Official Pokémon Sword and Shield speculation thread (Updated June 5th, 2019)

[Boss1708]

We have no evidence that Tajiri didn’t like Ultra Beasts.

Where did I say evidence? I just have a feeling that Tajiri dislikes the UBs. Am I allowed to hypothesize about it?

‘Breaking the artistic rules’ doesn’t mean ‘going against the original philosophy’.

Except in practice, it usually leads to it.

Creativity is all about breaking rules, anyway.

No, it isn't. You can be creative and create something beautiful without breaking your own rules.

Pablo Picasso decided to break the rules of art. His newer paintings were outright terrible, and yet all the art critics praised them as the best thing ever. Picasso eventually admitted that he created those paintings just to make fun of art critics who would praise him no matter what he creates, simply because he is Picasso. LOL

 

[Silktree]

He might not like any number of things, but we don't know either way.

 

[El_]

At this point the best excuse GameFreak has given is “Galar is too cold!” and that’s not even sarcasm. I was always an opponent of ‘Take Pokemon away from GameFreak’ but apart from sentiments and creature design I don’t have substantial arguments against that call.

It feels like some crazier alternate universe to me.

I didn't know Charizard liked cold weather? Perhaps its special Dynamaxed form will be able to adapt to it, bc it was worth sacrificing your precious buddies for Charizard's sake to make it to the U.K. Will be even funnier if they decide to exclude some Sinnoh Pokemon, wonder what the excuse for that will be? It was cold but not enough?

It's worth noting the animated Wingull was done in a single day from scratch without access to the resources GF has(?) at its disposal. So imagine what he would have been capable of with access to all of Game Freak's assets. That is probably the perfect example why they need to delegate task like animation or coding to more competent or enthusiastic third parties, while only providing funding and character input.

#DontBringBackTheNationalDex is the actual evil Gen 8 Team. People believe its boss is Masuda, but I have my doubts...

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

Where did I say evidence? It's just my feeling that Tajiri dislikes the UBs.

I just don’t see any reason he'd dislike the Ultra Beasts. And anyway, like Silktree said, we cannot know either way.
I just don’t see UBs as such a huge leap as some make it out to be.

 

[NealIRC]

Will be even funnier if they decide to exclude some Sinnoh Pokemon, wonder what the excuse for that will be?

That's good marketing for a DP remakes.

 

[Boss1708]

I just don’t see any reason he'd dislike the Ultra Beasts.
I just don’t see UBs as such a huge leap as some make it out to be.

Well, I have a different opinion from yours.

 

[BlueWaves]

Something interesting I just learned. I was looking up to see if Anima Inc. had handled the cut scenes from Fire Emblem Fates, since I absolutely love the cut scenes from that game- I think they are dead gorgeous- But, anyway, I found they did the character modeling for ORAS, SM, and USM. Would not be surprised if they did modeling for the SwSh. And if they turn out ugly, its probably more like GF not giving enough time.

 

[Zweilous]

The UBs were apparently created by "breaking" rules that they use to design Pokemon. Like for Nihilego, they would never give it a sea glass jelly texture. The big problem of course, is that we have no clue what rules they are breaking.

Pokemon really needs an artbook. We only get tidbits via interviews and snapshots of concept art, but never a full fledged artbook like Fire Emblem, Zelda, and Mario. Which is a shame because some designs are very complicated and could really use an explanation.

While they haven't really done artbooks, they have given explanations for the designs of Pokemon before. During Gen 5, Ken Sugimori did an interview alongside other designers for Nintendo Dream and he described the concepts and process that went on behind each and every Pokemon created for BW. He even went into detail about some of the cuts and changes that happened such as Karrablast and Shelmet originally not being related until he came up with the idea of Karrablast stealing the shell for its armor as Escavalier.

They haven't done anything to that extent since though, which is a shame since it does make you appreciate the Pokemon more when you understand why they went in the direction they did with them.

 

[Joker901]

I mean they don't have specific deadlines or even personal quotas. They're some of the titles that don't demand an annual release

I think it's the pokemon company itself who wants an annual release not really Nintendo...because of movies, anime, merchandise etc. Zelda and Mario focus mainly on games, while Pokemon games are just one of the many products of TPCi.

...there’s seriously a #DontBringBackTheNationalDex? Each day we stray further from Necrozma's light... This is why it was cut from Galar

P.S.: an amateur 3D modelling student created the wingull model from scratch and animated it better than SwSh in a day.
View: https://www.reddit.com/r/pokemon/comments/c28top/i_fixed_the_wingull_animation_from_scratch_hope/


We did get an improvement from the reveal direct to E3, but it’s too late to see a substantial improvement again. I hope they actually show us the 'high quality improvement' they’re using as an excuse.
We also need to see more new revamped animations. As someone who wasn’t even focused on the graphic side of things, I was disappointed that the (physical) attacks were mostly the same when SwSh was revealed.

Stop posting better animations when we cannot have them
Wingull will just float in the air forever...

 

[Boss1708]

glasses

just let them get really dirty and maybe you really won't see a difference

Life hack and all...

I think this could really help @Joker901 tbh XDDD

 

[El_]

Stop posting better animations when we cannot have them
Wingull will just float in the air forever...

It looks like a fucking toy drone hovering over the grass like it is. Really, the placement of it hovering in place over the grass also adds to the perceived negatives of its animation. Would be better if it were higher up in the air hovering towards/over the water or the MC.

Of course I've also seen pics of the MC hovering or levitating themselves... sigh I'm not a graphics person when it comes to Pokemon but Sword n Shield is graphically an up-scaled 3DS title. Dynamax is just a metaphor for what the games truly are.

 

[Juizel]

View attachment 119848

I think this could really help @Joker901 tbh XDDD

I always try to share my wisdom with others and try to help wherever I can! I still live with a TV that can't do full HD because unless I'm close enough to basically kiss it it looks blurry enough that I wouldn't notice a difference anyway, yet good enough to make somewhat out what I'm watching. Perks of being half blind, saves money

On the note of the fanmade recreation of Wingull I can just say that if someone in their first year of studying with less experience and knowledge can pull this off and it looks - especially given their circumstances, since, again, they are not a professional (yet) - pretty good, it just gets harder and harder to excuse the "floating in the air" animations we actually get.
(Not to put the person who did it down, awesome work, but it's kind of expected that a professional with finished degree and experience would still end up doing a better job and likely take less time for it, too. Like, the standard for a professional is/should be higher.)

 

[Dieter]

oh my arceus, I hadn't really looked at those wingull before yet, but they look like a kid playing with a toy plane. I'm almost expting a 'nyooom' sound

 

[Oriden]

I keep hearing this often as a descending opinion to whatever poorly done thing Game Freak does. Consciously or not, It enforces a sort of crowd mentality as to why to buy the games, even though they may not be very good: It's like saying, "Give in - You lost to the crowd of ignorants anyways."

I dare say it: If the major fanbase can truly connect to the casual side, and get their point across to what Game Freak is doing is wrong, anything can happen. Just look at the CG Sonic Movie fiasco: Fans proved that "It is Sonic" is not a guarantee of viewership - and actually caused the makers to delay the movie. Of course, the problem in that case was much more obviously wrong and memeworthy than the Dex-it situation we have now. But still - It's a healthy example of the fans proving to the public that a franchise should never be taken for granted to print money from.

I don't think protesters should be so pessimistic as to give in to the mediocrity of the games just because 'They'll just sell millions anyways." They should just keep pleading their case with the casuals they know to increase their expectations of a "good" Pokemon game in a well thought manner - Like the recent examples on /r/gaming - So to keep them from wanting to buy the games. After all, I would think that not buying a game is several times easier than buying one...

That wasn't what I was saying? I'm not telling anyone to give up, I'm just saying that the games aren't going to take a series-ending hit from this backlash. The games will still sell regardless, that's just a fact, what remains to be seen is how much of a dent that the boycotting will put in just how well they wind up selling.

 

[BackSet]

Jesus the wingulls in Swish look like their movements belong in minecraft.

 

[FaeKing17]

They shouldn't even be hovering over the grass anyway.

 

[Poke Dragon]

Also, why do the Wingulls have to hover so close to the ground? I expected most Flying-type Pokemon to stay high in the air because you know, they can fly.

 

[Boss1708]

These Wingulls look like Pokémon Rumble toys, rather than actual living creatures.

Also yes, Wingulls can hang high up in the air, but not when they are so near to the ground like in SwSh... They need to be higher up in the air, if they're not going to flap their wings.

 

[Synthaphone]

I thought that was how Wingull was supposed to look though? Like, I'm pretty sure the limited animation is a deliberate choice for Wingull- it rides updrafts and sort of hangs in the air. They're never going to look like completely natural birds unless the Pokedex goes down to a way smaller number of monsters and they spend all their time and resources on animal moves.

I don't think that student animation is badly done at all, but I do think it's unnecessary- Wingull's kind of a goofy Pokemon, I'm pretty sure it's supposed to move in kind of a goofy way. My only issue with them is that they're really low to the ground, and they're out in the rain (like, I get that they're water type, but I always viewed the water typing as more of a nod to gulls being seabirds than a 'these birds love water so much that they fly in the rain!' sort of deal. I feel like it'd make more sense for them to be out while it's sunny... Although Pelipper has Drizzle now, so that kind of pokes holes in my theory.)

I guess having them flap their wings every once in a while would add something? I think they do that at the start of battle, though. I really think people are getting carried away with trying to nitpick reasons the existing animations are bad. I've noticed 'bad' character animations in previous Pokemon 3D titles before, and the stuff I'd call bad is like, Blaziken being extremely stiff and lacking personality in Pokemon Amie/Refresh, or some of the walk cycles that were found in Gen 7 being kind of generic and not adding a lot to the character of the Pokemon. I feel like Wingull's animation, while limited, does seem designed to fit its character. (Also, I'm not counting move animations like Double Kick as character animations, because they're designed to work the same for every Pokemon and so most of them have to be really simple. The reason Double Kick looks so much worse than a lot of other moves is because most Pokemon have at least two 'attack' animations unique to them that will be played when they use moves, and the developers seem to have decided for Double Kick not to play anything and stick with the default idle animation. Tail Whip works the same way, the model keeps playing the idle animation while the battle animation flips it around and shakes it.)

I feel like people are going to start arguing that stuff like Golem turning into a ball and rolling for its run cycle is bad animation because it might have been easier for them to take the head and arms off of the model, close up the holes, and just roll the ball along instead of animating the arms and legs moving, which I just don't agree with in the slightest.

 

[Joker901]

That wasn't what I was saying? I'm not telling anyone to give up, I'm just saying that the games aren't going to take a series-ending hit from this backlash. The games will still sell regardless, that's just a fact, what remains to be seen is how much of a dent that the boycotting will put in just how well they wind up selling.

True. Pokemon is too big. Even if all the core fans won't buy the games, they will sell 10milions copies.

Also, why do the Wingulls have to hover so close to the ground? I expected most Flying-type Pokemon to stay high in the air because you know, they can fly.

I actually expected wingull to fly over the lakes...I mean they are seagulls, why would they prefer grass over a bunch of water full of fishes?