We’ve seen Pokemon games from the original creature collection RPG all the way to location-based Pokemon Go. But Pokemon Unite is the series, first entry into the MOBA space, which is completely unexpected, to say the least.
From the Pokemon Presents presentation, Pokemon Unite looks like an extremely simplified MOBA title. That being said, it does have a few interesting and unique mechanics of its own that sets it apart. For one, unlike most of the MOBAs out there, this one doesn’t have any towers. Instead, it has scoring areas called Goals. Then there’s the unique mechanic of evolution.
It sounds pretty good so far, but there’s a catch, no pun intended. For one, The Pokemon Company calls Pokemon Unite a free-to-start game, rather than straight-up free to play. Granted, that is Nintendo’s preferred term to use when referring to free-to-play games. But it could end up like Super Mario Run, which was literally free-to-start, but functions like a demo unless you paid for it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgWeEGBbJDQ
Of course, this announcement is sort of contradicting the very recent announcement of Nintendo slowing down on the mobile front. This is because Pokemon Unite is a title for the Nintendo Switch, as well as Android and iOS devices. But for what it’s worth, the game will support crossplay for the aforementioned platforms. It’s also worth noting that the game is still in development, so a lot can change between now and when the game gets released.
(Source: Nintendo / YouTube [1], [2])
