Getting started with Pokémon Unite, does it have a future in e-sport?

We will have seen everything at Pokémon: after the mobile game Pokémon Go or the application for brushing your teeth Pokémon Smile, the Japanese critters are arriving in a MOBA!

Pokémon Unite was released on July 21 on Nintendo Switch and is planned for mobile a little later. So, is it worth creating your team and training all day to hope to win millions in future competitions?

Getting started with Pokémon Unite, does it have a future in e-sport? Read the conclusion Pokemon UNITE

The pleasure of being able to embody Pikachu in a MOBA
Un gameplay accessible
Quickly addictive

A somewhat confusing menu
Pokemon still unbalanced (Face Garchomp at your own risk)
No Spanish version yet

Pikachu and Charizard in the land of MOBAs

To be completely honest, the author of this article has never been particularly into MOBA. But Nintendo's call was too strong (and then it's free). Despite this, we dive very quickly into Pokémon Unite, and letting go of the controller becomes difficult. It may have to do with its gameplay which is not only accessible for an arena strategy game, but also quite satisfying. What could be more pleasant than scoring forty points at once in the opposing camp, if possible in the nose and under the beard of the enemies?

Notice to the most impatient players: each new game will require you to accumulate experience to be able to inflict real damage. It will therefore be necessary to accept to play a cute Slowpoke who sneezes on his enemies or a little harmless Charmander before representing a real threat for the enemy; you have to start somewhere.

With each new game, everyone starts at level zero, and must knock out Pokémon to gain levels and evolve. It is therefore not only a question of accumulating Aeos points to score in the opposing camp, but also of fighting to become formidable and be able to defend your own bases. Clearly, even if the gameplay is accessible, strategy is at the heart of the game and the best way to achieve victory.

And this is even more true in ranked games: during the famous “ranked” matches, the players are even more fierce and tactical. To win, the ideal is still to recruit a few friends, in order to agree on a team strategy. Keeping an eye on the composition of the team is also essential, because victory becomes difficult to clinch without a defender, for example.

Out of match, you also have to heat up your neurons: the game allows you to choose the special attacks that can be won over the games, and to assign your Pokémon objects that increase some of its abilities. Combat items can be activated in game for a temporary special effect: getting a better attack, better defense, regaining life points, dashing towards the base... Pokémon Unite therefore requires real preparation before starting a match. If you don't have ten minutes, quick games last five minutes and are accessible from level 8.

A good punch is not enough

All this preparation and strategy adds real value to the game: it's not just about rushing in and hitting. Those who take the time to reflect will have a better chance of winning the game. If the desire to go directly to the fight against the opposing team is strong, it is therefore more strategic to face wild Pokémon throughout the beginning of the game in order to accumulate experience and evolve. All while keeping an eye on the basics!

At the appropriate time, the player will be able to score several dozen points at once, and hunt enemies like flies. The special wild Pokemon are not to be overlooked. Appearing at regular intervals on the map, they offer very useful bonuses. Zap, for example, can provide a huge late-game advantage, even for teams on the verge of losing.

As you will have understood, a good strategy is the key to victory. And the financial means do not really come into play, since the items available with real money are more cosmetic than anything else.

Pokémon Unite flies to other skies (?)

Free, not even requiring to pay the Switch Online, Pokémon Unite is therefore accessible to all. Are Nintendo and Tencent offering us the next star game of e-sport? It's a real question: for the moment, Nintendo is struggling to place itself in this sector. THE competitive Nintendo franchise is of course Smash Bros. Unfortunately between the players and the Japanese firm, it's cow love. The amounts at stake in Super Smash Bros. tournaments. Ultimate are way down in comparison to a lot of other esports games, so much so that this scene turns out to be less appealing. At Nikkey, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa said that offering large sums of money would not be in line with Nintendo's philosophy of making their games accessible to everyone, regardless of age, gender...

Because ultimately, that's the question: was the goal to create, with Pokémon Unite, a new e-sport game? Knowing that the game is planned on mobile, then on PC, we can imagine that the players will be more and more numerous. It remains to be seen whether Nintendo and Pokémon Company will choose to propel this new baby onto this very special stage.

Our review of Pokemon Unite

In any case, Pokémon Unite offers a relatively promising start. The controls are nice, the concept is addictive, and the idea of putting Pokemon in a MOBA arena works surprisingly well.

On the other hand, we are waiting for updates to enrich the game: a Spanish version would not be refused, as well as new playable characters, since only 20 Pokémon are available for the moment. A week after the game was released, Gardevoir has already been added.

In short, Pokémon Unite has it under its feet… all that remains is to get off to a quick start and know how to last.

Pokemon UNITE

Even if Pokémon Unite uses all the codes of the MOBA, it offers a version that is quickly accessible, even to neophytes. It is the addition of new content and the arrival on new platforms that will confirm its quality or not.