Pokémon Go 3rd Anniversary

This post actually and ideally should have come a few days earlier, but since I've covered the anniversary on this date in previous years (see below), I figure I'd keep it that way. So, by now Pokémon Go is three years old, and it has become better and better each time. It started off somewhat humble though with a boom, and now it has become sophisticated yet still fairly well-liked. And within a span of one year, there have been some pretty big things that contributed to that.

Over the past year, Pokémon of the fourth-generation games have made their way in, along with some holdovers from the previous generations; now the game is becoming more and more comprehensive in terms of Pokémon. The camera function has been massively improved, allowing pictures to be taken any time with just about any Pokémon, also with special surprises of its own. Lucky Pokémon and Lucky Friends have been introduced, which enlivens many Pokémon as well as those with Best Friend status. The game too can link up with the Switch and the LGPE games there for the very special bonus of an all-new Pokémon. All of these are great on their own, but there is one big new feature that deserves a special discussion.

That feature is the long-awaited PvP battles pitting one Trainer against another directly. It is something that likely should have been present since the beginning, but as they say, it's better late than never. This has opened up a new world of experiences with the game and led to the creation of many competitions or tournaments with it. It's a brave new world for those that would like to participate in them, for which one has to have the mettle. Even if the feature or its competitive system is sometimes imperfect, improvements to it and participation in it will surely help it along. And so I participate in them whenever I can and to the best of my abilities.

Included in the celebrations this year is the special return of PartyChu, that is, the Pikachu with a party hat. Its return utilizes the renewed camera function, by which it appears in a photo bomb and makes itself available for capture, each day since the past week. In doing so, it may also be Shiny, which some of my raid fellows can attest by having gotten one. I didn't get one myself, but that may just be my impure luck. It's a great way to celebrate nonetheless.

It has been three years, and Pokémon Go has changed in quite a lot of ways. In a way, it can be said that the game has created a new Pokémon ecosystem. It has the core elements of many things Pokémon and their implementation have been sufficiently good enough for players to make their own strides. In later years, the hope is that this ecosystem will continue to develop and grow to be an even more immersive Pokémon gaming experience, one that takes place in a semblance of that world plus the real world.

Happy 3^rd anniversary to Pokémon Go.

One year ago: Pokémon Go 2^nd Anniversary
Two years ago: Pokémon Go One-Year Anniversary