5 Things That Could Have Been Better About Pokemon Go From A Game Developers Perspective

Most of us are familiar with the word ‘Pokémon’. Way before the release of Pokémon Go, Pokémon could be played on various Nintendo consoles, emulators and, of course, their trading card games as well as watching the anime called Pokémon, that follows Ash Ketchum and his journey to becoming a Pokémon master. It was a franchise that many 1990s babies are familiar with as many have had the same dream of “catching ‘em all” and “becoming the very best”.

Then came the launch of Pokémon Go, a free-to-play mobile phone game that made it possible for everyone to realize their dream. While many knew that the game would be a hit, not many could have predicted the astronomical response that the game would receive. It has been months since the launch of Pokémon Go and players still find that the game still has a lot of room for improvement.

Here are 5 things about Pokémon Go that could be improved:

Number 1: Trainer Battles

One of the few things that make up the basics of the Pokémon console games would be the trainer battles. Any Pokémon Go player, who has played with the console games, would definitely agree that the mobile phone game needs to have this awesome feature! After all, it tends to get a little boring and repetitive if all you can do is fight at the Pokémon gyms. What happen to fighting with friends to see who can be the very best?

Number 2: Pokémon Trading

Trading is one of the features that made Pokémon games (whether it is the console version or the trading cards version) fun to play with friends. Unfortunately, Pokémon Go was launched without this feature and it is, without a doubt, one of the features that players are begging Niantic to include in thegame. While some have argued that trading would eliminate the entire purpose of the game (which is to “catch ‘em all”) as well as have security risks, we are sure that Niantic could come up with ways to ensure that players would still be able to enjoy the game safely when including the trading feature.

Number 3: Social Networking with Other Players

In a way, Pokémon Go could be seen as a way for players to go out and explore the world around them while playing the game. While it is great that you now know the landmarks around your housing estate as well as found out where that nice little park is located, wouldn’t it also be great if you could also interact with your friends while you play? Or, what if Pokémon Go had this feature that lets you interact with other players in your immediate vicinity? Now that would be a cool way to maybe meet your future boss or future spouse!

Number 4: Better Pokémon Catching Skill Requirements

As of the now, Pokémon Go lets users throw a Poké Ball (or feed it Razz Berries) to catch Pokémon. Not much sense of accomplishment there as compared to other Pokémon games where you have to use your wits and skills to battle the Pokémon until you can catch it. Won’t it be cool if you could use your own Pokémon to capture other Pokémon?

Number 5: Nearby Tracking System

Without a doubt, the tracking system is one of the most useful features in Pokémon Go, especially when it indicated the number of footsteps you needed to take in order to reach the nearby Pokémon. Then, the footsteps indicator was removed after a bug caused all the nearby Pokémons to be within 3 steps of the player. While the tracking system is still present in the app, let’s face it: without the footsteps indicator, the feature is useless. Would be great if Niantic could reintroduce a more stabilized version of the feature back to the game!

Regardless of all these improvements that improve any player’s experience of the game, Pokémon Go is still a great game to play as it makes its players explore the world around them. As the game is still in its early days, it is very likely that it will be updated many times in order to attract new players and keep old players from leaving.