Pokémon GO became an overnight sensation, with millions of people eagerly roaming the streets to catch the neighborhood Pidgey and Rattata – and forgetting basic safety in the process. Niantic tried to emulate that success with several IP since, but none have ever been as successful as the first big hit.
Peridot, Niantic’s latest attempt, aims to break the trend, not only by being a completely new IP, but by giving players that desire to open the mobile game daily. Only this time, it’s not Pokemon you want to take care of, Tamagotchi style. It’s adorable little creatures called Dots.
Much like your Pokémon, your pet Dots in Peridot need love, attention, and food to grow, and you can even see them in your own home.
After hatching your first baby Dot from an egg, you use your phone’s camera to watch them frolic around your home. This was my first immediate gripe with Peridot. Your camera has to be open at all times. Unlike Pokemon GO, there is no way to turn it off. The way your Dot interacts with the environment also isn’t seamless, since the technology isn’t there yet. You’ll just see it phase through furniture and float around in the air, all at a sluggish 4fps.
It’s easy to overlook technical issues if you’re engaged with what the game has to offer, but I’m not sure that Peridot has quite enough to offer at the moment. It has the long list of dailies you expect from a free-to-play game of this type – rewards for logging in every day, alongside desires and goals that your Dots need fulfilled. You also have to feed and play with your Dot regularly or be punished with a doleful look from its big, sad eyes. It’s fine! But not much more than that and not different enough from Pokemon GO to feel fresh and distinct.
Niantic games always have a social element, and the social part of Peridot is Dot breeding. It frames the process as a conservation project where you raise and breed your Dots before releasing them into the wild. There are hangout points all over your town, much like Pokéstops, where you can post your Dot as eligible for breeding. Other people can then message you saying they would like to breed, and the woohoo-ing can begin.
I find this whole process embarrassing for me and my polygonal pet, not only because I am messaging another real-life person asking if their Tamagotchi is in the mood, but because it all feels very a bit gross. Dots don’t really need repopulation, and people are breeding their Dots to get the attributes they like, such as specific fur colors, long angelic wings, or demon horns. Breeding pets – even fake ones – to get the exact look you want just feels wrong. Sure, hardcore Pokemon players do the same thing with effort values, but I don’t like it there, either.
While the general loop of raising my Dot did keep me coming back to Peridots, there were too many technical issues to overlook. I specifically bought my phone because it has an amazing battery that can go three days on a single charge. When my Dot asked me to take it on a 1km walk, my battery drained by 20 percent during the 15 minutes I had the app open on the walk The rate that your Dot drains the life from your battery is simply unsustainable for a game you’re supposed to play on the go.
Even if you stay at home to play with your phone constantly plugged into the mains, there is a larger issue. The game makes intense demands on your phone, and if it runs like mine, you’ll feel it overheat in mere minutes of having the app open. I never played for more than 20 minutes at a time, as I worried about causing permanent damage.
Peridot may find its fan base of Tamagotchi nostalgists, but the technical issues are too much for me to recommend it to anyone. Until Niantic changes these fundamental issues, there’s just no way for people to play Peridot the way the company envisions. And it could be good! The general gameplay of raising and playing with your virtual pet is one that has been successful in the past. You just… can’t really do much of it right now.
Version tested: Mobile (Android)
Peridot technical breakdown
Peridot doesn’t crash, but it doesn’t do much beyond this. The framerate is single-digits low and still struggles to be consistent. It makes huge on your phone, causing the battery to drain and the phone to overheat. I would be worried that consistent playtime may cause irreparable damage to your device. Playing the game is difficult given the lag involved, but it can be okay if you remain on the same screen and don’t try to menu too frequently. Big improvements need to be made, however.
Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.
