Pokémon Sword & Shield

[Pawn 3,080]

Just a heads up to people avoiding further reveals: today's Japanese trailer shows glimpses of two new Pokémon, so best to ignore it. And since they're not technically spoilers, they may well be discussed in this thread.

[Sonictrainer 5,318]

3 hours ago, Pawn said:

Just a heads up to people avoiding further reveals: today's Japanese trailer shows glimpses of two new Pokémon, so best to ignore it. And since they're not technically spoilers, they may well be discussed in this thread.

There's also a glimpse of 3 of the Gym Leaders who haven't been officially revealed.

Since I already know the names of these Pokémon but don't want to spoil them for anyone, I'll refer to them as "Old Man" & "Tablet Ghost"

[Blue Blood 29,576]

Guess I'll duck out of this thread until Friday then. According to Go Nintendo, this is the final trailer that's going to get released. If nothing else, I'm impressed by how much Game Freak and Nintendo decided to hold back on the media for these games. It's been leaking like crazy since the start of the year, but officially we still know so little. I can't wait to inevitably be disappointed as I play these games on Friday.

[Sapphirine Wind 151]

Did anyone see this?

Quote

“We encourage people to use Pokemon Home to collect their Pokemon from old games. From there they might be able to take them to other games in the future. So take good care of your old Pokemon, because perhaps you can travel with them again in the future.” - Junichi Masuda

Why in the world would they say that? There's a lot of audacity in asking this; if we had to pay for Pokemon Bank, I have little doubt that this will be the case for Home. That means you could be paying a subscription for years before they're available again. The use of "might" promises their absence just as much as it does their return.

The wording here also makes me doubt that there's that much to do in Home.

I just... really have a lot of problems with this statement.

[Conando 3,964]

It’s not something they can easily sell, but they still need to try because TPCi wills it. I know I’m not going to be bothered with using Home, I only used bank to transfer things like starters over.

[Tornado 17,967]

Why would they do fucking literally anything they have done with this game since it started getting shit on for looking so half assed? About a month ago they raised a question about voice acting unprompted, something no one would have expected a Pokémon game to have, to claim things that every other modern RPG has gotten over in the past decade would just be too hard for them to do.

 

It's like they are functionally incapable of responding to criticism now that they are finally getting it without justifying it.

[Kuzu 17,579]

Its literally the biggest controversy they've had, so not knowing how to respond to it makes sense.

 

They're probably scratching their heads, wondering why so many people are pissed off and are scrambling for any type do damage control.

[Sapphirine Wind 151]

1 hour ago, Kuzu said:

They're probably scratching their heads, wondering why so many people are pissed off and are scrambling for any type do damage control.

I don't think that for the most part; they know perfectly well that people don't like the Pokemon cut and then everything else going on.

I mainly name the Pokemon cut because almost everything goes back to it. The animations are reused (fine on its own) and lackluster if not, the graphics are... considerably bad in some places, and the competitive balance did not have to be achieved (if it has been, not that I would know) by banning Pokemon not in the dex from the entire region when they could restrict within a species in the past*.

The frustration of these aspects is magnified by claims that all of those would get better because of the cut.

They mentioned the cut near the end of their E3 thing because the viewership to their segment at Treehouse was starting to drop. I don't think Japan has even had this properly revealed to them. They know why people are are angry, they've gone out of their way to have people uninformed to lower the backlash.

But you and Tornado are onto something; they're getting a lot more heat from fans than usual (arguably bigger than gens 3 and definitely 5), and because they've never been under fire like this, they're likely panicking and bungling their PR attempts.

* Elaboration below

Spoiler

Remember the pentagon shape for XY/ORAS? That marked the Pokemon as eligible to compete, so long as it was caught or bred in those games. A Pokemon of the same species that was transferred in could not, until they allowed it. Pretty sure this continued into gen 7.

[Conando 3,964]

The way it worked, in 6 and 7, was the Pokemon had to be OBTAINED in those games. That means you could transfer, but if you wanted to use that specific Pokemon you had to breed it. They could just do a blanket non-dex ban though. People would still be pissy, but it’d definitely be good for game balance and people COULD use whatever they want in friend battles and unranked battle spot.

[Soniman 16,590]

Review bomb. Not to shabby so far 

 

[Big Panda 9,107]

In spite of everything.

[Sonictrainer 5,318]

Here's GameXplain's review

 

[Kuzu 17,579]

"Its a Pokemon game, for better or worse"

 

Is basically the gist of that review.

[Vec 1,180]

So, remember the track made by Tobyfox? Someone on Twitter pointed out that the song is literally "The Baby is 2" from the Homestuck fan album that got him banned from the Homestuck forums.

I...rather not post the tweet because the background of the video contains some potentially nsfw art

[Zaysho 12,525]

Seen a couple mentions here and there about the digital version deleting other game data, not sure if it's related to this or if it's a case of faulty/counterfeit SD cards failing. Figured I'd post this for those getting the game to at least be aware and back up their cards.

edit: now that I'm thinking about it, something about this doesn't seem right; Switch save data is saved only on the consoles. Though it's possible this could be referring to the games, which the Switch automatically sends to the SD card when one is in. Anyway, better safe than sorry.

[Pawn 3,080]

8 hours ago, Zaysho said:

Seen a couple mentions here and there about the digital version deleting other game data, not sure if it's related to this or if it's a case of faulty/counterfeit SD cards failing. Figured I'd post this for those getting the game to at least be aware and back up their cards.

edit: now that I'm thinking about it, something about this doesn't seem right; Switch save data is saved only on the consoles. Though it's possible this could be referring to the games, which the Switch automatically sends to the SD card when one is in. Anyway, better safe than sorry.

Apparently this is due to a problem with the Switch's ExFAT SD card driver, rather than the game itself. Then again, there's debate over whether this can happen to any Switch or just homebrew systems. At the very least, it doesn't seem to affect save data on consoles  without homebrew, but rather game data (which can be re-downloaded) and files like screenshots.

If anyone's worried, I recommend checking the link I posted for more information.

[Big Panda 9,107]

The new Pokemon total, not including regional variants, are

81.

890 Pokemon overall.

[Blue Blood 29,576]

I'm taking my time playing through this. I'm about to challenge the third gym, so if you're further through than that then chances are nothing here will be a spoiler.

I'm disappointed by the low numbers of new/regional Pokémon do far, but the ones I've come across are really good. I didn't recognise Galarian Meowth at all when I first saw it, but thought it was quite fun to have a steel type. It became a fixture of my team cause I was interested to see in Galarian Persian was better looking than the weird Alolan Persian. But nope, Galarian Meowth has a totally different evolution in Perrseker instead, which is so cool. I love it!

Other Pokémon... I caught a Rolycoly because that looked interesting when it was revealed. But then it evolved into Carkoal and it's lived in the box ever since. Ugly mofo right there. I got given a Toxel that I've since evolved into Toxtricity. It's interesting, and poison/electric is a novel typing, but I'll probably box it if something more interesting comes along. I saw an apple-looking Pokémon that's a grass-dragon. If I can find that (assuming it's on the very trees on route 5) I'll put in the the team.

Sobble guest evolution is okay. The fact that Rookidee and Corvisquire are pure fighting is really cool, so much so that it will almost be disappointing that they end up flying/steel.

Hop is a decent friendly rival. Bede is there to be a colossal douche and Marnie is shrouded in mystery.

So what else... I love exploring the Wild Area. I just wish that the storyline would take me there more. The map is pretty linear and limiting so far. Town > route > roadblock > town > route > roadblock. I rush that it would open up like Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh when you reached Ecruteak, Mauville and Veilstone respectively.

These is still the best Pokémon game I've played since Platinum. Better than Gen V, VI and VII.

[DarkRula 521]

When I first learnt we'd have this giant area to explore, I had hoped there'd be more story revelance to it. But if you're just rushing through the story and not caring to explore, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was just two massively open routes. I know it's massively unlikely, but if Diamond/Pearl remakes happen, I'd want the routes merged into a few open areas while still keeping the general feel of the routes they once were.

[Blue Blood 29,576]

1 hour ago, DarkRula said:

When I first learnt we'd have this giant area to explore, I had hoped there'd be more story revelance to it. But if you're just rushing through the story and not caring to explore, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was just two massively open routes. I know it's massively unlikely, but if Diamond/Pearl remakes happen, I'd want the routes merged into a few open areas while still keeping the general feel of the routes they once were.

Unless I'm mistaken and there's more to it later on, the Wild Area only connects 3 cities. And once you've obtained the third badge, you'll have to cross the entire the entire thing to progress the story. There's no chance of you fighting or catching everything in there until much later, because the Pokémon are just too strong. But yeah, it's sadly not some central hub of sorts.

Speaking of DP remakes, I'd love to see most or all of the routes that surround Mt Coronet become a joint Wild Area, with Mt Coronet being at the centre of it.

[DarkRula 521]

6 minutes ago, Blue Blood said:

Unless I'm mistaken and there's more to it later on, the Wild Area only connects 3 cities. And once you've obtained the third badge, you'll have to cross the entire the entire thing to progress the story. There's no chance of you fighting or catching everything in there until much later, because the Pokémon are just too strong. But yeah, it's sadly not some central hub of sorts.

Speaking of DP remakes, I'd love to see most or all of the routes that surround Mt Coronet become a joint Wild Area, with Mt Coronet being at the centre of it.

Three cities is all it ever connects. In a way, it kind of is a cetral hub, as all three of the areas you'll go to are connected by it. But the way the region is set out means that, yes, you only ever need to touch it twice in the story. Unfortunate, but they can now build from it to make another open area larger, more connected, and more populated.

And for Sinnoh, it would be cool if they could remodel the central area from 204 to 210 - including Mount Coronet - as one giant open area, with the cities that fit into that also being a part of it. Even just 206 to 210 would be good.

[FFWF 4,577]

Personally I'm missing actual route design, and the openness of the Wild Area isn't doing much for me so far.  But I'm playing the game even more slowly, so there's an argument that I don't know anything yet.  I'm just happy to be running into new Pokemon.

With that said, my concerns about the potential quality of DPPt remakes have only intensified, so at present I can't really say I'm that enthusiastic about the prospect despite Gen IV being my favourite generation...

[DarkRula 521]

Natural-looking routes isn't something the Wild Area executes well, if each section of the Wild Area was a route. But open spaces and well-designed routes can coexist, and be made to appear natural within the world. Given a lot more time, I'm sure it could happen for any region we already know of.

[Big Panda 9,107]

https://serebii.net/swordshield/formchange.shtml

Sinistea and Polteageist have completely pointless non-asthetic* form differences!

*excluding one asthetic that you can only see from a rarely-seen angle

[Sonictrainer 5,318]

People in your Switch Friend List appear as your Friends ingame when you use your Y-Comm, especially for Max Raids, so add me when you get a chance.

SW-2593-3385-0127