introduction
Since the Pokémon debut, the Mainline series exists exclusively on handheld devices. It’s tempting to experience adventure in the world of Pokémon while in the real world, but fans have long been demanding to see how the series delivers a mainline console RPG. Developer Game Freak, however, was reluctant to develop a game that players could not take with them. The release of the hybrid Nintendo Switch has changed everything.
Despite the traditional limitations of dedicated handheld devices, Game Freak is now working to develop the ultimate version of Pokémon. We traveled to the headquarters of the team in Tokyo to gain inspiration for the various additions and enhancements to Pokémon Sword and Shield.
As you enter the inconspicuous Carrot Tower in Tokyo, you would never suspect that the creators of the world’s highest-earning entertainment franchise were only a few hundred feet above you. After a short elevator ride and a walk through a simple, winding hallway, a door to a conference room opens and you are suddenly confronted with the rich history that was made here. Every game, every soundtrack and hundreds of characters from the world’s largest entertainment juggernaut hang on the walls of the conference room.
While the main Pokémon series bookshelves are read like a history book for Nintendo’s handheld devices, Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu, and Let’s Go, Eevee are immediately the only console entries. The games released last year on Nintendo’s current flagship platform have effectively transitioned the series to hybrid format. But while these reinterpretations of the first generation games served as an appealing bridge for the franchise’s next development, they did more for Game Freak’s development teams.
The Pokémon Let’s Go games served the studio as the foundation for the development of Nintendo’s new console. They introduced new features, such as For example, wild Pokémon that appear in the environment and a huge visual advance. The fans liked these games and loved having a modern remake as a starting point for the franchise at Switch. Game Freak, however, had greater ambitions with the new technology than just recreating past successes.
During the development of Let’s Go games, the team found that creating games on Switch was not an easy task compared to developing on lower-resolution handheld devices. “I think the biggest advantage was that graphics and rendering are different from 3DS,” says Pokémon Sword and Shield Director Shigeru Ohmori. “To find out how we can do that well on Switch, we need more time and resources.”
The studio grew in size and almost doubled the core team since the sun and moon developed. With 180 to 200 core members, hundreds of outsourced and external partners, and a large marketing department, the entire team is big. Considering the localization teams in the nine languages in which the game starts, Ohmori estimates that around 1,000 names will appear in the credits of Pokémon Sword and Shield.
The fast-growing Game Freak team used key insights from the Let’s Go games to advance their vision for the next generation of Pokémon games. “We set out to develop the ultimate, strongest, and best Pokémon game on Nintendo Switch, and for the first time, a whole new generation is coming to a console,” says Ohmori. “It was just one way to apply this ‘Ultimate’ idea to all facets of the game: gameplay, visuals, everything. That was really the theme for the game: the biggest Pokémon game. “
Fight against the status quo
Fight against the status quo
To create the “ultimate” Pokémon game, Game Freak took a close look at everything. Over seven generations and five video game systems, well-known and proven combat mechanics in the series have repeatedly prevailed. From the beginning, players have participated in turn-based battles with Pokémon, where up to four moves can be learned. Despite this basic formula, Game Freak has been looking for ways to change it over the years.
“I think the Pokémon games take the elements that existed before and add them to every game, but we do not take the elements for granted,” says Planning Director Kazumasa Iwao. “Each time we create a new game, we check the content and make sure it makes sense for the project, and that we are confident that we can make it entertaining for the next game.”
Why did a console game take so long?
Since launching the series in Game Boy in the 1990s, fans have asked Game Freak for a home Pokémon RPG for home consoles. Until the release of the Nintendo Switch, this project would jeopardize what Game Freak considers one of the most important aspects of the series.
“We think it’s really important that the experience is not fully completed,” says producer Junichi Masuda. “Having it makes the real interactions – playing with friends in the same room and talking to one another – and making what’s on the screen easier, not just what’s on the screen, it’s fun, too Playing alone at home, but it’s probably more fun playing with friends at a festival. “
Masuda also points to the in-store Pokémon distributions being held by retailers around the world. During these in-store events, players can bring in their systems or receive an exclusive card to download a special Pokémon. “We do this so you can go there and meet a friend or meet someone you did not know before and connect through the game,” he says. “These moments become memories and add value to the Pokémon you receive. Every time you see it, you will remember that experience, and we consider that experience valuable. “
Now that the switch has the best of both the home and handheld worlds, Game Freak is excited to finally offer fans the most important Pokémon RPG they’ve wanted in decades, without losing the desire that the Games are portable.
According to Ohmori, the team even considered changing the core of the combat system from the traditional turn-based experience, but considered it when considering the initial themes for this next entry. “With Sword and Shield, we wanted to express the turn-based fighting in its ultimate form,” he says.
With this willingness to re-examine the core messages of the series, the team looked for other ways to experiment without completely disrupting the beloved balance. Even main props like Pokémon that were able to learn four moves were considered. The studio considered increasing the number of moves to five or even three, but nothing felt right.
“If you can do it with five or even more than five, many Pokémon can really do it all, and it will be much harder to read what your opponent might do because there are so many ways you could use to move,” says Iwao. “I think that pretty much damages the balance of the gameplay. At the same time, even if you reduce it by one to three, you will find that there are many things in the Pokémon world that do not exist. Like, these Pokémon are obviously much stronger than the rest of this Pokémon. We keep coming back to find that four is the right number for the current combat system, but we’ll go back to that. “
One recent example of Game Freak, which has changed things in the series before this generation, is how Pokémon has eliminated Sun and Moon Hidden Machines (HMs). This convention, which has existed since Pokémon Red and Blue, has allowed players to teach moves that Pokémon can use both in combat and outside. They functioned as a kind of key and allowed players access to new areas as soon as they got the right HM and gym badge to use the ability outside of combat. In Pokémon Sun and Moon, these HMs have been replaced by Ride Pokémon. The team wanted to give the players a higher degree of freedom in Pokémon Sword and Shield and therefore thought that the concept of HMs does not fit the theme of the new game.
While this modernization is being adopted by the Sun and Moon, Sword and Shield introduces several new elements that distinguish them from previous games. The Exp. Sharing items that distribute experience gained to all Pokémon in your party is no longer possible. Instead, sword and shield spread the experience automatically without object.
In perhaps the biggest modernization of the core elements of the Pokémon franchise, the game is now automatically saved. In previous major Pokémon games, you had to remember to pause and save occasionally, or you had to risk losing significant progress if you turned off the system or your batteries ran low. With Sword and Shield, players benefit from an automatic storage feature that seamlessly records your progress in the background. For those who want a more traditional Pokémon experience with stopping the manual save action, you can disable this feature. I imagine that this will be a popular option when facing legendary Pokémon.
Competing players also have a new way to fill their groups as a new backend parameter helps players use the Pokémon they catch in competing battles right from the start. “Traditionally you start with the Starter Pokémon in the series, and at the beginning you catch a lot of Pokémon that you have with you during your entire adventure and that the player ties in with,” says Iwao. “But often they get into competitive fights and find that they can not use these Pokémon or that they are not competitive. Therefore, they need to go out and find the right Pokémon or breed them in a certain way to make sure they can compete. “
To solve this problem, Pokémon Sword and Shield introduces new systems that allow you to play your favorite Pokémon in competitive games. While Game Freak does not do too much, Iwao says players will know when they see it. In previous games you could have a Pokémon with the right stats, but a personality that makes it a bad choice for competitions, which means it was not the best choice in high-level games. With Pokémon Sword and Shield players can still breed to get the perfect specimen, but they also have ways to get around this problem. “We’re doing a lot of things in the back-end area to implement systems that players can use to make sure that Pokémon they want to use in competitive battles is viable,” says Iwao.
These changes are just the beginning of what sets Pokémon Sword and Shield apart from previous Pokémon games. However, before the team could really put the pieces together, they had to decide where to go.
Go to Galar
Go to Galar
The concepts for today’s Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield began to float during the development of Pokémon Sun and Moon, but it took until the media tour for those games until things began to take hold. When Game Freak co-founder and Sword and Shield producer Junichi Masuda traveled the world ahead of the release of Sun and Moon in 2016, he was fascinated by London and the UK. “I remember that I was there with the feeling of the country and was looking at the history and the strength of the country; that inspired me to support the region, “he says.
Masuda and Ohmori began to develop ideas for a UK-inspired region. During the brainstorming session, the team internally turned to invaluable value: James Turner, who has been designing Pokémon since the fifth generation of the series. While living in Tokyo to work at Game Freak headquarters, he grew up in the UK.
This concept graphic showing the player’s home was used as a reference when creating the 3D model of the game
During his time at Game Freak, the team spoke highly of Britain, but it was never seriously considered to be a region for a game. At some point, however, Turner started to gather some clues that his home country might be racing. “I was working on another project and they started developing Sword and Shield and I heard from people who worked on it, ‘We have some things we want to ask you about. We need your opinion on something “and I would be deterred from what I did,” he says. “It became pretty clear that they were thinking about England, and they wanted my opinion of the English countryside or the culture and the like.”
Eventually, the quick questions about England became inquiries as to whether he would join the team for the next Pokémon game. When it became known that the studio was planning a region called Galar based on Britain, Turner’s brain wondered what could become a Pokémon game in the UK and what should be highlighted.
Turner was appointed Art Director for the project and began to compile a list of what he wanted to achieve with the design of the new region. He grew up away from the big cities and knew how important it is to make the landscape right. “The green of the landscape, the patchwork fields – that’s a really nice aspect – the pretty little towns and the big cities – they can be really impressive, that’s what I wanted to convey in the game.”
Not only did Turner want to convey the beauty of rolling hills and the impressive nature of the cities, but also to bring a degree of authenticity to the region that transcends the landmarks that everyone knows about postcards. “I also wanted to convey the small details that people who come from Britain or who travel frequently to the UK can see and feel familiar with, and it does not feel like a crude interpretation, but something that really is the details stay true, “he says.
One example of how Turner helped the studio was the signs scattered across the region. Initially, the designer of the signs used a medieval fantasy style for the signs. Turner rejected the design to pursue something more authentic for the real region. He urged the team to create something more familiar to people in the UK by mimicking the types of fonts and color schemes used in actual signs in the UK.
Despite this quest for authenticity in the Galar region, which pays tribute to the United Kingdom, Turner understands that players around the world desire variety and exaggeration. “It’s based in the UK, but there are also more colorful locations in the game to create a sense of adventure,” he says.
What’s in a name?
What’s in a name?
The name of Pokémon Sword and Shield is inspired by the Galar region, but it’s about much more than just choosing topics that relate to the region. Traditionally, the names of the main Pokémon games have some relation to the themes of the game or to other games in the series.
After two generations of color-based games in red and blue, followed by gold and silver, Masuda thought of Ruby and Sapphire as the beginning of the “jewel” series that ended with the next generation of diamonds and pearls. For black and white, technically speaking, it was a return to color-based naming conventions that started the series, but it was more a matter of representing two opposing colors. Starting with X and Y, however, presented Masuda with a unique challenge as it was the first time that the games were simultaneously launched worldwide.
“We wanted to make sure that we have a title that is shared in all countries so we do not have to pinpoint the titles,” Masuda says about Pokémon X and Y. “Until then, all the titles were the same, red was Rouge in French. I wanted to make sure the first title was released worldwide at the same time, it would be a name that could be the same everywhere. “
For Sword and Shield, Masuda wanted to devote himself to the themes to create the strongest, ultimate version of Pokémon. The names sword and shield were decided at the last minute. However, the team had art for the two legendary Pokémon. One was a dog holding a sword in its mouth while the other was a dog whose head was shaped like a shield.
Create a Pokémon
With just over 800 Pokémon currently in the National Pokédex, the series will dwarf the 1,000-point mark of this or the next generation. With so many different designs and styles, it’s worth noting that the team has continued to work it out as it did in the last few decades.
Creating a Pokémon is an intense process that often begins with a simple request to an artist. These requests often say they need a concept of a Pokémon for a particular scenario or are looking for a specific direction for a new creature. From there the artist creates quick sketches with few details that are displayed to the team to see if they point in the right direction. The groups iterate based on feedback about the design, with the gaps getting longer as the artist adds more and more details with each iteration.
For Art Director James Turner, who designs since Gen V Pokémon, finding one that has not been seen in the series is one of the biggest challenges. “There are many Pokémon,” says Turner. “For me, it’s like trying to park in a crowded car park or something, you go in that direction, there’s a car, you go in that direction, there’s a car, you’re trying to find a unique space. This color scheme has already been used, this animal has already been used, they are trying to find something unique, which is important. “
In addition, it is important that every aspect of the design of a Pokémon have potential real functionality and logic. “You can not just come up with a cool design or a cute design that has no logic behind it,” says Turner. “This Pokémon has these cool, big horns and it looks mean and tough, but why should it have these horns? How is it living? How does it exist in this environment? It’s really important. If the ornaments have no meaning, they are not really required for the design. We need to think about how this creature exists in the world and how it lives in the world. “
As part of this process, only a very small percentage of the designed Pokémon will make it into the final lineup of creatures. According to Turner, two or three out of ten drawn Pokémon make this the game. However, once a planned Pokémon reaches a certain point on the design path, it is seldom stopped immediately.
Many of these concerns are addressed in meetings in which the teams come together and determine which conceptual Pokémon are in the game and which ones fail. It’s not always about the design of that particular Pokémon. Sometimes it’s about the game already having a new electric or rock Pokémon and no other one needed.
“There are really pretty detailed opinions about these things,” says Turner. “When you first see a Pokémon, you think,” Oh, that’s a cool design. “But if you start thinking logically, why would it exist in this world, and what role would it play in it?” Even when it comes to cool designs, there may be opinions that lead to “not quite that agree what we want to do this time. “There are many in-depth discussions.”
For those Pokémon who do not make it into the game, there is good news: The “rejected” designs often return in later games. “People submit designs for a generation and are not approved,” says Turner. “Maybe it’s just because it does not fit into this region, or because the idea is not fully cooked yet, so they’ll stop this design, and then the next region, the next game, will begin and they will be maybe they’ve modified it a bit, or maybe it fits in better with the cast, and those designs are going forward, and I’ve seen them become definitive Pokémon in certain games. “
Derived from the legendary Pokémon, the name matched both the themes that Masuda wanted to pursue and the region, but it also gained new importance for the team. “If a person decides which version they want, if they have power or strength, would they use them for combat or protection? Maybe they decide what they want to do with electricity when they decide on a version, “he says.
The last task in naming was to decide what the legendary dogs should be called who inspired the names of the games. “Those were the last things we could see. We thought it would be interesting to return to colors with the legendary Pokémon, “says Ohmori. “One of the things I had in my mind was that the Galar region was just rumors. nobody has actually seen them in the story. “I’ve seen this red knight or this blue knight-like creature.” That’s the myth in the region, and I had the initial idea of ”The Cyan” or “The Magenta” played a bit on the sound, like “Zacian” and “Zamazenta”, “The Cyan” and “The Magenta” to make it more like a name. The real idea is that people say, “That cyan!” Or “That Magenta!” You describe it. “
Turn sneakers into stars
Turn sneakers into stars
Game Freak not only wanted to make the visual design look authentic, but also to incorporate the sport-related culture of the British coaches. The coaches are treated like top athletes and equipped with collectable league tickets. While watching your albums with League Cards by A.I. and human trainers can be a fun target (each card even has details or details about the trainer’s personality on the back).
Even before I adjust the appearance of my character on the map, I can choose between different backgrounds, effects and frames. From there, I reposition my trainer on the map and adjust her posture and facial expression before hitting a laminate sheath of my choice on the entire map.
You can also equip your coach with a jersey and give him a number. However, if you prefer a more casual look, Pokémon Sword and Shield offers more customization options than ever before in the series.
Previous entries allow you to customize your outfit by selecting a top and a bottom. Now you can bring it to a granular level. The Sword and Shield Trainer customization options allow you to select shirts, jackets, pants, dresses, socks, shoes, backpacks, hats, goggles, and gloves. You can also choose from several hairstyles to complete the look.
The team wanted to shop in the Galar region to remind them to shop in a fashionable street in England. “This can be very familiar to people living in the UK,” says Turner. “There were a lot of things here and there that I took with me from my own experience.”
Similar to shopping in real life, you want to search all the stores to find the right part for your outfit. You can not just go to a store and expect to see the entire clothing collection. “There are indeed different clothing brands that serve different clothing genres, and you’ll find that different cities specialize in certain genres,” says Ohmori.
Fashion even changes from city to city, encouraging players to move around to find the perfect look. “Big-city fashion is different from small-town fashion, and then there are more punk cities to visit,” says Turner.
The homage to British sports culture continues in great struggles in human-rich stadiums. This setting provides a new kind of atmosphere that has not been seen in the main Pokémon games until now. The crowd responds to the action in the arena, including riot, cheer, song and song. The stadium itself also changes with the action, with certain things displayed on the screens around the arena, as well as with music being played.
All of these elements that the Galar region brought along looked like a natural complement to the Pokémon series. However, it proved to be particularly valuable to help Game Freak bring together different elements that should be translated into a coherent vision.
Huge ambitions
An early concept art conveys the team’s desire to portray Pokémon battles in the Galar region to feel like a sports show
Huge ambitions
The team had several ideas for new features that might come up in the course of the adventure, but they were nebulous and unconnected. Some of the ideas they had been thinking of suddenly prevailed as the idea was to set up a game in a UK-inspired region.
“Especially in general for the development of a Pokémon game and where the ideas come from, we usually have all those different ideas in our heads that exist as separate parts,” says Masuda. “Maybe we have an idea for a connectivity function, a combat function, or a Pokémon, then they’re all in your head, and then you have those moments in which you’re, for example, when you’re traveling or going to a media interview session , you will feel the atmosphere of this place and everything will look like this: “This is a good place to present all those other ideas that I already had in my mind.”
“There were definitely many ideas,” says Ohmori. “There were many ideas that we explored for this game and that we did not use in the end. It all goes back to having these items in our heads and finding the right one that makes sense for the game. “
Art director James Turner wanted to capture the colors and mood of the United Kingdom (including patchwork farmland) in this conceptual art, focusing on the player’s and rival’s homes
One of these ideas, which apparently prevailed in a UK-inspired region, was the new Max Raid Battles. For the show’s first brand new console game, Ohmori wanted to include a feature that reminded him of his younger days playing Nintendo 64 with his friends in the same room. He started brainstorming to replicate that feeling but had no great ideas. He eventually found inspiration in the mythologies of the giants who were involved in the founding of the old Britain.
The result is Max Raid Battles, where players can team up with other coaches to play massive Pokémon together. When the player team can defeat the giant creature, the coaches will be rewarded with the opportunity to capture the defeated Pokémon. This may seem familiar to anyone who has played Pokémon Go, but the idea precedes the implementation of Raids in the Mobile Smash hit.
“The original concept of cooperative battles against a Pokémon – the Raid idea – came before the implementation of Raids in Pokémon Go. However, we have seen that Pokémon Go has implemented this raid feature and how popular it was when people in the same room get together to enjoy these collaborative experiences, “says Ohmori. “I think there was some influence, such as not having to be a hardcore fighter in Pokémon Go to enjoy the raids, it’s easy to invite a friend, we also wanted that element in Sword and Shields Raid encounters have. “
However, before Pokémon’s Go Raids were introduced, this mechanism in Pokémon Sword and Shield was simply referred to as “Cooperative Battles.” Der Begriff “Raid” ist nun im Lexikon von Millionen von Pokémon-Fans auf der ganzen Welt verankert, entschied Game Freak dieses Wort ausspielen, um das Feature für einen großen Teil seiner Fangemeinde sofort erkennbar zu machen.
Ähnlich wie bei Pokémon Go werden die Schlachten nach einem Sternensystem gewertet. Je mehr Sterne ein Raid hat, desto schwieriger wird es für die Spieler. Laut Iwao könnten Spieler in Gefahr sein, unhöflich zu erwachen, wenn sie glauben, sie könnten nur durch die höherrangigen Max Raid Battles rollen.
“Ich denke, es wird eine Art von Schwierigkeit geben, die wir bisher in vielen Hauptserien-Pokémon-Spielen nicht gesehen haben”, sagt Iwao. “Selbst für mich, einen erfahrenen Pokémon-Spieler, kann ich durchaus Situationen erleben, in denen ich nicht gewinnen kann, auch wenn ich mit einem der Fünf-Sterne-Max-Raid-Battles spiele.”
Zum Glück können Sie Kopfschmerzen lindern, indem Sie sich mit Freunden zusammenschließen oder Schlachtzugsstufen wählen, die für Ihr Pokémon-Team geeignet sind. Auch wenn Sie alleine in einen Max Raid Battle gehen, A.I. Teamkollegen werden sich zusammenschließen, um an deiner Seite zu kämpfen. Darüber hinaus können Sie die Gewinnchancen sogar ausgleichen, indem Sie Ihr eigenes Pokémon mithilfe einer der wichtigsten neuen Funktionen von Sword and Shield vorübergehend massiv ausbauen: Dynamax.
Nehmen Sie es bis zum Maximum
Nehmen Sie es bis zum Maximum
Während die Inspiration von Dynamax direkt auf Ohmoris Verständnis der britischen Mythen beruhte, war die Aufnahme von Pokémon in dieser Größenordnung auf Handheld-Geräten einfach nicht zufriedenstellend möglich. Game Freak wollte die höhere Auflösung des Schalters und die größeren Bildschirme von Fernsehgeräten verwenden, um ein starkes Maßstabsbewusstsein zu demonstrieren. Die riesigen Pokémon sehen nicht nur größer aus als je zuvor, sondern die kleinen Pokémon auf dem Kader sehen auch angemessen klein aus.
Dies wird weiterhin angezeigt, wenn Spieler Dynamax verwenden, um ihre Pokémon auf eine beispiellose Größe zu bringen. Ein Pokémon mit Dynamax neben einem Trainer auf einer großen Leinwand zu sehen, zeigt die erhoffte Größe von Game Freak. Laut Ohmori wäre diese Anzeige nur auf einer hochauflösenden Plattform wie dem Switch möglich. “Wenn Sie auf dem 3DS einige der riesigen Pokémon zeigen würden, würde die begrenzte Auflösung den Spielercharakter wahrscheinlich wie ein einzelnes Pixel oder so etwas aussehen lassen”, sagt er mit einem Kichern.
Wie verschieden sind Schwert und Schild?
Pokémon-Spiele werden traditionell paarweise veröffentlicht, wobei die Titel verschiedene Pokémon und andere kleinere Unterschiede aufweisen. Beispielsweise wurden in Sonne und Mond die Tages- und Nachtzyklen vertauscht, was sich auf bestimmte Gegenstände und Begegnungen in verschiedenen Teilen des Zyklus auswirkte. Pokémon-Schwert und -Schild führen die Tradition fort, dass bestimmte Pokémon für jede Version exklusiv sind. Je nachdem, welche Version Sie erhalten, sind auch die Leiter der Turnhallen betroffen.
According to director Shigeru Ohmori, the gyms are split into a system resembling major and minor sports leagues. “There are 18 different types of gyms in the story, and depending on the version, which gyms are in the minor league and which gyms are in the major league are different,” he says. “For example, in Sword, the fighting-type gym will be in the major league, but in Shield, the ghost-type. The idea is that every year, the Galar region is playing and which gyms make it into the minor league versus the major league changes.”
For clarification on this quote from Game Freak, read this additional statement.
The concept of having Pokémon grow to become giants satisfied another goal of the team going into its first all-new console Pokémon game. “If you’re playing on the TV, there’s probably going to be other people in the house like family or your parents,” Ohmori says. “We wanted to make what you were doing on the screen look impressive or something that makes it look like, if the kid is playing it and the mom comes by like, ‘Wow, you’re really doing something cool there!’ Kind of like the idea of it being a sport, for example. It’s impressive to watch as a sport, and maybe the kid is like a really powerful sports player.”
Outside of impressive visual sequences showcasing larger creatures and a colorful aura, Dynamaxed Pokémon also feature much more powerful attacks. Even the most useless Pokémon like Magikarp can suddenly become formidable through Dynamax. This mechanic replaces systems from past games like X and Y’s Mega Evolutions, and Sun and Moon’s Z-Moves as the powerful equalizer in battle.
To take the new feature for a test drive, Game Freak held an internal tournament. The team came away confident that not only will competitive play embrace the Dynamax ability, but it will add an extra layer of strategy for players of all skill levels.
“You don’t have to give the Pokémon an item, so you can trigger it whenever and create this element of suspense or keeping people on their toes since they don’t know when you’re going to trigger it or what Pokémon you’re going to use for it,” Ohmori says. “In Sun and Moon, with the Z-Moves, you had to give the Pokémon the Z-Crystal to trigger it, so if the effect of any item goes off, you know that Pokémon isn’t holding a Z-Crystal and you can feel at ease and then plan your strategy around that. With Dynamax, since it doesn’t require an item, you’re never going to have that feeling of being at ease since you don’t know that this Pokémon isn’t going to unleash this Dynamax power. But at the same time, it doesn’t feel cheap.”
While some fans have expressed concern that the Dynamax mechanic might be overpowered in its ability to change the course of matches, by installing a three-turn limit for the transformation, Game Freak thinks it has struck the right balance. “For a long time, we were going back and forth between three turns and two turns,” Ohmori says. “It sounds like a small difference, but it’s a huge thing we had to work with the balance. Also, tweaking the strength of the moves. Just working with the battle design staff to get that balance right. It took a very long time.”
In addition, if a trainer Dynamaxes a Pokémon, it tips off their opponent as to what’s coming, allowing them to prepare for the approaching storm. “Technically you can switch out your Pokémon after you’ve Dynamaxed or just defend, but since that’s a waste of the Dynamax, the expectation is that you’re going to attack to take advantage of that power,” Ohmori says. “That allows your opponent to read what you’re going to do, so that gives a little bit of balance there.”
Dynamax is sure to play a massive role in Pokémon Sword and Shield, but it’s not the only way Pokémon can grow exponentially during battle. Every Pokémon can use Dynamax to power up, but a certain subset can take the concept further through a special variation called Gigantamax. Much like Dynamax, this causes the Pokémon to rapidly grow in size. However, it’s not simply a power boost. In addition to visually changing the Gigantamaxed Pokémon beyond what Dynamax does, this new form grants different attributes. This means that for some Pokémon that have the ability to use both Gigantamax and Dynamax, the trainer must have the awareness to correctly determine which transformation to use for their current battle situation.
These transformations are more than just gameplay mechanics in Sword and Shield. In fact, Professor Magnolia is specialized in researching the Dynamax phenomenon in the Galar region. These transformations are sure to be centerpieces of not just the gameplay, but the narrative as well.
“The lore of the land is that the Galar region has this sort of mysterious energy that can power up things and make them massive, and we express that through the battle system; when they get bigger, they become stronger,” Iwao says.
Going Wild
Going Wild
While Dynamax is something Game Freak says wouldn’t be possible on older hardware, the new Wild Area brings several technological advancements together into a vast expanse within the Galar region – a wide-open space where players can roam freely and catch Pokémon. However, it combines both synchronous and asynchronous connections to other players to populate the area with trainers from both online and local sessions.
In addition, players can meet up to trade, battle, or cooperate in the aforementioned Max Raid Battles, all of which is seamlessly autosaved as you play. “We’re only able to do this because we’ve figured out all these technologies and figured out how to make it work, making sure we can have this kind of online matchmaking happen in the background while you’re walking around and not interrupt the player,” Masuda says. “Traditionally when the trade would happen, you’d have a hard save screen where you’d stop right there and save the game, but we’ve finally made a way to make saving happen in the background seamlessly without data being corrupted. Even though it looks like a super simple feature, it’s actually been a lot of work behind getting it to actually work in the game.”
The Wild Area also plays host to Pokémon Camps, another new feature in Pokémon Sword and Shield. As players roam the expanse of the Wild Area, they can set up camps for them and their Pokémon. Once in a camp, you can let your party of six Pokémon out to play. In addition to interacting with the Pokémon directly through throwing balls for them to fetch or brushing them, you can also watch them interact with each other.
You can also cook for yourself and your Pokémon. Based on the ingredients you use and how good you are at the cooking minigame, you can make different versions of curry with rice. Other players can join you in camp to help you cook and eat with you. Game Freak teases that eating with other trainers can have definite benefits.
The Cost of Advancement
The myriad advancements of Pokémon Sword and Shield are exciting, but a few months ago, the games made headlines for what’s not going to be in them. During E3 in June, Masuda stated that not every Pokémon from the past will be able to be imported into Sword and Shield. This caused many members of the community to express their disappointment that their favorite Pokémon might be left out from the first all-new generation to appear on consoles.
When I ask Masuda about the Pokémon not making the journey to the Galar region for Pokémon Sword and Shield, he says having so many Pokémon with each passing generation has become nearly unmanageable if the team wants to continue implementing new features.
“Up until now, we’ve been proud we’ve been able to include so many Pokémon in the games, but as a result of that, there’s actually been quite a few features or gameplay ideas that we’ve had to abandon in the past,” he says. “Going forward, thinking about the future of Pokémon, we want to prioritize all those new gameplay ideas, and want to challenge ourselves at Game Freak to create new ways to enjoy the game. That’s really what drove the decision for this new direction.”
While he won’t elaborate on how many or which ones didn’t make the cut, Masuda says the decision was a result of collaborative talks with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company. According to the producer, the decisions surrounding this move weren’t easy. “A wide variety of discussions happened; it’s not just one kind of criteria for deciding the Pokémon are going to appear in the games, but a lot of different reasons, a lot of different directions, a lot of debate over which ones would be the best in the game,” Masuda says. “I think one example of that is figuring out the Pokémon that would make sense for the setting of the game the most; these Pokémon look like they could live in the Galar region. We really spent a lot of effort deciding which would best fit the setting of the adventure and the features that we wanted to implement. I think players will be satisfied. There’s quite a few Pokémon that you’ll encounter in the Galar region Pokédex, so I think players will have fun seeing all the Pokémon.”
While it’s disappointing to be potentially unable to import your favorite Pokémon from a past game, there is an additional silver lining outside of the new features this enables Game Freak to implement going forward.
When I ask Masuda if the cut Pokémon will return in the future, he leaves little doubt. “Definitely,” he says. “You can look forward to seeing Pokémon that don’t appear in these games appearing in different regions in future games. I think Pokémon Home, for a lot of players, will serve as a launching pad to gather them all there and then embark on future adventures.”
The Ultimate Pokémon Game
On the surface, Pokémon Sword and Shield may look like just an upgraded version of the mainline Pokémon games to this point, but several changes and upgrades have helped Game Freak come closer to realizing its mission of creating the best Pokémon game to date. With improved hardware, a fully realized region to explore, and exciting new mechanics and ways to battle – not to mention an entire new generation of Pokémon to encounter, catch, and battle – Pokémon Sword and Shield certainly has the potential to deliver on Game Freak’s lofty ambitions. Now, players don’t have long before they’ll know if the long-requested leap to consoles was worth the wait.
This article originally appeared in the November 2019 issue of Game Informer.
