After the reveal of Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield, many fans didn’t know what to think of the new games. On one hand, the visuals and animations looked strikingly beautiful and and the new region seemed to have a more open-world style. On the other hand, some of the features within the games have apparently returned for better or worse. Two of these features in particular include random encounters and the lack of Pokémon following you in the overworld. Now, if you haven’t played any Pokémon recently, you may think nothing of this. However, if you’ve played the recent Pokémon Let’s Go! games, you know that the few innovative mechanics implemented in these games are nowhere to be found in Sword and Shield.
To many, the Let’s Go! games simplified the Pokémon formula to the extent of being painfully easy. Regardless, there’s no denying that these titles brought some long-awaited features that the majority of the community enjoyed. As we moved on to Generation Eight, players expected these shake-ups to migrate to the newest mainline instalments. Sadly, from what we can see, this doesn’t seem to be the case. We can’t say for sure that these mechanics are completely gone until we see more, but the evidence currently leans to no signs of Let’s Go! features. Is that really a bad thing though? Does the return of Pokémon to its roots spell chaos for the series? Lets discuss this further, shall we?
Let’s Go! Pure Innovation
Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield sets out to give fans what they adore from the franchise, and with that, means some sacrifices. Some of the mechanics from Let’s Go! clearly won’t return, but that’s not to say these games will suffer from it. There’s a reason why Pokémon still exists to this day: the formula works. People love the ability to earn their Pokémon through wild battles. Fans enjoy the excitement of not knowing what Pokémon they’ll run into next. Besides, would you really want Let’s Go!’s catching mechanic in your main Pokémon game? I didn’t think so. Ultimately, the traditional method that Game Freak uses in their games still brings in players, so why change it? Now, that’s not to say that there should be no innovation at all. Pokémon games always introduce new ideas and features, while still keeping true to what makes them Pokémon games.
While Let’s Go! brought some great gameplay to the table, it’s drastic shift from the main Pokémon equation likely lead to the absence of said gameplay from the newest Pokémon titles. Will Sword and Shield suffer from this? Probably not. The traditional gameplay still wins gamers over, therefore returning to it won’t cause any damage… for now. At some point, Game Freak will have to commit to something new, otherwise fans will begin to turn away from Pokémon, but that likely won’t happen for some time. So is departing from Let’s Go!‘s gameplay a bad thin for the Pokémon franchise. Currently, no; Pokémon has too large of a fan base that love the traditional mechanics for any real repercussions to occur. Only time will tell how long this will remain the case.
Do you think Pokémon Let’s Go!’s gameplay should have stuck around? Let us know in the comments below! For more content, check out our articles on Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield: The Games We Were Hoping For? and Games That Deserve All Their Rereleases. Otherwise, keep it on Culture of Gaming for all things gaming!
