Niantic reveals new details about ‘Pokemon Go’ Buddy Adventure

Niantic revealed more details about the Buddy Adventure feature in "Pokemon Go" on Tuesday. The new element in the game fleshes out the buddy mechanic that was introduced a few months after the game was released.

From the initial reveal last month, Buddy Adventure looked similar to the Pokemon-Amie, a feature that made its debut in "Pokemon X" and "Pokemon Y." It allowed players to pet their pocket monsters and feed it berries. The goal was to create more of bond between players and their chosen Pokemon. It's a "Tamagotchi" twist to the the "Pokemon" formula.

The videos and details that it divulged on its website show that Buddy Adventure works in a similar way. The Buddy Adventure process follows a tiered structure. Players start off with their chosen Pokemon as Good Buddy. Players achieve this level by getting into the new Play! mode in the Buddy profile page. That activates an augmented reality-supported view, in which players feed the Pokemon berries that they get from spinning Poke Stops and other activities. Doing that turns the creature into a Good Buddy and that Pokemon can walk or fly with players on the world map.

The next level is a Great Buddy. In this tier, the Pokemon will help players catch and battle other pocket monsters. In addition, they'll bring items to players. An Ultra Buddy will alert players to interesting areas nearby, according to Niantic. The Pokemon will also bring players souvenirs. The last level is Best Buddy. When they reach this stage, Buddy Pokemon get a boost to their CP, or combat power, but the one caveat is that they have to be a player's Buddy Pokemon.

So how can players raise the buddy level? A new screenshot reveals that they can perform a number of daily activities that garners hearts each day. Players and a buddy can walk together. That earns three hearts. They can give it a treat and earn three more. Other acts include: playing together, battling, taking a snapshot and visiting a new place. Bonding with the Pokemon improves its mood and at the highest tier, which is "excited," players will get bonuses such as easier candy generation, more hearts per action and bonus hearts.

One of the cooler features that Niantic showed off in November was the option to have multiple Pokemon interact in AR. Niantic said the new feature will come out after the initial introduction of Buddy Adventure and it will support up to three friends. It will be a boon for players who want to take group shots of their Pokemon and friends. Interestingly enough though, it also opens up new avenues for interaction. A Shared AR experience could be used to spawn new Pokemon similar to what Niantic has done with AR photography and Smeargle. Conceivably, they can do the same for other Pokemon as well and tie it in to lore. Perhaps having two Illumise together in a shared AR experience could attract a Volbeat or maybe having two more more Durants can draw out a Heatmore, the Pokemon's natural predator. The possibilities are promising for gameplay and memorable interactions.

The Buddy Adventure is one of several new mechanics headed to "Pokemon Go" in 2020. The other one is the Pokemon Go Battle League, which could bolster the player versus player element of the game. It sounds like an in-game PvP mode where players can challenge each other. I'm hoping it works similar to how PvP does in "Hearthstone." If it's easy as that, the battle league could be a popular pastime for players.