I already have written an article on why the Buddy Pokemon had one disappointment. Though the feature is a huge improvement for the game overall, it didn't have the ability to allow your chosen creature follow you around the map. I just bumped into some articles that made me realize to write something about it, to weigh in more on the pros and cons on having your favorite Pokemon walk with you on the map.
Pokemon Yellow and Pokemon SoulSilver (SS) have implemented the concept of one favorite Pokemon following the player around when navigating a map, why not put it in Pokemon Go? It would be more candy to the eyes if you see a cute Pikachu hopping around following your avatar or a gigantic Snorlax walking with you while looking for wild Pokemon or just collecting stuff from PokeStops.
Why Walking With Buddy On Map Is De-Prioritized In Pokemon Go
According to this report, several factors are being weighed in on why there is no Pokemon following your every move in the map in Pokemon Go. Several technicalities are behind the reason why it is not implemented in the game. Though I listed a few reasons on that article like loading sprites may make the game suffer as it is also communicating constantly to Niantic servers for updates, I have missed one obvious reason on why loading your Buddy Pokemon on the map is not prioritized and may not be a feature at all.
Otakukart.com has posted one reason that makes much sense, even more sense than what I have written before. Although it's cute to find a Pikachu or an Eevee walking with you on the map, it would be devastating to see a gigantic Snorlax getting in the way. Simply put, it's okay for a small Pokemon to be with you on the map but the bigger ones will create an issue. What if there's a Pokemon spawning near you but that large Dragonite simply blocked your view? What if that Pokemon was rare and you were looking for it the whole time?
I don't think it's fair to just load the smaller creatures and forget about the large ones so this might be the reason why Niantic has de-prioritized the feature. Again, as I've said before, the developers don't want to sacrifice performance over just having it plain cute.
Possible Solutions to Big Pokemon on Map
If the developers were to push the on-map Buddy Pokemon feature, I would suggest two things. One, if the Pokemon is huge, there should be an on and off toggle somewhere on the map view so that the user can choose to get them out of the view in case of a speculated spawn somewhere near both the avatar and creature. Suggestion number 2 would be to use transparency, where the alpha of the sprite is adjusted everytime there is something interesting right under it. It's harder to implement but it's a nice feature to have.
Do you have any other ideas on why Pokemon Go doesn't have the Buddy Pokemon walking around the map with the player's avatar? Hit us with your thoughts on the comments section below.
