Pokémon Sword and Shield Spoiler Discussion

[Anacybele]

5 minutes ago, Armagon said:

It's Pokemon. Even with the current controversy, Sword and Shield will still sell millions. Pokemon will still be the best selling video game franchise of all time. Like you said, Game Freak wants money. They're going to get money, regardless of how people feel about these games. Unless a mainline Pokemon game bombs (it won't, franchise is way too big for that), nothing will really change. 

True, but at the same time, GameFreak could still very well find that it'll sell the least out of any set of games so far, or still learn from their mistakes anyway. I know I'd do so if I was being bombarded on Twitter with annoying crap like "#bringbacknationaldex" every five seconds.

IS definitely did this after the controversial mess that was Fates, even though Fates sold well. Three Houses is great and has had a better reception as far as I can tell. I know I'm talking about two different companies here, but you never know.

[Dai]

10 minutes ago, Armagon said:

I’m glad forced EXP Share is a thing personally. That's a basic feature JRPGs have been doing for decades. It's about time Pokemon started doing it too.

Except, with other JRPGs, it works due to the fact that you’re fighting multiple enemies with multiple party members all the time, and the exp gain is not nearly as large. In Pokemon, it’s 99.99% one-on-one, and the exp gain is much larger.

And the better argument-even the games with forced exp have the option to turn it off, such as Dragon Quest XI. Having it as default is fine-but being unable to remove it goes against player choice, which means Masuda/Game Freak lied when it was said they wanted players to play however they want to play.

I prefer to be below or equal to the level curve of my opponents, not sharply ahead.

Edited November 4 by Dai

[Strullemia]

5 minutes ago, Armagon said:

It's Pokemon. Even with the current controversy, Sword and Shield will still sell millions. Pokemon will still be the best selling video game franchise of all time. Like you said, Game Freak wants money. They're going to get money, regardless of how people feel about these games. Unless a mainline Pokemon game bombs (it won't, franchise is way too big for that), nothing will really change. 

Of course. There's no doubt about that, which is why I don't see a problem with this backlash happening (even if it won't change anything).

[Dai]

By the way, an addition to my previous post:

Spoiler

[Armagon]

3 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

True, but at the same time, GameFreak could still very well find that it'll sell the least out of any set of games so far, or still learn from their mistakes anyway.

Even if it does have the lowest sales of any mainline Pokemon game, it won't be significant enough to make a difference.

6 minutes ago, Dai said:

And the better argument-even the games with forced exp have the option to turn it off, such as Dragon Quest XI. Having it as default is fine-but being unable to remove it goes against player choice, which means Masuda/Game Freak lied when it was said they wanted players to play however they want to play.

That's valid. However, from a convinence standpoint, i think EXP Share, even if forced, is ultimaly beneficial, as it removes the tediousness of having to level up each Pokemon individually. I understand the other side, as EXP Share is pretty much the only way to actually change the difficulty of a Pokemon game without having to resort to artifical rules (unless you're B2W2, which had actual difficulty modes).

[Glennstavos]

So even though I've no plans at the moment to buy the game, I'm not going out of my way to look at leaks. Though it seems a lot of people are looking at leaks BECAUSE of they're intent to buy the game. My friend angrily confirmed two of my bets, and then we proceeded to joke about Charizard's white privilege.

• Charizard is the only non-galar starter in the game.
• The Galar Dex total is 400 pokemon, assuming regional variants and gigantimax forms don't suddenly count as a separate dex number

I also nailed the prediction of gigantimax charizard last month but that one feels more and more obvious in retrospect. I'm sorry guys. I don't make bets to make people feel sad. I do them because there's an eldritch evil that commands me.

[Lightchao42]

On another note, this generation marks a strange milestone for Poison-types (in addition to introducing the first Poison Legendary): as of Sword and Shield, Generations II through VIII have finally introduced more Poison-types than Gen I! That is, Gen I introduced 33 Poison-types, while every other generation put together has introduced 36 (it was 33 as of USUM).

[Tamanoir]

4 hours ago, NegativeExponents- said:

They did use that as an excuse already but it doesn't even make sense. Slakoth is a prime example of someone who would have benefited from this spotlight thanks to the new galarian weezing and he's not even in. Less moves to obtain through breeding too now with Smeargle gone. The cut doesn't benefit anything, not even competitive. Plus, they can just make rules to exclude pokemon or certain team combinations instead of excluding them from the game entirely.

You do realize Slaking isnt there because of Galarian Weezing, right ? I mean, I agree 400 is far too small, but Slaking would never have been there.

[Interdimensional Observer]

1 hour ago, Lightchao42 said:

On another note, this generation marks a strange milestone for Poison-types (in addition to introducing the first Poison Legendary): as of Sword and Shield, Generations II through VIII have finally introduced more Poison-types than Gen I! That is, Gen I introduced 33 Poison-types, while every other generation put together has introduced 36 (it was 33 as of USUM).

And now there is a Poison legendary not Plated Arceus, right? The type has gone this long without a single one, the very last type to get one.

Edited November 4 by Interdimensional Observer

[Lightchao42]

12 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

And now there is a Poison legendary not Plated Arceus, right? The type has gone this long without a single one, the very last type to get one.

That's right, Poison finally got its day despite there only being three legendaries this time. Fighting and Bug both got Legendaries/Mythicals in Gen V (Fighting got five in fact), leaving Poison as the odd type out until now (Fairy got lucky as it had a legendary in the generation it was introduced in).

Ultra Beasts aren't considered legendary, so Nihilego doesn't count (despite it having the same stat total as the Tapus and Silvally, which are considered legendary).

[NegativeExponents-]

1 hour ago, Tamanoir said:

You do realize Slaking isnt there because of Galarian Weezing, right ? I mean, I agree 400 is far too small, but Slaking would never have been there.

Slaking would have absolutely been there if it wasn't for t̶h̶o̶s̶e̶ ̶m̶e̶d̶d̶l̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶d̶e̶v̶s̶ dexit. And it's not like Slaking would've been unstoppable even with weezing's help since you could knock out weezing and end its ability. Or you know, knock out Slaking with its low special defense. What exactly is Galarian Weezing even useful for without pokemon like slaking, regigigas, archeop, or some other unfortunate souls I may not remember, to take advantage of its ability? The most interesting thing about it can't even come into play because pokemon that would have appreciated it are gone.

Edited November 4 by NegativeExponents-

[Tamanoir]

7 minutes ago, NegativeExponents- said:

Slaking would have absolutely been there if it wasn't for t̶h̶o̶s̶e̶ ̶m̶e̶d̶d̶l̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶d̶e̶v̶s̶ dexit. And it's not like Slaking would've been unstoppable even with weezing's help since you could knock out weezing and end its ability. Or you know, knock out Slaking with its low special defense. What exactly is Galarian Weezing even useful for without pokemon like slaking, regigigas, archeop, or some other unfortunate souls I may not remember, to take advantage of its ability? The most interesting thing about it can't even come into play because pokemon that would have appreciated it are gone.

There's actually Golisopod that is helped by Weezing's ability. And it can negates opposing abilities, which may help depending of the situation (since all the weather setter are there, keeping the opponent to take advantage of it may prove useful.)

Also, Slaking is pretty fast as well. and while it wouldn't have been as broken without dexit and Mega still being there (which is good for us, but terrible for VGC) ; if their goal is too reduce Power Creep as stated (and seeing G-Max, I'd agree this is somewhat doubtful), then it is a pretty logical conclusion.

[Dai]

The thumbnail for this is amazing.

[NegativeExponents-]

Only one wild area lol because what else would we expect?

Also only 10 routes.

The wild area is that dark green field in the middle of the Galar map.

Edited November 5 by NegativeExponents-

[Flere210]

14 minutes ago, NegativeExponents- said:

Only one wild area lol because what else would we expect?

Also only 10 routes.

The wild area is that dark green field in the middle of the Galar map.

Under normal nuzlelocke rules this looks very unfriendly lol.

Edited November 5 by Flere210

[NegativeExponents-]

1 minute ago, Flere210 said:

Under notmal nuzlelocke rules this looks very unfriendly lol.

Judging by what we know of the difficulty, nuzlocke probably won't be an issue even with the way reduced pokemon allowed to be caught for your party.

[ZeManaphy]

21 hours ago, NegativeExponents- said:

They did use that as an excuse already but it doesn't even make sense. Slakoth is a prime example of someone who would have benefited from this spotlight thanks to the new galarian weezing and he's not even in. Less moves to obtain through breeding too now with Smeargle gone. The cut doesn't benefit anything, not even competitive. Plus, they can just make rules to exclude pokemon or certain team combinations instead of excluding them from the game entirely.

Perhaps Slakoth is an example, but there are some Pokémon who are struggling due to a powercreep. Look at Haxorus: Its always been overshadowed by Salamence and Garchomp, but now with them gone, Haxorus finally has a chance to shine. Same goes for Jolteon and Espeon, both have been overshadowed by Tapu Koko and Latios for generations, and now they finally get a chance at the spotlight. 

I’m also looking forward to no Landorus-T, Incineroar and Heatran in VGC to name a few things I’m looking forward to.

 

[Dai]

Aw, they took out Forretress. And nothing far as I can tell has spikes, toxic spikes, AND sandstorm immunity. Far as I can tell, nothing has toxic spikes and sandstorm immunity. (In the Galar Dex, anyway)
 

Spoiler

Gigantamax Grimmsnarl. Literally Darkside.

 

Spoiler

 

Lumiose Ci-I mean, Gigantamax Duraludon.

 

Spoiler

Gigantamax Hatterene. Starting to wonder if most evolutionary lines that were created for this game have Gigantamax forms.

 

Spoiler

Gigantamax Centiskorch is really long.

 

Spoiler

Gigantamax Copperajah

Edited November 5 by Dai

[Armagon]

7 hours ago, NegativeExponents- said:

Only one wild area lol because what else would we expect?

If the Wild Area really is as big as two Breath of the Wild regions, then that's not too bad.

[Anacybele]

Yeah, the wild area looks fine to me. Only ten routes seems underwhelming, but many of the routes look pretty long too. It just sucks that there appears to be NOTHING to the post-game except that battle tower. No new areas or anything. That's just ridiculous.

I feel like these games are not worth $60 at all when I could swear the 3DS titles had way more content for just $40.

[Dai]

4 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

Yeah, the wild area looks fine to me. Only ten routes seems underwhelming, but many of the routes look pretty long too. It just sucks that there appears to be NOTHING to the post-game except that battle tower. No new areas or anything. That's just ridiculous.

I feel like these games are not worth $60 at all when I could swear the 3DS titles had way more content for just $40.

Thus far, it seems on par with X and Y, sans a few hundred ‘mon.

[Anacybele]

3 minutes ago, Dai said:

Thus far, it seems on par with X and Y, sans a few hundred ‘mon.

Seems a little worse to me. I thought XY's post-game episode with Looker was cool, and yeah, there were MORE Pokemon. And XY was still worse than Alola. Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon were great. Now I feel like we're getting a watered down Pokemon game.

Though I suppose in GameFreak's defense, this is their first time doing a mainline game for a home console, so they may not be entirely sure what they're capable of doing on the Switch. Similar happened with Awakening on the 3DS. IS didn't know exactly how powerful it was, so Awakening character models ended up with no feet and stuff. So I can give GameFreak a little leniency here, but not much given what we've gotten so far.

[Dai]

2 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

Seems a little worse to me. I thought XY's post-game episode with Looker was cool, and yeah, there were MORE Pokemon. And XY was still worse than Alola. Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon were great. Now I feel like we're getting a watered down Pokemon game.

Though I suppose in GameFreak's defense, this is their first time doing a mainline game for a home console, so they may not be entirely sure what they're capable of doing on the Switch. Similar happened with Awakening on the 3DS. IS didn't know exactly how powerful it was, so Awakening character models ended up with no feet and stuff. So I can give GameFreak a little leniency here, but not much given what we've gotten so far.

If memory serves, I think IS found it was capable of rendering the feet after all, but left in the hooves because they were “cute”.

 

I’m giving them less leniency because the Switch is supremely more powerful, and Let’s Go should’ve bridged a lot of effort as-is.

[Anacybele]

15 minutes ago, Dai said:

If memory serves, I think IS found it was capable of rendering the feet after all, but left in the hooves because they were “cute”.

 

I’m giving them less leniency because the Switch is supremely more powerful, and Let’s Go should’ve bridged a lot of effort as-is.

I don't really remember that bit, but okay.

True, but Let's Go wasn't meant to be a huge game to begin with, they didn't have to try pushing any limits. Sword and Shield, on the other hand, are bigger and should have more pushing.

[NegativeExponents-]

Our leaker got lucky with Impidimp so here's our first official shiny along with it's evolutions.

Spoiler

 

I like it a quite a bit.

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

If the Wild Area really is as big as two Breath of the Wild regions, then that's not too bad.

Has the leaker said it was gonna be that big? I remember they commented something like "the routes felt big but people might not agree with me" but I didn't see any real comments on how big the wild area was.