Topic: Pokemon Sword & Shield

@Yorumi It would have to be a spin-off. Pokemon is an annual series with an elaborate metagame. They don't have five years to just make a BotW-esque experience.

The Wild Area in Sw/Sh very much seems like an experiment in that direction. They might be testing the waters to see how people respond to a less rigidly structured environment in a Pokemon game.

@Ralizah They haven't fixed their metagame since gen 4, so they clearly don't care

I do think there's room for one or two years off between the games. Heck, even Ubisoft can have years with no Assassin's Creed these days.

@Yorumi Some things have stuck, though, like trainer customization, which proved to be VERY popular. It's always possible more open-ended level design and progression could be the same way.

I'm guessing the thing more likely to end up as a pure gimmick is the "Pokemon turning into kaiju" thing.

So now it’s gonna be Mega Evolution + Z-Moves + Dynamaxing in terms of mechanics you can use in battles.

I do like how it ties with the giant art on the hill, so at least, the local battle gimmick might have roots in something related to the region, besides "friendship!".

And luckily, no Scottish dance and bagpipe chorus to do the DynaMax moves. 🤣

lol i dont care, most open world games are just too big and too reliant on wasting your time between actually interesting parts of the game, and yes that often includes ones that have a decent linear path you can follow

game freak wouldn't be the one to go against that, and even if they were, it was never gonna happen unless they like doubled their work force or gave up the money from near-annual releases (lolololol)

@Harmonie There is no reason to have "third versions" anymore. Third versions are completely and totally obsolete in the era of DLC. That's why I was so annoyed with USUM, the new content added in those games would be a DLC pack in almost any other franchise, but they packaged it up as a new game and never updated SM to be compatible with it. It is a trend that I very much hope they leave in the past now that the series is moving to Switch.

Remakes of older generations still make sense. They are entirely different games. You mention yourself how the generations have been pretty quick, I could see new main series entry one year, remake the next year, Let's Go after that, then repeat. 2019 S/Sh 2020 Pure Platinum, 2021 Let's Go Johto, 2022 new generation. Or the could even spread it out more with DLC releases.

Potential DLC packs could be:
New areas to explore accessible by ship.
New Colosseum/Stadium challenges.
Battle Frontiers
Move tutors and new Mega evolutions/Dynamaxes/Z-moves
Pokemon Stadium Style Mini game packs
Something entirely new and unexpected.

Just my thoughts.

Pokemon snap 2 now use the toy con canera to take pictures of pokemon in VR

@andrew20 That would actually be a nice use of the VR, but requiring you to already have the VR game and accessories would be an issue. I'd say make it a regular game with a VR mode for those who have/want it.

Still kinda surprised that Pokemon Snap Mobile isn't a thing, since half the functionality is already in Pokemon Go.

I'm definitely on-board with trainer customization. I'm not too fussy with picking out a full wardrobe for each day of the week; I typically just go with designs that I like.

I remember disliking the female trainer's redesign in Platinum so much that I played as the male trainer that time around.

I probably play Pokémon SwSh as female this time, because I feel they still not add any feminine clothes for males (skirts, dresses, tights, long boots, etc).

As I said before I still don't know which copy I will buy, so I waiting till they announce some version differences, in this case Pokémon them selfs, before deciding which copy I will buy.

@SViper
A feminine clothing for males?
Are you obsessed by crossdressing? 😆
High heels for males? Oh, gosh..... 🤣

@Heavyarms55 The thing is that just because you think that third versions shouldn't be a thing anymore (and I don't necessarily disagree) doesn't at all mean that GF will change their minds. The fact of the matter is that right now we already have three different types of Pokemon mainline releases, and adding a LG style game to the pool would just end up complicating things even further, and GF would have to make even more decisions on which type of game to release each generation and TBH, the LG style is not even good at all, so when it's chosen I just see it as a pure loss.

@Anti-Matter
Yes.
Yes.
Kinda yes.

@SViper
Is this your obsession for male trainer? 🤣

@Harmonie Well yeah, GF isn't gonna change because someone on the internet said so. But that doesn't mean they wont change. I suspect Nintendo's success with DLC on the Switch will push them toward modernization. They're finally dropping the fixed camera after all.

Also LG is a great series for young children. Older players don't get as much out of it but it is great for a little kid's first game and that's really the target audience. And since there are always more little kids it makes sense keep that line open.

We could both be wrong though. In the end not even GF might know what they want to do yet.

We at game freak believe the concept of "DLC" and "compatibility updates" might confuse our audience and divide the players.

That's why we have decided to release Pokémon Axe and Pokémon Lance as standalone $60 titles.

Please look forward to exploring Galar again in this new take on the classic Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield story.

@Anti-Matter I'd love to see clothing options opened up between the genders more broadly in video games, personally, as it just adds to the sheer number of customization options you can go for. It's hardly new territory for Nintendo. In Animal Crossing: New Leaf, for example, your character can wear pretty much anything. If your guy mayor opts for skirts and heels, the shopkeepers will initially express mild surprise, but then quickly shift toward an accepting attitude. Which is, of course, very important for Animal Crossing, which is all about sinking into a warm and comforting social dream. A lack of restrictive gender norms just plays into that. I've gone for male and female characters in that game at various points, and only once opted for a heteronormative character. I wouldn't mind seeing Pokemon lean into that sort of vibe a bit.

I don't mind playing a traditional male or female person if that's the characterization of the MC in a game, but if they're a blank slate that I can project a personality onto, I want as much freedom as possible to define them how I like.

Man, I'm remembering just how much fun I had with New Leaf over the years. The Switch Animal Crossing can't come soon enough.

Yeah I agree 100%. I enjoyed Ultra Moon but it felt like I was just paying for the same game again. Whether Game Freak will actually make any attempt to modernise is another matter though. I thought we were moving away from 'third versions' when Gen 5 had sequels instead and Gen 6 didn't have anything, but then we got to Gen 7 with USUM, released in two near-identical versions this time because money. Really hoping GF will get with the times this gen.