What Pokemon Go Can Take From Harry Potter: Wizards Unite

Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, the new Harry Potter game from Pokemon Go developer Niantic, has officially arrived. Given its pedigree, the title is unsurprisingly very similar to Pokemon Go. Wizards Unite is clearly built around the same style of augmented-reality gameplay (albeit with a Harry Potter spin), and many of the game's elements even have direct analogs in Pokemon Go: Fortresses, for instance, are Harry Potter's equivalent of Gyms, while Portkeys serve the same function as Eggs, among many other examples.

Despite their similarities, however, Wizards Unite also differs from Pokemon Go in a few notable ways. Not only has the game launched with more content and features than Pokemon Go had at its outset (with the glaring exception of Adventure Sync), Niantic has also incorporated a number of RPG-like mechanics that Go lacks, chief among them the Professions system. Once you reach a certain level in the game, you're able to select from one of three different classes for your character, each of which boasts its own distinct attributes and comes with a skill tree that can be leveled up to unlock additional skills and perks.

Elements like these help make Wizards Unite a deeper experience than Pokemon Go, and the latter would benefit from pilfering some ideas from its sister title. Of course, no proper Pokemon game has allowed players to pick a class before, so Wizards Unite's Professions system may not exactly be in keeping with the spirit of the series, but something similar could be implemented. Players have been pit against a wide variety of specialized Pokemon trainer in the mainline games, from Bug Catchers to Bird Keepers to Hikers, and these classes could serve as the basis for a Pokemon Go-style Professions system.

Other elements from Wizards Unite that Pokemon Go would benefit incorporating are daily quests and login bonuses. Pokemon Go does already have its own quest system of sorts in the form of Field Research tasks, but to acquire these missions, you must travel to a Poke Stop, and you can only have a certain number of active tasks at a time, so you can't stockpile them. Wizards Unite, meanwhile, offers players a list of daily challenges to complete, as well as a little bonus each day they log in. A combination of the two methods would certainly add more incentive to fire up Pokemon Go every day.

Wizards Unite also features a potion-brewing system. As you play, you'll encounter materials on the overworld that can be used to brew different types of potions. Potion brewing would feel out of place in a Pokemon game, but the series has allowed you to craft certain items in the past; in Pokemon Gold and Silver, for instance, you could collect different kinds of Apricorns and forge them into specialized Poke Balls, such as the Lure Ball, which makes it easier to catch Water Pokemon. A similar kind of crafting system would work very well in Pokemon Go.

Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is available for free on iOS and Android devices. If you're just getting started in the game, be sure to check out our full Wizards Unite coverage. We've put together guides detailing how to get more Spell Energy, as well as breakdowns of how Wizarding Challenges work and how to pick the best Professions for you.