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SwSh What are the things you like and don't like about Sword and Shield?

Liked:

1. The region as a whole - the routes are a little clunky and a couple of the villages / cities are underwhelming, but the region itself is well done in terms of color and there is plenty to explore.
2. I like that we have just the three legendaries
3. Kanto pandering seems to be minimal
4. The gym challenge (badge names are dull though)
5. The references to music in the game. Britain has a passionate music scene and I'm happy to see it influence some of the mon's designs (Rillaboom, Toxitricity, etc)

Dislike:

1. The story is relatively dull and I am still not really sure what exactly Chairman Rose seeks to accomplish
2. Leon is easily my least favorite regional champion
3. Hop is basically Hau's English cousin.
4. The loss of night / day differences. It could just be me, but the game seems to not really follow the time of day and does its own thing
5. Gigantimaxing / Dynamaxing - terrible concept in general that is made even worse by how unavailable Pokemon that can go to their gigantamax form can be
6. New Gen 8 Pokemon - I don't hate the Pokemon themselves (although I am not liking a few of them), but the lack of diversity in Pokemon types (Ice and Dark seem to be very common in this region) amongst the new generation is disappointing.
7. The reappearance of regional forms. Mr Mime and Linoone did not have to be given a regional form for them to get new evos. I look forward to what excuses Game Freak put forth as to why Mr Rhyme and Obstagoon wont be in future generations, or why they are hard to obtain.
8. Max Raid battles. If it weren't for the experience candy, the occasional items that I can sell for money, and the TR's, I would not even bother with these.

Honorable Mention:

1. Wild Area - nice concept, but it is very clunky
2. Camping - nice in concept, just feels painfully limited
 
I'm still getting through it for the first time so only have so much I can judge and the following may be subject to updating.

Likes:

  • The region itself. The concept, beautiful design and sheer expanse.
  • The stadium format. The more lively and official nature of it adds more substance to it as well as a sense of realism despite their deciding to give up on unique badge names.
  • How the rival has actual character growth that develops the flat generic champion wanna-be into something with motivation and purpose that is almost profound.
  • The asshole with a bit of backstory that somewhat gives reason to his assholery and how that assholery actually serves a purpose as the threshold of the rival's growth.
    Sometimes to become stronger people need to be broken and rebuild themselves from the bottom up and Hop's weakness as a trainer was thoughtlessness and recklessness as he considered himself automatically untouchable due to his genetic relation to the current champion. It was because of Bede's harsh words that he developed an understanding of strategy and individual identity resulting in his becoming uniquely unpredictable.
  • The raid battles are a fun source of useful items including TRs though these concepts are not without flaw. See my post in the TR thread for my full assessment.
  • The camping/cooking. I appreciate the additional method of healing your team when you're not near a Pokemon Center.​
Dislikes:

  • Not being able to switch off the EXP all. I DO NOT dislike the feature itself but it has its consequences as well as its benefits so don't feel it should be used all the time.
    For the first time in my Pokemon career, I'm NOT looking up the gym teams, I'm going into the gyms completely blind, however, since the EXP. all continues to pump my appropriately leveled Pokemon with exp while I'm catching new team members up, I'm overpowered without even trying to be. Hence the gym battles have been almost ridiculously easy.
    So far Bea has been my most challenging battle. I actually managed to both underestimate her max level AND fail to anticipate a Dark move on her Gigantamax Machamp. I then, however, proceeded to overestimate Opal's max level.
    Particularly those who have played the fan game Pokemon Reborn can see how little effort GF puts into creating a challenge.
  • Although I'm liking the whole mystery of history apparently being edited, there is a significant absence of plot largely caused by the absence of an antagonistic team providing some form of profound/apocalyptic threat. Which leads me right into the next point.
  • Team Yell. Although I find them somewhat interesting as a rival's overly enthusiastic cheer squad and I totally dig the punk style, they're underdeveloped and as the most antagonistic aspect, we get they're vastly underwhelming. See this thread for a fuller assessment: Team Yell
  • As a result of all the above points, these games are a bit more fast-paced than their predecessors.
  • The shiny locked starters. Just what's the point? That the Switch can't be soft reset isn't really a hindrance.
  • That to use the online features, particularly the Surprise Trade now require a subscription to Nintendo Online. As if the games themselves don't cost a mini fortune.
  • Although we see quite a few giant Pokemon in the first generation of the anime, that these games normalize it feels a bit surreal to me even for such a fictional world as well as that the franchise is based in the country that created Gozilla and isn't exactly the most thoughtful concept.
  • That the various type based uniforms aren't wearable in the gyms. I don't understand that logic.
 
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  • Particularly those who have played the fan game Pokemon Reborn can see how little effort GF puts into creating a challenge.
While I agree that these games are easy, I don't think Reborn is exactly a fair comparison. Much of the difficulty from the gym leaders there comes from the terrains used, or the PULSE machines, and with Eternamax and totem Pokemon as our few exceptions, Pokemon has generally always let the player still have access to anything that appears in battles. I'd expect a challenge to come from strategic parties rather than adding new features that the player can't use.
 
While I agree that these games are easy, I don't think Reborn is exactly a fair comparison. Much of the difficulty from the gym leaders there comes from the terrains used, or the PULSE machines, and with Eternamax and totem Pokemon as our few exceptions, Pokemon has generally always let the player still have access to anything that appears in battles.

You can utilize the terrains in Reborn however, it's just more a matter of strategic choice than the mainstream Mega Evolution, Z-moves and Dynamaxing.

I'd expect a challenge to come from strategic parties rather than adding new features that the player can't use.

SwSh does implement Gigantamaxing without giving us access to it or is there something I'm not aware of?
Speaking of which, that's another thing. Dynamaxing vs. Gigantamaxing is quite underwhelming, I didn't even notice the difference in Kapu's battle until I watched it in Youtuber TyranitarTube's let's play.
I still don't understand the difference other than form changes.
 
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You can utilize the terrains in Reborn however, it's just more a matter of strategic choice than the mainstream Mega Evolution, Z-moves and Dynamaxing.
You mostly use them by picking moves out of a set list- it's more like you conforming to the playlist than anything.

SwSh does implement Gigantamaxing without giving us access to it or is there something I'm not aware of?
It's definitely available, you just have to get it in a Max Raid, with an annoyingly low encounter rate.
I still don't understand the difference other than form changes.
One new move, and that's it. The Bulbapedia page explains everything pretty well IMO. Gigantamax - Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia
 
with an annoyingly low encounter rate.

Under normal circumstances, anyway. But they’re pretty common when they do events like the ones going on now that boost Snorlax, Butterfree, Centiskorch, Sandaconda, Corviknight, and Drednaw. I’ve been able to catch several of most of those by now. And I would imagine that there will be more such events to follow for the rest.

Plus (and this part is aimed more at Moon Shadow), there are a couple of Gigantamax-capable Pokémon that you can receive outside of Max Raids. There’s an event going on right now that lets you download a Gigantamax-capable Meowth; you get given a free Charmander with the Gigantamax Factor after beating the game, and if you have Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee save data on your Switch, you can also get a Gigantamax-capable Pikachu and/or Eevee early on in the game.
 
So Gigantamaxing is exclusive to set Pokemon then?
That's not very wide availability.

Plus (and this part is aimed more at Moon Shadow), there are a couple of Gigantamax-capable Pokémon that you can receive outside of Max Raids. There’s an event going on right now that lets you download a Gigantamax-capable Meowth; you get given a free Charmander with the Gigantamax Factor after beating the game, and if you have Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee save data on your Switch, you can also get a Gigantamax-capable Pikachu and/or Eevee early on in the game

I've got 2 out of 3; the Meowth and Eevee.
 
My personal thoughts:

Liked

. Getting pokemon with perfect IVs is no longer that hard. Max Raid Battle give us pokemon with a lot of perfect IVs and hidden abillity. You can capture a Ditto with 5 IVs.
. This game made the EV training more easy to us. It's cheap to buy vitamins (Iron, Carbos, Zinc, etc), so you're able to complete the 508 EVs without problems.
. Wild Area. I loved it, and I hope it were bigger than it is. I'd add some caves, underground spots, and a huge aquatic area, something like HG/SS.
. Character customization is great. I'm not a huge fan of it, but I'm happy for buying a Fire Type uniform. I'd add weight and height customization too, since both things would make our character even more special.
. The new pokemon. Ok, that's a very personal one. Gen 6 was the last one that I really liked, so I'm happy Gen 8 added a lot of pokemon that I liked.
. Marnie and Bede. They could've made all the story plot around them, and I'd easily buy it. I really dislike Team Yell and the plot around Rose.

Dislike

.
Dexcut. At this point, all Gamefreak's reasons to do that seem very questionable to me. I'm playing this game every day, and neither the battle animations nor the graphics are that good. I should've rioted when they announced this.
. Team Yell. Ok, it's just my opinion here. I really like evil teams, and Team Yell doesn't fit. It's only desire is for Marnie to become Champion. Not of fan of it. In my view, Team Yell is easily the worst "team" of this franchise. Even Team Skull is better than it. I wish we went more into Team Rocket and Giovanni. It has a lot of potential, and the writers and developers could write up some plot around them.
. We should be able to turn off the EXP share. There's nothing to point out here. I don't know why they did it.
. Post game. So, after we beat Rose, Eternatus and Leon, we must stop these two random weirdos which inxeplicably show up. Most amateur players and childs will not breed to play competitive battles. They should have spent more time adding post game content. A post game locked area could be a great option (maybe an ireland based island). Is that hard? At least, we have Battle Tower and the Pokedex to enjoy.
. The cities. It's very personal. I loved Lumiose and Castelia, because both cities were the only ones which gave me a true big city vibe. Motostoke and Hammerlocke look big on the paper, but actually they don't have a lot of areas to explore. Turffield and Stow-on-Side are pathetic ones. Why is Spikemuth so unexplored and linear?
. Why is Charmander the only Kanto starter avaliable to us? I'm not even one of these fans which hate Charizard for it's success, but I don't like the fact that Charmander is the only non Galarian Starter avaliable in this game. Bad move Gamefreak. All starters should be added in every single game, because they're specials ones. You cut out Bulbasaur and Tododile, and keep Qwilfish and Remoraid. I'm under the impression that I'll not understand some moves and decisions made by Gamefreak.
. Hop, the new Hau. Just another friendly rival who wants to defeat you and become the champion. In my view, Hop didn't need to exist. I'd be perfectly fine with Bede and Marnie.
. Thanks Wobuffet and Togepi, I keep losing Raid Battles. There's should be more trainers to help us in Raid Battles. Why can't choose the trainers? Wobuffet's counters are as useless as Hop.
 
This is a game that I wanted to love and that I wanted to say that Dexit was its only flaw. But then came the second half of the game and after seeing how rushed it was it's clear that's very flawed. If it weren't for the endgame and the postgame which had decent length I would hardly give it a pass.

Positive
+The story. But when I talk about story I'm talking about you and Hop's goals because that's clearly what is the core of the game. They toyed with the idea of giving you a permanent companion/rival in both XY and SM, but this time they actually committed to it for the whole of the game and the whole of the postgame, creating a character that even if it's obnoxious sometimes you feel something whenever you battle it. Your relationship with him has cool story beats and a nice resolution.
+The postgame. The villains actually feel like it with their attitude and your battles with them are great.
+Bede had a cool story and development too. I agree with the complains about him disappearing for a lot of the game, I think they did that so we would keep guessing whether he would become a good person or not. Sonia also had a nice progression from a curious girl who didn't know what to do to an active professor.
+The battle with Eternatus was hype and a very fitting climax.
+The Pokémon distribution is possibly the best ever, surpassing XY. It makes a good use of its large Pokedex, and there are no cases of Pokemon spamming the game. The Wild Area should've been a little more varied as Pancham and Wingull are a bit too common, but it's decent. Also I loved that Unova-like beginning and I hope it becomes the norm for upcoming games. I too liked that most of the new Pokemon are available before the 6th gym and that they shine in their habitats.
+Pokémon Camp. While I mourn the loss of petting, I'm sure it will come back. In the meantime, it gives enough options to bond with your Pokemon that make you not want to leave.
+The worldbuilding, as expected to the prerelease material. The companies and the sports culture is everywhere. I would like it if companies directly asked to support you after winning some badges.
+The gyms in general are great. I appreciate a lot the return of puzzles even if they were easy and the battles have a great atmosphere.
+The new Pokemon design. I was afraid from the prerelease ones because there wasn't anyone I loved and their concepts looked similar to Pokemon from previous generations, and I was scared that the total number would be around 50. But at the end there are enough Pokemon and a good group of cute and cool ones. I do not like the preference for pure typings though, it seems as if GF is more afraid of running out of type combinations than to reaching 1000 creatures.
+Regional forms. They are much better than the Alola ones not only because they come from different regions, but also because they dull colors are justified in a contaminated region.
+Dynamax is fun and addictive. However, it doesn't add much difficulty in the main campaign, since you can just use items or defensive Pokemon to stall for the turns your rival uses it. I put it as a positive because I don't know how to solve that.
+League cards. Enough said.
+The Champion Cup. It was very cool to rebattle gym leaders with different teams, and it was more planned than the Challenger Cup.
+Overworld encounters, finally! I do wish they told you that some Pokemon won't show up in the overworld, I missed some Pokemon because of that.
+The battle music is the most Pokémon-like it has been in years, and the overworld music is great too and takes advantage of the new console.
Mixed
+/- The region. The concepts are great (Artic sea! Fairy tale forest!) and the execution is decent, I think the routes should deserve more credit. But the second half lacks dungeons, and I'm a bit disappointed on how some cities turned out. Motostoke and Hammerlocke are just 3D structures with 2 floors, and Wyndon is nowhere as immersive and cool to explore as Lumiose. I like that there are more open doors than in Alola though.
+/- Rose. I liked him from the prerelease material and he used Cufant so I think I would adore him. I liked him for the first half on the time but then...we know what happened. His story is wrong on so many levels. Here's hope that the manga or the anime fix him.
+/- The Wild Area. It's a great concept and I'll spend most of my postgame here. However, the Pokémon distribution could've been a bit better, and Rain and Hail shouldn't be that common as they make me feel depressed. I also wish there were more trainers here.
+/-Gigantamax. Difficulty to obtain it aside. Some of the designs are just so random and hard to understand. I liked the ones that actually imagined how the Pokemon could work if it was gigantic.
+/-PokeJobs. They are okay if you want your PC mons to do something, but I don't like how it makes your PC a mess after your Pokemon come back.
Negative
-Marnie & Team Yell. Marnie was like Morpeko, one second she was happy and friendly and the other she was competitive so I never could connect with her. And Team Yell had an ok concept behind it but most of the game they are just doing Team Skull shenanigans. I do like that there is a personal connection between both, and Piers was okay, but I'm not a fan of how their story ended.
-Max Raid Battles. They were fun in my first visits to the Wild Area and had decent difficulty. But when I came back after the 7th gym they had became a total disaster and are still like that in the postgame. Of all possible locations only two are active at the moment IN THE WHOLE FRIGGIN' AREA, and the battles are way too hard: the shield, the multiple moves per turn, the 4 death limit, the shitty partners...It's just too much. I might appreciate them better if I keep using online partners, but even that has its flaws.
-The city-route-city-route progression in the second half in the game is boring and uninspired. They could have made those parts longer without using additional resources by making you do some missions in the Wild Area, but nope.
-The Challengers Cup is also terrible. They just threw Marnie and Hop at you and called it a day. I was so disappointed that I almost throw my game at the wall. The worst part is that apparently there are more challengers programmed for the rematches, why weren't them used? The tournament didn't have a clear structure at all.
-No grinding places with trainers, it seems they just want you to use candies...
-The difficulty is abysmal. I only struggled with the two Zacian battles and some trainers in the first routes, the rest of the game was a breeze.
-No GTS, which means you have to get a friend for the dozens of exclusives and trade evolutions or keep up with Wonder Trade.
-There could have been more lore.
-

It's disappointing that Pokemon's entry on the Switch is something with similar pros and cons to XY that is screaming for a third version (which I'm not sure I'd buy) but it's a decent experience nonetheless.
 
The worst part is that apparently there are more challengers programmed for the rematches, why weren't them used?

Because they're literal nobodies to whom we have zero attachment?

(Granted, you could say the same thing about every Elite Four group until Sun & Moon.)

I mean, the whole reason the anime does the tournament format is so that the narrative can come to a natural climax in which Ash faces off against his rivals from that saga. SwoShi does the same thing with Hop, Bede, and Marnie. Who cares about how well Camper Bob does in the Semifinals?
 
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This is a game that I wanted to love and that I wanted to say that Dexit was its only flaw. But then came the second half of the game and after seeing how rushed it was it's clear that's very flawed. If it weren't for the endgame and the postgame which had decent length I would hardly give it a pass.

Positive
+The story. But when I talk about story I'm talking about you and Hop's goals because that's clearly what is the core of the game. They toyed with the idea of giving you a permanent companion/rival in both XY and SM, but this time they actually committed to it for the whole of the game and the whole of the postgame, creating a character that even if it's obnoxious sometimes you feel something whenever you battle it. Your relationship with him has cool story beats and a nice resolution.
+The postgame. The villains actually feel like it with their attitude and your battles with them are great.
+Bede had a cool story and development too. I agree with the complains about him disappearing for a lot of the game, I think they did that so we would keep guessing whether he would become a good person or not. Sonia also had a nice progression from a curious girl who didn't know what to do to an active professor.
+The battle with Eternatus was hype and a very fitting climax.
+The Pokémon distribution is possibly the best ever, surpassing XY. It makes a good use of its large Pokedex, and there are no cases of Pokemon spamming the game. The Wild Area should've been a little more varied as Pancham and Wingull are a bit too common, but it's decent. Also I loved that Unova-like beginning and I hope it becomes the norm for upcoming games. I too liked that most of the new Pokemon are available before the 6th gym and that they shine in their habitats.
+Pokémon Camp. While I mourn the loss of petting, I'm sure it will come back. In the meantime, it gives enough options to bond with your Pokemon that make you not want to leave.
+The worldbuilding, as expected to the prerelease material. The companies and the sports culture is everywhere. I would like it if companies directly asked to support you after winning some badges.
+The gyms in general are great. I appreciate a lot the return of puzzles even if they were easy and the battles have a great atmosphere.
+The new Pokemon design. I was afraid from the prerelease ones because there wasn't anyone I loved and their concepts looked similar to Pokemon from previous generations, and I was scared that the total number would be around 50. But at the end there are enough Pokemon and a good group of cute and cool ones. I do not like the preference for pure typings though, it seems as if GF is more afraid of running out of type combinations than to reaching 1000 creatures.
+Regional forms. They are much better than the Alola ones not only because they come from different regions, but also because they dull colors are justified in a contaminated region.
+Dynamax is fun and addictive. However, it doesn't add much difficulty in the main campaign, since you can just use items or defensive Pokemon to stall for the turns your rival uses it. I put it as a positive because I don't know how to solve that.
+League cards. Enough said.
+The Champion Cup. It was very cool to rebattle gym leaders with different teams, and it was more planned than the Challenger Cup.
+Overworld encounters, finally! I do wish they told you that some Pokemon won't show up in the overworld, I missed some Pokemon because of that.
+The battle music is the most Pokémon-like it has been in years, and the overworld music is great too and takes advantage of the new console.
Mixed
+/- The region. The concepts are great (Artic sea! Fairy tale forest!) and the execution is decent, I think the routes should deserve more credit. But the second half lacks dungeons, and I'm a bit disappointed on how some cities turned out. Motostoke and Hammerlocke are just 3D structures with 2 floors, and Wyndon is nowhere as immersive and cool to explore as Lumiose. I like that there are more open doors than in Alola though.
+/- Rose. I liked him from the prerelease material and he used Cufant so I think I would adore him. I liked him for the first half on the time but then...we know what happened. His story is wrong on so many levels. Here's hope that the manga or the anime fix him.
+/- The Wild Area. It's a great concept and I'll spend most of my postgame here. However, the Pokémon distribution could've been a bit better, and Rain and Hail shouldn't be that common as they make me feel depressed. I also wish there were more trainers here.
+/-Gigantamax. Difficulty to obtain it aside. Some of the designs are just so random and hard to understand. I liked the ones that actually imagined how the Pokemon could work if it was gigantic.
+/-PokeJobs. They are okay if you want your PC mons to do something, but I don't like how it makes your PC a mess after your Pokemon come back.
Negative
-Marnie & Team Yell. Marnie was like Morpeko, one second she was happy and friendly and the other she was competitive so I never could connect with her. And Team Yell had an ok concept behind it but most of the game they are just doing Team Skull shenanigans. I do like that there is a personal connection between both, and Piers was okay, but I'm not a fan of how their story ended.
-Max Raid Battles. They were fun in my first visits to the Wild Area and had decent difficulty. But when I came back after the 7th gym they had became a total disaster and are still like that in the postgame. Of all possible locations only two are active at the moment IN THE WHOLE FRIGGIN' AREA, and the battles are way too hard: the shield, the multiple moves per turn, the 4 death limit, the shitty partners...It's just too much. I might appreciate them better if I keep using online partners, but even that has its flaws.
-The city-route-city-route progression in the second half in the game is boring and uninspired. They could have made those parts longer without using additional resources by making you do some missions in the Wild Area, but nope.
-The Challengers Cup is also terrible. They just threw Marnie and Hop at you and called it a day. I was so disappointed that I almost throw my game at the wall. The worst part is that apparently there are more challengers programmed for the rematches, why weren't them used? The tournament didn't have a clear structure at all.
-No grinding places with trainers, it seems they just want you to use candies...
-The difficulty is abysmal. I only struggled with the two Zacian battles and some trainers in the first routes, the rest of the game was a breeze.
-No GTS, which means you have to get a friend for the dozens of exclusives and trade evolutions or keep up with Wonder Trade.
-There could have been more lore.
-

It's disappointing that Pokemon's entry on the Switch is something with similar pros and cons to XY that is screaming for a third version (which I'm not sure I'd buy) but it's a decent experience nonetheless.
Great points. Indeed, the battle against the weirdos is quite good. I just dislike the fact that they suddently show up at Slumbering Weald, claming to be nobles descendants of galarian kings with their dumb way of speaking. I wish they were important before the post game, maybe working together with Rose.
 
Because they're literal nobodies to whom we have zero attachment?

(Granted, you could say the same thing about every Elite Four group until Sun & Moon.)

I mean, the whole reason the anime does the tournament format is so that the narrative can come to a natural climax in which Ash faces off against his rivals from that saga. SwoShi does the same thing with Hop, Bede, and Marnie. Who cares about how well Camper Bob does in the Semifinals?

Players who want to believe who want to believe that the game world doesn't revolve just around them and their 2 rivals? I would have been ok with the tournament if they have told us that only 4 challengers got the badges and if they had shown us the brackets. But nope, they just presented the most logical outcome without any fluff or creativity, like they did with the Spikemuth "story".
 
if they have told us that only 4 challengers got the badges

I mean, that’s pretty much implied by how the Galar League is set up. It’s mentioned throughout the game that people give up the Gym Challenge as it goes along and the Leaders become too daunting for most. So of course by the time you get to the League it’s going to have whittled down to a small pool. And naturally that’s going to be the people you’ve been running into throughout the story, because the fact that they’ve been keeping up with you like that means that they’ve been surviving the Challenge. (Bede is an exception, because he decides to just barge in.)

Edit: Actually I just got to that point in the game again and if you talk to them, both Marnie and the League official in the waiting room do specifically that only four Trainers made it all the way (and I'd contend that Bede not being among them actually helps somewhat to cut against the sense that everything revolves around you and your designated rivals - surely it would feel more "predestined," if you will, if the final four challengers were you, Hop, Marnie, and Bede?)
 
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I like the ideas, all but feel unfinished, especially many changes.

Not like they rushed,could have hold back to january 2020, and do a longer test run with chosen fans to makes things maybe more right?

Hope they will learn from it.
 
What I like in SWSH:
Leon
The other characters
Region based on my home country
The Galar Mons

What I dislike
Linear routes on the mainland
Some move animations
Certain scenes in the climax are lacking
 
Over the weekend, I started replaying Sun for some reason, and I gotta say I kinda miss the "stickerbook"-style Pokédex, and how the display hinted at how many more evolutions a Pokémon had, which I thought was cool for creating a sense of motivation.

Also, Pelago > Jobs. Even if Jobs didn't offend my anticapitalist sensibilities, Pelago just has so much more charm. Seeing your Pokémon grow berries together and go on little spelunking expeditions is so cute. But another thing I prefer about Pelago is that it feels more organized. You have the beans which serve as a currency that you can spend to upgrade an island or to hasten the benefits of a particular island (or just to use in Refresh), and the progression of island development is tied to how many Pokémon are in your boxes, which gives you extra motivation to work on the Pokédex, whereas in Jobs, you unlock more Jobs by completing existing ones or by earning Badges, which you're already going to be doing by virtue of playing the game (whereas working on the Dex is a more optional and long-winded endeavor). Not that I can't see an argument for the latter (and I am cognizant of how moving from a two-screen display back to one-screen might have affected the design of the feature as well), but personally I prefer the more at-your-own-pace feel of Pelago.

(Pelago's music/sound design was better, too)
 
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Likes:
  • The amazing Galar region. I live in the UK and the amount of attention to detail that went into adapting it for the Pokemon series is really impressive.
  • A really strong set of new Pokemon designs, nearly all of which reference British culture in some way.
  • Dynamax and Gigantamax. I had doubts about this feature initially and thought I'd find it too silly and over-the-top, but it turned out to be so much fun. It makes battles feel so much more intense than they've ever been before. The Gigantamax forms are really inventive and fun to collect.
  • The stadium battles. For years I've been dreaming of a game where you battle the Elite Four and Champion in a stadium, a bit like the tournaments in the anime, but they went a step further and put all the Gym battles in stadiums too! The atmosphere is amazing, and the stakes feel higher because the whole of Galar is watching you.
  • The story, while not as strong as Black/White or Sun/Moon, is still very enjoyable and there are some great characters. I like how this story takes the series back to its roots by focusing more on the Gym Challenge and competing against your rivals. But there's also some great mythology, and the Eternatus battle is one of my all time favourite Pokemon game moments.
  • The graphics really excel at times, especially when it comes to the distant scenery in places like Postwick/Route 1, Route 2, Route 4/Turffield, and the Wild Area. The Dynamax animations are stunning as well, as is that cutscene where Zacian and Zamazentra transform into their Crowned forms and then it transitions seamlessly back into the battle.
  • The music is brilliant, as always.
  • The Isle of Armor is fun and the Crown Tundra is shaping up to be even better.
Dislikes:
  • The GTS and event distributions being made exclusive to smartphone users.
  • Needing to pay an online subscription for online trades and battles.
  • The missing Pokemon. I'm not as upset about this as some fans (understandably) are, but I am, nontheless, a bit disappointed that I can't have my favourite Pokemon (Typhlosion) in my favourite region.
  • The Y-Comm icon in the corner of the screen that you can't get rid of.
  • The Max Raid Battles aren't very single-player-friendly. I never bother to do the five star ones because they're near-impossible without the help of real players.
  • Some locations, like the Mines and Glimwood Tangle, look pretty but are disappointingly small. The Slumbering Weald is good though.
  • The graphics do fall short occasionally. There aren't any battle backgrounds for the towns and cities, leading to some strange anomalies where you get teleported to the countryside (or, in Wyndon, a white void) when initiating a battle. The draw distance is a bit off-putting at times, and if you get too close to a berry tree you can see the "mesh" that makes up the 3D model. I'm also disappointed that the battles didn't incorporate the improved model scaling from the Let's Go games. As I mentioned above, the graphics are truly excellent at times; I get the impression that Game Freak invested loads of time and effort into some parts at the game at the expense of others.
  • Gigantamax Pokemon were too difficult to obtain originally and I didn't like how you couldn't give the Gigantamax factor to any Pokemon, but the Isle of Armor fixed both of these things.
 
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But all of these “inferences” and just that: assumptions. And, to be honest, many of them I don’t really see a good connection to. We don’t know exactly when SwSh began development. We don’t know that Ishihara demanded that they don’t develop for the Switch.

Well you wanted the conversation continued in this thread, so....

I agree that it's unlikely that SwSh was intended to be a 3DS game. They usually start on the next generation shortly after the new generation releases, so probably in 2016, and by then they were probably given the devkits by Nintendo. That being said though, I do think Ishihara's underestimation of the Switch may have had an effect on the development. If he didn't think the Switch would do well, he wouldn't be inclined to put much effort and resources into them because it'd be a risk. And when you do that on a console, you get things like Dexit and the poor quality graphics.
 
Well you wanted the conversation continued in this thread, so....

I agree that it's unlikely that SwSh was intended to be a 3DS game. They usually start on the next generation shortly after the new generation releases, so probably in 2016, and by then they were probably given the devkits by Nintendo. That being said though, I do think Ishihara's underestimation of the Switch may have had an effect on the development. If he didn't think the Switch would do well, he wouldn't be inclined to put much effort and resources into them because it'd be a risk. And when you do that on a console, you get things like Dexit and the poor quality graphics.
The thing is that the Switch was doing extremely well almost immediately and it would have been evident even to Ishihara. I think his skepticism came from Pokémon’s ability to function well on a console rather than a handheld. And even then, he doesn’t call all the shots, those were just his personal opinions. We don’t know how his views affected development or if even if they did affect development at all. So pinning the blame for Dexit on him is rather arbitrary.
 
(y)
*Good characters, overall. They do some interesting tricks integrating Hop's character crisis into how he builds his team in-game.
*Top tier QOL improvements like rolling so many functions into the Pokémon centres. I don't want to understate how overdue these were.
*The TM/TR system gave a way to let them hand out valuable moves like Thunderbolt without therefore meaning everything you have instantly gains access to them.
*The cultural part of the region was charming and felt more real than in the past. Even little things like the various ads scattered across towns felt real.
*Gym Battles are very nice with the large crowds and chanting.
*Wild Area is an interesting idea that will hopefully be expanded upon in the future.
*DLC is a much better idea than third versions.
*Finally ways to fix up your in-game team's natures.
*Camp. A version of amie/refresh where your party interacts with yourself is a charming upgrade.

(n)
*The endgame feels incredibly rushed. The last few towns are either small or strangely empty for their size (Wyndon) and the plot has the player staying out of the Dynamax plot for most of the game only to rush them into it in the end.
*The TM and TR placement was...screwy. It's a bit too easy to get high power TRs early on but they make you wait way too long for things like Mega Kick or the elemental punches.
*The game design part of the region is incredibly weak. Dungeons and routes are too linear and dull. Even the evil team base is pretty much just an elevator ride.
*Another difficulty level drop and the XP share was very poorly balanced, averaging towards being overleveled if you capture wild Pokémon or explore the wild area. They even made the Battle Tower much easier so there's not much to DO with those easier to get IV and Nature fixed Pokémon.
*Pelago was vastly better than jobs.
*No berry growing?!
*Way too much Raid and Adventure grinding. Max Raids are one feature I'm not gonna miss.
 
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