Pokémon Unite is a great beginners’ MOBA

Pokémon Unite very simple, it doesn’t even need to hold your hand.

This is not a dig – quite the opposite, actually. The new free-to-play MOBA from The Pokémon Company and Tencent Games distills the genre formula into one incredibly accessible package. The initial tutorial, which takes about two minutes to complete, is plenty to be able to handle the game and learn how to take down a Pokémon of your choice.

The overall premise is simple. You will play in one of two teams of five and collect points by defeating wild Pokémon scattered throughout the area or by defeating members of the opposing team. Once you collect points, you go to designated areas in the opposing team’s field to add the points to your team’s total score. You score points by collecting points into a glowing energy ball and then dashing towards a goal that looks like a basketball hoop.

I’ve been surprised to find myself enjoying the game ever since MOBA has always threatened me. In League of Legends, There are over 150 champions, tons of lore and a completely pre-existing community – there can be a lot to take part in. NS League community, although not a block, also long-term treatment with cases of hate speech and toxicity. Opposite, Pokemon Unite without a full conversation like League. And while that might be a downside for some, for me it’s a safeguard from a bad experience.

With all of this, League of Legends: Wild Rift – a spinoff League games for mobile phones, supposedly this accessible entry point for League player – is an interesting prospect for me. However, the touch controls don’t work, and even the manual is a bit annoying. When jumping in Unite, I appreciate having a Switch console and constant prompts on how to play. (It’s also not a pity that most of my friends have Switches and I’ll have a hard time finding someone to play with) Wild Rift.)

There’s so much to do Unite design makes it accessible. Firstly, while you can get deeper into the game, you can get started pretty much after the first tutorial. (I did, and won a few matches.) You can learn it directly in the game, as all attacks and commands are labeled with which button to press. Even common activities like scoring prompts a small icon telling you which button you should press. Plus, each match lasts 10 minutes, so you know exactly what you’re getting into each time.

You can get more into it and build a custom character with items and skins, if you want. However, if you don’t want to participate in that, then you can play. Each standard base character doesn’t have much of an impact on play (yet), and I’ve had no issues winning matches with the included Pokémon.

There has been a tendency for developers to release simpler MOBAs like Heroes of the Storm and League of Legends: Wild Rift, and Pokémon Unite continue in this vein. It slaps its red cheeks into a once-hard-to-penetrate genre and does it on a massively popular console. All that’s left now is for it to come to mobile platforms later in the fall.