Earlier today, in a 7-minute Nintendo Direct, the Pokémon Company announced their 8th generation mainline Pokémon titles, Pokèmon: Sword and Pokémon: Shield.
Set in the brand new Galar region, the pair of games will introduce never-before-seen Pokémon, including the three new starters introduced here. Grookey, a grass-type monkey Pokèmon, Scorbunny, a fire-type rabbit, and Sobble, a water-type amphibian of some sort. No other new creatures were announced, but we did see several older Pokémon making a return, including Pikachu. This at least confirms that it won’t be an entirely brand new slate of creatures as some previous entries have done.
The little bit of gameplay shown does not appear to be groundbreaking. There seems to once again be a fixed camera with predefined paths, as with previous 3D entries. The new mechanics introduced in the Pokémon: Let’s Go titles seem to have been abandoned entirely, with Pokémon encounters once again being completely random, with no overworld representations for the creatures.
It’s apparent that Galar is a proxy for the UK, in the way that previous games have taken the inspirations for their regions from the US, the Pacific isles, France, and Japan.
While very little was shown here, this is par for the course when it comes to the Pokémon Company’s hype and promotion for new Pokémon titles. The titles are slated for late 2019, and new information will trickle out between now and then.
Allen Christian
