Pokemon
Pokemon
The best build and moveset for Crustle in Pokemon Unite
William Davis
For the players that like to tank up damage and lock down opponents with crowd control, Crustle has turned out to be a strong and fun pick in Pokemon Unite. The big bug Pokemon has more damage than most would think and can either chase or run away from fights at incredible speeds. After originally being the probable worst pick in Pokemon Unite, Crustle can now help players hit Master …
Pokemon
Pokemon Unite player discovers every special move that can crit
William Davis
With 22 playable Pokemon currently available in Pokemon Unite and each one having seven different moves each, the number of skills in the game are already starting to rack up. All moves in the game have each of their own strengths, but some have the ability to hit a bit harder due to the fact that they can be a critical hit, offering a random chance of landing for even …
Pokemon
Hidden files leak that Greedent is coming to Pokemon Unite
William Davis
Data miners recently discovered that Greedent will likely be making its way to Pokemon Unite in the near future, but what is known about Sword and Shield’s leading squirrel? The playable roster of Pokemon is still very limited in Pokemon Unite, with just two new releases since the game became available on Nintendo Switch. Joining the original 20 Pokemon, both Gardevoir and Blissey were added in August, suggesting that two …
Pokemon
All Pokemon expected to be in Pokemon Legends: Arceus
William Davis
Pokemon Legends: Arceus is set to release on January 28 next year, but plenty of Pokemon, both new and old, have already been revealed as part of the game. The game will be a completely new take on Pokemon, as it will be a big RPG taking place in the Hisui region centuries before it became the Sinnoh region from Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. So far, it looks like the …
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Blissey’s Pokemon Unite release date and moves revealed
William Davis
The next Pokemon to arrive in Pokemon Unite will be none other than Blissey, who is set to release on Wednesday, August 18. It has been known for a while that Blissey will be coming to Pokemon Unite, but most players were expecting Blastoise to follow Gardevoir as the second DLC Pokemon. Instead, Blissey will be the next to arrive in Pokemon Unite and may be poised to remove Eldegoss …
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Pokemon Unite may be hiding bots behind real user names
Olivia Richman
Ever have a bunch of lousy teammates and exclaim that it’s like playing with bots? That might actually be the case, as some are claiming that Pokemon Unite is using actual players’ user names to hide bots. Using bots in order to artificially reduce queue times is somewhat common in online multiplayer games, but it’s unknown whether Pokemon Unite employs this practice. The developers haven’t officially confirmed that this is …
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The best moves and items for Venusaur in Pokemon Unite
William Davis
Venusaur is a Pokemon that every fan of the franchise will know from the very first generation. In Pokemon Unite, Venusaur was one of the first playable Pokemon added to the game, working as a ranged special attacker. Venusaur is a fairly reliable damage dealer but will also be able to tank and sustain much better than other carries in this game. To play Venusaur successfully, it’s important to understand …
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Here are the best skills, items for Talonflame in Pokemon Unite
Steven Rondina
Talonflame stood among the worst Pokemon available when Pokemon Unite launched but the first major balance patch was a major improvement for the fire-type bird Pokemon. Talonflame is still an awkward Pokemon at its core, serving as a squishy initiator. But the first balance patch improved Talonflame’s damage to the point where opponents need to take it seriously. Alongside its DPS, Talonflame also has a powerful Unite move for the …
Here is everything we know about Blastoise in Pokemon Unite
Olivia Richman
News
Pokemon Unite has taken the gaming world by storm, combining the competitiveness of League of Legends with the popularity of Pokemon. But just a few weeks since its official launch on the Nintendo Switch, players are already clamoring for more playable characters. Right now, Pokemon fans are buzzing about Blastoise coming to the game. The Gen 1 water starter is conspicuously missing from the roster despite being one of the …
Here are the best skills, items for Greninja in Pokemon Unite
Steven Rondina
News
Greninja was initially in a tricky spot in Pokemon Unite due to its unfortunate status as a worse version of Cinderace. Unfortunately, Greninja hasn’t completely shed that label quite yet but the Pokemon does stand as a solid pick in its own right. The Pokemon X and Y starter is tailor made for maneuvering to and wiping out the enemy backlines in team fights. Greninja’s optimal pathing works around that, …
The best skins in Pokemon Unite and how to get them
William Davis
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Pokemon Unite is rapidly expanding by adding new playable Pokemon to the game and including balance updates to keep the game fresh and interesting. Another part of the game that is constantly being developed is the skins that can be purchased to change the appearance of the Pokemon. Skins are already known as a popular product in League of Legends, Counter-Strike Global Offensive, Fortnite, and many other big online multiplayer …
Pokemon stands as the largest cross-media IP in the world by a comfortable margin, but how did it make such explosive gains?
For a long while, pivoting a video game franchise into a larger brand seemed impossible. Iconic titles like Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, and Resident Evil received TV and film adaptations, with the most common result being catastrophic failure. That was the norm from the 1990s all the way into the 2020s; and it probably shouldn’t have been.
While Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li and Silent Hill: Revelation were irredeemably bad, Pokemon showed that a video game series can be adapted into many different mediums. Here’s a quick history of the franchise and its future outlook.
Pokemon explodes with Game Boy games, quickly expands
Pokemon first arrived in Japan in 1996 with the release of Pokemon Red and Green; a pair of titles for the Nintendo Game Boy. The two games were largely identical, but each one had a handful of Pokemon that were exclusive to those titles. This encouraged players to collect and trade these monsters with others who purchased the games.
Later on in 1996, the game was reimagined as a trading card game. Then in 1997, an anime adaptation launched in Japan.
Both of those rapid-fire expansions earned strong success domestically. More importantly, it primed Pokemon for an overwhelming global push.
In 1998, the franchise officially crossed over into North America, Europe, and Australia. The games were killer apps for the Game Boy but it wasn’t just a video game. An accompanying anime aired new episodes daily, and the trading card game exploded out of the gate. This made it difficult to ignore Pokemon to the point where characters like Ash Ketchum and Pikachu were universally recognizable. Just like that, the franchise was unstoppable.
Pokemon expands beyond Nintendo consoles, grows even further
For decades, Pokemon video games were among the top-selling games each year they came out. The Pokemon TCG was one of the biggest in the industry. The anime was a constant, without even mentioning its many spin-off movies. Licensing characters for toys and apparel was a golden goose for all involved.
But the franchise was still positioned to grow further.
Almost all of the games were exclusive to Nintendo’s gaming hardware, but mobile gaming was on a sharp rise of its own. The franchise also released a long list of spin-offs, successfully turning the series into everything from a pinball game to a beat ‘em up. The Pokemon Company had dabbled with PC and mobile games previously, but started actively partnering with other studios in the 2010s.
The biggest example of this was Pokemon GO. The Pokemon Company partnered with AR game studio Niantic was an instant hit, being downloaded hundreds of millions of times. It was far from alone, however. Battling-focused gacha game Pokemon Masters, MOBA adaptation Pokemon Unite, and puzzle game Pokemon Cafe launched in the following years.
It wasn’t just licensed mobile games, though. Games like Detective Pikachu and New Pokemon Snap gave players fresh and varied ways to enjoy the familiar franchise.
Modern Pokémon games see mixed response, but sales remain strong
Though Pokémon has many lifelong fans, the mainline releases have long attracted controversy within the fandom. Though the first few generations were generally beloved, opinions on new and modern games releases vary wildly. Starting with the Nintendo Switch, critical response to the games wavered.
Reviews for Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee were lower than previous entries in the series. That pattern held with Pokémon Sword and Shield, which were also met with extreme backlash on social media.
Though each mainline game made every monster from previous generations available up until Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, this ended with Sword and Shield. Several fan favorites, including Beedrill and the Unovan starters, were made unobtainable in the game. The mega evolution and Z-move battle mechanics were also removed from the games. It’s unclear why or what methodology was used to determine which of the little monsters were left out.
Reviews sank further from there, with Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, then Pokémon Scarlet and Violet garnering the lowest review averages for mainline games.
Despite this, the games were still an enormous commercial success. Pokémon Sword, Shield, Scarlet, and Violet ranked among the best-selling games in franchise history. Its publisher may have heeded some of the fan criticism however, as the company opted against releasing a new mainline game or expansion in 2024. This was the first year without a major game release since 2015.
