Wouldn't surprise me, PPG got mega-huge in Japan.

It takes time for a developer to go from making 3DS games to making games for an HD system. Give them time. If Gen 9 still looks this bad, you people will have something to complain about. Until then cut them some slack.

Seriously?  They're worth billions of dollars.  They can probably afford a few decent programmers.  HD has been a thing for a decent amount of time at this point, I don't think that excuse works all that well when you have small independent studios who can do better.

Wish more had been shown. From what I saw, it looks like "a mainline Pokemon game." Which isn't necessarily bad. My main concerns are is the game way too easy, and does the hand-holding tutorial take forever like Sun and Moon?

But who am I kidding, I'll still probably day 1 purchase.

The amount that they are worth doesn’t mean much when they aren’t putting that amount back into development. Like it or not, GF is being smart with the way they develop 

You know that scene from Thor: Ragnarok, just before the climax of the film, where Thor is giving a speech to Loki about life being about growth & change and he's basically giving Loki crap for doing the same thing over and over again when he could be so much more? That's what Game Freak is doing with Pokemon.
Replace Thor with Nintendo/Mario, and Zelda, and replace Loki with Game Freak/Pokemon, and that's why people are upset/disappointed, myself included.

You look at Mario, Zelda, Smash Bros., and all of Nintendo's other 1st party franchises and they're constantly changing, evolving, and moving forward, trying to do something different with each entry in an effort to break the bar they set for themselves before. Sometimes, they'll fall flat on their face like Sunshine and 3D World for Mario, or Skyward Sword (although I love that game to death) for Zelda. But when it pays off, it REALLY pays off - (Galaxy and Odyssey for Mario; Breath of the Wild for Zelda). Those games didn't just raise the bar on their respective franchises in more ways then one, they SHATTERED them!

That's the standard we are holding Pokemon too, because we've seen it now from many of Nintendo's other 1st party franchises. While Sword/Shield doesn't look bad by any means, it looks no different from what I, and many others have already played before. It's the same old shit! We've reached a point now where Pokemon is essentially like Call of Duty or FIFA. If you've played one, you've played them all. At the moment, nothing about Sword/Shield stands out to me that truly sets it apart from Sun/Moon or X/Y. HD graphics be damned. Whereas most, if not all, of Nintendo's other 1st party developers are trying to go above and beyond, Game Freak just seems to want to put in the bare minimum or just enough to keep people satisfied instead of really WOW'ing them.

Just like Loki, Game Freak/Pokemon just wants to stay the same, while Thor/Nintendo is trying to grow.

I remember I did a thread back in July/August 2016, when Pokemon GO was at the peak of its craze, and hype was building for Sun/Moon during the series' 20th anniversary, Pokemon seemed to be as high and as popular as it had been since the original phenomenon. In that thread, I asked if Pokemon had surpassed Mario as Nintendo's #1 franchise. And now, nearly 3 years later, I finally have that answer for myself: A big, fat, NO!

Programming has little to do with it. They need more, and better 3D artists. They have the money to hire people, but hiring people takes time. Only a small amount of applicants have the technical knowhow, and talent to 3D model at current AAA game levels. You can't just find and hire all those people in a matter of 6 months. It doesn't work that way. 

And even young and ambitious developers need to work and fit their way into the culture that Game Freak has developed. Same with Nintendo and their own in-house teams. Why do you think it took some time before the Mario and Zelda games eventually got new directors and such while still having some of the mainstays (i.e., Aonuma, Koizumi, Miyamoto, Tanaka, Tezuka, etc.) in producer role?

And it is not just about spending money to make money. You can spend as much as you want, but if it does not meet or exceed budget expectations, then its not necessarily healthy. Plus, the Pokemon brand is worth billions, not necessarily Game Freak the studio itself. Not to mention you have some of the revenue being spent on other avenues such as the Detective Pikachu movie, Pokemon Go's continuous post-release development process, Pokemon stores, merchandise, the Pokemon anime, the card game, the world tournaments, and other media that play part in building up the brand into becoming the biggest IP in the world.

Eh, its all opinion I guess. Factually, the Pokemon brand is the #1 highest grossing IP in the world, beating the likes of Hello Kitty, various Disney properties (including Marvel and Star Wars), Mario, Shonen Jump, and Harry Potter. Even on a relatively low expectations, Pokemon Let's Go sold about 10 million units in about 2 months. That's like saying prime Tiger Woods played his B game. Take that for what you will. We can argue who is the #1 Nintendo franchise till the cows come home, but its hard to argue that one completely eclipse the other or vice versa. I mean, would a proper Mario movie create hype that Detective Pikachu is garnering?

The world design looks absolutely spectacular. Could've used some more technically advanced graphics, but the art style makes up for it. Really not a fan of the starter designs, and I say that as someone who typically has had a positive initial reaction to the starters in the past. And those names are actually awful. I like the uniqueness of Sobble's (my god, that name) design, but the other two are a no for me. Really, really hope this isn't indicative of most of the designs this gen, or I'm not a fan.