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!
