Pokemon Sword and Shield have been announced, with Game Freak’s brand new entries in the iconic RPG series making their way to Nintendo Switch later this year. Pokemon is one of the most enduring and popular series around, with these new entries looking much the same as previous games. However, we hope that they come equipped with a number of changes to spice things up.
The GameRevolution editorial team has described what changes we’d like to see below. As always, leave your own responses in the comments section, and we’ll feature our favorite in tomorrow’s Tell GR!
Paul Tamburro, executive editor: “I want more variety in the locations you visit. Every town and route being just another opportunity to walk through grass, fight Pokemon, then take on a Gym boss is dull. Give me more mini-games and ways to interact with the animals I capture and force to fight on another.”
Jason Faulkner, senior editor: “I just hope Pokemon Sword and Shield include all the improvements and features of past titles. I want Pokemon fashion shows, I want to pet and feed my Pokemon, I want to dress up my character, and I want an extensive and fulfilling end game. I really want these new main games to be a distillation of all that Pokemon has to offer and I’m tired of the games introducing cool new things for them to just be absent in the next one.”
Mack Ashworth, lead editor: “It’d be cool to see difficulty modes, so that veterans could actually face a decent challenge and receive special rewards for it. While Pokemon Let’s Go did a lot right, it made me realize just how boring most battles were. (I actually stopped playing after the third gym, as it was too monotonous.) Having the option to make Pokemon more hardcore would be very cool. I’d also like to see a bigger nod given in-game towards IVs and EVs. Embrace the meta further and give trainers more explicit stats and ways to expand the endgame.”
Michael Leri, features editor: “Honestly, the things I’d like to see in a new Pokemon game probably wouldn’t be what the core fanbase wants. The battles should have more depth and be harder. I remember I beat all of the last bosses in Pokemon Y without even getting hit. Collecting the little scamps is fun but battling has always been a bland cakewalk of exploiting weaknesses. If they could somehow making fighting as fun as capturing, then I’d be more interested.
Bradley Russell, news editor: “I think Gen 8 has a pretty simple job – and that’s to go back to basics. Pokemon Sun and Moon went too far off in one direction, so all Game Freak and Nintendo has to do is put Gyms back in to pacify the masses once more. However, with this being the first home console full Pokemon release, well, ever, I hope there’s a bit more to it than that. We could have MMO-style hubs where we can show off our Poke-teams, or even a Pokemon Snap-style minigame. Also, no literal trash Pokemon.”
Yesterday’s best comment
Question: What’s the best game controller?
drathbone: “Not a popular opinion – but the steam controller for anything except multiplayer shooters. I love the laptop-like mouse pad on it, and the feedback is fantastic. The steam integrated emulation lets me play games like Shadowrun and Civ with a controller through my steamlink. It’s good stuff.
Other than that, the wired xbox 360 controller is my go-to. Xbox one controllers are so cheap they break constantly.”
