‘No soul’: Pokémon Go players lament how far game has fallen

Pokémon Go players have come together to lament just over how far they believe the famous handheld game has fallen in a Reddit thread on May 2.

The disgruntled fans believe several issues are to blame, including there being no benefit to exploring new places having or sinking hundreds of hours into the game, raids and spawn rates not being as good as they used to be, the same old Pokémon appearing time and time again despite Niantic having nine generations to choose from, events and seasons being subpar, and there being long gaps between debuts.

The thread’s original writer said they’ve played since 2016 and have noticed national parks and hiking trails no longer have any benefit when it comes to finding new Pokémon.

Now, they continued, rather than having to search far and wide like in the past, they simply need to visit a popular area like a mall to catch everything they need or do a raid to catch something exclusive. “It just feels like there is no soul to the game anymore.”

Others agreed, adding other complaints. The most common was there is little variation in wild encounters. They claim it never used to be like that and blame it on seasons. “Everything is entirely gated through purchase or release windows,” said one player. It also doesn’t help the spawn rates are absolute trash, in another player’s view, or that events tend to offer the bare minimum in terms of fresh content.

The biggest takeaway from it all is players want Niantic to give them more Pokémon to catch, and they’re even willing to set out and explore new areas to find them. They’re baffled it hasn’t happened yet, especially after Niantic doubled down on adding a daily limit to Remote Raid Passes, which suggests they’re trying to encourage players to be more active.

Pokémon Go’s daily player count has already taken a hit, and while it seems to be thriving, that could change if players continue to feel bored. The desire to quit was a common theme in the discussion, and that’s not a good sign.

It also shows the community isn’t just angry at Niantic for not bending the knee; they’re also sad about the game’s general state, and it comes from a place of love.