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Pokémon Sword & Pokémon Shield (2019, Switch)

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12 minutes ago, Rob3008 said:

Jesus I'm actually so disappointed by that, it's highly unlikely I'll ever complete my Dex in that case. What a step backwards.

I mean, you can't do that anyway, but I get your point.

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I've been checking in every now and then on the thread over at Era and the weirdest thing for me is that sound options are locked behind an in game item that you have to get off of an NPC that you could easily miss if you don't speak to all them in the towns/cities (this was posted on Twitter from someone playing the game). Such a baffling choice from Game Freak to do that. I mean it does effect the gameplay but it just doesn't make sense to do that at all.

There just seems to be corners having been cut to get the game ready. Game Freak clearly needed more time with the game so I don't know why Nintendo didn't just give it to them. They might not have had a big holiday game but they've got plenty of software they've released this year that they could push again in the run up to Christmas for new and prospective switch owners to pick up instead (or release one of the supposed WiiU or GameCube remasters they're sitting on, which is suspect aren't being sat on at all).

It's getting knocked a lot for its visuals as well and going by what I've seen from those playing, it does look a little poor for shown compared to many of Nintendo's other games. Things like pop in and such can be sorted with patches and that but things like a poor ppst game can't be really so they've clearly struggled to get ready for such a big step up and as I say, really should have asked for more time.

I'm on the fence at the moment about picking it up. This was a sure fire purchase for me but between this and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order coming out on the same day, I may end up plonking for the latter on Friday morning (providing reviews are good) if this seems to be as lacklustre as some are saying.

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47 minutes ago, GenericAperson said:

If you have a sibling who also plays Pokemon, is the expectation really to buy another Switch so both players can trade with each other?

Well, you can create a "private" trade by inputting a code consisting of three pictures of Pokémon. Then you log off and your sibling logs in, inputting that code and performs the trade. That way, you can trade with someone you know. But it's a very inconvenient way.

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18 minutes ago, MindFreak said:

Well, you can create a "private" trade by inputting a code consisting of three pictures of Pokémon. Then you log off and your sibling logs in, inputting that code and performs the trade. That way, you can trade with someone you know. But it's a very inconvenient way.

That's possible? That's good, I was worried that there would be no interaction between accounts given that it was unlikely they were going to make it possible to battle others on the same system and I don't think that's going to happen but at least you can trade between accounts on the same system so getting all the starters is something that might be very possible.

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26 minutes ago, MindFreak said:

Well, you can create a "private" trade by inputting a code consisting of three pictures of Pokémon. Then you log off and your sibling logs in, inputting that code and performs the trade. That way, you can trade with someone you know. But it's a very inconvenient way.

Whaaaat, really?! So I'll be able to exchange Pokemon between my Sword and Shield saves, even though I only have one Switch?

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I assume that each account in a single Switch has its own save. So I assume it's possible. 

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Apparently GameFreakLied is now trending on twitter. People are digging into the game and have found that the models used in the game look to be the same as the ones used in Sun and Moon. This has caused an uproar because Game Freak said that one of the reasons why they needed to cut Pokemon was because they were creating new models and animations which doesn't seem to be the case at all. 

The game really does seem to be in a bit of a state. Someone on Reddit complied a list of everything that is messed up with this entry of the series and it's quite a list. Fans have been kicking off left and right about the whole thing. It's been fun to sit on the sidelines and watch everything unfold. :D 

 

Edited by Hero-of-Time

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I only saw the end of a conversation on another forum so I don't know the details but is there some item that you have to get from a character that should really just be an audio accessibility option for people with hearing issues?

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11 minutes ago, Happenstance said:

I only saw the end of a conversation on another forum so I don't know the details but is there some item that you have to get from a character that should really just be an audio accessibility option for people with hearing issues?

Yeah, you need to hunt down an NPC who then gives you access to audio options. A player could easily miss this NPC so it's baffling that this was implemented like this. Surely such options should just be available from the start of the game. It's a really weird decision.

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47 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

People are digging into the game and have found that the models used in the game look to be the same as the ones used in Sun and Moon.

In other words, I was right all along about the Pokémon models?

I mean, it was really blatant from the start. The 3DS models were designed in such a way that they would look fine on a HD console. Back on the 3DS, a lot of fans were under the assumption that the models were this high quality precisely to make the eventual jump to HD smoother. It's why the frame rate in battles on the 3DS was prone to tanking.

So when Game Freak gave the excuse that redoing all the models and animations was the reason for cutting Pokémon, I didn't believe them one bit.

I could tell straight away that they were using the 3DS models for older Pokémon.

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So what exactly have Gamefreak been doing in the meantime? Because they dont seem to have been working on the graphics, music, models, animations, additional features, trading mechanisms or good new pokemon designs...

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9 minutes ago, bob said:

So what exactly have Gamefreak been doing in the meantime?

Designing ladders that stop time.

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Now, I don't know anything about 3D modelling but I know about software development and ... sometimes things expected to be plug and play simply aren't and take a lot of customisation. If they had to do this for each and every model and / or animation, it would take time. 
 

 

Also... today is the day that the embargo lifts! 2 PM UK / 3 PM CET. 

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I'm sure it'll still review fine, a lot of the criticisms are very hardcore nitpicks. 

That said GameFreak really need to get with the times. Their games are still two gens behind other big development teams. It's crazy how one of the world's biggest IPs is lumbered with such a poor, dated studio.

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Has anyone ever considered the possibility that Twitter harassment may have affected the game's development?

 

I'm not saying Game Freak is entirely innocent in this situation. However, if you are receiving death threats over Twitter and going overboard, that surely has to be demorilising and will affect your ability to be able to do your job properly.

 

There's an interesting tweet from Lockstin about this actually:

 

 

 

He does make a fair point about all of this. We are only hearing about the bad things at this point, I think we need reviews to help us understand the good stuff. Having said that, people are no doubt refreshing Metacritic getting ready to review bomb the game at the first available opportunity.

 

I have generally relied on reviews when buying games but there are times when I've bought a new game in a franchise that I have particularly enjoyed and it just doesn't live up to what I was expecting. A good example is Metroid, a franchise which I indulged in for a good two years or so while buying almost all the games. I bought Metroid Other M off the back of the reviews it had been getting in some places but I have had no desire to replay that game ever since as the game contained a few major issues in the story department that marred the overall experience. A bigger take is perhaps Metroid Prime Federation Force which admittedly was never hyped up by anyone in the first place and was lambasted upon announcement, yet I picked it up anyway. On this occasion... it was basically OK with a very very awful final boss. I can't say I didn't have any fun playing it but then again I think sometimes there are franchises you love so much you don't want to admit that what you're playing isn't that great until it really starts to set in and you have to force yourself to realise that the quality of the game you are playing is not up to the same standard as the games that made you love the series in the first place.

 

I must admit there was a time when I was buying most major Sonic games that were coming out on home consoles even though they never reviewed very well, I still enjoyed them in spite of this. What broke the camel's back on that franchise for me? Sonic Unleashed which genuinely looked like it was going to be a significant upgrade on previous games in terms of quality and I was getting involved in the hype cycle as the first Sonic game I'd actively been involved in following the pre-release stuff for the internet... then some things happened which made me consider whether the hype was unjust and after finishing Unleashed and it having a few problems I was driven to a point where I felt I could no longer continue supporting that franchise. By the time Sonic Colors came out and actually reviewed well I'd decided I was over Sonic games but after Generations came out I had decided that the only time I would ever buy Sonic games again is if they reviewed well. The net result of this being that Sonic Mania is the only Sonic game I actually bought in the last 10 years!

 

I think Star Wars Battlefront II has people a bit more weary of game development practises now. It has become well publicised by many Youtubers over all the anti-consumer practises that the likes of ACtivision, EA and Take-Two have been involved in and that only increased over the following year as Bethesda's Fallout 76 launched and ruined many people's hopes. So now people are looking at the Pokemon series, seeing it's annualised nature and questioning why this series should be treated any differently.

 

Overall I feel like this one is hitting home for me a bit more because Pokemon Red was the first video game I ever played and this series was one I decided to commit to years ago so the fact that a mainline series Pokemon game has been rushed to meet a deadline has me feeling a bit disappointed. But I'm also conflicted, as despite the dex and graphical complaints I was still going to commit to buying the game and actually getting to play a Pokemon game fresh and blind without knowledge of the new Pokemon and exactly what team I was going to build. Problem is I have agreed to accept money from a sibling for half of the game's cost before I saw the drama kick into overtime so I kind of feel like I have to commit to buying the game as it would be difficult to turn around and say no. It's not like I buy every new Pokemon game that comes out every year mind, but I already had plans to record all the gym leader fights on Youtube.

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8 minutes ago, GenericAperson said:

Has anyone ever considered the possibility that Twitter harassment may have affected the game's development?

I'm not saying Game Freak is entirely innocent in this situation. However, if you are receiving death threats over Twitter and going overboard, that surely has to be demorilising and will affect your ability to be able to do your job properly.

But hasn't the vast majority of the negative feedback only cropped up in the past 2 weeks since the game leaked and the extent of the cuts, graphics, etc. became apparent?

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22 minutes ago, Rob3008 said:

But hasn't the vast majority of the negative feedback only cropped up in the past 2 weeks since the game leaked and the extent of the cuts, graphics, etc. became apparent?

People were harassing the developers over the lack of national dex since E3 this year. Yes, it has esculated since then but the whole harassment has been going on for a while now.

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This whole situation is yet another embarrassing chapter for the video game community. Immature, entitled gamers whining and harassing developers and publishers from behind their keyboards. 

I have issues with Game Freak and their talent/ability given they're in charge of a huge franchise like Pokemon, but death threats because for the first time ever you can't bring a few old Pokemon over? Seriously? Grow the f up. All those old games still exist, play those if you're that attached to them.

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I think a lot of the anger is due to the apparent deception and lack of transparency that has gone on. Had the developers just come out and told people how it was from the get go then all of this would have blown over by now. As it stands, bits of information has been trickling out here and there for the past few months, all of which has been spun in a negative light. It is disgusting the way the fan base has gone on over this whole thing but Game Freak could and should have handled the way information has got out there in a much better way. 

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39 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

I have issues with Game Freak and their talent/ability given they're in charge of a huge franchise like Pokemon, but death threats because for the first time ever you can't bring a few old Pokemon over? Seriously? Grow the f up. All those old games still exist, play those if you're that attached to them.

You're absolutely right, but don't downplay the amount of Pokémon cut as "a few"

I'd be astonished if over half of them got in.

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If you want to lose any shred of respect you might have for humanity, don't read the YouTube comments in the IGN review.

And of course there's the usual morons using the same (funny the first time, not the 10 thousandth) 'too much water' dig

 

Edited by Ronnie

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Looking forward to giving this a go. 

Can't be any worse than Sun / Moon which was just awful on every level for me. 

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Saw the IGN review. Them and Gamespot were always going to be the most likely ones to give shill reviews, so I was never going to trust what they say very much.

 

Nintendo Life's review was far fairer, although Alex had to put a part at the end of the video where he acknowledged that no matter what he said people were going to get angry.

 

Game hasn't been review bombed in the user score section on Metacritic like I was expecting it to unless that section doesn't open until Friday, at which point I am fully expecting a lot of review bombs to take place...

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