Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield

[Moonface]

I suppose I'm the odd one who likes the idea of mega-sizing the Pokemon during battle. *shrug*

I don't dislike Dynamax, but it didn't overly wow me at face value prior to knowing about the limits it has. If it wasn't limited it would be a bad feature because everyone would just use Dynamax, and at that point the game just turns into Pokemon but everything is bigger, whereas the current approach lets Dynamax be used in a strategic manner. Mechanically I really dig it, more so than the spectacle side.

[Moonface]

E3 2019: Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield Gameplay
Nintendo Treehouse has shared thirty minutes of gameplay from Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield, giving us an extended look at the Wild Areas in the game.

Also, IGN has compiled a list of notable new details found from their own gameplay experience:

1 - Weather in the Wild Area not only impacts battles, it also changes which wild Pokemon can appear.

2 - Thunderstorms increase the power of Electric- and Water-type Pokemon.

3 - Trainers can whistle while in the Wild area - this makes some Pokemon stop, some run towards the trainer and some run away.

4 - Some flying Pokemon may be out of reach, and whistling may be the only way to get them to come closer.

5 - Some super strong Pokemon (like a Machop twice the level of the demo trainer’s Pokemon) can appear in the Wild Area.

6 - You can fish in the wild area, with one spot on a lake indicating a Pokemon was there.

7 - Players return to the Wild Area multiple times throughout the game.

8 - The Y-Com system trainers use indicate if other trainers in the Wild Area want to trade, battle or join up for a Max Raid Battle.

9 - Red pillars of light indicate that a Dynamax Pokemon is ready to fight in a Pokemon den.

10 - Max Raid Battles occur when four players join together to an inhabited den in the Wild Area.

11 - Dynamax Pokemon can use multiple moves in one turn.

12 - They can also neutralize trainer’s Pokemon abilities, or remove all stat changes made in the battle.

13 - Dynamax Pokemon can create barriers that prevent almost all damage.

14 - Any attack can knock a segment of this gauge down, and if your team has a Pokemon Dynamaxed, these attacks take down two gauges.

15 - When a player’s Pokemon is knocked out in a Raid battle, they can still assist the rest of the trainers by cheering them on.

16 - If a trainer wins a Max Raid Battle, all participating trainers will have a chance to catch the defeated Dynamax Pokemon, and will be rewarded with useful items.

17 - Nessa is a Water-type gym leader.

18 - Her “calm and collected attitude hides a competitive spirit and indomitable will that become apparent when she overwhelms opponents with powerful Water-type moves."

18 - Nessa uses a Drednaw that can be Dynamaxed.

19 - Only Pokemon available in the Galar Region Pokedex can be transferred to Sword and Shield from the recently announced Pokemon Home.

20 - The game’s producers suggested this is because the team wouldn’t have time to properly render and animate all 800+ Pokemon for Sword and Shield.

21 - If true, that means not all Pokemon are within the games at launch.

22 - Poke Ball Plus can be used to transfer Pokemon from Sword and Shield, and walked around with in the real world, but can’t be used as a controller.

[Karo]

So I jusve have to say the news that not all Pokemon are going to be available for transfer is a major bummer and I am a bit scared that since he never mentioned for now....that they might not ever make them available resulting in a Pokemon game that feels incomplete. I am hopeful that we will eventually gain this ability but I have been burned by hope before.

As for the other stuff I think it really neat that it seems like the Wilds will function as an online hub and that they did an interesting mix of both wild encounters and above world encounter it should do a lot to make the games feel more alive! My opinion of the Dynamax battles is basically they look cool and should be something fun, but I honestly think they need to really think about making sure the Pokemon there are challenging Pokemon and aren't Steelix that basically do very little damage, but I was impressed that it feels like they aren't so easily taken down as I may have feared.

The fact that you can give other trainers a bag of potatos is an amazing and very UK feature and I look forward to handing out potatos to everyone of you! I am also glad to see that Machamp will be available in this game:

[queenzelda]

I think the reason that the whole thing with Pokemon Bank is a thing; is because with prior Pokemon games use with pokemon from other regions & higher lvls was an issue, since some people complained that the game was WAY too easy since they had access to the bank. It also makes me wonder if the Pokemon Bank is just going to go away after a time as well. A lot of people have declared the 3DS dead anyway; more so when the 3ds website went down some time ago. So for them to have not much support for the Pokemon Bank is kind of no surprise to me. I'm expecting them to have you instead shell out your money for the new way to horde your pokemon; would be my guess.

I did enjoy seeing my husband react to hail hurting pokemon during battles; which it's always done. Same with sandstorm. Neither of these mechanic's are new; they've been in Pokemon a long time. I personally thought that the raid battle against the Dynomaxed stealix was neat though.

[Dragon Lord]

Now that they've added Raid battles to Pokemon, I look forward to the inevitable Battle Royale mode that they will add. :^)

[Kazan X. Lemuris]

I think the reason that the whole thing with Pokemon Bank is a thing; is because with prior Pokemon games use with pokemon from other regions & higher lvls was an issue, since some people complained that the game was WAY too easy since they had access to the bank. It also makes me wonder if the Pokemon Bank is just going to go away after a time as well. A lot of people have declared the 3DS dead anyway; more so when the 3ds website went down some time ago. So for them to have not much support for the Pokemon Bank is kind of no surprise to me. I'm expecting them to have you instead shell out your money for the new way to horde your pokemon; would be my guess.

I did enjoy seeing my husband react to hail hurting pokemon during battles; which it's always done. Same with sandstorm. Neither of these mechanic's are new; they've been in Pokemon a long time. I personally thought that the raid battle against the Dynomaxed stealix was neat though.

As somebody without access to Pokémon Bank, I made it through the entirety of Pokémon Y plus its postgame content in under 24 hours of playtime, with no party wipes or exp share. My time was a little longer for Ultra Moon, but again, without wiping or exp share. Pokémon in general has been getting a lot easier in my opinion; used to be times in the old games where I'd need to grind for hours in order to have a legit shot at the Elite Four, but I walked through them on Y as if I was a god among insects.

I have high hopes for Sword and Shield, though being restricted to a smaller number of Pokémon is a bit disappointing. For the first true venture onto a main system, it would've been amazing to be able to see all what, 900ish now? in glorious HD. The 3DS games can handle that many, so why can't these?

Also Nessa is a goddess.

[Moonface]

I have high hopes for Sword and Shield, though being restricted to a smaller number of Pokémon is a bit disappointing. For the first true venture onto a main system, it would've been amazing to be able to see all what, 900ish now? in glorious HD. The 3DS games can handle that many, so why can't these?

I don't think it's that the game can't handle it, but that the team won't get all of the Pokemon rendered in time for the games release.
What I'd like to see is for Pokemon not included at launch to be gradually added via the Wild Areas. Release the legendaries as timed Raid events for people who don't have them from other games and whatnot. It would give people a reason to keep returning to the game after they finish it and ensure that the online aspects don't die out within a year or so because the majority of players have completed everything Galar has to offer and don't play anymore.

[Dragon Lord]

Also Nessa is a goddess.

Why ya'll gotta go creepo on the character the moment she's revealed? Her design isn't even that great.

[queenzelda]

I actually expect a stealth update drop by Gamefreak for a bunch of the pokedex over time. Or free dlc. Either works for me.

[ShiraNoMai]

Yeah I've been figuring they'd probably patch in the rest over time in batches, probably akin to the updates they do for Go! (yes I'm aware that GameFreak doesn't work on Go! in any capacity but I'm just making a comparable instance).

I'm not too bothered by the loss of national dex as of present, but good god the backlash that team is getting for it is quite overblown. Expecting anything from GameFreak on the levels everyone has put forth onto them is way too much.

Anyway I'm pretty satisfied with the gameplay and such. The Dynamax mode is whatever, I never really cared about the gimmick stuff they've been introducing over time. The world seems interesting enough and I enjoy the melded the overworld Pokemon battle-interaction with wild encounters.

[Dragon Lord]

Unfortunately your hopes of more Pokemon being patched in as time goes on might be for naught. From an interview during E3:

Masuda reiterates that with the shift to the Switch, the amount of time needed to make the graphics more beautiful and the animations more lively has increased. Another aspect is the fact that the Pokemon series has reached over 1,000 Pokemon (including form changes), and as such, apart from the graphics, balancing for new Pokemon with new abilities has become very hard. This is the reason behind the decision this time, and they have judged that it will be hard for all the Pokemon to appear, even in titles going forward. This was a decision that had to be made sooner or later, according to Masuda.

[queenzelda]

Makes sense.  Either you get a fulfilling story, or they shorten the story to cram all of the Pokemon into the games.  National Dex is getting too big to put in games without sacrifices.

[Moonface]

I don't see how it will be impossible to have a National Dex in every future title. Once the work is done for a Pokemon, there's not much that needs to be done to bring it forward. I also doubt cutting it would even see the game quality increase notably. I guarantee the next gen will see yet another one time gimmick feature that will never be built upon or touched again, and nothing meaningful will be added that will remain going forward. What was the last notable feature that got added to Pokemon that wasn't randomly cut from the series a few games later? Because I get the impression that the only constants are the base mechanics, and everything else is experimentation that eventually gets dropped, regardless of how good it is.

[Kazan X. Lemuris]

The last memorable mechanic for me is Wonder Trading, which is something that made the over-simplified difficulty of X/Y and S/M more bearable to me. I'm a huge fan of doing nuzlockes, either normal, randomizer, or wonderlockes, and Wonder Trading definitely did a lot to breathe life into the concept.

If they'd add a randomizer function to the core games (maybe unlocked after you beat the game once? Would need multiple save slots though.) that'd be wonderful.

They're really good at adding dumb features that do nothing, though. Whether battle-based (Megas, Z-moves, rotation battles, battle royales) or overworld-based (secret bases, the underground, to a lesser degree contests). Maybe instead of dynamax we could have literally anything else.

[Moonface]

I get the feeling Wonder Trading won't be in this game. Would it really serve a purpose when you can only get Pokemon that are obtainable in Sword/Shield anyway?