(Fourth day playing; I played throughout the day to/from/on campus on my phone)
The mechanics of Pokémon Go are relatively simple; catch pokémon, swipe at pokéstops for items, and “battle” at gyms. Considering one of these three major game components is still relatively uninteresting to me my second time around, it’s difficult to avoid feeling like Pokémon Go just doesn’t have very much to actually do.
On my map, I see gyms in the distance and as I understand it players use their strongest pokémon to battle those left at the gym and claim it for their team.
I have only left a pokémon at a gym once, and have never actually “battled” at a gym before; the mechanic never really attracted my interest because it seemed a little silly with the premise of how it works.
For one, you have to get close enough to the gym to participate in the activities associated with it; this is often rather inconvenient,
and while you can click on them from a distance there isn’t much you can do without being “in range” (a message pops up saying “This gym is too far away”). You can scroll through the pokémon at the gym, see their levels and who left them there, but other than that there isn’t anything else to do from a distance.
The battling component leaves something to be desired, as well. It has something to do with tapping rather than actual battling found in traditional pokémon games; not to mention you’re only able to battle at gyms and not with your friends or other players. Pokémon Go falls short as an augmented reality game in this way for me; it seems like the premise of the game is to get people outside, walking around, and socializing. Not being able to battle with friends removes a social aspect of the game that could really contribute to drawing players in for continuous play.
To be frank: the catch (pokémon), swipe (pokéstops), tap (gyms), repeat nature of Pokémon Go‘s gameplay gets old. The mechanics simply aren’t interesting enough to hold the attention of mature players who have played traditional Pokémon games in the past; it lacks a lot of what makes those games fun while attempting to make the player feel like a trainer in real life – what’s missing are the components that would make the player feel that way; being a trainer seems like it should be more than walking around catching the same pokémon over and over everyday. Players can’t even train their pokémon beyond giving them candy, as far as I can tell. Pokémon Go has a ways to go to live up to the promises conveyed to players in the initial launch trailers.