Posted in: Games, Mobile Games, Niantic, Pokémon GO | Tagged: Niantic, pokemon, pokemon go, Season of Discovery, Season of Mischief

Pokémon GO Complete Season Review: Season of Discovery

The Season of Discovery is wrapping up tomorrow in Pokémon GO. This is the game's third-ever season, following December 2020's Season of Celebration and March 2021's Season of Legends. How did this season measure up and set the bar for future endeavors? Let's take a look back and see what worked and what didn't.

What worked in this Pokémon GO season

• Sustained improvement: The Season of Legends was a major improvement over the Season of Celebration, which was itself a low point in the history of Pokémon GO. The Season of Celebration continued that improvement with a string of interesting and unique events, with the highlights being the unique Bidoof Breakout, the first day of GO Fest 2021, and the wildly unpredictable Ultra Unlock 2021.
• Interesting spawns: I found that there was more carry-over with the spawns, with some of the staple Season of Legends Pokémon still being prominent here. I personally liked that it wasn't a harsh change, but rather an interesting one that made me want to explore. It was especially fun seeing evolving Pokémon, namely the Shiny-capable Slowbro (thanks Mega Raids) as a rare but present wild spawn.
• GO Fest 2021 Day One: This was about as fun as Pokémon GO gets. Major Shiny hunt, great Stardust and XP grind, amazing spawns, fun and silly costumes, a new Mythical, and simply a fantastic time.
• Ultra Unlock 2021: With the new Shiny releases and new species, Ultra Unlock 2021 felt way more generous and well-thought-out than last year's Ultra Unlock. It finally seemed to harken back to Ultra Bonus (the old name for the event) of 2019 which included Regional Pokémon.
• Narrative: I love that we're beginning to see a bit more story in Pokémon GO with Niantic building toward the release of Hoopa next season. More of this, please.
• Galarian Surprise: To say that it was daring to have a major Galar release during Ultra Unlock due to Hoopa's tampering was an understatement. While some players didn't understand it, thinking that Niantic was "skipping" Alola, I thought this was the perfect way to keep the game surprising after many years of playing it while also ramping up the weirdness of the current Hoopa arc.
• Communication: Last Season, I put Niantic's communication as a major flaw. And it was. This time around, Niantic stepped up and responded to an extremely intense Pokémon GO boycott (regarding the decreased Poké Stop distance) with efficiency, speed, and clarity. Now, they have even revamped the look of the blog with new graphics and a clearer structure. Important information now comes as in-game pop-ups rather than just Tweets. Good on Niantic!
• Shiny Palkia & Dialga: What more needs to be said?

What didn't work in this Pokémon GO season

• GO Fest 2021 build-up: I fondly remember four weeks of intense Timed Research counting down to 2020's GO Fest. It felt like we were getting ready for something special and it was one of the most fun times playing Pokémon GO. 2021's build-up, on the other hand, was the quietest part of the season. It felt like nothing was really happening until GO Fest 2021 started. This is something I strongly feel Niantic should reconsider next year, because the hype in the community felt markedly lower without these build-up events.

Overall

Overall, the Season of Discovery is the best Season yet, which has continued the seasonal arc of improvement that began with the Season of Legends. Hopefully, Pokémon GO can keep up this overall improvement from Season to Season.

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