Creating a follow-up to Pokémon Go is an impossible task. The game was the kind of breakout success that had never been seen before — and might never happen again; it’s hard to overstate how the game was absolutely everywhere when it first launched in 2016. People were trespassing to catch Squirtles as the game set App Store download records. The wish fulfillment that came from seeing pokémon in the real world created a sensation that, even years after its peak, remains one of the biggest games in the world.
It was only natural that developer Niantic would try to follow that with something new. But re-creating the lightning in a bottle that is Pokémon Go hasn’t gone quite as planned, despite Niantic snapping up some enviable properties…