amphibious_ReViews

I guess I have a thing about playing mobile games that are on their deathbeds. I didn't pick up Harry Potter: Wizards Unite until Niantic announced that it was being shut down. It wasn't for a lack of interest though; I was definitely intrigued by the concept, and I am a fan of the Wizarding World , I just couldn't see myself balancing two location-based games at a time, and I still play Pokémon Go regularly. Now that the game is officially in its end-of-life, there are no long-term commitments to be made, and I can enjoy it for a bit without feeling bad when I decide to move on. I also had an unexpected sense of freedom since I didn't feel like I needed to ration my resources for later use. I could use anything I wanted on a whim without worrying that there would have been better opportunities for use if I had just saved them. With this overwhelming sense of freedom, I was able to dive right into Wizards Unite . Using my Pokémon Go instincts, I just started clickin

Niantic 's biggest hit came out of a partnership with Nintendo . With the perfect balance of familiar and new mechanics, propelled by its world-famous branding, Pokémon Go has kept the company alive for half a decade. Unfortunately, none of its other games have managed to have the same impact, with one already shut down and another in its end-of-life. While I had big hopes for Pikmin Bloom and its revival of one of Nintendo 's dormant franchises, I foresee it suffering the same fate before long. While the game is definitely cute, there's nothing here with the staying power of Pokémon Go, or even Wizards Unite . Where Niantic 's other games are all about doing things while walking, Pikmin Bloom is pretty much just about walking. You grow new Pikmin by walking, you earn the in-game currency by walking, you activate flowers (the equivalent to Pokéstops or Inns) by walking, and you level up by walking. The goal of the title seems to be to foster a community around the

With the release of Unova Pokémon imminent and the upcoming Sword and Shield on the horizon, I have realized that Pokémon Go is probably my definitive Pokémon experience. Although it isn't very good at following the well-established traditions of the series, Pokemon Go absolutely has the necessities of collecting and battling, with the added bonus of an amazing community that is hard not to spot tapping their phones in the streets. I started playing this game when it originally released in 2016, but I dropped off quickly due to incompatibility with my old phone (and playing on an iPad  is super lame). Upon the announcement that the Let's Go  games would be compatible with their cousin on mobile phones, I decided to try again and was immediately hooked. The ability to play a meaningful game of Pokémon absolutely anywhere you go is a lot more valuable than it would initially seem. However, I think my biggest draw is that the developers are dedicated to releasing every Poké