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

[PkmnTrainerV]

I’m in college and nobody care if you play Pokémon. Pretty normalized here

Yeah, depends on the region (heh) you're in... Here (India) Pokemon's pretty much known by its anime. Nintendo (and by extension Pokémon games) has no official presence. I don’t even know how did childhood-me just walk into a store and purchase an anniversary red edition Wii. I guess the stars were aligned in my favour that day. Too bad it wasn’t a DS...

When I was younger people thought I was a bit too 'hardcore' into Pokémon. Thankfully one of my best friend followed the franchise enough to understand my occasional ramblings including the 'newer' (Gen 4 mostly and a few above that). After Pokemon GO people were just a bit annoyed that I steamrolled them when it came to Pokémon trivia

 

[Minnale101]

Same with my country.

I’m from Canada. We love anime culture and the people who bullied people in high school for Pokémon were too stupid to get into university

 

[Juizel]

And as for Pokemon main games shifting on console. That’s a steaming pile of Wooloo manure. Emulators on powerful phones can barely run DS games (I've suffered too many interrupted-just-after-the-first-gym playthroughs). Let alone something of the standard of even XY.

A "powerful" phone isn't needed at all, my last 2 phones could run NDS games via emulator perfectly and were really, really shabby ones.

Besides, you can't compare emulator performance with the performance of a game natively developed for the platform. An emulator usually needs more resources, better hardware, to run a game at 100% than the console the game was made for needs to run the same game at 100%. Nowadays phones probably have the power to run 3DS games, but not 3DS emulation, for example.

Personally I don't mind mobile games existing, I play some of them once in a while, when I don't have my Switch or Vita on me, or when I expect to have less than ~20 minutes waiting time to spend, because phone games are so casual that you don't need to do/feel inclined to have longer sessions.
Whereas with non-mobile video games, it doesn't feel worth it to start up the game for like 5 minutes because in the grand scheme of things I would get nothing noteworthy done and rather save playing it until I have the time for it. (Like my 1 hour train rides to visit home, for example)

The issue I do take with the mobile gaming market is when the approach of the current mobile gaming market bleeds into actual video games, just because a lot of people play mobile games and developers may figure people just don't want a game they have to really spend a lot of time on anymore, so they adapt these approaches.
For one thing, I also kind of dislike the current "reward system" developments in like BOTW or Odyssey. For every little thing you do, you get something. That's the exact same scam mobile games pull to give you short-term satisfaction and keep you hooked (so that eventually you are more likely to spend actual money to keep your satisfaction from the game the same, when as free player it gets harder to get anything rewarding).

I am really not a fan for getting a pat on my head for every 5 steps I make.

I am also not a fan of games that are so plain easy that you can finish a game without having any kind of clue how the game even really works.

I'm not asking for every game to be Dark Souls (which is just the other side of the extreme) but for a good balance; for games I want to play because they're good games and just capture you with their own features (outstanding gameplay, interesting & well executed story, great characters, world-building, ...) because it really feels worth it to spend my time in that game, instead of another or doing something else entirely; and not because of a fake sense of accomplishment for getting rewarded for every little thing.

That's really just me, and Let's Go, with that background, felt to me so much like a console game with the heart of a mobile game. Odyssey I didn't even feel like playing much, and BOTW I finished but am far from praising it as the one game every other franchise should aim to copy because while it's a good game, it still had too many flaws for me to ignore.

And yes, I'm well aware that the kinds of games I want and like still exist and are still being developed, don't worry. It's not the whole gaming market shifting like that, thankfully. But with Pokémon focusing more and more on being "casual-friendly" (while it...kind of never really was not casual-friendly to begin with?) I can very well see them going that exact direction. You get what looks like a console game, but at the core it's a mobile game.

I honestly think smartphones could be a good game platform (even for Pokémon!) ... if it wasn't for this mentality that smartphone games = casual games.

I mean smartphone games are currently very casual, but this could change in the future, if game developers realized that maybe people that don't own a dedicated gaming console, could still be interested in serious gaming via their phones.

Some gacha games feature an actually interesting story and expand on their franchise, and even keep it alive (and growing), for example. I'm not sure how high the demand for "serious gaming" on phones is, though.

EDIT: Love when topics shift while you type a response, rip.
To be part of the party, when I was a kid, I, too, was bullied for playing Pokémon. When I got older and kept playing and not really hiding it because I didn't feel like it, still got bullied. Since I got older (basically since 18) I also get ridiculed by my family for caring about Pokémon, because it means I must be backward in development and never matured after 12.... But, oh well. Pokémon Go just made it worse for me, because now I'm linked to people who'd run in front of cars staring at their phone because they saw a Pikachu. shrugs

 

[prog rocker]

Have you heard by now the controversy about Nessa? It's Steven Universe all over again with the fanart.

Ugh, thanks for reminding me of that person that got bullied because she didn't make Amethyst black.

Let me put this straight: They were angry because a purple space rock person that is dubbed by an Asian girl was not drawn in the way people interprete it. It's as absurd as it sounds.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

A "powerful" phone isn't needed at all, my last 2 phones could run NDS games via emulator perfectly and were really, really shabby ones.

Besides, you can't compare emulator performance with the performance of a game natively developed for the platform. An emulator usually needs more resources, better hardware, to run a game at 100% than the console the game was made for needs to run the same game at 100%. Nowadays phones probably have the power to run 3DS games, but not 3DS emulation, for example.

I still doubt they could make something on 3DS/Switch level and have it work for a large enough range of devices.

As for mobile philosophy leaking into video games, I think that’s an issue, but that shouldn’t make mobile games inherently negative.

 

[Boss1708]

Ok, here's a fun little story I will share with you guys.

Long story short: I got introduced to Pokémon video games in 2002/2003, by my (former) best friend, who was just getting out of his Pokémon phase at the time, since Pokemania hype was starting to decrease.

So whenever I would ask him something Pokémon related at school, he would nervously start looking around us, and ask me to lower my voice. He really didn't want people to think he was still into Pokémon.

True story xD

 

[Juizel]

I still doubt they could make something on 3DS/Switch level and have it work for a large enough range of devices.

As for mobile philosophy leaking into video games, I think that’s an issue, but that shouldn’t make mobile games inherently negative.

First part, agreed on Switch level, not sure I'd agree on 3DS level because I'm unsure on how powerful the average phone nowadays is and all these technical matters. Not necessarily disagreeing, I just really wouldn't know and don't want to make assumptions.

The second part was the point I was trying to make, basically. Mobile games on their own aren't bad/a problem, but the influence of their philosophy is...although that isn't something to blame mobile games for either, it's not their fault their concepts are being copied.
But thanks for summing up my point like that, it's like a TL;DR for my post. xD

 

[Oriden]

Ok, here's a fun little story I will share with you guys.

Long story short: I got introduced to Pokémon video games in 2002/2003, by my (former) best friend, who was just getting out of Pokémon at the time, since Pokemania hype was starting to decrease.

So whenever I would ask him something Pokémon related at schoo, he would nervously start looking around us, and ask me to lower my voice

True story xD

Awww that poor pokeshame.

XD I don't see what's embarrassing about it, but I avoid talking about Pokemon much with people I know aren't into it just because I don't like trying to hold a conversation with someone who has that blank "I don't get it and I'm not interested in getting it" look.

 

[Vanilluxcx]

Yeah I can relate to most of you, I was bullied at school for liking Pokémon too. Funnily enough those guys are the same people who got super excited when Pokémon Go came out and some of them are still playing it.

 

[Synthaphone]

Let me tell you a little secret: people who constantly see offensive racist stereotypes everywhere, are usually subconsciously racist themselves.

This is easily the worst take I've seen here so far, and considering how this thread has devolved over the past hundred or so pages, I'm thinking I'm gonna call it quits. Hate to do the whole 'announcing you're leaving' thing, I was going to just leave quietly, but I realized I wanted people to know why I was leaving, and it's this specific post!

...Okay, I will get into it a little, because damn this irritates me- EVERYONE is subconsciously racist. Racism is baked into pretty much every facet of modern society and the only way to try to avoid perpetuating racism is to accept this and listen when the people affected by racism take issue with something, and try to change your behavior accordingly to avoid hurting people. So when people say that there's a negative trend in Nintendo games to dress their black characters in very little clothing, maybe you should consider that for a bit instead of immediately going on the defensive.

Interesting that THIS is the thing everyone will immediately go to bat for Gamefreak on, while simultaneously talking about how much they hate individual staff members and that they ruined the franchise and Gamefreak shouldn't be allowed to make Pokemon games anymore because they can't fit the entire Pokedex in and the trees aren't hi-res enough.

Alright, peace everybody, its been a wild ride. Hope the game ends up being fun.

 

[Oriden]

So when people say that there's a negative trend in Nintendo games to dress their black characters in very little clothing, maybe you should consider that for a bit instead of immediately going on the defensive.

Sorry to pick this bit out but- I've been ignoring the Nessa controversy because I know how people can be stupid ridiculous over things being "racist" after I caught wind of the whole Amethyst fanart thing that happened, as well as other instances of people attacking cosplayers for not being the same ethnicity as the character they dressed up as, and I figure the situation around Nessa isn't any different because... she's a swimmer, of course she isn't wearing much. You don't jump in the pool in a ballgown.

Maybe there is a negative trend, I don't know, but I don't think it's fair to say that Nessa is part of it. She's just a swimmer who happens to be black.

 

[Icy Wind]

Please stop bringing up off-site drama in here. It’s just pointless and derails the thread.

 

[KiranTheWitch]

I enjoy Pokemon Go, but I'm still missing half of the Sinnoh Pokemon because Kanto, Johto and Hoenn Pokemon spawn much more frequently. I hardly ever see a Sinnoh Pokemon on Radar or spawning.

 

[KiranTheWitch]

Ok, here's a fun little story I will share with you guys.

Long story short: I got introduced to Pokémon video games in 2002/2003, by my (former) best friend, who was just getting out of his Pokémon phase at the time, since Pokemania hype was starting to decrease.

So whenever I would ask him something Pokémon related at school, he would nervously start looking around us, and ask me to lower my voice. He really didn't want people to think he was still into Pokémon.

True story xD

I definitely remember being made fun of in 5th-8th about my love for Pokemon. But I got over it. My coworkers at Great Clips tease me about my love for it, and they get sick of hearing me talk about it, but they all actively support my goals for working for Pokemon soon. So who cares what others think. For me, Pokemon has saved my life. So I want to give back.

 

[hanecco]

@Meta Boss
I don't think Synthaphone was specifically targeting you, but rather people who spoke about similar things.

Here (India) Pokemon's pretty much known by its anime

Can confirm; I was raised in the UK but no one there understood that DS Pokemon games existed when I went back to visit family ;-; I'm not really into the anime, which didn't help things.

 

[Boss1708]

I don't think Synthaphone was specifically targeting you, but rather people who spoke about similar things.

I stand by what I said: I think Nintendo shouldn't try to cater to people who see racism everywhere. It's these people that need to realize that they are severely overreacting.

We shouldn't encourage people's paranoia. Nessa is a water type gym leader. A swimsuit is the most logical attire for her.

#JusticeForNessa

 

[Silktree]

I thought that the Nessa controversy was about a few artists "whitewashing" her.

 

[PocketMonster]

I thought that the Nessa controversy was about a few artists "whitewashing" her.

there are two things with Nessa some people have an issue with.
one is that and it was a filter that was over layed on Fan art with correct colors to make some pop and others fade a tid bit.
the second is about the kind of clothes she is wearing.
I think Nessa looks Fantastic

 

[prog rocker]

the second is about the kind of clothes she is wearing.
I think Nessa looks Fantastic

Like people have pointed out, she's a swimmer, it's logical, which is why I find the whole thing confusing.

 

[Oriden]

there are two things with Nessa some people have an issue with.
one is that and it was a filter that was over layed on Fan art with correct colors to make some pop and others fade a tid bit.
the second is about the kind of clothes she is wearing.
I think Nessa looks Fantastic

Nessa does look fantastic. D= She's cool and pretty and I like her. First time I saw her I was like "Daaaaaaaaamn, she look good."

Only complaint- those shoes. Girl get some better shoes, those floaties for your feet ain't saving anything.