[ad_1]
Pokémon TCG Pocket is finally here, but as someone who’s already played countless hours of the game over the last month, I’m here to tell you it might not be worth all the excitement. Yes, the cards look nice, and it’s a fun way to get back into the TCG for those of us who aren’t willing to start spending on shiny cardboard again, but under the hood, it’s a different story. I’m talking about slow card acquisition, dull battles, and, as you might expect in a mobile game in 2024, problematic microtransactions.
First, let’s talk about the rollercoaster ride that is card acquisition. After playing for a couple of days following the soft launch in New Zealand, I thought Pokémon TCG Pocket could do no wrong. I already had a full art Dragonite, the Mewtwo ex from our Pokémon TCG Pocket tier list, and I thought I was well on my way to collecting the other cards I needed for some of the decks I’d conceptualized. Well, that was almost a month ago, and I still have various missing pieces for multiple dream decks. What do I have instead? Depleted resources and ten Pinsirs, that’s what.
All I can do with those Pinsirs is trade them in for resources that can make one of my other Pinsirs shiny, which I truly do not care about. There’s no way of trading old cards for new ones, not at least until the developers introduce the trade with friends feature in a future update, and even then you’re relying on the kindness of others. My Pinsir problem aside, there’s a way to pick up individual cards through the shop via a pack points mechanic, but you get five points for every pack you open, and rare cards like Mewtwo ex and Pikachu ex cost 500 points.
Let’s do a bit of quick math. Say, for instance, you need a second Venusaur Ex for a grass Pokémon deck you’re putting together. If you’re not lucky enough to get that card in one of your two daily packs, it’s going to take opening 50 packs to get enough points to buy the card directly by spending all your pack points in one fell swoop. That’s made a little easier by how generous the game appears at first with a free pack for every in-game level and resources from solo battles, but once you hit level ten and complete those battles, it’s a multiple-day grind to push forward without almost constant online battling or spending your own money.
Despite not having many decks that can cut the meta mustard – yes, this is a digital card game, so you can bet there’s already a meta after less than a month of play – I’ve already played my fair share of battles. Having spent a lot of the last year playing Marvel Snap, Pokémon TCG Pocket’s battling mechanic feels incredibly sluggish.
It’s not like Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel in the way that you might have to watch your opponent pull off seemingly endless combos; it’s just lethargically slow, and I’d douse a Charmander’s tail just to get the option to speed things up a bit. I get that there will be kids playing this, but this is the generation watching Minecraft and Subway Surfers clips simultaneously on TikTok while playing as many Roblox games as possible; I’m sure they can keep up.
Finally, we have to talk microtransactions. Realistically, they’re no more egregious here than in any of the other games I’ve mentioned, but they’re prevalent. As I’ve already mentioned, if you want to build a decent deck or get two copies of the same card without spending the next six months pulling packs and praying, you’re going to have to part with some dollars. It’s not as blatantly pay-to-win as other games; it skirts around the edges of that terminology, but I wouldn’t be surprised to hear accusations from engagement-baiting content critics if the game’s popularity dwindles any time after release.
However, while it’s clear I have my problems with Pokémon TCG Pocket, there’s still a lot that could change and some things worth celebrating. Trading with friends should make it easier to put a deck together by enlisting your fellow trainers, and it seems likely that we get a ranked mode in the future, which could offer better rewards than just XP points and therefore more incentive to battle.
For me, the game could make it just that bit easier to collect certain cards and I’d be happy. Let’s face it, it’s likely to do gangbusters in terms of revenue even after my big moan, so I don’t think making it a little easier to find specific cards would do too much damage.
In terms of things the game does right, I am a big fan of the wonder pick mechanic, it’s like a carnival game with Pokémon card rewards, and I can always get behind that. It’s also worth saying that the card art is stunning, and if you’re just here for a few free digital Pokémon cards, there’s less chance of you being as disappointed as I was on the big reveal of my eighth Pinsir.
Ultimately, unlike a lot of the best mobile card games, Pokémon TCG Pocket doesn’t feel like something you can sit and play all night. Open a couple of packs, maybe play a game for your daily rewards, and it gets boring quickly. With that in mind, I worry about how long Dena and the Pokémon Company can keep the community invested, given that it’s easy for 15 minutes to become ten, then ten to become five, and before you know it, you’re not even bothering to open the app and your packets. For now, I’ll be making the effort, but honestly, I don’t know for how much longer, especially if I find another Pinsir.
There you have it, our initial thoughts on Pokémon TCG Pocket. If you’d rather play a classic game from the series instead, check out our guide to the best Pokémon games, plus our complete Pokédex. Or, if you’re more interested in the physical TCG, see our sister site Wargamer’s guides to the most powerful Pokémon cards, the rarest Pokémon cards, all Pokémon sets, and the newest Pokémon set.
[ad_2]