Posted in: Games, Mobile Games, Niantic, Pokémon GO | Tagged: Inkay, Niantic, pokemon, pokemon go, Psychic Spectacular 2021

Pokémon GO Event Review: Psychic Spectacular 2021

The Psychic Spectacular 2021 event is now wrapping up in Pokémon GO. Let's take a look back at what went down during this first event of the Season of Mischief and see if it kicked things off with a strong start.

What worked in this Pokémon GO event

• Inkay release: Inkay and its evolution of Malamar were released. Niantic handled this release well, with Inkay prominent enough in the wild that it was possible to hunt and get enough Candy to evolve but still exciting when you saw one spawn. Photobomb encounters were also a plus.
• Upside down evolution: Evolving Inkay into Malamar could only be done when one's phone is upside down. This matched the way that Inkay evolved the main series games, and it's cool to see Pokémon GO adapt classic concepts in that way.
• No major monetized content: We're still coming off the heavily raid-driven and often egg-centric Ultra Unlock 2021, so it was a bit of a relief to not care about what's going on in raids.

What didn't work in this Pokémon GO event

• Was an event even happening? Wow, was this event low-key. Coming off of Ultra Unlock 2021, the wild spawns and the incredibly basic Timed Research made this event feel like nothing was going on. Especially considering this next bit.
• Compared to previous Psychic Spectaculars: This is a recurring event, with it happening in both 2018 and 2019. 2018 saw the release of Shiny Drowzee. 2020 went all in and saw the release of Shiny Baltoy and two new species with Gothita and Solosis. To put it lightly, there was a lot less to do with wild spawns this time around.

Overall

Niantic continues their pattern of starting Seasons off with events so slow that it feels like nothing is happening in Pokémon GO at all. The Inkay release was fun and there were a few good boosted spawns such as Wobbuffet and Woobat, but this is yet another event where more hardcore players would be left with little of interest to do.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!