Posted in: Games, Mobile Games, Niantic, Pokémon GO | Tagged: Niantic, pokemon, pokemon go, Team GO Rocket, Team Rocket

Pokémon GO Event Review: Team GO Rocket Takeover November 2022

Did November 2022's Team GO Rocket Takeover leave a positive impact on Pokémon GO? Let's take a look.

What worked in this Pokémon GO event

• Shiny release: Pawniard was once a highly coveted hatch when it first came out… but then, time dragged on, and it became one of the most common 12 KM Strange Egg hatches. When you walk 12 KM to hatch a single Egg, hatching a Pokémon that isn't Shiny-capable feels like a big L. Now that Pawniard can be Shiny, 12 KM Strange Eggs overall are more desirable. This isn't just a great feature of the event; it actually enriches the game longterm.
• New Shadows: New Shadows were released including Alolan Diglett, Onix, Natu, Wailmer, Golett, and their evolutions. I personally find that battling Rocket Grunts is normally only worth it to earn Components, so adding new Shadows that we can collect at least made the Grunt battles fun during the Takeover.
• Shadow Shiny switch up: Cliff has Machop, Sierra has Sableye, and Arlo has Mawile. Mawile is a returning Shiny Shadow, which means that both Machop and Sableye are newly Shiny-capable Shadows. As a big Shiny Shadow hunter, this is by far the most exciting part of the event… though I do miss the Shiny Shadow Starter hunt already, as grueling as it was.
• Giovanni returns: Giovanni Special Research is back. While it was imperfect (see below), I miss the monthly Team GO Rocket Special Research drops that culminated in Giovanni encounters, so I will take what I can get.

What didn't work in this Pokémon GO event

• No new Shadow Legendary: I get that Niantic is trying to roll things out slowly, but damn! We went from Shadow Legendary after Shadow Legendary to completely slamming on the brakes. With Apex Shadows introduced, there are endless new ways to keep rolling out releases, so I am not understanding why we couldn't have gotten a new Shadow Legendary here.

Overall

Team GO Rocket Takeover November 2022 was a solid event even though it lacked a Shadow Legendary release. Shiny hunters are leaving the event happy and with new goals in mind so when it comes down to it, it was a fun week of gameplay that added longterm value to Pokémon GO.

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