Pokemon Unite is a Pokemon MOBA, and therefore it has automatically been compared to League of Legends. Since it’s significantly less difficult to pick up and nowhere near as complex even at a high level, some have taken to calling it “baby’s first League” or, more specifically, “baby League of Legends”. Even people less mocking in their comparison cannot resist the comparison itself – it’s a streamlined League, a beginner friendly League, a less toxic League. Here’s the thing though – it’s not League, not at all. So we should probably all stop calling it that.
This is not me whining that you need to stop being mean to Pokemon Unite. Call it “baby’s first MOBA,” if you want to, that’s fine. Criticise the fact it, bafflingly, has no playable ‘mons from Gen 2, despite it being Pokemon’s best. No Heracross? No Blissey? No Skarmory? At least Mr. Mime’s there though, yeah? Everyone loves Mimey.
Related: Pokemon Unite's Zapdos Comeback Mechanic Is A DisasterPokemon Unite isn’t perfect, and it shouldn’t be above criticism. But having that criticism wrapped around League of Legends – or even using League’s failings to frame Unite’s praise – makes no sense. It’s like saying Pokemon Unite isn’t as fast as a Ferrari or as juicy as a topside steak. It’s a fundamentally flawed comparison.
Pokemon Unite is a difficult game to talk about, I will admit. It’s a MOBA, but it’s not really a MOBA. It’s also a Pokemon game, but it’s not really a Pokemon game. It’s also kind of a sports title, but I think you can tell where I’m going with this by now. These comparisons all work though, because the essence of them is there. While it’s not a traditional MOBA, it follows the basic framework of the genre, even if it inverts certain conventions like Defenders and turns them into goalkeepers. It’s also obviously a Pokemon game, since they’re the characters you play as – it just breaks a lot of typical rules. Meanwhile, the indulgence in Cinderace’s football tendencies, the team jerseys, those goalies again, and the slam dunk function make it sporty enough that the ‘sports title’ moniker just about sticks the landing.
But it’s not League. Not at all. League of Legends has become so synonymous with the MOBA as a concept that the two occasionally get used interchangeably, but they shouldn’t. Remember when you were a kid and your parents called every games console a Nintendo? If you don’t, you’re too young and I hate you. You might remember instead when every shooter was a Halo-lite or a Halo-killer for a while. If you’re too young for that I despise you.
For MOBAs, using League as a shorthand or comparison has been pretty effective so far – pretty much every major MOBA has looked at what League of Legends is doing and has tried to riff off it. Pokemon Unite though has gone back to the drawing board. The towers are gone, which is huge, while a few of the roles are completely different to how League imagines them. There’s basically no communication – although that’s a good thing – and Unite’s meta is far less team-based right now. The Phanpy in the room, of course, is the Champions.
Pokemon Unite has what you could argue is a fairly paltry selection of ‘mons. It launched with just 20, and while Gardevoir has since been added – with Blastoise still to come – that seems like way too few. Aside from Gen 1, each Gen is restricted to three Pokemon or fewer. While there’s more than it first appears (Charizard is actually Charmander, Charmeleon, and Charizard, for example), the pool is limited. While it’s disappointing if your favourite isn’t there, fewer ‘mons mean it’s less overwhelming, and allows the devs to be more precise with each character. You get to ease yourself in, knowing every battle will have a fairly familiar selection of teammates and opponents. League of Legends has 156 characters – if Pokemon wanted to match this figure, it could do it almost six times over. Unite deliberately goes the other way, not because it’s baby’s first League, but because it’s not League at all.
It’s impossible to make a MOBA without some LoL influence in there, but Pokemon Unite appears to have done it. While recognisably a MOBA, it mostly plays by its own rules, and comparing it to a very MOBAy MOBA doesn’t help anyone. I don’t care if you love Pokemon Unite or hate it – stop comparing it to League of Legends. You might as well call it a very chewy game.
Next: I Accidentally Became A Zeraora Main In Pokemon Unite And Now I Hate Myself
