On November 15, 2019, Pokemon Sword and Shield came out on the Nintendo Switch, and became the first mainline Pokemon to be featured on a home console. While the game is a peaceful and relaxing change from the bloody scenery of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, it has picked up a lot of controversy.
This comes down to the decision by Game Freak to not feature the National Pokedex, which means that many Pokemon from previous games will not be able to be transferred into the game. Die hard Pokemon fans got their hearts crushed when they found out their favorite Pokemon didn’t make the final cut. Huge absences would also be the lack of all mythical and legendary Pokemon from previous games.
In Game Freaks defense, Junichi Masuda said in an interview in June, “We already have well over 800 Pokemon species, and there’s going to be more added in these games. And now that they’re on the Nintendo Switch, we’re creating it with much higher fidelity with higher quality animations.” Additionally, Shigeru Ohmori claimed in an interview with Famitsu that Game Freak had to redo all the character models.
However, dataminers have found significant evidence that many of the Pokemon had more or less the same 3-D models as in the previous entry in the series, which caused #GameFreakLied to trend on Twitter. Additionally, there seems to be no advanced movement animations in the game, especially during the Pokemon battles.
While dedicated fans may be mad at the game, it will still probably sell exceptionally well. Most casual families and kids, which is the company’s expected audience, have probably not heard of this controversy. And while the Pokemon Sword and Shield may have Thanos-snapped half the Pokemon out of existence, it also has a lot of new Pokemon, cool features, and an interesting plot. Fans will spend hours playing Pokemon: Sword and Shield, to beat the undefeated Leon, and become the very best, like no one ever was- even with just half your arsenal.