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By Christian Hoffer
The return of Pokemon Go to Chicago was a huge success, with thousands of fans enjoying the first day of Pokemon Go Fest.
Pokemon Go Fest returned to Chicago this weekend, almost a year after the day Niantic held its first live event. But while last year 's Pokemon Go Fest has made headlines for its technical problems and other issues, this year' s event should be hailed as a summit for what Pokemon Go could be.
ComicBook.com was invited to the event and arrived at Chicago's Lincoln Park at 11 am – approximately one hour after the start of the event. One of the first things that stood out was the lack of real lines. Only a few players were lining up for Will Call, and the only occupants of the many tents to help at the event were very relaxed volunteers / staff.
The centerpiece of Pokemon Go Fest was a new set of special search tasks that would allow players to meet and catch the mythical Pokemon Celebi. Search Tasks provided Pokemon Go players with a cute little story, and related to the way Niantic set up this year's event
While Pokemon Go Last year 's Fest was condensed into a relatively small area. This year's event was spread over a 2-mile stretch of Chicago's Lincoln Park. Niantic has set up four "habitats" for the event, around which different types of Pokémon would appear. Each habitat had a small real world, with volunteers offering gifts every 30 minutes or so.
While the sets were not too elaborate, they added to the playful atmosphere of the event. Players could watch the steam rise from two volcanoes installed in the volcanic habitat or watch the snow fall around them in glacial habitat. He made fun photo opportunities, and also kept walking the park to be too monotonous.
The habitats also related to the main story of the Pokemon Go Fest. Habitats had suddenly arisen and disrupted the usual routine of Pokémon. In order to discover how to reverse the habitats, the players had to capture 10 Pokémon of six different types, which would lead Professor Willow to state that they needed the help of the Mythical Pokemon Celebi. After capturing a handful of Unowns, Celebi appears and goes to work to reverse the unexplained habitats. Players were also rewarded with wrestling matches for several fully evolved Pokémon in the Hoenn area, the first time players could actually catch Pokemon like Metagross, Ludicolo, or Shiftry in the wild.
Unlike the event of last year, players had almost no problem connecting to the game. There was a very small "dead zone" in which the signal was a problem – but the configuration of the event prevented people from moving to the same place for too long.
While a steady rain was falling for a decent piece of yesterday's events, it did not seem to stifle the players' enthusiasm. The two mile path around Lincoln Park was filled with enough people all day, with only a handful of chokepoints (usually puddles on the way) that caused the congestion . Team fairs set up at the north and south ends of the event were complete for most of the day, with facilitators coordinating exchanges between players and holding mini-competitions permanently.
Pokemon Go Fest also highlighted other aspects of the community Pokemon Go . A group of YouTubers Pokemon Go were treated as celebrities, stopping posing for photos while filming their own adventures during the event. Many groups made t-shirts just for the event, showing their loyalty to the team or online group they belonged to, while others wore fun costumes on the theme of Pokémon. The Silph Road (a subreddit that serves as the main news hub of Pokemon Go ) also had a great presence during the event, with a special app and a lot of meet-ups.
My only criticisms of the event were the long queues – there were two places where the food trucks were installed, but they had mbadive lines between the moment where I arrived and the moment I left. I heard the average wait time for food was about an hour, even in the middle of the afternoon between meals. Fortunately, Chicago has no shortage of restaurants, so it was not difficult to just get out of the park and grab a quick bite of food. Apart from that, I have not heard any significant complaints about the event, which is impressive given how fans are quick to criticize the game when they think that it 's nonsense. is not at their level.
Pokemon Go Fest was all that Niantic envisioned Pokemon Go to be two years ago: an active and engaged community enjoying a day at the park and using most of the many complex features of the game. Personally, I never thought that I would see the day when thousands of players gathered to celebrate a mobile game, but Pokemon Go continued to last and succeed on a ladder as no one imagined it.
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