After the announcement of Pokémon games coming to the Nintendo Switch, fans started daydreaming about what the move to console for the first time could mean for the mainline franchise. Once Pokémon Sword & Shield were announced꧙ fans immediately began conversations online about what they love, and what they were disappointed ꦿabout.
Despite it being GameFreak's first mainline Pokémon title on console hardware, fans expected much more. Let's look at 5 reasons why Pokémon Sword & Shield will refresh the franchise, and 5 reasons it will just be more of the s꧒ame.
10 Same: Doesn't Take Advantage Of The Nintendo Switch ✅
What's the point of releasing games on the Nintendo Switch instead of the Nintendo 3DS if you're not taking advantage of it? This is one of the most common questions on the internet that popped up after the reveal of Pokémon Sword & Shield.
Though it errs on the side of hyperbole, there is some validity to wondering why the games seem like a half-measure instead of an evolution. Fans feel that for a game focused on evolving into greatness, the Pokémon seri🌠es has been stuck in the same place for decades.
9 Re🅠fresh: Brand-New Reཧgion
The Galar Region is the home of pokémon and your new trainer in Pokémon Sword & Shield. It's heavily inspired by England and the United Kingdom as a whole and it can be seen t❀hrough the new creatures, geography, and architecture throughout the game.
The games often g✨et a bad wrap for being more of the same with every generation, but the newer regions have given the games a real identity and feel. If this trend continues the Galar region c🐽ould give us an authentic English adventure that captivates us for hours on end.
8 🐲 Same: Rival Is A Friend
Longtime fans of the Pokémon series will remember that your rival in the original games was 💟kind of a jerk. He was mean to you and there was a real sense of competition and rivalry. Over the years the rival in the game has evolved into a friend who's often struggling with self-doubt or anger 🌊and you help them come to terms with their issues.
It seems that this will continue to be the same relationship you share with your rival if the trailers are to be believed. Maybe it's a marketed twist that will have the rival being a rival? 𝔍Who knows really.
7 Re🌠fresh: Onlineꦬ Raids
Nintendo, and more recently the Nintendo Switch isn't exactly winning any gold medals for online performance. That being said, the online raids in Pokémon Sword & Shield are looking to give online play in the mainline series a rea🧸l boost of refreshing ex🥃periences.
Up to four players can team up to take down a rare pokémon that's in DynaMax form. According to GameFreak, the raids will over exclusive re꧅wards and pokémon, so it seems that there will be plenty of incentives to at least try it out.
6 ꧃ Same: Gym Leaders 𒉰
Pokémon Sun & Moon traded in the traditional model of Gym Leaders in favor of trial-based challenges that were heavily inspired by the cult🌠ure of the Hawaiin Islands that were the base for the Alola region.
In Pokémon Sword & Shield the games will return to the familiar gym stru𝓡cture but the buildings will be stadiums that reflect the passion England has for the game of soccer. All of the Gym Leaders that have been revealed have neat designs and it seems that some will be version specific for the first time in the series' history.
5 Refresh: ꦫDynaMax
Every generation of Pokémon games has a gimmick that they add to battles to make them feel new and unique. For Pokémon Sword & Shield the new battle mechanic is called DynaMax. This takes your current poké🅘mon and enlarges them to gigantic proportions.
Alongside the size improvement, DynaMaxing will also give you access to addi✃tional moves and abilities that can be used for the 3 turns DynaMax can be active for. It's tough to say if it will be fun or strategically viable, but it is new which should count for something.
4 ♊ Same: Same Difficulty 💟
A common complaint over the years for the Pokémon fans who have aged into adulthood with every subsequent generation of games is that the games are too easy. The reality is that these games are targeted towards a younger demographic and often serve as 🔯many people's first footsteps into the world of Japanese role-playing games.
In the future, there could be a generation where difficulty modes are implemented and allow players of all ages and skills to go on a Pokémon journey perfectly suited for them.
3 ﷺ ꧋ Refresh: Finally On A Console
People online have complained non-stop that despite Pokémon coming to the Nintendo Switch, Pokémon Sword & Shield still look like Nintendo 3DS titles. Whether you feel this way or not, the reality of the situation is that the mainline Pokémon games are now on a console for the first time.
GameFreak and company now have🍌 access to the most power they've ever had. The first entries in the franchise on the Nintendo Switch might not be the jump people want, but with more experience with the platform, the franchise has real potential ౠto evolve.
2 🏅 Same: No Open-World 🍌
With a jump to the Nintendo Switch and the power of a home console at GameFreak's disposal for the first time, fans were dreaming big. Since Pokémon Red & Blue first released in the late '90s kids have talked about an amazing Pokémon video game.
Throughout the years the open-world genre became popular and quickly became the base of the long-conversed about Pokémon dream game. Sadly the closest thing to it we'll see any time soon will be The 🌟Wild Ar💖ea which is a step towards the open-world game everyone wants.
1 😼 Refresh: The Wild Area
The Wild Area in Pokémon Sword & Shield looks like the first real steps towards the open-world game fans have been dreaming about since 1998. It allows players to rotate the camera as they please and will have different types of creatures depending on the time of day or the w🅰eather conditions.
It will also serv༒e as the location where you can ho💃p online and join people in online raids where you team-up to take down DynaMax pokémon. It may not be the dream game year, but the inclusion of The Wild Area is a step in the right direction.