Pokemon Go Fest 2020 Day 1 Preview

July 25, 2020 at 11:23pm
By Jason Stettner

I was generally quite excited to jump into the action of Pokémon Go Fest 2020 earlier today. It’s an event that you pay a premium to enter that provides you with activities over a two day weekend. That being July 25, and the 26.

It runs from 10am to 8pm in your local time, and it features a wide range of rolling activities. Now with that, I actually found this to be somewhat disappointing. It’s a neat offering, and honestly I’d like to see this happen a few times in a year. It’s just that what’s present here in comparison to the cost hasn’t quite felt worth it after the first day.

For context, I played at home a bit throughout the day while spending a few hours directly out at our city’s most concentrated Pokémon spot. This area is filled with stops, raid opportunities and of course Pokémon to catch.

I will note that it was pleasant to once again see lots of people out playing, I haven’t seen that since the launch of the game. This made raiding easier, yet at the same time the raids really didn’t have anything too wildly different. I think that was a lot of my problem with this, it was the same stuff we normally get but in a concentrated area.

After a few hours out I ended up with a single shiny Pokémon, luckily getting one more at home just prior to the end of the time allotment running out. I know that shinies are rare to come across and that this event amplifies that chance of spotting.

I had just assumed with the cost that the chance of finding them would be significantly higher. I checked out every Pokémon I could today, and caught hundreds. I will mention that I was fortunate to be able to check this out through Niantic, but having had to pay the $20.99 CAD cost I would be almost livid.

Now, there is a part two of this tomorrow which I’ll be checking out. It’s just not a strong sign having such disappointment after today. Even the main challenge which focused on differing types of Pokémon catching didn’t offer anything new. Essentially each hour had different types of Pokémon in focus, such as fire or say water the next.

Smaller global challenges rolled out during this time, and offered some nice boosts. Anyways, I did catch a few new ones I hadn’t had and was able to evolve three I had been working towards. It’s just that, I could do this regularly while playing if you get what I mean. I understand this concentrated my efforts into a day, but nothing here was really out of the realms of a regular day.

This would be a grand event for new players, but veterans will likely be left a bit disappointed here. I was hoping for some wow moment; or something where I’m like, this is why I bought this pass. I didn’t feel that, and neither did the individual I brought along with me on the tour. They ended up with a few more shinies than me, and even then they weren’t blown away.

I also chatted with some other friends taking part in this, and some similar thoughts were provided. I didn’t hate this by any means, I just sort of expected something more. I think if it cost a bit less, this would be a must do event that could happen a few times a year.

As a special once in I’m guessing maybe a lifetime global event, this could have certainly been better. I will note that it largely ran well while playing, but I did have some server issues here or there. Nothing to really complain about though. I just recall being so excited this morning to get out and hunt. I filled the gas tank, drove downtown and paid for parking to jump into this. I flipped on my lucky egg, swiped a star piece and plopped on some incense.

I had worked towards saving coins for storage if needed this past week and set forth to adventure. By the end of my day out, I was sort of just whelmed by it. Whatever the case, there’s still tomorrow and I hope that’s more exciting. It’s a good excuse to get out and get exercise though which is nice. With that, there’s a spots to catch guide below, and a general hubs for further game coverage.

Read our Pokemon Go Calgary Best Spots to Catch
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