I absolutely love the new
mobile Rick and Morty game, essentially a Pokemon clone that takes
place in the Rick and Morty Rickstaverse complete with characters and
references to the show. Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon (the show's
creators) even provided full voice work for all the characters that
appear in the game.
Developed by Big Pixel
Studios (a game design company based in the U.K.), Pocket Mortys is
chock full of Rick and Morty characters, universes and jokes that
fans of the show are sure to love, although newcomers will more than
likely still get a kick out of it. Pocket Mortys is a marriage of two
things I have a deep appreciation for, so that should make it the
perfect game in my eyes right? Well yes and no. As much as I enjoy
Pocket Mortys, there are a few aspects of the game that I didn't
fully understand right away when first booting it up. The game is
very much like a simpler version of Pokemon, but there are still
significant differences between the two. Here are a handful of facts
you should know about Pocket Mortys and what you'll be getting
yourself into after downloading the free game on either your IOS or
Android enabled device.
The game starts slow and
limits the amount of Mortys you can recruit on your team, at least in
the beginning
After the first tutorial,
the game shows you how to recruit/catch a wild Morty, by weakening
him and using an item known as a Morty Manipulator Chip to add him to
your team. Initially they only give you that one chip to catch the
first (Scraggly) Morty, after that it will be awhile before you get
another one. It takes even longer for the MM chips to appear in the
shop to be purchasable. If you ride it out and play for awhile
though, Morty Manipulator Chips will be readily available for all
your Morty catching needs! Also, your party will consist of 5 Mortys,
not 6 as we are used to with Pokemon.
Evolution is not
accomplished by leveling up your Mortys
As I originally assumed,
this was not the case. Pocket Mortys instead relies on a combination
mechanic at the Morty Day Care (the place you store your extra
Mortys after recruiting more than 5) to “evolve” them. This is
done by having 2 of the same exact Morty, for example 2 Self Defense
Mortys, and combining them to create a newer, stronger Morty that's
also of higher level. In this case Karate Morty will be created and
added to your team. This makes evolution a little trickier by having
players stockpile the first form of the desired Morty evolution chain
to reach the final form, whether that be the 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th
stage of the evolution. Finding the exact Morty you need might be
difficult as the Mortys you find in each universe are randomly
generated.
Micro transactions exist in
the game, as well as optional video ads that give you more currency
to spend
There are A LOT of other
Morty trainers to defeat in each universe you go to and Pocket Mortys
doesn't allow you to visit the healing center while visiting these
universes until after you've beaten the boss of one. With the limited
team you have to start with, this can make defeating all the trainers
and the Boss Rick of each universe very difficult or even impossible
without the proper healing and attack point recovery items. You can
get more of these items by defeating a trainer, finding them on the
floor, buying them from the in-game shop (which is accessible from
anywhere in the game), or using real money to buy Blips and Chitz
tickets, which provide more of these items as well as an additional
Morty that can be added to your team.
Unfortunately you'll use up
these items quicker than you think and with most Morty attacks having
a maximum attack point amount of 10-12, after a few battles you will
have no more attacks left to use on your opponents. More of the
game's currency can be obtained by watching video ads from the main
menu, which provide 30 Smeckles for each ad watched. That's about 7-9
videos to buy 1 healing or attack point recovery item. These videos
last between 15 and 30 seconds, but they are necessary to sit through
if you want to give your Mortys a fighting chance. That is unless you
want to ante up some real cash. Watching these videos was a minor
hindrance, but one I didn't mind especially since I needed a break
from the action.
Pocket Mortys is not the
full Pokemon experience
This may not be necessary to
say, but Pocket Mortys is not as deep as Pokemon. For one there are
only 3 different types of Mortys (4 if you count the neutral type)
and not every Morty even has a type-centric attack even if it is that
type. The 3 types are Scissors, Rock and Paper and just like in
Pokemon some attacks will work more effectively against certain Morty
types than others. As an example, a Scissors type Morty will be
effective with his scissors-based attacks against a Paper type Morty.
It works the other way too with Paper Morty based paper attacks not
being as effective against a Scissors type Morty. When it comes down
to it, there is just enough variety to be interesting, but no where
near as good as the possible amount of match-ups and weaknesses
available in a Pokemon game.
As I've said before, each
universe you go to will contain 2-3 different Morty types to catch
and add to your team. Since the Mortys that appear are randomly
generated in each universe, this makes the game different for every
person playing. I've already asked a few of my friends what Mortys
they have found in their playthroughs, and for the most part their
answers are all different. I'm very glad that this is the case and as
a result everyone will have different Morty teams on their quest to
become a Morty Master. Also Multiplayer will be available in a future
update for the game, which will provide even more fun when trying to
outwit your friend's and family member's Morty teams!
Have you downloaded the free
mobile game Pocket Mortys yet? If so what is your experience playing
through it? Do you agree with my points? Sound off in the comments
section below!
