I’ve a vicious love-hate relationship with Pokemon TCG Pocket. It’s, undoubtedly, my favorite cell recreation launched this 12 months. It’s a fantastic recreation, taking a snapshot out of the bodily TCG and morphing it into this straightforward to endearing digital collectathon. It has, additionally, manifested a facet of me I assumed died as soon as I turned 21 years previous. An angrier me, with a visceral hatred for strangers world wide.
Pokemon TCG Pocket has me up at 2AM on the common, at an age the place doing so has turn into far much less interesting. I’m going to mattress irritated, and get up with the ghost of that also haunting me. Consuming espresso on a wonderful morning eager about Mewtwo EX decks, and the way carried those that play them clearly are. This isn’t the signal of a foul recreation. Fairly the alternative. Solely a very nice recreation calls for such emotional funding.
Some time in the past we wrote about how the sport wanted some type of aggressive ranked match, some technique to attempt your may in opposition to different pokemon trainers internationally. Since then, the sport has featured one thing that isn’t fairly what we needed, however received aggressive juices flowing nonetheless. First, a primary PvP mode that rewarded gamers for incomes wins. Just a few weeks in the past, an analogous mode that required consecutive wins. This final one sank its hooks into me.
It’s the proper mode to spotlight the highs and lows of a meta, nevertheless it additionally encourages a community-wide push in direction of constructing the very best deck attainable earlier than new playing cards come round and blend all of it up once more. A celebration of the video games’ 1.0 winners, in the event you would. The grasping Charizard EX deck, the evil Mewtwo EX deck, the diabolical Starmie / Articuno EX plus Misty deck. As of writing we just lately received a brand new primary PvP occasion alongside the Legendary Island pack, which implies all these doozy’s plus the present Deck of the Month: Celebi EX are again and giving migraines.
The builders actually do deserve the success they’re getting. Certain, the Pokemon IP and card recreation is doing a whole lot of work popularity-wise, however they’ve managed to make a recreation that’s intensely interesting for gamers in any respect talent ranges, whereas popping in little occasions right here and there to maintain these with extra specialised priorities . That I feel is the important thing to why so many individuals are nonetheless busting open packs. It’s moorish.
With new playing cards on the best way, I can safely say this recreation has me down dangerous. I popped the premium move free trial again when it first got here out (one other good transfer by the best way), and I don’t see myself turning off that sub any time quickly. In my thoughts, it’s cash properly earned. How else am I gonna have the playing cards to beat prime tier decks in a pitch black room within the early hours of the morning?