Pokemon UNITE Reviews
It is difficult to recommend Pokémon Unite to 'free' players unless they're truly in it for the long haul. The gameplay is engaging, with a large roster of Pokémon that can be tried out in offline modes, but owning iconic Pokémon such as Lucario or Garchomp to play in Ranked will require an immense amount of Aoes Coins or paid-for Aeos Gems. A lot of joy is to be found in Quick Matches due to daily map rotations, but ultimately Unite is too geared toward grabbing people's purses to win games rather than providing an even playing field for everyone. Players that don't pay will likely find frustration in constantly matching with others who have spent money; it's worth keeping that in mind before committing to Pokémon Unite.
Pokémon Unite is a genuinely fun and charming game, with quick and accessible combat with enough tactical element to keep it interesting, while not overwhelming newcomers to the genre. However, it is predatory in all the worst ways, copying the worst tactics of pay-to-win free-to-play games, such as five currencies, loot boxes, buyable (with real-money) boosts, and items that influence battle, and more. While the game can be fun, the predatory tactics leave a nasty taste in the mouth.
Pokemon Unite is weird. It both feels everything and nothing like Pokemon and nothing and everything like a MOBA. It’s not necessarily a balanced meeting point between these two ostensibly incomparable concepts - instead, it’s its own thing entirely. And, for the most part, this new, strange, messy hybrid works. Its misunderstanding of what makes it special in the first place is an unignorable aspect of an otherwise remarkable effort, and there will be people out there who are turned off by the overbearing presence of microtransactions, even if they don’t technically make the game pay-to-win.
Pokémon Unite is a fun entry point for those new to the MOBA genre thanks to its short games, but longtime League of Legends or DotA fans will be left unsatisfied.
Pokémon Unite is a fun and carefree MOBA, at least until you realize how much time you have to spend accumulating resources to upgrade your characters without spending money. The premises are good, despite the fact that it is a game that risks very little: it will be the long-term strategies that will determine the goodness of the project and, of course, its success.
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For long-time Pokemon fans, Pokemon Unite will be an enjoyable, if simple, adventure into the world of MOBAs. Even those who are intimately familiar with MOBAs may find Unite’s quick and approachable matches to be a nice palate cleanse. Unfortunately, at launch, it’s limited roster, simplicity, and hidden pay-to-win nature leaves it not being the very best.
I can’t stop playing Pokemon Unite and chain-queuing games because it’s so fun, but these issues are going to drive some people away and need to be addressed. It’s a shame a few of these problems exist with the monetization skeleton because they’re so easily fixable, and while targeting whales is a classic mobile strategy, I don’t think the general audience for Pokemon is going to stand for it long term.
Pokemon Unite tries something new with the Pokemon brand and mostly succeeds, albeit with some overzealous microtransactions.
Although the game struggled with some balancing at the start - a problem common to any new competitive game - developer TiMi Studios has consistently released fixes. Pokémon Unite was released in July but got significant patches in August and September to address some glaring issues (an overpowered Gengar, for one). However, if you're looking for a game that's going to drop a new map every other week - or quirky battle modes - Pokémon Unite is not that game (so far). Even today, you'll find yourself playing in the same old stadium in every match.
Recognizable Pokémon, distinct move sets, stylish animations, and easy-to-understand objectives make this a good introduction to the MOBA genre
An addictive and accessible MOBA which takes advantage of the Pokémon license to great effect but is hampered by an abundance of free-to-play irritations.
Pokemon Unite is an entertaining casual MOBA constrained by its overcommitment to simplicity (and some questionable microtransactions).