From the company that brought us Ingress, Niantic, Inc has just yesterday released Pokémon Go in Australia. It’s been a long time coming, but we can finally go out and catch Pokémon in the real world! Well, more or less.
As soon as I found out that Pokémon Go had been released I made myself look presentable enough to leave the house and ventured out into the expansive and terrifying Real World. Braving the harsh, frigid winter rain, I sought out a Pokémon to catch and kick start my journey. I found a Zubat. To be fair, I haven’t actually battled anyone yet, so for all I know this Zubat might be the most powerful Pokémon that every existed. I doubt it, but the possibility is there. I also found a Goldeen in the middle of a shopping centre somehow, and was led to a PokéStop that took the form of a power box. Neat.
In all honesty, it’s actually really fun walking around the neighbourhood with the possibility of a Pokémon appearing somewhere nearby. I don’t know what it is that hooked me, but I spent over an hour and a half walking in the rain, unable to keep myself from going just that little bit farther when another PokéStop showed up. However, a part of me has a desire for the inclusion of more traditional Pokémon mechanics, such as battling wild Pokémon and levelling up in that fashion, though I do understand the reasoning behind the system that Pokémon Go uses.
It’s somewhat difficult to call Pokémon Go an actual Pokémon game, as it often seems like the assets from Pokémon were just slapped into a game that has very little to do with its namesake. Despite this, it’s still a fun game that I can only imagine becoming more enjoyable once you have a group of friends to play alongside with.
Grab Pokémon Go for Android devices here and for Apple devices here, and undertake the quest to become a Pokémon Master!
