A once strong alternative to LoL with Pokémon will be shut down in 2027, and MeinMMO editor Nikolas Hernes has mixed feelings, as he invested many hours into the game, especially at release.
When Pokémon Unite launched on July 21, 2021, I was excited. As a long-time LoL fan, I was looking forward to finally being able to play a MOBA on consoles that I truly enjoy (sorry, Smite). The controls were good, and the gameplay mechanic of collecting and scoring points was a refreshing change compared to LoL – it was like a little MOBA snack for between times.
This little snack turned into a daily grind for me at release. In the first months, I spent almost 200 hours in the game and even reached the Master rank with friends. That is the highest rank in the game, and it also starts a leaderboard.
Now it has been announced on the official website that the game will be shut down on March 23, 2027. But although I enjoyed the first weeks, I can’t really be sad, as the game had major problems.
Good gameplay with many problems
On one hand, I find it sad that Pokémon Unite will be unplayable starting next year, but on the other hand, I must admit that I haven’t touched it since the first 2 months. The game controlled well, but it had many negative aspects of Free2Play games.
For example, you had to upgrade items, and that could also be done with real money. Added to that were intrusive menus and pop-ups that constantly tried to sell skins to players. The difficult Pay2Win mechanics regarding the items were also highlighted by the well-known streamer MoistCr1TiKal at launch.
But the worst part is the Pokémon themselves. The game suffered severely from Power Creep
from the start.
This means that new Pokémon are better in many respects than the old ones, and in the worst case, even overtuned. In other words, they have abilities or stats so strong that it’s a disadvantage not to use them. This became a problem in Unite as you could gain quicker access to these Pokémon with real money.
And I can’t completely absolve myself either. I’ve only spent a little money, but especially one Pokémon I utilized heavily at launch, which I have come to love to this day.
My little chubby squirrel
On October 20, 2021, Greedent was released in the game. This is a Pokémon from Generation 8, and in the game, he is a tank that I played in the jungle. And I have rarely seen a character that was so excessively strong in a game. Greedent was very tanky and could additionally heal himself extremely well with an ability.
But that wasn’t all. Greedent dealt such incredibly high damage with the attack “belch” at launch that he could even surpass the proper DPS Pokémon. Therefore, in my Switch library, there is always a short clip proudly kept, in which I almost solo take out an entire 5-man team without really losing health.
Here you see the introduction of Schlaraffel:
That was already unfair, and although I feel a bit ashamed for having exploited that Pokémon, the squirrel managed to burp its way into my heart, and to this day Schlaraffel is one of my favorites. Overall, this Pokémon will remind me of the good times with Unite.
I regularly met up with friends, and we all played a few ranked matches together on the couch. Pokémon Unite had great potential, but unfortunately, the Free2Play mechanics harmed the game too much. What do you think about Pokémon Unite and its end? Did you play the game and will you miss it? Feel free to share your opinion in the comments.
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