I must admit that my love for Pokémon GO has waned over the past few weeks. I’m not playing the game as much anymore, and it seems most people I spend the day with have to. The core, dedicated thousands are settling in though, as Niantic promises to continue updating the game with more content to keep the hunt alive. And while their latest might not pertain to Pokémon hunting that much, it should make Gym fanatics quite happy.
Even though Pokémon GO’s combat leaves a lot desired, there is a semblance of strategy to it all. Certain types of Pokémon do better against others, and each type comes with a set of rules for strengths and weaknesses. That’s often not communicated well in-game, and it’s what’s changing thanks to some added Trainer functionality. When taking on a Gym from now on, your Faction leader will pop up – and have heaps of advice to give.
They’ll analyse what Pokémon you’re going up against in the Gym, and suggest some types that could make the battle go a lot smoother. That’s really the bulk of the new patch that’s live across iOS and Android right now.
- Implemented Pokémon Appraisal: Trainers will now be able to learn about a Pokémon’s attack and defense capabilities from their Team Leader (Candela, Blanche or Spark) to determine which of their Pokémon have the most potential for battle.
- We are still working hard on several new and exciting features to come in the future of Pokémon GO.
- Minor bot fixes
What are those new and exciting features? Who knows! At this point most Pokémon GO players are still holding out for some improved tracking, but the rest is entirely up to Niantic. They’ve managed to keep the fires alive for this long, so a steady stream of new content will do wonders. Are you still hunting Pokémon?
Last Updated: August 23, 2016
Ottokie
August 23, 2016 at 09:16
A little too late Niantic. You dropped the ball already when you decided to rule the game with an iron fist.
HairyEwok
August 23, 2016 at 09:27
I’m waaaay over Pokemon GO. Time to move on to bigger and greater things like Deus Ex. 😛
Btw, is Pokemon GO even officially out in SA yet?
Matthew Holliday
August 23, 2016 at 09:40
lol no.
VampyreSquirrel
August 23, 2016 at 09:49
I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t release it here.
Matthew Holliday
August 23, 2016 at 09:44
oh, cool, so what about actually usefull features?
I still play though, technically, I’ll use it as an excuse to go out and do something every now and then, did waterfront and promenade with a buddy on Sunday, crappy weather.
VampyreSquirrel
August 23, 2016 at 09:50
Reached lvl 21. Still play, just not half as much as I used to, though I gained just over 40k xp on Saturday thanks to evolving.
Mighty Meh
August 23, 2016 at 10:20
It still blows my mind that the tried and tested combat and training mechanics that have worked great for pokemon for the past 20 years never made it to pokemon Go. I would have had far more enjoyment training up my pokemon than just feeding them candy and melting them down as soon as a more powerful one was caught…
I feel that the ball was dropped but went unheard over the drone of the hypetrain. Maybe they will understand when in 4 months no one is playing.
Its just a shame because they will not get this chance again. Today’s consumers would never backtrack to old fads, that’s just too uncool.
Snowlock2.0
August 23, 2016 at 16:12
This is what happens when you release a half complete game to the public. If they are hoping that adding all the other features to the game will draw people back they have another think coming.
pokemongo
August 24, 2016 at 16:52
Thanks a lot..