I really don’t have a problem with most battle passes. They’re preferable to loot boxes because you know what you’re buying upfront, and I like to support the games I play, especially if they're free-to-play. I understand that some people don’t think they should have to earn something they just bought or that battle passes shouldn’t expire (something 343 Industries is tackling with Halo Infinite), but I liked the incentive to play, the constant small rewards, and the sense of accomplishment when I finish a battle pass. I buy the battle passes for Destiny 2, Apex Legends, Wild Rift, and Team Fight Tactics, and it never really bothers me if I don’t finish them.
So, I bought the Pokemon Unite battle pass. I’ve been playing the game a lot since it was released last month and the Hip-Hop Pikachu skin you get at Level 1 is pretty drippy, so I bought a couple thousand Aeos gems and bought the pass with bonus levels. I am now over halfway through it, and it has not brought me one ounce of joy in over 40 levels. If I make it to the end it will be thanks to the quality of the game and nothing else, because these rewards are unbelievably pathetic. There’s a ton of opportunity for awesome cosmetics and cool skins for Pokemon Unite, but the battle pass has basically nothing to offer.
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It’s bad enough that you only get two Pokemon skins on the entire battle pass, but the cosmetic rewards are the most artistically uninspired loot I’ve ever seen in my life. The entire track is full or nothing but grey shorts, white jackets, and green socks. You’re lucky if you can get a single stripe or pattern on any of the clothing. There’s one generic Pikachu hat and a Pikachu hoodie available at the tail end of the pass, but other than that it’s just monochromatic items with no imagination whatsoever. All they needed to do was visit the Pokemon Center website and replicate that merch right into the game, but instead all you can get is green overalls at Level 86.
It’s also disappointing that there’s no paid rewards to go along with the free rewards. In other games, you get the free track and the paid track, but in Unite you don’t get anything extra on the free reward levels. You actually only get 45 rewards on the paid track instead of 90.
I guess you could say that the Item Enhancers and Aeos tickets (which are just currency for more Item Enhancers) are where the real value is. You can’t buy either of these currencies, and you need them if you want to power up your items, so the battle pass is a great way to earn some extra scratch. The problem is that almost all of the currency is on the free track of the pass. If you pay for and complete the battle pass, you’ll earn an extra 60 Item Enhancers and 4,800 Aeos tickets, or 540 total Item Enhancers. It costs 567 Item Enhancers to power a single item up to level 20. These rewards are a drop in the bucket.
It’s fun to work on battle passes and collect small rewards every time I play, but there’s no way I’m getting the next Pokemon Unite pass unless there’s serious improvements. I’d like to see a Pokemon costume at the beginning, middle, and end of the track at minimum. Beyond that, I just need something more than brown pants and a denim jacket. These cosmetics should be fun and celebrate all the wonderful things about Pokemon. I thought Pokemon GO’s cosmetics were boring, but these are so much worse.
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