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[Ryu Kaiba]

After claiming to have removed Pokemon from the National Dex to lighten the workload of recreating all models from scratch it turns out:

The Pokemon models in Sword and Shield have been confirmed by data miners to be the same models used in 3DS versions of the game.
This is the latest in many criticisms raised against Game Freak approaching the games launch.
(currently trending #1 on twitter)










I wasn't expecting Breath of the Wild Pokemon in just 2 years of development time, but the state of the game begs the question of what is going on with Game Freak.
With them cutting content of which we've now proven they had no real justification for, and raising the price 50%, while also making the claim that no games going forward will contain all the Pokemon again! It's all the more clear their interests lie only in maximizing profits.
With Pokemon being the Biggest Media Franchise in the world one would think the games would be delivering satisfying high quality animations, textures and be brimming with content. However it seems as though the developers aren't able or aren't willing to keep up with modern visual standards, and with the move to the Switch the games flaws are all the more visible.

Same animation from Sun and Moon

Better models and animation was a lie this whole time? Say it ain't so.

I have to admit that this is pretty amazing to see lol

When you notice the pokeballs froze mid toss

 

[Saber]

You just to fix those links though, its a bit of mess.

As for me I'm not expecting much. But I'm pretty sure old ass comments like "We already knew that, so I dunno what the fuss" gonna be a new trend.

On a sidenote, I wonder if this might be related with the "mess up the code lazy GF" rumor we had not long ago.

 

[Spukc]

Angry boomers ugh.
Go play red on your gameboy.

 

[Ryu Kaiba]

You just to fix those links though, its a bit of mess.

I don't know how!

Edit: fixed!

 

[Birdo]

Lets be honest. 9 year olds don't give a shit. The game will sell millions.

 

[Alexios]

OP sums up the outrage well! Game looks like good fun with a beautifully designed world to explore, great outdoor vistas, vertical design, cool towns & cute npcs. Oh, this turn based old school JRPG isn't at a constant 120 fps 4K with 3km LOD, damn, I just wish I had the time and a Switch, lmao!

Edit: Lol, so many triggered snowflakes. I never said it has super high res textures and lod or anything but if you can't tell good JRPG world design even if it hits you in the face that's your deal. It's Xenoblade level beauty and compelling design, just in the Pokemon style and setting. I was gonna take snapshots but whatever, you're gonna do that for me by taking the bluriest and worst that don't show any of the cool animations like the grass and weather and cloud shadows and any of the distant tall beautiful structures, lol. The sort of folks that would say Super Mario Galaxy looks bad by zooming in on a blurry texture that isn't 4K completely oblivious to its actual beauty when seen as a whole. Tons of great scenes, outdoor and in town and indoor like the stadiums with the crazy crowds, are seen throughout, in this old trailer. Deal with it, rofl.

 

[ZeroGravity]

If Game Freak were just about any other developer they'd be getting raked over the coals for how poor these games look, not to mention lying about it. It's absurd the lack of quality on display.

 

[StormCell]

Their argument for cutting the national dex never made any sense to me. It looks like they just decided to do it and did it. Maybe there will be Ultra versions of this game that *surprise* contain the National dex. LOLz

 

[Whitesnake]

Get ready.

 

[MMaRsu]

Angry boomers ugh.
Go play red on your gameboy.

People shouldnt be mad because I dont care about this game!

Boomers? I think most of who are playing this are 10-12 year olds

 

[Saruhashi]

If Game Freak were just about any other developer they'd be getting raked over the coals for how poor these games look, not to mention lying about it. It's absurd the lack of quality on display.

They are being raked over the coals though. There are hashtags dedicated to raking them over the coals, no?

 

[MMaRsu]

If Game Freak were just about any other developer they'd be getting raked over the coals for how poor these games look, not to mention lying about it. It's absurd the lack of quality on display.

lazy devs

 

[ZeroGravity]

Their argument for cutting the national dex never made any sense to me. It looks like they just decided to do it and did it. Maybe there will be Ultra versions of this game that *surprise* contain the National dex. LOLz

Nah, they've already stated that no games going forward will contain all the Pokemon again. They're going to sell you them piecemeal over the course of the generation. Your favorite Pokemon not in Sword or Shield? Better buy those Diamond and Pearl remakes, and if not there, maybe you'll have better luck in Let's Go 2.

 

[Saber]

Lets be honest. 9 year olds don't give a shit. The game will sell millions.

Not to disagree with yah, but I though Switch userbaser was mostly composed of adults, is that true? At least that was true in the case of Pokemon main games fanbase.

 

[ZeroGravity]

They are being raked over the coals though. There are hashtags dedicated to raking them over the coals, no?

It's been very refreshing to see the amount of people in the fanbase finally saying "Enough is enough" but man you still look at a lot of people out there still making excuses or defending them over the state of these games and it's just sad.

We'll see what happens when reviews hit, but I'm not counting on journalists to take a major Nintendo game to task.

 

[TheSadRanger]

People shouldnt be mad because I dont care about this game!

Boomers? I think most of who are playing this are 10-12 year olds

Fortnite generation don't give a fuck about clunky ass Pokemon.

It ain't the 90s no moar.

edit: Replace CoD with Fortnite and young dude for Pokemon is probably neckbeard dude at this point.

 

[Spukc]

People shouldnt be mad because I dont care about this game!

Boomers? I think most of who are playing this are 10-12 year olds

Only angry boomers complain kids love it and will buy it

 

[TeddyShardik]

No,no, see...all the people complaining are just whiners and worse, keep sending death threats to every single employee of GameFreak.

And yes, that was sarcasm.
I'm sick and tired of being pushed into the same corner as the crazies who actually do send death threats for voicing my disappointment and, frankly, disgust at this first console HD Pokemon game.
This should have been the Holy Grail for us Pokemon fans.

It turned out to be disappointment, after disappointment, after disappointment. A whole lot of sacrifices for a game an indie crew would be able to slap together in the same time.

They never realized their audience grew up. They are still obsessed with the illusion that they're competing with mobile shite. Noone in their target audience gives a shit about Pokemon. They'll be playing Fortnite or CoD.

This game's result reeks of mismanagement. I don't blame any coder or artist at GF but I DO blame the directors and especially anyone in mnagement who told these guys they had to release a 10mil+ selling game every fuvking year.

So let's join the chorus: #FuckGameFreak and #FuckThePokemonCompany

 

[envoycookie]

Find it funny how the Pokemon games hasn't really changed at all, and I feel like it should be bashed harder. I understand games like COD but I definitely believe Pokemon started the trend of releasing rehashed/reskinned games....I haven't played a Pokemon game since Black.

 

[Zannegan]

All for Gamefreak cutting the number of Pokemon to reduce bloat, keep things interesting, or just because they feel like it suits the game. If they're going to do it, though, they should have had the balls to be honest about why.

This is such an easy lie to uncover, you wonder why they would even bother. Not a good look.

 

[mcjmetroid]

Shit that game length has really bothered me. 16 hours for an RPG?

They needed another year with this clearly..

 

[InterMusketeer]

Looks like they rushed the game and cut many corners. I don't understand how this could happen to one of the largest franchises in the world. It's not just this game, there's the anime series, TCG and tons of other merchandise on the line as well. You'd think Nintendo, GameFreak and the Pokémon Company would have all the resources necessary to make this game a success. They didn't pull through.

I'm still waiting on the reviews. Who knows, it might end up being a fun game. It's not looking good though.

 

[MMaRsu]

Only angry boomers complain kids love it and will buy it

Cool story bro

 

[Saruhashi]

I am EXTREMELY reluctant to take the side of games journos and twitter checkmarks, especially when they are whining about "toxic gamers" and manbabies".

The completely over the top outrage over a Pokemon game just seems so ridiculous to me.

I love how "mediocre graphics" and "bad animations" is one of the main things that "wrong" with the game.

Don't even think about saying "meh, it looks like a standard Pokemon game to me, I'm sure most people will love it"!
YOU FUCKING APOLOGIST!

As if saying "well maybe there's a reason Game Freak did this or that" or saying "I am fine with it" is some kind of horrendous support of a dreadful regime.

How dare you defend Game Freak! Don't you know they cut some Pokemon and some moves and they game us bad animations and graphics!?

Fuckin hell.

Between this "outrage" and the insane levels of trolling because Death Stranding is *gasp* a bit different but also really good, I think I've seen it all this past week.

I think I'm turning SJW because I'm starting to think that videogame consumers are some of the most toxic most unforgiving and most entitled people on the planet.

Voting with your wallet is surely going to be better in the long run that throwing a tantrum online because the new Pokemon game has only 400 Pokemon instead of the 800 you wanted.

Graphics and animations seem fine to me, judging by the trailers, but I am sure some smug cunt will have a screenshot of some bad textures or something to "prove me wrong".

Nah, the graphics and animations seem pretty much in line with what I'd expect in a Pokemon game.

BUUUUUT EXTREMELY IMPORTANT AND MAINSTAY MOVES HAVE BEEN REMOVED! REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Some of these people could suck the life out of anything with their shitty, non stop, over the top, negativity.

Yet, somehow, it's fuckin hilarious.

 

[Fake]

 

[MMaRsu]

Fortnite generation don't give a fuck about clunky ass Pokemon.

It ain't the 90s no moar.

edit: Replace CoD with Fortnite and young dude for Pokemon is probably neckbeard dude at this point.

You are acting as if Pokemon isnt big amongst kids?

 

[The Mad Draklor]

That's really egregious. I was thinking about getting Shield, but having heard about the National Dex not being in the game for reasons that aren't even true, I'll likely just pass on this one.

Too bad that Sword and Shield will still sell like hotcakes because of the brand and its appeal to kids.

 

[Ryu Kaiba]

Their argument for cutting the national dex never made any sense to me. It looks like they just decided to do it and did it. Maybe there will be Ultra versions of this game that *surprise* contain the National dex. LOLz

I don't even think newer games will have the national dex. I think their plan is to use certain Pokemon as bait to get people to buy newer games.

 

[mejin]

So, media will save the day with the reviews.

 

[AV]

My masterpiece: I call it, "Cycle of Delusion"

 

[MMaRsu]

I am EXTREMELY reluctant to take the side of games journos and twitter checkmarks, especially when they are whining about "toxic gamers" and manbabies".

The completely over the top outrage over a Pokemon game just seems so ridiculous to me.

I love how "mediocre graphics" and "bad animations" is one of the main things that "wrong" with the game.

Don't even think about saying "meh, it looks like a standard Pokemon game to me, I'm sure most people will love it"!
YOU FUCKING APOLOGIST!

As if saying "well maybe there's a reason Game Freak did this or that" or saying "I am fine with it" is some kind of horrendous support of a dreadful regime.

How dare you defend Game Freak! Don't you know they cut some Pokemon and some moves and they game us bad animations and graphics!?

Fuckin hell.

Between this "outrage" and the insane levels of trolling because Death Stranding is *gasp* a bit different but also really good, I think I've seen it all this past week.

I think I'm turning SJW because I'm starting to think that videogame consumers are some of the most toxic most unforgiving and most entitled people on the planet.

Voting with your wallet is surely going to be better in the long run that throwing a tantrum online because the new Pokemon game has only 400 Pokemon instead of the 800 you wanted.

Graphics and animations seem fine to me, judging by the trailers, but I am sure some smug cunt will have a screenshot of some bad textures or something to "prove me wrong".

Nah, the graphics and animations seem pretty much in line with what I'd expect in a Pokemon game.

BUUUUUT EXTREMELY IMPORTANT AND MAINSTAY MOVES HAVE BEEN REMOVED! REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Some of these people could suck the life out of anything with their shitty, non stop, over the top, negativity.

Yet, somehow, it's fuckin hilarious.

Nah they are right, its lazy shit. The first hd console pokemon game and its worse than all predecessors?

Cant imagine being happy with that. Im no pokemon fan but if I was I wouldnt be happy, I would in fact be dissapointed.

 

[Hosam6xavi]

Same animation from Sun and Moon

 

[StormCell]

No,no, see...all the people complaining are just whiners and worse, keep sending death threats to every single employee of GameFreak.

And yes, that was sarcasm.
I'm sick and tired of being pushed into the same corner as the crazies who actually do send death threats for voicing my disappointment and, frankly, disgust at this first console HD Pokemon game.
This should have been the Holy Grail for us Pokemon fans.

It turned out to be disappointment, after disappointment, after disappointment. A whole lot of sacrifices for a game an indie crew would be able to slap together in the same time.

They never realized their audience grew up. They are still obsessed with the illusion that they're competing with mobile shite. Noone in their target audience gives a shit about Pokemon. They'll be playing Fortnite or CoD.

This game's result reeks of mismanagement. I don't blame any coder or artist at GF but I DO blame the directors and especially anyone in mnagement who told these guys they had to release a 10mil+ selling game every fuvking year.

So let's join the chorus: #FuckGameFreak and #FuckThePokemonCompany

Actually, Game Freak just doesn't care as much about Pokemon as you do. They've practically said as much. Their actions are reflecting it. They dedicate smaller teams to work on the Pokemon games and don't invest much money into making them.

The problem is that Pokemon is their cash cow. They're the final say on the video games. They will continue to churn out new games and milk that cow.... so that they can pour their money into little town adventures...

 

[Kenpachii]

Lol these games where always zero effort maximum gain. How is anybody surprised?

The fact they still have day one full game dlc is also funny.

 

[Jack Videogames]

Personally, I think the game is going to be better than expected and the streamers are exacerbating some of the issues. Some arguments (lousy animations, generic battle backgrounds, stuttering, N64-looking textures in places) are totally right, but some of the others (The game can be beat in 16h? So can X and Y and Sun and Moon if you purposefully skip trainers and don't care about the story) look suspect.

I think I want to read reviews before I rush in to cancel my preorder

 

[Grinchy]

The laziness reminds me of what Capcom did with Monster Hunter for all those years.

Why put in time/effort/money when you know you have guaranteed sales? Just put out something mediocre. People on the internet will sell it for you.

 

[Saruhashi]

Looks like they rushed the game and cut many corners. I don't understand how this could happen to one of the largest franchises in the world. It's not just this game, there's the anime series, TCG and tons of other merchandise on the line as well. You'd think Nintendo, GameFreak and the Pokémon Company would have all the resources necessary to make this game a success. They didn't pull through.

I'm still waiting on the reviews. Who knows, it might end up being a fun game. It's not looking good though.

I think it was inevitable that Pokemon would wear out it's welcome at some point.

The franchise is too widely popular to be able to please everyone all of the time and the people who are not pleased have no sense of perspective at all and seem to go straight off the deep end.

The reaction to the "Let's Go" games last year was ridiculous.

At this stage I think the best question would be to ask what things people actually want from a new Pokemon game, that wouldn't send some other part of the fandom into an uncontrollable rage.

Include all the Pokemons. Allow people to bring in their Pokemons from previous entries in the series.
Game should look at least as good as other Nintendo exclusives (but people will shit on the "graphics anyway" so...)

Kind of feels like Game Freak are damned if they do and damned if the don't at this stage. Kind of difficult to not feel some sympathy for them.
Especially when the most vocal critics are not exactly making themselves look good here.

 

[Saber]

I actually find funny that between the war of no arguments, some people forget GF really lied in their statement.
I mean, if people are fine with companies lying to them its ok I guess?

 

[Zannegan]

On the plus side, maybe all this outrage will shave a few mil off the projected numbers and Nintendo will go ham and lean on GF to reimagine the series from the ground up with "assistance" from some of their other studios resulting in the BotW of the Pokemon series...

...actually, core fans would probably hate that more than the current games. XD

 

[Codswallop_]

Very disappointed with how this is turning out. With such a cash cow franchise they should have infinite resources to make this, no excuse for such a lack of effort.

 

[TeddyShardik]

Actually, Game Freak just doesn't care as much about Pokemon as you do. They've practically said as much. Their actions are reflecting it. They dedicate smaller teams to work on the Pokemon games and don't invest much money into making them.

The problem is that Pokemon is their cash cow. They're the final say on the video games. They will continue to churn out new games and milk that cow.... so that they can pour their money into little town adventures...

Yeah, it literally is a cash cow. That's why I'm so frustrated. Even if everyone discussing this game on twitter, reddit, here and resetera doesn't buy the game because of all these omissions, it still won't make a dent. It will still sell like hotcakes.
Gamefreak won't react at all, or even reflect on it.
So all I can do is call them out and do so loudly and regularly.

And then all these corporate bootlickers come in and tell you, you're not a real fan of this series you followed for more than half of your life, you're just a hater and you probably like harrassing developers too.
Just because you said that this game is a bad example of what Pokemon would be in HD.

They really do not care. They KNOW they can cut the pokemon and features in half while asking for 20$ more for each copy.
Why put in resources to make a truly great game when you can save money and deliver "just under par" while still selling tens of millions of copies?

GF leaders are not good game designers, they are just good businesmen.

 

[Virex]

WHAT EVER SHIT YOU POSTED. IT DOESN'T LOAD

 

[bigDdestruction]

I've been playing for a couple hours. Got the 2nd gym badge last night. And yup this is very much still a 3DS game, not even just the models, but everything really. Static as hell Pokemon, robotic NPC's, tile like paths are still a thing, framerate dips, really terrible dialogue (even more so than usual) and more. I don't think its a terrible game, there is definitely some fun to be had. I like the open world area for finding different kinds of Pokemon and replacing the ugly as fuck ones from this newer gen. My Hitmochan is so beast right now. And I like that you can explore outside your level range and have to run due to being way too weak. The dynamax mechanic is actually kinda interesting too as I can see how it'll shake things up in battles against real people (only works for 3 turns and no item needs to be held by the pokemon). I'm hoping this outrage will really light a fire under GameFreak's ass and get them to take that big leap with designing the next Pokemon game.

Edit: I wanted to add if the removal of some Pokemon and moves was for GameFreak possibly trying to balance the game, honestly I applaud it. No legendaries is not a total loss i feel if only because they're clearly in a tier of their own and you get people that will just use the best most Meta shit ever to win. No more ultra beasts or those genie pokemon that had alternate forms! I also saw some moves got way better like Rapid Spin also increases the speed stat by 1 stage. If there's more things like that to make some of the other Pokemon viable again and balance the game I'm not mad at the cut Pokemon. But that's only if that was GF's intention

 

[StormCell]

Looks like they rushed the game and cut many corners. I don't understand how this could happen to one of the largest franchises in the world. It's not just this game, there's the anime series, TCG and tons of other merchandise on the line as well. You'd think Nintendo, GameFreak and the Pokémon Company would have all the resources necessary to make this game a success. They didn't pull through.

I'm still waiting on the reviews. Who knows, it might end up being a fun game. It's not looking good though.

I'm really beginning to think that it's just Game Freak being burnt out on Pokemon. It has to be over 90% of their revenue. They have to be floating in money, and yet they are a small development studio.

The big hurdle preventing any large changes to the series is Game Freak as the video games are their domain. I don't even believe they were preparing to make games for the Switch. How could they not know they would have to make the Pokemon for it? I dunno... I think they were hoping for more 3DS work or maybe that Pokemon would transition fully to smart phones. Who knows? I bet they get some phat paychecks from Niantic too.

 

[Saruhashi]

I actually find funny that between the war of no arguments, some people forget GF really lied in their statement.
I mean, if people are fine with companies lying to them its ok I guess?

Maybe I am missing something here.

"The game has 400 Pokemon instead of 800 to lighten the workload."

Now, that seems like common sense to me.

The argument against it seems to be people trying ever so hard to prove that they didn't lighten their workload at all and should have included and extra 400ish Pokemon because that takes the same amount of work.

Reminds me of people crying over Ubisoft not including a playable female character in one of their Assassins Creed games and when Ubisoft said "you know that involves a lot of work right" the argument changed to proving that it isn't actually that much work and Ubisoft are just lazy.

For me, unless you actually work at Game Freak you have NO IDEA what the working conditions are like and you have NO IDEA how much these people put into the game.

Crack on with the "lazy developers" line though. I am sure you're an expert.

I think you could make the argument that they could have put more time and money into the development of the game and maybe delay release by a year or two to get things just right but I'm not buying the "game freak are lazy" line.

Cutting the number of characters in the game by half will obviously lighten their workload and allow them to focus on other things. That's common sense.

 

[Lanrutcon]

OP uses BROKEN HTML!
IT'S SUPER EFFECTIVE!

Also: fuck GameFreak if this is true. Those goddamn hacks.

 

[joe_zazen]

Lets be honest. 9 year olds don't give a shit. The game will sell millions.

yeah, like isnt this a kids game? Kinda like complaing about lego.

 

[StormCell]

Yeah, it literally is a cash cow. That's why I'm so frustrated. Even if everyone discussing this game on twitter, reddit, here and resetera doesn't buy the game because of all these omissions, it still won't make a dent. It will still sell like hotcakes.
Gamefreak won't react at all, or even reflect on it.
So all I can do is call them out and do so loudly and regularly.

And then all these corporate bootlickers come in and tell you, you're not a real fan of this series you followed for more than half of your life, you're just a hater and you probably like harrassing developers too.
Just because you said that this game is a bad example of what Pokemon would be in HD.

They really do not care. They KNOW they can cut the pokemon and features in half while asking for 20$ more for each copy.
Why put in resources to make a truly great game when you can save money and deliver "just under par" while still selling tens of millions of copies?

GF leaders are not good game designers, they are just good businesmen.

So let's just not be fans of these games. Let's just be fans of this type of game. It happens to most good game series. It happens in sports, too. It just doesn't pay to become entrenched as a fan of any particular thing. After a while, you're just rooting for the brand, the name, or, in the case of sports, the laundry. I don't root for corporate entities, and I'm not really a fan of brands.

And do trust me, it happens to nearly all brands. I bought a Legend bass boat back when they were considered #1 in the boat industry for quality and customer support. Since then, they've changed CEO's and been bought out by Bass Pro Shops. Their facility is still there in Arkansas, but they don't make anything resembling the boats that once made that place famous...

 

[Jack Videogames]

Current reviews are lukewarm, with a 78 in Opencritic

https://opencritic.com/game/7899/pokemon-sword-and-shield

 

[DGrayson]

pls disregard the link script jargon I am new at this.

Can you give a shot to fix those broken links and use the "insert media" option for tweets and stuff?

Thank you,