Recent New Unite Facets

Pokémon Unite has been on a roll lately. In addition to new Pokémon being added as Unite Licenses - which mostly constitute their own topic and need to be discussed separately - there have been additions and improvements in other aspects as well. They've made gameplay more varied and/or interesting, and especially so in these recent times, close to the anniversary of Pokémon; in effect, they make that occasion festive. As such, I've opted to discuss those recent new facets in a post all its own.

For the Pokémon anniversary, it's only right that it has its own event, and it does. The key part of this event is the one and only Mischief Pokémon, Hoopa (as noted in a climactic post a few days ago). It becomes a Unite License and can be gotten for free by completing challenges and baking donuts, for which after a certain number, the Unite License for the Pokémon is obtained. Hoopa also offers a Hyperspace Box each day with nifty rewards that are sure to be beneficial. Special for the anniversary, for a few days, a new battle arena was added: Full-Fury Battle, which uses a Mer Stadium Quick Battle as its base, but cooldowns for moves and revivals are drastically reduced, making for action-packed and intense battles. Altogether, the anniversary event became a tricky and mischievous one, recalling a certain period of time that was as such a while back, but this time with a whole different game. 

Speaking of Quick Battles, other improvements were made as well. For Mer Stadium, its elements were changed: instead of Zapdos appearing shortly after the start of the match, it appears later and closer to the end, effectively limiting it to that one and only appearance. To make up for this deficiency, Rotom now appear on the upper and lower sides of the arena, which function as their counterparts in Remoat Stadium; the Quick Battle arena consequently has greater resemblance to the Standard Battle arena. Meanwhile, in other arenas, wild Pokémon reward more energy (points) when defeated, and stats were altered, with the most salient of these being Abra in Auroma Park, which had its teleport period and stats reduced. Defeating Pokémon of the opposing team also can reward more energy, especially for those low in level in battle. These changes really affect the dynamics of this mode and should make it more appealing regardless of arena.

Then, there is a new mode: Custom Battle. This mode was introduced quite some time ago, but it's still relatively recent and can still be discussed. This mode allows matches in any available arena with any mix of Trainers, including CPU (or A.I.) Trainers; one can so desire to create a one-on-one Standard Battle if one wishes, which I've been in at one time. In this mode, up to five "admins" may also be added to oversee matches for any potentially disruptive or unfair behaviors, and they may also become an outlet to spectate matches as is traditionally done for similar games of the same genre, MOBA, particularly for tournaments. This mode also forms the basis of the World Championship Series mode - accessible through the main menu screen - for entry into the tournament, certainly. And that's the essence of this mode, to be able to create matches for tournament settings with flexibility as well as fairness.

All these facets of Pokémon Unite, whether new or changed, are quite telling of the action potential of the game, which is now further proven today and especially with the World Championship Series incoming. What's left now is to continue the momentum while still allowing future changes to be implemented, and to take this one-of-a-kind MOBA into greater heights. That has to be a certain thing just like change is a certain thing, and the game ought to continue to roll with that.

One year ago: Pokémon, Anatomy, and Books

Two years ago: The Ups and Downs of Showdown

Three years ago: A Mew Pouch

Four years ago: How Do I Live, Without You?

Five years ago: Two Pokémon Notebooks