The New Winter Setting is Really Nice in Pokemon GO

While all the events and weird ticketed research is going on, there’s one thing that’s somewhat slipped under the radar, despite being obvious. The recent art for Pokemon GO has been really nice. We have a sweet loading screen with a happy Spheal and everything is slightly icy, with piles of snow on the world map and festive Christmas trees on the catch screen. It actually feels somewhat wintery. Like a proper seasonal change. This leads me to one question.

Can we have actual seasons please?

This year, we’ve actually already seen a few graphic upgrades, such as the changing time of day, with sunrise and sunset being represented in-game. But with the new winter look, I don’t see why we can’t have something similar all year long. Both on the map and when catching Pokemon. Back in October, over Halloween, we had a new world map. But the catch screen was still its normal vanilla self. For the holiday break, it’s more complete since it has the catch screen too; the Halloween event missed out on that. We’ve also had various other effects, like fireworks at the end of GO Fest and the appearance of hoops and portals in the sky when Hoopa came out.

But yeah, why can’t we have normal seasons? I think it’d be a lovely thing to include, to make things a bit more immersive. Otherwise we have the same map, the same catch screen, for pretty much forever.

Maybe not the confetti.

We’d have to minimize the falling particles though. Not only are falling items distracting, but they can also bog down your phone. The random particles use up more memory than you’d think, and can cause slowdowns and lag on your mobile device. Plus, these things can get in the way of actual weather. You kinda don’t really want fake snow interrupting the actual snow outside. Then again, the weather is generally inaccurate anyway, and I am pretty sure the button to report the weather doesn’t do anything meaningful.

One other thing, it would be nice to change the loading screen image more regularly. I’m sure there’s multiple talented people who can draw up a new loading screen image once a month. The loading screens tend to stick around even when the weather, season and events are all changing. We could also have random loading screens, with a different image each time you log in. But that would be extra work, and no one likes extra work.

The only extra work is that you’d have to have the proper seasons for each side of the globe. After all, in Australia currently, it’s summer, while over here, it’s winter. It’s unfair to just stick the same season everywhere when it doesn’t make sense. Maybe keep the festive lights, but the snow is out of place on half the planet.

Either way, Pokemon GO could do with some updated graphics, we’ve been staring at the same green ground for a while. A nice visual update would be great. Even if it’s just throwing down the odd pile of snow or leaves.