First impressions are everything, but here at The Young Folks, we gave Pokémon Go almost a week to essentially get their shit together. I’m a Day Zero player since I downloaded the APK to gain access to the game before its wide release in the US. That means I didn’t experience the initial Google log-in issues or username unavailability. What I did experience once it opened wide was that awful “server down” screen due to server flooding. The experience has greatly improved now that I can actually access the game, beat gyms without the 1HP error freezing the game every time, and just all around (mostly) being able to catch Pokémon without having the game freeze on the Pokéball, costing me my hard-earned Pokémon.
The most noticeable thing about Pokémon Go, aside from the myriad of technical issues still plaguing it, is the counter-intuitive game design. The foxy Professor Willow is there to welcome you to the world, but any other guidance on gameplay is all a matter of trial and error, guess work, or just plain Googling. Overall, this is a promising first step in a game that will be the next frontier of mobile gaming akin to Virtual Reality’s incorporation in the console world. Now go be the very best like no one ever was! – Jon Espino, Chicago IL
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