Pokemon Sword & Pokemon Shield Announced for Nintendo Switch, Late 2019 Release

[Xevross]

Region is called Galar, based on industrial UK.



Starters:



Wild encounters are completely back to normal, nothing from Let's Go is incorporated.

[Xevross]

Well it looks good overall.

Bad stuff list/ rant:

• No big step forward in engine or graphics. Seems like level design is roughly the same as well.
• Fire starter looks great but the other two are very bland, imo. Hopefully their evolutions are good
• Kinda just looks like a newer gen rather than a big step forward for home consoles. Shame.
• Also disappointed that the good new parts of Let's Go have just been dropped. Pokemon following/ riding and pokemon roaming around the world rather than tall grass... (although that's more of a sideways change, tall grass is better in some ways)

Good stuff:

• Love the look of the region, the art style, the scenery
• Wild battles are back, thank god!
• They still have lots to show and lots of details we don't know yet, there could be some surprises. Also its pokemon, it'll be awesome.

I think SAFE is the word best describing this.

[the-pi-guy]

Awesome. Looks like the UK to me.  

[Xevross]

Awesome. Looks like the UK to me. 

That's because it is! If you look at the map its like the south of the UK is at the top and North is at the bottom, its just the snow is in the wrong place...

Trainer's house in Sun Moon vs Sword Shield:





Engine is the same and everything looks functionally the same, there's just a better fidelity and much more detail. Its a nice improvement but not the leap you might have expected.

EDIT: sun/moon is run through an emulator here and resolution is higher.

[Legend]

I didn't like the screenshot you posted showing the graphics but in video the game looks good.

Kinda dumb name imo but it works.

New starter pokemon look dorky haha.

Map is cool. Is this the first time a game has been set off a western region?

[the-pi-guy]

I didn't like the screenshot you posted showing the graphics but in video the game looks good.

Kinda dumb name imo but it works.

New starter pokemon look dorky haha.

Map is cool. Is this the first time a game has been set off a western region?

Unova in Black and White is based off New York City.  

Kalos in X and Y is based off of France.  

Alola in Sun and Moon is based off Hawaii.  

[Xevross]

Unova in Black and White is based off New York City.  

Kalos in X and Y is based off of France.  

Alola in Sun and Moon is based off Hawaii.  

Yeah, since Black and White it seems they decided to start touring the western world with their regions. This one, in terms of artstyle, is my new favourite

I didn't like the screenshot you posted showing the graphics but in video the game looks good.

Kinda dumb name imo but it works.

New starter pokemon look dorky haha.

Map is cool. Is this the first time a game has been set off a western region?

The graphics are nice but the game is pretty much the same as the 3DS games, which is annoying. I'm not a fan of the names either, but I guess they're fine. Names don't really matter anyway.

[Xevross]

Apparently that Sun Moon screenshot is an emulator run version, with much higher res. The original 3DS version has much more jaggies and stuff.

[DerNebel]

Looks about as lazy and unambitious as can be expected from the Pokemon franchise, and people expected this to be the series "BotW-moment", lol.

But hey, since even the most minor improvement for the Pokemon franchise leads to a massive collective circlejerk in that community, they really don't deserve the franchise actually showing any sort of ambition.

[Xevross]

Man the more I look the more I love this region, I'm so excited to explore it! I love that you can see all the gyms on the map and that they're built like football stadiums.

Spoiler for Large GIF:

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/RdoRVaD.gif" alt="" class="bbc_img" loading="lazy">

Also this gif shows off the starting house much better.

[Cute Pikachu]

I'm excited for it!

[Xevross]

Someone on Era drew the likely routes on the map and it looks good to me, barely any strictly linear sections although the game will probably force you along a linear path.



Starting house is right at the bottom. I wonder if the skyscraper is the pokemon league, and if that's the case where's victory road?

[Cute Pikachu]

Region design is amazing

[Xevross]

Region design is amazing

Indeed.

My bet is that the small place south east of the snow region is the pokemon league and the winding path up to it is victory road. 'London' / the big city at the top is the last gym and then you go back.

[kitler53]

i'll never understand why people like this franchise.   

janky animations.  low rez assets. uninspired character designs. annoying music. grindy gameplay.

i think we have a guaranteed 20 million seller here...