Pokemon Direct: Pokemon Sword and Shield

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I don't usually choose a favourite starter straight away, probably need to see evolutions most of the time. But I am kind of feeling Sobble.


I also don't tend to go for the water starters, but the little anxious lizard, that was camouflaging, is speaking to me.

I fell for Sobble right away. I wonder what they'll evolve into, both in terms of looks and typing.

I usually tend to go for the water or grass starter.

I'm leaning towards Scorbunny. I'm usually on team Grass, but Grookey and Sobble don't feel as distinct as previous starters, and I like Scorbunny's markings; the bandage on its nose is a nice touch. It's to bad it'll almost certainly be another physical attacker, but at least there's hope for it not turning into another Fire/Fighting type.

Grookey is my second favorite; it's definitely a better grass monkey than Pansage. I like Grookey's colors and the stick in its hair. Sobble just doesn't really stand out to me, but I don't dislike it. My opinions on the starters will definitely change when we see their evolutions, but as of right now, I feel like these are little underwhelming compared to their predecessors. The starters from Kalos and Alola all looked very different from each other, whereas Grookey and Sobble have about the same body shape as I said earlier, and while Scorbunny is more unique, I wouldn't say it's particularly outstanding either. But again, these are just early impressions.

The game's visuals are really good; I love how vivid everything looks. The Galar region looks cool, albeit not particularly exotic. The more industrialized areas are a nice change of pace after Alola, though. Gyms are apparently returning, which I'm on board with; the trials in Sun and Moon were neat, but I found them to be a little less satisfying than the gyms. The only really disappointing thing in the trailer (in my opinion) is the return of random encounters, instead of Pokémon being visible in the world like in Let's Go. I understand that they want the element of surprise in finding wild Pokémon, but I don't think it's worth it, because it can make finding a specific one a pain in the a**.

Overall, I'd say Sword and Shield looks really good so far. I voiced my concerns for it in another thread, but even if it doesn't meet those expectations- which it probably won't, at least not in the way I think it should -it'll probably still be fun, which is what's most important.

Pokemon always struck me as a game that was meant for portables rather than home consoles. Are kids taking their Switches to school these days?

^ IDK, but the Switch is supposed to be sort of a transportable console.

There are rumors that a mini Switch will come out this year, smaller and cheaper than the Switch. If it does, maybe Pokemon is part of the reason!

Probably. The Switch essentially replaces the 3DS. Which is good, the 3DS was.... okay... but the Switch is just muuuuch better.

In my case, I can actually use the bloody Switch. The 3DS was designed by idiots and was super awkward to hold. Couldnt do so without my arm flaring up. And the less said about that fantastically terrible analog stick, the better. Even the PSP's stick was better, which is a bit absurd. Pretty much the only thing I really used my 3DS for was to play Tomadachi Life (which was great, really). REALLY hoping for a sequel to that.

The 3DS being mostly impossible for me to use is the only reason I havent played Pokemon in ages. Been waiting for a proper Switch version to FINALLY show up. I can actually play it on my monitor, with a normal controller. The last time I was able to do that, was with the Pokemon Stadium games, which are outright ancient at this point.

I'll be looking forward to the challenge of actually playing one of these online for once. I normally dont like online competition but this is an exception.

Yeah that was my thought too. Pokemon is known as a portable game that people carry around with them. It would make perfect sense to launch it alongside a Switch Mini.

Regarding Nintendo controllers, I've never thought of any recent Nintendo device as being particularly ergonomic. All the DS variants were uncomfortable to use over anything other than short periods, and the same was true of the GBA devices. The Wii U gamepad was an enormous thing to lug around. The Wii controllers were at least comfortable to hold, but it didn't matter since every second game required you to make regular masturbatory motions to emulate a button press.

Oddly, the Wii U thing was pretty comfortable, at least for me. I spent ALOT of time with that gizmo with Mario Maker... it never set off my arm even once. Was surprising.

The Wii on the other hand... bleh. Good grief I hated that thing. Motion controls were terrible. Terrible! I'm so very, very glad that VR motion controls arent used in the same godawful way as those (usually).

I mean really, the freaking Power Glove was better than the experience with the Wii.

I've never had any problems whatsoever using the 3DS or the DS. It's perfect for my hands at least.

I wish the Pokemon games had continued for the 3DS or New 3DS, but they claimed they push the limits with SM and USUM for the system, and I'm all for great and big games.

I thought that was immediately obvious to anyone playing it. The game chugs along at a horrible framerate, and don't even think about trying to turn on the 3D effect.

It sure hasn't been obvious to me. I have no complaints at all about the games or how they play.

I tried using the 3D effect, but nothing happened, I thought it just meant that S/M/ USUM didn't use it for whatever reason.

I think that they were mostly finding that 3d effect was barely used in Pokémon anyway. At this point the 3DS had been for a while and had been pushing it to the edge, and probably could only get away for an upgrade if it was New 3ds only. But the new one is looking good with how it looks. Unfortunately I am the only one in my family with a Switch, so I won't have my sibling with the other Pokémon.

What I have been enjoying, are some memes, the best being of playing up real harsh UK stereotypes. Especially making the very nice looking female trainer turn out to actually be an incredibly vulgar Scottish woman, probably based on things like her hat, it is pretty funny.




Normally I play male, particularly the first time I play, but I have gotten pretty attached to her character design.

^ yeah it's funny!


I have played both male and female in these games. Usually I prefer the looks and clothes for the male.





I wish there was more focus on real games and less on stuff for phones. I hope their focus isn't changing...

I wonder if we'll ever see Pokemon Centers in Europe....

Well, there should be another Pokémon Direct next week , something like 5th of June. The expectation is that is where we will get the big update, like some new Pokémon, before we maybe get more in E3.

Despite not a big phone game person, I am intrigued over the game collecting trainers, Pokémon Masters.

Yay, June 5th it is!
6 am PT, 9 am EST, 15 CET for those who want to catch it.