Social Media Bands Together To Show Pokémon Studio Game Freak Some Love

Oooh...it'll be interesting to see how the Dexers respond to all this. Luckily I don't care about Pokemon too much, so I can safely watch the fallout unfold from the sidelines XD

Yoshi on Gameboy is the best game they ever made.

@JR150 I'd think that most Dexers are of the opinion that game companies having low morale over bad publicity towards their game is a normal thing and GF shouldn't be protected from it.

Now if we're talking about the alleged death threats.... then that's a different story. Death threats should never have to be tolerated by anybody, let alone devs of your favorite game franchise

It's true: criticism of a legacy company is not allowed. Funny that celebrating GF's past successes and exceptionalism proves the very point of their current critics, despite the clearly opposite intention.

Boy, this is refreshing to see. I've always enjoyed the Pokemon games(yes, even gens 6 and 7 that get ton of flack)and I've been playing since Yellow. I can't wait to dive into the Galar region. 😀

Such an insanely large franchise with two different competitive scenes (digital games and TCG), GameFreak will be just fine. Once SnS smashes sales records and get glowing reviews your morale will be in the clouds again.

I love Pokemon and have for 20 years. The games have always been flawed and imperfect but fun and exciting! #thankyougamefreak I am very excited to play Sword and Shield too!

If you don't like it, just play something else. It is not like there aren't countless other games to pick from!

Biology has yet to prove if Dexers are the spawn of Elitists that somehow reproduced, or if perhaps Elitists have mutated into Dexers?! Scary thought either way O.o

@Broosh Man nobody here has said anything about the national dex. You're being the negative one.

@JR150 Someone tried to set up a counter-hashtag and it's the saddest thing.

@YourGoodFriendly It's true, I only hope for the success of SnS and their future projects shrug Now how do I bring my dotmatrix gen 1 Pokedex back to life?

I doubt Game Freak is in too much of a rut. Pokémon GO is making billions every year and Sword and Shield is also going to make bank.

That being said, the fools leaving the angry Yelp reviews for the Pizzaria they haven’t ate at, should probably put a sock in it. Sure the pizza won’t rock your world and maybe it doesn’t have all the toppings you are used to, but it’s good anyway and let people enjoy their pie who want it.

Dumb metaphor over. 🙄

@NotTelevision Problem. You're wrong about one thing. Pokemon GO is developed and run by Niantic, not GAME FREAK.

I never understood the negativity surrounding this latest version of Pokemon. So what if it doesnt have every pokemon, the number of pokemon in this series was getting way out of hand for a single game.
In my opinion the new games look much more interesting then Sun and Moon.

Aww isn't that cute? There are still morons who naively defend GameFreak's increasingly Triple A behaviour.
The death threats are abhorrent and should never be allowed no matter how much a company does wrong.
But you can't tell me that GameFreak doesn't deserve its criticism for its total lack of transparency, dishonesty and for being so out of touch.
They seem to refuse to take any blame for their ineptitude and have instead resorted to starting a pity party, expecting the dumbest fans to sympathize with them.
Well it's not working. Make a fully finished product up to Nintendo's true standards and maybe I'll do the same.

#bringbackthenationaldex

Please understand, GF good, dev work hard, game not insultingly bad

#ThankYouGamefreak,ButMaybeIt'sTimeToPassTheFranchiseToSomeoneBetter?NoHardFeelings

@PKBegley #neverbringbacknationaldex

Of course you can criticize a game company and its decisions, but all the negativity surrounding these games are getting tiring. Have GF handled the situation well? Not perfectly. But everything feels so exaggerated. This is not a Fallout 76 situation. I'm glad that the games soon are out so that we finally can try them.

If you think GF sucks and that these games looks awful, then don't buy the games. Easy! Show some consumer power and I bet you'll feel great inside, even if the games still turns out to be a success. At least you resisted and made a choice based on what you thought was right. That would be admirable. I would respect that!

Also, publications like this one have had a big part in helping to create the drama surrounding these games.

I, for one, can't wait to play Sword on Friday. Join me if you'd like to or boycott the game. In the end it's all up to you. It's your money.

@MegaVel91 Indeed they do. I keep forgetting that fairly well-known fact. I didn’t even know about an AR Harry Potter game until now. Guess it didn’t make too much of a splash.

Oh... And Drill Dozer is amazing! I'm still looking for a complete in box edition of that one!

Funny how there's no "#thankyougamefreak sword and shield look amazing", they're all just thankful for the past.
It's because they did great games in the past that people are unhappy with this crap.

As I've already called such things in regards to MLPFiM and the audience around it, "Fan Wars: Humans Strike Back". It's stuff like this that comes from our victories over our worse selves in those wars, that helps reinforce creations against obsessions and, on a personal level, kinda helps keep your sanity when you're living as a time bomb of multiple fanships yourself. Cheers for all these folks.

@KryptoniteKrunch Same here! Can’t wait to get my hands on my copy!

This is most heart warming

@RazumikhinPG I'm not someone who normally uses hashtags, but OK, here we go:
#thankyougamefreakithinkswordandshieldlooksgoodcannotwaitforfridaycouldthegameshavebeenmadeevenbetterthanwhatweget?possiblebutihaventplayedthegamesyetsoicanonlygoafterwhattheyhavepresentedsofarandsofarthegameslooksgoodatleasttome

Personally, I think demonizing all who disagree with a company outright lying over and over is ridiculous.

Yes, the Devs shouldn't feel bad but the people at the top should. The solution here is for better management by the top and more developers getting paid better. If you're trying to support developers you shouldn't be aiding the company exploiting them while putting down those pointing out the clear problems within the company and the outright false advertising.

TLDR: Corporate bootlicking is not how you care for Devs. It's how you safeguard their continued exploitation.

@Peterjr1 The dummies who defend this game and GameFreak are in such denial it's actually kinda depressing.

I remember my brother and I getting USA versions of red and blue, played so many games over the years with one or two I need to catch up on. Can't wait for the new ones and who cares if national dex isn't there. They can't keep doing the same stuff all the time. People need to stop moaning and just play the games, create some new teams and have fun. Excited for Friday!

they should of delayed the game longer but the fact that they wont add any more pokemon through updates is an insult as if they expect us to pay another 90 dollars to get a bigger roster.

its worse that you got people defending this for the sake of moral. its ok to be mad at them

@DarkLloyd This game is $90 for you?? And I thought $60 was too much...

@Peterjr1 Have the devs been exploited in this particular case? I know it's common in the gaming industry, one example being the Rockstar crunch situation, but haven't heard this regarding this controversy? I thought it was about not all pokémon being present, reused assets, etc. Can you please enlighten me, the first time I heard about it. Thanks!

I mean, regardless of what you think about the National Dex, Pokemon is still a cultural touchstone that has and will continue to impact tens of millions of lives.

@Ardisan unfortunately for new games it is, the only time it isn't if it was an indie game like remothered or collections like mana or the one with aladdin and lion king etc, im sure you get the idea.

I have some pretty strong negative feelings towards Sword and Shield but at the end of the day it's worth noting how important the franchise is too me. I think the current games as a whole certainly deserve criticism but Gamefreak also needs to know how much the series means to so many people.

Also, as far as poor morale concerns go, I don't think enough reports talk about the negative reception to Little Town Hero, which seems to have been a real passion project for them.

For one of gamings biggest IP's, their first mainline console outing simply looks cheap and rushed. Regardless of the amount of mons present.
And imo, no dev should ever be "too big to fail", or criticize in this instance.

Gamefreak has made Pokemon games for over 20 years now.
I personally find it incredibly weird that they look back at the monumental IP they helped to create and get disheartened from critique of their 31. and 32. game (counting each mainline entry separately)...

I mean, sure, negative response feels horrible, but after 20 years of working on something even your grandma knows, you really should be more solidified, no?

My bottom line:
A dev well worth cheering for through thick and thin, they proved themselves more than once.
But again, no one should ever be considered "too big to fail", and S/S really isn't presenting itself in the best light.

So yeah, imo, critique is important, and the 20+ years should have taught them to handle it and improve from thereon out.
A blunder or two in their catalog really isn't the end of the world.
The timing with it being the first release of a mainline title on a homeconsole simply couldn't have been more inopportune.

Death threats. That's the only problem. As long as you don't threaten to kill someone them you can be as big an arse as you like.
Have i got that right you morons?
Hey! It's not a death threat......

It's fine if you feel disappointed about the National Dex not being in the game. But at the same time, calling the people working on this game "lazy" is just wrong and not considered of the fact that developers are human beings just like you and me. And if you're still being overly negative, then I ask of you to please read this post by a game developer who explains things much better than I do
https://askagamedev.tumblr.com/post/186632316431/what-do-you-think-about-the-pokemon-sword-and/amp?__twitter_impression=true

#thankyougamefreak for slowly ruining the franchise so many people love and care about

@Aeleron0X we are not saying that the people who worked on the game are lazy. They most certainly are not. The people that made the decision at the top are just moneygrabbers

That's nice and all but they don't deserve it. People need to stop excusing and rewarding laziness. Not to mention being lied to the face.

@Zeuseksy Says someone who probably doesn't understand the difficulties of game development. Read the link I posted

seems like the japanese fanbase started a counter hashtag

https://imgur.com/gallery/96m93lX

Accepting mediocrity seems to be the norm these days.

C O N S U M E

@AndreaF96 That's fair to an extent, personally I think Pokemon should at least take a year off to give both fans and developers some breathing room. But the Pokemon Company is a company at the end of the day and they have shareholders and investors that they need to appeal to. Also given how toxic fandoms can be, there are always going to be people who have that overly negative attitude

@Zeuseksy It's not so much the perceived "Laziness" (Rather a killer schedule mandated by the anime/merchandise end of the franchise) that gets me, it's the doubletalk, vagueness and outright trying to hide that Dexit is happening (Those early sales though!) that irk me.

@Heavyarms55 The reason many people are complaining about the games, is because they just enjoy Pokémon but feel like Gamefreak are ruining it with certain implementations or cuts. It's called criticism and honestly it can only help a game in the long run. Depending on how it's delivered of course; I'm not talking about the people who toss out threats over these things.

I also have many, many good memories with the series. And I'm just sad to see the direction the series is going in which is why you've probably seen me complain a lot about them, particularly the Dynamax feature. I know lots of people enjoy it though, and I'm glad for those people, but for me, these will be my final main Pokémon games if they end up disappointing me like X, Y, Sun and Moon have. And I say that with a heavy heart because Pokémon used to be one is my favourite franchises until X and Y.

@JR150
Dexer reply comin' up, since you asked.
As I commented on an Italian fan page, what happened with some of the nastier comments Game Freak got is nothing short of disgraceful, so yeah, I guess to some extent the hashtag is something that was an obligatory comment on the glorious past games Game Freak has made.
That said, this hashtag as some kind of (not that necessary) damage control in response to the controversy surrounding Pokémon Sword and Shield is something that came up later. #BringBackNationalDex exists for a reason. Game Freak (mostly a scapegoat to the stupid November deadlines mandated by The Pokémon Company) has been awfully silent about to which extent the "Masudan Genocide" (a tongue-in-cheek term coined by the Italian community) would affect the Pokédex, and it took leaks - read: we would need to fork over 60 euros/bucks/pounds to find out - for the nasty truth to find out.
Pokémon Sword and Shield having less Pokémon than (uhh... spoilers?) Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, the latter hailing from 2007 for Arceus' sake, cannot be overlooked. Worse still, the "careful" selection made for the game ended up including crabs twice (Krabby/Kingler and Corphish/Crawdaunt). I could go on and on, but the TL;DR version is, the decision to not include all Pokémon in post-launch patches "with no regrets" wasn't backed up with good enough reasons to do so. And this "no regrets" attitude comes from the same people who are now having what @PKBegley summed up as a "pity party", more or less appropriately.
You use "Dexers" as a derogatory term, I reply with "Game Freak apologists". I'm one of said apologists, for today, defending the dev team as people. As devs themselves, still not so much. But I admit people have no right to harass them, it's disgraceful no matter what.
Further thoughts:

[EDIT: What makes the National Dex situation all the more aggravating is that some fans have been holding on to some Pokémon ever since the Game Boy Advance titles, and now their Swampert/Groudon/whatever is going to be stuck in Pokémon Home with absolutely no disclosure on just how we'll "be able to interact in new ways with our beloved Pokémon", as the Arlo video said. Part of the problem is how this panders more to new fans rather than longtime fans.]

Pokémon is an amazing series, but this is the first time I am not exited at all to a new generation, when I saw the game for the first time, I was over the roof, the wild area looked amazing, the dynamax looked cool, and the new Pokémon looked great, but then I started to see what it all cost, the dex, the mega, the Z.... and so many other features.... when the leaks came and flooded the internet and I learnt how bad the dexit really is and it felt like a punch in the face from game freak, worse than the “battle frontier Project a Has began” in ORAS

if I pay 60$ for the first ever Pokémon Game on a home console, I want the full experience of Pokémon, not half of it like it seems that we will get.... this is the priciest main line Pokémon game ever, so it should be the biggest and best one!

I love how people are thanking Game Freak but no one actually bothered buying Little Town Hero lol.

@JR150 the “dexters” as you call us don’t need to respond to this trend as it has nothing to do with the dex, all of us agree to the fact that Pokémon is an amazing franchise, that is the exact reason why we are angry that we see some of the best aspects of the game destroyed

@RazumikhinPG Lmfao yeah! All those years of work for a game that looks like it should be on the Playstation 2.
And very well said! @AlexSora89

I just hope the new game is fun, but I must admit that my hopes aren't exactly sky high. Pokemon should not be an annual series.

I’ve only gotten into Pokémon very recently (which is crazy considering I had an original Gameboy I carried around back in the day). That said, it seems painfully clear that GF isn’t on the cutting edge when it comes to tech — TCGO is lacking so many things we think of as basic (smartphone compatibility?!), not to mention that this is their very first HD game.

With that in mind, I feel like fans have to either embrace that GF will always be a step behind in technology or find another addiction. It’s not ideal but it’s the reality.

Big fan, have played every game in the series, and super excited to play shield next week.

Look, I get why ‘die hard’ fans are disappointed, but whenever I hear about stuff like this it reminds me that a load of ‘videogame communities’ are still kind of... completely pathetic and full of creepy weirdos?

I think I play games for different reasons maybe. Like, if it’s a bad game generally I would probably just not finish it and sell it on, I wouldn’t need to start a hashtag ffs.

Look... the game is supposed to be fun. If its fun, then its a good game, at least in my opinion. I dont care how much pokemon are in the game, if its fun, i will play

This is incredibly refreshing.

All the “Gamefreak will be ok” comments. I’m sure as a company they will be, but companies are made up of individual people just like you and me. And this is directed towards the impact all the hate has had on the people at the company, not the company itself. And not just the death threats, but the incessant, nonstop, never ending hate 24/7 over something so ridiculously inconsequential, and something that is increasingly difficult to implement.

Not that I would expect most dex crusaders to have any sort of human empathy whatsoever. Constructive criticism seems to be an alien notion. They treat Gamefreak like a fairy godmother robot, not an entity comprised of human beings trying to make a game for people to enjoy and have fun with. All they care about is slamming their fist on the table and seeing their every demand met, no-matter how unreasonable. This beautiful gorgeous game that I see, they just see “inferior product“ and hate on Gamefreak constantly for it. So nice to see there’s still decent people in this world.

I’m torn, because on the one hand I actually think it would’ve been really cool to have all the mon. And I think it would’ve been great had they found a way to make that happen, but I think there are consequences to that that people don’t realize, besides the amount of work required to achieve it. 900 now. 1100 for the next game. 1300 for the game after that. 1500. It’s getting out of control. Even 900 is pretty out of control. When Smash doesn’t have all the characters next time, I hope people don’t react this way. I know if I worked at Gamefreak and all the internet ever talked about was how stupid and incompetent we were after years of trying to make a wonderful game for them to enjoy, I’d have low morale too.

And people say well, they need to make a better game, but I say they made an incredible game. The best game they’ve ever made. Leaps and bounds beyond the last entry on 3DS. The visuals look gorgeous, they added so many things people were asking for for such a long time, camera control, Pokemom shown in the wild, online multiplayer, they didn’t force the Let’s Go catching mechanic, less hand holding... The game really does look magnificent with a lot of QoL improvements. You can tell a lot of work went in to making this game something special. I see the amazing game Gamefreak sees. They wanted to make a game that wowed people, and all they get is hate in return because some people can’t accept that having nearly 1000 Pokémon got to be too much and they had to draw the line.

Not to say fans shouldn’t have the right to be disappointed in that initially, reasonable expectation or not, but then using that as a club to bash Gamefreak over the head with repeatedly, 6 months later and still bashing... that’s what separates a normal fan reaction from enmity

On a side note, after some thought... I think it could be the best thing to ever happen to the series. Now each game will have its own unique identity and its own dynamic of various Pokémon. Each game will bring with it a new excitement of guessing which Pokémon will be included, hoping certain ones return, the surprise of the final roster, etc. Less can be more (it’s why sexy lingerie can be more attractive than nudity- not the most appropriate example but, you get the point). Just increasing the # of mon without limit is not necessarily “better” than a capped limit. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. And even you weighed pros/cons of each and having them all barely won out, there are still advantages to having a capped limit and those should not be neglected.

Positive trends to cheer up the hardworking employees.
Negative trends because GF deserves it.
Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.

#thankyouGameFreakfornotpanderingtotheentitleddexers #seeyousoonshield

@PKBegley
Well, in Sword and Shield's defense, the Pokémon's polygonal models are far better than anything the PS2 was capable of. And I'm even taking the two Kingdom Hearts games made for it into account - which were top-notch enough that they've been rereleased on modern hardware with a mere HD remaster and still are no slouch.
That said, I'm talking about Pokémon's polygonal models. Take a close look at the clad-in-pink rival's in-game model, pixelate his image a bit and apply some outlines. The end result looks straight out of Sun and Moon. And don't get me started on the trees...

@m8e3point1415
And that's exactly the issue I have with Game Freak apologists, statements like yours.
Nope, what you said is not a solution to the problem. It's more of a way to look elsewhere if you ask me.

@JaxonH
Tell me in what world keeping the available number of Pokémon as the same standard Game Freak has always committed to is an unreasonable demand.

@Peterjr1 You assume the removal of Pokémon wasn't a dev decision that was pitched to management.

@m8e3point1415 Pokémon is quite possibly the only game series where a developer is expected to keep All the same characters (I.e. Pokémon) and add a bunch more with every release. Obviously, this would mean that the workload would eventually get to a point where it's unmanageable. Imagine migrating 1500 Pokémon from the Switch to the Switch 2 on an entirely new game engine, with updated art models. The problem is that they've done it for so long, that their customers have come to expect it. While there are a subset of customers that think that it has just become too much. Imagine trying to get into the competitive scene as a newcomer. They would have to learn the type matchups for 600+ Pokémon all at once. Talk about a high barrier to entry.

Thanks for Drill Dozer, GF!

@MegaVel91 lol u are half right.gamefreak gets their cut lol

I got both preordered

@AlexSora89 - Because as has been mentioned before, it was unavoidable; when you've got a pokedex that keeps growing, eventually, it's going to get too much to handle within the constraints provided, and at that point, you've got to seriously consider an alternative solution. (Heck, Smash Bros had the same problem with the trophies; they ended up downgrading them to spirits to fit them all in) What we've got as a result (iirc) is a rotation model where some will be available at some moments, but swapped out in others, thus technically allowing all pokemon to remain, just not at the same time. It's honestly the best thing you can get outside of having them all in at the same time, and, imo, I've no problem with them going with the next best option if their first isn't available.

@AlexSora89 In the world of consumers that don't actually care about quality of the product, but rather about the "festive season" around its release. That's where the real line has to be drawn.

@JaxonH Death threats against any developer are not ok. It's just a game. And I can be grateful for GF's past successes while still thinking they deserve criticism for this misstep. I'm going to play Sw/Sh, but the lack of nat dex has really put a damper on my excitement for the post game, which is usually where I spend most of my time. I expect I'll like Sw/Sh, and it's still worth buying, but the lack of nat dex is still super disappointing. My excitement for future games' rosters is not increased, rather my dread is increased. Each game already has its own feel, the local dex has always been in play for the world/story, the nat dex strictly affects the post game. Its loss is strictly worse, and no amount of positive spin can make that not the case. However, the amount of hate and vitriol that the internet produces is hyperbolic beyond all reason.

@FullMetalWesker They have other options. For one thing, Pokemon has been a yearly release for a decade now. They could give it more space to breath, or allocate fewer resources to side projects like Pokemon Sleep. They could also slow or stop the roster expansion, especially the number of "secret" legendaries. This "inevitable" situation they've put themselves into is a result of their poor planning. I think they deserve criticism for that.

The fact is, GF isn't a really strong developer. For example, we're excited about full camera control. In 2019. Sw/Sh look like the best Pokemon game ever made...which is to say they're pretty ugly compared to other Switch releases. GF's skills are very behind, and it's apparent why they were so reluctant to move to console for so long - handheld developement has been their crutch. I actually hope this adversity forces them to take a hard look, trim the bloat, and really push the franchise instead of these little incremental steps they've been taking since the 90s. But I don't have much hope of that. They're victims of their own success.

@FullMetalWesker
What has been done with the growing Pokédex is something that The Pokémon Company brought upon to themselves. No one ever told them to make a new generation so often. I guess eternal scapegoat Game Freak just got caught up in the storm, but to me if they weren't so eager to skip to a new generation right after HeartGold and SoulSilver brought the previously-excluded Johto Pokémon up to speed, we'd have, like, Generation VI right now.
A Pokémon generation for each console would have made much more sense, and lo and behold, maybe now we'd have the whole enchilada in one game.
What I fear is that holding back past Pokémon is going to become a marketing ploy for all future games, limiting themselves to certain Pokémon so that every excluded Pokémon will be a selling point for future games they make the cut in.
I'm not even hypothesizing at this point. Mark my words, I'm that certain of it.

I still have it the game preordered cause I got the game for €10 for a great trade in deal.

The national dex thing will have a massive damper on my enjoyment of the game cause of my shiny pokemon because of the huge journey I had with him as he was my first real shiny I got in gold. Then found the same shiny early on in heart gold (which felt like the pokemon I couldn't bring into gen 3 found it's way back to me) and brought him with me through the post game of every pokemon game so far.

With him cut from the game it feels like my journey has come to an end with him. I may still enjoy the game but once I finish the post game I feel this is where my last pokemon journey will end until they release another game generation where all the pokemon are in the national dex.

I will say this though. Death treats to the devs is a despicable act and you are the lowest of the lowest. Criticism is completely fine no matter what the apologists think.

@Preposterous
Precisely. The Pokémon Company demands a game every november, and while Masuda might have said something about not making a game every year, I can guarantee Let's Go Johto will come out next November.
Then the Diamond and Pearl remake in November 2021, and then Let's Go Hoenn in November 2022... new region and generation by 2023, Let's Go Unova in 2024, rinse and repeat, et cetera.

@SilentHunter382
Amen to that. Death threats are just the worst thing you could do to a developer. Criticism, on the other hand, is completely fine, so to all apologists, stop pretending it's not - Nintendo won't give you a free Sword or Shield if you say they have no flaws, you know.

@Zuljaras
Or UltraSword and UltraShield. And by making that the only way for all past Pokémon to make the cut, they'll know they got away with selling a beta for the sake of The Pokémon Company's demands because people will buy it.
It's essentially the same scenario as Metroid Prime Federation Force ("if you don't buy it, you don't care for Metroid, but if you do, then we know we can get away with everything we want"), except somehow worse by virtue of being on a much greater scale.

@AlexSora89
Masuda said Let's Go 2 isn't in development.

Next year will either be the Diamond/Pearl remakes, Ultra Sword/Shield, or nothing.

@westman98
Well, if Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee was only meant as an attempt to bring in new fans, telling them that not every Pokémon they've worked hard to train in Pokémon GO (final evolutions for three-stagers require 100 candy, while other Pokémon require a whopping 400) is going to be able to reach Galar is probably not the best way to go.
I shudder at what backlash Game Freak would have gotten if they excluded Mew, what with the whole one-use, fifty-bucks expensive Pokéball Plus thing.

@NoxAeturnus
Reasonable and constructive criticism, and then moving on = ok.

“Gamefreak are incompetent morons who can’t tie their own shoelaces because they didn’t ensure my every expectation was realized” and then repeating as nauseam for months on end = not ok.

I strive to make a distinction between the two.

@AlexSora89
I think a long conversation could be had about reasonable expectations, what is and what isn’t. But seeing none of us are developers we would only be speculating. I think if it were a 3DS sequel I’d agree, but a new hardware generation means, at the very least, expectations should be aligned with the last new hardware generation. X/Y had about 450 when it released, I believe. And subsequent games only had more because they were able to incrementally build on that number on the same system. So 450 sounds reasonable, maybe less given it’s their first true HD release for a mainline game. Why not make it an even 500 and cap it there. Every game has 500 mon.

But again, that’s just speculation.

At the end of the day, I don’t take issue with the expectations people had (be they wrong or right- personally I think expecting more than we got going into the 7th gen with 3DS is unreasonable though). My issue is with the reaction. I think if people are disappointed they have a right to be. I would implore them to consider all the angles and reconsider their expectations, but at the end of the day I support their right to have those expectations, whatever they may be. My issue is with the over the top response. Not letting the issue go. It’s not activism. People aren’t fighting for their rights here. It’s a video game and they had to make some hard choices, and they’re not changing their minds. People don’t have to like it, but I do think it’s time to accept it and move on. The discontent has been well documented and Game-freak are more than aware. Continuing to bash them at every turn only serves to stir up enmity toward them. Something that started as a simple missed expectation turns into vitriol.

My issue is also with those who insult anyone who points out the insanity that is been going on with regard to hating Game-freak. “My philosophy is if you don’t constantly complain about the national dex, you’re an apologist and you’re one of them” attitude. People need to own up to their collective mob mentality behavior. The line shouldn’t be drawn at death threats. The line should be drawn long before that. Everywhere I go I see “GF are incompetent morons, idiots, worst game devs ever”. Over what... Because all the Pokemom weren’t included? It’s irresponsible, and more than that, it’s gone beyond constructive criticism to downright lashing out with degrading insults.

The whole “get away with anything we want” really highlights your mindset though. As if you think they are scheming in an ivory tower trying to come up with ways to get over on you. It’s this disconnect from the fact they are trying to make a wonderful game for people to enjoy. They aren’t trying to “get away” with anything. It’s game development. Hard choices have to be made sometimes. You don’t have to like it. You’re more than free to make constructive criticisms. But it’s that mindset of “they’re just trying to get away with whatever they can” that kills me. People need to stop viewing GF through this lens of “they are evil“.

And for the record, it’s not the same as Federation Force. This franchise doesn’t need your sale to live on. My advice is stop buying games to “send messages” and start buying games based on whether or not you think the game is going to be fun to play and worth the money. If this game doesn’t look fun to play and not worth the money, then don’t buy it. If enough people feel the same way the message will inherently be sent via loss of sales.

@NoxAeturnus - They may have already done so; have you noticed the amount of pokemon spin-offs has decreased quite a bit recently? It used to be, you got quite a few pokemon games, on both console and handheld, but these days, GO, Let's GO!, and Masters seem to be the only ones pushed out, and two of them are mobile games filled with microtransactions.
As for Gamefreak not moving to console, that may have been a factor, but it was probably not the deciding one; bigger ones would've included sales, since Nintendo handhelds have always sold more than consoles, and suitability, since pokemon is ultimately a social game, and that's still best done on a portable system.
@AlexSora89 - Even if it were deserving of some criticism, is it worth large, constant swarm of negativity that it's been getting? Is it really worth it? That's my biggest problem, not that the game is getting some criticism, but that it's been completely blown out of proportion (same goes for the "it looks like a 3DS game" thing, which puzzles me to no end).
Basically what JaxonH just posted in much more detail above xD

As for the marketing thing, yeah, sure, but that's a case of taking an already present situation and using it to help sell the game. Unless it leads to alterations in which pokemon get put into which game, there's little actually wrong with that. (To put it another way, if they were already going to put, say, Psyduck into the next game, advertising that fact wouldn't really be manipulative or deceptive unless the decision to include him was done purely for marketing purposes.)

I have some Pokemon games (X, Omega Ruby, Alpha Sapphire, Sun, Ultra Moon, Mystery Dungeon for 3DS) + (Black 2, White 2 for NDS) + (Pokepark 2 for Wii) + (Let's Go Pikachu for Switch)
I'm ready for Pokemon Sword whatever its quality. 😀

Btw, for the complainers who still salty with Pokedexit, try to moving on with too much attachment. I have experienced with Monster Rancher 4 PS2 that have a lot of drastic changes from Monster Rancher 2 PS1. I have to ACCEPT a lot of monsters that didn't return on Monster Rancher 4. I still really wished can using Gali / Monol from Monster Rancher 2 on Monster Rancher 4, but alas i have to moving on. Just because you missed some Pokemons on Sword / Shield it doesn't mean you cannot use better strategies. There are still some usable Pokemons based on their elemental. Tired with Pikachu all the time? Use Yamper or Lanturn, they still can use Lightning Bolt as the same ability as Pikachu. Try the replacement and you can getting along well with new Pokemons.

@JaxonH
Very quick counter-argument: Game Freak, most likely, knew the Switch would have been called the Switch before we even heard the working name "NX". Masuda even stated as much when saying, during the Sun and Moon days, that those two games were being primarily developed by a younger team because the veterans were already busy with the next mainline entries.
Now, I've been quiet for a while here on NL, on Twitter and on Facebook. So that, if you could take my relative silence as a statistic sample, you could say I've "let the issue go". Thing is, externally I might have, but internally? Not a single bit. I'm just as mad at the games (the games) as ever, and my hype for the games (which was there before, reaching an all-time high when the first Direct first showed the open world) never really recovered after the fatal blow it got at E3.
These are my very laconic two cents on your comparatively much deeper comment. I'll come back to this later.

Nice. Putting aside "death threats" (which I'm sure there are, but pretty much everyone condemns those), it's nice to see something like this on social media after self-righteous, nasty little ghouls have screamed like banshees about what incompetent, horrible, lazy idiots people at GF are for months on end on social media about an unreleased game.

Which isn't to say this encompasses everyone associated with the #bringbackthenationaldex hashtag. But, looking on here, on reddit, on twitter, etc. nastiness and bullying are common themes with this bunch.

Criticism is fine. Not being happy with the Dex cuts is fine. I've seen a few of my favorite series undergo changes that I hate, and I'm always vocal about my feelings on the game itself after I've played it and come to the conclusion that the changes ruined the experience. But this sort of behavior is the sort of thing that paints the gaming community, and especially the Pokemon fan community, in a terrible light.

@FullMetalWesker
Thing is, I don't merely think the exclusion of certain Pokémon to other ones' benefit is a deliberate choice; I can almost feel it. Like I have some sixth sense crap going on or something. Make of that what you will.
Remember that if it wasn't for Generation III cutting off ties with Kanto and Johto, we wouldn't even have remakes by now. ORAS came to be just because of overwhelming demand for an otherwise redundant and unnecessary remake, because the singular Pokémon in it have been available elsewhere in all other games.
The available Pokémon are what ties everything together, which gives Sword and Shield even more of a sense of a broken chain than every previous Pokémon game has managed to do.

@FullMetalWesker @JaxonH I 100% agree with both of you that the level of response is totally unwarranted. I'm just as frustrated with the dead horse beaters. However, I'm reminded of Sean of the Dead, "I can see what David is trying to say, even if he is being a total ****." I'm also just as frustrated with the people whose response to that vitriol is to completely pretend that nothing is wrong, or that because the hyperbolic and inappropriate level of response happened that GF doesn't deserve any criticism at all. It's an overcompensation in an attempt to distance oneself from people who have a good point but are acting poorly. To be clear, I'm not suggesting that either of you are doing that. I appreciate the solid points you're making, so thanks for sharing those.

@Ralizah
If the Galar Pokedex leak (until number 400) was true, i will try to choose other Pokemons that still have same abilities as my old teams and make new strategies rather than complaining specific Pokemons that didn't make a cut.

@Anti-Matter Well, me too. I'm curious to see what sort of teams I can build from mixing the new and returning Pokemon.

I'm OK with measured criticism Some people have been pointing out, for example, that some of the dex cuts are sort of random, and Pokemon you'd expect to find in a British-themed region aren't present, while Pokemon that are more closely tied to the history of other regions are. That seems sort of lazy. If they're going to cut the available Pokemon, then it should also take the lore behind the various creatures into account.

You know what I WON'T say?

"These games look terrible, like something you'd play on a PS2! Fans who are happy with SwSh are bootlicking sheep just asking to be exploited! The game looks like ****, and the people who made it are ****! Masuda lied, kids died! Masuda personally owes me an apology for ruining my favorite series by not including all the Pokemon! etc. etc."

Sorry, but anyone who thinks THAT sort of talk is anything other the screaming of a petulant child is someone who is, imo, not worth talking to, and asking that people not flood every available thread, social media site, etc. with this squalling is not asking for GF to be "coddled."

@Yosher I honestly don't really have much sympathy for your crowd. While a small percentage of you has been decent and polite with your criticism, the majority have been extremely rude and angry toward both people who disagree with you and toward Game Freak itself.

I've seen series I love destroyed by a change in direction. Disney did that to Star Wars. But instead of following it around and attacking the new material and fans of that new material all over the internet, I let it go. I still enjoy the older material I've loved all my life. But so-called Pokemon fans can't seem to do that. They need to stick around and keep throwing mud release after release. There's nothing stopping you from enjoying the older games if that's all you care about, and nothing and no one is forcing you to play the newer ones. Just like no one is forcing me to watch the new Star Wars or read the new SW books or play the new SW games.

About time, far too much negativity on forums for this game, which is crazy considering it has not even been released yet, of course it is the vocal internet/You Tube posting minorities, so not much to see really.

Thank you GameFreak for changing the games very little over 20 years.

@PKBegley You are 100% right. They shouldn't have removed the National dex. They messed up, big time, and instead of fixing the issue they are crying about people being mean to them.

This is Bethesda level of stupid.

This feels like cherry picking the positive ones, as I’ve seen far more criticizing than posts like this.

@Heavyarms55 What gets me is that the GAME HASN'T EVEN RELEASED YET. All this fire and fury is over a design change that they dislike. At least vocal opponents of the new SW movies usually go and see the movies first to make up their own minds. And yet people expect me to take them seriously when they say GF has "ruined" the series.

Considering the reaction to SwSh and to B/W, I'm not surprised changes to Pokemon games have historically been conservative. Look how people lose their minds if you deviate even slightly from status quo.

Hardcore fanboys point out that other series like Zelda have radically changed over time, and that Pokemon should too. But developers need to have the space to experiment, fail, and try different things if they're going to go for something new or different. Zelda had the space to try and, occasionally, fail. People have sometimes been critical, but I don't remember Zelda fans declaring a pre-release fatwa on the developers over some of the weird, co-op focused entries, or even controversial main series entries like Skyward Sword. I also don't recall Zelda fans going insane because the developers try out different "gimmicks" from game to game and don't include all of the content from older games in the newer ones.

@Gauchorino,

It proves that some people will fault with anything, while the rest of us will just enjoy these new games, but as usual the moaners feel they are the elite and everybody else is just misguided.

@LUIGITORNADO,

Thanks for being so consitantly negative.

But thats just it, people will like every game and some people will hate a game. People will still buy it. I actually hope for some DLC for a new island chain thats near galar region, and maybe bring some more pokemon from the series into the fold. I got no problem with dlc so long as it adds real gameplay time and features. But hey 15 bucks for another 20 hours of gameplay and new unique features i spend more money on less.

@Ralizah I agree completely.

@Einherjar I think you underestimate and misunderstand the cause of their disheartened stated.

First, Town's performance would certainly be adding to the bad morale at this point considering it hasn't been performing well as far as is known right now.

Not to mention, this one Pokemon game has gotten the biggest backlash of any entries in the franchise thus far, and there's always been discontent since Generation 3, but it arguably has never been this bad before. Add on top of that the death threats, the fact the continued backlash has been consistent and probably outright knowing cutting down the Pokedex for these titles would spark negative controversy, it shouldn't be surprising they're feeling an all time low in morale.

They aren't used to being under sustained fire like this, not to this magnitude.

@KitChan Sure I edited my comment to remove the names. Wasn't thinking about the people who want to read comments without having things spoiled for them.

Undeniable proof that the pokeman fanbase is cancer just like the KH and Fire Emblem fanbase.

@GetShulked Congrats, you missed the entire point of the post.

This article is supposed to be something of a breather from the near constant vitriol.

@AlexSora89 - On the Gen III thing, to be fair, if it weren't for Satoru Iwata stepping in, we wouldn't have even gotten Kanto in Gen II, so I'd hazard a guess that including Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn into a single game, without Mr Iwata's involvement, would've been, like the national dex now, a bridge too far.
Maybe, but then we wouldn't have ORAS, which would be an absolute shame imo
Sure, but if the problem is a technical one that's only going to get worse over time, all the desire in the world won't make much of a difference; Eventually something's gotta give.

@NoxAeturnus - No problem, and I definitely agree, pretending everything's fine and not allowing any criticism at all is a step too far the other way imo. It's completely fine to have problems with something, just keep it in perspective.

you know things are going bad when people try to come up with a movement to counteract an over-abundance of (warranted) criticisms.
Gamefreak higher ups should have never made the decisions to cut approximately 60% of all Pokémon. If you have 10 favorites, statistically you will lose 6 of them. I’ve seen people say that this all makes Thanos look like a decent guy.

That said, no one should be making death threats. That is NEVER ok.

@Heavyarms55 I don't need your sympathy. But it also shouldn't be hard to understand that fans of a series want to keep enjoying said series and can get sad when the series turns a direction that is no longer enjoyable for them.

Will I still enjoy older entries in the series? Yes absolutely. I love those games a lot still and even if they release Pokémon Poop tomorrow that won't change a thing about my love for the older entries. I just wish I was also able to enjoy the new entries, be positively surprised with new Pokémon adventures, and I'm far from the only one who feels like this. I'm aware I can also just move on to other series, and yes I will enjoy other series and in fact have been enjoying other series. But those series are not Pokémon no matter how hard I squint my eyes at them.

Definitely not jumping on this bandwagon...

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy I've never recalled any of your posts being overtly negative. At least, not in a nasty way, and not without rationale. Incidentally, writing reviews and impressions for games and movies has also taught me to be more critical of what I'm engaging with, to not allow hype or excitement sweep me off my feet, so to speak, which I think, broadly, is a good thing. Conversely, though, I'm becoming more aware of some of the good aspects of these games as well, and often find things to praise in even mediocre efforts.

Being an aspiring creative type, what really strikes me is how exposed and vulnerable it makes me feel if I put any aspect of myself out there in the world for others to consume and judge. This is, of course, an integral part of the creative process. The reason you can read or watch something and feel a deep connection with what you read or saw is because you responded to the humanity that was reflected in the product. The magic of creative work is taking the raw materials and processes of a morally blank and valueless universe and turning them into something purposeful, infusing the dead molecular structures of the noumenal realm with emotion and meaning.

With that in mind, I can't imagine putting myself into a product and then having the people I'm making it for flood every corner of the internet with pure vitriol and hatred for me and the thing I'm working on. People in the gaming community think they can write whatever horrible words they want online and excuse it as "criticism." But, at the end of the day, there are other people on the end of those words.

I'm not totally on-board with where the series is going currently. If the changes made are too much for some people, it's understandable they'd be critical and even refuse to give the game a chance. But people need to understand that being dissatisfied with a design choice in a product does not give them carte blanche to act like horrible, entitled creeps online. And, frankly, if a person refuses to play the game on its own terms, I don't care to hear their opinion on it.

Between this and Town flopping, I'm not surprised morale at GF is low.

That’s awesome! A little positivity is always welcome.

That being said.... I still don’t know which one I want! Marketing hyped me for sun and moon but gameplay reveals and the fun time I had in let’s go drew me to sword/shield. Still need little town hero... need a money tree. Send help!

They changed it out for a worse word because Ohmori was being a jerk. Lol

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Well, Little Town Hero is a digital only game that released recently, yet, looking on the NA eshop's digital only best-sellers list, it's not even in the top 30 best-selling eshop games right now, and reviews are panning it left and right. I think saying it "flopped" is probably true.

I feel like some of the trouble is that, unlike certain other properties that people heavily associate with their youth, the Pokemon series hasn't really grown up with its oldest fans. It's still a firmly child-oriented series that tries to keep things simplistic and streamlined for young players. Arguably, this is part of why the games have continued to attract young people since the mid-90s, but I can understand a portion of the fanbase - primarily the older, late-20s-to-mid-30s set who frequent gaming communites online - feeling a bit sour that they've never gotten the deep mainline Pokemon RPG they've wanted for years.

@AlexSora89 Tell me in what world keeping live support for over a thousand character models from games that were made in 1993 so they can fully interact with your 2019 game is considered a reasonable demand. Show me one other game or franchise where this happens.

Every IP reboots eventually, and every generation of software cuts support for a previous generation. Every single one.

(Edited for typos)

Maybe instead of feeling low, they should fix there mistakes. Add the national dex back in, better animations, etc.

Cool viral marketing campaign thanks for reporting on this uncritically!

I don't have a Twitter, but have some hashtag that has a word I likely can't post on this site.

The whole National Dex stuff is a gross overreaction all around. The game will be just fine and probably sell just as well but in the end, the people who've spent years to make this game are the only ones that lose because people don't realize the impact their words have on others, especially when there aren't faces and voices they have to see.

@m8e3point1415
Good on you, mate.

@FullMetalWesker
ORAS is what made Hoenn tolerable. Hoenn is still my least favourite region: New Hoenn, on the other hand, is one of my most beloved.
As for technical limitations, well no. Animations being cited as a valid reason to cut half the Pokédex make me wonder of the battle system has seen some overhaul in the animation department, but all signs point to that not being the case.
On the other hand, I say that dumb camp mechanic is to blame. I mean, who honestly wanted it? Or maybe, at the very least, is at the "didn't know I wanted it until I saw it" end of the spectrum?

@JasmineDragon
I can name one: pre-2018 Pokémon.
I'm honestly kind of amused at how Hoenn, the very same region that invented lack of retrocompatibility when it comes to Pokémon, was all apologetic in the remake with the "bonus for bringing a Gen III Hoenn Pokémon in Gen VI Hoenn" - namely, the certificate you could put on the wall in your secret base.
The same franchise that rewarded Gen III players' patience and care by giving them a certificate to hang on the wall of their secret secret base, is now expecting fans to essentially suck it up.
Suppose I had a fine-tuned team ever since Ruby and Sapphire, and subsequently used it throughout the following years. Now picture this - only my Flygon made the cut. What's even the point in only having certain Pokémon in Generation VIII?
The only fans that could be completely fine with this are the newcomers: getting into Pokémon with Galar as their first region would be pretty awesome, so good for them, I suppose.
Older fans, though? Not so much. I'm sorry, but I don't see the point of my older Pokémon collecting dust in Pokémon Home, which - given the lack of evidence of the contrary - is going to be a paid service. I'm sorry, but I made the mistake of renewing my Pokémon Bank subscription before E3 and I feel kind of ripped off. Would I need a refund? Well, it's five euros, it's not like I need so little money that badly. But would I want one? By matter of principle, yes, yes I would.
Also, some choices are deliberate. I feel (comment 95) this to be the case. Some might argue that "dexers" are emotional, and therefore they put feelings over reason. Let me tell you my story.
I had just started a disastrous school year, the first one (yeah, first) I've been held back in. The year was 2003, and if you can't tell by my nickname, I was fourteen. Bear in mind that my grasp of the English language was merely "neat" at the time: I wouldn't have been able to look up datamines and such back in the day.
The only thing I could find solace with were videogames, and my Christmas presents that year were two: Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga, and Pokémon Sapphire.
I had only found out about the ties with older regions being cut off by checking the back of the box, that is, when the game was already under my Christmas tree. Disappointed in losing forever all I had been working on for years with the previous generation, I still gave the games a chance. The Ruby/Sapphire postgame is, to this day, one of the poorest ever seen in a Pokémon game, only above Red/Blue/Yellow and their Switch remakes (FireRed and LeafGreen were fine). I ended up at the Battle Tower and was like, "Wait, that's it? No way to get myself a new Totodile? Or another Lugia?". (Which is why my Latias' name is the corny NuovaLugia, meaning "New - gendered as feminine - Lugia".)
I slowly moved on with the then-new status quo, and didn't have a GameCube back then, so I couldn't get myself one of those fancy Pokémon Colosseum discs; I only explored Orre with the XD sequel, years later. Then FireRed happened.
Upon getting it, everything started feeling, what's the word--oh yeah, good. Transferring absent Pokémon to Hoenn felt cathartic, even though I had to beat the game first. And then, Birch told me: "Congratulations, you find [x] Pokémon and saw [y] Pokémon! Umm... on a national basis..."
Wait, "on a national basis"?
Turns out the National Pokédex was only an afterthought back then, even though the many missing Pokémon were coded in the game. It mattered a lot to me, but at least I had a proper connection to a lost age, even though nothing would actually be the same.
More recently, I found out that the only way to get the National Pokédex in Ruby and Sapphire wasn't connecting them with Pokémon Colosseum - which came out around the same time - but importing any Pokémon from Kanto. Let that sink in.
Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire had a restriction between players and the National Pokédex coded right in the games that needed a game that wouldn't come out for two years to be overcome.
That, right there, is how "accidental" these "necessary evils" are. Wait as a different region - either new or remade - exploits Galar's absent Pokémon (or, Arceus willing, a complete U-turn) as a selling point. Wait and see.

@Jayvir
Enjoy playing them knowing the hours you poured into past games were a huge waste of time, I guess.

@johnvboy No, have fun with the games you like to play, including this one. Just pointing something out.

@Gauchorino,

I have no issues with these games and will enjoy every second of them when they come out.

"WHO WILL THINK OF THE CORPORATION?!"

Pathetic.

@Expa0 This is my exact feelings. I am in no way a hardcore fan like many other but I have a good collection of Pkmn games.
Dex size means very little to me, a fun story and plenty to do in game is what matters.

@AlexSora89 My Pokemon still exist. They will continue to exist. Gamefreak hasn't erased them.

My Mimikyu is coming with me too. Even my shiny Chandelier is gonna come with me to the next game that it's present in. They aren't being taken away. Stop overreacting

@Aeleron0X What I and many "dexers" dislike about sw/sh, in no particular order.

1)The removal of mega-evolution to make room for a stupid version of them (dynamax/gigamax). I can't really understand why they didn't just add a bunch of new megas. Also, they could have just added dynamax without removing megas.

2)The removal of z-moves: they were cool and it would have been fun to being able to make the dance with the joycons (in docked mode) to activate them.

3) The fact that you can no longer import all your old pokemon (which people are transfering fron gen 3) to the new games, aka the removal of the national dex.

4) the lies that gamefreak told to justify the removal of national dex: they are clearly not using new models and animations. They said that when they created the models for the 3ds they made high resolution models (and downscaled them for the 3ds) so that they wouldn't have needed to redo them for hd consoles. I don't know about you but I don't like being lied to.

4) it is clear to me that they removed natdex from sw/sh so that they could present the return of old pokemon as new cool features in future games. They think people are that stupid.

5) the fact that we are paying 50% more than us/um for a game that will likely have 50% less pokemon or even more. I know, there are cool additions too but at the end of the day the main feature of a pokemon game are the pokemon themselves. I can deal with spinoffs like ranger, dungeon or lets go not having all (or even most of) the pokemon but I expect a mainline pokemon game to have pokemon in it. And I expect it to have each pokemon its predecessor had.

I apologise in advance for all the mistakes you will likely find in my english (I am italian). Also, I am a computer scientist so I know a bit about programming and stuff like that.

LOL
3 Pokemon articles about Sword / Shield and filled by bunch of immature crybabies with their "Wah Wah" comments. 😆

@AndreaF96 Ok I have some things to say about some of your arguments. I'll admit that I'm not a game developer but what I'm about to say is from what Ask A Game Dev says.
First, Bringing mega evolutions back will only create more work for animators who are already doing heavy work on the hundreds of Pokemon that are available in the game. While yes, Dynamax is added as a way to replace mega evolutions, at the same time, it is also reducing the workload for animators.
Second, You clearly haven't read the link I posted. Game Freak is removing the National Dex due to technical and hardware reasons. Both Switch and the 3DS have drastically different hardware so the code to parse and render stuff will be different
Third, just because they models and animations look the same doesn't mean that the process of making them is the same. Copying and pasting animations doesn't work that well because the old code isn't designed for the newer hardware, and so the animators have to redo all of the work again. And this is a problem that's going to continue with each new console generation.
Fourth and this is the one I'm probably going to get yelled at, most people who play video games are mostly casual players who just want to play a game and have fun. The hardcore fans only make up a small percentage of the total consumer base(read Askagamedev's 80-20-5 post). You may not like it, but there are a lot of newcomers who see Sword and Shield as their first Pokemon game and their introduction to the series
I understand your disappointment along with other fans, but game development is a lot more hard and complex than what most people think it is and a lot can happen during the development

@Jayvir
Well, you're lucky. Good for you.
I have a shiny Alakazam, for that matter. And he'll be staying in Pokémon Home for who knows how many years.
I've worked hard to bring him to level 100: isn't it lovely that I've done it all for nothing?
Also, about the fact they're not taking away Pokémon we own... well, duh. They don't have the power to do that.
Yes, my phrasing was what you just read: they don't have the power to do that.
If they did, whey'd have done that. But maybe, just maybe, if we're good boys we'll get to play with older Pokémon eventually, depending on whatever mood The Pokémon Company is in.

@AlexSora89 - I don't know how well it'll be executed, but I love the concept of the pokemon camp; It's a step towards a more vibrant, organic game where pokemon are more than just battle machines.
"As for technical limitations, well no"
Why? The devs literally came out and explained that technical limitations were the reason. They literally said "There are too many pokemon, we couldn't fit them all into the game". Which part of that is too hard to understand?
"Hoenn, the very same region that invented lack of retrocompatibility" Ignoring the likely technical problem of trying to transfer something from a Game Boy/Colour game to a GBA game. Given the GBA didn't have a second GB slot like the DS had, or online like the DS onwards did, how exactly were they going to accomplish this?
"That, right there, is how "accidental" these "necessary evils" are. Wait as a different region - either new or remade - exploits Galar's absent Pokémon (or, Arceus willing, a complete U-turn) as a selling point. Wait and see."
No offence, but I think you're starting to lean towards consipracy theories here. You seem adamant on believing that the 'dexit' situation is being done for malevolent reasons, even though not only is there no evidence to support that, but it makes zero sense from a business perspective (how often are you going to hear someone say "Ooh, "x" pokemon is in, I'm definitely interested in the game now"?). Not only that, but you're effectively saying that GameFreak can't ever deal with the problem later on, or even mitigate it, lest it be labelled as a marketing stunt (even though it makes perfect sense to have more pokemon in future switch games, since there'd be no-where near as much work required).

@AndreaF96 - So basically:
1 - They removed an old gimmick.
2 - They removed an old gimmick.
3 - They removed the national dex.
4 - They removed the national dex.
5 - They removed the national dex.

Also, as I already mentioned before, the reason why not all pokemon are being included, is because the number of pokemon was getting too high. It was already getting bad in Sun/Moon, which is why that game didn't get a proper national dex, and now they've got the same situation, only with more pokemon, and on a new console (so they can't just copy+paste like they probably did in Sun/Moon).

@AlexSora89 i have bred level one Talonflames with 4 best IVs in the hopes of bringing them in to Sword. That was wasted effort, but hey, wasted effort is common in video games. Nothing new there.

@Aeleron0X the stuff avout hardware limitations is clearly a lie and I can't see how people do not understand it. If the 3ds could handle 7 whole gen the switch can definitely handle 8. Models and animations can be copy-pasted since they are not hardcoded and if the engine does not understand the old animation format you can just create a program that translates them. It is a lie, and people are buying it. The lies piss me off much more than the removal of stuff per se.

@FullMetalWesker you know that multiple reasons can stem from the same event right? One thing is to remove sonething, another thing is to lie about it. They are two different reasons.

@AndreaF96 Look, if you really have problem with my argument, then why don't you ask Mr. GameDev himself then? Here, I'll post his Twitter account where you can ask him.
https://twitter.com/askagamedev?lang=en
You may be a programmer, but judging by the way you talk, you aren't a developer who has years of experience in the game industry and not an animator who has to work with developers to make animations work. You're just making up conspiracy theories that only suits your narrative. Also, we don't know exactly what engine Game Freak is using since they(along with Nintendo) rarely ever talk about what tools they use.

@FullMetalWesker
In order--
1) Pokémon Camp as a way to develop an emotional connection with the Pogeys (a point rendered kind of moot by the unapologetic "no more complete wildlife, ever" approach) could have easily been done by Pokémon-Amie from X and Y. That was more than enough.
2) My "well, no" still stands.
3) I, and I'm being 100% literal about this, cannot fathom the lack of feasibility for, say, a Pokémon-centric peripheral meant for Gen II-to-Gen III one-way transfer when the Pokéball Plus and the e-Reader both exist.
4) I've become what I hate, a conspiracy theorist. Fair enough. I just said: "Wait and see". I'm confident enough on this that I'm fully expecting "to play with this specific Pokémon, play this specific game" shenanigans from now on. Don't get overly defensive of GF, I find myself blaming them as a scapegoat too. This is because of The Pokémon Company's demands. Remember: "maybe", one day, we'll get to be able to play with our previous Pokémon, but who knows. The seeds are there, staring right at us. I'm not even mad or anything, I'm just stating what I see. But, then again, we'll find out in due time. Just remember, folks, you heard it here first.

@BlackTalon2
Wait, level one Talonflames? Shouldn't they be Fletchlings?
Either way, you're entering doormat mode. Be careful, there's no way back.

@AndreaF96
A fellow countryman! I have two words for you... GENOCIIIIDIO MASUDIAAAAAAANO.

@Aeleron0X It seems pretty obvious to me that gf would tell that they had to cut things. I don't buy it. But let's believe, just for a moment, what gf says. So what? They just decided to do new games the cheap way, even though pokemon is the most lucrative brand ever. Why shouldn't I be as cheap as them and not buy their game?

@AlexSora89 One thing is to criticize a brand/product/company. Another thing is to threat people. The second thing is unacceptable. We should remember what happens when people take entertainment too seriously: kyoani fire.

@AndreaF96
Look up each and every comment I made. I never sympathized with those who sent the worst messages - such as the death threats - to Game Freak, not even once.

[EDIT: Oh, you mean "Genocidio Masudiano/Masudan Genocide". It's an in-joke for those following Italian Youtuber Cydonia.]

@AndreaF96 tbh the most surprising thing about that fire is that it happened to kyoani fire thing is that it happened to a decent anime devs rather than someplace that actually has a ton of public ire. there'd be a lot more people screeching that it was karma if it happened to EA for example.

@AndreaF96 Game companies and studios have a budget and a schedule that they need to keep. Have you ever thought about the different variables that goes on in game budgets like paying workers salaries, rent, taxes, marketing, press events and so on? Trying to do something like hiring more people or delaying a game will only balloon the budget even more. Also, it's clear to me that you're ignoring Ask A Game Dev's post

@Shadowmoon522 yeah but as far as I know there used to be a lot of people hating kyoani just because they disliked moe. I actually love sone of kyoany productions...

@Aeleron0X Even if including all polemon and megas and zmoves did require more money (they could have just cut unnecessary additions) It's the most lucrative brand ever. You are just counting game sales but that is wrong on so many levels. Pokemon is a franchise that is built around games but they are not the greatest money engine of the brand itself. Card game and toys generate a lot more money. You have to factor that into the equation. You can spend more on the games if that means more people will keep loving the franchise and buy other pokemon goodies. I'm not saying they didn't do this calculation. They definetly did and found out that what they make out of the stuff thet removed will outweigh the backlash. And it probably will. Because they know most people will buy the games and other goodies anyway. I'm not. I don't care that they want to make more money from the franchise. It's not like they would have gone down if they kept megas, natdex and zmoves. I am not paying more for less. Never, even if that means abandoning my all time favourite franchise. I have loved Pokémon since I was a kid and still do today. It's just that now that I actually pay games with the money I make I don't want to get less for more. That's it. I am not a settler. They are a company and want to make money and that is perfectly fine. I will do my calculation and from my point of view the game does not give me 60€ worth of value. For some other people it does. I am a consumer, not a fan or a supporter of their company. They make a product for a price and if I think the product is worth it (and I can affoard it) I will buy it. For me the new games are not worth 60€ because of all the removed stuff.

@AlexSora89 yeah I know but I just want to take distance from those that care about all this stuff too much and threat people.

@AndreaF96 If you don't want to buy SwSh then that's fine, you vote with your wallet. My problem with what you've been saying in your comments is that you ignore the development process and the hard work and difficult decisions that the game developers and animators have to go through. I'm Also surprised at the fact that you haven't even mentioned Ask A Game Dev and his posts. I'm really getting sick and tired of repeating myself here. But if have a problem with what he says, then do yourself a favour and try asking him

@Aeleron0X I've already told you that even if they actually did it because of budget constraints that is not a valid excuse. They decided to save money and so have I. We nintendo fans are just settling with less and less quality lately. Witcher 3 and other laggy or blurry games, and now this. I have decided that I will only buy what meets my standards because I value my money a lot. About pokemon, well, I may buy ring fit adventure or yokay watch 4 if they manage to meet my standards. Or luigi's mansion 3 which seems to be a technical masterpiece that puts a lot of "awesome ports" (and even some first party games) to shame.

@AndreaF96 Okay first, Witcher 3 is a graphically demanding game that was released on PS4, Xbox One, and PC first. The Switch is not as powerful as those consoles so of course the Switch version is going to look blurry. What did you expect?
Second, I told you already that Game Freak isn't removing the National Dex for budget constraints. Hell, we don't even know the exact numbers for the budget of SwSh is since Pokemon Company and Nintendo rarely talk about how much money they spend on each game they make. They're removing the National Dex because the scope of the work they have to do to include every Pokemon is way too big for the developers and animators to handle within the time they were given. I brought up budget to point out how delaying and hiring will only make things even more expensive and that there's a lot more going on than just making the game
If you don't want to buy it then don't buy it. But at least understand that Game Freak is a studio made up of human beings who have their limits in what they can do

@AndreaF96
That said, ever since E3 Pokémon Sword and Shield have been nothing short of a barrage of nonstop backlash magnetism from start to finish.
Also, @FullMetalWesker? Remember the bit where I sounded like a conspiracy theorist when I said holding back Pokémon was deliberate? Turns out you can only transfer Poké Ball Plus-born Mew into the game. I'm beyond disgusted at this point - it's like the microtransactions in Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, except worse.

@AlexSora89 yes, fletchlings, sorry. the things is, the changes may hurt, but at the same they also help me, so it is a wash for me, it does not hurt me as much as it does other people.

@AndreaF96 i am really happy they removed megas and z moves. so i am actually getting my moneys worth.

@BlackTalon2
As long as you acknowledge this sucks, it proves you're not part of the sheep herd at the very least.

@Aeleron0X you said that they disn't remove it because of budget constraints. Then you went on saying that they dis it because it would have required them to hire more people which would have made the project more expensive. Flawless logic.

Regarding witcher 3: they should have not compromised on resolution that much. Games like lugis mansion 3 and mk8dx put witcher 3 to shame on seitch. They could definitely have done better. They didn't because the costs would have outweight the benefits. And that is normal. What is not normal is people praising the fact that a game barely runs.

@BlackTalon2 everyone likes and dislikes different things and that is fine.

@AndreaF96 let me reiterate my point here. My point is that budget isn't the MAIN cause of the National Dex removal, it's the technical issues that I and Ask A Game Dev mentioned. Even if the studio had a larger budget, I can guarantee you, that this would still be the problem. Is budget a factor in development? Yes it is. But is it the only one? No, there are other factors that can play into game development. Throwing money at the problem doesn't solve everything

@Aeleron0X since every pokemon can be modeled and animated separately from each orher you could, in theory, just hire one person for each pokemon and solve the problem in no time. They don't do that (I am not saying they should!) because it would cost too much. Budget is not the only constraint but in this case it is the main reason. Actually they say it is the main reason (between the lines). I don't believe that completely.

Just to reiterate on my point: how they do it is not my problem. I have my expectations and they have not met them. 3ds had 800 pokemon more or less so the switch can have a couple more. What I expect is not impossible. For this reason they are not getting my money this time. It's that simple. They do not owe me anything and I do not owe them anything. They are a company that makes a product. They are selling a product that, in my humble opinion, is inferior to the previous one. For this reason I am not giving them money for it.

@AndreaF96 Ok. Let me ask you something. Have you read the Ask A Game Dev post that I linked?

@Aeleron0X Yes. Have you? It seems not. "Pokemon has a budget. They have a sales estimate and a revenue estimate, and the budget is based on that." Quoting askagamedev. What I said is right. Still you are not getting my point. When you go and buy a car that lacks features that are important to you and that previous models that costed less had do you refuse to buy the new model or do you excuse the lack of features because the company had budget constraints?

There are potential consumers that can't affoard 60€ games but that is not gamefreak's problem.
Gamefreak can't affoard to include all pokemon in the game because of budget constraints? That is not the consumer's problem.

@AndreaF96 I have read his post hence why I'm trying to spread his post among fans. But it seems you are ignoring the part of how much work goes in when making a 3d model. You say that they can just hire one person for each Pokemon. That's not how animation works. There's over 800 Pokemon. Do you really expect Game Freak to suddenly hire hundreds of people within a short amount of time? No, they can't. And even outsourcing the work doesn't always solve the problem. Like I said before, throwing money at the problem doesn't always solve the issue

@Aeleron0X you didn't understand my post well. I said they shouldn't do that. I was just proving that they didn't include every pokemon because of budget constraints, which you were denying.
Still you are not getting my point. I know that money can make what I want. They didn't do it. Thus I am not buying it. The consumer shouldn't care bout budget constraints of companies. Consumers should only care about their budget constraints and they should only buy when they think they are getting their money's worth of value. Maybe you think you are getting 60€ worth of value and then you should really buy the game. Be careful: value is different from how much the product costed to the company thay made it. Value is a number that each consumer assigns to a product based on their personal views and expectations. That's the basis of capitalism guys.

@AndreaF96 I could say the same thing about what you said in your previous comments. I bring up the technical reasons and yet you reply by saying that they're lies even though Ask A Game Dev clearly explains the process of making a Pokemon model. I'm not ignoring budget. Budget is a factor but at the same time, so are others like leadership, game engines, scheduling, etc. I'll say this again, even if Game Freak had the budget and workers, modeling and animating every Pokemon will still be a problem.

@Aeleron0X you seem to underestimate both the amount of work that goes into a pokemon game and the profits that games like those have (which is a contraddiction).
It seems like you think that the cost of modeling and animating pokemon is the main cost for the game. It is not. You have to design each new pokemon and their animation (which is different and more time/money consuming than just reimplemebting old ones because of trial and error). You have to design and build each object that appears in your world. Then you have to actually use those objects to build the world, decide where each pokemon and character goes etc. You have to experiment with new mechanics until you get them right. You have to script cutscenes. You have to make dialogues and translate the text in many languages. You have to market the game so that people actually buy it, etc.
Now do you really think that the cost of just redo the animations of old pokemon would have a significant impact on the total cost of the game? Do you really think that it would impact so significantly the profitability of the game so much that it would be not commercially viable anymore? If so, that would implied that gamefreak has been selling pokemon games with little to no profitability for years, which is clearly not the case. Top managers at gamefreak just wanted to cut some costs and have a new marketing weapon for future games (the return of some missing pokemon) so that they could get bonuses and get a new car. That is perfectly fine but don't expect me to pay more for less so that you can get a bonus.

Moreover, money is definitely the only reason behind this decisione and I can prove it with a simple thought experiment: let's suppose that gamefreak had an infinite budget for the games, then they could have just hired one person for each pokemon and do the work in no time. Of course they can't. They can't because of budget constraints. There are no other reasons.

Still, you don't get the point: how and how much the company profits is their problem. I, as a consumer, just care about features. And the new games are missing features that are so important, in my opinion, that the new games are not worth even 40€ (the price of the 3ds games). I will make an example. Let's say that you have always bought a certain model of car in each new iteration and you have always loved it. You find out that a new iteration of said model is going to launch but it will cost 50% more (new pokemon games will cost 50% more than previous ones) and it will be more than 50% slower (new pokemon games will miss more tuan 50% of the pokemon the previous games had) and lack air conditioning (new pokemon games lack megas and zmoves). It will be a technical marvel, anyway and the company used new tech and because of budget reasons they could not make it as fast as the previous model nor include air conditioning. Would you excuse them and buy it anyway or just buy another car instead?

@AndreaF96 If you really think you're so right, then why don't you confirm it to Ask A Game Dev himself then? He responds on Twitter pretty quickly so he can give you a detailed response. You may be a programmer but judging by what you said, you're not a developer nor an animator who works in the game industry. Ask A Game Dev is someone who has years of experience in the industry and knows the ins and outs of both game development and game business more than you do and the majority of the internet. If you don't want to buy Pokemon, then fine, but at least understand that the video games are made by human beings who no doubt put in a lot effort in creating. Right now, I'm getting tired of arguing with you, so I'll leave you at this
1. We don't know the exact numbers for the budget of Sword and Shield is, so we don't know exactly how much they are cutting costs or not
2. There are examples of big budget AAA games that have been worked on by studios who have way more employees than Game Freak and even then, some of the games still got released in a buggy state
3. Even if the budget for Pokemon is infinite and had more workers, that doesn't mean problems can't occur. There are many variables that can happen behind the scenes that can negatively impact development. Leadership, game engines, management, etc. Technology changes and human beings have their limits in what they can do. And even with a big budget, a game still needs to get released eventually and out the door so there's a schedule to keep
4. Your argument that they can easily just hire people doesn't work. If you ever applied for a job then you should know this. People have to send in their resume, get interviewed, do a test, and then wait for someone to respond. Hiring people is an incredibly long and hard process.
5. The majority of people who buy games don't care about Dexit. All they want is to just play a game and move on, and they don't care about the deeper technical aspects about the game. Let's take your car example. Are there going to be some people who will get upset at the new model? Sure. But do a majority of consumers care? Probably not. For a majority of new consumers, they probably don't own a car and wouldn't mind some of the drawbacks as long as it suits their basic needs. As long as they have a good experience, that's what matters.
Alright I'm done and am finished talking with you.

@Aeleron0X you seem not to understand that I am not denying what askagamedev says. I just say that it is not my problem. They do not give features I like and that were present in previous games so I am not giving them my money. I vote with my wallet. I am not saying swsh is a bad game, it probably isn't. It just is not as good as sun moon usum were. I am not saying they should have hired more people (even though I think they could have). It's just that the new games doesn't give me what I want. For other people it is. And that is fine.