Pokemon Sword and Shield are the Perfect Preludes to New Pokemon Games
Two years after the release of Pokemon Sword and Shield, Generation 8 is still very influential when it comes to the future of the series.
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This past year has been quite the year for Nintendo and The Pokemon Company, with the Pokemon franchise celebrating its 25th anniversary since the release of the first games in 1996. Alongside the big anniversary, there has been a lot going on for Pokemon, with the release of games New Pokemon Snap and Pokemon Unite, and Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl launching in just a few days. Today also marks the two-year anniversary of Pokemon Sword and Shield’s release, making it a great time to reflect on what Generation 8 games brought to the table and how this is going to affect the future of Pokemon games moving forward.
Pokemon Sword and Shield were a huge success among Switch users, and despite their controversial launch amidst criticism for not including a wider national Pokedex and not making the games fully open-world, Generation 8 was an incredible addition to the series. While it’s true that Pokemon Sword and Shield lacked many Pokemon on launch, they were quickly added with the release of the games’ two DLCs: Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra. As for being fully open-world, Pokemon Sword and Shield might not have been, but they most likely laid the foundations for Pokemon Legends: Arceus to be that sort of game, which in turn is probably going to affect the way future Pokemon games are made.
How Pokemon Sword and Shield Can Change the Future of the Series
Pokemon Sword and Shield were the first generation of modern mainline Pokemon games that didn’t come with additional games to expand on the originals, but rather they were expanded upon through DLCs. DLCs are common practice in the industry and seeing Pokemon games getting more bite-sized expansions instead of full-on new games that barely change the infrastructure of their predecessors is great, and it bodes well for the future of the series. Now that DLCs are a thing in the history of Pokemon, Nintendo and The Pokemon Company might not feel the need for titles similar to Pokemon Platinum or Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon moving forward.
Pokemon Sword and Shield are currently the main hubs for competitive battles in the Pokemon scene, and the fact that they got a huge Pokedex by the end of both DLCs was a fantastic improvement that made PvP battles more diverse. This could be the case for Generation 9 moving forward, and the fact that Pokemon Home is a thing now might very well benefit the development of future games in order to provide players with a full national Pokedex, where every Pokemon ever created is available. Entering the competitive scene has also never been easier thanks to the less intensive approach of Generation 8 games.
Furthermore, Pokemon Sword and Shield were great pillars of character customization, and their legacy is being inherited by Pokemon Legends: Arceus and Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl as well. Not only that though, as the scope of Pokemon Sword and Shield was way bigger than most past Pokemon games when counting DLCs, and that’s mainly due to the combination of the Wild Area and Max Raid Battles. The Wild Area was the first semi-open-world location Pokemon fans ever seen in the games, and Max Raid Battles were a great way to make hunting for strong, rare Pokemon a fun experience that could be completed with friends and strangers alike.
Lastly, one of the most exciting things about Pokemon games’ anniversaries, aside from thinking back to what the series has accomplished, is that a new generation of critters might be coming soon. There have been no talks of Pokemon Generation 9 thus far, but it’s one of those things that everyone knows it’s going to happen—it’s more of a matter of when. Because today marks 2 years since the release of Generation 8, it’s not impossible that the next Pokemon games are just a year away, or maybe coming at some point in 2023.
Pokemon Sword and Shield are available on the Switch.
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