Pokémon Sword & Shield: Where It Should Go From Here

Catering To More Serious Battlers

For reference, these Pokémon are Cinderace, Rillaboom, Venusaur, Gyarados, Dragapult, Indeedee, Incineroar, Whimsicott, Mimikyu, Magnezone, Torkoal, Hippowdon, Excadrill, Togekiss, Tyranitar and Porygon 2. It’s not yet known how long these Pokémon will be banned for or whether another banlist will take their place, but it’s an interesting direction that Game Freak haven’t really taken before.

On the subject of the battles themselves, there's another major issue here. Eight generations in, there’s real scope for them to feel much more dynamic. Of course, there’ll never be vicious blows landing like some kind of Mortal Kombat crossover, but the animations are so still and stilted.

Certain moves, like Double Kick, barely have an animation at all. Some imitators (heck, some fan-made ones) do a nice job here, so it’s really the least the series can do. The issues of imitators and rivals is one that going to become more and more pressing, so it's really not something that Game Freak can afford to let slide as they have.

Aside from this common complaint, though, the fact that a lot of the refinements Sword & Shield introduced affected breeding and competitive play is very interesting. It suggests that this could indeed be a focus that the team continues to develop over the game’s lifespan, and even into Generation IX.