Niantic Labs’ upcoming Pokemon GO game now has another video showing off some of the gameplay you’ll find when the game is officially released. So far we have had a very short video that was leaked from SXSW 2016 showing a little bit of the gameplay, which looked rather over-simplified. Shortly after that, within days, Niantic Labs released additional details and screenshots for Pokemon GO.
Really, everyone seems to have a slightly different impression about this game. When it was first announced, everyone was excited for it. Since then people’s opinions have gone from excited to mixed, seeing what looks like really overly simple gameplay. The leaked video showed nothing but someone throwing a Pokeball a few times in order to capture a Pokemon that had appeared in the wild. Sadly it seems there was no combat or anything like that needed to at least weaken said Pokemon so you can catch it.
This new video (located below) must be from someone who lives in Australia or New Zealand, which are the two regions the game is currently being field tested in. It shows the start of the game with character creation, to picking a gym (represented by either real world locations or places of interest/landmarks) and using a Pokemon to defend said gym. You will be able to adjust what your character looks like and what they are wearing, and when picking a gym you will need to decide which color you want to represent: Red, Blue, or Yellow.
As you move around in real life, you’ll be able to find Pokemon, items you’ll need, and gain XP in order to level yourself up. You’ll also see the Pokemon capturing in full, which appears to still be just tossing a Pokeball at them, although it could take a few times. Lastly, the video will show some of the combat that will happen when your gym is attacked by another player. This seems to be the only time combat really takes place unless two players challenge each other.
Even with this more of an extended look at Pokemon GO, people still seem pretty mixed about the whole thing. The gameplay still looks overly simple, and it is still a bit of a shame that capturing a Pokemon is nothing more than just tossing a Pokeball at them when they appear, sometimes repeatedly.
There is still no exact release date for Pokemon GO besides ‘later this year’. If you live in Australia or New Zealand, you may still be getting an email if you’re selected to participate in this closed beta. Niantic Labs will be increasing the amount of people invited to participate over the next little while. Hopefully we can get in sooner rather than later and get some hands-on time with Pokemon GO.
Website Referenced: YouTube via Phandroid
