Pokémon Pocket is the newest TCG (trading card game), and it is a highly recognized game in the Pokémon community that has over one million downloads.
Personally, I believe that Pokémon Pocket is easy-to-learn and play. The tutorial is very user-friendly and will teach any new player all that they need to know about the game. The fluidity of basic actions and lack of lag have all enhanced user experience making the game much more enjoyable to play.
However, a game doesn’t come without a few problems. Pokémon packs are randomized with the rarest cards coming near the back of the pack. However, a video posted on November 5th, 2024 by “Dkayed Pokémon” illustrates that packs are undoubtedly rigged.
The playability of Pokémon Pocket overall is great, as the game is well-maintained and receives regular updates. For playability, I would rate it 4.25/5 Stars.
The art style of the game is well done, as the graphics are pretty high quality and the animations are smooth, which does cause a bit of lag in lower connection areas.
The card art is a bit “familiar” to say the least. Some cards, like the Skorupi, have an eerily similar design to the actual card design. I’m not trying to reprimand the developers for re-using designs, but it would be nice if new designs were included for a game.
Besides the art style, some cards have special designs like a silver border or a certain shimmer which helps to indicate their increased rarity. Most of these cards are full-art cards. Cards where the Pokémon is shown throughout the entire card with some background surroundings.
For the art style, I would rate the game a 4/5, as the cards could use some more diversity and a redesign, but overall they are still well done.
For the fundamentals, the game itself has some major problems. One of them is the illusion of choice when a player opens a card pack. This caused major unrest around the time of release. Second, the newly released trading function that was highly anticipated didn’t bode well with the community.
In the online game, players are required to use “Trade Tokens” to initiate a trade, which already limits the amount players can trade. Players can only trade cards of the same rarity, annoying the fanbase considerably. Not having the ability to freely choose which cards to trade undermines the main function of Pokémon. As a Trading Card Game; trading should be a very polished and respected feature.
I will still give Pokémon TCG a 2.25/5 for Pokémon fundamentals, as the battling aspect does not stray away from the game.
Overall, I will rate Pokémon TCG a 3.5/5 because of the issues it has in relation to the mainline Pokémon games and the basic ideology it strays away from. It still is a good game, but it does need major improvements to make it much better.
