In 1995 we first laid our hands on Pokemon Blue. Now, over 20 years later, we are finally getting the chance to live out our dreams of becoming a Pokemon trainer — through the mobile app, Pokemon Go. Pokemon Go is an augmented reality mobile app that has been developed by the team at Niantic over the better part of the past year and a half. Despite being plagued with issues at the outset, Niantic seems to be finding their rhythm with several big new updates. Most recently, Niantic announced the addition of the AR Plus Mode for iPhone-using trainers. Let’s take a closer look at the newest gameplay-changing add-on to one of the most popular mobile games in the world.
If you play Pokemon Go competitively then you likely have turned off the AR mode so as to make capturing your Pokemon just a little bit easier and more efficient. With the new AR Plus Mode being released for the iPhone, gamers might want to consider switching off of the static capture screen. In the AR Plus Mode, gamers will have to be more tactile than ever in order to capture wild Pokemon. In AR Plus, Pokemon will scale to their surroundings based on your proximity to the creature. The closer you are, the easier they are to capture. However, you won’t want to get too close! Skittish Pokemon may flee if you get too close without trying to capture them.
Niantic has been focused on expanding the authenticity of their gameplay with the last two big updates: AR Plus and the dynamic weather system. The dynamic weather system allows certain Pokemon to spawn depending on the weather as well as additional battle bonuses and weaknesses based off of their elements. The AR Plus mode will now add an additional layer of realism to the title. Niantic wrote in a press release, “Getting closer to a Pokemon using AR+ has unique gameplay benefits, including being awarded the new Expert Handler bonus, which provides more XP and Stardust.”
While these new add-ons are certainly exciting, they aren’t all that Niantic has in store for fans. It was recently revealed that Niantic is releasing a new batch of Generation 3 Pokemon. Fans of the game who had scrubbed Niantic’s code for clues ended up revealing over 20 new Pokemon that are going to be added to the game during the Christmas event, including Glalie, Walden and Snorunt.
Dil Bole Oberoi
