No beating around the bush here, let’s just throw this out there. Game Freak, Nintendo, and The Pokemon Company decided to unveil Pokemon Sword and Shield during a Pokemon-focused Direct. This new game is the first truly new title in the franchise on the Switch by the way.
What the heck is Pokemon Sword and Shield you ask? Well in short, it’s the new generation of Pokemon games. And unlike the Let’s Go games which also appeared on the portable console, this set of RPGs takes place in an entirely new region, Galar. The 8th generation of Pocket Monsters features an entirely new cast of characters to capture and battle. And in a move that is sure to please longtime fans, the game will feature the battles, capturing, elemental type mechanics and other goodies they’ve come to know and love from the older games.
Last November, Nintendo, Game Freak, and The Pokemon Company released Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokemon: Let’s Go, Eevee! which were full remakes of the original Generation 1 games, with a few new elements, primarily pulled from Pokemon Go, thrown in. Hardcore fans were split on the game, some even going so far as to review bomb the game because it was too casual.
Well it looks like Nintendo and company heard your feedback and have decided to bring back the style of game that appeals to those hardcore fans. Gym battles, badges, Type advantage and more are all back in Pokemon Sword and Shield. We even got a glimpse of the three archetypal starters, Grooky, Scorbunny, and Sobble in the new trailer.
You can check out the first trailer for the game below. Pokemon Sword and Shield will be exclusively hitting the Nintendo Switch in late 2019.