This past week, the Pokémon Company finally revealed the games in the next generation of Pokémon, which will be titled “Pokémon Sword” and “Pokémon Shield,” for the Nintendo Switch. During a seven-minute Pokémon Direct, fans were introduced to a new region, new starters and a slight graphical overhaul to the Pokémon games they know and love. These new installments will take place in the Galar region, which is based on the United Kingdom. Some have even pointed out that it is essentially the UK flipped upside-down. The world itself strikes a resemblance to the region on which it is based and has much reference to certain geographical locations (i.e., Stonehenge). One town shown off in the trailer has a very steampunk kind of vibe, which is certainly welcome.

The new starters include Grookey, the grass monkey, Scorbunny, the fire rabbit, and Sobble, the water lizard. Most Pokémon trainers seemed to have gravitated toward Scorbunny due to its incredibly appealing design and are also concerned that it may evolve into another fire-fighting type, a combination seen many times before. Sobble also has its fans, with some accrediting that to its extremely timid demeanor. Not as many fans have poured out their love to Grookey, but overall, fans seem satisfied with these new designs.

The graphics in “Sword” and “Shield” look stunning. While they are not far beyond what players saw in “Pokémon: Let’s GO Pikachu and Eevee” or even Sun/Moon and Ultra Sun/Moon on the 3DS, they are noticeably better in quality and breathe fresh air into this long-running franchise. The graphics make the Galar region look more expansive and open than previous ones. Some fans have been clamoring for an open-world Pokémon game, and while it does not seem that is the case for the game (the eight gym structure returns as well), the vastness of it at least looks promising. It is safe to assume the gameplay will certainly be different this time around, with the games’ director Shigeru Ohmori even stating that the development team is challenging themselves to try new things. 

The previous mainline entries made it a lot easier for competitive players to train their Pokémon with relative ease (i.e., EV training and IV manipulation) and try something other than gyms, such as trials. Gyms may be back, but it will be interesting to see what new things are implemented. Rumors swirling around the web suggests there may be something akin to the mechanics of mega evolution added in the generation six games (X/Y and Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire) or even hybrid Pokémon obtained through breeding certain ones together. If these are the new elements to which they are referring, fans are sure to be pleased. It would also be interesting to see what control options are available, from the likes of the Joy-Cons to maybe even the GameCube controller. 2019 is an exciting time to be a Pokémon fan and not just because of the series’ jump to home console.

Image from GameTrailers via YouTube