Alright, so I admittedly might be on a bit of a kick of late.
Yes, it's another game in the Pokémon franchise as if there weren't enough commentary on the subject available not only on this very blog, but from pretty much everyone and their mother across the internet and even in the dark era before we had the internet.
. . .so here's yet another bit of knowledge.
Pokémon Sword and Shield take place in the brand new region of Galar. Rather than the sunny Hawaii/Pacific Islands-esque Alola or the Frenchie Kalos, we're in jolly old not-England this time around! I questioned whether or not it was possible to be racist to the British given the literal centuries of imperialism and their impressing their views and culture onto other cultures to the point where even Canada, independent as it is, still fears and reveres Queen Elizabeth II.
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| I don't have a joke here. This is a real thing that actually happened. What the hell, Japan?! |
Of course, this is a game from the same culture that made a monster out of Adolf Hitler that is also a starfish, so maybe I'm asking for far too much in terms of outrageous self-awareness from the Japanese (as translated by North American).
. . .yeah, no, really. This is an actual thing that exists in the real world. Starfish Hitler. Look it up.
But regardless, yes - from the town of Postwick where the player begins up through the bustling metropolis of Wyndon, the region of Galar takes clear and very heavy inspiration from the United Kingdom. This extends further in influence than even many of the previous other games - the main character's Mom is referred to as "Mum", almost every house you walk into has a tea set ready to go, and more than a few characters have outrageous comedy Cockney accents as if we're living in a Monty Python skit.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to pick up on any Monty Python references, nor any Doctor Who ones despite the giant ass reference through many of the games. And no, weirdly enough, the Looker hasn't shown up for this one in spite of that connection.
The core gameplay of Pokémon is as unchanged as it has been since Generation I: you travel across the land, searching far and wide, each Pokémon to be captured and shoved into tiny balls and then forced to fight one another for your personal glory. All the while, you collect eight items that prove that you are a Master of said Pokémon and maybe bloody the nose of some criminal organization while saving the world.
GameFreak actually took a little bit of a creative twist with the criminal organization, and not in the Team Skull way where I wanted to tie every member of their group to a rocket and fire them into the sun, where Team Yell...isn't a criminal organization.
They're fans.
Who are they fans of? One of your rivals, of course. Yes, GameFreak is still up on the multiple rivals thing that was just as unnecessary as when they started it back in Generation V. At least this time, they gave them a bit more personality. Hop and Marnie have a bit more personality than Hau and Gladion did back in Sun and Moon, though they still fall into the stereotypes of being over cheerful and edgelord-y, respectively.
Hop at least wins some points for being an arrogant little twit, which is saying something considering how boring and rather milquetoast Hau was.
There are some new Pokémon around as well as a few new regional variants (Farfetch'd in particular gets a long overdue "Be careful who you make fun of in high school) one, but otherwise very little in terms of mechanics has changed at least as far as the Pokémon themselves go.
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| This could be a reference. Or not. I tell you nothing. |
At least...the Pokémon that can be transferred over. Yes, for the first time since the move from Generation II to Generation III, you can't actually move all of your Pokémon up from previous games. You can imagine how much of a pain this was after I'd spent several weeks building up a team for each of the regions (except Sinnoh, the only region I haven't yet played but probably will now with the release of Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl) only to find that all of my teams had at least one if not more that would not transfer into Sword and Shield. The rumor is that this will eventually be fixed with DLC patches in concert with the release of the Sinnoh Remakes...which brings me to the DLCs.
As of this writing, SwSh has two - Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra - and we'll go through them quickly. Both are smaller areas that add more Pokémon to catch. Other patches and updates have made others available - such as the Legendaries and even the Ultra Beasts being able to come over with no problem.
. . .which makes the ones that aren't able to come over seem all the more completely arbitrary and thus more frustrating. Still, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Isle of Armor is a bit of a throwback to Sun and Moon with its island setting and several different Alola forms being readily available through a Diglett-hunting sidequest and through trades. Other than an incredibly colorful karate master who is in the running for one of my favorite NPCs of all time, not too much of note here. By the way, pro-tip: it'd be best if your Pokemon were in the neighborhood of Level 60 before embarking on the ride over. Very little on the island will be lower than that, and some things out there will be a lot higher.
Whereas the Isle of Armor is far to the northeast of the Galar mainland, Crown Tundra is far to the south and is very cold indeed with a lot of Ice-type 'Mons to be found as you might expect. There's also, hidden within its depths and within its storyline...a bunch of Legendaries to be found. Some from the previous games, and others...not so much.
Also, some from the previous games with a new coat of paint! Gotta get those region-specific versions in!
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| Let him free, GameFreak! Let him free!!! |
No, I'm not gonna let it go. The entire thing is ridiculous!
The big draw this time, in the way that Mega Evolution was to X and Y and Z-Powers were to Sun and Moon, is Gigantamaxing. Basically, your Pokémon get big. Apart from that, it's no different than Mega Evolution, although it takes the Z-Power route of changing all the names of your attacks...which are all organized by type and really don't have any variation.
Not that this is a problem for me, but someone else might take issue with it and I can't say they wouldn't have a point.
You can also journey into instances called Dens where you battle a Dynamax Pokémon often with three NPCs running support (with various levels of proficiency). You get all sorts of goodies, including XP capsules of various sizes, consumables, and other gifts like TMs.
The friendliness mechanic remains from every game since Generation II, and is now easier to exploit than ever with the Camping and the Curry Cooking Mechanic. With only a single ingredient and a single Berry, the players can mix a variety of dishes through an admittedly fun little minigame where you fan the flames of a fire and stir the ingredients in a pot before serving. Depending on just how well you do and what ingredients you use, this is also an easy way to XP grind, since every dish not only improves the friendliness of every Pokémon in your party, but also gives everyone experience points.
Hence why I showed up to battle the Champion with a team in the 70's. That and the Dens. It's really easy to power level in this game.
On the whole, Pokémon Sword and Shield is yet another addition to the game franchise that has gone on since the mid-90s. Very minute changes, but still very much the same game it's been. There's a comfort in that, which is likely the reason the franchise has endured as much as it has. It's fun, but then pretty much every entry in the franchise has had fun bits to it, and this is no different. What with this being the 25th anniversary of the franchise, I think we may yet have some surprises left in store...and I can't say I'm closing the book on Sword and Shield just yet.
. . .seriously, Game Freak. Let me transfer the rest over! C'mon!
Pokémon Sword and Shield is available on the Nintendo Switch from Game Freak and Nintendo.
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