Pokémon Sword and Shield have finally lifted the veil on more info concerning the games during what might be the best Pokémon Direct ever!
During the recent Pokémon Direct we finally got an extended look at the Galar region and the crazy new mechanics the games will offer us as soon as November 15! Now where do we start? The region and towns have become more vibrant and less empty since the last time we visited the new region. Pokémon and people live in harmony and fill up the cosy streets and buildings of the UK inspired region. We’re treated to wild open plains (more on that later) and bustling towns and cities with a lot more attention to detail. Putting the previous trailer and the footage from this Pokémon Direct side by side immediately reveals the visual upgrade the games have adopted in both textures, effects and content! I don’t want to compare it to “Breath of the Wild” but there is certainly an upgrade in both scale and open “feeling” in this new footage.
Another neat detail are the backgrounds during battles. While in battle the background reveals the actual surroundings to immerse the player even more in the new lively region. The animation on the Pokémon themselves are absolutely amazing and they breathe even more life into the Galar region and the battles, be it wild encounters or trainer battles.
While hardcore fans weren’t completely satisfied with the Let’s GO! titles there’s one thing they’ve grown accustomed to: overworld encounters! Now these are limited to the brand new “Wild Area”. In this vast plateau you’ll be able to encounter wild Pokémon in the overworld during your adventures so you can come back to this area and the Pokémon variety will change accordingly. You’ll find them in the water too and you’ll be shaking trees and biking on water whilst discovering the vast plain. Other footage points to the possibility of a day/night cycle and even seasons? We’ll see soon enough! What really got us fired up was the free camera movement and the real sense of exploration it offers!
The Wild Area has even more to offer; Multiplayer! You can go towards the tall red beacons where you’ll encounter wild Dynamax Pokémon in an event called “Max Raid battles”. These are Pokémon that are larger than usual and will require more players to defeat them. Sounds familiar to the Pokémon GO! users right? They’re basically raids where you and your friends can battle using one Dynamaxed Pokémon to defeat and capture the other wild Dynamax Pokémon using “Dynamaxed” pokéballs. This could be very exhilarating if they pull it off right!
There’s a rival of course, this time it’s Hop the younger brother of Leon who’s Galar’s Champion. Both of them will be there at certain points during your adventure while visiting the many Stadiums where you’ll be able to pull off the Dynamax mechanic once per battle. What we noticed here was that the detail in the audience has improved a lot since last time and this type of gym battles is just completely bonkers and bound to get us excited using our Dynamaxed Pokémon!
The few new Pokémon that have been revealed look nice and we’re especially fond of Corviknight who just looks insanely badass as the regional bird! No one would steal the crown jewels with this Pokémon around!
We also got a look at the legendaries and as the logos already teased it will be a wolf duo this time. Zacian (Sword) and Zamazenta (Shield). They do look nice already but I’m sure they will have some even crazier form or even fusion like we got in the last few generations. What I noticed was that they did not seem like mortal enemies but rather like friendly rivals sparring until a breeze kicked in and they got into formation to battle what is seemingly a third legendary threat to them. I guess we’ll have to wait for more lore and how it connects to the stone runes everywhere when the games hit the shelves on November 15.
