With Pokémon Go Tour: Kalos returning to the Rose Bowl for a third straight year, Niantic knows its way around the place. The team has figured out what works and what doesn’t. It knows where to focus its efforts, and operations have run more smoothly than in the first year here.
“We really run like a well-oiled machine,” said Angela Ferguson-Martens, the project manager for global live events. “And you know what the extra bandwidth that we gained from that, we’re able to really plus up that trainer experience. You’ll see new things out in the venue this year that we haven’t had at Go Tours in a while.”
That was evident in an event that packed enough content for fans but also still encountered hiccups as Niantic tried to improve the formula.
The GOOD
Pokémon Go Tour: Kalos was slightly smaller compared to previous years, with three habitats that reflected the Pokedex of the Kalos region in “Pokémon X” and “Pokémon Y,” according to Ferguson-Martens. With fewer zones, the event felt more manageable as trainers moved between different areas for Pokémon players wanted.
The habitats also had more interesting attractions spread through zone. The Mountain Manor had several photo opportunities spread about, and each zone had tents with notable places to visit, such as a Team Lounge for those seeking specific trades or a Community Ambassador Hub to grab a Campfire check-in, though it didn’t add a new quest or anything like that, unfortunately.
It was also nice to see how each zone had its own in-game ground texture, which let players know where they were on the larger map. The raid timers were also rapid, giving players a better chance at hunting a sought-after legendaries or tackling Mega Raids for gaining Mega Energy for Victreebel or Malamar.
Another enjoyable aspect of Pokémon Go Tour: Kalos was the small quest focused on Furfrou. Throughout the map, players could find special stops that featured the Poodle Pokémon with different haircuts. Many of these are region-exclusive. It was great to search for them around the Rose Bowl like a scavenger hunt and to be able to grab these sought-after variations. It was the closest thing that the event had to a story.
Ferguson-Martens also pointed out that Niantic brought a battleground area, where player-versus-player competitions can take place. She also said that Pokémon Go Tour: Kalos also has its first dedicated Pokémon Center pop-up shop with exclusive merchandise that’s curated for the region.
Although the battleground wasn’t publicized much, it was a nice addition for PvP players. The shop drew plenty of visitors because the closest establishment of its kind is in the Nintendo Store in San Francisco.
By far, the most impactful improvement was the introduction of Mega Night, a two-hour event after Go Tour hours. It had a huge surprise – the introduction of Mega Dragonite, a Pokémon that was featured in “Pokémon Legends: Z-A.” In an era of datamining, it’s hard to keep a secret from fans, but the way it unfolded with players attacking Dragon-themed Mega Raids on the way to the big surprise was well done.
THE BAD
Although the Raids were on quick timers, parts of the areas lacked gyms. It would have been better to have one or two more clusters in places such as the south end of Mansion Manor or the eastern end of the Rose Bowl or the Rose Bowl itself for players waiting in line for pictures with Pokémon mascots. Essentially, any place with lines should be a place where players can raid while they wait.
Another issue was that the variety of Pokémon seemed to be lacking. A large part of that is because “Pokémon X” and “Pokémon Y” didn’t have the biggest roster of new Pokémon, but I wish Niantic placed full-grown Sylveons instead of Eevees on the map or Meowtastic instead of having Espurr. Anytime players see a Pokémon that they’ve never seen before on the map makes the event feel more special.
THE UGLY
Although Pokémon Go Tour: Kalos had plenty to do, Niantic could have done more to explain to players what was available. One of those was the En Garde limited-time quest, which many players didn’t know about or were confused about how to find it. That quest also raised an issue with the design of the event.
The Tours never had any routes in the Rose Bowl, and that was always an underused aspect of the game. The routes could have added more structure to the event or at least guided players around the highlights of each habitat.
It would be better to give players a checklist of activities available to check out for next time, just so they know what’s there.
The other problem was that there were a few Super Mega Raids at the event. They had long timers and even longer lobby times of more than five minutes. This created massive groups where more than 4,000 players waited to fight Mega Evolutions of Malamar and Victreebel. Quite predictably, these raids crashed with so many people jammed into one place. It was a total waste of time for players.
Lastly, the Mega Night was great, but it also suffered from similar problems. There were so many people trying to battle Mega Dragonite that it crashed the game for me or created a lot of lag. It would have been better to spread out the gyms for these special raids so that players wouldn’t herd into one area, or at least, they could shift the infrastructure to provide more cell towers to the gameplay area.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Pokémon Go Tour Kalos kicks off a busy year for franchise and mobile game. For “Pokémon,” the series will celebrate its 30th anniversary beginning Feb. 27. With “Pokémon Go,” the mobile game will be marking its 10th anniversary.
Ferguson-Martens calls Pokémon Go Tour: Kalos a tone-setter for a momentous year. It’s often nostalgic and looks back. The next big event is Pokemon Go Fest, which returns to Chicago, and is still the flagship celebration for the mobile game. Recently, Niantic has added a third major event on the calendar with the Pokemon Go Wild Area,. The project manager positioned it as the capper for the year.
“You can kind of see the journey go through with this. It’s a test of strength,” she said. “Can you complete those difficult raids? It’s really a culminating moment at the end of the year to see how much you grew. I think it’s a really fun progression we built.”
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