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

[Boss1708]

So what does that mean for future games? Increasingly less content and more flashy but hollow features like Dynamax to attract impressionable kids as they struggle to release new games every year? Or anti-consumer third versions with access to cut content marketed as a new feature? I don't like the sound of any of that to be honest.

You define it very well. It's the direction the franchise is going. But in reality, this has been happening ever since Gen VI, with the transition to 3D.

It's just that now, with SwSh, the "cutting corners" is more obvious than ever before.

 

[Vyrron]

I doubt we will have less contents. From what we have seen so far, we have already more content than before.

Do we really though? We've barely seen anything.

About the mons being cut off, well, that's true, they had to make a decision to reach the deadline and they decided to cut the pokemon. I honestly prefer this rather than having two games that lack of any major improvement, but I understand some people would have prefered something else.

But from what we know so far the games are not a major improvement. The graphics are better, but not that much better. Dynamax is basically a low effort rehash of Megas/Z-moves. Everything else is just the usual.

The problem is that they just can't keep going like this. If you have too many projects, too many deadlines and a team that cannot make miracles you basically do what you can ---> you are alone and to replace a gym you create a stupid trial where you have to find the obvious differences...
This problem did not appeared two days ago. It's years I'm aware they just do what they can and not what they would like to.

Exactly, and there's multiple solutions to that. Stop releasing new games every year, hire more manpower, outsource more things etc. I just don't agree that cutting content (and especially Pokemon) is the way to go.

 

[Joker901]

Take under consideration just some examples of what "we cut hundreds of pokemon" was translated to in past generations:

• Absolute lack of postgame in x/y.
• A battle frontier that was basically a joke in or/as.
• Ohmori programming alone the trials in s/m and the obvious result of it.
• Ultra Megalopolis promoted as an ultraspace huge city is acutally an ultra corridor in us/um.
• Overworld pokemon and riding pokemon (the great new mechanics of Let's go) happen in a map that is totally not able to host them.

 

[Bittersweet]

Bank was released 3-5 months after x/y. So in x/y you actually could transfer pokemon after a couple of months from release (unless you bought the games after several months from release). What I meant is that they did It already...

Yes, exactly... which is why saying that "removing certain Pokemon is good actually because it will encourage players to not rely on old favourites" makes no sense. That was already the case, even with National Pokedex support.

 

[Joker901]

Yes, exactly... which is why saying that "removing certain Pokemon is good actually because it will encourage players to not rely on old favourites" makes no sense. That was already the case, even with National Pokedex support.

I know, I agree with that. I was just underling that was obviously not the real reason.

 

[TheElderKing]

I don't like being a pessimist, but if Gamefreak manages to get away with all of this, then I'd be worried for the future of Pokemon games.

Clearly they're starting to realize that as consoles are getting more powerful, making games for them also gets more demanding. Right now, with their current staff, they just can't sustain a yearly release schedule with all the content from past games included. So they decided to take the easiest and most profitable route: cutting content instead of hiring more people and/or increasing their development cycles.

So what does that mean for future games? Increasingly less content and more flashy but hollow features like Dynamax to attract impressionable kids as they struggle to release new games every year? Or anti-consumer third versions with access to cut content marketed as a new feature? I don't like the sound of any of that to be honest.

Yes, that's what it looks like, right now. But this has been happening ever since Gen VI, with the transition to 3D.

But now with SwSh, it's just more obvious than ever before. It is the direction the franchise is going. The higher the difficulty of creating a game, the more corners they cut.

The fact that going 3D and in more powerful console can and did lead to some problems that resulted in Pokémon being cut is definitely true.

If this means that the game will have less content in terms of length and quality of the story, postgame, or whatever other stuff there’s in to do in the games, we don’t know that. They’re confident that the games are packed with content, but we’ll see at launch if it’ll be true or not.

That doesn’t mean that if SwSh as the same quality and content of the best Pokémon games we had, the fact that they cut Pokémon is justified, expecially because they can still work on updating that later after release.

On Dynamax, I can understand the dislike about the way it’s flash to appeal to casual/younger fans, as I don’t personally like much giant Pokémon used in such a way, though as I said before, if there’s an actual reasonable lore reason behind the phenomenon it’ll soften the blow for me.

In terms of how the mechanic works, based on what we know, I do prefer it to Megas and Z-moves. I’d have preferred a different ‘appearance’ of it, like for example if they’d have merged the mechanic with the appearance of Megas, but they evidently don’t have the resources to do that.

 

[dvor]

Tbh if my lucario wasn't in the game then it would've been easy skip
so i can understand people getting mad over it

 

[Matleo]

The fact is that It looks like they want to get rid of megas and z-moves. This is different from having them but not being able to use them in vgc like It was for s/m with megas. Dynamax seems to be created to litterally replace previous mechanics, being basically a combo of megas and z-moves that only last for three turns and can be achieved by any pokemon...

that would be really bad for the fans of them. I think they want a pause and introduce new mechanic. Remember what was with megas last generation and what were official rumors they can change probably everything when real game is out.

Why were there no megas in Sun and Moon? - Pokemon Ultra Sun

For Pokemon Ultra Sun on the 3DS, a GameFAQs message board topic titled "Why were there no megas in Sun and Moon?".

gamefaqs.gamespot.com

Mega Evolution returns in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Moon—here's how to get Mega Stones

Mega Evolution returns to Pokémon Ultra Sun and Moon, giving players a chance to find and use every single Mega Stone that has ever existed. Mega

www.gamepur.com

I think in the next games related to sword and shield both Mega and Z-moves will return and then we will get a full nationaldex too.

For my taste they will put other pokemon in Sword and other in Shield like in the past.
The next game will give us more, this ones are for the ones that can't wait, a test run for what they invented and what to modify.

I hope in this more for new pokemon. Probably after this game a gen 4 remake, there will be new megas for us probably of gen 4 and 2, thats what I really hope for.

 

[Joker901]

Do we really though? We've barely seen anything.



But from what we know so far the games are not a major improvement. The graphics are better, but not that much better. Dynamax is basically a low effort rehash of Megas/Z-moves.

Honestly I think so. It has never happened that they revealed so many mechanics during the second wave of announcements. We have Dynamax, max raid battles, wild area and we still don't know the bug type of the first route.
I think that they are confident about the new content if they feel free to reveal so much 5 months before the release. Don't forget that we still don't know what that huge city at the top of Galar will be like and what It will have in It. Compare It to the biggest city we have seen so far and you will have an idea of its massive dimensions.
About the improvements, having an openish area with a free camera and overworld pokemon in all the region It's something that for the first time I would call "improvement". I agree that dynamax is just another unuseful mechanic but clearly It took more time to be programmed than z-moves, where they basically just created 40 moves animations...
The graphics...clearly they are not even close to the graphics I expected for the first console games but, again, It definitely took more time to make them they way they look right now compared to the time they spent for the 3ds ones.

 

[Poke Dragon]

Honestly, Game Freak should just hire more people to help in making games if they really want to have a Pokemon game out every year, heck they can combine that idea with outsourcing stuff to other studios if need be. What if it makes it harder for someone to supervise? Just have a second supervisor overlooking, video-game studious are expected to have more than 150+ people working at the company anyways when home consoles are involved.

 

[Fairy Type Arceus]

Altough the anger has calmed down I still feel demotivated to play any of the games. I bought collesuem a d xd gale of darkness for the first time some weeks ago, and now I can't find the motivation to play.

 

[Vyrron]

Honestly I think so. It has never happened that they revealed so many mechanics during the second wave of announcements. We have Dynamax, max raid battles, wild area and we still don't know the bug type of the first route.
I think that they are confident about the new content if they feel free to reveal so much 5 months before the release. Don't forget that we still don't know what that huge city at the top of Galar will be like and what It will have in It. Compare It to the biggest city we have seen so far and you will have an idea of its massive dimensions.
About the improvements, having an openish area with a free camera and overworld pokemon in all the region It's something that for the first time I would call "improvement".

I guess only time will tell. I'm not impressed with what we have so far but hopefully the games will end up having enough content to make up for excluding old Pokemon. However, given the lack of content in previous first pairs I'm not super confident.

I agree that dynamax is just another unuseful mechanic but clearly It took more time to be programmed than z-moves, where they basically just created 40 moves animations...

I'm not so sure about that. Dynamax is literally just scaled up models and what, one max move per type? Whereas they had to create very elaborate animations/cutscenes for each unique Z-move.

The graphics...clearly they are not even close to the graphics I expected for the first console games but, again, It definitely took more time to make them they way they look right now compared to the time the spent for the 3ds ones.

Again, I'm not so sure. Many of the assets seem to be taken straight from the Gen 7 games. Just watch HD footage of any Gen 7 game on Citra and compare it to the footage we have from SwSh. What definitely took the most effort was the transition from Gen 5 to Gen 6 since they had to recreate literally everything in 3D.

 

[Cresselia92]

So, Dynamaxed Pokémon get different models? I wonder if they get exclusive animations alongside that or what.

 

[Poke Dragon]

So what if they get different models? They can make a copy of every Pokemon model and add the necessary changes to that model.

 

[blitzle stan]

Phasing out megas should have been something everyone saw coming since they were post-game only in SM. It was a fun way to boost Pokémon in a new way, but the developers refined that with z-moves (everyone gets them) and further now with dynamax. Battle-only forms were not sustainable, obvious now since even some permanent forms will not be in SwSh.

 

[Joker901]

I'm not so sure about that. Dynamax is literally just scaled up models and what, one max move per type? Whereas they had to create very elaborate animations/cutscenes for each unique Z-move.



Again, I'm not so sure. Many of the assets seem to be taken straight from the Gen 7 games. Just watch HD footage of any Gen 7 game on Citra and compare it to the footage we have from SwSh. What definitely took the most effort was the transition from Gen 5 to Gen 6 since they had to recreate litteraly everything in 3D.

We know, even if we shouldn't, that gygantamax exists too and they had to create totally new models and animations for several pokemon.
About the graphics...I was not talking about the quality. The art direction has gone wild this gen (really 10/10 on that aspect). Every city is unique, every field and lake is wide and natural. The graphical realization of the art direction of this region is on another level of difficulty.
The graphics are not that improved, but they clearly had to work hard to cover the entire region and the variety of styles, particulars and natural effects that lack in past regions...

 

[Bittersweet]

Altough the anger has calmed down I still feel demotivated to play any of the games. I bought collesuem a d xd gale of darkness for the first time some weeks ago, and now I can't find the motivation to play.

I know exactly how you feel... I was in the middle of replaying through UltraSun and UltraMoon, and this news just stopped all enthusiasm for it dead. Not only because of the controversy it's caused, but also because I don't know why I'm bothering to hunt and catch all these rare Pokemon if they might not be transferrable to future titles anyway.

 

[Boss1708]

Some people lose motivation to replay older games because of disappointing SwSh news?

That's weird. I am the exact opposite case: the more Game Freak screw up in the newer games, the more my motivation to replay the older games increases.

 

[Vyrron]

We know, even if we shouldn't, that gygantamax exists too and they had to create totally new models and animations for several pokemon.
About the graphics...I was not talking about the quality. The art direction has gone wild this gen (really 10/10 on that aspect). Every city is unique, every field and lake is wide and natural. The graphical realization of the art direction of this region is on another level of difficulty.
The graphics are not that improved, but they clearly had to work hard to cover the entire region and the variety of styles, particulars and natural effects that lack in past regions...

Eh, I guess, but now you're talking about things we haven't really seen. We don't know what gigantomax really looks like, and we haven't seen enough of the region to say "every city is unique" etc.

So what if they get different models? They can make a copy of every Pokemon model and add the necessary changes to that model.

Or the effects could appear at the same time as the Pokemon without being part of its model. We can clearly see the giant Steelix without the clouds and vortex as the player is about to capture it.

 

[Fairy Type Arceus]

I know exactly how you feel... I was in the middle of replaying through UltraSun and UltraMoon, and this news just stopped all enthusiasm for it dead. Not only because of the controversy it's caused, but also because I don't know why I'm bothering to hunt and catch all these rare Pokemon if they might not be transferrable to future titles anyway.

Yeah, and even more demotivating, why should we do it galar too? If this is infact their new policy and they only allow regional dex pokemon in each game, then when the next games come out, say the dp remakes, you won't be able to trade them over to those games even though the models are done, because they don't exist in the dp remakes regional dex.