Earlier this month on 17th July, under the invitation of DeNA Japan, QooApp was honored with a chance to try the highly anticipated mobile game, Pokémon Masters.
▍About the Event
This event is a two-hour exclusive media first-hand experience for DeNA’s upcoming mobile game made alongside The Pokémon Company, Pokémon Masters. The event was split into two main sections, first was a small tutorial session with the game’s producer Yu Sasaki. The second, first-hand experience with the upcoming game.
▍3-vs-3 Battle System
The core gameplay features a 3-vs-3 real-time combat system. Each player will be able to create their own team of 3 trainer and Pokémon duos, Sync Pairs, to reach their goal of becoming the champion of the Pokémon Master League.
During combat, the Move Gauge will automatically fill over time. Once full, players will be able to unleash powerful Sync Moves to deal devastating damage to their opponents.
▲ Name of skills also fits the style of each Sync Pair. Brock’s skill in Japanese originates from the original Pokémon games.
Asides from Sync Moves, players will also be able to use Trainer Skills and all sorts of different items during combat to change the tide of the fight.
▍Partner System & Training
When creating their own teams, players will have to put in consideration different elements, types, and skills to make the most out of each Sync Pair. Sync Pairs are separated into three categories, Attack, Technique, and Support. Each of the three types will have different stats and skills. At launch, the game will feature over 60 Sync Pairs. Sasaki also announced that in the future, trainers with mega-evolved Pokémon will be added to the game.
▍Solo vs Multiplayer
The new game features both single-player contents as well as multiplayer content. Single-player content has different difficulty levels and players will have to build their team depending on the opposing sides team composition. For multiplayer content, each player will be able to select up to three teams, however, each time, they will only be able to send out on team whilst the other two will act as support. Through swapping their teams during combat, players will be able to work together to unleash devastating combined attacks.
▍Evolution!?
Evolution is a pivotal part of the Pokémon series. In Pokémon Masters, players will be able to play through special scenarios for their Sync Pairs which will develop their story. Progressing through each Sync Pairs story will gradually allow the Pokémon to evolve!
▍Gameplay Review
During the event, the playable demo was already incredibly full-fledged, allowing us to really explore the different modes in the game. The game has already been announced to be free-to-play, and through progressing through the story and clearing tasks, players will be able to collect gems which can be used in a gacha-like system to find new Sync Pairs to use in their team composition.
Whilst the drop rate for 5★ Sync Paris was increased to 7% in the demo, like many other Pokémon games, the real challenge of the game is creating a team that fully utilizes the strengths and pokemon types of each Sync Pair to create a team that can easily defeat your opponent. For Pokémon fans, the game really brings out all the key-points of Pokémon games to allow both casual and hardcore fans to truly enjoy.
When trying the Multiplayer feature, we had a peek at what the online play could potentially become. Similar to raids, multiplayer modes feature much stronger opponents and really requires a basic understanding of Pokémon types to make victory within the players’ grasps. Fighting iconic gym leaders really made gave the fight the finishing touch to make it a Pokémon game that fans will find familiar. For fans that also follow the Pokémon manga series, multiple familiar faces can also be found!
The unique battle system of the game brilliantly brings new elements to the game and allows a whole new generation of Pokémon fans and mobile gamers alike to dive in deep to the new world setting of the game.
Despite the demo not having an actual PvP mode, the single-player PvE content and the multiplayer mode still gives the game a great impression. With how the game is set up, it isn’t hard to imagine what a PvP mode would feel like, but that will really depend on how the game grows in the future once launched.
Though the game is not officially released yet, as of today (25th July), the game has already soft-launched in selected regions! Surely, the actual release date cannot for far.
