Rank the Big Four Pokemon Apps

[Nicolas721]

Hi guys, as we all know the Pokemon marketing for spin-offs is nowadays focused in 4 Pokemon apps: Pokemon Go, Pokemon Unite, Pokemon Cafe Mix and Pokemon Masters, all of which are more than one year old and have many weekly updates. I remember somewhat how they were received when they came out but I have not heard much of them afterwards, so a thread like this should be useful for you to expose the pros and cons of each app, whether you still play them, which one you will not recommend and which one you will keep playing until the end of time. Have fun!

 

[Okido]

For me personally (as someone who plays these games casually and entirely F2P):

1. Masters EX
2. GO
3. Café ReMix

Masters is not really a game that's for everyone, especially if you're not that invested in the franchise's characters — but it has a lot of its own charm, a good amount of challenge, the soundtrack is phenomenal, and it's improved a lot over time thanks to the updates since its release. It still has some issues here and there, as all gacha games do, but I love just opening it every now and then whenever a cool event pops up. Very rare to see a game like this with some real polish put into it, and I appreciate that.

GO is fun, and it's much more enjoyable now than it was at launch, but your mileage will surely vary. I'm lucky enough to live in a city where there's lots of Gyms and Stops and wild Pokémon spawning within walking distance, but if you live in a smaller or more remote place (or just don't have anyone to play it with!), you're probably not gonna get much out of it. I've really never been able to get into it hardcore like others have either; I picked it up again over this last summer and played it every day for a while, but the novelty of it has worn off pretty quickly.

I've played Café ReMix a few times very briefly, just because I loved Pokémon Shuffle Mobile back in the day and I want to support whatever Genius Sonority comes out with... and while I adore its art style, the gameplay just isn't engaging for me at all. I can see the appeal, and I would definitely give it another shot at some point in the future, but it just never clicked with me personally.

I have never played UNITE so I can't fairly rank it here, but to be honest, I've never felt any interest in trying it. It seems to me like what you see is basically what you get, and MOBAs are very much not my thing. And even from the people who do play and enjoy it, I can't say I've really heard much about the game itself, which worries me lol.

 

[Battista]

Go automatically gets top billing for me solely because you can transfer Pokemon to Home and the main series games. If Masters in particular did this I would take to it a lot more kindly.

Cafe Remix I suppose could technically incorporate this too. I had fun at first with that one but it was ultimately pretty shallow.

 

[Emelie]

I like the stories of Pokémon Masters but the mircotransations and gambling elements give me anxiety. I hate not knowing when my favorite character who isn't in the game might appear. Buying gems is too expensive for what you get and saving for something that you might not get at all is also disheartening.

I don't want to play Pokémon in public so I don't like playing Go. But the idea itself is nice, gamification of excercise.

 

[Sheep]

None are perfect but I'll vote GO. It's the one I have played for most of its availability. Took a almost year-long break from 2017 to 2018 but every other time I've been playing actively, so that's about 6 years now. Niantic is far from perfect and the game is riddled with problems that never seem to end, but it is a lot of fun to go out and catch things.

My full order...

1) GO
2) Masters
3) Cafe ReMix (cute!)
4) Unite

Not into MOBAs. Couldn't stick with Unite sadly =(

 

[Digifiend]

I enjoy listening to the Masters soundtrack on Youtube, but can't download the app as it's apparently not compatible with my phone! I have no interest in GO because of the need to go out while playing it. I don't feel safe having my phone out for long periods while outdoors. I didn't know Cafe ReMix existed, and I'm not a fan of MOBAs, so I haven't tried Unite.

 

[colours]

masters > everything else

which is a bit odd because i've stopped playing masters years back. like, before its first anniversary sorta thing. this actually wasn't by choice - i got busy with life and other things - but by the time i've managed to boot up masters again, it changed in ways where i feel like i couldn't really catch up or really understand and had to re-learn how battling works and how to set up a team and all that and i just... didn't feel like it. yes, it's a selfish reason, but alas.

i don't like pokemon go because i live a suburb and for whatever reason the app constantly thinks i live in the middle of bloody nowhere even though i live in a pretty decently populated area but whatever.

haven't played cafe remix or unite to really say, but i'm also not interested in them, either.

 

[Turbo]

1) Go: I like Go a little more than Masters EX
Mostly as it does have some connection with the mainline games
Like the bulbasaur I caught in Go is in my copy of Sword

And I do enjoy it's casual nature that I can just play it anytime and it not require my full attention or have to play it everyday

2) Masters EX: Where Masters EX has that story aspect I enjoy, the gatcha elements will always be a mix bag for me

3) Cafe Remix: It's fine, I'm surprised it's lasted this long tbh, but as someone who does play it, it's basically the same as when games like Pokemon shuffle and the pinball games were big so its fine

4) Unite: Unite I think has potential to be ranked anywhere, I have it last as it is kinda dying, and its becoming more and more less accessible for new and returning players imo like I tried playing a quick game the other day and it took much longer to find a match than before and now everyone is using the newer Pokemon so I felt a bit out of my depth but that would come back the more I play it but also Unite is the least casual of the four so if it's not something you take seriously it's hard for me to rank it higher as it seems only those that still play it would rank it higher