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

[Oriden]

Anyone else find it weird we still don't have an official release date yet?

I found that weird when the first trailer dropped, but then I looked back on Sun and Moon and it was "Coming Holiday 2016" in its first trailer too so I guess it's not that weird.

 

[Grass Type Gardenia]

Anyone else find it weird we still don't have an official release date yet?

If you look at the Sword and Shield Anime discussion forum, I've concluded that by the time Sun and Moon reach SM140, similar to the last episode of XY (XY140), then it would probably be at the start of October. Not set in stone, the series could go on for another few more episodes before it ends. Perhaps in November.

October/November are the most likely guesses.

 

[Defiant]

Do you guys think we will be able to migrate all Pokemon from GO to these games, similar to how it worked in LGPE but not limited to Gen 1?

 

[Oriden]

Do you guys think we will be able to migrate all Pokemon from GO to these games, similar to how it worked in LGPE but not limited to Gen 1?

Hopefully! They would need that feature to make Meltan work as it is, and I don't really see why they would want to change its evolution method if the capability to maintain it is there. Plus all the reasons I've mentioned before about it eliminating much of the need for oversaturating the region with older pokemon.

Would be nice to have somewhere to send shinies too, since Community Days usually mean I wind up with a shitton of them with dismal stats that aren't worth putting in gyms but are too precious to sacrifice them to gain back box space- blargh.

 

[Jukain]

I have one question. How much of the money goes to Gamefreak themselves? Pokemon as a franchise is bigger than the games alone. Merchandise and other media have no relevance to the games. If someone can find these numbers, it would be appreciated.

 

[Grass Type Gardenia]

They'll really need to work something out with GO/LGPE and the mainstream games, the mechanics are very different compared with the two. Pokecandies and Combat Points for one

 

[Grass Type Gardenia]

When will we expect Corocoro?

 

[dvor]

When will we expect Corocoro?

4-5 days from now

 

[Defiant]

I have one question. How much of the money goes to Gamefreak themselves? Pokemon as a franchise is bigger than the games alone. Merchandise and other media have no relevance to the games. If someone can find these numbers, it would be appreciated.

I think Game Freak/Nintendo/Creatures Inc all own 1/3rd (33.3%)

 

[Silktree]

Hopefully! They would need that feature to make Meltan work as it is, and I don't really see why they would want to change its evolution method if the capability to maintain it is there. Plus all the reasons I've mentioned before about it eliminating much of the need for oversaturating the region with older pokemon.

1. They don't need to change its evolution method if they expect you to get it via LGPE.
2. I don't understand why you expect the Alola games to be phased out so quickly (not to mention that Go isn't going to have the Kalos/Alola Pokemon this year), or why you think that Game Freak will suddenly take issue with oversaturation. There will be more Switch games to help fill the (arguably irrelevant) National Pokedex, too.
3. Keeping Go compatibility exclusive to the Let's Go sub-series would make the most sense. They chose not to make the Alola games Go-compatible for a reason.

 

[Grass Type Gardenia]

Just realised that Professor Burnet was in the Dream Finder game in Gen 5 before appearing in Gen 7. There have been a few hints of connection between Alola and Unova (both states of the US) Mostly Kanto in relation than Unova, but with this fusion thing and with Colress of Team Plasma being in the game, you cannot deny the connection.

Perhaps Galar would have some connections with Kalos (both European Countries), although mostly with Sinnoh, just as Kalos has with Hoenn more than Unova.

 

[Oriden]

1. They don't need to change its evolution method if they expect you to get it via LGPE.
2. I don't understand why you expect the Alola games to be phased out so quickly (not to mention that Go isn't going to have the Kalos/Alola Pokemon this year), or why you think that Game Freak will suddenly take issue with oversaturation. There will be more Switch games to help fill the (arguably irrelevant) National Pokedex, too.
3. Keeping Go compatibility exclusive to the Let's Go sub-series would make the most sense. They chose not to make the Alola games Go-compatible for a reason.

I don't expect the Alola games to be phased out so quickly, I'm talking about a lack of need for the majority of the first four generations to be present in Galar. The oversaturation made some sense if you consider a desire to keep all pokemon recently obtainable, but having GO transfers offers them an alternative to having to fit them into the region.

 

[Jukain]

Even in that case, does that money go back into the investment in the company, or do they put it into video game development or something else? As I ask this, though, I realize such a measure is impossible to track since it has to do with internal business matters. This can be changed at any time for any number of reasons. Regardless, the idea was that there is no way ALL the money is going to the development of video games. We may not know the actual amount, but I don't think it's anywhere close to what people think it is.

 

[Plubio]

Let me mention Zelda breath of the wild. When you want to make a great game there are several risks to consider. Bioware failed, Zelda did a masterpiece. Pokemon didn't even want to try. I still appreciate Bioware and Zelda team more than Pokemon that after 23 years has never even tried to create That game I've been waiting for or just those few things you would rationally expect after 23 years with excuses like: "people don't have time to play videogames". My opinion.

While I do see some of your points, this one is a bit iffy. Not exactly bad, but not very good as well.

The main difference between Breath of the Wild and Pokémon is the development cycle — Zelda got delayed twice: once because of development issues. The other is fairly obvious: the game was finished but they wanted it to be a Switch launch title, so they shelved it waiting for Switch to come. ~5 years to make it, more or less. 3DS Pokémon titles were developed in 1.5/2 years time spawn, as seen by eShop assets.

It is not bad to want Pokémon to become "someting more" than it already is. The main concern here is that Pokémon is not only a videogame: there's an anime, TGC, real life events, etc.; ton of stuff that need to work together so they don't fall apart (seriously those filler arcs on older anime seasons were outright awful) so the workflow needs to be fast and efficient.

Could Pokémon be a better product? Sure. Could they hire even more people? Maybe so (this was already discussed).
But the current Pokémon format (which is still on fire anyway) demands a new generation every 3 years. On a game series where you need to make new games compatible with the old ones and built them in top of each other. That's exhausting from a developer point of view, even if the code "is still there".

By no means I'm saying your opinions are wrong. It is totally okay to expect something you personally would enjoy better than the current games. But sadly it's kinda unrealistic.

 

[Defiant]

I accept I'm a minority of 1 in this but I think BotW ruined the Zelda franchise, for me at least. Barely any story, and far too hard.
Personally I'm glad Pokemon is staying true to it's roots.

 

[techitisJ]

Personally, I think regional variants should return because the real-life theory that they're based on originated from the UK and Galarian Forms would be a nice way to reference it.

Yes! That would be a perfect way to reference that theory. The concept of regional variants is so much fun, because there is so much that they can do with the Pokemon, and it adds this whole new type of lore to the region. It gives the developers who want to keep dex numbers lower a way to add fresh looking Pokemon designs, without taking up a new number in the Pokedex. It gives Pokemon who never really shined too much a new way to be fresh and unique. Merch profit is also a plus.

I do definitely hope if they bring in Galarian forms, that they also work on making more serious designs. While I was fond of some of the goofier designs. (okay, if you fatten up the body on Alolan Persian, to fit the ridiculous head size, it actually looks pretty cute), the designs that I loved the most were definitely the more interesting designs of Alolan Vulpix/Ninetales, and Alolan Raichu.

Regional variants is definitely my favorite mechanic introduced in a Pokemon game in a long time, and I hope that it becomes a staple in the series, or at least we see it this generation as well. And if we don't, then I would at least like to see more Pokemon who have somewhat different designs depending on the area you find them (think Shellos and Gastrodon, or the Flabebe line), and some higher numbers of new Pokemon.

 

[AngryBinacle]

I'd rather have the team make old mons viable again with better stats and moves than with new looks.

Keep in mind that the regional variant mechanism was a way of Kanto-pandering, too.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

I'd rather have the team make old mons viable again with better stats and moves than with new looks.

They can do both, though. Regional variants usually have stat redistributions.

 

[Grass Type Gardenia]

Gen 1: Kanto
Gen 2: Johto - Kanto
Gen 3: Hoenn - Kanto, Johto
Gen 4: Sinnoh - Johto, Kanto, Hoenn
----------------------------------
Gen 5: Unova - Johto, Kanto, Sinnoh, Hoenn
Gen 6: Kalos - Hoenn, Kanto, Sinnoh, Johto, Unova
Gen 7: Alola - Kanto, Unova, Sinnoh, Kalos, Hoenn, Johto
Gen 8: Galar - Sinnoh, Kalos, Johto, Alola, Kanto, Unova, Hoenn

Did this out of curiosity from most to less connections of each region.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

Gen 8: Galar - Sinnoh, Kalos, Johto, Alola, Kanto, Unova, Hoenn

You’ve got no way of knowing that unless you’ve played the games already.

And it’s a pretty subjective list since “connections to a region” is a subjective thing in itself and prone to confirmation bias.