On Friday evening, I assuredly started arena the long awaited . These is the first ‘proper’ game for the Nintendo Switch (the games don’t count) and, after putting some hours in, I can say one thing: it’s great.

feels bigger, more interactive, and agitative than antecedent titles and — homesickness aside — I think it can quite easily claim to be the best ever game.

But, if I’m being absolutely honest, I’m hardly disappointed. The series can be so much more.

Why?

Before we go on, some disclaimers. Firstly, are a absurd pair of games. Just because I think they can be bigger doesn’t mean I’m not having a great time arena them. Secondly, I also get that the series is aimed at the children’s market, so accordingly has to adhere to assertive requirements, such as complication and ease-of-use. This isn’t article I’m going to be because in the below.

So, with that in mind, here are some answerable ways to advance the series

Take afflatus from ‘Breath of the Wild’

This, in my mind, is the single better thing should do. While playing all I could think about would be how absurd the game would be if it tried to follow in the footsteps of the latest game.

In my mind, it’s about two main things: artlessness and depth.

Imagine a set in a sandbox-style world. Where the whole map is open to analyze at your will. Where you can ascertain hidden areas and truly dive into a bewitched world. God, it’d be great.

Then if Nintendo could bring the depth of to Think of being able to use pokémon‘s abilities like you can use magnets or bombs in Mmm.

Of course, the aggregation has made strides in this administration (the “wild area” is a large open space you can wander around and catch pokémon, and the addition of a affable system broadens its scope), but it feels there’s so much more ground to cover.

Reduce the number of pokémon

This is apparently homesickness talking, but while I’ve been playing , it seems that many of creatures are just annoyed or rebranded versions of archetypal creatures. For example, instead of having a pigeon-influenced flying creature, you have a rook-based one instead. It’s fine, but it doesn’t feel 

Now, if the series confused into a more open world, it’d make sense to narrow the amount of the creatures, so each of them have a more arresting role to fulfil. So strip the number of the creatures back. You don’t have to only use the original pokémon, but a mix of these and later bearing fan favorites would make the game so much more impactful.

And yeah, this would apparently take article away from the “catch ’em all,” accumulating aspect of the game, but I’m accommodating to give that up for more all-embracing versatility.

Adopt more of a story

So far, has the same basic plot as every game in the series: earn badges by acquisition gym owners, and battle adjoin your rival, with the goal of eventually acceptable the champion.

This isn’t a bad thing, but I feel there’s more you can do with the world. There are big questions about the nature of the pokémon/human relationship, how evil fits in this universe, mortality, and so much more.

Hell, even if you don’t want to make the game dark (which Nintendo absolutely wouldn’t do, but we can dream), I feel there’s abeyant to do something, well, different. And deeper. And more meaningful.

Make the battle set-up more intricate

The accepted turn-based battle set-up feels strange. I can accept why abstruse limitations of the Game Boy led to this angry alignment in the aboriginal games, but today? You can do so much more.

Whether it’s accepting multiple pokémon involved, going absolutely live-action, or award a absolutely altered of administering battles, I feel there’s a huge befalling here. The very core of games has remained around the same in over 20 years, and I’d like to see Nintendo take a gamble with combat.

Don’t get it mixed up though, ‘Pokémon Sword & Shield’ is still very good

Like I said, it’s an abundantly fun game that I’ve already sunk a fair few hours into — and one I expect to keep playing. But it feels very much like a solid update from antecedent versions, not a abundant upgrade.

This isn’t a bad thing per se, because if you’ve liked previous games, you’re bound to like this. But I this authorization could be so much more. Seeing what Nintendo did with the series on the Switch has made me hungry to see what they could do with their other franchises.

Maybe this is greedy, but can you actively say you wouldn’t like to play a game like the above? Me too. Well, until then, I’ll keep on having a great time playing 

You can grab the games here.

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Published November 18, 2019 — 16:18 UTC