Pokémon Sword & Pokémon Shield (2019, Switch)

[killthenet]

I shoulda bought shares when I had the chance! 

Quest looks like a great entry point for kids into the series, my niece just turned 6 and I think she'd love it. Why on earth does anyone feel the need to have a negative reaction to that kind of thing? The constant hot takes and elitism is the main reasons I've blocked access to resetera on my phone, infuriates me everything I go on there but it became a reflex for me to just type in the URL when I was bored. I actually feel kind of cleansed since blocking it.

[Glen-i]

Oh god, I think I just threw up in my mouth a bit.

Not only are there no new Pokémon, but they're gonna pretend that the other 650-ish don't exist?

I pretty much hated everything about that trailer, it's presentation, it's focus, it's features. Big middle finger to someone like me who wants a good mix of Pokémon.

Someone call me when Game Freak go back to making proper Pokémon RPG's.

[Julius]

27 minutes ago, killthenet said:

Yeah, I like the look of Pokemon Quest, will it be the first free-to-play game on the Switch? I can't think of another one. 

And the core-series Switch games look fantastic! I really hope that motion controls can be turned off though, but all the connectivity seems really cool. The Pokeball looked incredibly dumb to me at first but when I saw that it was essentially a Pokewalker I started to kind of want one. Really looking forward to this!

EDIT:

November 16th! Christmas is going to be bananas for the Switch. 

Yeah, I think I’m in on Quest. Definitely seeing a lot of the negative reactions (seriously: why, Internet?), but I like how quirky it is; I think a lot of that wave of initial negative reactions is due to impatience over the Let’s Go titles. Anyways, it’ll hopefully keep me somewhat busy until I can get a Switch at the end of summer!  

As for the main games, I was expecting nothing more than Citra HD Gen VII graphics (not that there’s anything wrong with that, mind), so I was very surprised when the first images came through in the seconds before the trailer launched. There was definitely a moment of hesitancy with regards to the main character models, but I think the Pokémon models and environments look absolutely fantastic. 

And yep. Seriously, Nintendo are going all out in the final third by the looks of  things, as they should be: Smash, Pokémon, and we still don’t know what exactly is going on with Yoshi, Fire Emblem or the recently rumoured Star Fox. The former two alone would be enough to cross the 20M units sold mark though, surely? 

Q&A session coming up, so we might find out some more morsels of information on the games shortly. 

[Julius]

27 minutes ago, Glen-i said:

Oh god, I think I just threw up in my mouth a bit.

Not only are there no new Pokémon, but they're gonna pretend that the other 650-ish don't exist?

I pretty much hated everything about that trailer, it's presentation, it's focus, it's features. Big middle finger to someone like me who wants a good mix of Pokémon.

Someone call me when Game Freak go back to making proper Pokémon RPG's.

Well, you won’t have to wait too long  these tweets felt like they were sort of intended for you  

Honestly, I think I’m in on a return to Kanto. It probably helps that I haven’t played through the entire region in its original form in a very long time - the only time that I completed a journey through Kanto the save file got corrupted, and I haven’t really felt the urge to play the VC versions of the originals, despite owning them  - but yeah, I think I’m ready to choose Bulbasaur again. 

While, of course, I’m waiting for Gen VIII proper to kick off next year  one of the leakers that got this stuff right, including the timing of today’s reveal, did tease that we should be much more excited about next year’s game than this one, so I think we can remain (somewhat) hopeful that next year will bring the changes that we want to see. 

Edited May 30, 2018 by Julius Caesar

[Julius]

Some Q&A stuff going down. 

Now, this doesn’t bother me too much, seeing as it’s been rumoured for a while...

...but this does:

Eh...

UPDATE

...but then they say this and I get excited for a Dragon Eeveelution... 

YAY

BOO

This is a real emotional rollercoaster you’re putting me through, GF. 

After what I’ve heard about USUM, this is a very necessary clarification to make. So I guess I’m (very) excited for what next year’s Pokémon title will bring, because I’m kind of on the fence with LGEP right now.

...

 

Edited May 30, 2018 by Julius Caesar

[killthenet]

Hmm, I'm okay with them just using the original 151 but not actually battling wild Pokemon is a bit of a bummer. And the lack of online features doesn't bother me but does that also mean we won't be able to trade with our friends? Otherwise it seems like Sun/Moon but in Kanto and having not playing Sun/Moon or US/UM I'm keen to play a modern Pokemon game, but at least there are some 'proper' entries on the horizon to appease the likes of Glen.

[Glen-i]

Woah, woah, woah...

There's no online multiplayer? So unless you actually know someone with the other version, you have to use GO to catch them all, right? Gross...

And wild Pokémon encounters have no actual battling?

It just gets fucking better, doesn't it?

Switch has really gone out of it's way to sour me on my favourite series, Zelda was boring, Mario was uninspiring and now we've got a glorified Pokémon GO.

2019 can't come soon enough. I can't believe there's finally a mainline Pokémon game that I'll probably skip.

Edited May 30, 2018 by Glen-i

[Julius]

7 minutes ago, Glen-i said:

2019 can't come soon enough.

Pretty much where I’m at, though I do want to give the games a go, if anything just to have a better understanding of what TPC are going for with this exactly. Pokémon is great because it has a relatively low entry barrier but a high mastery barrier, so I’m struggling to see how this will entice GO players to make the switch to the main series games. 

Unless, of course, Let’s Go is going to become a spin-off series which is here to stay. 

Thank goodness that they’ve declared that this isn’t the game that they announced back at E3 last year, or the Internet might just have melted into a nervous breakdown. On the downside, with the knowledge that this game will have presumably been in production for at least three years by the time it releases, and with initial reception to Let’s Go proving somewhat divisive, at least amongst those whom seem to care most, I think we’re going to see more and more outlandish wishlists for Gen VIII.

Which makes me worry that Game Freak has just put even more pressure on themselves to match fan expectations with the next main series title/s. 

[Falcon_BlizZACK]

As soon as I saw the trailer this morning about 10 mins ago, I moonwalked here with glee..... BUT no online features?! That is soul destroying. I could forgive the somewhat lazy playing it safe visuals and the Pokemon GO pandering makes great sense... But eliminating core elements in favour of GO type stuff was a nightmare. Its a shame because the battle animations look great and I know online battling would have been like crack cocaine.

[Sméagol]

I'v only caught up a little.. But I'm not seeing the point? Well I do see the point, which is to sell a shitload of games (and Switches) to the new generation of Pokémon fans they created with the mobile games.

I'll have to see more, but I'm guessing these are not the games to get me back into Pokémon after almost 20 years.

Should they perhaps get their own thread? I'm not sure about what the "official" terms are, but I suspect most fans won't see these as "core" games. We can keep this thread for the 2019 games.

[Ashley]

You can make threads for both. We don't have to pay for each thread made 😉

[Hero-of-Time]

I love the look of this. Yeah, it's not a Pokemon game in the traditional sense ( apparently these are still being counted as part of the mainline games ) but it certainly looks a step in the right direction in terms of catering to the Pokemon Go audience and moving them over to playing on a console. The Pokeball accessory looks pretty neat and while I will never use this, being able to play local co-op is another addition.

I can see why many are up in arms over these games but with the success of Go the Pokemon Company would be foolish not to draw inspiration from it. Just look at the effect it has had on Nintendo's stock overnight . 

To people who continue to play and enjoy Pokemon Go ( @Shorty, @Daft, @BowserBasher, @MindFreak ) has this announcement got you interested in picking up the game?

[drahkon]

Haven't been interested in Pokémon in years and everything I've seen just now makes sure it stays that way.

However, I am interested in that Pokéball thingy...going out, asking ladies "hey, you wanna see/touch/stroke my balls?"

[Glen-i]

18 minutes ago, Sméagol said:

Should they perhaps get their own thread? I'm not sure about what the "official" terms are, but I suspect most fans won't see these as "core" games. We can keep this thread for the 2019 games.

Someone better make a thread for it. Because if they don't, I will. And I will not be kind.

Just so you know, these are technically Gen 7's remake games and are considered a core game. Laughable as that is.

[Sméagol]

Just now, Glen-i said:

Someone better make a thread for it. Because if they don't, I will. And I will not be kind.

Just so you know, these are technically Gen 7's remake games and are considered a core game. Laughable as that is.

On it.

 

[MindFreak]

15 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

To people who continue to play and enjoy Pokemon Go ( @Shorty, @Daft, @BowserBasher, @MindFreak ) has this announcement got you interested in picking up the game?

I'm torn on it. I've been catching up (and trying to make my son sleep!) this morning. I like the look of the games, and battling wild Pokémon has always been a bit weird and time consuming (if the Pokémon has fainted, why isn't it easier to catch then??) so I won't miss that so much but I don't like there only being the first 151 Pokémon as they are more or less boring by now. I play Pokémon for the adventure and not the competition, and in that regard, I think it looks alright. I'll probably want to give it a go but my main view is that this is for the younger generation, the new players. Which is fine.

[Dcubed]

At least this isn't the darkest timeline...

 

That announcement that they're working on the "real" next Pokemon game for Switch is at least a sliver of hope.  And also a big red flag indicating that these two newly annouced games were going to be on mobile and also going to be our only future for Pokemon originally, before Switch wrestled them from the cold dead hands of mobile.  This announcement smacks of "COURSE CORRECTION!!!" so hard that it makes the Titanic iceberg blush!

 

It's a glimpse into the future that we were going to have... and it isn't pretty...

 

At least now there's at least some hope for a proper Pokemon game and an actual future for the series that's worth getting excited about! (though there's still a good chance that PoGo will continue to infect the mainline series...).  Let's just hope that doesn't end up reflecting what could've been as well...

Edited May 30, 2018 by Dcubed

[MindFreak]

Honestly, I don't see why some are so furious about this. A real game is coming, this is just a step into the series for newcomers. It was always dubious how Game Freak would be able to make a totally new Pokémon game in such a short time since (U)S(U)M but this proves to be a good middle ground. It doesn't (necessarily) make the core series bad - they don't have to adopt every mechanic from LGPE and thus, we still now nothing about the next entries.

[Hero-of-Time]

1 minute ago, Dcubed said:

At least now there's at least some hope for a proper Pokemon game and an actual future for the series that's worth getting excited about! (though there's still a good chance that PoGo will continue to infect the mainline series...)

If the new Switch games sell stupidly well there's no doubt in my mind they will influence the next games.

I dunno why people are up in arms over stuff like this. Not every game has to be made for you and it's important to remember that there are other gamers who enjoy things that you don't. This is about introducing a different audience to the Pokemon games or trying to get others who have been away from the series for a long time to come back and try this.

 

[drahkon]

3 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

I dunno why people are up in arms over stuff like this. Not every game has to be made for you and it's important to remember that there are other gamers who enjoy things that you don't.

But there is a woman in this game. How is this historically accurate? FUCK THIS SHIT.

Wait...what were we talking about?

3 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

If the new Switch games sell stupidly well there's no doubt in my mind they will influence the next games.

What if the Let'sGo games sell more than the "real" core games? I don't even know if that's at all likely, but it would be interesting to see with regards to the Pokémon games' future.

Edited May 30, 2018 by drahkon

[Glen-i]

Just now, MindFreak said:

Honestly, I don't see why some are so furious about this. A real game is coming, this is just a step into the series for newcomers. It was always dubious how Game Freak would be able to make a totally new Pokémon game in such a short time since (U)S(U)M but this proves to be a good middle ground. It doesn't (necessarily) make the core series bad - they don't have to adopt every mechanic from LGPE and thus, we still now nothing about the next entries.

Sure yeah. Reasonable thinking.

But what if they do?

Back when GO came out and became a huge mega hit. I was genuinely concerned that it's mechanics might bleed into a proper Pokémon game. And now here we are.

Now what if this sells way more than next year's game? What's to stop Game Freak from thinking, "Oh well, no-one wants actual battling of wild Pokémon then. Let's ditch it"

It's at risk of snowballing and it's frightening.

[Dcubed]

4 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

If the new Switch games sell stupidly well there's no doubt in my mind they will influence the next games.

I dunno why people are up in arms over stuff like this. Not every game has to be made for you and it's important to remember that there are other gamers who enjoy things that you don't. This is about introducing a different audience to the Pokemon games or trying to get others who have been away from the series for a long time to come back and try this.

 

It's not necessarily because of the game itself, it's because it speaks of TPC's intentions for the series as a whole.  If Switch hadn't taken off, this would've been our only future, there wouldn't be a Gen 8 at all!

 

And there's still a good chance that Gen 8 will continue down this road, with all of the mechanics that make Pokemon games actually fun and interesting stripped out of them in favour of this lowest-common-denominator garbage.  I have little faith in Gen 8 being worth my time at all now if this represent's TPC's vision for the series' future.

Edited May 30, 2018 by Dcubed

[MindFreak]

8 minutes ago, Glen-i said:

Sure yeah. Reasonable thinking.

But what if they do?

Back when GO came out and became a huge mega hit. I was genuinely concerned that it's mechanics might bleed into a proper Pokémon game. And now here we are.

Now what if this sells way more than next year's game? What's to stop Game Freak from thinking, "Oh well, no-one wants actual battling of wild Pokémon then. Let's ditch it"

It's at risk of snowballing and it's frightening.

It's healthy to try something new once in a while. Surely, they won't take in the bad concepts and the main games may actually benefit from getting some new inputs while keeping the competitive battling intact. Isn't that what you enjoy about Pokémon anyway? If they don't touch the battle mechanics (too much), then it shouldn't matter much, or?

And really, you like battling the wild Pokémon? I'd rather that you could just battle the trainers whenever you wanted (scaled to your level of course) and then just catching the damn monsters in another way than having to battle and possibly KO a Pokémon. It doesn't really make sense.

I'm trying to tell you to stop worrying about something that may or may not happen until you know what is going to happen. Then you may worry or be mad. 

Edited May 30, 2018 by MindFreak

[Hero-of-Time]

1 minute ago, Dcubed said:

And there's still a good chance that Gen 8 will continue down this road, with all of the mechanics that make Pokemon games actually fun and interesting stripped out of them in favour of this lowest-common-denominator garbage.

To you. Try and look at the other point of view. There's a huge audience who clearly have no issue with these things not being in a Pokemon game. Obviously there is a concern from gamers who want a traditional game about how the series will move going forward but at the moment its all guess work. All you can do is either take it how it is or just ignore the game and see what the 2019 title brings to the table.

[Dcubed]

9 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

To you. Try and look at the other point of view. There's a huge audience who clearly have no issue with these things not being in a Pokemon game. Obviously there is a concern from gamers who want a traditional game about how the series will move going forward but at the moment its all guess work. All you can do is either take it how it is or just ignore the game and see what the 2019 title brings to the table.

That's exactly what I'll be doing.

 

Game Freak have basically thrown me a middle finger with this game and said that they're more interested in chasing the genwunner PoGo audience.  How much of that was motivated by TPC pivoting towards mobile as their only potential option for the future and how much of that will change now that Switch represents a viable future, will probably determine how much Gen 8 resembles a proper Pokemon game I reckon.

 

If Gen 8 resembles a good, traditional Pokemon game experience, then all is well and everyone's needs are served.  But I get the feeling that won't be happening quite how we wanted it to...This was originally going to be our only future after all. 

 

And how much will it affect the development of a proper Pokemon game for Switch? Probably a lot.  Just speaking practically, Game Freak would've had to have been working on three games simultaneously (US/UM, Let's Go, Gen 8) if Gen 8 is indeed coming out next year.  Something has to give here; and I reckon it'll be Gen 8 that gives.

 

While I at least have a sliver of hope left for the series, it's only a sliver, and TPC/Game Freak have not earned the benefit of the doubt with me.  TPC have already shown me their (at least past) intentions for the series' future, and it's not pretty.

Edited May 30, 2018 by Dcubed