SwordandShieldare making tons of changes to thePokémonformula when they release on Friday. The games are the first… second set of mainlinePokémontitles to release on a home console, and some changes certainly come with a jump like that.
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Today, we’re going to be looking at ten features from olderPokémongames that won’t be appearing in these new games. There are certainly some things to talk about on this subject, so let’s get into it.
10Following Pokémon
They giveth, and they taketh away. As soon as we got back following Pokémon in theLet’s Go!games, we lost them again inSword and Shield.
This loss is a sad one, as it’s always fun to see your Pokémon following you around. It also helps to make the world feel a bit more lived in. This is, at the very least, a feature that we could see come back at some point in the future.
9Every Pokémon
Well, you saw this one coming, right? The most talked-about scandal since Watergate, the #Dexit drama is occurring over the fact that not every Pokémon in theNational Dexwill be returning inSword and Shield.
While the developers have confirmed that we’re going to be getting differentPokémonback in future installments into the franchise, fans are still upset over the fact that they won’t be transferring all of theirolder friendsover toSword and Shield.At the very least,Pokémon Homewill be here early next year, so we’ll be able to have them ready to pop over to the next titles when they release.
8Triple Battles
Triple Battles were a fun feature added to the franchise back in theBlack and Whiteera. It was never anything too groundbreaking, and it was never even used too often, but it was always a fun option to have to mix up gameplay styles and keep things fresh. Well, not inSword and Shield.
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It seems odd that this feature was removed, as the Switch should be able to easily handle eight models (trainers included) on the screen at once. Still, this isn’t the biggest issue, not too many people will be missing this one. Oh, Rotation Battles are gone too forgot about those ones. We all did.
7Overworld Shinies
Overworld encounters are back inSword and Shield, which is super awesome to see. On the other hand, shiny models are not, for some incomprehensible reason. Why would you include overworld encounters if you aren’t going to include their shiny variants? It’s not as if the shinies aren’t in the game, they clearly are.
So why is it so hard to give the shinies their correct color when encountering them in the overworld? This is something that needs to be rectified in an update, as it makes zero sense, and makesshiny huntingneedlessly more complicated than it should be.
6Random Encounters
Random encounters are basically gone inSword and Shield, and have been replaced with overworld encounters and !s in the tall grass that you’re able to choose to interact with.
This is actually a really nice change, as it keeps the element of surprise when youencounter a new Pokémonin the grass, but also helps to eliminate the tedium that can come with that. It allows for more player choice in how they want to interact with wild Pokémon, and more choice is never a bad thing.
5Second Screen Capabilities
The DS era of games had an entire second screen to utilize, that sure was a good time, wasn’t it? While no one is really mad about the fact that the games are moving on to bigger and better hardware with the Switch, it’s a shame that we’ll be missing out on all of the touch functionality that came with the second screen, and all of the extra content that they could use the screen for.
What happens when we get theDiamond and Pearlremakes? The Pokétch is just going to be gone? Heartbreaking.
4HMs
One of the better removals from classic games is HMs. These (mostly) useless moves were meant to be used in the overworld, and needlessly took up a valuable move slot for any Bibarel that had to use them.
The series has been curbing the use of these moves sinceX and Y, and finally pulled the plug on them completely inSun and Moon.Sword and Shieldlook to follow up on that. This is one omission that no one will be too sad about.
3Ride Pokémon
As we mentioned previously,Sun and Moonrid the titles of HMs for good, and replaced them with Ride Pokémon. With this feature, you could summon different Pokémon to essentially complete the tasks that once required HMs.
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You could hire some great ones, such as a Machamp to cradle you in his arms as he pushed blocks around for you. Finally, a man that cares.
2Seasons
The seasons feature ofBlack and Whitewas so cute. There were small gameplay changes here and there, but the main changes that came with seasons were new Pokémon encounters and beautiful new city and route designs based on whichever season it happened to be.
The route music also changed too. The seasons were simply aesthetic changes that went a long way to make things feel more immersive.
1The Battle Frontier
Let’s be real here, the postgame ofSword and Shieldis going to be bland. It has been for the last few generations of games. We aren’t going to get the Battle Frontier, we just aren’t. We’re probably going to get the battle tower, and maybe a few postgame episodes.
Don’t get your hopes up here, you’re just going to come out of things disappointed. These games literally have a battle that takes place in the hotel and the background during the actual battle is a white void. They didn’t have the TIME to work on the postgame.
