GOTY 2021 mini reviews: Pokemon Unite (Patreon)

Continuing my (brandon's) series of "games I had to sort-of-review for awards shows," here's Pokemon Unite, which did wind up winning some awards even though I really don't think it's that special (oops). Again, these "reviews" are meant to tell other judges what the game is all about, so sometimes it's a bit basic.

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Pokemon Unite: what is it?

It's a pretty MOBA-ish MOBA. You have hero characters, which of course are pokemon. They have basic attacks of different ranges and strengths depending on the character, and different special abilities which are also dependent on the character. The special abilities have a cooldown - You use these to defeat mobs which give you energy with which to try to take a control point by filling up a meter. You also defeat other player characters and take their energy. There's also a special large wild pokemon that sometimes shows up in the middle of the map, which you can defeat to receive additional benefits.

The game is 5 on 5 by default, and the main goal is to capture power nodes with energy, fighting against the other team for control - each team has 5 of these, one at each end of the map, and two along each major path, the top and bottom paths. In the middle is where the large wild pokemon shows up (and there are more mobs to defeat).

At the start of each match each pokemon starts out at their base level, and then evolves as you complete actions, gaining more power. There are support roles, tank roles, etc, but realistically I found it difficult to coordinate with a random team. I get the sense that even if I'd been in a guild it might have been tough aside from learning a player's tendencies, since the in-game communication ability is pretty light and limited mostly to the start and end of the game, where players can announce they're going to the top or middle, etc.

It's a pretty standard MOBA and it's good enough at that. But when I'm playing on my phone and I've got to use a virtual d-pad and buttons for control, I'm pretty much already fighting uphill against liking the game. because you so often cover the buttons with your fingers you wind up mashing more than planning for quite a while, and you really have to learn a character to get away from that - but realistically I didn't find learning a character to be that rewarding in terms of ramping up my skill.

Do I think it's a contender for Action GOTY?

No. I do think it could be a contender for top 5 mobile game, because it is quite a good mobile MOBA. But as an action game, there's not much reaction time involved, everything's cooldown-based, virtual d-pad (I realize you can also play on switch, but that was not the original target). It might even fare okay in the strategy genre. But it's just not a top action game, and that's what we're judging here.