Recent Visual Improvements in Pokémon Unite

MOBA games, of which Pokémon Unite is one of them, are arguably highly visual in both interface and gameplay. Any effort to improve visuals is therefore as welcome as it is necessary. Such is the case of some (relatively) recent improvements that have been made to the visuals of Pokémon Unite, making it more attractive in that aspect and in some ways also more functional, which makes them definitely something to go over and explain.

During the battle, a visual indicator ("Level up!") now appears when the level of a Pokémon increases, whether it's the player's own or of another Pokémon. This is a welcome addition, because although the level indicator of Pokémon appears as a circular gauge on its left side, it can sometimes be hard to see, especially to determine the level progress. The new indicator should help with that, even if only slightly. Lately, this visual indicator is also accompanied by an auditory indicator - that is, sound - which helps to draw further attention and affirms the usefulness of the addition.

The "match found" screen has also been overhauled. Now it shows all the Trainers with their outfits congregating, much like that for the Legacy Trainer Challenge, essentially affirming this as a new default visual style. The Trainers appear as they confirm, taking up the entire screen split into two sides diagonally, and the "confirm" button is relocated to the lower right, still with the new default of 15 seconds to do so. Of course, Trainers will likely not want to wait that long with the way that the screen now appears, which is now more glorious and attractive as ever, and should hype up the battle to come.

Other visual overhauls are slightly order but can still be discussed. In the (regular) battle preparation screen, the Pokémon list and Trainer selection have switched places; the latter now indicates the items they bring for their Pokémon and the former now shows them in a four-column grid that shows 16-20 at a time, making filtering less necessary. The item display is arguably important as it can identify those who are skilled or less skilled in battle, but the entirety of this visual change is also important if nothing else, as it brings out quite a bit of things that were previously less obvious, a good thing indeed.

Backgrounds have also been added to the main menu and pre-battle screen. For the former, one can opt to have the basic Aeos Island backdrop being shown, even if a special event (like the current Eevee Festival) is going on that changes that backdrop. For the latter, special events and circumstances (Pokémon and/or Holowear selections) may change the usual "sky" appearance into something more thematic for the occasion; an example being the current Eevee Festival, where the background becomes a night sky with fireworks if a team is entirely composed of evolved forms of Eevee. The possibilities may widen over time.

All the visual additions above are certainly improvements to both the interface and gameplay of Pokémon Unite, whether minimalistic or extensive. Yet that seems to be "par for the course" for a MOBA game, which may be considered to have a dependence on visuals as much as it depends on gameplay. If anything, their importance is affirmed with the above, measuring up to that which Pokémon Unite presently possesses. 

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