The new MOBA Pokémon Unite has captivated our MeinMMO author Philipp Hansen. Read what he has experienced in his first hours and why he and Charizard are facing a hot summer on the neglected Nintendo Switch.
When Pokémon Unite was announced in summer 2020, I honestly didn’t care at all. But in recent days, I became more and more excited about the new game. It went so far that today, on July 21, I dropped everything for the release and had to dive into a few rounds right away.
And lo and behold, now I say goodbye to the PlayStation 5 for a while, as gaming time now belongs to the Nintendo Switch. Read my impressions of the free-to-play game that I instantly fell in love with.
What is Pokémon Unite anyway?
- It is a MOBA. Two teams of 5 Pokémon each battle it out in an arena, trying to ambush the opposing side.
- It all takes place online – hence the name of the genre: Multiplayer Online Battle Arena. The most famous representative of these games is LoL, or League of Legends.
- An unusual concept for Pokémon, as you control a monster in real time – and only one per game. Nothing round-based like back in the day on the Gameboy or with the ever-increasingly expensive cards.
- We at MeinMMO have compiled 10 beginner tips for Pokémon Unite for you.
Important: Currently, Pokémon Unite is not yet available in German, only in English. However, you can get the game normally in the German-speaking e-shop of the Nintendo Switch and do not need to pay any extra attention.
The release trailer of Pokémon Unite gives a good first impression:
More MOBA than I thought and luckily less basketball than I feared
That was my concern: The more information about Pokémon Unite came to light, the more excited I became in one way, but I also had some fears. Much of the promotional material simply looked like basketball. I constantly saw Pokémon trying to dunk a ball into a net.
What was marketed here as a unique mechanic really worried me: Do I have to decide whether to engage in fights or carry a boring ball?
I want only one thing in a MOBA: To unleash cool special attacks with my hero, attack the enemy from behind, loot and level up, and achieve a pentakill that decides the whole match while the crowd erupts in thunderous applause. Well, that’s more than just one thing, but all of that I accomplished in my first hours with Pokémon Unite (everything except the pentakill).
I tested the Switch both in handheld mode and connected to the TV. I had no issues with online connection or technology during this time.
What is your goal in Pokémon Unite? Unlike other MOBAs, your goal is not to push the enemy base on one of the lanes and clear towers using many little NPCs. Instead, you need to score points in the 10-minute rounds.
You beat up wild Pokémon located on the map that constantly respawn. While you can quickly take down the little monkeys solo right at the start of the round, other monsters like the legendary Zapdos can only be killed with help from the whole team at the end of the game.
For kills of wild monsters, you earn EXP and energy. You level up and become stronger, gain new attacks, and can even evolve. You store the energy in a Pokéball. And that stored energy in the ball needs to be dunked into the opponent’s “basketball hoop”.
Don’t worry: Collecting energy and carrying the ball is automatic; you don’t have to dribble or anything. If you dunk enough energy during the 10 minutes of a match, you’ve won – hooray!
That’s why it’s trickier than expected: To make it not too easy, the 5 opponents will of course try to prevent you from losing the energy. You engage in a cat-and-mouse game around wild Pokémon and try to defend your platform while exploiting any situation where the enemy does not secure their zone. The direct duels with other players are, of course, the most intense.
There are about a handful of these “basketball hoops” depending on the arena per team. But the seemingly simple concept goes much deeper than I assumed:
- The more energy you carry, the longer it takes to deposit it. You can be interrupted by enemies and drop a hefty chunk of the precious resource when you die.
- However, if you stand together with teammates on a platform, you will deposit energy faster. But you can also get easily ambushed here, and the enemy can quickly push the lane after a multi-kill.
- Enemy zones slow you down and heal opponents (and vice versa, of course). You can destroy the scoring zones if you score 100 points there. This ensures, for example, that the enemy cannot heal here and you are no longer slowed down.
- On the map, there are some special wild Pokémon that not only give energy: If you kill these stronger monsters, you receive buffs (such as getting a shield or dealing more damage to wild monsters). Of course, both teams want to kill these special monsters. But then, you have to keep an eye on your own zone.
So, just around these zones, there are many mechanics that offer different play styles, leaving players to choose between risk and large points or playing it safe. Additionally, the various roles of your Pokémon, their attacks, the different items you carry, and level paths come into play.
When you put everything together, you have a challenging cocktail that invites you to experiment in Pokémon Unite for many hours.
Pokémon Unite guides beginners
As typical for MOBAs, the principle applies: easy to learn but hard to master. In my view, Pokémon Unite excels at the easy-to-learn part. Let’s take a look at your first 30 minutes in the game.
To start, there is the obligatory quirky professor for Pokémon games, who, for some reason, needs kids to experiment with fire-breathing monsters.
The story and the basics are briefly explained to you, and you create your character. However, the editor is quite poor; you will find the reason for this in the game’s shop.
This is how easy the entry is: Then the tutorial starts, which is well done. In several quick digestible portions, the MOBA genre, the arena, the movements, and the specifics of your Pokémon are explained. There is always a goal that can be tackled within one to two minutes; you never get that annoying “let me play already!” feeling.
After a short time, you can dive into the fray against real opponents or bots, or deepen your knowledge in more detailed tutorials. As an incentive, there are plenty of currency rewards whose purpose will only become clear to you later. Do yourself and your team a favor, practice a bit with the bots and missions first, and then take the plunge against real people.
Postscript from July 26: In the meantime, players have spent more time in Pokémon Unite, and the enhancement of items is currently causing criticism regarding fairness:
What you should do: However, I think it’s important to actively play quests and challenges; otherwise, you might run dry after a few purchases. Unless you want to reach for the real wallet, which personally does not come into play for me.
The numerous side quests provide all sorts of resources that can initially seem overwhelming. Additionally, there’s the well-known motivation to log in to Pokémon Unite multiple times a day: You get login bonuses if you remain active for 14 days, and there are small missions that progress only each day.
I do not want to give a final judgment on fairness at this point. However, I have felt so far that you do not have to make annoying pauses in gameplay or that you cannot get the best monsters if you do not spend money. However, if you are into cosmetics, you must invest a lot of time or money.
Pokémon Unite has become my filler for the summer gap in just 3 hours
Since childhood, I have loved Pokémon – I have binge-played the Red Edition and the series with Ash two decades ago. But aside from occasional forays into Pokémon GO, I can do nothing with the cute monsters today.
Likewise, I have had a hard time with the Switch for some time now. A few rounds of Smash Bros. here, attempting Apex Legends in crossplay there… but I only really play shooters on my PS5. But thanks to Pokémon Unite, that has changed.
The easily learnable principle of the new MOBA is a lot of fun and makes me feel two decades younger. The next gaming time will definitely go to improving my Charizard skills in Pokémon Unite. And since it costs nothing, I can clearly recommend it. Especially now, in the chaotic early stage, where no one knows the meta and everyone is experimenting, it’s easy to get started.
Philipp Hansen
Freelance author at MeinMMO
Have you already had your first rounds in the Pokémon MOBA and are also positively surprised? Or are you planning a foray now? If so, which Pokémon do you really want to play? Let us know in the comments.
At the beginning, you receive a message from the professor after almost every game, explaining a new feature. No one gets overwhelmed here. Sometimes your rank increases and you receive a new item, sometimes you get a new Pokémon or learn how to unlock cosmetics.
The most important thing: which Pokémon should I choose?
At the start of each round, you choose a Pokémon. If one of your 4 colleagues has chosen Venusaur, you cannot choose another Venusaur. Each monster is allowed only once per team. You then choose an active item (like an attack boost) and a passive item (like healing leftovers).
- You can choose the monsters for which you have so-called licenses. Licenses can be obtained in the shop (with in-game earned currency) or by completing quests. Once unlocked, the Pokémon will always be available to you.
- Alternatively, there is a rotation of monsters that you do not need to unlock but can still choose.
- After just a few hours, I had a solid selection of 5 unlocked licenses: Snorlax, Charizard, Venusaur, Cloyster, and Zeraora. Additionally, the rotation offers me Machamp, Garchomp, Castellith, and Cinderace.
Overall, I see a total of 20 Pokémon licenses available at release. Also included are unusual monsters like Urgl, as well as favorites like Lucario. So, there is plenty of variety. And with high certainty, the roster will grow quickly after release.
Before you buy a Pokémon, of course, you can try it for free in training mode. I chose Charizard, who is an all-rounder and, as a fire-breathing (almost) dragon, is a hit. Next, I’m saving for the nasty Gengar while I spin my rounds as Venusaur, in case Charizard does not work out.
Here’s how the fighters differ: All Pokémon in Unite are assigned to different categories; we have fast attackers with melee attacks, but also slow tanks like Snorlax. You can see the exact status values in the character menu. In battle, the monsters also level up and become stronger; some start weak, like Charmander, and only become really powerful later (as Charizard).
Additionally, each monster has 3 individual attacks simultaneously: 2 attacks that each have a short cooldown, as well as one really strong attack that charges long and is only available to you at a higher level. With the 2 smaller attacks, you choose a suitable combo each round: Should your Charizard use Flamethrower, Fire Blast, or Dragon Claw? Each attack has different ranges, damage profiles, and cooldowns.
How fair is the free-to-play model in Pokémon Unite?
This is how I felt: From what I have seen so far, it is a quite fair model. You can only obtain all monsters through playing, and I already had a few monsters to choose from after a short time.
However, there is a shop for real money where you can buy cosmetics and the battle pass. You primarily need to spend real money to beautify your human character. As for Pokémon themselves, there are currently only a few skins. If you want to save time, you can also purchase Pokémon licenses this way.
The required currency for licenses was quite generously available during the time I spent in the game. As one might expect, the battle pass also offers a “free tier” that periodically provides rewards. And after a few rounds, you can receive a random premium item; for me, it was socks…
Postscript from July 26: In the meantime, players have spent more time in Pokémon Unite, and the enhancement of items is currently causing criticism regarding fairness:
What you should do: However, I think it’s important to actively play quests and challenges; otherwise, you might run dry after a few purchases. Unless you want to reach for the real wallet, which personally does not come into play for me.
The numerous side quests provide all sorts of resources that can initially seem overwhelming. Additionally, there’s the well-known motivation to log in to Pokémon Unite multiple times a day: You get login bonuses if you remain active for 14 days, and there are small missions that progress only each day.
I do not want to give a final judgment on fairness at this point. However, I have felt so far that you do not have to make annoying pauses in gameplay or that you cannot get the best monsters if you do not spend money. However, if you are into cosmetics, you must invest a lot of time or money.
Pokémon Unite has become my filler for the summer gap in just 3 hours
Since childhood, I have loved Pokémon – I have binge-played the Red Edition and the series with Ash two decades ago. But aside from occasional forays into Pokémon GO, I can do nothing with the cute monsters today.
Likewise, I have had a hard time with the Switch for some time now. A few rounds of Smash Bros. here, attempting Apex Legends in crossplay there… but I only really play shooters on my PS5. But thanks to Pokémon Unite, that has changed.
The easily learnable principle of the new MOBA is a lot of fun and makes me feel two decades younger. The next gaming time will definitely go to improving my Charizard skills in Pokémon Unite. And since it costs nothing, I can clearly recommend it. Especially now, in the chaotic early stage, where no one knows the meta and everyone is experimenting, it’s easy to get started.
Philipp Hansen
Freelance author at MeinMMO
Have you already had your first rounds in the Pokémon MOBA and are also positively surprised? Or are you planning a foray now? If so, which Pokémon do you really want to play? Let us know in the comments.
