If you’re a crazy anime fan and more specifically, a Pokemon fan, you’d probably know by now that the franchise’s new game, Pokemon Masters is out on both iOS and Android platforms. Pre-registrations for this game started over a month ago and now we have the real deal. Unlike Pokemon GO this is not a real-life game based on Augmented Reality (AR). Instead, it is set on an island where the Pokemon Masters League is held.
This game is a collaboration between Pokemon Company and DeNa. The latter of which is a mobile game company that developed Super Mario Run and Fire Emblem Heroes. Some gameplay videos of Pokemon Masters were released at the time of pre-registrations explaining the workings of sync pairs, battle mechanics and moves available. Needles to say, it looked promising at that time, without a doubt.
However, not everything can be judged from promotion videos. We had to get our hands on the game to give our views on it. Here’s what we think about it.
As mentioned earlier, the game takes place on an island of Pasio where the title tournament is taking place. Each Trainer there forms a “sync-pair” with a particular Pokemon. The battles are all 3v3 but opposing teams can go for 5 and 6. Since it is, after all, an online game, the battles take place in real-time and thankfully no bots are involved.
At the start of a battle, the command gauge is extensive and it only decreases with time as each attack is called out. If you use enough attacks, you can unlock a Sync-Move for a Pokemon for a massive amount of damage. This is surprisingly similar to Sun’s and Moon’s Z moves which some of you Pokemon nerds would’ve noticed.
Another thing you’ll need to keep in mind is Pokemon types. A Water Type will be weak to Electric or Grass attacks but not both. Since there are three opposing Pokemon at a time in the arena, the target can be changed by tapping them on the screen. Apart from the battles, the Story Mode is the main part of the game. There you’ll find options for training and seeing brief stories of other trainers in your team.
There are also gems, which are fuel for the gacha elements and level builders and items to unlock additional attacks. The next thing you need to know about is gems. There is one discounted pull per day for 100 gems apart from logins bonuses. The pull per day only uses paid gems. On average it takes about 80% of the story mode before you can do a 10-pull.
Another thing that you need to know, and probably my favorite feature of this game, is that you can sync it with your Nintendo account. It can back up and save your data even if you delete the game. However, if you decide to play it in the future, you’ll have that peace of mind that your progress won’t be lost.
I haven’t played much but from what I experienced, this has the potential to get to the level of Pokemon Go and even the legendary Pokemon Crater. I believe things like these should keep coming out for all the old fans to relive their childhoods when watching Pokemon was the main highlight of the day.