Sword & Shield **Official news only** DLC Crown Tundra 22nd October

Legendaries flavour text:

Zacian: "Its shining blade can cut through anything."

Zamazenta: "Its gleaming shield can turn back any attack."

This is a clear reference to the story of the arms merchant who claimed to have both a sword that could pierce any shield, and a shield that could stop any sword. However, when a skeptic asked "then what would happen if you struck the shield with the sword?", the merchant was exposed as a fraud.
 
might be a weird take but I'm actually gonna predict Corviknight to be a pseudo-legend.

It is said that Corviknight is the strongest Pokémon living in the skies of the Galar region. It can often be seen fearlessly soaring through the air. Many say that any Pokémon foolish enough to challenge Corviknight are sent running with just a sharp glare and cry from this fearsome Pokémon. Corviknight possess superb flying skills and high intelligence. Because of this, many of them work for the company called Galar Taxi, helping transport people from town to town.
The Pokedex likes to exaggerate, but it's definite that it will be very strong, and the only screenshots of it are at level 50+. Steel/Flying would be too strong for a generic regional bird, and most said regionals are under four feet (except Noctowl at 5'03" and Pidgeot at 4'11"). This dude is a seven-foot frickin' steel bird. Even if it seems to be somewhat common based on its role in the game, it certainly looks like it could fit the part.


Something about Milo’s design deeply disturbs me
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same
 
might be a weird take but I'm actually gonna predict Corviknight to be a pseudo-legend.

The Pokedex likes to exaggerate, but it's definite that it will be very strong, and the only screenshots of it are at level 50+. Steel/Flying would be too strong for a generic regional bird, and most said regionals are under four feet (except Noctowl at 5'03" and Pidgeot at 4'11"). This dude is a seven-foot frickin' steel bird. Even if it seems to be somewhat common based on its role in the game, it certainly looks like it could fit the part.
... or it could be like Braviary or Mandibuzz - no evolutions.
 
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I was literally just considering posting about Milo's lack of a nose. Perhaps not having a nose means you don't have to worry about allergies, so it's easier to enjoy the company of Grass types? lol
Noses are ugly, that's why they're reduced to nothing but a dot in anime
... or it could be like Braviary or Mandibuzz - no pre-evolutions or evolutions.
...

 
Here is a list with all the old pokemon I could find in the trailer. Some of these pokemon were already confirmed in the previous trailer.

- Steenie
- Sawk
- Bewear
- Wobbufet
- Hippopotas
- Snover
- Rhydon
- Golurk
- Duskull
- Ghastly
- Gyarados
- Frillish
- Stufful
- Bounsweet
- Butterfree
- Mudsdale
- Seismitoad
- Tyranitar
- Avalugg
- Hawlucha
- Milotic
- Mantine
- Mantyke
- Raichu
- Meowstick
- Flygon
- Rotom (some kind of drone version)
- Charizard
- Budew
- Whynaught
- Pangoro
- Grubbin
- Growlith
- Inkay
- Axew
- Snorlax
- Wingul
- Steelix
- Braviary
- Bunnelby
- Weavile
- Clefable
- Dugtrio
- Quagsire

It's a solid list of confirmed pokemon to me. It seems like the pokemon are taken from all generation very equally
... or it could be like Braviary or Mandibuzz - no pre-evolutions or evolutions.
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Finally some new info for the games! I didn't watch the direct this time around, it started at the same time as I stopped working for the day and I did not feel like getting home early just to watch the direct like I did last time. I didn't watch the entire Direct afterwards either, just the trailer and then I read about some things on Serebii and other sites. I have also not read through all the new posts in this thread, so apologies if I'm repeating what others have said.

I didn't want to make a long post this time around, but there were so many things I wanted to comment on, so it became quite long in the end anyway.

- I really like the look of the new region. It looks good, vibrant and varied. I visited London for a short vacation earlier this year, one of the few times in my life I have been in the UK (I have also been to Scotland once in 2006, though I don't remember much from it). It will be interesting to see how the "capital" of the Galar region is compared to its real life counterpart, I guess I'll do a few comparisons once the games are out.
- The new characters look alright. But I'll take a better look at them once I have the game.
- How does the encounter system work? Has it been changed or not? It looked a little different, but still very similar to how it has been in the past. It also seems to be a bit of a combination of the traditional system with tall grass and the LGP/E system with wild Pokémon walking around in the overworld. It has the potential to be very good.
- As always, I think the new Pokémon look really weird. Wooloo and Gossifleur are cute, Eldegoss is more creepy-cute, while Drednaw and Corviknight are cool. Seeing 5 new Pokémon satisfies me greatly.
- In the trailer, there's a short scene of a Sobble with hearts around it. Is this Pokemon Amie/Refresh or a successor/similar feature? I sure hope so since I love Amie/Refresh and I hope they'll continue with it or something like it in these games.
- There's a lot of old Pokémon shown as well. As for those we didn't see in the previous trailer, I notice the following: Sawk, Bewear, Wobbuffet, Raichu, Hippopotas, Snover, Rhydon, Golurk, Duskull, Gyarados, Frillish, Butterfree, Mudsdale, Seismitoad, Avalugg, Hawlucha, Milotic, Mantine, Stufful and Charizard. As well as others that I might have missed. Like last time, all previous generations are represented. I really get the impression of an X/Y-Pokédex in terms of size and variation... but it is still too early to say what it will be like.
- There's still no signs of any Pokémon following the trainer. Since I don't like that feature, I highly approve of this! I hope it will stay limited to awful remakes for all eternity forward.
- The trainer is whistling to call out wild Pokémon from the grass? That's really cool.
- Shaking trees to get berries from them? I like this idea.
- The areas in the games seem to be pretty open. I like the concept of a linear open world Pokémon game, I hope these games will be a little like that. Maybe not completely, but a bit at least.
- I don't quite understand the Dynamax thing and I'm too lazy to read up on it right now. I'll just wait until the games are out before I look into it more. But making your Pokémon giant is really cool, that's for sure.
- Seems like there is a Grass-type Gym in the games, the first one or at least one of the earliest ones. That's good news for me since I'm going with Scorbunny on my initial playthrough.
- The legendaries are two wolves, just as I thought. They look really cool. I think Zacian looks a little cooler (but Zamazenta is awesome too), so that settles it. I'm getting Sword version. Also, both of their names start with Z. Very interesting. I wonder what this means... if it means anything.
- I'm very happy that the games seem to be getting a true worldwide release. At least I can't find that any region gets another release date. And it is on November 15th, one of the dates I predicted. I have marked it in my calendar, now I'm ready. Also very happy that it is on a Friday, that's the best release day for new games if you ask me. That said, I'm not too happy about a November release since it is so late and I tend to be very busy during that time of the year, but what can you do. At least it isn't released among the very busiest times of the year, so that's good.
- According to Serebii, it seems like there's a Rotom Phone in the games. I really hope it doesn't start babbling endlessly like the Rotom-Dex in US/UM does. I also hope that the National Dex will return, but it is hard to say for sure. I can at least dream about it.

With all the new info that we got today, I have seen everything I want from the new games before their release. A few more new Pokémon, the cover legends, and a proper release date. That's all I wanted. Now I will try my very best to not look into any more new pre-release information until I have played through the game myself. It is going to be very hard, but I will try. That said, I'm not quite ready to go on hiatus from the forums yet. I still need to make a post in the Battle Tree thread, it should have been done by now but I have been so busy that I just haven't had time to get it done. My current plan is to be done with it and post it on the 15th of this month, I hope I'll be able to make it. There's also one more post I have planned to make, I'll probably post it as well before going on hiatus. And beyond that, I will probably lurk around for a bit longer until I have beaten the Battle Agency in US/UM. But in terms of pre-release information for S/S, as well as this thread, I'm done. To summarize all of this, I'm very satisfied with the new info we got today, and I'm looking forward to the games.
 
My thoughts on some of the new stuff.

Dynamax is a dumb word, but the mechanic itself sounds interesting. I'm actually kinda hoping that there isn't a special held item involved, so that the decision of what Pokemon to grow is more on the fly. I also doubt it will be able to be able to used in conjunction with Z-moves and Megas, if Rayquaza is anything to go by (if Rayquaza is holding a Z-Crystal, it can't Mega Evolve).

They pointed out that the Champion apparently has never lost a battle, and is a celebrity. I have a gut feeling that there's something shady behind his supposedly squeaky clean win record.

Milo sounds way too similar to Mallow. Also, his lack of a nose is just weird.

Drednaw getting Strong Jaw makes me wonder if they're going to make a Water or Rock biting move. After all, that's basically what they did for Bruxish. For Tyrantrum's sake, I hope the new bite is Rock.

Corviknight looks rad as hell, though I find it a bit funny that they described it as a "flying taxi".

I want to hug Wooloo. Also, access to Fluffy is pretty cool.

I'm a bit disappointed that Gossifleur and Eldegross have Regenerator. You'd think they would have learned their lesson with Toxapex about giving a Pokemon a shiny new ability, then overshadowing that ability with one of the best defensive abilities of all time. Though if Cotton Down does indeed activate on more than just contact and affects more than just the attacker as people are theorizing, then it might actually be used over Regenerator in doubles.

Sobble's tears are said to be as potent as 100 onions. I find it hilarious that they turned onions into a metric. Also, Sobble remains the king of facial expressions.



Don't have anything to say about Grookey and Scorbunny.

EDIT: Oh yeah, the legendary Pokemon. I don't like how the Sword Wolf literally just has a sword in its mouth. I like the Shield Wolf, though, as its armor seems more naturally integrated.
 

Martin

A monoid in the category of endofunctors
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I liked everything except dynamax, which given what’s implied about its mechanics from the trailer is almost certainly going to centralise everything about every match around itself and as such render versus multiplayer totally unplayable.
 
https://swordshield.pokemon.com/en-us/gameplay/pokemon-become-huge-dynamax/

View attachment 178532

It’s pretty vague and not 100% conclusive but I feel like they wouldn’t specify this so early on unless to say that it’s likely not gonna be possible online. I could be wrong though.
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That seems incorrect according to these pictures, which look like they take place during a Battle Spot match. The arenas for online games look like they'll take place in stadiums.
 
Well i can’t really argue with that. I hope it’s just a testing video that they forgot to edit or something though. I really don’t like the implications of it as a mechanic.
What implications bother you?

I think your hope is a bit much of a stretch, with that part of the video existing I honestly doubt that it will be locked to in-game only.
 

Martin

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is a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
What implications bother you?

I think your hope is a bit much of a stretch, with that part of the video existing I honestly doubt that it will be locked to in-game only.
Z moves were horrendous as a multiplayer mechanic and this one looks like it’s gonna be three of them in one. Not to mention the existence of max block or whatever it was called means they’ll most likely ignore protect, thus centering dubs around using your own dynamax to stop others steamrolling you.

I hate when centralising gimmick mechanics are the focus of gameplay; pseudo-expansion of the battle system like this ultimately results in shallower gameplay (see: z-moves) and just generally pushes power levels up in a ridiculously unhealthy way, making the game less fun in the process.

Don’t get me wrong: I like it from the in-game angle. I think given the added emphasis on animation hype that in-game brings it’s probably a positive addition there, and it will probably be good in that co-op thing they mentioned too.

The issue is that Pokemon is a vs multiplayer game at its core, and unless they’re really carefully balanced, super forms and super moves are not positive presences within such game modes. Game Freak have proved (arguably twice) that they don’t know how to balance such mechanics, and as such I’m concerned by their decision to do it yet again.

First rule of good sequel design: unless you opt to overhaul the gameplay, you should aim to expand on existing systems instead of adding gimmick mechanics that fail to expand on anything. This is very much a case of the latter into the latter. If dynamax drains health and pp to dangerous levels after use they might be able to just about get away with it (by the skin of their teeth), but frankly I doubt that’s what Ohmori will go for given the hard turn limit.
 
Gym Battles finally look thrilling. In fact they look like a mix of Gym Battles and... Contests, what with all the people watching. I'm curious though, the trailer said something along the lines of "the excitement in the stadium can reach its peak", maybe a Contest-like element where you get rewarded for pleasing the crowd?
Something struck my mind:
And if the song with lyrics, the main characters having lip movement, the hint of excitement reaching it's peak, plus this world cup feeling in the gyms...

MAYBE IT'S TIME FOR THE VOICE ACTING HAVE A COMEBACK FOR BATTLES LIKE OLD STADIUM STYLE?!?
 
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Ivy

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is a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributor
Z moves were horrendous as a multiplayer mechanic and this one looks like it’s gonna be three of them in one. Not to mention the existence of max block or whatever it was called means they’ll most likely ignore protect, thus centering dubs around using your own dynamax to stop others steamrolling you.

I hate when centralising gimmick mechanics are the focus of gameplay; pseudo-expansion of the battle system like this ultimately results in shallower gameplay (see: z-moves) and just generally pushes power levels up in a ridiculously unhealthy way, making the game less fun in the process.

Don’t get me wrong: I like it from the in-game angle. I think given the added emphasis on animation hype that in-game brings it’s probably a positive addition there, and it will probably be good in that co-op thing they mentioned too.

The issue is that Pokemon is a vs multiplayer game at its core, and unless they’re really carefully balanced, super forms and super moves are not positive presences within such game modes. Game Freak have proved (arguably twice) that they don’t know how to balance such mechanics, and as such I’m concerned by their decision to do it yet again.

First rule of good sequel design: unless you opt to overhaul the gameplay, you should aim to expand on existing systems instead of adding gimmick mechanics that fail to expand on anything. This is very much a case of the latter into the latter. If dynamax drains health and pp to dangerous levels after use they might be able to just about get away with it (by the skin of their teeth), but frankly I doubt that’s what Ohmori will go for given the hard turn limit.
Personally, I'm relishing in the chaotic implications. Bring on the nonsense. My body is ready. I suppose this is the schadenfreude talking.
 

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