I'm 36 years old and my whole life I have avoided Pokemon like the plague. I don't know what it is. The creatures look cute, the cartoon looks well made(I'm a cautious fan of anime) and all the toys and merchandise looks great.
Some of it could be that I may have been afraid. It sounds weird, I know but I didn't have a Game Boy when it came out and after the success with the first one they made a lot more of them. A lot more of them. The number of Pokemon grew and it started to get in the hundreds and it freaked me out to think that I was behind. For me, as a gamer, it's something I have a problem with.
I always want to complete everything in a game, and do every little side quest and get all the content I can out of a game. So the older Pokemon got, the more afraid I got. And now were here.
Pokemon Go! released last week here in the states and from the moment I downloaded it, it blew my mind. I finally get it. The idea of getting everyone. When I see those numbered spaces get checked off my Pokedex and I see more and more Pokemon a game that just celebrated its twentieth anniversary finally makes sense.
I haven't even battle anything yet. I am starting to get the appeal though. The part in me that plays video games and fills in everything on the map wants to now find every Pokemon and mark off as many stops as I can.
I've read it on other websites but this is secretly the best get-off-your-butt app I've seen in a while. Not only are you walking all over the neighbor exploring places you probably wouldn't have seen, but your also getting some exercise. A while ago Nintendo announced they were developing some Quality of Life games, maybe this is it. This is a way that we can have a great time walking around and also fill Nintendo's coffers.
Don't get me wrong. I don't think any of this is predatory. I looked at the cash shop and it seems pretty mild. If you want to buy stuff you have to use coins. Seems pretty fair for something that is free to play. It appears though that you can earn the items from Pokestops if you want. Which is great, it doesn't penalize me for trying to earn everything.
Right now I'm having a blast, and I'll report back in a week to let you know if my impressions have changed at all. If you want to let me know how your adventures are going picking up Pokemon let me know in the comments below.