Pokemon Sword and Shield Discussion Thread

[Dynamo Pad 10,777]

It has now begun, fellow trainers. The official trailer for Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield has been revealed. I'm so happy to see that Gen 8 has finally been announced. The Galar Region looks pretty interesting with beautiful scenery and cities. The graphics look absolutely breathtaking when seeing said graphics on the Switch. I don't know what the region is based off of, but I'm looking forward to visiting the Galar region.

Along with that, we've been given some new starters to choose from. Each one looks really cute and interesting to have as a starter. The direct didn't specify how many Pokemon will be included in Generation 8, but I hope we'll get a decent amount. I remember seeing some Pokemon from past generations in the trailer. So, hopefully we'll have a great balance of old and new Pokemon when playing Sword and Shield.

What are you overall thoughts of the trailer and game in general? Which starter are you going to take along with you on your journey? Are you hyped and wish to have the game right now!? Also, do you think there will be mega evolutions, Z-Moves and potentially any new types introduced? Please share your thoughts, discussion and theories. 

Speaking of the trailer, here's the trailer and please enjoy. 

Spoiler

 

 

Edited February 27, 2019 by Dynamo Pad

[The Recherche 29,965]

Sword and Shield appear to be relatively standard Pokemon games so far; beautiful (although dated) visuals, good music, a likely very linear region with minute post-game content, etc.. I am positive this will be a very enjoyable game, but Pokemon just cannot excite me any longer; the games are fun, but you can't expect too much from them. Pokemon is effectively the comfort food of video games; nostalgic and enjoyable, albeit safe and predictable.

Regardless, I am anticipating being a member of the Shield legion.

[Odyssey 5,713]

I am absolutely stoked for this. I guess I'm saying it now more because I'm just excited, but really. I've wanted a mountainous region for a long time now, and not even just a few of them here and there. I mean so many that there are even places where it snows. Tropical regions started to overstay their welcome, and we haven't had something like Galar since Sinnoh, so I'm just feeling so giddy and silly and eeeeeeeeee a frickin mountainous regiiiooon 

One thing that I found a little interesting is in the trailer, your character is dressed in sportsgear as they get ready for something. I'm just going to throw some silly speculation right off the bat, but what if Gyms in this region aren't like the others? In Alola they were completely absent. With that little footage, and with the previous gen breaking a tradition in Pokemon, I'm kind of thinking maybe they'll continue the trend of breaking traditions more and Gyms in the Galar region will be more like minigames where you bond with your Pokemon rather than battle a Gym Leader? Kind of like Super Training in XY, but with more substance. 

[Envy 5,999]

I'm very happy to see an England-based region! I really never liked Alola at all, and was really bored with it and its tropical theme. I feared that we'd get another region that was warm/hot or tropical in some way. England is one of the better scenarios. It probably helps that I'm also biased toward western Europe regions, which is one reason why I really loved Kalos.

Otherwise, the games look to be playing it very safe, which is a bit disappointing. However, I know with Pokemon that's not what really matters for me. They can and have made excellent games within the formula (like Black/White). The problem is that the most recents (Sun/Moon) were not very good, and GF will have to prove they can do better again.

The starters are very 'meh'. There were fake leak starters that actually had a grass monkey and fire bunny and they looked a hundred times better than these! Oh well... Whatever we get out of them can't even possibly be worse than the abomination that is Incineroar. I hope, anyway.

[Photon Jet 5,489]

This is my excited reaction in a nutshell: 

 

I can't wait to go on a new adventure to another region! Pokemon games are so much fun because you can get to see new faces and best of all...NEW Pokemon!

Hopefully Shield and Sword have a transfer system that lets you transfer Pokemon from Pokemon Sun/Moon/Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon to the new one. Who knows? Maybe they'll have voice-acting this time around. (And maybe a new Pokemon as a DLC fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.) We won't know until we find out. 

Edited February 27, 2019 by Photon Jet

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 40,289]

I don't really have any excitement yet. The trailer didn't really do anything to get me pumped, so I am hoping E3 will be different in that regard. This initial trailer showed too little.

Edited February 27, 2019 by Kyoshi

[Cash In 21,513]

There's nothing I can say that others haven't. I am looking forward to Sword and Shield and will be purchasing it when it releases - it may seem bold on my part, but that's genuinely how I feel. I'll have to keep an eye out for new information, seeing as we didn't get a whole lot here.

Edited February 28, 2019 by Cash In

[PoisonClaw 8,153]

I know I'm picking Sobble as my starter. My only complaint right now is the region looks incredibly linear, the land itself almost being a straight line rather than a sprawling land mass you could explore. I hope that means there won't be even more railroading towards a particular set course.

[Photon Jet 5,489]

8 hours ago, PoisonClaw said:

I know I'm picking Sobble as my starter. My only complaint right now is the region looks incredibly linear, the land itself almost being a straight line rather than a sprawling land mass you could explore. I hope that means there won't be even more railroading towards a particular set course.

I'll also pick Sobble as my starter-Pokemon. I have a liking to Water-type starters as they evolve into spectacular Pokemon.

Fun fact: When I saw Scorbunny for the first time, I thought it looked like Angel Bunny.

 

[Odyssey 5,713]

The one thing I hope for with the Galar region is that it's linearity doesn't hold it from being a boring region. I generally don't mind linearity, but Alola really suffered badly from that, and Galar unfortunately could go on the same path too from first impressions. Unova and Kalos were linear too, but they weren't small or a completely straight path. Still, I just adore how the region looks, that won't change.

19 hours ago, The Recherche said:

Pokemon is effectively the comfort food of video games; nostalgic and enjoyable, albeit safe and predictable.

I guess that's why I've always come back to Pokemon for years, even with my feelings on it nowadays. This is actually the perfect way of describing the series.

18 hours ago, Envy said:

The starters are very 'meh'. There were fake leak starters that actually had a grass monkey and fire bunny and they looked a hundred times better than these! Oh well... Whatever we get out of them can't even possibly be worse than the abomination that is Incineroar. I hope, anyway.

You don't realise how badly I wanted that platypus Pokemon to be real from those leaks. It is sooooo cute

[Usager 431]

10 hours ago, PoisonClaw said:

I know I'm picking Sobble as my starter. My only complaint right now is the region looks incredibly linear, the land itself almost being a straight line rather than a sprawling land mass you could explore. I hope that means there won't be even more railroading towards a particular set course.

Isnt every pokemon game kinda linear? Also,  we dont even know how many routes its gonna have, looks pretty wide

[A French Derpy full of Salt 404]

Mind has been destroyed.

[Cash In 21,513]

14 minutes ago, A French Derpy full of Salt said:

Mind has been destroyed.

[Dynamo Pad 10,777]

46 minutes ago, A French Derpy full of Salt said:

Mind has been destroyed.

Dear, sweet Celestia... I didn't even notice that when I saw the starters. I don't think I'll ever be able to un-see that now. That was a great catch and find.

[SparklingSwirls 21,261]

Is it only going to be on the switch and not the 3DS?  I can’t have a TV where I live, so I guess I’ll be missing out.

While a UK-region is a cool idea, they’ve already done western Europe... I think a region in South America or Australia would be cool  

*inserts teacups here*

 

Edited February 28, 2019 by SparklingSwirls

[Will Guide 21,325]

I'm taking the shield version because I'm better at standing my ground.

[Envy 5,999]

18 minutes ago, SparklingSwirls said:

Is it only going to be on the switch and not the 3DS?  I can’t have a TV where I live, so I guess I’ll be missing out.

The 3DS is older than these forums. The DS lasted forever, and heck it went on until 2011 until getting a successor, that was seven years. Compared to the 3DS which is now eight years old.

By the way, the Switch is a hybrid system that can be played without a TV. I've played the Switch in handheld mode like 95% of the time. It is a very comfortable handheld to play. It's way better than the 3DS. Paid online and lack of good games aside. (And with a lack of good games, why would you ever pay for the online? It all works out. =P)

21 minutes ago, SparklingSwirls said:

While a UK-region is a cool idea, they’ve already done western Europe... I think a region in South America or Australia would be cool

And they did four Japanese regions in a row. I can understand concerns that we are getting too many Western regions now... But after Alola we desperately needed something that wasn't warm/hot or tropical.

[Kronos the Revenant 1,971]

What I want to know is what the legendary Pokémon look like. I swear, if they’re just a huge Honedge (Sword) and Aegislash (Shield), I’m gonna be pissed. 

Edited February 28, 2019 by Kronos the Revenant

[Venomous 18,813]

I am so hyped for these games! I like all of the starter’s designs but I normally don’t decide on which one i’ll choose until their full evolution line is revealed.

[SparklingSwirls 21,261]

32 minutes ago, Envy said:

The 3DS is older than these forums. The DS lasted forever, and heck it went on until 2011 until getting a successor, that was seven years. Compared to the 3DS which is now eight years old.

By the way, the Switch is a hybrid system that can be played without a TV. I've played the Switch in handheld mode like 95% of the time. It is a very comfortable handheld to play. It's way better than the 3DS. Paid online and lack of good games aside. (And with a lack of good games, why would you ever pay for the online? It all works out. =P)

And they did four Japanese regions in a row. I can understand concerns that we are getting too many Western regions now... But after Alola we desperately needed something that wasn't warm/hot or tropical.

Oh nice. Still not sure if I want to spend the $300 on a Switch for just one game (don't have much time for games these days).

Hmm, how about Russia?    

[Here No Longer 5,270]

15 hours ago, A French Derpy full of Salt said:

Mind has been destroyed.

WHAT...? NO...

 

Anyways, I'm not sold on this generation quite yet. The games seem to be a bit linear, and I'm not quite smitten with any of the starters. But this isn't enough to really gauge yet. 

[Cruising 9]

As much as I find myself defending Sw/Sh on other forums, I simply cannot defend this:

Completely unacceptable.

[Odyssey 5,713]

6 minutes ago, Cruising said:

As much as I find myself defending Sw/Sh on other forums, I simply cannot defend this:

Completely unacceptable.

If you want to go a little further back these models are technically from XY too. It's stuff like this where I hope GF doesn't always use previously created assets and instead create new ones, so that new gens look different and not "it's just gen 6/7 but with a different name."

[Envy 5,999]

Personally, I always thought the X/Y Pokemon 3D models were really well done so I'm not too concerned about them reusing them for a while. Of course it is a little disheartening that they aren't making some new ones every once in a while. It's just the least of my worries.

Edited March 3, 2019 by Envy

[Cruising 9]

Don't get me wrong, I thought they were well modeled too... for the time... and for the 3DS. But we're on the motherf*cking Switch now for Celestia's sake. There's been such a massive step forward in the over-world presentation that one would assume there would be equal improvement to the in battle scenarios as well. 

On a semi-unrelated note, why in the bloody hell aren't we getting a proper fully controllable camera? What is the meaning of this bullshit?

The game would look fucking incredible if not for those fixed overhead angles. Expand the image below for a taste of what I'm talking about.

^And worst of all, it's a nearly effortless fix on Game Freak's part. Why are they so opposed to giving us freedom of control over the perspective? The increase to overall immersion whilst playing through the main campaign would be unprecedented with this one simple alteration.