Pokemon Sword & Shield GENERAL DISCUSSION Thread [Spoilers]

[BCVM22]

That's not what they're saying. People are more than welcome to dislike what they dislike, and not buy what they don't want to buy. But there are a certain group of fans who will latch onto an issue as a springboard to complain, and spend the entire release cycle firing off hyperbole tantamount to claiming it will be the death of the franchise, or irrevocably damage it, and speak as if they speak for multitudes. And they'll be there every week, regardless of the fact they've said they don't care for the games, and have already supposedly made up their mind not to buy them. And then some of those same people will still buy the game and enjoy it for the same reason they enjoy any other pokemon game. It's not the difference of opinion that's infuriating. It's when it comes with hollow criticism, usually boiling down to 'its not my ideal game so screw it', and an almost sneering tone to those who are entirely happy with what's been presented.

Entirely spot on.

If you buy it used then it wouldn't be full price.

That was definitely not the context that most of these people were using. Definitely not.

 

[AgentKallus]

What has the GO bashing got to do with SwSh? Go is a free mobile game (yes it is free, just because you can pay for optional extras doesn't mean it's not free) and it's getting better all the time ,with more pokemon and more features.

That was definitely not the context that most of these people were using. Definitely not.

Ah, I think I misinterpreted what you said. You meant that some people said they would only buy the game if the RRP was reduced, not that they only buy it at below RRP, right?

 

[PrinceOfFacade]

I wouldn’t say that GO’s success means that GF isn’t good at their job,

By 'good' I mean settled in revenue-wise.

Game Freak does not produce nearly as much revenue as the rest of the franchise, especially not in a similarly accumulating fashion. The main seires games managed to garner roughly $9 billionUSD over the course of 20 years. Pokémon GO accumulated $3 billionUSD in under three years, with percent increase each year.

Yes, your points about why and how GO achieved such staggering results are very valid, but it doesn't refute the fact that it is GO generating this massive increase in revenue, not Game Freak.

The main reason GO is so profitable, which you yourself pointed out, is its appeal to a large audience. Being free is a high selling point but it is not enough. Enough people have to want to download it, free or not. That is where the appeal came in. Pokémon GO is not catered to a niche audience; it's catered to a general audience. Such is my entire point.

The mobile scene, much like the home console scene, has a massively broad general market. Pokémon GO was developed accordingly. The main series Pokémon games should be as well.

Obviously, the series should not be altered in a way that makes it unrecognizable, or diminishes its natural charm. It simply needs to be presented in a way that captures more than just longtime fans and potential newcomers.

 

[TheWanderingMist]

The surge of revenue in Pokémon GO, along with the game resurfacing the franchise's popularity and appeal to a general audience (the latter resulting in a massive sales spike for both the franchise and Nintendo which Nintendo ruined for themselves by revealing they don't own GO), is what led to Pokémon gaining the top spot.

At any rate, it is not the direct work of Game Freak that led to this spot, but the residual work of others. The point remains that they are not as good as the rest of the franchise and those that run it.

Except that the Gen VII games ALSO came out in 2016, and were almost certainly a bigger factor. Doing some minor Googling revealed that Pokemon was far ahead of its competition by February 2017. The Go craze may have contributed around a billion total. But Pokémon's next nearest competitor is 15 billion below it. Go did not claim the top spot for Pokemon. They already had it.

 

[Sceptrigon]

The mobile scene, much like the home console scene, has a massively broad general market. Pokémon GO was developed accordingly. The main series Pokémon games should be as well.

Obviously, the series should not be altered in a way that makes it unrecognizable, or diminishes its natural charm. It simply needs to be presented in a way that captures more than just longtime fans and potential newcomers.

I’m just wondering exactly what kinds of qualities you expect for a main series game that can appeal to a “general audience?” Pokemon already has appealing features that has so many people becoming fans of it in the first place. And if we’re comparing GO to the main series, not only did Game Freak make Let’s Go based on GO to bring in new audiences, but they are also incorporating connectivity and elements from GO/Let’s Go to Sword and Shield. I don’t understand how it needs to be presented any better than it already is, and what exactly is needed to appeal to a much larger audience than it already has.

Edit: I noticed you mentioned things like improved graphics, storytelling, animations, and music from a previous post, but are those really qualities that will bring in that audience? I honestly don’t think those would make much of a difference.

 

[DannyDark]

Except that the Gen VII games ALSO came out in 2016, and were almost certainly a bigger factor.

Looking at pure figures, you are absolutely correct. SM, in the short term, definitely made more money.
But, you've gotta wonder, if GO had not released 4 months earlier and become a global phenomenon, how the figures would look in contrast to how they actually did. Not really arguing any point here, it's just interesting to think.

GO arguably made the biggest impact of any Pokemon game ever, perhaps bar the original generation. The amount of hype and publicity was massive, the tangible effect it had worldwide was equally massive and it brought many features to the series for the first time, which are now being implemented by GF. Hell, go to any sizable park containing Pokestops and you'll most likely pass some people still playing it; just the other day I passed some teens that were talking about the game.

 

[TheWanderingMist]

just the other day I passed some teens that were talking about the game.

I didn't think people over 60 used these forums.

 

[WishIhadaManafi5]

Why don't we get back to discussing Sword and Shield, Go only is a part of it raid wise, from what we've seen so far along with the connectivity.

 

[BCVM22]

Ah, I think I misinterpreted what you said. You meant that some people said they would only buy the game if the RRP was reduced, not that they only buy it at below RRP, right?

That’s correct. It was a notion of a precondition that was never going to be the case, again as a useful handhold in lieu of something else.

 

[clbgolden12]

Getting back on topic...

The previewers of the game say that the intro features Leon going against a trainer that they can’t talk about yet. However, even though they can’t say who, we can almost definitely predict it’s that Raihan guy from the website.

What if during this opening battle, you can play as either Raihan or Leon for the fight? Having a late game-esque battle first thing in the game would be a good way to hook newcomers and get veterans invested from the get-go!

 

[WishIhadaManafi5]

Getting back on topic...

The previewers of the game say that the intro features Leon going against a trainer that they can’t talk about yet. However, even though they can’t say who, we can almost definitely predict it’s that Raihan guy from the website.

What if during this opening battle, you can play as either Raihan or Leon for the fight? Having a late game-esque battle first thing in the game would be a good way to hook newcomers and get veterans invested from the get-go!

That's a good question! It would be pretty fun if we got to do something like that.

 

[Autobot N]

I’m just glad that SWSH seem much less handholdy than the most recent games. As much as I love Gen 7, the entirety of Melemele being a tutorial was really annoying.

 

[Ophie]

Especially if it was in reference to something like the 116 100 years war from hundreds of years I doubt it would provoke many people if any.

Maybe, maybe not. However, Pokémon is a huge franchise, one that lots of people all over the world enjoy. As a result, they will more likely play things safe, as the bigger the franchise, the more likely it will catch the attention of someone who will cause trouble over it.

You can see that in the very angry responses right here on these forums from Irish members whenever the topic comes up of if there's an Ireland equivalent in the Pokémon world, and if so, whether or not it's part of Galar. This is something that happened a long time ago, but tension at the social level is still present within Irish society and British society. There are few things that will offend an Irish person more than someone mistaking the Republic of Ireland as a part of the UK.

This is not to say that there won't be some world building in which Galar and Kalos were once at war with each other, but I'm certain if they do that, there will be heavy fantasy elements to it, such as the Ultimate Weapon being involved--maybe that giant tower in the middle of Galar is the region's answer to the Ultimate Weapon--or Mega-Evolved Pokémon fighting against Dynamaxed and Gigantamaxed Pokémon.

(There is a similar sort of tension existing between Hawaiians and the continental US that does not appear to have an Alolan or Unovan counterpart, though to be fair, that conflict began in the mid-20th century and is thus much more recent. The issue is about Hawaii's downgrade from its own country to a US state, though there's no evidence in the games that Alola is part of any other country.)

I’m just glad that SWSH seem much less handholdy than the most recent games. As much as I love Gen 7, the entirety of Melemele being a tutorial was really annoying.

Yeah, that was annoying. And then I did it all over again playing Ultra Moon.

 

[Jason White]

Getting back on topic...

The previewers of the game say that the intro features Leon going against a trainer that they can’t talk about yet. However, even though they can’t say who, we can almost definitely predict it’s that Raihan guy from the website.

What if during this opening battle, you can play as either Raihan or Leon for the fight? Having a late game-esque battle first thing in the game would be a good way to hook newcomers and get veterans invested from the get-go!

One of Game Informers videos mentions it is a gym leader as well.

 

[WhiteBlair]

Pokémon Center features a painting; a scenery including a serpent.

 

[landipan]

Maybe it's Dragonair?

 

[WishIhadaManafi5]

It looks like Rayquaza to me.

 

[Mewizard]

I wonder how many trailers there are left until release. There's only 25 days left until the games come out, a little over 3 weeks away.
If I had to guess, I Imagine the starters will have one soon (I'm surprised we haven't seen the second stages yet) and then maybe 2 or 3 more trailers showcasing some of the Pokemon we already have seen snippets of and then some evolutions.

 

[janejane6178]

I wonder how many trailers there are left until release. There's only 25 days left until the games come out, a little over 3 weeks away.
If I had to guess, I Imagine the starters will have one soon (I'm surprised we haven't seen the second stages yet) and then maybe 2 or 3 more trailers showcasing some of the Pokemon we already have seen snippets of and then some evolutions.

I think that at this point, we will have more information once the games are released in 3 weeks

 

[ebevan91]

I wonder how many trailers there are left until release. There's only 25 days left until the games come out, a little over 3 weeks away.
If I had to guess, I Imagine the starters will have one soon (I'm surprised we haven't seen the second stages yet) and then maybe 2 or 3 more trailers showcasing some of the Pokemon we already have seen snippets of and then some evolutions.

Well it's gonna be 1 minimum because there will be a launch trailer like usual and there are 4 Wednesdays left so that's 4 more opportunities for trailers if they stick with the Wednesday release schedule. So 1 to 4. But I'm think it's gonna be more like 2 or 3 because there's no way we're gonna go another 3 weeks without a trailer.