Last summer, Pokémon GO was a smash hit and it was the king of the mobile games for a few months. However, problems with the game’s features and other issues led Pokémon GO back down to Earth and many players abandoned the game. This week, Niantic took the first big step towards redeeming itself in the eyes of gamers by unleashing a massive Pokémon GO update that includes 80 of the Gen 2 Pokémon and a number of tweaks to the gameplay.
Forbes has posted a helpful guide to the new era of Pokémon GO, with an explanation about how the changes have been put into effect. For starters, the Gen 2 Pokémon seem to have been disproportionately placed in the game to show up far more often than the Gen 1 Pokémon. That was probably a deliberate choice by Niantic in order to entice players to chase the new additions without getting too frustrated. Towards that end, it appears that the new critical captures feature and the XP bonus for a single Pokéball capture have added some additional strategy to the game. Players even get a candy bonus if they catch the evolved Pokémon.
Berry stacking has apparently been eliminated, so players will have to pick and choose which berries to use when attempting to catch the Pokémon. The Pokémon also have genders now, which suggests that Pokémon breeding may be a part of the game in a future update. One of the most overlooked new features for the update is the way that players can now buy clothing for their trainer character. There aren’t too many options for customizing the new clothing items at this time, but it seems likely to be expanded in future updates.
What do you think about the Pokémon GO updates? Are they enough to get you back into the game? Let us know in the comment section below!
Image Credit: Niantic