The Pokémon GO Fest 2020 is over, and for MeinMMO editor Noah Struthoff, it was an emotional rollercoaster. One thing is for sure: Pokémon GO can be incredibly unfair.
This is how I played: For me, the GO Fest was clearly the event highlight of the year. That’s why I prepared meticulously for it and then played through a total of 20 event hours.
Now I have huge blisters on my feet and probably won’t be able to walk for the rest of the week, but I actually expected that before the event and accepted it willingly.
Now, after the event, I’m not entirely sure what to make of the GO Fest in the Home Edition. While the first day was forgettable, the GO Fest ended on a positive note for me on Day 2.
48 Shinies, but a lingering uncomfortable feeling
This is how the first day went for me: Around 5:00 PM on Saturday, seven hours after the event started, I was sure that I would uninstall the app after GO Fest. I’ve never been so frustrated with Pokémon GO, and I’ve been playing it daily for 4 years, usually for several hours a day.
Initially, I was a bit disappointed with the spawns . It’s GO Fest, the event of the year, and all I find are some dumb starters that I already have plenty of as shinies from Community Days or will surely get in upcoming Community Days.
Sure, there were cool spawns, and especially Zeekrom and the regional Pokémon were really cool, but for a GO Fest, I would have wished for a bit more.
My first shinies were therefore very disappointing. One Torchic, one Cacturne (that was already my 5th), and a Wailmer. Meanwhile, my teammates were already pulling in the big catches. I saw two Zeekrom, regional shinies, and Tangela shining. Unfortunately, just on the wrong screens.
After that came my highlights of the day: Yamask and Houndoom. At least two shinies that I could use. However, the downhill trend continued. It even got to the point where I couldn’t get a shiny for almost 2 hours straight. Left and right of me, however, they were diligently pulling shinies.
Don’t get me wrong, Pokémon GO isn’t just about shinies. I could collect a lot of candy from Litwick, Yamask, and Luxio, but it’s pretty discouraging when the right shinies are just missing, yet plentiful elsewhere.
That was particularly unfair: After the first day, my friends and I compared our catches. We were always out together, and in the end, I still caught way more Pokémon (2200). However, regarding shinies, I had by far the least (17 shinies).
I often find this random factor in shinies really disturbing. Sure, you have to be lucky sometimes, but it’s unfair that despite intense grinding, you get way less than others who caught significantly fewer.
Day 2 – an improvement
This is how the second day went for me: Day 2 started with little excitement. Niantic announced a huge Rocket Event for Day 2, and I really had no desire for the battles. I just wanted to catch shinies.
Right at the start at 10:00 AM, I realized that the second day was significantly better than Day 1. The annoying starters and useless Pokémon, like Wailmer and Roselia, had disappeared. Instead, almost only interesting Pokémon were waiting for me, of which I had significantly fewer shinies.
My mood quickly improved, and the shinies were also good. I was catching shiny after shiny, and this time, I had some really great ones: Tangela, Swablu, Baltoy and ultimately even Volcarona.
It was just going really well, and for the special research and the Rocket battles, we simply used our break on a bench. That went surprisingly well and quickly.
While I was reeling in the many shinies, a buddy next to me grew quieter. I knew exactly what was going on because I felt the same way on Saturday. Bad shinies and not even in large quantities. Again, the statement in the title holds true: Pokémon GO can sometimes be incredibly unfair.
My conclusion: The GO Fest in the Home Edition was unique and had many ups and downs for me. In the end, I was quite appeased, even though my two biggest wishes remain unfulfilled: Shiny Yamask and Unown.
I also see it positively. Next year, we hopefully get to go to a fixed location and play there. Alternatively, the GO Fest at home was a nice change as well. How did you like the event?
In addition to this major event, Niantic released new insights into the future of Pokémon GO. It’s about leveling after level 40 in Pokémon GO and why it is different than before.
