Or people could import them from Home without buying the Expansions. It's no less a paywall than Pokemon Bank was.
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Sword & Shield **Official news only** DLC Crown Tundra 22nd October
- Thread starter DHR-107
- Start date
So i was reading the main site when this little jewel caught my eye:
So this is pretty huge. We already have TRs and Tzms, and not only are their even more moves we can learn, but brand new ones entirely?!
So this is pretty huge. We already have TRs and Tzms, and not only are their even more moves we can learn, but brand new ones entirely?!
According to the news, there will be 200+ Pokemon added, so a minimum of 600.
CTNC
Doesn't know how to attack
And I thought catching the Third Legendary as part of the plot would be the biggest sign for no third version.
Regional Legendaries... Interesting. It confirms that the Bird Trio, probably along with some others, aren't one of a kind in the game's lore. I know it was known in the anime, (which is practically official anyway) but it's cool to have it confirmed in game sense there's only one per game.
Articuno's Typing is the hardest to guess. My first thought was Ice/Psychic, but between being gray and Game Freak probably wanting it to be good, I'm thinking Ice/Steel now. Also, Mr. Rime was Psychic/Ice and I think they've been avoiding making new Pokemon that are outclass old ones. (unless they're already outclassed) Still, I'm not completely sure. It's graceful enough that I only feel 95% like a wishlister for throwing out Ice/Fairy. The idea of Pure Ice that crossed my mind, on the other hand, 99%.
I really want Zapdos to be Electric/Fighting, but after seeing Electric/Ground guessed, I'm thinking it's Electric/Ground. Then again, it's legs look pretty strong. Either way, I feel safe guessing it will have high Attack and Speed.
For the sake of guessing anything other than Fire/Dark for Moltres, I'm throwing out Fire/Ghost... Actually, the more I look at it the more I think Fire/Ghost. Between the glowing head, unusual color flames, wavy wings and plumage, and I think a split tail I'm starting to think I'd be surprised if it was Fire/Dark.
Regional Legendaries... Interesting. It confirms that the Bird Trio, probably along with some others, aren't one of a kind in the game's lore. I know it was known in the anime, (which is practically official anyway) but it's cool to have it confirmed in game sense there's only one per game.
Articuno's Typing is the hardest to guess. My first thought was Ice/Psychic, but between being gray and Game Freak probably wanting it to be good, I'm thinking Ice/Steel now. Also, Mr. Rime was Psychic/Ice and I think they've been avoiding making new Pokemon that are outclass old ones. (unless they're already outclassed) Still, I'm not completely sure. It's graceful enough that I only feel 95% like a wishlister for throwing out Ice/Fairy. The idea of Pure Ice that crossed my mind, on the other hand, 99%.
I really want Zapdos to be Electric/Fighting, but after seeing Electric/Ground guessed, I'm thinking it's Electric/Ground. Then again, it's legs look pretty strong. Either way, I feel safe guessing it will have high Attack and Speed.
For the sake of guessing anything other than Fire/Dark for Moltres, I'm throwing out Fire/Ghost... Actually, the more I look at it the more I think Fire/Ghost. Between the glowing head, unusual color flames, wavy wings and plumage, and I think a split tail I'm starting to think I'd be surprised if it was Fire/Dark.
somewhere on the website it says that the evo isn't based off of game version
What with the Slowpoke being Lv 12 and all, I’m wondering if they might (for the initial playthrough of the story) limit you to Pokemon available in the DLC, so as to stop people from just steamrolling it with their LV 100’s. I doubt it would happen and I’m not one who’s gonna bring in my LV 100’s but it’d be nice for them to have a failsafe imo.
Something Yung Dramp's count has made me realised is that it's worth tempering our expectations when it comes to newly returning Pokémon. Of the 200+ number they gave us, they've already revealed 85 (including slowpoke). If we assume they're not counting the 35 already in SwSh's code like Mewtwo and Rowlet, that number goes up to 119 (not counting Mew).
I think to make these expansions have an interesting variety of Pokémon, they'll use that remaining ~100 or so on, well, normal Pokémon; so don't expect to see the remaining starters -- after all, that's 45 Pokémon in total.
I think to make these expansions have an interesting variety of Pokémon, they'll use that remaining ~100 or so on, well, normal Pokémon; so don't expect to see the remaining starters -- after all, that's 45 Pokémon in total.
This is a huge conundrum from both sides no matter how you spin it: on one side, it opens the door for added content, new ideas and structures, betterment of the existing environment, etc... but on the other side, it opens an entire new world of unfinished, rushed games from which content is cut to be kept for future DLCs. It opens up to perennially unfinished games that cost 90 to 120 USD/€/whatever to be played properly. Nothing egregiously outlandish from a pricing standpoint, especially after going the live service route now, but still something to consider.
I went out of my way in the Dexit thread to think about the model could be shuffled, and separate, different expansions for different games could be one of the answers. Have VASTLY different rosters between versions (and respective expansions) to enhance trading, player interaction and rewards, instead of releasing two carbon copies of the same game where some leftover ink dropped somewhere in Sword/White/Sun and some other ink in Shield/Black/Moon.
Yes, they can take their time to develop a full new installment now. Or, else, they can half-bake perennially and have the complete games, with full Dexes and all features de-facto during only the last year of a game's life cycle. It's a double-edged sword that hits all live service games, unfortunately. Some of the new content is suspect at least, as you said.
I have seen this happen in different games (that had good and bad releases, mediocre to great DLCs, and content inconsistencies) and I will say this: critique and fair assessment work. Amidst the awe the playerbase is in right now (myself included, I'm very positively surprised, even though technically I'm not a current player) we must remember to point out flaws, do our best to communicate dissatisfaction (as well as satisfaction) in the best possible way because despite all the positives this new model adoption implies, the most blatant downside is that the slippery slope can easily get slippier. And I think you, maybe accidentally, pointed some dangers out further down in your post.
We will never know if they had this major content drop scheduled all along, if they added more Pokemon than planned, or if they did not a 180 but maybe a 90 turn: my guess is that the truth is in between (schedule wise, it opens the door to both interpretations or a mix of that - I won't clog the thread because it would take a night time, but at least the first DLC's release schedule is suspect in this regard).
What I know is this: they could have had much better PR if they only had hinted at this previously, so I guess at least some backtracking was made. Or more effort to provide a better game experience for us all. Your pick.
Now we should focus on the other aspects of the games that I've seen critiqued: handholding, barren locations, lackadaisical postgame... we're not getting new or better animations for existing Mons. Oh, and since they've blatantly shown animations and sprites being worked on at a PC (that was a direct response, I feel), I think that it would be the bare minimum for all future Switch games to have all mons included in SwSh at some point in their life cycle. Let's not take the usual two steps forward, one back, thank you.
And this is what I meant with suspect. There is no reasonable justification for at least three of your points.
1) Starters' Gigantamax: new model made from scratch, very likely to be among fans' favorite new shiny toys. How could you not immediately plan to advertise the new generation's gimmick through them? This looks very likely to be intentionally withheld. Bad.
2) Tutor Moves, Apricorns, Exp: tutor for old moves could have been there from the start or in an expanded TR/TM list. I don't have the games (YET, I can finally say it), I am unfamiliar with the specific structure of taught moves, but they could have included extra moves there undoubtedly. Conversely, if they've developed brand new moves in the time being, the more the better. On the other side, both the EXP enhancement and the Apricorns feel withheld or, maybe better (a man can dream), added due to feedback (Apricorn Balls are one of my passions, just take a look at the link in my signature): Apricorn Balls were coded from the beginning (as well as exp, of course) and volume incremental utilization of the same feature is very easy to code.
3) Clothes and Bikes: you said it yourself. Don't know what took so long and finally. They seem to be improving their game in the RPG department. As I said about Dexit: there is no less is more in RPGs. In RPSs, more is more.
About the new Regis: given that Steel is taken, Electric could also represent industrial revolution (regional fit) or the development of widespread lighting (20th centuries). Or it could also be a symbol for Enlightenment (or Renaissance) and Regiryu conversely represent Middle Age (you know, knights, dragons, and the whole mitteleuropean, Witcher-like lore and mythology): another regional fit (Wales, Saint George and the Dragon...). Mind you, I don't know if there are tribute about the aforementioned things already in the game since I don't have them. Food for thought.
Birds are awesome (especially Moltres): I will agree with someone who posted earlier that Fire/Ghost is also in the mix. It's just a dope typing lore wise and fairly underrepresented. Sometimes the line between Ghost and Dark is blurry, it could be both. Or, something else I may consider by looking at especially Articuno, is that they're pulling a Solgaleo, and it's not the Flying type that's dropped, but the not shared one: if that's the case, Psychic Flying and Ground Flying and Ghost Flying could be in the making. Some extra food for thought here as well.
Extra clothes and new battle challenges: same as above. Feel withheld, and finally.
These are the two points that still leave a sour taste in my mouth. It is highly likely that the original wild area could have been as good as the two brand new ones coming, had the games not been pushed out for the holiday cash grab.
HOME needs the details announcement: this is a complementary service, there is no need to be misterious about this one. Come on GF.
All in all, steps in the right directions, but also further evidence (for the ones willing to see it) that the games were rushed and released in an incomplete state to the detriment of consumers. The new model feels more apt to a live service AAA title and GF has probably finally realized that they need to up their value proposition to meet not the demands of the unbearable fans but at least industry standards. One could argue that we should have been here in November 2019, but there's no denying I finally have good feelings about the future and not an underlying frustration while keeping playing USUM. Kudos. In moderation and still alert to sounds (no pun intended), but kudos nonetheless.
I went out of my way in the Dexit thread to think about the model could be shuffled, and separate, different expansions for different games could be one of the answers. Have VASTLY different rosters between versions (and respective expansions) to enhance trading, player interaction and rewards, instead of releasing two carbon copies of the same game where some leftover ink dropped somewhere in Sword/White/Sun and some other ink in Shield/Black/Moon.
Yes, they can take their time to develop a full new installment now. Or, else, they can half-bake perennially and have the complete games, with full Dexes and all features de-facto during only the last year of a game's life cycle. It's a double-edged sword that hits all live service games, unfortunately. Some of the new content is suspect at least, as you said.
I have seen this happen in different games (that had good and bad releases, mediocre to great DLCs, and content inconsistencies) and I will say this: critique and fair assessment work. Amidst the awe the playerbase is in right now (myself included, I'm very positively surprised, even though technically I'm not a current player) we must remember to point out flaws, do our best to communicate dissatisfaction (as well as satisfaction) in the best possible way because despite all the positives this new model adoption implies, the most blatant downside is that the slippery slope can easily get slippier. And I think you, maybe accidentally, pointed some dangers out further down in your post.
We will never know if they had this major content drop scheduled all along, if they added more Pokemon than planned, or if they did not a 180 but maybe a 90 turn: my guess is that the truth is in between (schedule wise, it opens the door to both interpretations or a mix of that - I won't clog the thread because it would take a night time, but at least the first DLC's release schedule is suspect in this regard).
What I know is this: they could have had much better PR if they only had hinted at this previously, so I guess at least some backtracking was made. Or more effort to provide a better game experience for us all. Your pick.
Now we should focus on the other aspects of the games that I've seen critiqued: handholding, barren locations, lackadaisical postgame... we're not getting new or better animations for existing Mons. Oh, and since they've blatantly shown animations and sprites being worked on at a PC (that was a direct response, I feel), I think that it would be the bare minimum for all future Switch games to have all mons included in SwSh at some point in their life cycle. Let's not take the usual two steps forward, one back, thank you.
And this is what I meant with suspect. There is no reasonable justification for at least three of your points.
1) Starters' Gigantamax: new model made from scratch, very likely to be among fans' favorite new shiny toys. How could you not immediately plan to advertise the new generation's gimmick through them? This looks very likely to be intentionally withheld. Bad.
2) Tutor Moves, Apricorns, Exp: tutor for old moves could have been there from the start or in an expanded TR/TM list. I don't have the games (YET, I can finally say it), I am unfamiliar with the specific structure of taught moves, but they could have included extra moves there undoubtedly. Conversely, if they've developed brand new moves in the time being, the more the better. On the other side, both the EXP enhancement and the Apricorns feel withheld or, maybe better (a man can dream), added due to feedback (Apricorn Balls are one of my passions, just take a look at the link in my signature): Apricorn Balls were coded from the beginning (as well as exp, of course) and volume incremental utilization of the same feature is very easy to code.
3) Clothes and Bikes: you said it yourself. Don't know what took so long and finally. They seem to be improving their game in the RPG department. As I said about Dexit: there is no less is more in RPGs. In RPSs, more is more.
About the new Regis: given that Steel is taken, Electric could also represent industrial revolution (regional fit) or the development of widespread lighting (20th centuries). Or it could also be a symbol for Enlightenment (or Renaissance) and Regiryu conversely represent Middle Age (you know, knights, dragons, and the whole mitteleuropean, Witcher-like lore and mythology): another regional fit (Wales, Saint George and the Dragon...). Mind you, I don't know if there are tribute about the aforementioned things already in the game since I don't have them. Food for thought.
Birds are awesome (especially Moltres): I will agree with someone who posted earlier that Fire/Ghost is also in the mix. It's just a dope typing lore wise and fairly underrepresented. Sometimes the line between Ghost and Dark is blurry, it could be both. Or, something else I may consider by looking at especially Articuno, is that they're pulling a Solgaleo, and it's not the Flying type that's dropped, but the not shared one: if that's the case, Psychic Flying and Ground Flying and Ghost Flying could be in the making. Some extra food for thought here as well.
Extra clothes and new battle challenges: same as above. Feel withheld, and finally.
These are the two points that still leave a sour taste in my mouth. It is highly likely that the original wild area could have been as good as the two brand new ones coming, had the games not been pushed out for the holiday cash grab.
HOME needs the details announcement: this is a complementary service, there is no need to be misterious about this one. Come on GF.
All in all, steps in the right directions, but also further evidence (for the ones willing to see it) that the games were rushed and released in an incomplete state to the detriment of consumers. The new model feels more apt to a live service AAA title and GF has probably finally realized that they need to up their value proposition to meet not the demands of the unbearable fans but at least industry standards. One could argue that we should have been here in November 2019, but there's no denying I finally have good feelings about the future and not an underlying frustration while keeping playing USUM. Kudos. In moderation and still alert to sounds (no pun intended), but kudos nonetheless.
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Being pedantic here because it will obviously be in, but has Regigigas actually been confirmed? The others are confirmed because we've seen pictures of them in the direct -- I don't think there has been an explicit confirmation of "all legendaries", but rather that all legendaries except for Regigigas have been exhaustively separately confirmed.
It's very weird, but yes, it's the only non-mythical legendary not explicitly confirmed. Makes me wonder if there's something new to it...
Well if there are two(?) new Regis, maybe there's something for Regigigas coming...
...wait for it....
Regigigamax
Yung Dramps
awesome gaming
Another smaller, potentially coincidental point that could be used to argue that these expansions were pre-meditated a fair amount ahead of time is the Terrain nerf. At the time of being discovered many were confused seeing as the new users SWSH gave to us didn't seem broken at all even with the previous 1.5x boost, but now that we know the Tapus are coming back it makes MUCH more sense.
And yeah, I fully agree with the suspicious lack of any mention of Regigigas, especially considering how prominent the Regis are seemingly set to be in the Isle of Armor. It's also pretty funny that it's a Gen 4 Pokemon, a generation many people feel is due for remakes...
And yeah, I fully agree with the suspicious lack of any mention of Regigigas, especially considering how prominent the Regis are seemingly set to be in the Isle of Armor. It's also pretty funny that it's a Gen 4 Pokemon, a generation many people feel is due for remakes...
I'm positively surprised by all of these news. I didn't watch the direct yesterday but I was surely not expecting them to add DLC to the games. Which I'm actually okay with, I have said so in the past and it still stands. I'm liking the new Pokémon, they look weird as always but I'll probably get used to them eventually. New Galarian forms are also awesome even if most of them are based upon Kanto Pokémon once again... but hey, legendaries with regional variants, that's really cool and unexpected. I don't care much for the new Gigantamax forms as I think Gigantamax was a poorly executed concept, though they still look quite cool. Also, if I have understood things correctly, this DLC means that Dexit is no longer a thing. Which is awesome! I had planned to make a post regarding my thoughts on Dexit and post it in the Dexit thread, but now it looks like I won't have to do that. Maybe I'll write a positive post about how Dexit is now gone instead.
I also like how these DLC packs have several new Pokémon that weren't in S/S originally, several of my favorites are there such as Lycanroc, Garchomp, Magnezone, Azumarill, Zoroark and Volcarona. I also like how we will be able to catch a lot of legendaries since I love being able to catch many legendaries in Pokémon games. Though I wonder if they will do a Pokédex expansion to feature all of these newly added Pokémon or not? I'd also love for the National Dex to make a return but I'm defintely not expecting that. I also wonder what this means for the future of the series, I guess we won't be getting an entire new main series game this year and maybe not a S/S follow-up game either? And will we get a D/P remake at all? Time will tell, I suppose...
Overall I'm very happy about the DLC news and I'll probably get it myself once it releases. I got the game update with the Galarian Slowpoke today, guess I'll "save" it and evolve it once the DLC is out. Also met the girl with pink hair, wonder who she is and what role she will have in everything. And because of Dexit being gone, I guess I might not need to quit Pokémon completely after all. Which I actually happy about. Though I'm still going to quit being a hardcore player, but I guess that's a bit ironic since getting DLC feels very much like a thing for hardcore players. There's a lot more I want to write but I'll skip it since I don't have time to write more right now, maybe later.
I also like how these DLC packs have several new Pokémon that weren't in S/S originally, several of my favorites are there such as Lycanroc, Garchomp, Magnezone, Azumarill, Zoroark and Volcarona. I also like how we will be able to catch a lot of legendaries since I love being able to catch many legendaries in Pokémon games. Though I wonder if they will do a Pokédex expansion to feature all of these newly added Pokémon or not? I'd also love for the National Dex to make a return but I'm defintely not expecting that. I also wonder what this means for the future of the series, I guess we won't be getting an entire new main series game this year and maybe not a S/S follow-up game either? And will we get a D/P remake at all? Time will tell, I suppose...
Overall I'm very happy about the DLC news and I'll probably get it myself once it releases. I got the game update with the Galarian Slowpoke today, guess I'll "save" it and evolve it once the DLC is out. Also met the girl with pink hair, wonder who she is and what role she will have in everything. And because of Dexit being gone, I guess I might not need to quit Pokémon completely after all. Which I actually happy about. Though I'm still going to quit being a hardcore player, but I guess that's a bit ironic since getting DLC feels very much like a thing for hardcore players. There's a lot more I want to write but I'll skip it since I don't have time to write more right now, maybe later.
Ehhh i'd not be so sure that the Tapus have anything to do with it.
After all, Dynamax tecnically gave every pokemon access to terrain, and giving every electric/psychic/grass pokemon an arbitrary +50% bonus damage on top of the Dynamax boost might have been the reason.
Yung Dramps
awesome gaming
Just FYI: Dexit isn't gone. The number they gave for Pokemon being added back in was a bit over 200, which depending on if the currently shown oldies are part of that or not could mean anywhere above or below 600 Pokemon. Better than before, but still not the complete Pokedex.
Other than that, I agree with everything you said, this is absolutely a huge step in the right direction and hopefully it succeeds so we can finally gut the archaic 3rd version for good.
Were that the case, I'd expect Sun and Rain to get nerfed too. Given that they didn't, reasonable to assume that the presence of Tapus in VGC was the main contributing factor.
it uses unity, not chunsoft's own engine like the other past PMD games have all done
Two observations to your post (i always love reading yours):So, due to there being a lot of talk about plus as typing this board has jumped up 5-6 pages, right now just gonna give my quick thoughts (NOTE: definition of "quick" may vary) on the Direct (I know other places has more info, I'll maybe get to them later). Looks like the saved version of the Direct doesn't have that small hiccup they had where they replayed part of the trailer which resulted the Direct being cut short (someone is going to get trouble for that). So, without further ado:
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX:
I don't really play the Mystery Dungeon series but it's nice to see the first game(s) is getting a remake for the fans of it. The art style looks interesting, sort of cel-shaded but made to look like any frame of the game could be from a picture book (infact some parts look like the background is just a 2D image). From what I can tell, they kept to the same story which means only Gen 1-3 Pokemon + Lucario. BUT they do reveal they are adding Mega Evolutions (looks like via a "Empowerment Seed" item) so maybe they will also add in some Pokemon from Gen 4 & beyond (or at least the ones that can Mega Evolve). Also I just remembered the post game story involved Rayquaza destroying a meteor so probably gonna change that up that it needs to Mega Evolve (which may also mean Groudon and Kyogre have their Primal Reversions). But I'll leave any in-depth analysis to a fan of the series. Also I'm shocked to see they restrained themselves by making it one game, then again since the only version exclusive thing was just a handful of Pokemon maybe that's for the best.
Expansion Pass Instead Of Third/Second Paired Versions:
So, yeah, probably the BIGGEST news not just for the direct but implications for the future of the franchise. Instead of doing a Third/Second Paired Versions (like Yellow (which they forgot to mention), Crystal, Emerald, Platinum, B2W2, USUM) they decided to actual do expansions like a MMORPG does! They'd adding in new locations, new features & mechanics, new customization options, and most importantly new Pokemon (both older Pokemon excluded from the Galar Dex and newly made for the expansion (also new forms and regional variants); plus new Moves & Abilities and other connected things like super forms such as Gigantamax). Just seeing this is mindblowing, I thought they'd never do it as it opens the floodgates for all sorts of possibilities... and abuses.
BUT first let's focus on the positive. First off what this means is that the SwSh dex isn't the be all end all, they're adding back 200 Pokemon (we'll talk about that separately) now and future expansions may bring the rest. Speaking of which, there can be future expansions and we're not locked to just the content that the game carts have on them. This includes new Pokemon so they can keep that hype going on almost indefinitely. They can flesh out the mechanics and add more to it, like adding in more Gigantamax Pokemon and exploring the Raid nests as they're doing. Though probably the biggest thing, they can also add back in fan favorite features: Battle Frontier, Mega Evolution (I guess also Z-Moves), Pokemon Contests, etc.. They can even touch up the main game by adding onto existing locations (like make those restaurants all over Galar have a Battle Buffet) and have past characters (or new characters) cameo somewhere (and maybe be added to the Battle Tower or Champion Tournaments). We could even get more post game stories and expansion on characters.
OF course, as I ominously hinted at the end of the first paragraph, there are some cons. First, they've finally done it: they've locked Pokemon behind paid DLC. YES! They are having a free update so you can trade the Pokemon part of the expansion to the main game. However that still means someone at some point has to buy the expansions, eitherway there is a gate between getting these excluded Pokemon that requires money at some point. Now there was a solution to this that wouldn't require putting in new encounter data: make them also available through Raid Battles. But from what I can tell they're not doing that and don't know whether you can participate in Raid Battles from the DLC locations unless you have the expansion. Also, that price. Now I don't think $30 it too much to ask as we're getting both of the new expansions and all the stuff they come with... but if they do another that'll bump up the expansions to $60... and if they do another after that it'll be $90, etc.. Where before the third/second pair versions was a one price time for all the additional content they added into it, these expansions you're going to have to buy a pass for each batch which will add up. Would be nice if they had some free DLC adding neat stuff to SwSh like older Pokemon, added story elements, and character cameos but there's no guarantee.
Also, what this means for the next generation is a big question mark. Would be nice if this means they can now take their time this generation, just having these expansions until the next gen is fully cooked and loaded with content. And that's another thing, now that they can just add in new locations, Pokemon, and characters if they want to make a new gen it's going to have to be loaded with plenty of new content to justify us moving onto a new gen. I'm worried GF may see these expansions as an excuse to push out new gens sooner because they can just add in the rest of the content through expansions... for a price. Also what does this mean for remakes? If they make Sinnoh remakes will it also have its own expansions? Will they make shared expansions? They're already experimenting with "Expansion Exclusive" content which I don't think any other game has done before, and I'm worried if successful if other companies may try to play with the idea putting a black mark against Pokemon for introducing the concept.
The Isle of Armor:
Mustard & His Dojo: Really, "Mustard"? Couldn't think of a better name translation team? Well whatever, he has an interesting backstory being Leon's former mentor and a former Champion. His design is alright if not a bit generic, an old Asian man who is master of a dojo (a completely UK thing).
Klara & Avary: Not sure how I feel about this. As we all know and let down about, we were told Galar has a Gym for each Type. When I first saw these two in the Gym uniforms I thought they were two other Gym Leaders... but turns out they're just other trainers training under Mustard hoping one day to become Gym Leaders of their preferred Type. Like, I think they could have made them both Gym Leaders yet also training under Mustard so next Champion Cup they can become part of the Major League (I mean the player is Champion yet we're gonna train with Mustard so wouldn't be out of the ordinary). Both of them look cool alright. Avery looks to be a stage magician which is fitting for a Psychic-type trainer, like the floating Poke Balls around his hat. I'm actually really liking Klara (NO, not like that, get your mind out of the gutter... oh who am I kidding, the rule 34 artists probably already had their way with her...); I like the subversion of her design where she looks like a bubblegum popstar, someone you'd think would use Fairy-types or something, but she actually uses the noxious Poison-type. Though there's something about her which has me curious, it looks like her bow is based on a Pokemon but there's no Poison-type which it matches to. Could it possibly be a hint there's another new Galarian Pokemon awaiting for us?
Kubfu & Urshifu: The first new Legendary (Mythical?) and it's one that evolves! Mustard at some point will give us Kubfu (curious if there's a story connected to the Expansion or we just get it after completing a few things in the Dojo) and, though they didn't say it, depending what version we have it'll at some point evolve into a Urshifu who practiced a certain style of combat: Sword gets the Fighting/Water Rapid-Strike Style while Shield gets the Fighting/Dark Single-Strike Style. It has a new Ability, each Style has a Signature Move, and each Style also has a Gigantamax with their own unique G-Max. Like, geez, they went all out for this one. They also look alright, Kubfu looks cute with how serious it's trying to be while Urshifu does look like it'll mess you up. The two Styles kind of look too similar to each other, I have to look real close to see the differences (not helped by their stock poses twisting their bodies). Their Gigantamax is a bit better as they're colored differently though now they just look like palette swaps except for the heads (which, is it just me, or do they heads look more wolf-like when Gigantamax?). Actually what animal are they supposed to be, if any? Or did GF just feel like throwing another "daddy" Pokemon out their for the furries? Otherwise not much else to say, not much to even predict. Only thing I can think of is Rapid-Strike's Signature Move being a multi-strike move while Single-Strike is a higher priority one.
Galar Start Gigantamax: Very nice... should have been in the main game. No, seriously, why was this saved for the expansion? Like I understand needing to have Gigantamax for all the important characters in the game, but there was still some extra Gigantamax I think you could have re-ordered priority so that the Galar Starters had the new gen's toy to play with for the story! Now apparently the website has more info on them so going to wait for a post tomorrow to explain my thoughts on them (spoiler, doing the same for the Kanto Starters and Galarian Slowpoke).
Tutor Moves, Apricorns, & Exp. Charm: And this was what I'm talking about adding back in old mechanics! Great we'll have a way easier way to make more Apricorn Poke Balls, maybe even make some new ones (if not create new colors how about this: we can combine two Apricorn color together!). Surprised they are bringing back Tutor Moves, felt like they replaced them with TRs but I'm not complaining about more move availability. Exp. Charm I'm meh on as Candies have pretty much made leveling up your Pokemon a joke.
New Clothes: Yeah! Don't know why it took them this long to do at least this, seems REALLY obvious. And look, they're letting us dress up as characters from the game! Girls get Marnie and guys get... Rose? Really, not Hop or Bede? Feels like they'd save the Rose clothing for when they'd also do a Oleana set for the girls. Hopefully they'd also throw in many of the Trainer Classes clothing as I don't know why those aren't option in the game already.
New Bikes: Ooh, neat! Different style of Rotom bikes! In my personal notes I actually had one customization option idea they could do was letting us customize parts of our bikes, and GF finally did! Well, this looks like they just made a new bike that you can choose the color of (hopefully) while my idea was way more in-depth, but hey I'd take presets over nothing! I'm already liking the look of the new one we were shown and hopefully they have a few other models on top of that.
The Crown Tundra:
Setting: So I'm more excited for this expansion as it's about exploration! Curious why they're being secretive who put you in charge of the exploration team as I think they show the guy at 6:25 in the video. Maybe they're trying to hide he's related to someon... OH, he's Rose's younger brother (that Oleana conveniently mentioned quickly), isn't he? Yeah, comparing the two faced side-by-side they share a strong resemblence; I guess him being all the way out in the Crown Tundra would explain why it was taking so long for Oleana to reach him and him to arrive (though then wouldn't he take over Rose's company or did he just give Leon permission as he wants to explore the Crown Tundra?). Anyway, what I find most interesting is that we're going to explore Max Raid dens; I didn't think there was much else to them aside where Dynamax Pokemon were hiding but apparently there is!
Calyrex: So, I think a tweet showcased on Smogon's front page from T1 | Sejun best puts my thought on this Pokemon's appearance:
What. Were. They. Thinking?! That head DOES NOT go on that body. It looks awful. I think it's too long, it needs to be more like a rabbit's face than a deer's face. And that's not my only confusion about the design. Like, what's with the feet? Why does it have a green pearl necklace with Triforces on them? It's just a mishmash of different designs frankensteined together and not it a good way. I got nothing else to say except Celebi has no need to worry of being replaced as the better Psychic/Grass Mythical Pokemon.
Co-Op Dynamax Legendary Raids: Did you really think we were going to have a generation that didn't do a Legendary Hunt? Oh you sweet, naive child. So, looks like all Legendaries are coming back, curious how they're going to explain them showing up. Also, why have a certain batch of them as Foreign Pokemon in the vanilla SwSh when you're going to have all of them later? Also they've only shown the ones with BST above 600, none of the "trios" aside from two special exceptions (well, five but two as in groups). Will the Kantonian Birds, Beasts, Hoennian Regis, Lake Guardians, and Swords of Justice be available through this? If not, will they be made available at some point and if not through this method then how?
New Regis: So, this was a shock, moreso than the Galarian Birds. Two actually new Regis. SO many thoughts, but let's start with a question: Why Dragon-type? The theme of the Regis is that they represent the three major ages of human civilizations: Stone Age, Ice Age, and Iron Age. Now, an Electric-type can make sense as a representative for the newest age we're currently living in: the Digital Age. But then what age is the Dragon-type one representing? Prehistoric Age, going with the age old dinosaurs =/= dragons? But the Regis are supposed to be manmade, they're based on golems of Jewish mythology which are essentially statues brought to life to serve a purpose (you could even say golems were the first literary example of a programmable robot). One representing a prehistoric age would have to be from an ancient civilization that the world is millions of years old and gone through several stages of life before the human species existed. In comparison them making a Regi out of electricity feels more logical as it would be an example of advancing technology.
Anyway, another curiosity would be what is their stats? The current three pretty much covers all defensive setups, which makes me wonder could these maybe be more offense focused? Like for the Electric-type it's 80/50/100/200/100/50 while the Dragon-type is 80/200/100/50/100/50. Or if they don't want to be so extreme or have it still keep them within their defensive nature, Regishock is 80/50/100/150/150/50 and Regidrake is 80/150/150/50/100/50.
Galarian Birds: And yet another surprise that I'm surprised I didn't think of being an option before: regional variant Legendaries. Ignoring they're using the Gen I Legends to test out this idea, while for the New Regis I'm more interested in their lore for the Galarian Birds I'm more interested in how they're going to change them up cause they sort of can do whatever they want. Like, sure, their stats do have the same number spread (85/85/90/95/100/125) but will they try out a new spread, alter the current numbers making them different and more specialized, or will they rearrange the numbers? Also, their new designs just screams "we've replaced out Flying-type" with something else. Galarian Moltres is now a dark phoenix (hello Jean Grey) and looks like a Fire/Dark-type. Galarian Articuno is probably the least changed, though that could be because of the new Type it is. The tip of its wings now glow and it has a face crest that looks like a long eye mask which it shoots frozen laser beams from; that tells me it's somewhat more technological so Ice/Steel (or is maybe supposed to look more suave and smarter and thus Ice/Psychic). Galarian Zapdos got the biggest change now being based on a roadrunner (hello Chocobo) so I'm guessing Electric/Ground (which maybe mean it'll get Speed Boost for an Ability)!
New Clothes: And to continue on what I said with clothing based on characters from the game, they're also doing characters from past games too! Lysandre's glasses and Ghetsis's monocle, not the first two I would think of but welcomes and hopeful sign of us getting other clothing both more common and as obscure. Also nice we can get Leon's hat, we should have been given it when we became Champion but I won't hold it against Leon. Also we're finally getting an outfit with sponsors, would have preferred Leon's cape but I can now at least pretend more people recognize me as Champion and want me to sponsor their stuff.
New Battle Challenges: Hopefully that means those battles with previous games important characters.
Both Expansions:
Seamless Wild Areas: Neat both expansion areas are Wild Areas of their own! Especially so with Tundra Crown being based on exploration but with Isle of Armor also being one means there will be plenty to explore there as well.
Even More To Do: And hopefully these expansions will show us the potential that the Wild Area has to fully offer and may mean it's staying power in the franchise thus possibly steer where things are going. The Wild Area in SwSh feels like it's the early testing ground, proof they can make a large seamless area where you can encounter wild Pokemon. Now these expansions will actually put locations you can visit as if it's like a modern triple A RPG. Now while I wouldn't want to get rid of traditional routes, at the same time I think for locations like caves and forests they can make into Wild Areas and also have buildings to visit and more NPCs to interact with.
Pokemon HOME:
Available February 2020: And that's all we hear about it aside from "Details Coming Soon"! To think we all came into this thinking this was going to be the major thing they talked about, lol!
They can't add the new Pokemon to Raids because the basic raid rule states that you can only find raids of the ones you've already caught, with the exception of the promoted ones. And they promote GMax or special ones.
Also, the evolution of the new kung fu Panda is not version-exclusive but tied to decisions made during the story, according to the official website.
what?
Pretty sure that isn't the case at all, my first couple forrays into the wild area dens had me come out of it with a Duskull. I don't see a note about this on serebii's max raid page either. Is there a source on that?
Not to mention Pokemon like Ditto which I'm pretty sure *only* appear in raids.
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Having had a look at the information about the new legendaries, I'm actually thinking that in all likelihood, neither of them have a BST over 600, for one simple reason: their height. Urshifu is 6'3" and Calyrex is 3'7".
With the exception of some mega evolutions (and even those nearly always get a significant size buff) and Ash-Greninja, every >600 BST Pokemon has been significantly taller than the average human. Mewtwo itself is 6'7" in its base form, shared with Slaking, and even that is a significant outlier -- every other base form Pokemon with a BST over 600 is at least 9 feet tall. Conversely, legendaries and mythicals have always been under 9 feet, with the singular exception of Therian Thundurus.
It's not impossible that we could have our smallest ever "higher tier" legendaries, but it would be an interesting exception to what has been a remarkably consistent rule up to now.
Ditto shows up at the lake of outrage. It's hard to see sometimes because its so small when it wanders in the grass
That's definitely an interesting correlation but I'lll put this forth as a counter theory based on different correlation: they're the closest thing to "box legendaries" for the DLC. They're part of the logos which are purposely mimicking the sword & shield logos & they got fancy CG revealing them (& even obscuring Urshifu's form with shadows and close camera cuts)
And every box legend either just has 680 (well, 670 for Kyogre/Groudon & the dogs [default]) out of the box or they show off the forms that have the 680+ BST (Kyurem has 660 but B/W Kyurem has 700 and those are on the box; Necrozma has 600 but the boxes display the parasite forms at 680; even the dogs display their 720 forms but again they already had 670 and if Zygarde got his game they'd likely show the 708 BST complete form)
also looking up all the bsts made me realize eternatus had 690 bst. How odd!
e: HOWEVER countercounter theory for at least Urshifu. Urshifu will be allowed in official competitions. Excepting for the special "anything goes" type, they dont allow standard pokemon with above 600 BST in the competitions.
Calyrex doesn't have the same note, though!
Where is this mentioned? If this is true, I'm inclined to agree that it's almost certain to be 600 BST or less.
Calyrex could be a mythical. Wouldn't be the first time a mythical has been initially distributed in a non-event-based way. But then, mythicals are never "box legends", so the designation would be quite arbitrary. And a Psychic/Grass Mythical time-travelling area guardian seems redundant when Celebi exists, whereas we've never had a Grass type box legendary-tier Pokemon before (aside from Arceus). Being the ancient King of Galar, it would make a lot more sense for it to be at least on par with the region's ancient heroes, Zacian and Zamazenta.
The direct, they actively advertise it as after you get your Urshifu, try it out in Online and Official Competitions.
https://swordshield.pokemon.com/en-us/expansionpass/pokemon/
Calryex is categorzied as Legendary
On that evidence, I definitely think Urshifu will be 600 BST and Calyrex will be mascot-tier or higher (and probably a fast special attacker, given its description).
EDIT: Adding to that, it's the box legendary for the expansion pass generally, and the website goes out of its way to point that out.
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My thoughts on DLC vs Third versions are as follows:
I don't think the "Nintendo is hiding some mons behind a paywall" argument is legitimate. Nintendo is hiding all mons behind a paywall; you have to purchase a game or games to get any of them. The question becomes how the paywall is structured. Does it suck I can't bring my Typhlosion from Virtual Console Crystal on 3DS without paying for Home? Yes, I suppose. But I had to pay for VC Pokemon Crystal anyway, and will have to pay for a Home subscription too to transfer.
Also, a $30 Expansion Pass is less expensive than a $60 third entry or remake. People who want to pay can trade me any of the newly coded mons, but I can only catch them myself if I shell out more money. There is more merit to the argument they could have included these mons in the programming all along, but honestly, Sword and Shield is not suffering from a mon diversity problem. I can roll up in the Wild Area and catch many different mons of different types, and even in the routes I just have zero problems identifying a mon I want to catch and raise. There's a biological factoid that you can only really remember 150 people at any given time, the same is true of mons. Once you have 400 to do spawn/catchrates for, it really is enough. Also I can just roll up and catch a Steelix, Gengar, or Machamp without trading or items like Metal Coat. They made catching fully evolved mons (even stone and trade evos) in the postgame Super Easy, Barely An Inconvenience.
DLC and patching in Dexited mons back into the code without making you have to buy another game is an imperfect solution, but one that actually utilizes the modern hardware. Making Dexited mons part of new areas with their own catchrates instead of trying to crowd them into existing ones or rotating them into Galar proper Dens is also a reasonable solution to the diversity issue. There are already areas with 2% catch rates for some mons. Introducing more into the same area means another mon's percentage gets cut.
Obviously a great many criticisms of how this all was handled were warranted, but now we know: Mons not in the original dex can and will be patched into Gen 8. Entirely new mons can and will be patched into Gen 8. You'll have to wait for all of them if you have a particularly obscure favorite (GIVE ME MY AMPHAROS NOW, WOOLOO IS INSUFFICENT. I DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP!) but they will be coming eventually. Sword and Shield did not start as the game we all initially thought it would be, but it could very well end as it because of the hardware they built it on.
I don't think the "Nintendo is hiding some mons behind a paywall" argument is legitimate. Nintendo is hiding all mons behind a paywall; you have to purchase a game or games to get any of them. The question becomes how the paywall is structured. Does it suck I can't bring my Typhlosion from Virtual Console Crystal on 3DS without paying for Home? Yes, I suppose. But I had to pay for VC Pokemon Crystal anyway, and will have to pay for a Home subscription too to transfer.
Also, a $30 Expansion Pass is less expensive than a $60 third entry or remake. People who want to pay can trade me any of the newly coded mons, but I can only catch them myself if I shell out more money. There is more merit to the argument they could have included these mons in the programming all along, but honestly, Sword and Shield is not suffering from a mon diversity problem. I can roll up in the Wild Area and catch many different mons of different types, and even in the routes I just have zero problems identifying a mon I want to catch and raise. There's a biological factoid that you can only really remember 150 people at any given time, the same is true of mons. Once you have 400 to do spawn/catchrates for, it really is enough. Also I can just roll up and catch a Steelix, Gengar, or Machamp without trading or items like Metal Coat. They made catching fully evolved mons (even stone and trade evos) in the postgame Super Easy, Barely An Inconvenience.
DLC and patching in Dexited mons back into the code without making you have to buy another game is an imperfect solution, but one that actually utilizes the modern hardware. Making Dexited mons part of new areas with their own catchrates instead of trying to crowd them into existing ones or rotating them into Galar proper Dens is also a reasonable solution to the diversity issue. There are already areas with 2% catch rates for some mons. Introducing more into the same area means another mon's percentage gets cut.
Obviously a great many criticisms of how this all was handled were warranted, but now we know: Mons not in the original dex can and will be patched into Gen 8. Entirely new mons can and will be patched into Gen 8. You'll have to wait for all of them if you have a particularly obscure favorite (GIVE ME MY AMPHAROS NOW, WOOLOO IS INSUFFICENT. I DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP!) but they will be coming eventually. Sword and Shield did not start as the game we all initially thought it would be, but it could very well end as it because of the hardware they built it on.