Pokédex leaks are some of the easiest fakes to make, as they don't require any technical skill, just some imagination. I'm pretty sure every single "full Pokédex leak" I've ever seen has been fake.
And regarding the graphics of this game, I'm not really sure what to think. I'd say the look of it could definitely be better, though. The Wild Area looks awfully drab for reasons I can't quite put my finger on. Maybe it's the ground textures, and
how abruptly asset models like rocks and trees jut out of the smooth plane of the ground. Maybe it's the way certain textures try too hard, yet still fail, to compensate for the low-poly terrain model, especially noticeable
on cliff faces. Maybe it's the way models seem to be plonked
quite sparingly into a fairly empty overworld map. Or how
incredibly dull and
monochrome everything becomes
when it rains. Or at
certain other times,
for that matter. Far too often, a single colour fills the entire screen. There was a vibrancy in the overworld of BotW (and the mini-worlds of Odyssey - or heck,
Super Mario Sunshine) that's completely absent in Sword and Shield.
But I think what irks me the most about SwSh's overworld is how claustrophobic it appears. It always feels like you're boxed in, there's never a horizon, just a huge wall blocking your view just a few dozen meters away. Even
the most scenic vistas have you looking
straight into cliffs in the middle distance. The entire Wild Area is a plain lowered into the ground, bordered by tall mountains, tall city walls, tall forests, tall hills ... the geography appears to be specifically designed not to give you any good views. Look at the
Galar region map, all the places you can traverse are low valleys and walled cities. It's clear that the designers don't want the hassle of making a good-looking horizon where the skybox hits the ground, and designed the terrain to obscure that line from players as much as possible.
And that's just the Wild Area, it goes double or triple for everywhere else. The cities in particular are a claustrophobic nightmare. From what we've seen, the camera always stays at ground level, so you can't look out over the buildings. The cities are walled, so you can't look out between the buildings either. For all intents and purposes, every city scene is an indoor scene.
Same goes for the Routes, many of which seem to follow low valleys for some unknown reason (just kidding, it's obviously the aforementioned reasons), and I believe the fixed top-down camera will feel extra restrictive here. Take
this screenshot, for instance, where the road is a pleasant path following a low ravine high up in the hills. The view must be really nice up there, if you could stray off the path a little or rotate the camera, but you're stuck looking up and down the ravine instead.
Or here, where the view from outside the Gym must be spectacular (
look at the map again) but you'll probably be stuck looking at the character watching the view instead of seeing the view yourself. It's like going to the top of Empire State Building only to face the interior walls the whole time.
So yeah, Galar just fails to be a likable place to me. At least so far, it appears to lack vibrancy, lack good scenery, lack the freedom to explore, and lack a good way to take it all in. Other, comparable Switch games are made to let you take in the overworld, there are scenic spots and sightlines (BotW is in a class of its own here, but even the aforementioned
Sunshine for the Game Cube let you admire the view of Isle Delfino from somewhere in every level), while Sword and Shield seem restrictive and somewhat lifeless. That being said, maybe the experience will be different when we actually get to play the games and see the camera move under our control.
