The Pokémon Company has just unveiled Pokémon Unite, a 5v5 multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) developed by The Pokémon Company and Tencent’s TiMi Studios.
Objectives
The objective of Pokémon Unite is to score more points than the opposing team within the ten-minute time limit.
Teams score points by gaining control over a capturable area, similar to League of Legends Dominion game mode.
Selecting your Pokémon
The game starts with five players on each team picking their Pokémon for the battle. There have been ten confirmed Pokémon so far, coming from different generations of Pokémon titles throughout the years:
- Blastoise
- Charizard
- Clefable
- Gengar
- Lucario
- Machamp
- Pikachu
- Snorlax
- Talonflame
- Venusaur
There are no type advantages in Pokémon Unite, as each Pokémon has its own unique traits and abilities.
Leveling up and abilities
After locking in a participating Pokémon for the battle, the loading screen will display the pocket monsters’ final evolutions for both teams. However, all Pokémons will be starting the battle in their non-evolved forms. As they gain experience and level up, they will eventually evolve until they reach their final evolution.
As Pokémon level up, players will have the freedom to choose their skills and customize it according to their playstyle. Charizard’s Fire Spin ability can take a close range (Fire Blast) or long range (Flare Blitz) approach depending on the player’s choice.
Unite move
Upon reaching level 9, players will unlock the Unite move which is where the game acquired its title from. Unite moves are the ultimate abilities of a Pokémon that can make or break a teamfight.
“Each Pokémon has a different Unite move with powerful effects. Choosing when to use your Unite move and attempting to read when the opponent will use theirs is part of the excitement of the match,” according to Pokémon Unite game producer Masaaki Hoshino.
The map
Pokémon Unite’s map shows the ally’s side on the left and the opponent’s side on the right. The map is quite small, as there are only five scoring areas / goals for each side and a total of two lanes to roam around.
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Gameplay
To win the battle, players must catch wild Pokémon that inhabit the playing field and unload the captured Pokémon in the opponent’s goal area to score points.
Retreating towards goals also helps players recover lost HP. Pokémon who have been knocked out will respawn after a short period of time. It is also important to take note that goals can be destroyed, setting up fewer healing spots throughout the map.
The game has a timer that runs for ten minutes, and all points earned on the last two minutes of the game are doubled.
Devices
Pokémon Unite will be making its debut on the Nintendo Switch and on Android and iOS devices as a free-to-start game. It will also support cross-platform play.
Release date
The developers have not shared any information on when Pokémon Unite will officially be released, but President and CEO of The Pokémon Company Tsunekazu Ishihara is looking forward to sharing more details in the future.
Here is our first look at Pokémon Unite, presented as a part of the Pokémon Presents showcase.
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