The Pokémon GO Fest 2024 is over. MyMMO author Paul reflects personally and shares his opinion on the development of events in Pokémon GO.
This weekend, Pokémon GO was entirely focused on the global GO Fests 2024. The biggest event of the year once again shone with all kinds of content provided to the trainers.
How I experienced the event as a ticket holder, what my personal highlights were, what I was most excited about, and what bothered me about the event, I will explain to you.
Many Shinies and Candies
Shiny Pokémon: I managed to get a total of 8 Shiny Pokémon during the GO Fest over the 2 days. Besides Pokémon like Emolga, Kastadur, and Piccolente, I was especially happy about getting a Shiny Umbreon with a scarf.
And the absolute highlight for me: My first raid on Sunday was immediately rewarded – with a shiny Necrozma!
Many Candies for Strong Pokémon: I was able to catch several Pokémon for which I was still missing candies. This includes Kapuno, Balgoras, and Kaumalat. Even though I already have strengthened versions of the final evolutions, I still need some candies for further strong specimens.
This is exactly what the GO Fest 2024 was great for, as I was able to collect several Pokémon where I even received double the amount of candies on Saturday. I first labeled these for sending them on upcoming Tuesday for more candies.
Regional Pokémon: There were also some regional Pokémon at this year’s event. Personally, Corasonn was the highlight for me. This Pokémon has been the last one missing from my Johto Pokédex for years.
Since I was able to secure this Pokémon during the event, I was finally able to complete this regional Pokédex.
Necrozma: I was also happy about Necrozma, which I, as mentioned, was able to catch as Shiny. As a ticket holder, I could choose one of the two potential fusions directly.
I chose Lunala to later fuse Necrozma into the Dawn Wings form, which in my opinion is the better fusion form of Necrozma.
Criticism of the Event
Fusion Energy: While I could obtain one of the two fusions through the ticket without any problems, the second fusion was denied to me. The sheer number of raids required to gather enough fusion energy was simply too high for me.
This was not only the case for me. There were also frustrated voices from the community regarding the fusion energy.
Paywalls: Without using incense, the number of Pokémon spawns encountered in the wild was comparatively very manageable. There was a noticeable difference between the time I activated incense and the time I did not.
If you didn’t have incense in your bag and no coins to purchase some, things looked quite bleak. At the same time, there were several exclusive monsters that could only be obtained with incense. This excludes players who want to invest less time in the game and/or do not want to spend money from an exciting part of the event.
Speaking of exclusion: Players without a ticket also had no access to some of the most fundamental features of the event. Marshadow, a guaranteed fusion for Necrozma and the increased shiny chance were all only accessible to players who purchased the ticket.
Conclusion: Personally, I had several points that I liked about the GO Fest 2024. Nevertheless, I view the development critically.
Players who want to invest money in the game should naturally receive advantages for doing so. However, locking fundamental event content behind paywalls is a path that I do not endorse.
In my opinion, Niantic should be careful and weigh where a good balance can be found so that both players with and without tickets can enjoy a great event in the future.
What do you think about this? How did you find the event? Did you purchase the ticket or did you start the event without it? Feel free to share your opinion in the comments and exchange ideas with other trainers here. You can also find an overview of the other events in July 2024 in Pokémon GO with us as well.
