I debated writing a review about Pokemon Champions at all. For one, the very first release is apparently a glitchy bugged mess (not that I’ve encountered much of it myself yet) and two, it’s live service, so this review potentially might age poorly.
It probably goes without saying, but Nintendo didn’t send us a code for this one. Instead our author decided to write something up from their own library. And, why not?
Pokemon Champions isn’t even really a game, to be honest with you. It’s a facilitator to Pokemon battles. It’s a program, a tool almost, but as someone who had been trying to get into the competitive scene since Generation Five (and playing since Generation One), I don’t actually have a problem with this. I’ve seen a huge amount of chatter from people online complaining that there’s none of the emotional connection from Pokemon here, that it’s just barebones battling. I’d argue against the barebones part, and there is technically a story, but I think anybody complaining about this kind of thing is totally missing the point. If you want a Pokemon adventure, go play any of the other mainline games (or dip into a spin-off if you’re feeling fancy). If you want to battle? Come here.
When you first start Champions up, you’re thrown into a fairly lengthy tutorial, and then given some robust training missions afterwards which should leave you primed and ready with a six Pokemon team and basic knowledge of how it all works. It doesn’t go as far as to explain the type chart, but with the help of a Rotom-infused earpiece, the game just tells you how match ups work. I am unsure how I feel about this. As someone who spent the time leading up to the launch relearning type charts and theory-crafting teams based around type synergy, part of me chafes against this kind of streamlining. The more I think about it, though, the less I care, and when I’m having a brain fart trying to remember exactly how a move interacts with every type on the field, it is a welcome reminder.
There’s a basic currency that you have to spend to do anything (recruit pokemon, change moves or stats, buy cosmetics and held items) but most individual actions also have vouchers which you can redeem instead of paying. Currency and vouchers are given away for completing challenges and progressing through the battle pass. This is the only mention I’m going to make of the battle pass. If you’ve paid any live service game, you know how this works, there’s a (real world money) paid version with all the rewards, but one in every three or so are free to earn. All of these (non-cosmetic) rewards can be brought in the shop (at least in season M-1), so all you save is time. You cannot buy the in game currency with real world money, so there is no pay-to-win aspect here, just time saving.
In battles, the game is positively gorgeous. If you remember the first time you went from the 2D handheld games to Stadium, Coliseum, or Battle Revolution, you’ll remember the sheer awe of seeing your favourite moves in smooth, full 3D with fancy effects. Even with all the mainline titles being 3D now, a metric ton of polish has gone into just making the battles themselves look better. I wish I could say the same care was given in the rest of the game. Sure, the same graphical quality is there, but performance? Even the most basic of animation or cutscene outside the battle stadium stutters and halters. I feel like I’m playing an overambitious Gamecube game again. I’m in docked mode, and I’ve heard that there are some issues if you launch the game docked, but even launching it in handheld and then docking doesn’t seem to solve the problem.
It’s difficult for me to talk about the gameplay experience as a whole, because this is going to change depending on when you play. It’s a live, competitive environment, so of the few items and Pokemon available at launch, I can’t really say what this is all going to be like in a few month’s time. If you’re used to a full suite of items and a whole region of Pokemon, prepare to be disappointed. However, I again think this is an issue of expectations, not of Champions itself. The program is just here to facilitate competitive battles, so this is only the same as having the normal restrictions on a season.
The question on everyone’s lips is how easy is it to set up and get going? Or to change a team as you learn? The answer is incredibly easy. Training a Pokemon and changing stats, abilities and moves is done with easy to use sliders and menus, my only complaint being that moves can only be changed one at a time, not all four at once. There’s also robust filters when going through moves too, which is handy. You’ll have a slightly slower time if you’re going completely free to play, as beyond the initial team of six Pokemon you get given, you’ll have to recruit everything manually, but I would bet that anybody checking this out at least plays Pokemon GO, or has a mainline game or two that they can import Pokemon from through Pokemon HOME.
Imported Pokemon come through with an approximation of the stats they had in their home game, and most of them will probably need altering before they can be used in a battle. I found about 80% of the Pokemon I brought through either didn’t have full stats (even though they were in the high 70-90 level wise and had been in my playthrough teams) or because their movements were incompatible with the current sets in Champions. Again, it’s a simple process to get this sorted, but it all costs vouchers or currency, so you may have to grind out with your starter team in order to earn enough to start building your own.
My conclusion here is simple. Manage your expectations. If you want to have a pretty way to battle Pokemon, and even have a slight inkling of wanting to play competitive (even casually, which feels oxymoron to say but I’m hoping you catch my drift), this FREE software is well worth a download and a few hours of your time. If you want to sink money into it after that, that is your choice.
Pokemon Champions was reviewed on a Nintendo Switch 2 on launch as version 1.0.2 during season M-1, but is also available on Nintendo Switch.
