Pokemon Sword & Shield GENERAL DISCUSSION Thread [Spoilers]

[RoughCoronet0]

It will be interesting to see how the competitive meta evolves. I’m not a competitive player myself in any way, shape or form. However, I have a bit of a guilty pleasure of watching some of the Pokemon Youtubers (I know they are a bit controversial here so I won’t name names or anything) that focus on explaining the history of different Pokemon through the years in competitive Smogon and VGC as well as highlighting buffs and move changes for Pokemon and how that could affect their competitive viability in future generations. It’s neat to learn up on and see both what is common/popular, as well as some creative choices in each scene and even how some Pokemon fit Smogon better and others fit VGC better.

I say all this because while the competitive players have had to deal with shifting meta games, adding or removing moves from learned movesets and Tm’s, changes in abilities, buffs or nerfs and so on.....this is the biggest shift of any generation to be sure. And while I’m sure many competitive players don’t like this, I've seen how crazy they can be with trying to shake of the meta with new and crazy strategies.

I guess what I’m saying is that I’m excited to see how it shapes up.

 

[Ultra Beast Lover]

I'll probably review the game myself if/when I get it. Though it likely won't be a good review because I'll mostly focus on the story so it'll probably just be a story review with some comments on certain features and any animation issues I happen to notice.

 

[Shiwin]

Even though GameFreak has made some really weird decisions this time, I'm still excited for SwSh, mainly because of three things: 1) I like most of the new Pokemon designs 2) The new Gym and League system is so refreshing 3) Character customisation looks amazing.

 

[mtqc]

I can't tell if I'm excited anymore or not. I'm too empathetic, so feeling all of this negativity from what truly feels like the entire fanbase just makes me depressed and not wanting to bother. It's dumb of me since I don't even care about the dex cut, but the hate is so draining. Anyone else ever get like this?

 

[FlygontheRavager]

I can't tell if I'm excited anymore or not. I'm too empathetic, so feeling all of this negativity from what truly feels like the entire fanbase just makes me depressed and not wanting to bother. It's dumb of me since I don't even care about the dex cut, but the hate is so draining. Anyone else ever get like this?

I feel the same way. It’s so tiring to see all this negativity from the fandom, and it’s made me less excited for the games.

And the worst part of it all? This time, the negativity isn’t unfounded.

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

I’m getting the games because they’re Pokémon games. I pretty much buy any Pokémon game that comes out with the exception of Detective Pikachu (I keep forgetting to pick up a used copy when I have the money to buy it) and the 3D Pokémon Mystery games because Gates ruined the spin off series for me.

 

[wolf jani]

I can't tell if I'm excited anymore or not. I'm too empathetic, so feeling all of this negativity from what truly feels like the entire fanbase just makes me depressed and not wanting to bother. It's dumb of me since I don't even care about the dex cut, but the hate is so draining. Anyone else ever get like this?

Same here. The negativity about things that don't affect me still makes me feel bad too.

 

[RoughCoronet0]

I can't tell if I'm excited anymore or not. I'm too empathetic, so feeling all of this negativity from what truly feels like the entire fanbase just makes me depressed and not wanting to bother. It's dumb of me since I don't even care about the dex cut, but the hate is so draining. Anyone else ever get like this?

It’s something I can relate to as it has been something that has affected me in the past with a couple of different franchises. Eventually I came to the conclusion that I should just play what I want.

Ultimately, you are the only person who gets to decide what is a good and enjoyable gaming experience. If others don’t agree, well there is nothing much that can be done. I’m a fan of games many people think are either sub-par or downright horrible, so hate has become something I’m familiar with within fandoms.

I don’t tend to let community division get to me much anymore. Still, it can be a bit draining sometimes.

 

[Sham]

yeah but them reusing models was what we were expecting originally when they revealed their future proofing plan. new models would cost money, old ones wouldn't useless they had to fix them when porting to the new platform. That being said there's a bunch of other aspects that have to be accounted for, each gen for all implemented Pokemon, (deciding where you can catch them (if at all), new dex text, changes to move lists, any new animations, testing to make sure each each Pokemon works and doesn't produce unexpected bugs.)

I suspect its a combination-al reason that they cut the dex, the last few games had completely new models and they had to cur features/areas as a result.

Don’t you think they should of been a little more honest and explained their reasoning? The initial mindset was that they cut the dex because they were re-designing the Pokémon and that they were giving us better animation quality and that’s why people are upset, not that the dex was cut but that the initial reason wasn’t all that true.

 

[mtqc]

I’m getting the games because they’re Pokémon games. I pretty much buy any Pokémon game that comes out with the exception of Detective Pikachu (I keep forgetting to pick up a used copy when I have the money to buy it) and the 3D Pokémon Mystery games because Gates ruined the spin off series for me.

Oh I'm definitely still getting it, but during XY and SM I had way more hype around this time in the release cycle. Now I just feel dejected. Like, who am I gonna play the games with if nobody's going to like it? Why DO I like it if nobody else does?

I'm well aware this isn't the truth, and that plenty will love the games, but this is just how it feels at the moment.

It’s something I can relate to as it has been something that has affected me in the past with a couple of different franchises. Eventually I came to the conclusion that I should just play what I want.

Ultimately, you are the only person who gets to decide what is a good and enjoyable gaming experience. If others don’t agree, well there is nothing much that can be done. I’m a fan of games many people think are either sub-par or downright horrible, so hate has become something I’m familiar with within fandoms.

I don’t tend to let community division get to me much anymore. Still, it can be a bit draining sometimes.

You're 100% right. It's just hard to avoid these feelings when I use others as a metric for my own hype levels.

 

[TsengHyena]

If we're paying significantly more for the games and loosing out on pokemon, then we need more content at better quality. Its as simple as that.

Pokemon needs to be better than Call of Duty.

 

[Marzbar]

Nobody said great, they said viable support Pokemon, in the same vein as Whimsicott was even before it got its secondary Fairy typing. You're delusional if you think the argument here is that Eldegoss is somehow going to be the best Pokemon ever, and not that it's simply going to have a niche as a support Pokemon especially in Raids, Doubles, etc., where its ability is even stronger than Tangling Hair/Gooey. I also have a contention with your implication that Tangling Hair is a bad ability because it has low usage, ignoring the fact that the only Pokemon to get it lacks the stats to make use of it and is utterly outclassed in every single way otherwise. I'm not allowed to discuss it in detail here, but yes, Eldegoss does have better bulk than A-Dugtrio.

Oh, and uh... Citation needed.

1. You’re ignoring the fact that Eldegoss also doesn’t have the stats required.
2. Whimsicott has Prankster and a better movepool.
3. Citation needed? Do you even read the internet? Go look it up.

 

[Bus]

Getting the games regardless of what's going on, but it does bother me a little about the accusations coming out. There are a LOT of toxic people, so I wouldn't be surprised if the 'datamined models' were faked. I know it's being posted, but with how angry people are, I could see them just taking the Sun/Moon models and showing it to people, claiming them to be the Sword & Shield models and saying 'Look, they're the same as the 3DS models!!'.

If that's true, then I really am disappointed with Gamefreak that they'd pull a dirty stunt like this, but I'll still be playing it anyway because I enjoy the pokemon games and this looks fun; simple as that. I already have plans to bring my switch with me when i go to a wedding in December and set up a tournament with my friends.

If the whole thing is faked in order to discredit Gamefreak, though; and it comes out that these 'dataminers' are just disgruntled fans who simply took the Sun/Moon models and presented them as Sword/Shield models to claim Gamefreak lied, then that's pathetic. It's sick that people would go that far.

I don't know what to believe in regards to the models anymore (I'll probably be able to tell the truth personally when I play the game on Friday), but in any case I plan on enjoying it. Sorry to the naysayers (and there are a few of you here that are easily named), but unless they came out and presented graphics of Black/White or worse, I probably wouldn't care.

I come from an older gaming generation; what I look for in a game varies from game to game. If I'm playing a game where I'm raising monsters to play through a story and fight others like Pokemon or Monster Rancher, then the graphics don't really matter. It's just the customizability and combinations I can do I like. Honestly, the same goes for sRPG's like FF Tactics or the Disgaea series. I like creating a varied team of units to take through battles and get stronger. I've played FF Tactics (PS1) countless times and those graphics are OLD. In Disgaea, I've sat in the item world for HOURS just grinding away in slight variations of the same level over and over (since they're randomly generated levels).

Graphics, Gameplay, and Story are top for me in RPG's like Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts; games like those (I know I named FF Tactics before, but that's specifically an sRPG, not a traditional RPG). If this was Final Fantasy XVI coming out with FFXIII graphics, I'd be furious because I know they can do better and the graphics for those games help immerse me in their created world. It creates a more engaging story with better graphics as well. And even then, the gameplay does matter because when XIII came out, I was furious it was a boring, practically gameplay-less game with every character being unlikeable (but that's a other rant entirely).

Tldr; if its true the models are the same, then it sucks and I'm very disappointed in Gamefreak, but I'm buying it anyway and I'll hope that Gen IX will be not only upgraded but come with the tagline of once again being able to 'Catch 'em all". If it's faked and the models are new, then shame on the false dataminers claiming otherwise.

 

[TsengHyena]

We should just skip Diamond/Pearl remakes since its not the same without all the pokemon. Go straight to gen 9 and fix all the problems of Sword/Shield.

 

[Ignition]

I'm neutral on this entire thing, but it's kind of hypocritical that some of you told people to wait to see if the models are the same and now that there's evidence, you write it off as whining? Though some people are overreacting to this revelation. Again, I've accepted these won't reach my ideal scenario of a console game but we should keep things fair.

I understand people who are upset with the negativity, but I think people are overreacting to the overreacting of the flaws of the game. It just creates more hostility and tension which is counterproductive. The hashtags don't make it any better

 

[ShikabaneHime13]

I still intend to get these games. Myself, my husband and my four kids all look forward to Sword and Shield. I refuse to look at leaks or streams from early obtained copies (though I did peek the starter evolutions to sate my curiosity). My kids have no idea why so many people are upset and I just tell them that not everyone can be made happy. They know about the dex cut and didn’t give two hoots about it even though they each have their favorites and all of them have a full living national dex. I get the criticisms, I really do. I have my favorites which may or may not make the cut and I’ll likely be a bit upset but I and my family are in this for the aspect of having fun and enjoying a new adventure. And it’s an adventure we’ll enjoy together. I want GF to do better and expand upon Pokemon even further but I’m also going to appreciate the work that they have put in by giving the games a try for myself and formulating my own opinion. With that said... Less than 24 hours until I’m in NY and awaiting the launch with like-minded friends and other fans

 

[RoughCoronet0]

You're 100% right. It's just hard to avoid these feelings when I use others as a metric for my own hype levels.

I get you there.

Pokémon is my longest played through franchise. It’s the franchise I hold the most fond memories of. And unlike many people I knew that have fallen in and out of this franchise over the years, I have been a fan all the way through. No piece of entertainment has meant so much to me as Pokémon.

So it’s a particularly depressing blow to see when the fandom of my favorite franchise is divisive while I’m excited about the games. There is that small part of me that wonders if I’m wrong for just being excited for these games while everyone around me seems to being arguing.

You are not alone in feeling such things. We will just have to see what lies ahead of us in Galar.

 

[Sαpphire]

There is absolutely no evidence that the datamined models have been faked to further an agenda. Having seen the models in question, there are subtle differences in how the games display them that indicate that, while nearly identical, they are not just copy-pasted from a Sun/Moon file to falsify this situation. Polygon counts are slightly different, showing that how those models are used/rendered on the Switch is slightly different. They are definitely, unmistakably completely reused models, and you can see that very clearly - but they’re not so identical as to arouse suspicion that the dataminers are somehow lying to us. I would argue that suggesting such behavior without evidence sets a dangerous precedent for the dialogue around these games.

 

[TsengHyena]

I'm neutral on this entire thing, but it's kind of hypocritical that some of you told people to wait to see if the models are the same and now that there's evidence, you write it off as whining? Though some people are overreacting to this revelation. Again, I've accepted these won't reach my ideal scenario of a console game but we should keep things fair.

I understand people who are upset with the negativity, but I think people are overreacting to the overreacting of the flaws of the game. It just creates more hostility and tension which is counterproductive. The hashtags don't make it any better

Thats the problem I have with these Stand with Serebii and Gamefreak things, people just constantly find excuses to step over factual proof of the problems of the game, which isn't applied fairly to other games.

 

[Brendan017]

I was super hyped for the games a few days ago, but the generic background thing, the missing Gts and the short playtime made me a bit sad.

Im still excited to play just not as much as I was. And gamefreak being this lazy and corner cutting makes me worry for the future of the franchise, especially when we are getting the first console game I was expecting much more.