I am loving the wild area right now

https://mobile.twitter.com/benjisales/status/1195105708670431232?s=21

yayy! Bringin' back the old thread! Hopefully this can be more for actual discussion and not just whining about Dex cuts we all knew were coming.

Started Sword picked Sobble the game so far is pretty smooth and what you'd expect from Pokemon even with what people were saying it's still quite a big leap for the series from what I've played.

Great thread. Sorry to be vindictive from the start, but is GTS really abandoned? Just tried the trade feature as it is now and it just feels totally worthless

Just tried the trade feature in #PokemonSwordShield Right now, it is ABSOLUTE GARBAGE. People just sending sh** no matter what #ポケモン剣盾 pic.twitter.com/PZTPtbJ0hp

— Ryuzaki57🈲🇨🇵 (@Ryuz4ki57) November 15, 2019

Playing for a few hours now the are some nice touches like being able to access your Pokemon Boxes on the go and skipping cutscenes.

Okay, putting aside all of my issues with the game's direction, a list of pros and cons so far on the game itself with no thought to the series as a whole. (I'm 9 hours in, just past the second gym)

Pros:

- The new Pokemon are all fantastic, not a single one I don't like.
- Music is great.
- The wild area is fun to run around, and the variety of Pokemon so far is solid.
- Early pacing. I was ~Level 23-24 at the first gym, and I love how it took me 5 hours to get there. Opening the Wild Area up beforehand was a very good decision. I know it doesn't keep this pace up, but if it had, and the League had been levelled in the 80s, I would argue it has the best pacing the series has seen in a long while.

Cons:

- Hop. Fucking hell, the main story feels even more railroaded than Sun and Moon. I don't need randomass exposition from this idiot every five steps, let me explore by myself ffs. Removing him would make the game better.
- Graphics. Some areas look fantastic - for a Pokemon game. The amount of slowdown in busier areas is unacceptable.
- Difficulty. The games are very very easy.

Difficulty modes are very sorely needed.
- I know I mentioned it above, but the goddamn railroading. If I want to catch that level 36 Vileplume before the first gym, let me. It's not going to hurt anybody's experience to allow us to catch stronger Pokemon early, the game is already incredibly easy.

Been enjoying it so far.

The wild area is great. Being able to see Pokemon battles in the field is great. Experience share being on from the start of the game really helps you grow more Poke'mon at once.

I hated the Corgi Pokemon at first. He looked like another bidoof normal type. But then I found out he's not a normal type. And now I love him. Can't wait to see what he evolves into!

Ah Magikarp the lowkey legendary of the Pokemon series.

I wrote my first impressions in the metacritic thread but I'll just put basic points here:

- Game feels nice, graphics are good in most places.

- World design is basic, routes are short.

- Game is very easy even for a pokemon game. Short Routes, Easy to avoid wild battles (can even avoid some? all? trainers), Pokemon centres and random people who heal your pokemon everywhere, ridiculous amount of money to start with for buying items and tons of free pokeballs. Entire party levels, never done a fight I couldn't beat with one of my pokemon, and I have 5 more levelled that I've almost never used.

- Entire party levelling can result in annoying "X wants to learn this move but already has 4 moves" spam, it really hurts the pace of the game when the rest of the game is so streamlined and simplified.

- GTS missing is really annoying, because it has online trading but it's just god awful. You don't even select the pokemon you are trading or want to get? You just get randomly matched with someone?

It's a good experience, but it's really easy. And for a Pokemon game that's saying something.

I feel the world and routes have suffered from the change in graphics. But if you like pokemon you should still enjoy the game, even if you don't love it. I don't think it's a game that will stand the test of time. I'd be surprised if many pokemon fans remember this one as their favourite.