Official Pokémon Sword and Shield speculation thread (Updated June 5th, 2019)

[Cresselia92]

I just think that some people are a tad overreacting.

Super Mario Maker 2 won’t have the fan favorite Costumes anymore — and some people got angry because their amiibo are now “useless” — but many are willing to forgive that because SMM2 has so many good things in store. I’m kinda baffled that Pokémon fans are purposely ignoring all the good stuff and rage quitting just because of one less feature.

 

[Juizel]

Fair enough I suppose. It's just a game at the end of the day after all.

Yup, exactly. Sword/Shield can still be enjoyable, and aren't bad games but eh. At the end of the day, it can't be changed and I'm well aware that my decision to boy or not to buy the games makes no difference either way, so it's really just me and my stubborn attitude of "If I don't want to support this [creator], I will not buy their [product]".

You have some logic there for Home. If that's capable of containing all pokemon so far, then it's more the capable of transferring all over, just not at this point

Game Freak: We will not let all of the existing Pokémon appear in Sword/Shield or future games anymore.
You: ...yet.

 

[colours]

Personally, I can see where both sides are coming from. If you're not the type of person who has a significant attachment towards your Pokemon or transfers Pokemon very often, this might not affect you as much. Conversely, people who have traveled with their Pokemon over the generations are going to feel much more impacted by this news. Keep in mind that your (generally speaking, here) way of enjoying Pokemon isn't how everyone else enjoys it. What if you like to shiny breed? Or competitively battle in-game (Battle Tower/whatever the post-game battle facility is for SwSh)? All you can hope for is that your team makes it into the Galar dex, or you'll be left hanging. It's perfectly valid to have complaints and concerns about this. There have been people that have spent and spilled a lot of time into training and breeding and catching their favourites, and seeing news like this makes them worried if all of the work they've done is for nothing.

If the revealed news doesn't affect you, consider yourself one of the fortunate ones. It is just a game, sure, but it's a game that people have invested tons of time into and grew up with over the years. I don't think it's right to make light or somehow imply those concerns are less valid, because they're perfectly valid and fans are justified to feel frustration.

Whether anything will change in the long run because of this, we'll see. But I agree that this is disheartening news for a lot of fans.

 

[Icy Wind]

I just think that some people are a tad overreacting.

Super Mario Maker 2 won’t have the fan favorite Costumes anymore — and some people got angry because their amiibo are now “useless” — but many are willing to forgive that because SMM2 has so many good things in store. I’m kinda baffled that Pokémon fans are purposely ignoring all the good stuff and rage quitting just because of one less feature.

Comparing this to amiibo cosmetics is disingenuous at best.

Playing with your favorite Pokemon is, you know, one of the core parts of the series. It’s not the same thing as useless amiibo costumes.

 

[Fairy Type Arceus]

The fanbase right now is spilt between this is fine dog and I see this as an absolute win hulk

 

[Diamandis]

so what im gathering is that the chances of GF actually fixing this is pretty much close to 0, the chances are pretty low that they will back away from their stance? Also wondering if a lot of all actually do "boycott" the game like you guys say you do, how much do you think the sales are going to take a hit?

 

[9tiefly]

Then pray tell how you would fix this. It’s so easy to say “but there is another way”. Well, what is this other way?

You keep butting heads with people and it's getting annoying. We've already suggested many different solutions, all of which you insist on ignoring:

• They could work on the remaining models until the release of HOME or a different deadline;
• They could patch the game periodically with the remaining Pokémon in batches;
• They could release them through DLCs;
• They could release them over time as Max Raid bosses so raids don't get stale;
• The could outsource and hire other people to finish the models they weren't able to;

I'm not asking them to delay SwSh, I know that the games are just a small part of the franchise. The anime is most likely already in the early production stages; same as next year's movie and the upcoming TCG expansions and all the remaining merchandising. Understandable time constraints, I get it. How do you fix this? Hire more people and share the work load! Outsource! Do whatever it takes! You're part of a multi-million dollar franchise, you've got the funds!

We've repeatedly explained that it's not a matter of playing over and over with our favorites while neglecting the newer mons. We just want them to be available after. It doesn't even matter what for. Just the fact that people spent so much time and actual money on specific features of these games throughout the years because we were told that we'd be able to carry our favorites over to whatever future games they'll make, is enough. Not to mention the impact it will have on the game itself. Loads of eggmoves won't exist. Loads of strategies gone. Loads of new ways to include older mons that could thrive with new synergies gone. The team customization aspect of the game is what I play for. GF doesn't get to decide what my favorites are. I do.

 

[Pax Unda]

Comparing this to amiibo cosmetics is disingenuous at best.

Playing with your favorite Pokemon is, you know, one of the core parts of the series. It’s not the same thing as useless amiibo costumes.

Not to mention, amiibo have uses outside out of SMM2. You can't do much with a Pokemon outside of a Pokemon game.

 

[EternalPKMNfan]

I noticed in /vp/ they tend to make comparisons between SwSh and Digimon: Cyber Sleuth, saying that the latter easily had better animations than the former, making it no excuse since they're the developers of a $90 billion dollar franchise, thus they should have the resources to do. What are your feelings about it?

 

[Silktree]

It isn't even about transfers for me. I just don't think it's okay for Game Freak to dictate which Pokemon we can use in the post-game (outside of tournaments). Plus, they're using balance as the main excuse, but I very much that the metagame will be any more balanced than in VGC 2014 or 2017 (which banned non-regional Pokemon without eliminating them from the games). Hell, the Galar Pokedex would be more focused if it didn't have to make up for this new direction, which will not be reversed if fans just shrug it off.

Other than that, the new features aren't that great (one is a decent but flawed experiment and the other is the culmination of Z-moves gone wrong), and the new Pokemon are just okay. Either they're hiding the good stuff or there isn't much to miss the way I see it.

 

[Myth]

The Pokemon Sword and Shield Interview: "We Knew at Some Point We Weren't Going to be Able to Keep Indefinitely Supporting All of the Pokemon"

Pokemon Sword and Shield is a big moment of transition for the long-running monster training franchise.. For the first time ever, a mainline generation will ...

www.usgamer.net

How about increasing the company's staff a little more then?

Spoiler

It's a multi-billion dollar franchise at this point. Instead of asking the fans to want less, how about to try to fit the position you occupy in the industry once?

Honestly, I don't care if the games sell well or not (only maybe in the sense that I want them to have continuations, but still, I don't care that much). I don't like Pokémon because it is a popular franchise or because it's a billionaire franchise, I like Pokémon because its games are good.

In the case of Pokémon, a collecting game, excluding Pokémon this way would be a very bad thing for the genre.

 

[Neo Blaze]

The Galar Dex debacle is a big dealbreaker to me. I was getting hyped for these games but this put a big dent in my excitement. I'm a collector and someone who has kept all their teams from previous games, so this is a pretty sour announcement.

That said, I think it's best to wait and see. Maybe the Galar Dex still has a crapton of Pokémon (trying to stay optimistic but my gut feeling says it will mostly have Kanto-pandering and a disappointing number of total Pokémon).

Not that I follow behind-the-scenes stuff much, but this may easily be the most controversial thing GameFreak has done to a Pokémon game in a while. The amount of negative reactions is remarkable to say the least.

 

[TheElderKing]

so what im gathering is that the chances of GF actually fixing this is pretty much close to 0, the chances are pretty low that they will back away from their stance? Also wondering if a lot of all actually do "boycott" the game like you guys say you do, how much do you think the sales are going to take a hit?

They might change their policy later on, if the backlash is enough, but I wouldn’t bet on it at this point,

I don’t know how much it’d hit the sales. I think it might be big enough to be relevant, but not that big that the games will be a fiasco, but we’ll see.

 

[Karamazov]

Reading this thread is more fun than playing actually playing the games lmao

I’m kinda baffled that Pokémon fans are purposely ignoring all the good stuff and rage quitting just because of one less feature.

Because that one feature is huge for a lot of people, who probably find it more important to their enjoyment than macro fetish Pokemon, Rotom Bike and better (but still subpar) graphics. Nothing Pokemon SS is offering is worth this trade-off, especially since it so far hasn't offered anything I found particularly substantial.

 

[jeisu]

If their plan is to keep in pokemon that appeal to a wide audience, then there is NO WAY the starters will be excluded. Period.

 

[Knightwolf09]

Reading this thread is more fun than playing actually playing the games lmao


Because that one future is huge for a lot of people, who probably find it more important to their enjoyment than macro fetish Pokemon, Rotom Bike and better (but still subpar) graphics. Nothing Pokemon SS is offering is worth this trade-off, especially since it so far hasn't offered anything I found particularly substantial.

What's the point in buying the game then even if you could transfer all you pokemon. You game might as well be another bank?

 

[Pulsaro23]

I'm glad there will be no more level 100 shiny Mewtwo GTS trades...but not like this...not like this.

You know, since Mew is basically confirmed to be in the Galar Dex, what's to stop GF from adding Mewtwo in as well? It is the other half of the Mew Duo after all (not to mention """popular""").

 

[RK9]

England leaves the EU and half the Pokémon leave the Galar Pokédex...

It's a Dexit alright.

 

[Karamazov]

What's the point in buying the game then even if you could transfer all you pokemon. You game might as well be another bank?

You're asking the wrong person, because I was already considering skipping SS entirely. But people can still have fun with the game and enjoy it. The game could still offer content that people love. That stuff might not be worth losing Pokemon, but it still has its own merits. The games aren't supposed to be just a bank.

Semi-unrelated ramblings, just an aside my own personal issues with SS and the games as of late.

Spoiler

This transfer thing was the straw that broke the camel's back for me, but I was already not a fan of SS already. The graphics are shit, Dynamax is stupid (on top of being yet another half-assed gimmick they'll barely flesh out before abandoning it for something newer and lamer), a lot of the new Pokemon aren't my cup of tea, and Game Freak burned most of my goodwill with every installment starting with X&Y. The 3DS games were infamous for being short on content (especially for the post-game), and the franchise is always in a state of undoing/forgetting good things for no reason. And yes, I'm still mad about Ultra Hallwayopolis.

I hope the people who are still getting this game are happy with it. Really. Even if the games aren't for me anymore, people should be free to enjoy them as they like. But I've come to see that Pokemon has gone in a direction I dislike.

 

[TheElderKing]

I noticed in /vp/ they tend to make comparisons between SwSh and Digimon: Cyber Sleuth, saying that the latter easily had better animations than the former, making it no excuse since they're the developers of a $90 billion dollar franchise, thus they should have the resources to do. What are your feelings about it?

Every Digimon in CB as one peculiar move that is well animated. Two for most Megas and Ultimates, and I’d say that most of the times it was based on the animations of the moves in the various anime.

Outside of the specific moves for each digimon, the other were generic, horribly animations. So it’s a bit different, given that they probably had to work hard for the peculiar moves, but with far less problems and time for the generic moves.

Also, people should keep in mind that outside a fair small hub, the dungeons where horrible. Every 3D Pokémon games’ world put to shame the one in CB.