Pokemon Sword 2018 Beta Leaked....???

[Siggu]

Keeping up with the tweet thread since it gives the highlights of the stream, it's really fascinating to see the game in an "almost but not quite...." state like this.

Like this is surreal. Reminds me of seeing the "block out" prototype maps of gen 1, but at a poitn where they're starting to fill it in with actual assets.

Why does it remind me so much of Super Mario 64?

AND WHY DID THEY REMOVE THE MINIMAP---

And it's intriguing they betatested the game with some Pokémon that ultimately didn't make the cut. Even with the supposed issue they had in porting the models, you'd think they'd keep the ones that were already done...

 

[Kurona]

Why does it remind me so much of Super Mario 64?

AND WHY DID THEY REMOVE THE MINIMAP---

And it's intriguing they betatested the game with some Pokémon that ultimately didn't make the cut. Even with the supposed issue they had in porting the models, you'd think they'd keep the ones that were already done...

Most of these Pokémon are just one part of multi-pokemon families... but then you’ve got Ekans and Arbok both being here.

I reckon it’s partly down to needing to make a new Dynamax model (and cry) for everything.

 

[R_N]

The Pokemon are only partially implemented to begin with so I assume they just grabbed some pokemon of varying body types (we've got dogs, we've got long necked dinosaurs, we've got snakes, we've got thick turtles, we've got pikachu, we are all over the place here) and movement types and plopped them in without much regard otherwise. Good way to at a glance see how they move around the world and intersect with each other, like in camp.

 

[Goatee McGee]

New content. Build is from May 2018.

Another early Title Screen (No pokemon, just after effects)

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1319277994267951106

Hop's house is final, Menu icons scroll, and Character Customization is in

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1319278974543917056

Teddiursa Backpack buddy. We saw this before in other builds, but we have a clearer look. The Teddiursa line is not in the final game.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1319279233235963904

Early Glimwood and Stow-on-Side. Random Encounters were apart of the game.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1319281036463804416

Monostoke and Trace model

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1319282740244615168

 

[Kurona]

Certain things like random encounters I could definitely see as placeholders until they were able to integrate the fairly new system of symbol encounters... but that Teddiursa pin. Oof.

 

[Goatee McGee]

Beta Gym Badges. Some of them look rough, but the Ghost badge is brown for some reason (Rock and Ice gym in the same game?)

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1319285277530050561

 

[Siggu]

I was wondering why they would use Stakataka of all things in the beta... but then I realized it's pretty much a walking hitbox :P

 

[pokemon4eva]

Beta Gym Badges. Some of them look rough, but the Ghost badge is brown for some reason (Rock and Ice gym in the same game?)

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1319285277530050561

Could it be that the desertic Stow on Side was going to be the Rock gym? I mean, Ghost seems like a good fit too due to the nearby ruins and haunted forest, but Fighting always seemed like a weird choice to me.

 

[R_N]

Going back to early game dev discussion, note how there's "only" been 2 months of work between the 2 builds, but it's already a pretty firm step up

game development: its wild!

 

[Goatee McGee]

You can remove pokemon outlines. Also Rotom bike isn't as dorky as in the final game.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1319288272955142146

 

[Siggu]

Going back to early game dev discussion, note how there's "only" been 2 months of work between the 2 builds, but it's already a pretty firm step up

game development: its wild!

Alternate hypothesis: Let's Go was pretty much complete so they got a much-needed increase in their dedicated team.

 

[Kurona]

We not gonna talk about this? Were you able to have following Pokémon, and customise at least Pikachu like in LGPE?

 

[R_N]

We not gonna talk about this? Were you able to have following Pokémon, and customise at least Pikachu like in LGPE?

I kind of assumed this was a holdover from Let's Go debugging tools

 

[Goatee McGee]

Tips so you get lost and checkerboard land (they tried adding Unova into game, but the polygons got in the way).

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1319291923127955461

 

[Rapti]

Teddiursa Backpack buddy. We saw this before in other builds, but we have a clearer look. The Teddiursa line is not in the final game.

I hate that this isn't in the game, you have no idea how much I hate that this isn't in the game

How weird. I thought that the ratings for the anime in Japan have been on a downward spiral since Best Wishes-XY, so I'm not sure if it really influenced that much on game sales. I heard SM was popular enough in Japan to rise it up again, though.

I meant Asia in general; Pokemon has been fluctuating in popularity in japan in the last 7 years or so; Yo-kai Watch really hurted it, but Pokemon Go really did give a resurgence to the whole franchise

 

[Goatee McGee]

Beta Items like an Aerodactyl Heart(?) Let's Go either predates Ultra Sun & Moon or were made concurrently. Storyboards are included and they feature the opening cutscene from Sword and Shield. The main difference is that Chairman Rose sends out a Copperajah instead of a Cufant as in the final game.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1319299927835553792

 

[Goatee McGee]

I hate that this isn't in the game, you have no idea how much I hate that this isn't in the game


I meant Asia in general; Pokemon has been fluctuating in popularity in japan in the last 7 years or so; Yo-kai Watch really hurted it, but Pokemon Go really did give a resurgence to the whole franchise

Sword and Shield had Backpack buddies of the starters as a pre-order bonus. How much you wanna beat that that would have been feature you could customize in game?

 

[Goatee McGee]

There was an earlier screen cap where a Beedrill can be seen placed into a Tree rather awkwardly. Something similar happens with Blastoise being under a Bridge in the hometown you start in. I'm kinda sad that the game is missing this kind of soul.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1319303421355266049

 

[AtlasFlame18]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1319361410665750528

Apparently this is from a May 2018 version of Sword/Shield

 

[Worldie]

Apparently this is from a May 2018 version of Sword/Shield

Call me weird but I like those pink menus and buttons way more than the super simplistic white ones of the actual SwSh release.

It's not that the SwSh UI is bad, but it feels... idk maybe I'm too much lost in being a degenerate weeb.

 

[Pikachu315111]

How has no one posted the beta Gym Leader music? Unlike other beta music which is slightly different, they actually had some notable differences like voice clips (~WOO!~) and pace of music!

Here's part 1:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1319114635644182528

And Part 2:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1319115213074026496

EDIT: Here's it on Youtube:

Also more cutscene storyboard:

• Opening Cutscene (a lot of notable things like Rose was supposed to walk out, Oleana placing a mic on him, numerous camera jumps like Rose appearing on stadium screens, etc.. It was going to originally be a more complex cutscene)
• Gym Leader Introduction (No major difference, though looked like they were planning on each Gym Leader to have a little info box about them appear on the top corner of the screens)
• Gym Challengers Walk Out Into Stadium (Not only are you in normal clothes but Bede and Marnie was going to have the camera focus on them; Bede even giving your player a side annoyed glance. Also the challengers would have lined up opposite of the Gym Leaders, Rose in the middle making wide gestures. Also the storyboard animation only has the Sword Gym Leaders, but here are the storyboards for Allister and Melony)

"But here is the most important piece of beta news yet:

BETA WOOLOO!

OR rather the sheep models that are supposed to look like Wooloo far off in the distance.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1319409469462351873

 

[R_N]

This IS a banger, but I think some of it is a bit off in spots and I think I can see the logic in lowering the intensity a bit to give the dynamax/last pokemon portion more oomph in comparison.

 

[Siggu]

BETA WOOLOO!

OR rather the sheep models that are supposed to look like Wooloo far off in the distance.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1319409469462351873

So we can assume Wooloo is one of the earliest Gen 8 designs. Outside of details, it's pretty much the real deal.

(But then again, Wooloo doesn't look much different from a sheep so...)

 

[DreamPrince]

you severely underestimate the importance of a feature like Camp when it comes to the main audience (japanese kids).

It's one of their biggest selling points.

If that's really the case, its quite surprising that we haven't had a dedicated pet simulator for Pokemon. You know, a dedicated game to taking care of your Pokemon: Like Amie, Refresh, Camp but enhanced to be something like Nintendo Dogs + Cats.

Now I really want a Nintendo Dogs + Cats but with 898 Pokemon avalible as pets. Who doesn't want to pet the Bird that can kill everything at will?

 

[Plague von Karma]

If that's really the case, its quite surprising that we haven't had a dedicated pet simulator for Pokemon. You know, a dedicated game to taking care of your Pokemon: Like Amie, Refresh, Camp but enhanced to be something like Nintendo Dogs + Cats.

Now I really want a Nintendo Dogs + Cats but with 898 Pokemon avalible as pets. Who doesn't want to pet the Bird that can kill everything at will?

Well...this exists.