Pokemon Sword and Shield Direct, My Thoughts

Back in February, it was revealed that Game Freak and Nintendo were bringing the eighth generation of Pokémon games to the Nintendo Switch in the form of Pokémon Sword and Shield. You can read my thoughts on that reveal here. The reveal of these games were especially exciting to me as the new region of the game, Galar, is heavily modeled on the United Kingdom. I was born there, and I had kind of hoped that the Game Freak team would create a region based on the country.

So far, we haven't learned a lot about these new games. Mainly just the region and the new starter Pokémon. But a new Pokémon Direct has come out, which promises to reveal some more about this new adventure in the long-running series. So with that, let's take a look at this video!

Hello, Mr. Ishihara! It's nice to be here! I like the little Pikachu on his desk cabinet.

This game looks really good.

I'm guessing that old lady is the resident Pokémon Professor that sends us out on the journey.

Some of these new Pokémon are neat. My favorites are the sheep one and the turtle.

I get the impression that we're going to be visiting a variety of environments here. Awesome.

Oh, cool! Pokémon wandering around the overworld?! That is awesome! In the 3DS remakes of Dragon Quest VII and VIII, monsters did that, too! It helped the player control the amount of encounters they had so they could get places faster. I hope that's what we get here. Grind when you want.

That grumpy Gyarados is like, "WHAT YOU LOOKIN' AT?! YOU STAY OFF MY LAKE! THIS IS MY LAKE!"

Butterfree are awesome. They are such great Pokémon to have on a team.

Hey, a water trike! I wonder if you can fish on those.

I wonder if that whistle is to get the attention of wild Pokémon?

You know, fans have gotten the idea that the female trainer is the Pokémon world's version of a Scot. It's because of the tam-o' shanter she wears.

...GIANT POKEMON! SOMEBODY CALL GODZILLA!

Wait, you can make YOUR Pokémon giant, too?! I'm guessing the developers watched a LOT of Godzilla movies lately.

I bet people in the world of the Godzilla films wish you could solve the kaiju problem that easily. Just throw a giant pink Poké Ball at it.

This dude is significant.

Hi, Mr. Masuda! Hi, Mr. Ohmori!

We've met the three starters before, and they look really neat. I have honestly been gravitating towards Scorbunny, but I do want to get all three. Gotta Catch 'Em All, and all that.

I like the idea of Galar being a place where man and Pokémon truly collaborate on things. And that Wynaut playing hopscotch was too cute.

I'm guessing the stadiums WILL be the Gyms of this game. Maybe they'll also build on the trial aspects of Sun and Moon, having to do additional things with your Pokémon before facing the Gym Leader.

Appropriate that a Britain-themed region's Gyms are like association football stadiums.

Hello, Mr. Turner! That's cool they got a Brit to be art director of a Britain-themed Pokémon game.

Wooloo here has gotten quite popular on the Internet, with tons of fanart already. Makes sense, it's a cute sheep Pokémon that likes to roll away from trouble. I can imagine they are everywhere on Galar, and sweaters made from their wool are insanely soft and comfortable.

Gossifleur kind of reminds me of Flabebe from Pokémon X and Y. Maybe they're cousins?

Dreadnaw is awesome and deserves more love. It's a snapping turtle with attitude, and they can chew rocks. I imagine it to be a grumbly surly Pokémon that has a subtle talent for snark.

Corviknight is awesome, too. It's definitely a British-themed Pokémon. Knights and ravens. And they're used as taxis. I can't help but feel this Pokémon is far too cool to be a taxi. There should be hordes of them hanging around Galar's version of the Tower of London.

Ah, we see our first Galar evolution line. Eldergoss kind of resembles a dandelion that's ready to spread some seeds.

See? I'm guessing these Pokémon were inspired by dandelions. Iwonder if we'll see any special Galar-based variants for certain Pokémon, like Sun and Moon had for Alola.

I do hope we get a good variety of Pokémon from previous generations as well.

So...everywhere between cities in Galar is essentially a Safari Zone? That is actually pretty neat And I like the idea of what Pokémon you encounter changing based on where you are and the weather. Good for replayability.

Dynamax feels like a mechanic that would have been more appropriate for games set in Kanto or Johto. After all, those regions were based on Japan, and Japan is known for its fair share of giant monsters.

Hi, Mr. Iwao!

Letting two giant Pokémon fight in an arena does not sound like a good or safe idea. I also wonder if Mega Evolution is still a thing.

Dynamax makes your Pokémon super-powerful, but at a price. Only can be big for three turns. I can also imagine that it can only be done once per battle, like Mega Evolution. Balance is sort of a hidden theme in Pokémon, so it's great the Dynamax keeps that up.

Hey, Max Raid battle is pretty neat. I love the idea of trainers working together to catch Dynamax-empowered Pokémon. And it encourages further strategy. ...Do all the trainers get the Pokémon if one manages to snare it with the giant glowing pink beach ball Pokeball? I'm kind of mixed on the idea that some Pokemon may only be caught this way. Yeah, it can encourage Trainers to join forces and work together. However, if you don't have many friends to play the game with, it makes it much harder to complete the Pokedex.

I knew that guy would be important! ...I hope Leon doesn't end up a villain.

Hop kind of reminds me of Hau from Sun and Moon.

I wonder what impact Sonia will have on the journey?

I'm betting this Gym here is the first one.

Where's Milo's nose? Why does he have no nose?

And we have our Legendary Pokemon for this game? Meet Zacian and Zamazenta. I wonder how Zacian eats? Does it ever put down its sword?

Oh, I can't wait for November! And it's about time they did a double pack for these games. There are people who buy both versions...myself included. I can't wait for these games.

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