November is a big month for gaming. With games like Death Stranding and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order coming out, it’s bound to have a few heavy hitters. And Nintendo is no stranger to releasing heavy hitters. Pokémon Sword and Shield release on the same day as Fallen Order and only a week after Death Stranding.
News and info has been fairly scarce on the popular Nintendo/Game Freak RPG but Game Informer gave us a nice sneak peak in their November issue. Here’s a nice recap:
- About the games, executive producer Shigeru Ohmori said, “I think the biggest takeaway was how the graphics and rendering work is so different from the 3DS. Needing to staff up and figure out how we’re able to get that to work really well on Switch takes more time, and we needed more resources.”
- Because of all that went into the development, Ohmori estimates over 1,000 people will show up in the credits
- Ohmori went into development wanting to make the “ultimate” Pokémon game, even considering changing Pokémon learned moves to 5 or 3 from the usual 4
- One big change to the game, the Exp. Share is gone. Instead, experience will automatically be shared between all Pokémon after battle.
- Auto saving will be added but can be turned on and off at will.
- A new backend system will be added to help make any Pokémon competitive. Instead of having to breed for certain natures, players will have a way to circumvent that. Details are being kept under wraps but Ohmori says players will know it when they see it.
- League cards are replacing trainer cards and are like collectible sports cards, complete with trainer trivia and all. Cards can be collected from both NPC and Player Trainers.
- Customization is vastly expanded upon in this generation. Trainers can pick from a wide variety of shirts, jackets, pants, glasses, socks, shoes, backpacks and more.
- The Galar region will have 18 gyms, delegated to major and minor leagues which differ depending on which game you play.
- Commenting again on the lack of a national dex, series creator Junichi Masuda reiterates that Pokemon absent from Sword and Shield will “definitely” be seen in future regions and generations. Pokémon Home will help players keep all their Pokémon with them throughout the games.
So there you have it! Game Informer spoiled us with some great info on the new generation of Pokémon. It’ll release next month on November 15 for Nintendo Switch.
