Pokemon Go is heading into Kalos Tour, or, if I’m reading the advertising terminology correctly, “Pokemon GO Tour: Kalos.” The team is touting more Mega Evolutions, which syncs up quite nicely, of course, with last year’s Pokemon Legends: Z-A. But the devs are bullish on a new mechanic called Super Mega Raids, which the marketing materials strongly recommend you get at least seven other players onboard with if you want to stand a shot.
Eight players (or more) go all in for Super Mega Raids, then, but you’ll want to be sure your, checks notes, Link Holder is properly charged. Can you tell I don’t play gachas much? It’s all good, though—or, at least, it used to be. Time was, Pokemon Go was a pretty goshdarned straightforward gacha, as gachas tend to go, but not anymore.
Recharge
“You’ll need to band together with at least seven other trainers,” Pokemon Go’s official website reads, “in order to take on exceptionally powerful Mega-Evolved Pokemon.” But you’ll need the Link Holder in order to get in on the action, and that’s the crux of the issue.
“Beginning with Pokémon GO Tour: Kalos, all Mega Raids, including Super Mega Raids, can be entered using a new type of resource, Link Charges. Depending on where you’re taking part in the raid, you’ll be able to use different resources to enter the battle.”
For those keeping score at home, this is, like, the seventh, maybe even the eighth, virtual currency that’s currently active in Pokemon Go. “The best way to collect Link Charges is adventuring with friends, old and new,” the website explains. “You will be able to earn Link Charges by completing weekly challenges, opening Gifts from friends, and checking into select community meetups via Campfire.” In other words, engage with our game a lot, and we’ll give you a chance to do this thing, so long as you find seven or more people who are also engaging a lot.
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Alternatively, of course? “Link Charges will also be able to be purchased from the in-game shop or the Pokémon GO Web Store.” Don’t get me wrong. Scopely, the new owners, aren’t doing anything that Niantic didn’t do beforehand. Nor has Niantic ever been remotely unique in the gacha sphere; if anything, there are many, many, games out there with far worse procedures. The big problem, in my book, and in the books of many of my friends who do still play Pokemon Go, is that this whole scenario kind of hinges on an ideal.
People don’t, generally, play Pokemon Go as they did ten years ago, or even five years ago. The game prints money, but not like it once did. The vast majority of once-hardcore players are less so, now. It has been a decade. That tends to happen. The concern that some in the still-active playerbase are having here is that, outside of Japan, it won’t be easy to suit up with seven people to attempt a Super Mega Raid on the turn of a dime. Combine this fact with the Link Charge issue, and we may be facing a situation within which Scopely either tunes down the difficulty, or a lot of folks just won’t be getting these Megas. C’est la Kalos.
