Pokemon GO Halloween proves Niantic should introduce more themes throughout the year

After the conclusion of Pokemon GO's Halloween event, many players have been hit by the realization that the game's visuals are eerily empty and bland. This has led to a discussion about whether Niantic should include more dynamic themes on the map throughout the year, similar to what is done for the winter holidays and Halloween.

However, the conversation tends to shift when one looks at Pokemon GO as a whole. In reality, a very small part of the game is focused on the map. Many trainers just look at it every now and then to see if any wild creatures have spawned, only to turn their attention to a Raid Battle or the competitive Battle League.

Note: Some aspects of this article are subjective and solely reflect the opinions of the writer

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Does Pokemon GO need more themes for its map? A look at the game's graphics

Official artwork for the game (Image via Niantic)

Pokemon GO's current map view is a mess of light green, grey, and the occasional yellow highlight. Compared to any other popular mobile game, this title definitely takes some liberties in terms of its visuals. One could argue that a majority of the focus is given to the creatures, but this can be easily disproved by fans of the main series, who have proven that Niantic only reuses old models from the 3DS games.

When player battles and Raid Battles all use the same background, it's difficult to justify the stance that the budget went towards that aspect of the game. This has left some players with the impression that Niantic does not put any funds back into the title, leaving it in a terrible state by modern standards.

This especially shines through in the audio quality of Pokemon GO. Though it was relatively inoffensive when it first came out, the game still possesses a sound quality that is marginally worse than even that on the Nintendo 3DS. So, what does this leave players with in terms of appeal outside of the gameplay?

While Pokemon GO needs many updates to be on par with other popular mobile titles on the market, a good place to start with this would be the visuals. Recently, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet did the impossible and actually brought new, updated 3D models for all of the creatures included.

Introducing these new models would make a large portion of the game's roster much easier to look at, but it would leave the visuals feeling a bit jarring, considering the difference in model quality. With this in mind, it is very unlikely that the game would receive such a change until every Pocket Monster in the franchise receives a new model.

The next change that should be made is to the map. Going back to the theme of map visuals in Pokemon GO, many players feel that the standard map is empty and barren. A good way to solve this issue would be to include some floral decorations and grass textures, like the ones seen in Pikmin Bloom, another Nintendo mobile spin-off made by Niantic.

However, it is very unlikely that such quality updates will ever come to Pokemon GO. Given Niantic's track record with quality control for the popular mobile game, it is very likely that the company sees that the game is nearing the end of its lifespan. For this reason, investing time and effort into making such large graphical updates would be a waste of money.