will attract even more people to play the game and enjoy it. The important part of a game is the part that makes it playable for large periods of time, and currently Pokémon Go doesn't have that, so if they add something that can stay entertaining for a long time and add completely new features and additions to spice up the game then I'd say Pokémon Go will live on and people will continue to play it.