Watch Live: New 'Pokemon Sword & Shield' Info During E3's Nintendo Direct!

[Card Slinger J]

If there's a significant drop in sales for Sword & Shield later this year then I don't think it would be a stretch to think it had something to do with the removal of Pokémon and other core mechanics like Mega Evolution and Z-Moves even though they were too OP for VGC. The fact that Game Freak's A-Team has been working on "Town" for the Nintendo Switch instead of Pokémon Sword & Shield is also deeply concerning. What happens If "Town" under performs or bombs and the same thing happens to Sword & Shield? If time really is the main issue behind why they're unable to add all 800+ Pokémon in Sword & Shield then patching the games would be the easiest solution. This could have severe ramifications on the overall Pokémon franchise.

The Anime series has been a dumpster fire since the end of the X/Y and Z series with horrible animation quality that makes Dragon Ball Super look archaic and cheap in comparison. There were even rumors that Pokémon merchandise hasn't been selling as well as it did before, what happens If this controversy continues without Nintendo / Game Freak announcing any satisfying solutions? Could that affect the Anime / Manga and merchandise in the future? If so how much will they be affected? The more future main series titles we get, the more likely someone's favorite Pokémon will sit out on multiple games and years in a row unless there's still a way to battle and trade on Pokémon HOME.

 

[aaron2310]

Also I found an interesting post on reddit regarding Japanese opinions on the National Dex cut:

https://www.reddit.com/r/pokemon/comments/c187sz/japanese_opinion_regarding_national_dex_cut/

It's not an issue of the Switch not being able to handle it, is it? From reading the developer comments, it was because they'd have to recreate all the animations and etc from scratch for the new game? For 800+ Pokemon. I can completely understand them not wanting to do all that currently. I'd imagine they'd slowly be introduced in later generations.

 

[Card Slinger J]

Perhaps this answers your question?

https://twitter.com/Kaphotics/status/1139581454621523969

To clear up some misinformation: no, the game does not decrypt & encrypt 100x when generating a Pokémon. They have the ability to lock it into its decrypted state (fast mode) via a flag in the data structure. Even without the flag, the crypto-shuffle is pretty negligible overall. Regarding duplicate models for maps: bundling assets for a given area together increases data locality for faster load times. It reduces the amount of files that need to be read off the cartridge/SD, and reduces memory usage (the standard 3DS only has 128MB of RAM). The crypto-shuffle was implemented back in Ruby/Sapphire by shuffling the PKM data, presumably as a way to stump GameShark/etc. Crypto was added in Gen4, as WiFi comms weren't encrypted. Maybe they'll remove it in SW/SH, but removing functionally dead code might not be worth it.

In other words they didn't plan Gen 8 properly and give themselves enough time for it. They still release annual games and the quality suffers because of it.

 

[The Binder Guy]

The fact that Game Freak's A-Team has been working on "Town" for the Nintendo Switch instead of Pokémon Sword & Shield is also deeply concerning. What happens if "Town" underperforms or bombs and the same thing happens to Sword & Shield?

Town is pretty much a guaranteed underperformer, Game Freak's non-Pokemon games tend to get forgotten fairly quickly. Why they decided to develop it when a major Pokemon title for the Switch was also in the works just boggles the mind.

 

[Blob55]

Town is pretty much a guaranteed underperformer, Game Freak's non-Pokemon games tend to get forgotten fairly quickly. Why they decided to develop it when a major Pokemon title for the Switch was also in the works just boggles the mind.

Their A Team is working on Town?! The B Team only works on remakes and 3rd versions and now they have to work on the first Pokémon game in Gen 8?!

OK yeah, Sword and Shield will be a huge disaster. It also makes me wonder about the quality of the game we're getting next year, since the B Team will have to work non-stop for that game's release.

 

[Card Slinger J]

VGC metagame wise team building is going to suffer because players won't have central things to build around such as abilities, movesets, Pokémon typing for STAB moves, etc. as Wall breakers are going to be more difficult due to the power creep dropping significantly in Sword & Shield given the absence of Mega Evolutions and Z-Moves so now all those Uber tier Pokémon that you want to see fall into OU tier isn't going to happen. Nintendo / Game Freak is notorious for adding unbalanced things in the main series Pokémon games. Does Mega Rayquaza ring a bell? Perhaps Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre? Oh yeah they're SUPER balanced. How about Incineroar for VGC? They designed the Pokémon video games for Doubles so how did they NOT expect Incineroar with Intimidate to become a monstrosity? Or what about Landorus-T being the biggest cancer in VGC and OU? How about Mega Mewtwo X & Y where they have the highest base stats in the game outside of Mega Rayquaza?

What about Pokémon like Regigigas and Slaking that were horribly nerfed beyond hell? Nintendo / Game Freak doesn't even know how to balance their own Pokémon so what makes you think they know how to balance their own game with Sword & Shield? VGC players are getting a lot of criticism all because their metagame is going to become less stale and more different. So apparently Gen 4 isn't as balanced as we thought it was before Dream World abilities came along in Gen 5. When they added more Pokémon to the roster it became even more unbalanced. Gen 3 is evidently the most balanced on par with Gen 5 in terms of a VGC metagame before Gen 4 made it official. Removing Landorus-T is one thing to help balance the meta but by removing hundreds of Pokémon altogether it gets WORSE. Pokémon sitting at the top get used more because they're in a pool of less Pokémon that can keep them in check.

That's how VGC metagames work and while Smogon may be the death of Pokémon due to not doing live cartridge based battles, they might actually be the savior of the franchise. Smogon has the capability with Pokémon Showdown to create their own original metagames. What could happen is that they could design their own competitive game that's superior to what Nintendo / Game Freak gave us. They would technically be integrating everything that Nintendo / Game Freak has taken out of Sword & Shield by putting them back in with the new Gen 8 Pokémon and features included. Smogon would be in charge of designing their own game mechanics by keeping the Pokémon we all love and hold dear by playing our own version of the meta that isn't restrained by official VGC rules without fear of copyright strikes and lawsuits by Nintendo / Game Freak. If the higher ups have a problem with it then they have no one to blame but themselves.

Nintendo / Game Freak is going to be busy trying to finish up Sword & Shield while they've gotten away lying to us by stealing our money. What this company wants is a more casual fanbase by moving away from competitive to focus most of their attention on Pokémon GO. I blame Let's Go Pikachu / Eevee for this with the false narrative that the company was going to change the pace for a little while before going back to the status quo of the main series titles but not a "change of direction". If we all knew that Nintendo / Game Freak was originally planning on throwing competitive players under the bus by going back to the casual route the franchise had before Gen 4 when Link Cables were still a thing then I think most people would've already abandoned the franchise by now. Sword & Shield would've been the reason to buy a Switch If Nintendo / Game Freak announced that they're adding all the old Pokémon back in eventually.

Apparently there weren't enough pre-order cancellations for Sword & Shield to empower the #BringBackNationalDex movement on Twitter farther. It means that there won't be enough players boycotting the games to send a strong message to Nintendo / Game Freak that what they've been doing was wrong and that they need to listen to the Pokémon Community for once. The demographic that have kept their pre-orders for Sword & Shield aren't as bothered by the company's "change of direction". Most of them are just casuals who are only into the new games for the adventure / experience rather than invest in post-game content where team building for VGC's have become pointless. Heck Luigi's Mansion 3 got more pre-order hype than Sword & Shield compared to other Switch games so that's saying a lot. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate I feel has become the mainstay for the Nintendo Switch that Pokémon Sword & Shield hopes to aspire.

 

[Blob55]

Most of them are just casuals who are only into the new games for the adventure / experience rather than invest in post-game content where team building for VGC's have become pointless.

Funny, because most Pokémon games have a terrible story, especially SM/USUM, with the games holding your hand for way too long. I honestly don't think they're going to appeal to the casual audiences if they keep this up. At least Kanto games have a less intrusive story, which is probably why LGPE sold so well.