Game Freak and its fanbase are once again at odds over the news surrounding Pokémon Sword and Shield. The developer has kicked off another wave of criticism and speculation with a new error spotted during the recent Direct livestream. Players have spotted a mouse cursor in the trailer video for the upcoming expansions for the game. It seems like a really minor error, but some fed up players are taking it as a sign. This has caused picky players to wonder how such a trivial error could slip through, and used the problem as a justification for the lackluster attention to detail and innovation that they blame Game Freak for.
Game Freak also recently published the 1.1.0 patch for Pokémon Sword and Shield, bringing Galarian Slowpoke into the game as a special bonus. The patch itself was fairly meager, with users complaining that there were relatively few bug fixes, with many common issues still being found in the Switch game.
Now because of this and so many other issues, fans are exceptionally critical of every move that Game Freak makes. The state of the game’s story is pretty bad, making it clear that many corners were cut during development. The lack of player agency was a particularly annoying element for me playing Pokémon Sword. It still felt like the same game from 22 years ago during the main story. Wild Areas are definitely a step in the right direction, and adding more in the DLC should help things improve.
Check out the full presentation below. At approximately the 15:23 mark of the video, you can see a mouse cursor hovering over the character being shown on the right.
Pokémon Sword and Shield is available now on Nintendo Switch. The game is also getting a pair of expansions later this year. For $30 players can grab two expansions as part of a DLC season pass. These two addons, each add new story elements and brand new Wild Areas to the game. The first up is Isle of Armor, due in June. Crown Tundra is set for release in Fall 2020. These DLC packs add 200 more Pokémon to the Pokédex, with a bunch of new characters and other elements coming too.
