Pokemon Go Fixes Broken Feature After Five Months

By Marc Deschamps

Back in December, Pokemon Go developer Niantic disabled weather-related visual effects, such as snow, wind, and rain. The move was made after a bug was discovered, and many players expected to see it fixed quickly. Well, five months later, Niantic has announced that the visual feature has been reinstated. The visual effect had no actual impact on gameplay, so it's really not a huge deal, but it does offer some visual variety, while also reflecting what's happening in the real world. To see the feature reactivated, players must restart the Pokemon Go app.

Niantic's Tweet announcing the feature's return can be found embedded below.

The return of weather-related effects comes just in time for the start of Pokemon Go's Water Festival event. The event kicked-off earlier today, and as its name implies, it's centered on Water-type Pokemon. Players have probably already noticed many more of them appearing in the wild, including favorites such as Marill and Tentacool. The event has also seen the Pokemon Go debut of multiple new Pokemon, including Dewpider, Araquanid, and Tapu Fini. Niantic has also added the Shiny variation of Binacle to the game for the first time. While players are out trying to finish the game's new Global Challenges, they can enjoy seeing the accurate weather!

Reception to the return of this feature has been mostly positive, though many players have reacted with surprise that it took this long. Naturally, replies to Niantic's Tweet are also filled with players looking for other changes, including a reversal on the game's Incense changes. Niantic strengthened Incense at the start of the coronavirus pandemic to make it easier for players to attract Pokemon to their location. However, the developer recently shifted things back, in an effort to get players enjoying the game outside of their homes more. The change has been met with a lot of frustration from players, but it doesn't seem that Niantic plans on changing course anytime soon.

Are you happy to see this feature reinstated in Pokemon Go? Have you participated in the Water Festival event yet? Let us know in the comments or share directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!

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