For a few weeks now, the Gigadynamax feature has been available in Pokémon GO. MyMMO author Paul Kutzner views the feature and a recent update regarding it critically.
Upon the announcement of Gigadynamax, it was stated that this would be the toughest challenge in Pokémon GO. And with this announcement, Niantic proved to be right.
Initially, even groups of 40 people had problems, but Niantic has since adjusted the feature slightly. Personally, it still does not appeal to me. And in my opinion, the recent announcement of a new item for the feature is also the wrong direction.
Feature excludes a large portion of players
Why don’t I like the feature? It’s completely legitimate for Niantic to introduce a feature that requires meeting certain prerequisites. After all, sacrifices must be made if one wants to be the very best.
After all, a decent team with strong Pokémon is also required for successful participation in raids and the battle league, as well as for defeating the Rockets. And for the 5*-raids, you also need additional trainers.
The fact that Gigadynamax battles can only be completed on-site is, in itself, a legitimate decision for me. This is already known from the Crypto Raids.
However, I find the combination of these criteria critical. As a result, a large portion of players is excluded from this feature. Players in more rural regions will find it extremely difficult to gather enough trainers for a Gigadynamax raid, and even players in big cities may have issues with this.
I also find the recent announcement of the Dyna Mushrooms for Dynamax and Gigadynamax critical in this context. This item will probably double the damage of your Dyna and Gigadynamax monsters for 30 minutes. It seems like this item will be offered in the shop for 400 PokéCoins or 3 mushrooms for 1,000 PokéCoins.
Instead of adjusting the requirements for Gigadynamax battles so that more trainers can enjoy the feature, the signal here is that you can still participate in the battles even if you live in rural regions or simply find fewer trainers for this—if you spend your PokéCoins for it.
If the currently known prices prove to be correct, it is also quite a high effort to obtain the mushrooms without spending real money. After all, you would have to earn the maximum number of coins in gyms for 8 days just to get a single mushroom.
Coins that I personally prefer to invest in remote raid passes and occasionally in increasing capacities.
During the GO Nature Zone, Gigadynamax Riffex was around, and I really wanted to catch it. However, it quickly became clear: No chance. We usually play Pokémon GO in pairs, and that would definitely not be enough to defeat the monster.
For legendary raids, we like to enter the raid lobby on a whim, because often one or two more trainers show up during events, which is enough to complete the raid. But you shouldn’t even try that with Gigadynamax – about 20 trainers don’t just appear by chance.
In the end, however, we succeeded with Gigadynamax Riffex: Through Campfire, the notification came that a large group of trainers would try it somewhat nearby. So we went out again in the evening, in the dark and in the cold, to participate. And indeed: about 22 trainers were organized here, to whom we could join.
The Gigadynamax Riffex was defeated and caught. We were happy that it worked out, and it was also a cool experience to play with so many people at the same time. At the same time, this rushing around to somehow achieve it, especially in the dark winter cold, has nothing to do with relaxed gaming. However, if you’re not traveling with a group of ten to twenty people anyway, there’s no other way. From my perspective, this is also too difficult—although I actually find the Gigadynamax battles as a feature very cool.
Most of you view the feature critically as well
Recently, we wanted to know your thoughts on the Gigadynamax battles and whether you will participate in the battles. A total of 980 votes have been submitted by you, and the results (as of November 28, 2024, 2:30 PM) are as follows:
- “No, the requirements are too high for me” (44%, 434 votes)
- “Yes, but it will be hard to find enough trainers” (29%, 285 votes)
- “No, I’m not interested in Dynamax at all” (20%, 197 votes)
- “Yes, I will participate” (7%, 64 votes)
While 20% of you are not interested in the feature at all, only 7% said they would participate. Almost one in three, 73%, will not participate in the battles due to the high requirements or see the difficulty in finding the high number of trainers needed.
It remains to be seen whether Niantic will intervene regarding the Gigadynamax feature or if it will remain a feature that only a few trainers in the game can enjoy. And who knows: maybe my opinion will change just as it has regarding the Dynamax feature itself.
Of course, there are also many contents waiting for you outside of the Gigadynamax battles in Pokémon GO. One of them is the Fusion Raid Day, happening in December, which brings you 2 of the strongest attackers in the game back: All info on the Fusion Raid Day with Necrozma.
