Limiting the Pokedex in Pokemon Sword and Shield has led to some harsh criticism from fans and gamers alike.
According to producer Junichi Masuda, support for all Pokemon would have been difficult due to the higher quality animations required.
But this led fans to question whether new animations were being used, or if they were being recycled from the 3DS.
Since these rumours first appeared, more information has been shared on the matter, and it’s good news for Pokemon fans.
According to a new interview, via Polygon, all the models for Pokemon Sword and Shield have been made especially for the game.
No assets are being reused and that has led to the limitations being put in place for Sword and Shield on Nintendo Switch.
The new visual fidelity found on the Switch Pokemon games has lengthened the development process, meaning changes were going to have to happen at some point.
A translated extract from the interview with Famitsu can be found below but it should be noted that its quality isn’t the best and certain terms may have been lost in the process.
“I wanted to be able to bring all Pokemon if I could do it, but it was also a decision that I had to make someday. In the end, I had no choice but to choose the quality,” Pokemon’s Junichi Masuda reveals.
Game Freak’s Shigeru Ohmori adds: “Even in the time of ” Pokemon Sun Moon “, it was actually quite a difficult situation (to be able to bring all Pokemon), but with the hardware being Nintendo Switch, the models would need to be rebuilt from scratch.”
A new Reddit post has been started on the subject of the interview, including a rundown and translation of some of the main points.
“When they switched over from 3DS to Nintendo Switch, the framerates and quality were both different,” the Reddit post begins.
“In this article, they reveal that when they went to transfer models and move animations into SS they didn’t transfer over right forcing them to rebuild them by scratch.
“So basically while the same animations of the Pokemon themselves are copied and pasted, most if not all Pokemon models had to be redone. On top of that issue, Dynamaxing forces Gamefreak to produce extra models for each and every Pokemon, because you can’t just take the same model and increase its size by 10 and expect it to look even half-decent.”
These explanations go some way to explaining the situation surrounding Sword and Shield, but some fans are still questioning what has happened.
“Then Dynamax should have been scrapped, not the Pokemon,” one fan argues.
“They should have worked on getting all the Pokemon viable for the new system, before working on a new gimmick which could have easily been saved for the next game.
H**l, just work on the story and graphics. Why does there need to be some generation gimmick anyway? I would rather have the option of using the pokemon I like, then having giant forms of ones I don’t care for.”
Masuda did release a statement on the Pokedex change earlier this year, but it didn’t include the details regarding the development limitations, telling fans: “Thank you to all of our fans for caring so deeply about Pokémon. Recently, I shared the news that some Pokémon cannot be transferred to Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield. I’ve read all your comments and appreciate your love and passion for Pokémon.
“Just like all of you, we are passionate about Pokémon, and each and every one of them is very important to us. After so many years of developing the Pokémon video games, this was a very difficult decision for me. I’d like to make one thing clear: even if a specific Pokémon is not available in Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield, that does not mean it will not appear in future games.
New starter Pokemon include a chimp called Grookey, a rabbit called Scorbunny and a water lizard known as Sobble.
“The adventure begins in Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield when players choose one of three new Pokemon—Grookey, Scorbunny, or Sobble,” Nintendo previously revealed.
“Grookey, a Grass-type Chimp Pokemon, is mischievous and full of boundless curiosity. Bursting with energy, Scorbunny, a Fire-type Rabbit Pokemon, is always running about. The stealthy Sobble, a Water-type Water Lizard Pokemon, shoots out attacks as it hides in water.”
Pokemon Sword and Shield have a release date set for November 15, 2019, with plenty of time left to reveal more about the big Nintendo Switch project.