Following up on the Pokémon Direct on June 5th, Nintendo has revealed more information on Pokémon Sword and Shield at the Nintendo Treehouse Live at E3 event.[prebreak][/prebreak] The showcase revealed a few things, such as the new Pokémon Yamper and Impidimp, as well as other general gameplay.

However, during discussions with Junichi Masuda, he revealed that not every Pokémon is going to be available in Pokémon Sword and Shield. "What that means for Pokémon Sword and Shield is that players will be able to transfer their Pokémon from Pokémon Home, only if they appear in the Galar Pokédex." This means that certain Pokémon will be completely omitted from the game, for the first time in the series' history. Naturally, people are upset about this, leading to a whopping 40,000 dislikes on Nintendo's official upload, compared to the video's 15,000 likes. Part of the frustration comes from the idea that all Pokémon can be transferred to the new Pokémon Home service, and have no way of leaving, leaving them in what is essentially a Pokémon Prison.

In an interview with USgamer, Masuda explained that the reason for omitting Pokémon was down to the "higher fidelity" of the game, as well as the "higher quality animations". He also said that they're looking to keep the battle system balanced, and to allow the new Pokémon to shine.

Junichi Masuda, Producer: There are a couple of different parts to the thinking behind it, but really the biggest reason for it is just the sheer number of Pokemon. We already have well over 800 Pokemon species, and there's going to be more added in these games. And now that they're on the Nintendo Switch, we're creating it with much higher fidelity with higher quality animations. But even more than that, it's coming down to the battle system. We're making sure we can keep everything balanced and give all the Pokemon that appear in the games a chance to shine.

We knew at some point we weren't going to be able to indefinitely keep supporting all of the Pokemon, and we just found that Sword and Shield would probably be a good point to go back and reevaluate what would be the best selection of Pokemon that appeal to the widest audience while keeping into consideration the balance of the battle system. It isn't just going to be all-new Pokemon in the Galar region Pokedex; there's still going to be a lot of favorites that fans will be able to bring over that they've adventured with previously. But yeah, it was pretty much just balancing and getting this optimal selection of Pokemon for the adventure we wanted to provide.

Previously, all Pokémon were available through trades and cross-generation transfers of Pokémon. This meant that each game had a unique set of Pokémon that appear, but the others can be obtained in some form. It's currently unknown how many Pokémon have been cut from Sword and Shield.

You can find a list of Pokémon confirmed for Sword and Shield here.

YouTube Video
USgamer Interview

 

[pedro702]

'Glorified routes' are what we had in X/Y, they didn't even try to give the illusion of an open-world. As for 'uninteresting environments,' we have yet to see even 1/10th of the world, but to each their own I guess.

x Y was 10 times better than Sun and moon imo, they just were amazingly boring, srs its the first pokemon game i had to force myself to finish and i have thousands of hours on most of them since gen 4, the enterely of sun and moon was boring and it was never exciting or anything, i loved x and y tough, felt great.Still dont understand why we didnt get Z or ZX/ZY but sun and moon got an even more boring 3rd version with nothing worthy to had really.

 

[Fer2317]

Played and buyed every pokemon since blue red, and like someone already stated the gimmick in pokemon its "catchem all" and not "catch a few that we put" so its a big letdown but on the bright side may be the fact that you dont have to focus on catching 800+ pokemons its gonna work in favor for a more fluid game and a fastest pokedex completion for the new generation of gamers, because lets face it complete the pokedex in USUN its a pain in the derrier it feels like a boring work that you have to do (if you are a poke fanatic like me) instead may be a pokedex less bulky and "easy to complete" give the new young gamers that feeling of acomplishment when they fill the pokedex for first time.

 

[Xzi]

x Y was 10 times better than Sun and moon imo, they just were amazingly boring, srs its the first pokemon game i had to force myself to finish and i have thousands of hours on most of them since gen 4, the enterely of sun and moon was boring and it was never exciting or anything, i loved x and y tough, felt great.Still dont understand why we didnt get Z or ZX/ZY but sun and moon got an even more boring 3rd version with nothing worthy to had really.

Oh definitely, Sun/Moon are the only Pokemon games I actually hate. Way too much dialogue, it feels like you're stuck in a tutorial for more than half the game.

 

[Deleted member 414991]

'Glorified routes' are what we had in X/Y, they didn't even try to give the illusion of an open-world. As for 'uninteresting environments,' we have yet to see even 1/10th of the world, but to each their own I guess.

The game seems to have wide open fields with no interesting routes through them like we had in previous games before gen 6. It's like they took the horrible region they had with gen XY and made it worse.

 

[LunarQueen626]

i didnt see any new way lol dynamax is just a new battle mechanic, you still just collect badges do turn based battles and win badges to beat the pokemon league while destroying a random evil team i guess.

I mean more along the lines of making the game more accessible (aka: less difficult than the OG games).

 

[pedro702]

I mean more along the lines of making the game more accessible (aka: less difficult than the OG games).

there isnt a single hard pokemon game lol, sun and moon were probably the easiest ones ever where they basicaly explained every single step of the way to you, and then lets go was even easier, so yeah i doubt this game will be easier than sun/moon or pokemon lets go tbh.

 

[Xzi]

The game seems to have wide open fields with no interesting routes through them like we had in previous games before gen 6. It's like they took the horrible region they had with gen XY and made it worse.

You have no idea where those wide open fields lead to, I think it's a mistake to assume it's just more of the same grassland forever. Imagine it more like BotW: we're likely to see caves, icy tundras, volcanoes, a little bit of everything.

 

[pedro702]

You have no idea where those wide open fields lead to, I think it's a mistake to assume it's just more of the same grassland forever. Imagine it more like BotW: we're likely to see caves, icy tundras, volcanoes, a little bit of everything.

based on england i dont think we will see vulcanoes
there is always caves on every pokemon game sine well ever so that is to be expected.

 

[Xzi]

based on england i dont think we will see vulcanoes
there is always caves on every pokemon game sine well ever so that is to be expected.

Fair point, will be interesting to see how closely they stick to realistic landscapes.

 

[AlexMCS]

there isnt a single hard pokemon game lol, sun and moon were probably the easiest ones ever where they basicaly explained every single step of the way to you, and then lets go was even easier, so yeah i doubt this game will be easier than sun/moon or pokemon lets go tbh.

Uh... no. I just finished Pokémon X main story last week having finished Ultra Sun and Sun an year ago.
Gen 6 was BY FAR the easiest, dullest and the emptiest, with the lame enemy team and your cheerleading rivals. I was more than 10 levels higher than anything the Elite Four had, with literally 0 grinding, and was usually overleveled for the whole game, even after switching like 5 pokes off the team for new, underleved ones (compared to the rest of the team), like my team was level 58-59 when I got the level 50 Xerneas. I still like it though, but it was definitely a huge step down from B2/W2.

Sun/Moon were instantly better for getting rid of HMs, having more of an impact in story and presentation, and a better enemy presence.
I had to have a HM Slave (Pangoro) for pretty much the whole X run.

Let's Go was just a nostalgia cash grab. Still fun, other than no random poke fights and that stupid aim to catch mechanic.

As for the "not all pokemon are available" controversy, I've always played like this, with each title being standalone, so it does nothing for me.
However, it is a huge blow to collectors/breeders/fanatics of the series, and I feel sorry for them.

What I do want from Nintendo (zero hopes in GameFreak doing it) is a Pokémon World game, encompassing all regions/mechanics.
But I doubt they will ever do it.

 

[orangy57]

all this just for a dynamax gimmick that a grand total of 2 people actually care about

 

[WiikeyHacker]

I don't play Pokemon I play dark souls, Fire emblem and age of empires you know games that are not pointless and repetetive catch and collect-a-thons.

 

[Xzi]

I don't play Pokemon I play dark souls, Fire emblem and age of empires you know games that are not pointless and repetetive catch and collect-a-thons.

No need for the superiority complex, the strategy and tactics skills required in games like Fire Emblem very easily translate to Pokemon. Also there's plenty of item collecting that goes on in Dark Souls.

 

[Deleted User]

Seriously, who cares as long as the game is actually fun like the DS games.

 

[WiikeyHacker]

but unlike Pokemon which is aimed at "CHILRDEN" let me say that again CHILDREN aged from 6. I play games that actually require more thinking not just a rinse and repeat that has been going on for the past 20 plus years . Oooo throw a metal ball and enslave a animal to do more or less legal cock fighting. and fire emblem and dark souls aswell as age of empires are liteyears beter than a game that requires no skill to learn and is target for CHILDREN NOT ADULTS!

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

last time i played was soul silver and then i gave up after realizing the game got stale. and stagnated only kept alive though the 30+ year old players that should be doing other things with there life and not waste it playing something their own kids could play. Oh who am I kidding those virgins would get laid unless it was pity sex and even then that would be pathetic. Even the Sims has more plot development than Pokemon.

 

[Kioku]

No need for the superiority complex, the strategy and tactics skills required in games like Fire Emblem very easily translate to Pokemon. Also there's plenty of item collecting that goes on in Dark Souls.

To be fair, none of that is required to enjoy how casual Pokémon can be.

 

[astrodraco]

but unlike Pokemon which is aimed at "CHILRDEN" let me say that again CHILDREN aged from 6. I play games that actually require more thinking not just a rinse and repeat that has been going on for the past 20 plus years . Oooo throw a metal ball and enslave a animal to do more or less legal cock fighting. and fire emblem and dark souls aswell as age of empires are liteyears beter than a game that requires no skill to learn and is target for CHILDREN NOT ADULTS!

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

last time i played was soul silver and then i gave up after realizing the game got stale. and stagnated only kept alive though the 30+ year old players that should be doing other things with there life and not waste it playing something their own kids could play. Oh who am I kidding those virgins would get laid unless it was pity sex and even then that would be pathetic. Even the Sims has more plot development than Pokemon.

Honestly, what is the point of this message? Did you see the thread and get upset that people on a website formed from an adoration of Nintendo consoles has a discussion about Pokemon? Then you decided to click on the thread just to say you play over 9000 IQ video games?

 

[WiikeyHacker]

nope , just think pokemon is a franchise that should of ended with gen 2 like it was supposed to with the help of the late genius that was iwata that made both kanto and jhoto in one game made it the ultimate game to end the series on plus it had everything to give it the perfect send off.

 

[SG854]

No need for the superiority complex, the strategy and tactics skills required in games like Fire Emblem very easily translate to Pokemon. Also there's plenty of item collecting that goes on in Dark Souls.

Pokémon Conquest

 

[WiikeyHacker]

That game felt more of a pokemon ranger spinoff without the batonage mechanic added