Pokemon Sword and Shield Discussion Thread: Crown Tundra DLC Available Now! Time to Catch Those Legendary Pokemon!

[Erureido]

On February 27, 2019, Pokemon Sword and Shield were officially announced worldwide as the next mainline series titles in the Pokemon series! They will release worldwide for the Nintendo Switch on November 15, 2019!

You will travel in the Galar region, the new region that is inspired from Great Britain. Your choice of starters are either Grookey (the grass chimp Pokemon), Scorbunny (the fire rabbit Pokemon), or Sobble (the water lizard Pokemon).

It's also confirmed that gyms will be making a return!

Here's the first trailer shown for these games:

This thread will be the place for Pokemon fans on Smashboards to discuss all the latest news on Pokemon Sword and Shield. It's going to be one wild and exciting ride, folks!

 

[Z25]

Starter predictions:

Grass fighting, fire fairy, water normal

 

[Noipoi]

HELL YEAH!

SWORD AND SHIELD LADS!

Grookey Gang, Scorbunny Gang, or Sobble Gang?

 

[Ultomato]

Sobble Gang

 

[CallMeKnux]

scorbunny is cute and i wuv him a whole bunch
also female trainer is very cute!!

 

[ZephyrZ]

No one gonna talk about how that region map looks like it might be the most linear one yet with all the verticallity to it? Not that that's necessarily a bad thing though, most pokemon games are pretty linear anyway and just disguise it by making you run around in zigzags.

With any luck it'll just be "open but segmented" where there's still plenty of room to explore despite overall linear progression. That seems like it'd be a good compromise between openness and linearity.

 

[KMDP]

HELL YEAH!

SWORD AND SHIELD LADS!

Grookey Gang, Scorbunny Gang, or Sobble Gang?

Grookey Gang because of personal traditions.

 

[RealPokeFan11]

Scorbunny Gang

 

[Ultomato]

Sobble Support Thread

 

[Aurane]

Scorbunny Gang we hoppin'

 

[Opossum]

Scorbunny Gang represent.

 

[remilia]

No one gonna talk about how that region map looks like it might be the most linear one yet with all the verticallity to it? Not that that's necessarily a bad thing though, most pokemon games are pretty linear anyway and just disguise it by making you run around in zigzags.

With any luck it'll just be "open but segmented" where there's still plenty of room to explore despite overall linear progression. That seems like it'd be a good compromise between openness and linearity.

I agree, I think some segmentation and unique areas to diverge from the main path will help break up the linear nature of it. That said, I do like that they seem to be going linear. When I think of Pokemon's attempt of going a little more open, I think of Johto and that was a leveling disaster. Because a lot of the region was open to you and you got to pick where to go in the middle of the game, they had to scale down the levels or trainers and pokemon to compensate.
If they were to find a way to somehow track your progress and adjust trainer levels based on that, I'd definitely want to see more breaks from the linear approach, though.

 

[Luigifan18]

So, the Fire starter is a rabbit. Is it just me, or has Game Freak taken notice of the Zodiac Theory and decided to roll with it?

 

[Z25]

So, the Fire starter is a rabbit. Is it just me, or has Game Freak taken notice of the Zodiac Theory and decided to roll with it?

If anything this confirms it was always zodiac based

 

[BlueJaySSB]

I am completely thrown out of wack by these starters. I have picked the Grass starter in every game I have ever played since the first time I picked up a Pokemon cartridge. And for the first time ever, I am completely stumped. I love all of them.

 

[Erureido]

I'm on Team Sobble! It's a pretty charming Pokemon!

 

[Arcanir]

Team Grookey because it's pretty adorable in the artwork.

No one gonna talk about how that region map looks like it might be the most linear one yet with all the verticallity to it? Not that that's necessarily a bad thing though, most pokemon games are pretty linear anyway and just disguise it by making you run around in zigzags.

With any luck it'll just be "open but segmented" where there's still plenty of room to explore despite overall linear progression. That seems like it'd be a good compromise between openness and linearity.

What I'm hoping for is that if they're going to keep us constrained to areas that they'll give you some breathing room and allow you to explore around it. BW for instance, despite being linear itself, did allow you to go outside the city and certain routes and explore around a bit if you did want such as Nimbasa City having Route 5, 16, and Lostlorn Forest. Something like that would at least allow for some flexibility in your travels, particularly if they do have some nice rewards you can get from getting off the beaten path.

 

[PsychoIncarnate]

My initial reaction was that scorbunny looked pretty good, but over time I've become more and more on #TeamSobble

Although I usually pick the water so I'm biased

 

[Ultomato]

I'm on Team Sobble! It's a pretty charming Pokemon!

Have you joined the

Sobble Support Thread

Yet?

 

[Z25]

So we may or may not have a new Pokémon on our heads. So this on 4chan. Hard to see because of quality but the logo for the stadium could have something new:

Spoiler

View attachment 195157

This could also be an easy shop but it’s hard to say. The quality makes it a tough thing to decide on

What do you all think of this?

 

[Erureido]

What do you all think of this?

The Pokemon does have a wolf-life appearance. Maybe it could be one of the legendary mascots but visualized in a way that fits a sports team logo (assuming the mascots will both be wolves)?

------

So Lockstin Gnoggin made his first speculation video about Pokemon Sword and Shield based on the reveal trailer that's worth checking out:

He mainly talks about where else we can see the sports-like theme in the gameplay as well as what the story themes will probably be.

One of his most interesting points is what he says about the gym. The Pokeball-like symbol in front of the gym that can also been on the player character's soccer uniform during that one scene in the trailer also appears on the Japanese title logos for the games. Since this was like the Mega Evolution symbol and the Z-Crystal appearing on the past Japanese title logos, it means this new stadium-like feature is most likely going to be the main "battle gimmick" of this generation.

He mentions one possible idea how this stadium gimmick will play out: the cheering crowd. A crowd cheering "Defense" will raise the Pokemon's defense, while a crowd cheering "Offense" will raise the Pokemon's offense. These are the basic stuff, but it could also involve more cheers than just those. It's primarily supposed to replicate how a real-life sports game plays out where a massive crowd cheers for a certain team with the cheers trying to boost moral for the team they root for (hence the "Defense" example), and considering how sports seems to be a big theme of this game, it seems like a plausible idea. He adds that part of the main gimmick will involve not always choosing moves based on which is stronger, but also choosing moves that are flashy and can win the crowd to your side.

He then talks a lot about what the story theme of the game will be. He thinks it will probably be a "Nature vs Technology" theme because of how Galar has a big emphasis on some industrial-like areas with some scenic countryside areas. He even goes a step further to tie the sports theme into another possible theme of "Faith vs Science": religious faith played a huge role in British history, and perhaps faith could tie into the "nature" aspect of staying true to old ideas as well as uniting people together (ties into sports where people cheer on their team because they have faith their team will win). Science could mainly tie into "hard facts" and breaking away from faith in old ideas to push history, people, and Pokemon forward. It's a little complicated to explain further, but you'll get the idea when you watch the video.

What do you think of his idea of the main battle gimmick having to do with the crowd? Do you think it'd be an interesting feature?

Also, what do you think about his points on the possible themes of the story?

 

[Z25]

The Pokemon does have a wolf-life appearance. Maybe it could be one of the legendary mascots but visualized in a way that fits a sports team logo (assuming the mascots will both be wolves)?

------

So Lockstin Gnoggin made his first speculation about Pokemon Sword and Shield based on the reveal trailer that's worth checking out:

He mainly talks about where else we can see the sports-like theme in the gameplay as well as what the story themes will probably be.

One of his most interesting points is what he says about the gym. The Pokeball-like symbol in front of the gym that can also been on the player character's soccer uniform during that one scene in the trailer also appears on the Japanese title logos for the games. Since this was like the Mega Evolution symbol and the Z-Crystal appearing on the past Japanese title logos, it means this new stadium-like feature is most likely going to be the main "battle gimmick" of this generation.

He mentions one possible idea how this stadium gimmick will play out: the cheering crowd. A crowd cheering "Defense" will raise the Pokemon's defense, while a crowd cheering "Offense" will raise the Pokemon's offense. These are the basic stuff, but it could also involve more cheers than just those. It's primarily supposed to replicate how a real-life sports game plays out where a massive crowd cheers for a certain team with the cheers trying to boost moral for the team they root for (hence the "Defense" example), and considering how sports seems to be a big theme of this game, it seems like a plausible idea. He adds that part of the main gimmick will involve not always choosing moves based on which is stronger, but also choosing moves that are flashy and can win the crowd to your side.

He then talks a lot about what the story theme of the game will be. He thinks it will probably be a "Nature vs Technology" theme because of how Galar has a big emphasis on some industrial-like areas with some scenic countryside areas. He even goes a step further to tie the sports theme into another possible theme of "Faith vs Science": religious faith played a huge role in British history, and perhaps faith could tie into the "nature" aspect of staying true to old ideas as well as uniting people together (ties into sports where people cheer on their team because they have faith their team will win). Science could mainly tie into "hard facts" and breaking away from faith in old ideas to push history, people, and Pokemon forward. It's a little complicated to explain further, but you'll get the idea when you watch the video.

What do you think of his idea of the main battle gimmick having to do with the crowd? Do you think it'd be an interesting feature?

Also, what do you think about his points on the possible themes of the story?

The crowd idea sound pretty good actually. I’d be down to see it play out.

 

[Ultomato]

The Pokemon does have a wolf-life appearance. Maybe it could be one of the legendary mascots but visualized in a way that fits a sports team logo (assuming the mascots will both be wolves)?

------

So Lockstin Gnoggin made his first speculation about Pokemon Sword and Shield based on the reveal trailer that's worth checking out:

He mainly talks about where else we can see the sports-like theme in the gameplay as well as what the story themes will probably be.

One of his most interesting points is what he says about the gym. The Pokeball-like symbol in front of the gym that can also been on the player character's soccer uniform during that one scene in the trailer also appears on the Japanese title logos for the games. Since this was like the Mega Evolution symbol and the Z-Crystal appearing on the past Japanese title logos, it means this new stadium-like feature is most likely going to be the main "battle gimmick" of this generation.

He mentions one possible idea how this stadium gimmick will play out: the cheering crowd. A crowd cheering "Defense" will raise the Pokemon's defense, while a crowd cheering "Offense" will raise the Pokemon's offense. These are the basic stuff, but it could also involve more cheers than just those. It's primarily supposed to replicate how a real-life sports game plays out where a massive crowd cheers for a certain team with the cheers trying to boost moral for the team they root for (hence the "Defense" example), and considering how sports seems to be a big theme of this game, it seems like a plausible idea. He adds that part of the main gimmick will involve not always choosing moves based on which is stronger, but also choosing moves that are flashy and can win the crowd to your side.

He then talks a lot about what the story theme of the game will be. He thinks it will probably be a "Nature vs Technology" theme because of how Galar has a big emphasis on some industrial-like areas with some scenic countryside areas. He even goes a step further to tie the sports theme into another possible theme of "Faith vs Science": religious faith played a huge role in British history, and perhaps faith could tie into the "nature" aspect of staying true to old ideas as well as uniting people together (ties into sports where people cheer on their team because they have faith their team will win). Science could mainly tie into "hard facts" and breaking away from faith in old ideas to push history, people, and Pokemon forward. It's a little complicated to explain further, but you'll get the idea when you watch the video.

What do you think of his idea of the main battle gimmick having to do with the crowd? Do you think it'd be an interesting feature?

Also, what do you think about his points on the possible themes of the story?

Papagenos also pointed out that those pokeball-logo's look similar to the Team-Up logo from the TCG

Spoiler: Which ties in with

The rumours about armor-pokemon being sorta merges between normal Pokémon and elementals that shape into armor, like Meltan

 

[Gyrom8]

Grookey Gang (for now). IDK about Sword or Shield, time will have to tell on that one.

No one gonna talk about how that region map looks like it might be the most linear one yet with all the verticallity to it? Not that that's necessarily a bad thing though, most pokemon games are pretty linear anyway and just disguise it by making you run around in zigzags.

With any luck it'll just be "open but segmented" where there's still plenty of room to explore despite overall linear progression. That seems like it'd be a good compromise between openness and linearity.

The thing I find interesting about the map is that assuming you go South to North, the major city is right at the end. Normally, the big city is fairly early on or at least before the half way point. While a South - North progression makes the most sense (hopefully with, as you said, some kind of side routes to break up the linearity), I wonder if there will be any back and forth all over the map: the Pokemon League, for example, could be situated somewhere further south.

There's also the issue of post-game content, which hopefully is substantial this time around. Is it somewhere we can already see: a part of the map that's cut off until post-game, like they did in Sun and Moon? Or is it an entirely different area we aren't being shown? Poke Ireland perhaps? Or (one can dream) will we be taking the train to Kalos?

 

[Arcanir]

So according to those who watched Pokenchi, Ohmura says that the theme is "The Strongest Pokémon" and the starters may tie into that theme. Considering the emphasis on sports that could be what he's getting at, but what do you guys think about that?

What do you all think of this?

It reminds me of a greyhound, so I could see that as a two-stage Pokémon similar to Rockruff or Snubbull. It's especially the case if they draw from the former since the line has been highly promoted and I could see GF using it in a similar manner to push the new feature.

 

[DrCoeloCephalo]

My first impression when seeing that map was that they just gave up on map design and made the whole thing one big linear chunk but I'm willing to eat my words if that actually ends up not being the case. The fact FRLG handled island segments better than Alola did doesn't really give me much faith in this one. Also I don't give a care about Starters in general. Far as I'm concerned, all 3 can get shelved depending on what else is available to catch.

 

[ZephyrZ]

You know one thing I really liked about Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee? Despite being some of the easiest games in the series, they were also the most open. Red and Blue had a little bit of non linearity in allowing you to sometimes skip gyms and allow you to come back later, but the fact that you had to clear a gym to use certain HM moves still kept exploration a little controlled at some points. By removing HMs and HM requirements in Let's Go, however, they allowed you to sequence break in a way no other game has.

There's a few nice things about a system that allows for easy sequence breaking. First of all, it's good for second playthroughs as it rewards experienced players for knowing they map and where you can find certain items or pokemon. If you decide you want a rare or lategame pokemon for your team, you can go out of your way to go find it. In my playthrough of Let's Go Eevee, I ended up going to Cinnabar Island way early and got myself an over leveled Aerodactyl for my team. While having such a strong pokemon in my team made the rest of the game easier, it also felt pretty deserved since I had to get to Cinnabar with an underleveled team first.

The other reason that'd be nice is that it'd allow them to make the game a little more difficult at some points. Traditionally the only really challenging parts of the game have been certain gym leaders, the Elite Four or evil team bosses. Back when I was a kid playing Pokemon Fire Red for the first time I got my butt kicked at Lt.Surge's gym, but that wasn't a problem since I was able to skip it and come back later. Black and White, despite being very linear, would still let you go on at least slightly ahead to train for gym or catch a pokemon that'd make it easier, which allowed them to be some of the more challenging games in the series. If you had some trouble with Lenora for instance, you could go a little bit to the route ahead to grind against stronger trainers or go catch a fighting-type.

It'd also just be a really nice compromise for players who prefer a more linear controlled game and ones who like to have one that's more open. I don't necessarily expect them to be open with Sword/Shield's map after Sun and Moon were arguably some of the most linear, controlled games in the series so far, but hey, it's still worth hoping for.

 

[SuperSceptile15]

Sobble is my favorite starter of the three and the one I'm definitely going to choose despite traditionally choosing the Grass starters. I just love the little fella so much. It's adorable and really unique. #SobbleSquad

 

[Erureido]

Looks like we finally have some sort of significant Sword and Shield news after these past few months of news drought (not surprised we went through this again considering something similar happened shortly after Sun and Moon were first announced)! Players can have their in-game characters wear a Gyarados/Magikarp T-shirt based on a winning design from a UNIQLO contest, thus confirming trainer customization will make a return!

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We also have this bit of news as well:

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Looks like E3 truly will be when our first major news drop of the game will arrive! We can only assume the Corocoro issue that will come out a few days after Nintendo's E3 presentation will repeat the news revealed in E3.

 

[Aurane]

I'm expecting the box art Legendaries to get dropped as well as possibly some information on the games' unique aspect of gameplay.

 

[Z25]

If E3 is where we see it first, I expect the legends and some early route mons.

 

[DrCoeloCephalo]

Oh joy. Can't wait for the female avatar to have all the superior variety in customization options again.

 

[IsmaR]

There was a problem fetching the tweet

Close, but no cigar.

 

[OnyanRings]

There was a problem fetching the tweet

Close, but no cigar.

Yep, it's gamer time.

Can't wait for team Krumpets.

 

[IsmaR]

There was a problem fetching the tweet

If they're updating us twice, and not even during E3, it must be a big deal.

 

[OnyanRings]

You can sit on benches again.

 

[Z25]

They announced this pretty far out. It must be pretty big and I guess it’s not gettingnE3 coverage

 

[IsmaR]

I believe in the past GameFreak has had segments for Treehouse showing actual demo stuff (first few routes usually), so it might just not be part of the presentation.

 

[Ultomato]

I believe in the past GameFreak has had segments for Treehouse showing actual demo stuff (first few routes usually), so it might just not be part of the presentation.

Yeah, for Both XY and SuMo they went up untill the first gym/trial (skipping the long intro in sumo) spread over various treehouse segments

 

[---]

Time for a Nintendo Direct bump.


The Wild Areas look fantastic. I was really worried GF was going to not learn from Let's Go! Being able to change the camera is something I've wanted to see forever.

Raids sound like they'll work better than they do in Go. Hopefully not too many new Pokemon are locked behind this for Dex competition. Will need a thread for setting up online groups sometime in the future.

Dynamaxing doesn't wow me like Mega Evolutions or Z-Moves personally. I think GF would have been better off focusing on/marketing the Wild Areas/Console power. How battles will work with this, doubles, and the aforementioned mechanics will be amusing to see. At some point I can't help but wonder if something is going to give?

Gyms don't seem interesting at all on first glance. I hope they're not just battles/dynamaxing unlike the rest of the series.

New characters seem kind of meh. Looks like Drednaw won't be a bad choice against the Champion.

Wooloo is adorable. Of course a UK region has sheep. Fluffy is a great ability.
Gossifleur/Eldegoss don't really interest me. What type of plant are they based on? Regenerator is awesome. Cotton Down?
Drednaw is a cool looking Snapping Turtle. Hopefully it'll have decent enough stats to cover bad speed & enough moves to use Strong Jaw effectively.
Corviknight is awesome looking. Again a UK region has a Raven. Hopefully Flying between areas won't be limited.

Zacian/Zamazenta are both what I was/was not expecting (Gun version please?). Not sure if I like the primary color scheme they have. Steel/Fighting?