Pokémon Unite

[Karo]

So I recently have been looking for another game to occupy my time because...you potentially could play Dead By Daylight forever, but people can't live on DBD alone they need other nourishment. I was thinking about maybe trying to get into a MOBA those are games that usually offer hours of playtime without really getting stale the only problem is they have awful community really.

Anyways before I got back into LoL I figured I'd look around and lo and behold Pokemon has decided to release their own Pokemon MOBA on the Nintendo switch and eventually your mobile devices so I tried to give it a whirl and its pretty simple to get into and there are like two different lanes instead of three and towers are replaced by these goal points where you feed your energy you get from defeating wild pokemon and trained pokemon with a few big pokemon down offering you buffs and support for your goal smashing endeavors.

I've played about three different rounds now and it seem like it'll be a fun Pokemon theme alternative to LoL there is no text chat that I can see and it just seem to be preselected messages in typical Pokemon fashion allowing you to not really have to worry about angry team mates.

Have you tried it on your switch yet? You don't even need Nintendo Online to try it out.

[ShiraNoMai]

Yeah I've seen this make its rounds on Twitch and watched a bit of gameplay (but I haven't the foggiest clue what's going on because I don't understand MOBA mechanics and systems very well). Seemed like exactly what's written on the label by everyone: League of Legends, but Pokemon.

I love me some Pokemon but I think the learning curve is a bit much for me. I'd be way more inclined to play this over LoL any day but it's not my cup of tea, I don't think.

Here's the trailer for those unaware:

[Dragon Lord]

I watched one of the streamers I follow play it, but it doesn't look all that interesting. Typical MOBA with a Pokemon skin slapped on it.

From what little I've watched of it, it seems horribly balanced as well. Gengar seems to be way too strong, and whatever team ends up getting the kill on Zapdos is pretty much guaranteed to win the match, regardless of how they were performing beforehand. Seems like Nintendo (or whoever actually developed it) needs to do a LOT of work on re-balancing the game.

I do find it funny how toxic the community is being already. You have these hardcore MOBA players, likely from LoL or Smite, coming into this and endlessly bitching about how terribly people are playing. Like, what did you expect? It's a Pokemon MOBA game. Of course it's going to attract that casual Pokemon fans, not the hardcore MOBA fans that are super elite 100% perfect in every move they make players. These people actually expected to waltz into the game and get the same type of hardcore experience you'd get out of League. Idiots.

[Karo]

Honestly its more like heroes of the storm with its mechanics because in LoL the gates were literally tower that shot at you without minions to take the hit for you. MOBAs can be fun so if your ever bored Nikki any moba really is a good time, but it probably won't hold your interest forever.

@Dragon Lord
Yeah the balancing seem a bit off to me like Gengar seem really powerful from when I played against it usually they end up just murdering you if you try to fight them off. Though I'll admit I'm not expecting it to be a very competitive game really. Its fun, but I don't think they are planning on turning this legitmately like LoL or Smite and I think the players that are...apparently have never heard of the Pokemon company.

Usuaully they try something new and its fun but they never improve on it and it ends up dead, but of course I could be wrong and they make it a legitmately competitive team game with updates happening regularly. I mean Pokemon Go is still alive so maybe this won't be dead in the water and might be a competitive team game for a more casual audience.

[Dragon Lord]

Well, Pokemon Go still being alive can probably be credited more to how massive the mobile gaming market is in Japan. I'd be willing to bet that Pokemon Go isn't doing nearly as great in the US as it is in Japan or other Asian regions for that matter. Very rarely do you find a mobile game that generates more revenue in the West than it does in Japan/China/Korea.

Pokemon Unite will probably go down the same road that Pokken did. Played a lot at first, talked about a little bit afterwards, and then poof. Hardly ever see anyone talking about it any more.

[Karo]

Oh yeah Pokken! I almost forgot about that! I feel like much like this if it wasn't just a cheap cash in and there was a team that was actively changing and buffing things it could of been a viable Pokemon fighter game really. I really have no idea about Pokken balancing if it was any good or not. One thing that I do think that Pokemon Unite has over Pokken is it is a moible game and those are pretty big in Asia like you said Night Lord so potentially if Nintendo see profit we could potentially see balancing changes and support for this game long term.

I believe that if they do want to do that they are probably going to have to start with the balancing now before people just get sick of it and never pick it up again if they show that they are listening to the community and dedicate to it in the beginning it could really start to develop a strong fanbase and with the Pokemon brand it could make tons of money for the companies involved, but we have to wait and see what they do.

[Moonface]

I'll share my thoughts on the game itself when I look at it a little more to form a better opinion, but I just wanted to share that there's going to be maintenance tomorrow which will address some bugs and also adjust balancing: https://unite.pokemon.com/en-us/news/pok...me-update/
At least it looks like any balancing issues the game has been experiencing will be dealt with and hopefully that means the game will eventually be balanced properly. Although I wonder how these things weren't caught in the beta the game had earlier.

[Dragon Lord]

It's kind of funny that I mentioned whether or not the developer would care to balance the game, and using how OP Gengar was as an example, and then the next day they announce a patch that will nerf Gengar, haha.

I guess it'll remain to be seen how long they care about the game, but this shows they care to some degree right now. Now the interesting thing to see is if they can nerf Gengar without making it absolute garbage. A lot of devs can't nerf things without making them absolutely worthless afterwards (see: Miracles in Dark Souls 2).

[Moonface]

Pokémon Unite Updates and Upcoming Content
A variety of content has been announced for Pokémon Unite!

Starting today, Blissey will be added to the game as a playable team member, and offers a wide range of healing and stat-boosting moves. This Pokémon will enter each battle as Chansey, but it will evolve into Blissey upon reaching Lv. 4. Although it may not be the best equipped for offense or scoring, it’s a powerhouse when it comes to supporting your team as a Melee Supporter.
You can read all the details about Blissey's moves and its Unite move on the official release page: Blissey Joins Pokémon Unite

Along with Blissey, there is also a patch coming out today that includes bug fixes, text fixes, and shop updates: Pokémon Unite Game Update 8/16

Beyond today, there will be a future update that brings Mamoswine and Sylveon to the game.

Finally, Pokémon Unite will be coming to mobile devices on September 22. Pre-registration has already opened on the App Store and Google Play Store. Additionally, if pre-registration totals reach 2,500,000, participants will receive a Pikachu Unite license, and if pre-registration numbers hit 5,000,000, participants will get a special Holowear—Festival Style: Pikachu!

[ShiraNoMai]

I actually can't believe they added what is considered one of the biggest tanks in all of Pokemon meta to Unite and didn't translate this into Unite at all.