One player of Niantic’s popular Pokemon GO has come up with a brilliant way to add far more depth to the mobile augmented reality title by copying a feature from 2022’s Pokemon Legends: Arceus. Perhaps hoping to distract players from the many controversies surrounding the game and the developer itself in recent months, Niantic recently revealed new details about what gamers can expect when Pokemon GO’s 7th-anniversary celebration begins on July 6.
Building on lessons learned from its well-loved but undeniably niche, location-based mobile game Ingress, developer Niantic released Pokemon GO to iOS and Android users in July 2017. Retaining some elements from Ingress while adding the Pokemon license and the then-cutting-edge use of augmented reality, Pokemon GO quickly became a hit with players worldwide. Following explosive growth for Pokemon GO throughout the global pandemic, the mobile title has seen a drop in both player numbers and revenue in recent times. In the wake of Pokemon GO’s diminishing profitability, developer Niantic laid off over 200 employees in late June.
As initially pointed out by gaming news site Dextero, a discussion on the Pokemon GO-focused r/TheSilphRoad subreddit about how to improve Niantic’s ailing mobile title led to a brilliant insight from one Redditor. In response to a question about what people would do to reinvigorate the game, Redditor ThisistheSteeve recommended giving Pokemon GO’s Pokedex a revamp to bring it more in line with the one found in 2022’s Pokemon Legends: Arceus. The post suggested retooling the Pokedex in Pokemon GO to add a series of unique tasks for players to complete for each creature, similar to how it functions in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, in order to “give people a reason to engage with their Pokemon beyond one and done Pokedex entries.”
Redditors responding to ThisistheSteeve’s post were impressed with the ingenious suggestion, with one commenter stating that they “absolutely love this concept – it would be a welcome addition to the game as a whole.” Other Redditors chimed in to show support for retooling Pokemon GO’s Pokedex, which several responses felt would be a great way to give players an incentive to use more of the Pokemon they’ve collected over the years. While many recent changes to Pokemon GO have gone over poorly with players, taking a page from Pokemon Legends: Arceus’ playbook could potentially give the game a much-needed boost.
The unique mashup of gameplay mechanics suggested by ThisistheSteeve could help revitalize the ailing mobile title. However, given the company’s financial troubles, it seems unlikely that Niantic would make any such changes to Pokemon GO anytime soon. For now, those looking for some Pokemon Legends: Arceus-inspired action may be better off waiting for the cartoon shooter Palworld.
Pokemon GO is available for Android and iOS.
Source: Dextero