Pokémon TCG Pocket (Android)
by
Mark Nielsen
, posted 55 minutes ago / 169 Views
The Pokémon series is no stranger to mobile games, being responsible for one of the most successful ever (Pokémon Go), as well as many others with different takes on the massive franchise, but this time it’s a Pokémon card game – a tradition nearly as old as the original games – that has taken the spotlight in Pokémon TCG Pocket.
For the physical version of Pokémon TCG, the collecting has always been as big or bigger than the battling, and right off the bat we can see that TCG Pocket has made plenty of room for both these aspects in its design. In fact, the battling isn’t even available until you level up a few times, which, while a bit limiting, is a fine way for players to get their bearing and collect a few cards before they start competing. The game does suffer from just a tad bit too much forced tutorialization in the early stages, particularly when getting to the battles, but it’s still hardly the worst sinner among mobile titles in this regard.
The collecting all starts with the opening of packs, an infamously addictive part of any card game, and they’ve done a good job of making the process quite satisfying TCG Pocket. More importantly, the number of packs given for free is quite generous – at least two packs a day by default – meaning the game is perfectly playable without spending money, regardless of whether you’re in it for the collecting or battling aspect. Whenever you obtain new cards, they also get filled out in a sort of card Pokédex, which adds to the fun of collecting new ones.
A lot of what makes the collecting in TCG Pocket enjoyable, however, is quite simply the excellent card art. This is, of course, borrowed mostly from the game’s physical counterpart, and strengthened by little touches like being able to being able to zoom in and tilt the cards, with a slight holographic on the rarer ones. Whether they’re cute or cool, the Pokémon themselves are at the heart of this franchise and with the generally splendid art the game does a great job of bringing them to life, in some ways doing them more justice than recent mainline entries with low-detailed 3D models.
As for the other part of aesthetics, namely sound design, the game is also passable in this area but nothing special with slightly boring battle music. It’s not the biggest issue perhaps, as most are likely to play mobile games with sound disabled, but with all the cosmetic unlockables (which we shall get to) it seems like a wasted opportunity not to have unlockable battle themes when the Pokémon series has so many great ones to draw upon from its legacy.
Looking for a moment at the less positive side, while Pokémon TCG Pocket is fairly generous to free-to-play players, it does still suffer from some of the pitfalls that are typical of that type of mobile game; namely, the amount of noise that comes with too many currencies, constant quests and rewards, and perhaps a few more types of cosmetics than is necessary. Again, I wouldn’t describe Pokémon TCG Pocket as the worst sinner of this type of issue, mostly just that it can be a bit overwhelming at first, and of course knowing that it’s intended to add to the addictiveness of the game can be a bit iffy, but ultimately it isn’t too hard to ignore aspects you don’t care about and simply enjoy the ones you do.
It might be high time to touch on the battles themselves, which to many players might be their first encounter ever with the actual rules of these pretty collectible cards. While it might not be simplest card game ever invented, I’m happy to say the TCG Pocket variant is still intuitive, fun, and quite strategic once you get the hang of it. To summarize it in very brief: you play and evolve Pokémon from your hand onto the field and charge them up with energy types to allow them to attack. Just like in the RPGs, only one Pokémon is active at a time and can use one move per turn, while you can assign others to your “bench”, where they await their turn in the spotlight. Unlike in the RPGs, switching Pokémon won’t cost you your turn (only some energy), meaning benched Pokémon can potentially step into action immediately – if you have the energy necessary. Rather than any form of life-points, you win the battle by defeating three of your opponents’ Pokémon, which each award one point.
This bench system and charging up of your Pokémon before they can take action might in some regards make the game slower compared to other card games, but it also adds a strategic element, since you can generally see what moves you and your opponent have available in the immediate future and can only really be caught by surprise by item or support cards (which can be quite useful but rarely complete game changers). It’s not the type of game where you perform crazy one-turn game-winning combos, but it’s fun for the strategic aspect and of course the satisfaction that comes from evolving your Pokémon throughout the battle – and sometimes pulling off an impressive comeback.
Adding to this are the EX-cards, extra powerful cards that come with the added risk of rewarding the opponent two points if defeated rather than one. I’ve seen complaints that this risk is too big in a game when it only takes three points to win (unlike the physical version of the game where you need six points), but when the card is extra strong and you have the option of switching it out it seems justified, plus you still have that golden window of playing it when your opponent already has two points, at which point the extra risk is nullified.
Ultimately there is one distinct issue with the battle system, however, which is how type weaknesses are handled. Pokémon TCG, whether physical or digital, has condensed Pokémon down to nearly half as many types (a tad too few in my opinion, though all 18 would definitely have been overwhelming), while the weaknesses and resistances are reduced to one type per card, and in TCG Pocket resistances are removed so you only have the weaknesses. This, for example, means that (most) Water types are weak to Lightning but not Grass, while Fire types are weak to Water but not Ground (which has been combined with Fighting). The issue however is not so much the differences from the RPGs as it is simply having these basic and pretty consistent weaknesses in a game that, unfortunately, strongly encourages mono-type decks in its design (or one type + colorless), since you’ll be needing specific energy types to charge your Pokémon and receive them at random if your deck uses multiple types.
While there is something to be said for having to commit to certain types, it’s a bit unfortunate that it’s taken to the degree where dual-type decks can feel awkward and triple-type decks, while allowed, require very specific cards or a lot of luck to pull off. The result is that when most players play with only one type and all types have one weakness, online matches will often either play out without weaknesses playing any role or with one player having an advantage before the first card is even played. One can always hope that this is somehow redesigned a bit in the future, but for now it’s an unfortunate though not game-breaking issue, as the weaknesses are at least a bit milder here, adding only a flat amount of damage rather than a multiplier.
Lastly it wouldn’t review this game without mentioning the nostalgic aspect, which to many a player might add an extra appeal to the experience. Even as someone who hasn’t dabbled in Pokémon cards for nearly 20 years, I can still recognize many that I’ve owned myself at some point, and it’s also great to revisit the first generation, which has smartly put front and center for now (with a small mix from other generations on top). I consider it a good call to start off with a single set of a manageable size for now – one that doesn’t seem too daunting – while leaving plenty of room to grow in the future.
All in all, Creatures Inc. and Dena Co. have done a great job adapting the Pokémon card game to mobile in a way that can appeal to both old and new players, and to those who want to collect and those who want to battle. It brings Pokémon to life with great card art and, contrary to unfortunate trends, the game is also fairly generous to its free-to-play players (and certainly a cheaper alternative to collecting the physical cards). While it does suffer from a few design issues and some classic pitfalls, it’s overall one of the better mobile games out there at the moment and certainly worth checking out for those who have nostalgia for the Pokémon TCG or old school Pokémon in general.
More Articles
