With the trip down memory lane out of the way in Part 1 we can talk about the current generation of Pokemon games, Sword and Shield specifically.
A lot has changed since the first time I played pokemon and who knows where it’s going to end up in years to come. This new generation of pokemon games has me hooked. I like the games… I know there is a lot of controversy about the current gen not including all of the previous generations pokemon. But for me it’s not a deal breaker. It’s a new region, new pokemon, new mechanics. I mean it’s not like this gen has less pokemon than the previous ones. There are so many new creatures that you can find and catch, it’s incredible.
Let’s start at the beginning though. I got into the game when I got my Nintendo Switch as a gift from my wifey for Christmas. I like to stream games on websites like Twitch.tv and Mixer.com, my kids sometimes watch me play. So this was the perfect game to stream, its safe(no gore, no gross kissy stuff) has great colorful graphics and the story is simple to follow.
Pokemon are famous for their simple mechanics for combat as well. So my son can follow what’s happening in the fight pretty easily which is great. My wife tells me he gets really into the game when he is watching me play. I don’t get to see that, because I am streaming, and when I let him watch as I play, he doesn’t seem to be super into it. I don’t know if that’s him being shy or if my wife is making it up to make me feel better. But regardless he says he enjoys watching. So that’s part of the reason I am playing a game that seems too kiddy. Not to mention the fun I get from collection pokemon and seeing what they all can do. My favorite part is probably reading the descriptions of the new pokemon I catch.
The other cool things I am really appreciating about this newest generation of the Pokemon games is:
- Expansions, instead of a rerelease of the same game
- The ability to switch your pokemon from your party to the boxes and vice versa
- Wild Area, a big open field to catch high level pokemon with group raids
- Camping and Cooking, add more immersion to the game
- Poke Jobs, an alternate way of leveling your pokemon that are sitting idle in the boxes
- Being able to see the pokemon roam the tall grass areas, minimizing random encounters
- Not having to waste a move space for something like Fly, to move around the world.
Some of the things I don’t like:
- Can’t turn off the experience share feature
- I hate Hop… I want a real rival
- Not a big fan of the missions, although they are not as bad as Moon/Sun
- Dynamaxing… too gimmicky
- Snow hail killing wild pokemon before I can catch them
Granted I haven’t beaten the game yet, I am taking my time with it. I am sure I will discover more things to both of those lists, but as of right now the games are pretty solid and I enjoy them a ton. So I will update that in Part 3.
As I mentioned one of the things I really like is the fact that expansions are being used this time around instead of a rerelease of the same game. By the looks of the early reveals the expansions are going to be amazing.
Sort of off topic, but I would love to try and play Pokemon Diamond, considered the last classic Pokemon game. I would also love to play Pokemon Black/White because from what I heard it deviates for the standard story pretty heavily and it would be cool to experience that. So I might jump into those after I have finished Sword.
The popularity of Pokemon games, has of course not gone unnoticed, but it took a long while for any real competitors to show up on the scene.
On such competitor TemTem, is trying to give its players what they have always wanted an MMO Pokemon game. I believe it’s still in early access, so I don’t think I will be trying it until its fully released, but I will be trying it at some point.
Another worthy contender is Coromon, this one goes back to the classic 2d style of Pokemon games. It does not have a full release yet, but does have a free demo to try out. I might do that later this week actually, if I do I will write up a review for it.
Well I think that’s all for this Part 2 of the article see you in the next one!
Leave a Reply