​

A big interview between Game Informer and Game Freak has revealed some major new information about Pokemon Sword and Shield. Numerous changes have been made to the traditional Pokemon formula: for the first time, a mainline series Pokemon title will have autosaving, letting you play without fear of losing progress. For those that dislike the idea of an auto save, this feature will be able to be turned off in the settings. In addition, following upon the changes made in Sun and Moon, Hidden Machines, or HM's, will not make an appearance in this entry. According to director Kazumasa Iwao, this is to allow the player more freedom in their journey, without being bogged down by HM requirements. Your Zigzagoon need not be an HM slave this time around.

"I think they played a role in the series traditionally to be like the relationship between a door and a key; the HM will unlock something and you’re able to progress and feel the ability to go to a new place," he says. "We didn’t have them in Sun and Moon, and this time around, we didn’t feel it really matched the concept, especially with the Wild Area and wanting to have this higher degree of freedom. The player can kind of choose how they want to engage with the gameplay.

Elaborating further on the debacle over certain Pokemon not making the cut for Sword and Shield's National Pokedex, Junichi Masuda explained that even if some Pokemon don't appear in this game, they still will in future titles, with Pokemon Home being a way for players to "gather them all there and then embark on future adventures". Masuda declined to comment, regarding just how many Pokemon won't be included in Sword and Shield, though he did reiterate that Game Freak chose to focus on new gameplay ideas and features, and to find new ways to enjoy the game, rather than using the development time to cram in every single creature.

"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, new ways to enjoy the game, 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."

During the interview, Shigeru Ohmori discussed the presence of the EXP Share, a series-staple, which allows players to split experience between their Pokemon. Rather than require the EXP Share, the item has been removed from Sword and Shield, and has now become part of the regular gameplay. After you defeat a Pokemon, every member of your party will receive equal experience, automatically.

Perhaps the biggest new bit of information was that the Galar region will have a whopping 18 gyms to take on, with each of them split into major and minor leagues. As to which Pokemon type each major and minor Gym specialize in, well it varies depending on if you're either playing Sword, or Shield.

“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. 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.

Lastly, Iwao took a moment to explain that there will be a new gameplay mechanic that lets players use their favorite Pokemon in a competitive way, even if they're not considered normally viable for competitive play, noting that in previous games, players would need to breed Pokemon a certain way (IVs, Natures) in order to make them the strongest they could be. The details were vague, but there's a new mechanic in Sword and Shield, which will lower the barrier of entry for those who wish to take part in competitive Pokemon battles.

When I ask Iwao for more details, he says he can't explain the system further, but he does go on to tease it a bit more. "I’ve got to be very vague about it, but one example – it will be visible to the player and they’ll know when they see it, I think – say you have a Pokémon where it’s got all the right stats and everything, but there’s a personality parameter as well that comes into play in battles, and it might not be the right personality, so you’ll breed until you get the right one, is what people do currently. But you’ll see that there’s a system in the game that will fix that for people."

While it's no longer necessary to do so, Iwao says players can still put effort into breeding to come up with the perfect specimen for competitive play. "We do think there’s value in that effort that players put into it," he says. "But at the same time, I think with Sword and Shield we wanted to also have a system that makes it a little bit more accessible. For example, if you’re bringing a Pokémon over from a previous game into these games, being able to use that specific Pokémon that has sentimental value to you in the battle system competitively is something we wanted to try this time."

Source

 

[NFates]

I don't really see how they can lower the bar for competitive battling other than making it hella easy to get perfect stat pokemon/perfect their stats later on

While it was already easier in 7th gen to get a 4 IV's Pokémon in the wild, what if I want 30 IV's on something for Hidden Power or 0 IV's on Speed for Trick Room? That is still a chore

(you only need 6 pokemon it's not that much work guys)

You think people who get into competitive will have only one team? You could get multiple Greninja, Lucario, Garchomp, etc., and that's only the breedables. Don't get me into the star of Gen 7 OU: Landorus-T

Aside those points I agree with your post

 

[Deleted User]

I'm for permanent exp all if the game is balanced for it. In X I had to turn it off because my Pokémon were overlevelled.

 

[DANTENDO]

I've only pld for 6 hours or so the switch pokemon game and was ridiculously easy the battles due to the level difference my pokemon had I gave it up as no fun in tht- what pokemon game should I start tht offers Challenging battles as surly they can't be all like the switch game

 

[DJPlace]

i thought of something why not add update's to add all the pokemon in the game. that's a good idea nintendo....

 

[Lewd]

Damn, I know it’s directed toward little children but cmon. I was 5 playing Pokémon Red on game boy color and had so much fun, being challenged too grind or be more thoughtful with play making made it fun. This can’t be like any of the Pokémon games from black/white till now

 

[Deleted User]

Shit

 

[Deleted User]

They still didn't answer the question if pokemon from sword and shield are going to appear in later entries

 

[ShadowOne333]

Oh wow.
All those features... and still no National Dex.

 

[altorn]

I like it. Can't wait for Nov15.

 

[raxadian]

I am still gonna skip this game since I can't transfer my Pokemon from Sun and Moon.

 

[Mythical]

While it was already easier in 7th gen to get a 4 IV's Pokémon in the wild, what if I want 30 IV's on something for Hidden Power or 0 IV's on Speed for Trick Room? That is still a chore

You think people who get into competitive will have only one team? You could get multiple Greninja, Lucario, Garchomp, etc., and that's only the breedables. Don't get me into the star of Gen 7 OU: Landorus-T

Aside those points I agree with your post

Then get yourself a ditto with O ivs in speed and breed for it. I would do the same for the attack stat due to fowl play. You can also rng dittos if you're not about waiting to get one with 0 iv in speed
either way hidden power is a chore, but with ditto it isn't

 

[Viri]

I'll be pirating the game, so I doubt my opinions matter. I look forward to the game a little. I guess when you pay 0 dollars for a game, the questionable graphics makes you care less.

Spoiler

LGEP was so bad that it caused me to have a form of buyer's remorse, even though I didn't buy the game, lol.

 

[Clydefrosch]

pretty sure they won't make rattattas viable, sounds more like they make getting the right nature and ivs easier.

 

[Pipistrele]

Oh wow.
All those features... and still no National Dex.

Cool new features > overbloated list of pokemons

 

[Darth Meteos]

fear not detractors of the exp.share, gamefreak has heard your complaints and removed the exp.share for good!

now it's mandatory and can't be turned off!

 

[THYPLEX]

autovaing is not good for pokemon games at all, becuase people like to save in front of a legendary and then battle it and try to catch it or catch a specific nature ability one, now with autosave that all goes to the crapper lol kill the legendary, oh too bad the game just saved now wait until the end game where it will spawn in a random place ...

You can turn it of , if you want

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

18 gyms ?
Oh God yes

 

[DarthDub]

No National Dex, no money Masuda.

 

[Something whatever]

18 gyms huh...does that mean 18 new gym leader? neat. hope you can turn off EXP Share. AND PLEASE NO MORE HAND HOLDING!! WE KNOW HOW TO CATCH A POKEMON ALREADY

 

[Arras]

they say they have major and minor leagues so i assume they are threating it as soccer league like each city has 2 gyms and you start on taking easiest one and then return to take the hard one once you climb up a division or so.

I mean if the gyms are barebones like sun moon challenges like a single leader and done, no puzzle no trainers to beat to reach the leader like older pokemon games its not that hard to put 18 guys with a team each lol.

We've seen footage of the water gym and it has the traditional stuff with puzzles and trainers inside.

thank god for that, but yeah exp share got broken in x and y and now its not even an item you can pass, its just regular gameplay exp, long gone are the days you would need to grind each pokemon lol just put the strongest in front and you are done, it was very broken on x,y and sun moon.

back in the day i was always a minimum of 10 levels lower than final elite four member team, since x and y im eitehr on same level or higher without even grinding lol, they made the games way too easy.

kids nowadays playing the original red and blue and gold and silver would give up lol.

Sure, you ended up much lower level in the original games, but the Elite 4 AI was also really terrible and it was still quite easy to beat even if you were 10 levels underleveled and only had 1 or 2 strong pokemon. A better comparison would be third or fourth gen, where the E4 actually had competent AI.

 

[ShadowOne333]

Cool new features > overbloated list of pokemons

"features" and "new".
Extra gyms have been done before, autosave is not desired in a Pokemon game, Exp Share has been in main games since Gen 5 or 6 I think.
I fail to see what so "cool" and "new" about those so called features.

Either way, enjoy your features with your limited roster of Pokeymanz