Pokémon Unite: why is it so successful?

Pokémon Unite turn monster battles into a team sport. We are talking about the most interesting MOBA of all time. But why has it become, in a few days, the phenomenon of the moment?

Pokémon Unite: the accessible MOBA you like

Games like League of Legends and Dota 2 they are very popular and have been for the better part of a decade. But they can also be impenetrable for new players and newcomers – there are so many characters and strategies that figuring out what’s happening on screen is quite a challenge.

Pokémon Unite aims to address these issues. It not only adds the lovable monsters to the genre, but also some clever solutions that simplify the game and make it more accessible. It’s like a mix of strategy and basketball game, but with a Charizard in the middle.

For the uninitiated, a video game MOBA is a five-on-five competition that generally has the objective destroy the opposing team’s base. You do this by forming a team of characters, each with their own unique abilities, which are used to destroy towers and level up to clear the way to the opponent’s territory. It is a slow and methodical type of game and a genre that rewards smart decisions and quick reflexes.

Link has many of these elements, including a diverse cast of monsters to choose from. Charmander is a good all-round fighter while Venasaur it is best for ranged attacks. There are support characters and those designed for defense. Interestingly, many of the creatures will evolve throughout the game. It’s fun to start off as a chubby little Gible and end the game as a massive Garchomp.

But what are the most interesting aspects of Unite?

For starters, instead of trying to destroy the opponents’ base, they score points. To do this, you must defeat the wild pokémon that appear in the arena to score points, which are taken to one of the opponent’s objective circles to get the reward. The process is similar to how a MOBA works, but at the same time, it is much easier to understand.

The other great advantage of the game is that it has a strict time limit. While a League of Legends match can last up to almost an hour if it is heavily contested, A single game of Pokémon Unite takes exactly 10 minutes. When time is up, the team with the most points wins.

This idea of ​​simplifying a MOBA isn’t exactly new. Snow storm I tried it with Heroes of the Storm, e Rampage did something similar when it brought League of Legends to mobile devices with the spin-off Wild rift.

At this time, Pokémon Unite is available with a download your Nintendo Switch for free, but it will get even bigger when will debut on mobile devices in September (with crossover play and crossover progression at launch).