Pokemon SwordandShieldhave gone from being two of the most-anticipated games of the year to two of the most controversial. The controversy started when it was revealed thatPokemon SwordandShieldwouldn’t have a National Pokedex, and revelations since then have only soured fans' opinions on the game even further. The latestPokemon SwordandShieldcontroversy deals with the games' animations and graphics, with some feeling as though they were lied to by Game Freak.
The hashtag GameFreakLied is the #1 trend on Twitter at the time of this writing, with many fans providing examples of how they feel Game Freak lied to them. Many of these examples have to do with animations that fans feel are lackluster, especially since Game Freak claimed that it was working on higher-quality animations for the new games. Others feel as though the graphics inSwordandShieldfail to take full advantage of the Nintendo Switch console, and look more akin to a 3DS game. Others still have provided evidence that Game Freak has recycled some animations and things from pastPokemongames forSwordandShield.
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Part of this disappointment has to do with the fact thatPokemon SwordandShieldare the first main seriesPokemongames on a home console. Fans have been waiting decades for a main seriesPokemongame to come to a home console, and so expectations forSwordandShieldwere particularly high.
It will be interesting to see if the ongoingPokemon SwordandShieldcontroversies have a big impact on the games' sales or not. Reviews have been mostly positive, and there are many hardcorePokemonfans who will likely buy one of the games regardless. Even so, this is an unprecedented level ofbad press forPokemongames, and it may have an impact on the series moving forward.
One has to imagine that Game Freak will address the man fan complaints aboutPokemon SwordandShieldwith future entries. It doesn’t mean the National Pokedex will come back, but maybe the next games in the series will at least be more graphically intensive.
Pokemon SwordandShieldlaunch on November 15, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.
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