It’s been quite the wild ride forPokémon GO, hasn’t it? When the app first started rolling out in July 2016, it was very barebones in terms of features and its Pokémon tracking system left a lot to be desired. To make matters worse, it was a disastrous hodge-podge of glitches and crashes (the strain of all those people signing in at once was too much to bear).
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As bad as all of this sounds, as many early adopters who were swiftly turned off by it all,Pokémon GOhas come on in leaps and bounds since then. There’s a great deal more to do in the game than there was. As always, though, there’s still room for improvement. Here are some more possible features that would help bring players back.
10Online Trading
For the early portion of its lifetime,Pokémon GOwas without one of the most fundamental elements of thePokémonseries: trading. This much-demanded feature was finally added in an update that also brought a friends system to the game, but it’s still quite lackluster.
Players who are still actively engaged and levelling upwill know that those who have attained higher friendship status (through continued interactions together) can battle each other online, wherever they are. Sadly, the same doesn’t apply to trading, and it seems as though Niantic have missed a trick there.
9A Move Tutor Of Some Sort
If you’re just in it to casually catch Pokémon on your commute, you may not even really notice which moves your Pokémon have. Those who are serious about battling and defeating the most powerful Raids, however, will settle for nothing but the best movesets.
With the randomly-assigned nature of moves inPokémon GO, though, this can be a huge headache. TMs are available to change one of a Pokémon’s attacks, but there’s no guarantee that you’ll get the one you want. In the main game, Move Tutors allow you to freely replace a move with another one that’s available (or has been available) to that Pokémon, which could pay dividends.
8The Rest Of The Generations
Well, naturally. If you askPokémon GOplayers what they’d most like to see in the game, you’re likely to get one particular answer repeatedly: the release of the rest of the Pokémon. Yes, it’s been great to see those dang adorable Bidoof absolutely everywhere (wait, no it hasn’t), but where are the next crop of critters?
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Niantic have been drip-feeding new Pokémon into the game for years now, and it’s agonizing for those who are waiting for a particular generation to be represented.
7A Store For Evolution Stones
Now, it’s no surprise thatPokémon GO, as a mobile title, isn’t exactly afraid to delve into microtransactions. They’re much less central to the experience than in some other popular apps, but they’re very much here and very, very lucrative for the company.
With that being the case, it’s a little surprising that there isn’t an in-game store forevolution stones.As the game’s Pokémon roster slowly expands, they’re becoming more and more important, and can be a real pain to get your hands on at times.
6Easier Access To Region Exclusives
Now, we completely understand why region exclusive Pokémon exist. They nod to real-world endemic animals, they encourage trading, they make for some of the rarest and most prized jewels of a trainer’s collection. That’s all well and good, but the idea of hopping on a plane and visiting a whole new continent simply to get our hands on a new Pokémon is… well, ‘impractical’ would be one way of putting it.
Niantic have taken steps towards making these Pokémon available in other parts of the world (such as when eggs had a chance to hatch exclusives from a new region), but they were both time-limited and heavily RNG based, meaning that many missed out.
5NPC Trainers
By now, we’ve probably all come acrossthe nefarious Team RocketinPokémon GO. They challenge the player at special PokéStops, offering a quick NPC battle with the chance to nab a Shadow Pokémon.
If you haven’t challenged the leaders of Team Rocket, that will be as far as you’ve got in terms of NPC trainers. One thing that would be super neat, then, is the implementation of opponentsa lathe main games: they could be found randomly along your route, familiar trainer classes, offering an optional match with rewards on the line. It would be much more immersive.
4Global Random Trades
Speaking of the main games, the past few entries have blessed players with a brilliant little feature dubbed Wonder Trade (or Surprise Trade inPokémon Sword and Shield). This sees the player offer up any Pokémon they like for trade, then wait while the game randomly matches them up with another player from around the world who has done the same.
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One a trade partner is found, the exchange goes through and you see what you’ve got. Of course, many players simply ‘throw away’ unwanted early-route Pokémon this way, but there’s a huge amount of potential here. What if kindly players gave away spare exclusives from their own regions?
3A Bit More Of A Story
Now, granted, this is a mobile app. We aren’t expecting a full-onPokémonmainline adventure here. All we’re saying is, a bit of a cohesive plot wouldn’t go amiss.
The game has taken steps to address this with the addition of Professor Willow’s research objectives, which have got some players hungry for more mysteries to solve and goals to complete. Goal-oriented gamers need to know that they’re making some kind of progress in the experience and expanding on this concept would be a great way to accomplish that.
2A Gym Challenge With NPC Gym Leaders
Of course, Gyms have been a central part of thePokémon GOexperience for years now. Challenging rival teams for control of a local landmark is one of the major draws of the experience for many. The trouble is, beating fellow players’ Pokémon can get a little stale.
NPC Gyms, featuring dedicated monotype gym leaders are a series staple, and though it would be super complex to implement, it would be a brilliant additional challenge for fans of the main series. Their levels could scale, their rosters could rotate, their positions could change… there’s a lot of potential here.
1Held Items And Abilities
WhilePokémon: Let’s Go Pikachu and Eeveewere fun little stopgaps until Generation VIII arrived on Nintendo Switch, many franchise fans didn’t buy into it. It was too watered-down and simplistic for some.
What was the issue? The lack of held items, Abilities and such, that’s what. This was entirely understandable, as Let’s Go was a remake of the Game Boy’sPokémon Yellow, but there was far less strategy to the experience as a result.Pokémon GO, too, has the simple battle mechanics you’d expect of a touchscreen-based mobile title, so the addition of elements like held items and Abilities would lend a welcome layer of strategy to battles. It’s a little late in the game’s lifespan to be making a drastic change like that, but it would be neat nonetheless.
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