Things Sword/Shield Nailed

[Auraninja]

I thought I would make a natural contrast to the "missed opportunities" thread.

What are some things you think Sword and Shield did really well? What opportunities did they actually hit?

I'll start with the quality of life.

If you want to make a battle ready Pokemon, you have more tools at your disposal. Nature mints and breeding move matching are two of these methods.
The experience candy helps if you want to get a Pokemon without having to grind so much for it.
I guess some would argue that it cheapens the experience, but it is a viable option now.

Another thing Sword and Shield did well were the wild Pokemon battles.
Taken a bit from Let's Go, you can now either see Pokemon in the overworld, or just walk around in the grass and intercept with the shadow.
This reminds me of how Dragon Quest VII and VIII for the 3ds made overworld battles instead of random encounters. I like the former way more.

Another thing is the music. There are some themes I really like in the game.
The one time the music was sort of weak was when you would here Wild Area music reused in the routes.

Another thing I'll mention is the character design. Most of the characters stand out to me.
A lot of the designs show plenty of personality.

As far as the region itself, I still feel its a bit lacking, but it had some locales were really nice.
Balloonlea, Route 8, Grimwood Tangle, Route 10, Circhester, and Hulbury were pretty good locations in my opinion.

 

[Red and Blue]

I quite liked how Team Yell was handled. I found them more endearing then Team Skull. I just wish they had a bit more diverse character models

 

[KillerDraco]

Max Raid Battles.

I'm a sucker for non-PVP co-op, and it's something Pokemon has always been sorely lacking. Multi battles have been a thing, but they're generally time consuming given they tend to center around Battle Facilities. Max Raid Battles are quick to organize, and relatively quick to complete. They make version exclusives and Pokemon in general much easier to access if you don't wanna deal with trading, and they've helped to supply lots of useful items as well. Plus, the legendary raids are always good fun; I had a blast with Mewtwo and Zeraora.

Sure, they may have some faults, like the one-catch-attempt being a bummer, but Max Raid Battles were definitely one of my favorite aspects of Sw/Sh.

 

[Tsukuyomi56]

- The various QoL improvements that you could techniquely create a competitive viable Pokemon out the ones you used during their journey.


- Showcasing of the generation's main battle mechanic, Stadiums/Gym Leaders notably make a big deal out of Dynamaxing/Gigantamaxing.

- While some work does need to be done with Max Raid Battles if you are stuck with the AI it is a reasonable way to include multiplayer co-op. The rewards from them are very nice too.

 

[TornadoAdvisory]

- Pokémon designs: The designs in my opinion were excellent this time around. You got very sharp and cool ones like Corviknight/Toxtricity/Dragapult/Barraskewda/Eternatus/etc. and more cute ones such as Snom and Yamper. I ended up with a lot of favorites from this generation in terms of design alone.

- Music: There is a lot of great music tracks this time around, especially the battle themes of Marnie, Team Yell, Leon, Piers (My personal favorite). and the gym leaders.

- Deviating from the Elite Four format a bit: Instead of the traditional Elite Four format, you are instead greeted with a tournament format where many gym leaders and rivals that you've met along your journey come back to take you on. It's a bit more minor compared to the previous two that I mentioned, but I appreciate the fact that they went against tradition to an extent here.

Might edit this post once I think of more to add.

 

[WishIhadaManafi5]

Being able to encounter the Pokemon in the overworld.

Raid battles are ok. Are better than I thought they'd be. Really appreciate the NPCs for offline and online battles.

Music is alright. I really love some of the Wild Area music.

 

[Ignition]

*Music is great as always (It's the one thing constantly good about any Pokemon game). Some of my favorites are vs Gym Leader, the rivals, & Oleanna.
*QoL changes like passing Egg Moves up & Escape Rope being a Key Item (never had to use it though lol)
*Likeable cast. Some of my favorites in the series debut here like Leon, Raihan, Piers, Sonia, Nessa, Kabu, Oleanna, & Bea. Also continued adding more POC representation into the game which is nice.
*Killed off 3rd versions. Good riddance to something that should have never existed past Yellow.
*Pokémon availability. I was able to get my entire team before the first Gym. Things like Max Raids, Y Comm, & the Wild Area help make the early game more interesting. Ice and Dragon Types can show up before the final part of the game like previous gens.
*Gym Challenge: while it kind of fails due to an ironic lack of challenge, I like how it matters more than most games. Your progress is constantly brought up on your journey and it feels like an actual sport.
*Online community: Even though SwSh split the community with Dexit, I still feel like there's a strong online community. League Cards, Camp, Max Raids, competitive, & Shiny/Mark Hunting helps keep the game alive despite the lack of content.
*Pokémon: Most of the new Pokémon are cool. While I'm not a fam of the concept, GMax helps certain mons' inspiration come full circle

 

[janejane6178]

1. Music and characters' design, which are good in any generation
2. Over-world Pokemon encounters

 

[Sicksadpanda]

One thing I haven't seen anyone mention is the remote PC. While this was in LGPE, I felt it had greater impact in SwSh. Remote PC allows people to breed for eggs, and then release or store pokemon immediately without needing to actually go inside and boot up the PC, causing like 2 minutes of wasted time for each egg runs. It also allowed people to check IVs remotely since that was something you originally had to go to PC in Alola games.

I'll admit, I miss being able to heal my pokemon without needing the pokecenter (sometimes, it's faster to heal just one pokemon than all 6 at once lol).

 

[Ophie]

The thing I felt they nailed the most were the new Pokémon designs. I'd have to say that these were some of the best Pokémon designs ever made. Not to discount Ken Sugimori, of course, but I think James Turner can run with the best of them when it comes to art design. Game Freak made the right decision to hire him, even if it was for a reason other than what he'd ultimately be the best at (he was originally brought onboard because he knew how to program a camera for a Nintendo DS game).

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is the urban visual design. Every town looks very different from each other, and anyone who's played through the game will instantly be able to tell one from another. The series has come a long way from even as recently as Sinnoh where each town used the same building templates. No town in Galar uses the same template as another town. I remember Fortree City and Sootopolis City in Hoenn being real memorable for looking really different than the standard Pokémon town--they did this with every town in Galar (and the preview trailers for Crown Tundra looks to continue that trend with whatever civilization is there in the area).

This is a thing with Game Freak in general, really. Each of their games has glaring flaws, but all of them have done at least one thing right and did it very well. Little Town Hero got a lot of flak, for instance, but it conveyed the feeling of a peaceful fantasy town extremely well. Villains aside, it feels like a place I'd like to live in for a little while.

Max Raid Battles.

I'm a sucker for non-PVP co-op, and it's something Pokemon has always been sorely lacking. Multi battles have been a thing, but they're generally time consuming given they tend to center around Battle Facilities. Max Raid Battles are quick to organize, and relatively quick to complete. They make version exclusives and Pokemon in general much easier to access if you don't wanna deal with trading, and they've helped to supply lots of useful items as well. Plus, the legendary raids are always good fun; I had a blast with Mewtwo and Zeraora.

Sure, they may have some faults, like the one-catch-attempt being a bummer, but Max Raid Battles were definitely one of my favorite aspects of Sw/Sh.

Max Raid Battles have incredible rewards. You can sell off the TRs from them for a lot of money. TRs for high-power moves like Hydro Pump, Thunder, Fire Blast, Focus Blast, Gunk Shot, and Close Combat are not just common, they're worth P8000 each.5-star raids are also guaranteed at least 1 EXP Candy XL and 2 EXP Candy L, which is 50000 EXP. Pull it off for 5-star Blissey and you'll get 5 of each and up to 5 Rare Candies. That's 219500 EXP from the candy alone, plus however much you can pull off from the Rare Candies (which, at level 95 and above, are better than an EXP Candy XL). Four Blissey raids are enough to bring most Pokémon from Level 1 to Level 100.

*Killed off 3rd versions. Good riddance to something that should have never existed past Yellow.

I always felt that the 3rd (and 4th versions, in the case of Generations V and VII) have hindered sales of the main series. First impressions count for a lot, and if they could've, say, begun Generation VII with what we now know as Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, they would have sold a LOT better and retain more people in the long term. Looking at sales numbers, the lion's share of Pokémon players play ONLY the first release in a generation and don't get another one until the next generation. Might as well make them the best they can be.

Nintendo does this sort of thing with most of its other IPs. You don't have a Super Mario Odyssey: Extra Edition released the following year. If they're going to make an enhanced remake, they always do so at least one console later (that is, when the original version and possibly the system it was on is no longer being sold in most stores), and they rarely do so on a console less successful than the one the game was originally released on. It's why I think it's best for the video games' quality if Nintendo could actually put their feet down on The Pokémon Company. But the merchandise and such are making too much money for much to be done about this.

 

[Divine Retribution]

Gonna go ahead and second KillerDraco and Raid battles. I don't think they were completely perfect (my biggest gripes being the way the shield mechanic works and the pool of AI partners being pretty terrible) but overall I think they were a fantastic way to add a co-operative PvE element to a series that's been sorely lacking it for years.

 

[Luthor]

Atmosphere of Gym battles. Felt very important.

The designs. Many of my favourite pokemon are from this gen and even the ones I like less are still fine.

Regional Variant evolutions (Eg. Runerigus or Cursola). The concept makes regional variants less predictable moving forward.

 

[Xuxuba]

I think the characters' designs were great and Bede had an interesting backstory.

They also managed to make at least a few characters have development, which is very rare in a Pokémon game. Tho, i do wish they would have done more with the story...

 

[janejane6178]

The thing I felt they nailed the most were the new Pokémon designs. I'd have to say that these were some of the best Pokémon designs ever made. Not to discount Ken Sugimori, of course, but I think James Turner can run with the best of them when it comes to art design. Game Freak made the right decision to hire him, even if it was for a reason other than what he'd ultimately be the best at (he was originally brought onboard because he knew how to program a camera for a Nintendo DS game).

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is the urban visual design. Every town looks very different from each other, and anyone who's played through the game will instantly be able to tell one from another. The series has come a long way from even as recently as Sinnoh where each town used the same building templates. No town in Galar uses the same template as another town. I remember Fortree City and Sootopolis City in Hoenn being real memorable for looking really different than the standard Pokémon town--they did this with every town in Galar (and the preview trailers for Crown Tundra looks to continue that trend with whatever civilization is there in the area).

This is a thing with Game Freak in general, really. Each of their games has glaring flaws, but all of them have done at least one thing right and did it very well. Little Town Hero got a lot of flak, for instance, but it conveyed the feeling of a peaceful fantasy town extremely well. Villains aside, it feels like a place I'd like to live in for a little while.



Max Raid Battles have incredible rewards. You can sell off the TRs from them for a lot of money. TRs for high-power moves like Hydro Pump, Thunder, Fire Blast, Focus Blast, Gunk Shot, and Close Combat are not just common, they're worth P8000 each.5-star raids are also guaranteed at least 1 EXP Candy XL and 2 EXP Candy L, which is 50000 EXP. Pull it off for 5-star Blissey and you'll get 5 of each and up to 5 Rare Candies. That's 219500 EXP from the candy alone, plus however much you can pull off from the Rare Candies (which, at level 95 and above, are better than an EXP Candy XL). Four Blissey raids are enough to bring most Pokémon from Level 1 to Level 100.



I always felt that the 3rd (and 4th versions, in the case of Generations V and VII) have hindered sales of the main series. First impressions count for a lot, and if they could've, say, begun Generation VII with what we now know as Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, they would have sold a LOT better and retain more people in the long term. Looking at sales numbers, the lion's share of Pokémon players play ONLY the first release in a generation and don't get another one until the next generation. Might as well make them the best they can be.

Nintendo does this sort of thing with most of its other IPs. You don't have a Super Mario Odyssey: Extra Edition released the following year. If they're going to make an enhanced remake, they always do so at least one console later (that is, when the original version and possibly the system it was on is no longer being sold in most stores), and they rarely do so on a console less successful than the one the game was originally released on. It's why I think it's best for the video games' quality if Nintendo could actually put their feet down on The Pokémon Company. But the merchandise and such are making too much money for much to be done about this.

What do u mean? I didnt see any new town/city in the CT trailer.. only 1 house..

 

[Reinhardt]

1. The quality of life changes like the PC Box Link and allowing you to name a traded Pokemon that doesn't already have a name.
2. A (mostly) likeable supporting cast, including in my opinion the best Gym Leaders in the entire franchise.
3. Having the final evolutions of Pokemon with awkward evolution requirements available to catch in the wild.
4. Some fantastic music, one of the few things Pokemon always gets right.
5. Pokemon Camp and curries. It's nice to see your squad running around and playing together, it really helps you form a bond with them.
6. A pretty good line-up of new Pokemon, and some decent regional forms and evolutions.
7. Sonia. Enough said.

 

[Dragalge]

Falinks and the Galarian Fossils. That's something SWSH nailed.

 

[Red and Blue]

Falinks and the Galarian Fossils. That's something SWSH nailed.

Especially since they finally did away with the Rock typings for the fossils. About time

 

[shoz999]

The Dynamax mechanic felt better than Mega Evolution in terms of balance. Definitely needs some improvement after some discussion with others, specifically the speed boosts from Airstream. I always hated how Mega Evolution catered heavily to already powerful Pokemon, especially pseudo-legendaries. Because of that, the metas often catered to Mega Evolutions, a select few Pokemon, to the point that you have to have them or your team is considered "outclassed" in some way. I will say, can't see the Dynamax gimmick removed so quickly as the generations pass by. That's because of Max Raid Battles being a new cornerstone of online multiplayer, centered around Dynamax. Then again, they removed Triple Battles which was also a cornerstone so I guess it wouldn't surprise me if they decided Max Raids should only be a cornerstone of Gen 8.

 

[Ophie]

What do u mean? I didnt see any new town/city in the CT trailer.. only 1 house..

Spoiler

Some of the data-mining shows it's likely there will be a small town in the area based on how some NPCs are named.

The Dynamax mechanic felt better than Mega Evolution in terms of balance. Definitely needs some improvement after some discussion with others, specifically the speed boosts from Airstream. I always hated how Mega Evolution catered heavily to already powerful Pokemon, especially pseudo-legendaries. Because of that, the metas often catered to Mega Evolutions, a select few Pokemon, to the point that you have to have them or your team is considered "outclassed" in some way. I will say, can't see the Dynamax gimmick removed so quickly as the generations pass by. That's because of Max Raid Battles being a new cornerstone of online multiplayer, centered around Dynamax. Then again, they removed Triple Battles which was also a cornerstone so I guess it wouldn't surprise me if they decided Max Raids should only be a cornerstone of Gen 8.

I miss triple battles and rotation battles. I get that they were ultimately taken out because there were too many Pokémon models onscreen at once, but there are definitely more than 6 onscreen at once much of the time in Sword & Shield.

I do genuinely wonder what they'll do going forward though. Didn't they say that Dynamax was tied specifically to Galar, just as Z-Crystals and Z-Moves were tied specifically to Alola?

 

[shoz999]

Spoiler

Some of the data-mining shows it's likely there will be a small town in the area based on how some NPCs are named.

I miss triple battles and rotation battles. I get that they were ultimately taken out because there were too many Pokémon models onscreen at once, but there are definitely more than 6 onscreen at once much of the time in Sword & Shield.

I do genuinely wonder what they'll do going forward though. Didn't they say that Dynamax was tied specifically to Galar, just as Z-Crystals and Z-Moves were tied specifically to Alola?

I'm sure they'll pull something from their butt.