Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield

Calhoun · 19-11-2019 4:55pm

Redzer7 wrote: »

Not on my game it isn't.

How many badges have you unlocked ? They don't show you full inventory until you unlock more.

Redzer7 · 19-11-2019 5:14pm

Calhoun wrote: »

How many badges have you unlocked ? They don't show you full inventory until you unlock more.

Have got all the badges and still nothing unfortunately.

Calhoun · 19-11-2019 5:50pm

That's really weird I only picked it up yesterday .

Mr.Saturn · 19-11-2019 6:50pm

There's 2 Pokemon centres in Motostoke, False Swipe is in the one to the left of the gym.

chrislad · 22-11-2019 6:05am

Just finished the 8th badge last night. I'm not in love with the game so far. It's fine and all, but it just feels very by the numbers. I've not played a Pokemon game since X/Y and it doesn't seem like anything has really changed other than better graphics (which aren't exactly great, some animations are poor [headbutt is a kick!?], and seems a bit robotic at times)

I'll stick with it, but I can't see myself going much past the end of the game, other than to beat my sons team when he finishes it

Rhyme · 22-11-2019 9:58am

chrislad wrote: »

Just finished the 8th badge last night. I'm not in love with the game so far. It's fine and all, but it just feels very by the numbers. I've not played a Pokemon game since X/Y and it doesn't seem like anything has really changed other than better graphics (which aren't exactly great, some animations are poor [headbutt is a kick!?], and seems a bit robotic at times)

I'll stick with it, but I can't see myself going much past the end of the game, other than to beat my sons team when he finishes it

I'm in the same boat, enjoying it as much as I have other Pokemon games but it's not blowing me away. I've heard the post-game is a bit limited so unless I can imagine myself continuing to play it, I might trade it in.

The animation for Body Slam is hilarious, it's like a first-year animation student did it. Wobble the static 3D model, move it out of frame and then back into frame on top of the opposing Pokemon.

chrislad · 22-11-2019 10:24am

Rhyme wrote: »

I'm in the same boat, enjoying it as much as I have other Pokemon games but it's not blowing me away. I've heard the post-game is a bit limited so unless I can imagine myself continuing to play it, I might trade it in.

The animation for Body Slam is hilarious, it's like a first-year animation student did it. Wobble the static 3D model, move it out of frame and then back into frame on top of the opposing Pokemon.

And the thing is, some of the animations are good - My Cinderace has Pyro Ball, and I'm still not tired of looking at it.

Rhyme · 22-11-2019 11:49am

chrislad wrote: »

And the thing is, some of the animations are good - My Cinderace has Pyro Ball, and I'm still not tired of looking at it.

Oh yeah, definitely. Things like Hammer Arm and Waterfall are great. My current favourite is Hydro Pump; Inteleon winds up, charges and blasts, cut to victim, camera hesitates a second and then BAM, right to the face. Comedic timing. Hyper Beam is similar.

Just about to battle Leon now, I hate his stupid facial hair, his pose, his gammy cloak and his neurotic brother. Not a patch on Piers and Bede though, they can go and shite.

chrislad · 22-11-2019 12:18pm

Rhyme wrote: »

Oh yeah, definitely. Things like Hammer Arm and Waterfall are great. My current favourite is Hydro Pump; Inteleon winds up, charges and blasts, cut to victim, camera hesitates a second and then BAM, right to the face. Comedic timing. Hyper Beam is similar.

Just about to battle Leon now, I hate his stupid facial hair, his pose, his gammy cloak and his neurotic brother. Not a patch on Piers and Bede though, they can go and shite.

Yeah, the only likable characters for me was actually Sonia and the whole Darkest Day thing, which honestly, seems to be just shoved in there to give some semblance of a story - any time it got interesting, it was "No, don't help. Go get a gym badge, so you can be strong enough to face the impending Armageddon"

Rhyme · 22-11-2019 12:49pm

chrislad wrote: »

Yeah, the only likable characters for me was actually Sonia and the whole Darkest Day thing, which honestly, seems to be just shoved in there to give some semblance of a story - any time it got interesting, it was "No, don't help. Go get a gym badge, so you can be strong enough to face the impending Armageddon"

I do like the slow drip-feed of information on the one hero, no two, no they had weapons, no they had Pokemon, secret symbols and meanings. I've not reached the end of that thread just yet. Not having a real continuous adversary was a shame too, Team Yell don't count. A Team Rocket popping up causing mischief would have kept momentum in the second plot instead of just, as you say, "no, don't pay attention to this, go fight a gym". Something I heard from a Creative Writing instructor rings true here; if you're writing about an event and you reference a more interesting set of events than the one you're in, stop writing and write about the more interesting set of events. I want to know about the energy side of things, the Dynamax phenomenon, all that and not just get a plot dump at the very end which I feel is likely to happen.

I think I would have liked either multiple Wild Areas transitioning slowly between biomes like Breath of the Wild rather than one long one that whips between rain and desert and snow and etc so fast.

Redzer7 · 24-11-2019 8:50pm

Got my first shiny pokemon today, Mr Mime, now Mr Rime.

chrislad · 25-11-2019 5:00am

I've finished the main game, the post game, and there's not really much for me to do bar complete the Pokedex and/or do the Battle Tower. I'm at around 170/400 at the moment, and my main is around level 93, with about 6 others at 70ish. All in all, about 20 hours, so not exactly a big time sink, though I'm sure it would double if I wanted to fill out the 'dex.

Honestly, very meh. Not enough change versus the last one I played (X/Y), and I feel like the wild area needs a lot of work before it is what they wanted it to be. I'd like to see

1) Proper weather. Not 1 metre to the left is snow, and 1 metre to the right in desert. The change is too drastic. Again, look at Breath of the Wild (This will be said a lot)

2) Pokemon popping in and out of reality when you move towards them. This is supposed to be real. A Pokemon popping into the world, and then popping out again went you walk back is just silly.

3) No auto fights. This is a world when people and Pokemon live together. Fights should be triggered by actually equipping a poke-ball, rather than just walking into a Pokemon that just popped up in the grass.

4) Give the Pokemon some life. Walking around in circles is not a life. They just seem like they're there to be there because this is the area where he would be. This ties into point 2. Let them roam. While it's likely it will be in Area X, he could have migrated to Area Y because the weather was poor, for example.

5) Animations. Some are excellent, most are crap. The way the move their legs as they turn on the spot too. Again, no real improvements on X/Y as far as I can see.

6) I'm not expecting a great story, but the side story with the legendaries was way more interesting than the main "story" - The aim should be to beat the gyms, but that's a goal, not the journey. I mean, you are literally told to just go beat a gym leader, when a major event, cataclysmic really, is happening.

7) Don't cut features that were already in there. Pokemon Let's Go, you could ride your larger Pokemon, or have them follow you? Not in this case. Surf etc removed in favour of a bike with inflatable wheels, that you just happen to come across? Ties into 6) for the weak story, and things happening because they just need to happen

Doff · 26-11-2019 12:53pm

Story was definitely the poorest to date. The max raid feature has potential but at the moment its easily exploited and difficult to join another group due to abandoned groups (from noted exploit) or the unreliable online system.

The wild area is a nice feature and I'm hoping they release some patches in the near future to fix/tidy up the online features.

ERG89 · 26-11-2019 9:58pm

I'm only 4 badges in & have hit a wall on the gameplay loop.

I'll start with the negatives.

The cities are so sparse, lacking life with the amount of copy and paste in interior locations. There are one or two spots where they just didn't put a wall & you see a black void.
The caves are so basically designed I'm not sure why they bothered, same with all the doors without handles.
Some animations look good (especially for newer Pokemon) but a lot of moves look incredibly bad in 2019.
The wild area is like something that they worked on more to cover the fact the towns & routes are areas where corners were cut.
The game in general runs poor with shadows & edges in particular look rough.
Dynamaxing like Z Moves I hope will not return.
The next game badly needs voice acting, every cut scene or conversation in the game really breaks any flow you have which isn't helped by having mainly bland characters. Pokemon cries are a must too.
It's very easy to accidentally over level your party with the xp share being mandatory across your party. I already had fully evolved my starter not long after the second gym.
The game takes over the Wi-Fi to the point you can't download updates in the background & once you close the game you have to turn it back on. It would help if the online wasn't so badly implemented.
Somehow all of this looks worse when you have the system docked it's like playing a handheld game on a TV.

The positives:
In general the new pokemon look pretty good.
Being able to control the Pokemon in your party all the time is useful.
I like they made an effort to try do more with the gyms.
I'd like to see the wild area return but maybe not have Pokemon pop up 5 feet in front of the player in the future.
Returning to the wild area after winning badges to see more powerful Pokemon wandering is a good incentive.
I like the way you can still choose to engage Pokemon in the routes or engage with rustling grass for Pokemon that may not appear roaming.
Leon is basically Hiroshi Tanahashi.

I'm only halfway through it so can't comment on the game overall but I cant see myself picking this up again for a few months as I lack the motivation to push myself through it. I can't believe anyone could give a game that cuts so many corners a high score based on what I had played.

Yakult · 27-11-2019 4:27pm

Haven't picked this back up in a while now. Just don't think it's a good game, even for Pokemon's standards, and it seems like they have dumbed the game down and just made it a long hand holding session.

The game over-all just seems stale, the dialogue is rubbish, the story is basically non-existant, textures when bad, are comically bad. And these problems are just the TIP of the iceberg.

Maybe I've outgrown the formula these games abide to so much, but until theirs radical change, I won't be picking up another Pokemon game. Back to Let's Go for me. More Charm than this game could ever achieve.

Wouldn't actually recommend to a Pokemon fan. Play Lets Go Pikachu/Eevee instead.

Redzer7 · 03-12-2019 5:58pm

Just ran into a shiny hitmonchan in I'd say my second encounter with him, got a bit of a fright when I seen it was shiny as I wasn't hunting him.

Have about 35 to get now to compete the pokedex, is there anyone on here that could help me out?

goon_magee · 03-12-2019 8:31pm

Just finished the story there. Not sure how I feel about it. Finished it but some absolutely massive gripes.

The wild area was so utterly underwhelming I'm actually shocked it featured so heavily in the promotion of the game. Nothing to explore, no secrets, just a big bland empty field that is is so basic it makes Hyrule Field from Ocarina of Time look cutting edge even today.

They need to ditch the linear progression from hub town to hub town via routes. Make the entire region one big wild area, make it interesting to explore, fill it with side quests, optional dungeons etc. then have hub towns dotted around. A Breath of the Wild style open world with hub towns and cities dotted around containing your main quests etc. would translate perfectly to Pokemon.

I think they also need to consider ditching gyms being tied to one type/element. It's a dated mechanic and removes any sense of challenge or anticipation for reaching the next gym. It's impossible to get excited about gym battles anymore when I know that I am basically going to one shot each and every Pokemon of each and every leader as long as I have one opposing Pokemon with a super effective attack. Speaking of gyms, WTF happened the gym missions about halfway through the game? The creativity of the first few vanishes and we get stock battles for the remainder. Its as if the guy who designed the first few got fired midway through development so they stuck a clueless intern in and told him to get to work.

And finally, I wouldn't consider this rant complete if I didn't vent about Hop. I've been gaming for 26 years, and in all that time, Hop is hands down the WORST ****ing character I have ever encountered in a video game. Obnoxious, needy, neurotic...I could go on but I've made my point. All I know is I would hate to encounter whatever shower of b*stards from Gamefreak were responsible for Hop's design and writing, cause f*ck me if Hop is anything to go by they must be an absolutely insufferable shower of c*nts.

Anyway apart from that the game was mint!

RobbingBandit · 03-12-2019 8:34pm

Gone back to the wild area caught some ditto and started trading got a ttar earlier so gonna farm larvitars and go into the champions battle with 6 maxed out Draco meteor ones.

Scarlet42 · 04-12-2019 11:54am

some advice please. ... my son (age 11) has requested all games .. Shield, Sword and Lets Go Pikachu .. they all get very mixed reviews and its getting a bit confusing!!.. I'm only willing to get him one .. which one would you recommend? thanks in advance!

Irish Halo · 04-12-2019 3:14pm

The Pokemon games are, nearly, always released in pairs (Red & Blue, Sun & Moon, Gold & Silver etc.) In these pairs the core game is the same with some minor differences between them.

Pokemon Sword & Pokemon Shield is the latest pair, released a few weeks ago.

Let's Go Pikachu! and Let's Go Evee! were the previous pair, released a year ago. They are also a remake of an older game with a significant nostalgia factor, incorporating aspects of the TV show and connect with Pokemon Go! the mobile phone game.

Buying the latest is the best ideas so just get Sword or Shield. I don't know how to choose which one there's no real difference.

Scarlet42 · 04-12-2019 5:25pm

thanks for the response!

ERG89 · 04-12-2019 5:36pm

Scarlet42 wrote: »

some advice please. ... my son (age 11) has requested all games .. Shield, Sword and Lets Go Pikachu .. they all get very mixed reviews and its getting a bit confusing!!.. I'm only willing to get him one .. which one would you recommend? thanks in advance!

Let's Go plays different from Sword or Shield but pick up Sword to be honest.
Sword & Shield are essentially the same game bar a few differences in the pokemon that appear & one of the gyms. Don't buy him both as it's a waste. He can trade Pokemon that are in Shield with friends for free but the online mode requires a Nintendo Online subscription.

tbahh · 07-12-2019 1:02am

I've finished the main portion of the game and I don't really feel the *need* to go back and play more. I've played every main game in the series (bar Ultra Sun/Moon as I didn't have my 3ds with me when it was released and haven't been tempted to pick it up, either)

Ever since X and Y, I feel that there's a lot less heart put into the Pokémon main game series. I noted some slight improvements in Sun and Moon as it made more of an effort to get back to the roots of what got me interested in Pokémon (travelling around, catching new Pokemon, etc) but with Sword and Shield, I felt rather dejected playing it. You would think that the better the capabilities of the console, the better the main Pokémon games would be, but it's not the case with GameFreak

Here are a few points about the games that come to mind:
- Galar is empty. For example, there are so many hotels and all you can access is the ground floor. I love going on different sidequests in Pokémon games but there are hardly any in SWSH. Also the caves suck. I do like what they've done with the towns but there's not really much to do in them. And sure,

Wyndon is big, as the NPCs there keep telling me but it's not like the cities in Gen 5 or 6

- The storyline was okay, a bit generic and too much focus on dynagigantwhoreallygivesadamaxing as it's surely to be gone come next generation. I really wish they'd avoid these gimmicks as they're not needed (apart from Mega Evolutions, which I'll let pass as lots of them are quite cool)
- I miss

not having the Elite Four, it's cool the layout of the Champion Cup but I would have preferred to fight new people other than Leon and not a bunch of old gym leaders. I do like most of the cast, Sonia gives me some Misty vibes and Opal is a cool glam gran

- It really needs voice acting, it feels a bit empty when talking with others as all you hear is click, click, click. All the Pokémon need to have their own sounds too, like Pikachu and Eevee
- The wild area is fun, but very under-cooked. This game probably started development after BoTW's release and still this two-and-a-half years old game outshines SWSH. I like the 360 degree view in the wild area, why couldn't this have been done for the whole game?
- I really enjoyed the design of the new Pokémon, especially

Galarian Meowth and Persserker

and I wouldn't be too surprised if

Rillaboom

joins the fight next year for SSBU. There are a few duds

Coalossal and Indeedee

, of course, but this gen has pleased me the most in recent years. Also pleased with Galarian forms branching out to other generations other than Gen 1
- Dexit - should not have happened, it's a slap in the face for those playing over the years. i understand not putting every Pokémon in but not having the ability to trade them over is pretty sad, especially as they'll be soon stuck in Pokémon Prison Home
-I know everyone isn't a fan of not being able to turn off EXPshare but I simply used it to have a team of like 20 Pokémon, exclusively made up of either new ones or regional forms.

It's obvious this game was rush-released for the big 2019 Nintendo game. While it is doing marvellously-well saleswise, I hope future generations will put right the wrongs of what Gen VIIi has committed. I think we're well off the real open-air Pokémon game that fans really want, probably not until Gen 10, if ever...

29-05-2020 2:54pm

I'm playing sword now. Went with water type. It's so mad to see the fight moves vertically and i think they tell you if something is effective or not in the move!

RobbingBandit · 29-05-2020 4:06pm

Starting shield soon finished sword months ago am planning to get the dlc as soon as it's out

29-05-2020 4:36pm

This Hop lad is a bit of a noob

RobbingBandit · 29-05-2020 4:45pm

Yup just try to get through the fmvs the wild area is what it's all about

30-05-2020 9:55am

Farfetchd looks a lot angrier than i remember!

sligeach · 02-06-2020 2:51pm

[Official] "Pokemon Sword Shield Expansion Pass" promotion video(Japanese)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK0e03X9txs

https://youtube.com/watch?v=MK0e03X9txs

Releases on 17th June.

Edit: English trailer now available.

Explore the Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra with the Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield Expansion Pass!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QZIuug-Am0

https://youtube.com/watch?v=7QZIuug-Am0

RobbingBandit · 02-06-2020 6:35pm

bluewolf wrote: »

Farfetchd looks a lot angrier than i remember!

Yeah he used to be smug now very stern look

RobbingBandit · 02-06-2020 6:37pm

Looking forward to the dlc looks a much better playtrough than the abysmal post game was.

Lord TSC · 03-06-2020 11:07am

Have they said how its going to work in terms of...do you need to start from scratch with team building, or is it balanced for Level 100 teams?

I played this a few weeks back, finished the pokedex, and got my team up to max levels. But I've also got a shiney Riolu I bred, and a tonne of level 1 guys, so I'd actually love the excuse to start afresh :P

RobbingBandit · 03-06-2020 11:19am

Bit curious too if it's a stand alone here's your new team type situation good but I'm thinking it'll be gold and silver type of here's a whole new setup but you can use what you've already acquired.

Doff · 03-06-2020 11:22am

I seen the Japanese trailer, got hyped to watch the English one, then realized there was no talking in either of them

With the expansion having over 200 Pokemon it would be interesting if we had to start again. Party gets forced into the PC and unable to withdraw from PC on the new island until you finish the story.

BurnUp78 · 04-06-2020 2:50pm

Pokemon games really need to bring in voice acting to add some life into the world. Gym leaders, villains and player rivals would be so much more memorable if they had their own voice. Would also be nice if the player character stopped being a smiling mute for the entirety of the journey...

Doff · 04-06-2020 4:00pm

BurnUp78 wrote: »

Would also be nice if the player character stopped being a smiling mute for the entirety of the journey...

Smiling and saying nothing while in a new region is probably the most realistic thing about pokemon :P

Red Silurian · 04-06-2020 4:06pm

Doff wrote: »

I seen the Japanese trailer, got hyped to watch the English one, then realized there was no talking in either of them

With the expansion having over 200 Pokemon it would be interesting if we had to start again. Party gets forced into the PC and unable to withdraw from PC on the new island until you finish the story.

But the party is still available for max raids and if you return to the galar mainland... Think I'd like that

Redzer7 · 04-06-2020 5:36pm

How many shiny pokemon has everyone got? Think I've 4 or 5 from what I can remember, shiny Charmander from breeding (now Charizard) and then Hitmonlee and Mr Rime from battling in the wild off the top of my head.

Lord TSC · 05-06-2020 8:21pm

Shiny Riolu from breeding on Sword.

After that, I've got a Virizion thats legit. He's pink and beautiful :P

I've got a hacked Celebi I got a decade ago, and an obviously hacked Jolteon and Kingdra from mystery trades.

05-06-2020 8:24pm

I haven't done the raids or trades online or anything with it yet.
Still only got a few noob pokemon. I think it's 50

CastorTroy · 16-06-2020 3:16pm

https://twitter.com/PokemonNewsUK/status/1272880764397465601

Trainers, get ready for some Pokémon news!

Tune in tomorrow at 2 p.m. BST for #PokemonPresents!

tbahh · 16-06-2020 4:13pm

CastorTroy wrote: »

https://twitter.com/PokemonNewsUK/status/1272880764397465601

Interesting that they didn't call it a Direct! Maybe an expanded look at DLC as they weren't happy with the pre-orders sales so far? They don't specifically say Sword & Shield but it would be odd not to focus on them seeing as it's their DLC release date and it's a rather monumental time for the series.

I could also see them announcing a new game like they did with Mystery Dungeon a couple of months back. Maybe Let's Go Johto! Or a Smash reveal? The ARMS character might need more development time so they've decided to up the release of Pokémon fighter!

Might also have something to do with Pokémon Go! but they don't really tend to get these types of presentations!

Nicetrustedcup · 17-06-2020 5:47pm

Anyone pick up the dlc and is it worth while ?

Doff · 17-06-2020 8:14pm

Nicetrustedcup wrote: »

Anyone pick up the dlc and is it worth while ?

Story takes about 2 hours to complete, island is nice but it gets very old very fast. Enjoying it so far, but I'm already at the stage of the story where its just filling the pokedex

Nicetrustedcup · 18-06-2020 1:41am

Doff wrote: »

Story takes about 2 hours to complete, island is nice but it gets very old very fast. Enjoying it so far, but I'm already at the stage of the story where its just filling the pokedex

2hours long that’s a no from me in regards to picking it up

Thanks

Doctor Jimbob · 18-06-2020 9:25am

Nicetrustedcup wrote: »

Anyone pick up the dlc and is it worth while ?

It's short, but the area is really well designed IMO. Considering there's still another DLC included in the pass to be released I think it's decent value if you enjoyed the base game. If you didn't, it's probably not worth it.

raze_them_all_ · 19-06-2020 12:28pm

My only gripe is it's too easy to catch pokemon, 2-3 master balls easily catches full health lvl 60s

raze_them_all_ · 19-06-2020 12:30pm

Redzer7 wrote: »

How many shiny pokemon has everyone got? Think I've 4 or 5 from what I can remember, shiny Charmander from breeding (now Charizard) and then Hitmonlee and Mr Rime from battling in the wild off the top of my head.

A ton from breeding, greninja, embor, infernape, the 3 original starters, garados, good few others, really need to transfer them

sligeach · 21-06-2020 5:47am

RUMOR: DATAMINERS DISCOVER THE FULL LIST OF RETURNING POKEMON FOR THE CROWN TUNDRA DLC

https://nintendosoup.com/rumor-dataminers-discover-the-full-list-of-returning-pokemon-for-the-crown-tundra-dlc/

Redzer7 · 21-06-2020 6:59pm

Need a few more to complete the Isle of Armour pokedex if anyone can help me out, currently need;
1. Alakazam
2. Emolga
3. Politoed
4. Skrlep
5. Draglage
6. Clawitzer
7. Clauncher
8. Kingdra
9. Porygon Z
10. Porygon 2
11. Zarude

Have Shield so if anyone needs anything back I can help.

Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield

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