Pokémon Go has hit the app store and millennials everywhere are suddenly finding a reason to turn off Netflix and go for a walk. The game was released to the United States marketplace July 6, 2016 and servers promptly crashed as an overload of excited gamers attempted to log on. The hype has been building since it was announced; giving Generation Y-ers hope that they could cling to their love for Pokémon while maintaining some semblance of adulthood.
Gameplay is fairly simple and straightforward, with elegant and sleek design to guide new players through the early stages of the game. My favorite part of this app so far is that once the Pokémon is in range and selected they appear on the screen in the current surroundings. Capturing Pokémon is more difficult than the old Gameboy version I was used to as you actually have to aim where you throw your pokeball. For locating Pokémon look at the bottom right of the screen where are outlines and paw prints shown in a white box.
The paw prints give a rough estimation of the distance to the Pokémon going from three to one. The Pokémon will only appear once in range, and can then be selected for capture.
Using the phone’s GPS, the app places gyms at strategic locations (my closest gym is Green Truck apparently), as well as PokeStops where players can restock on supplies. Only players over level 5 can enter gyms, and after defeating the reigning champions one of the player’s Pokémon is left to battle.
No program is perfect and Pokémon Go is no exception. Reports are flying in about the massive battery consumption from the constant GPS use. Turning the AR off in the battles and using the battery saver mode helps but my phone tends to drop around 10% of it’s power after 15 minutes of game time. Glitches are also frequent with crashing servers, frozen games, and repeated sign ins. The largest increasing issue is that of safety as people have been playing while driving and wandering into dangerous areas, so I implore all of the trainers out there to remember to Pokémon hunt safely.
I set off on my quest to be the very best this morning bright and early. As in, I voluntarily awoke at 7 a.m. on a day with no classes and went for a five-mile run. In Georgia heat. I’m secretly wondering if this isn’t a ploy by health experts everywhere to get us to go outside. I plugged in my headphones and proceeded to aimlessly wander, following the footprints to various Pokémon. I literally bounced with delight when I stumbled upon an Eevee outside of the Savannah Academy of the Arts. The best part was I would meet other people playing and we’d stop and chat, maybe even give headings for particularly interesting Pokémon. Pokémon Go has brought all sorts of people together for a cohesive gameplay experience.
