At least the anime gave Chairman Rose an ACTUAL backstory, he wanted to prevent any further tragedies like the one he suffered where his father was killed in a coal mine collapse. It really doesn't help his argument of stopping an energy crisis that will happen in a thousand years, but it's at least something.
Fun fact, in the manga, Galar would run out of the dynamax particles in just 10 years and by the time it was 1000 years later there will be no trace of the region left which is why he become so desperate to do the plan
Sure it is a disaster IN OUR WORLD, there world has literal creatures that can create enough voltage to fry the universe every other day. There is no energy crisis in the pokemon world. Awakening a litteral lovecraftian horror that is pure poison and malice for energy in a world where lantern exists is beyond stupid.
@@duykhangtran4406running out of max particles sounds like a good thing considering max particles are peices of pure poisonous evil. Think about this, the two guardian Pokémon not only have no dynamax forms, they have forms dedicated to killing dynamax Pokémon outright. What does that tell you about dynamaxing?
As I played BotW for the first time, that's exactly what I thought Just simple noises like grunts, laughs and sighs would be enough to make the main NPCs come to life
@@BarnAnt Zelda isn't the biggest franchise ever yet BotW and TotK have sfx for every NPC talking and VA'ing for all cutscenes, I think asking Pokemon to have at least the sighs and all is not that big of an ask, so please Gen 10, at least have laughs, sighs and grunts like PLA's MC.
22:04 idk why they bothered hiding Piers, you can already see the Dark type gym badge symbol on the outside of the Motostoke Stadium, which is very obviously the Team Yell symbol inverted
Honestly on that Voice Acting point, if they didn’t want to have to voice act the entire game they could have gone the FFXIV route and only had voice acting for key story cutscenes.
1:38:19 Bede doesnt get a new theme because nobody in the crowd cares about him, he just barges in out of nowhere so nobody's chanting for him to win and stuff. Would've been cool if his theme started to get remixed as the battle went on, though.
I've never understood how becoming a Pokémon Professor would directly help Hop help other Pokémon. Most Professors are doing research, not in the field directly helping people and Pokémon. Feels like what he really should be is a Ranger.
On first playthrough of the game I got really frustrated when Sonia and Leon would run off and ‘take care of things’, I felt like I’d been robbed of half the story and complained for a while. However thinking on it after playing, and from subsequent playthroughs, I think it was very intentional. A big part of Leon being the champion is how young he became champion, it’s commented on that it was probably TOO young, especially for the responsibility Rose placed on him. Leon and the other adults in the game go out of their way to protect the younger characters in a way you don’t often see in other Pokémon games. We joke about child neglect in these games but SwSh kind of tries to address that. Yeah the adults SHOULD be the ones to deal with this, the kids should be allowed to be kids, enjoy their gym challenge and not feel the burden of responsibility like Leon did as champion, or Sonia as the Professor’s granddaughter. That being said, I don’t think it works very well from a gameplay perspective. It leaves you feeling lacking and like you’re missing out on the action. But from a storytelling perspective it’s very effective and helps the overarching themes. But the game does struggle to find a good balance between those two, which is where it can fall short
I can understand your point, but with all due respect I still disagree. Even if it makes logical sense for the main character, as a child, to leave dangerous situations to the adults to solve, it only serves to negatively impact the overall story. What is even the point of having it happen at all from a narrative perspective if you as the player never get to see it, and it doesn’t really matter to the overall story? Sure it might flesh out Leon a bit more, but is it really too much to ask for us as the players to at least watch it happen? With every other game in the franchise, scarlet and violet included, when something happens in the story, the players get to be either directly involved or see the before or after. Examples like team galactic blowing up the lake, team rocket taking over goldenrod city, arven and his whole storyline with his Pokemon, it’s very possible to have the main player character be involved in the story, even if they aren’t the main focus. The way it was handled in sword and shield just comes off as them not having the time to actually implement these events in meaningful ways, and being unwilling to scrap them entirely, so they just tried to meet in the middle and made an unintentional slap in the face. Again not trying to be rude or call you dumb, but that’s how it came off to me personally.
@dongus_euph I’m completely with you, I do think it does more harm to the story overall and the gameplay experience to exclude the player from those events, even if I do think there is a storytelling purpose in there. I do think if they hadn’t been forced to cut corners and crunch by Game Freak the game would’ve been much more involved and we would’ve been able to interact with those events more, and it is a shame that we didn’t get to experience the full scope of what SwSh could’ve been if given enough time to develop it.
@@Rabombeeyou are right on that, if they had just been given more time this game could’ve been one of the best in the whole franchise. I really hope for gen 10 they will either give them time or the resources. These games and S/V deserved better 😔
It’s so refreshing to see a video that genuinely appreciates the aspects that make SwSh great while still including valid criticism. I have a lot of feelings about the game (way too many to fit here) but as a Northerner I really love the games depiction of the north through its environment and characters and honestly think it’s a great representation. Spikemuth is clearly based on run down British seaside towns, one being Llandudno, another being Blackpool (where I’m from). Northern towns tossed aside by the government, left underfunded and neglected, while the government paint it as the fault of the people living there. They clearly went out of their way to pretty accurately replicate the dialect, but also the social and economic aspects of the region. (My rant about why I think Thatcherism heavily influenced the character of Rose and why I think he was likely from Spikemuth or nearby is a whole other conversation). Piers himself is a character disillusioned with the system that left his town behind and whose community had to fend for itself, thus his beef with Rose. (It is a shame how poorly Team Yell were handled, if they’d been made an effective scapegoat like Team Skull in SuMo it would’ve really helped the narrative) The way Piers and Team Yell are set up as the fake out villains of the game fits well with the narrative Rose wants to tell. That Spikemuth is a failing town because of its stubbornness and lack of civility, not underfunding and neglect. Marnie has a big mantle to take up, and yes I would argue that shouldn’t have been placed on her shoulders, but that’s what happens in poverty. Kids end up taking on more responsibility than they should. I could go on for a long time but I just really think a lot of thought and care went into this game and the depictions of the region and people who live there, and the representation meant a lot to me playing through it.
I sure loved Spikemuth. With the whole zero houses you could enter. And its incredible 3 dimensionality. If you honestly defend Spikemuth in any way you are just coping. It's lazy design through and through.
It really shocked me just how pertinent so much of the world building was to classism and poverty in the uk! Was not expecting it in a pokemon game! Which, whilst I’m thankful for it, made me a bit self conscious (is british class warfare THAT obvious that we’re seen this way by other countries…? 😳)
@@alexspeake9359 I think it’s clear they put a lot of time into their research, but I think it’s so ingrained in the culture it’s hard to avoid it! It would feel like a disservice to create a Pokémon northern England and not include the class disparity, or Wyndon and ignore the capitalism that has it in a chokehold. Similar to what they did with Alola, showing the negative effects of pollution and tourism and colonialism in Hawaii while also clearly putting in the research for the culture and state they’re representing. When they do it well they do it very well! When they do it not so well you get Kalos
Alot of thought and care did not go into the game swsh is by far the most rushed and laziest game they have ever produced in their history they didnt put any effort into swsh they badly rushed it and didn't care at all about the game
I just want to thank you for being not just funny but also fair. A lot of the community tends to just absolutely rip Sword/Shield apart but you took the time to bring out not just the (to be fair many) flaws, but also it’s (equally many) good points and the things it did right. While I agree that even a lot of this gen’s good point could have been even better, I have to give credit where it’s due.
You're telling me Dexit only happened because they couldn't get all of the models ported over in time? And they still kept every Pokémon out of the DLC? And did it again with Scarlet and Violet and its DLC? Oh, I hate Pokémon sometimes.
According to Terra leak insiders, the new games also use a very resource intensive way of keeping all models loaded in that prevents too many being present at once.
@@SophiaSanders61 That makes sense. I don't think Game Freak is lazy in any way, and they are very heavily pressured by the other arms of The Pokemon Company, especially Nintendo, but they're pretty bad at actually implementing their ideas into the games and making them functional :/
I mean, that much was obvious. Dexit garnered a lot of criticism, but I always thought the reasons were quite clear. Game Freak are effectively an indie development team who, 12 years ago, were still making 2D games with B2/W2. With nearly 900 Pokémon by the time of Gen 8, it was obvious that they were going to save themselves all the time creating new 3D models. LGP/E was their chance to remake the 151 in 3D, and they set the stage for remaking the rest between Sw/Sh, Arceus, and Scarlet/Violet. Dexit was literally a temporary issue that bought the programmers time to produce 3D models and animations for every Pokémon. I mean really, was Dexit such a problem? Did anyone actually care that they couldn't play Sw/Sh with a freaking Bellsprout? A Pokémon that became available like 2 years later in the next Gen. *I say indie because, despite the huge IP and merchandise, Game Freak have a relatively small development team and not a lot of experience. That's a real investment problem, but they simply cannot hold a candle to Rockstar, Ubisoft, EA, or some other huge development house. With Dexit, they produced the best possible outcome given the level of resources they're afforded. I'm not defending that, it's an issue, but it's a Nintendo/Pokémon Company issue, not a Game Freak issue.
@InhabitantOfOddworld Every Pokemon is somebody's favorite. Some people were heartbroken over the lack of Tailow or Bellsprout. I know I was saddened by a fair few of the cuts.
Im curious to see if he mentions it, but one of my favorite things about the Max Raid battles is that on the Isle of Armor Klara or the other one might join you, and in thencrown tundra Peony and Nia also have a chance to join you. I was genuinely surprised not seeing it in S/V Also so happy to see someone playing through Shield, I feel like every playthrough is of Sword
I have Shield version and enjoy the game. In fact, I've even done several challenge playthroughs of the game(none of them are on social media, though).
I think the part of the story that made me the most mad was Sonia somehow trusting a random statue in a hotel without even going to the regions museum that just straight up tells you there's 2 heroes. And even then, she *doubts* the accuracy of the museum tapestries. She only actually believes there's 2 heroes when Bede destroys a random wall that reveals another statue of two heroes. That and the fact the nothing happens ever made me just not want to finish the game. I pushed through and was greeted with a postgame that I would've rather just not exist at all.
25:58 maybe it gets brought up later, but a semi-hidden mechanic of cooking curry not mentioned here is that it alters the spawn rates of wild Pokémon hiding in tall grass nearby, making some hard-to-find 'mons a bit more accessible
quite literally was playing sword earlier and going against gordie's gym and BY THE GODS IS THAT THEME A BANGER (even tho the gym challenge had me literally quaking with anxiety)
1:28:09 To play devil's advocate for a little, people have been making jokes for decades about the children being more capable and useful during crises than the adults: "Oh no, Kyogre and Groudon are gonna destroy the region! Good thing this kid from Littleroot Town is gonna save the day!" "I'm a cop, investigating Team Galactic and their plans; I'm gonna hire this random kid and have them do most of the work!" "Team Rocket has had an iron grip on this region for years, even controlling one of the Gyms. Oops, scratch that; here comes two kids from Pallet Town, ready to topple their entire empire over a couple of days!" Etc. If I were to give the MAXIMUM benefit of the doubt, I'd say that them having Leon and Sonia doing important things without you was their attempt to somewhat address these "criticisms", or at least do something similar to what they did with Cynthia. Still doesn't change the fact that it was done _terribly,_ not letting us see ANYTHING until the Darkest Day happens. And even _then,_ Rose's motivation is so flimsy that an errant piece of paper in the wind could topple it. This particular aspect of the games has been handled better elsewhere. Black/White had all the Gym Leaders actually putting up a fight against Team Plasma, but you're still the one that catches the legendary and saves the day. Platinum had Cynthia actually contributing to the fight against Cyrus, but Looker was charmingly incompetent, and Cynthia still stepped back to let you deal with Giratina alone. In X/Y, the kids _don't_ actually stop the superweapon from destroying a town, although they still do a _lot._ Heck, _Scarlet/Violet_ - two games that I'd say are even _more_ controversial than Sword/Shield somehow - handle this aspect better. Not only is the "evil" team itself comprised of kids (and not actually evil, just misunderstood and lashing out), but Director Clavell is there alongside you at every step. And when it comes time for the secret expedition into Area Zero, the four kids chosen - one of the Champions, the Professor's son, the hacker and former leader of the "evil" team, and the newest Champion (who also rescued the Legendary at the start, and has bonded closely with it) - are pretty darn qualified individuals. Plus, with it being a _secret_ expedition, the 'Professor' wants as few people involved as possible, and two of those kids were involved from the moment the 'Professor' called to give the mission.
At the end of the day the problem if kids toppling down criminal organizations is solved easily with suspension of disbelief, same way you solve the question of how can a mouse shoot lightning out of its body. You might be right but if it's true then gamefreak should've considered it a non issue and let the player handle it at least with adult supervision like you mentioned. With Scarlet and Violet the least controversial thing about it is the story.
Honestly the lack of exploration was the biggest killer for me. Which, as a UK resident, felt like such a shame when all the memes prior to game release were pretty amusing and hyped me up. Some of the visuals are so good but there was just nothing to do. Meanwhile, S/V feels pretty barren to run around and doesn't even have any buildings you can explore. There are good and bad points about all the games, I suppose.
Wow, that really was the best retrospective of Sword and Shield that I've seen. You did a great job man, the conclusion was kinda what I expected, the games really have major flaws even though it is my favorite region, also I appreciate you highlighting the things that genuinely are amazing. And yes Twilight Wings definitely is the best thing to come out of this game (plus the pokémon and characters, specially Raihan although in that I'm 100% biased)
After playing Sword again, I can say, yeah I'd probably put it in C tier as well. There are some great ideas and amazing moments, but there are a lot of bad executions as well that heavily drag it down. The story is a fine example. I'll state the whole Leon telling us to stay out of it while he handles it does hurt on a game level, but I do like it on a story level. It does make me appreciate Leon as a character for being probably one of the most active champions in the series. I mean, Cynthia is a powerful champion fight, no arguments there. But in terms of story relevance, she's real just there for exposition. Lance and Steven help to a degree, but just barely. They assist in one thing, but in the bigger climax for the games they ether no where to be seen or just standing around. And Diantha and Iris just exist. I'll give credit to Alder though. He failed, but at least he tried. Rose is a perfect example of the poor writing as I 100% agree with what you said on him. Like I get it. We as humans tend to procrastinate a lot, but to go to instant desire to start the apocalypse for an energy crisis that won't happen for another 1000 years is too ridiculous. Especially since it feels like there wouldn't even be a future worth saving if he succeeded. But if it was a lot closer, I could understand his fear a bit more. I kind of feel that if they did an extra revise, it could have worked. Despite that though, I do like a lot of the characters in the game. I enjoyed the spectacles of the gym battles, and I really did love that climax. And the postgame? Yeah. There was almost nothing there. Did I enjoy it? Yeah, kind of. I stand by what I said in the post. Far from the best in the series, but not as bad as what people made it out to be when it came out. I look forward to your video on the DLC.
I rarely ever focus on long form videos, but this one was so fun to watch! Couldn’t take my eyes off the screen, and I laughed so many times. I really hope to see more of these!
23:12 why would you say that. 1:05:33 YOU CAN TOUCH THE MUSHROOMS??? I didn’t notice Hop stopped using his Wooloo, that was really interesting. I boxed my Thwackey because he really was holding my team back type-wise. 1:26:24 Yeah I was really looking forward to seeing a cutscene of Kaiju-like Dynamaxed pokemon wreaking havoc on Hammerlocke and destroying it a bit. 1:29:32 WTF 1:35:39 I just played this part a day ago. Leon said he would take Hop and you out for a celebratory dinner, I think. Or you guys were meant to meet up at a certain time, and Leon didn’t show. Hop got worried, because although Leon is “pants” with directions, he would never leave him on read or ghost him like that. So that’s why he’s concerned. 1:36:55 I didn’t notice that with Garbodor either!! They actually put thought into the teams. 1:42:18 You’ve now inspired me to name Eternatus, Zamazenta, and Zacian as Gaslight, Gatekeep, and Girlboss respectively.
1:45:08 > Highlights characters that infamously did nothing in the story > Puts Lance, the guy who stormed Team Rocket's HQ with you, over Cynthia, the woman who does nothing about Team Galactic despite her core characteristic, studying lore, directly tying into their actions and motives That aside tho, this video has helped me gain somewhat of an appreciation for some of what SwSh does whilst also highlighting some issues I genuinely never even thought of. Also a really big fan of this longform style of content, your editing style lends itself surprisingly well to it.
Yea, I guess Cynthia doesn't do much, especially DP and BDSP where she doesn't so anything about the events in Spear Pillar. But it's probably due to them wanting to do the suprise that Cynthia is the champion. Also she does something in Platinum with Cyrus with the Distortion World BTW.
I genuinely think it's probably the best animated thing Pokemon has ever done (games wise). It's part of what makes Cinderace my favorite Galar mon. It's so clean and crisp and some other third positive word that starts with C.
57:51 isn't the artist NPC the only one you fight against in the entire game? Because of that I imagine that he's his own character and the artist you find in the mushroom city is him since he doesn't have a name
1:11:52 The Circhester hotel might actually be my favorite part about SwSh, it's like the one building they fleshed out with things to do in and don't roll out the narrative red carpet for and overexplain any intrigue it could have had
Honestly, aside from the plot, the biggest miss for me was how many places felt like they should be explorable, but weren't. Route 3, Galar Mine 1, Turffield, Ballonlea, Spikemuth, Hammerlocke and maybe Route 10 were the biggest offenders that i can remember. Englands got great cities (York, which inspired Turffield being a personal favourite) and its a shame most of them were so half-baked.
@@Lithosagymfan173. Personally think Spikemuth should've still had an actual town to it. The Alleyway grunt gauntlet of a gym would be more excusable if there was an actual town to explore and learn from
12:26 Bede losing his endorsement and being adopted by Opal is a big plot point (havent gotten to that point in the video so i don’t know if he corrects himself)
Imagine a Gym Challenger went through the strenuous journey of getting all the gym badges and beating all the other competitors in a tournament… just to then get defeated by one of the Gym Leaders that you already beat, who didn’t have to work to enter the tournament, and THEY get to go on and fight the champion?
1:29:09 i think she means what were the pokemon that were the heroes as we they are pokemon but not what kind of pokemon for all they know it could have been 2 bolthund dressed up
I think another explanation for Marnie’s oddly robotic behavior is that she’s embodying the kuudere trope you see in anime occasionally (think Todoroki). It doesn’t translate well since western tropes don’t have a direct analog but it makes sense when put through that lense.
1:40:56 Rose is a Longtermist with a hero complex. He fully believes the most moral actions he can take are ones that will improve the world for the future, and he takes it to the extreme by trying to fix a problem in the distant future so that he'll be known for a millenium like the ancient heroes who first stopped the darkest day
I spend the entire day watching this video on and off since I didn’t have the opportunity to sit down and watch it through. But I couldn’t help keep coming back, I’ve only played scarlet/violet. Arceus and recently picked up emerald but this does low-key make me want to try the games since the high sound high enough for me to somewhat enjoy it. Though the major limitations that seem to be in play, I’m excited for the next video going over how the dlc might change that!
I hope this vid gets a lot of traction, because not only is it the most fair analysis of SwSh that I've seen, but also because it's just a really well-made video that I would love to see more of from you. I found you through your YT Shorts and this vid really has the same comedic value those have, just a bit more spread out, and your skill with running bits carries over super well into a long-form media. Very excited to see your channel going forward :)
Shield was my first ever Pokémon game. I liked Pokémon before, but after watching ThinkNoodles playthrough of Sword, I went and go Shield for 2 reasons: 1) Shield has slight differences from Sword, and I wanted to experience something slightly different than what I watched. 2) G-Max Gengar (He’s my favourite Pokémon) Shield is actually the reason why Inteleon is my favourite starter, and my 2nd favourite Pokémon.
I think Sword and Shield was the first big showcase of 3 years not being enough dev time anymore. I feel like there was a want to do more but cut corners like the many seen in this video are why Sword and Shield has the reputation it does. The highs are pretty enjoyable but the lows pile up to where the good to bad ratio becomes a bit too close.
The worst part for me is that the game plus the DLC is 90 USD.. 90 whole dabloons for a lackluster game with 30 of them being for the best part of it. There was so much potential, they could’ve made us wait just a bit longer and it would’ve been so much better than what we actually got.
Seriously though, I am adamant that they absolutely should’ve made Leon into the main villain of this game. Have him be more of a cocky brat, be afraid of how fast you were improving as a trainer, and being afraid you’ll revoke his title as the unbeatable champion. Leon and Rose do awaken Eternatus a day before the finals, he catches it with the Master Ball, he then betrays Rose and decides to keep Eternatus for himself. Then on the day of the finals you battle Leon and he uses Eternatus as his final Pokémon in order to ensure his victory. But in the end you still win. Leon is pissed, Eternatus gets out of control, and the Darkest Day happens. Leon gets reprimanded for his crimes, Rose also goes to jail willingly just like in canon, since plotting to use a Pokémon as a battery and staging an operation without proper precautions that has the risk of inciting a world ending threat is still a crime. But he serves a lighter sentence. I think it would’ve made for a more interesting climax and actually make Leon a little more interesting of a character.
Me too! Never got into Pokémon as a kid, but I bought a Switch during Covid and I love this game. It’s got some objective problems, but what it does well it does sooooo well.
Honestly really appreciate the Leon section cause that was also me. I got thrashed the first time (mostly cause of his Haxorus getting super lucky with confusions and still hitting all the Outrages it wanted). I think (relative to other challenges within the Pokemon franchise) he's one of the tougher battles especially if you picked Scorbunny since I think that team is best. Not to mention his music is really great and a very clever incorporation of the Hall of Fame theme. Great finale to a mediocre Pokemon experience.
1:59:28 Is that really true? I just looked up a video showing what happens when you lose a Title Defense match and the game treats it as a normal Game Over. The person in the video lost to Plumeria, then battled his way back to the Champion’s room, but she wasn’t there. Guzma showed up instead. So the opponents are still randomized. The same thing happens when you lose the League in literally every other game. So I don’t agree with your complaint here. For simplicity’s sake, SwSh brushed off you losing the League in the post-game as another Game Over. Simple. And I think these games treating these side features as normal gameplay mechanics is fine. It’s what most games do. Story-gameplay segregation and all that. As long as the dialogue and attention to detail is kept to actual important story beats, that’s what matters. I agree with most of the rest of this video, though. SwSh are unfortunately very half-baked games,
1:08:05 i thought you added that sound for the cutscene. When i heard it, my first thought was also FNAF6 but knowing that it's actually in the game and not an edited sound byte makes it so much better.
The main issue I had with Hop is that the story wants him to feel like my rival, but the gameplay doesn’t. He’s never actually threatening so instead of being someone I’m constantly testing my skills against, he feels like an annoying little brother who won’t stop getting in the way.
I myself love USUM - probably my favorite mainline games, heck i own Ultra Sun on cart as opposed to pirating nearly every other game i have on my 3ds, but swsh was jsut... not that good :/
You've earned my subscription. Great summary and retrospect video on gen 8 with humor that caught me off guard but were funny. I'd love to see you do a simmilar video on scarlet and violet and/or the gallar dlcs.
This is the very first Pokemon game that made me not had to think about types advantage's and made me have actual fun and not being lost too much and this game really made me buy the DLC and the music, OH the music. I LOVE the music in this game(mostly the gym battles and Leons) and I didn't even care if it's terrible, this game will always be within my heart, so now Ima go play the game again.
As someone who has over one thousand hours (This is not a flex, possibly a cry for help) I adore the game. I am also British so I feel right at home amongst the rolling fields of Galar so yes I am biased
It was my first real Pokémon game 😢 I had played Pokémon go, but when Sword and shield came, I got my switch a few days before. I went to game stop and bought shield, and a wooloo plushie. It was magical. Anyway yeah I couldn’t pass the fairy gym and gave up
As a story and character standpoint: Leon making sure that the kids don’t risk their lives against dangerous threats allowing them to focus on their gym challenge is a great trait for a champion and adult to have, especially a champion as marketed in the region as him. Makes me respect him a lot as his title of champion actually means something instead of just being the strongest trainer in x region As for gameplay: yeah it does suck having potentially fun parts of the story for players being denied which results into a stale gameplay loop for the majority of the main story adding up into what makes swsh the Pokémon games of all time
26:45 I never saw anything about why dexit happened during the teraleak. I even double-checked. I heard rumors/hearsay during the Sword Beta leak that someone screwed up the model importing process, but there were no leaked documents or emails to the degree of what the teraleak dumped. Can I get a source for this if it doesn't appear later in the video? And I mean something hardcore like official documentation because an interview from "my uncle who works for Nintendo" isn't going to do it for me
1:25:40 I never thought of that Penny does actually give kids weapons through illegal hacking to attack bullies. And then pays you thousands of dollars by hacking an unknown source. Like how is Penny not in jail for stealing thousands if not millions of league points aka poke dollars since it is an exact 1:1 currency ratio.
@@hailthequeenFM yeah but is that a good punishment? and we also see the team use force to try and extort kids and force conscription to their illegal paramilitary and there is no way their revavroom weapons are legal.
@@HaydenFPlaysVODS Considering she's hired explicitly to fix the holes she used to hack the league, it seems fair to me. Undoing all the potential harm she did.
Story Time! One time there was a power outage at my house, there wasn’t anything to do except play stuff on my brother’s Switch (My Switch only worked with the internet). So I booted up my bro’s Switch. He had all the classic games. Mario Odyssey, Super Smash Bros., FIFA for some reason. But I saw Pokemon Shield. The only thing that I could play without getting bored out of my mind. So I made a new profile, booted up the game, and I got hit by a MASSIVE nostalgia attack. I was playing nonstop. Btw this is my team. Cinderace Centiskorch Bewear Mudsdale Copperajah And Corviknight.
The wild area's design and grindability is easiest to explain by saying that it's the postgame grind made available immediately. TMs? Items? More Pokemon than you know what to do with? All here. It's the same design principle of Scarlet and Violet's overworld. Instead of making cool items like ability patches available as rewards (optional or not) in the game, you are simply able to grind for them when you come back later with pokemon who can actually do the higher tier raid dens. It's this very strange halfway move towards sandbox teambuilding with options flowing out the ends, but still with asinine restrictions on item availability (especially the ability modifying ones). Pokemon is unwilling to be a 'designed' rpg but also makes customization tedious and deceptively unavailable at the start. It was a big part of why I burnt out of the game before Kabu, solved only by inviting a friend over to commentate/banter and changing focus to a bug monotype run. What was consumed by the post-game style of item obtainment was the progression of obtaining cool things. TMs aren't particularly linked to progression, a problem very much exacerbated by the routes not having a lot of route to them.
0:07 HELPL THIS VIDEO WAS PLAYING WHILE I WAS SHINY HUNTING ON LA AND I GOT OFF WYRDEER, SAVED, PAUSED THE VIDEO, AND STARTED FRANTICALLY LOOKING AROUND😭
Love your long form content dude and super glad this is the subject ya decided to tackle I don't live in the UK but from what I've heard it's not uncommon to just come across history, like a random London pub having an old seat roped off because king George once sat there. That is to say I like how they have the random tapestry in a restaurant
Considering how much content was scrapped for X and Y as recently revealed in the tera leak, Sword/Shield scream to me games plagued by development issues, crunching and just general lack of development time. I feel like one extra year of development would have really given the care and polish they deserved, especially how beautiful they sometimes can be.
Super great video! I'm very critical of SwSh, but there's something that makes me come back to it and love it. I'm glad to see an analysis that puts into works the stuff I like. Hope to see more long-form content from you, this is fantastic!
I love that you pointed out that the gyms here actually feel like in the anime unlike the old gyms they always felt like they're just a building these ones are actual stadiums for a sport every pokemon games doesnt really make it feel like they are part of a sport and more of just an obstacle
Man these long form videos are always so charming and enjoyable 🥰 and I actually laugh! Out loud! For real! I’m currently on the death march towards Christmas (yaaay… retail… 💀) and I forgot what that was like 😭
The difference between this game and SV is that SWSH has an excellent foundation, but lacks in quantity (small towns/routes, a wild area that could have been a bit bigger, a story that had good moments and characters but could have been expanded on, etc) while SV has a BAD foundation, but lots of... ahem... quantity.
My favorite 3D visuals in the series are definitely Gen6, but that doesn't mean I think Gen8's style looks bad. The routes are really unique and good looking! The character animations are a bit stiff but when haven't they been, it's just more noticeable now because the characters themselves are more detailed in the overworld. Still, it being noticeable now isn't exactly stellar. As always, the game suffers from being rushed out before it was fully ready. Also, my pet headcanon is that Chairman Rose is the player's deadbeat dad. They both know it and neither of them is going to say anything. Why else would he invite them to lunch only to immediately have a work emergency and leave?
Never forget how much was taken despite being the first major pokemon game on the switch, also man did journey not like gen 8 too, rip marie, one episode. Along with rushing gen 8 plot for more kanto filler
![A VERY Simple History Of Shiny Pokémon [HIGHLY REGRET THIS VIDEO]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/xn4T-n8e1ls/mqdefault.jpg)
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
At least the anime gave Chairman Rose an ACTUAL backstory, he wanted to prevent any further tragedies like the one he suffered where his father was killed in a coal mine collapse. It really doesn't help his argument of stopping an energy crisis that will happen in a thousand years, but it's at least something.
Fun fact, in the manga, Galar would run out of the dynamax particles in just 10 years and by the time it was 1000 years later there will be no trace of the region left which is why he become so desperate to do the plan
@@duykhangtran4406They should've done that in the games.
I agree ❤
Sure it is a disaster IN OUR WORLD, there world has literal creatures that can create enough voltage to fry the universe every other day. There is no energy crisis in the pokemon world. Awakening a litteral lovecraftian horror that is pure poison and malice for energy in a world where lantern exists is beyond stupid.
@@duykhangtran4406running out of max particles sounds like a good thing considering max particles are peices of pure poisonous evil. Think about this, the two guardian Pokémon not only have no dynamax forms, they have forms dedicated to killing dynamax Pokémon outright. What does that tell you about dynamaxing?
With Sword & Shield and Violent & Scarlet, the no voice acting is a glaring flaw. Even grunts would be a huge improvement. Thanks for highlighting it.
As I played BotW for the first time, that's exactly what I thought
Just simple noises like grunts, laughs and sighs would be enough to make the main NPCs come to life
Missed opportunity to say “Galaring flaw”
@@BarnAnt Zelda isn't the biggest franchise ever yet BotW and TotK have sfx for every NPC talking and VA'ing for all cutscenes, I think asking Pokemon to have at least the sighs and all is not that big of an ask, so please Gen 10, at least have laughs, sighs and grunts like PLA's MC.
22:04 idk why they bothered hiding Piers, you can already see the Dark type gym badge symbol on the outside of the Motostoke Stadium, which is very obviously the Team Yell symbol inverted
1:15:15 I like to interpret this line as Sonia being confused as to why two dogs willingly bathed
Honestly on that Voice Acting point, if they didn’t want to have to voice act the entire game they could have gone the FFXIV route and only had voice acting for key story cutscenes.
So true… and gamefreak was too cheap to even do that
1:38:19 Bede doesnt get a new theme because nobody in the crowd cares about him, he just barges in out of nowhere so nobody's chanting for him to win and stuff.
Would've been cool if his theme started to get remixed as the battle went on, though.
man i feel bad for him
thats honestly so clever i never thought of that ty
I was shiny hunting in Legends Arceus and did not appreciate your use of that game’s shiny sound effect. Great video
Babe ..wake up … Longform Newsteevie video…
Hope the coma recovery goes well
Looooong form
Crazy news: Pokemon fan is in a relationship!
I thought it was all shorts lmao
U call this long form?
I've never understood how becoming a Pokémon Professor would directly help Hop help other Pokémon. Most Professors are doing research, not in the field directly helping people and Pokémon. Feels like what he really should be is a Ranger.
Yes! He doesn’t seem that interested in research or in healing Pokémon imo. He’d be a perfect ranger.
@@pokelover02 Thank you! People seem to disregard a lot of the career options in the Pokémon world.
On first playthrough of the game I got really frustrated when Sonia and Leon would run off and ‘take care of things’, I felt like I’d been robbed of half the story and complained for a while. However thinking on it after playing, and from subsequent playthroughs, I think it was very intentional. A big part of Leon being the champion is how young he became champion, it’s commented on that it was probably TOO young, especially for the responsibility Rose placed on him.
Leon and the other adults in the game go out of their way to protect the younger characters in a way you don’t often see in other Pokémon games. We joke about child neglect in these games but SwSh kind of tries to address that. Yeah the adults SHOULD be the ones to deal with this, the kids should be allowed to be kids, enjoy their gym challenge and not feel the burden of responsibility like Leon did as champion, or Sonia as the Professor’s granddaughter.
That being said, I don’t think it works very well from a gameplay perspective. It leaves you feeling lacking and like you’re missing out on the action. But from a storytelling perspective it’s very effective and helps the overarching themes. But the game does struggle to find a good balance between those two, which is where it can fall short
I can understand your point, but with all due respect I still disagree. Even if it makes logical sense for the main character, as a child, to leave dangerous situations to the adults to solve, it only serves to negatively impact the overall story. What is even the point of having it happen at all from a narrative perspective if you as the player never get to see it, and it doesn’t really matter to the overall story? Sure it might flesh out Leon a bit more, but is it really too much to ask for us as the players to at least watch it happen?
With every other game in the franchise, scarlet and violet included, when something happens in the story, the players get to be either directly involved or see the before or after. Examples like team galactic blowing up the lake, team rocket taking over goldenrod city, arven and his whole storyline with his Pokemon, it’s very possible to have the main player character be involved in the story, even if they aren’t the main focus. The way it was handled in sword and shield just comes off as them not having the time to actually implement these events in meaningful ways, and being unwilling to scrap them entirely, so they just tried to meet in the middle and made an unintentional slap in the face.
Again not trying to be rude or call you dumb, but that’s how it came off to me personally.
@dongus_euph I’m completely with you, I do think it does more harm to the story overall and the gameplay experience to exclude the player from those events, even if I do think there is a storytelling purpose in there.
I do think if they hadn’t been forced to cut corners and crunch by Game Freak the game would’ve been much more involved and we would’ve been able to interact with those events more, and it is a shame that we didn’t get to experience the full scope of what SwSh could’ve been if given enough time to develop it.
@@Rabombeeyou are right on that, if they had just been given more time this game could’ve been one of the best in the whole franchise. I really hope for gen 10 they will either give them time or the resources. These games and S/V deserved better 😔
It’s so refreshing to see a video that genuinely appreciates the aspects that make SwSh great while still including valid criticism. I have a lot of feelings about the game (way too many to fit here) but as a Northerner I really love the games depiction of the north through its environment and characters and honestly think it’s a great representation.
Spikemuth is clearly based on run down British seaside towns, one being Llandudno, another being Blackpool (where I’m from). Northern towns tossed aside by the government, left underfunded and neglected, while the government paint it as the fault of the people living there.
They clearly went out of their way to pretty accurately replicate the dialect, but also the social and economic aspects of the region. (My rant about why I think Thatcherism heavily influenced the character of Rose and why I think he was likely from Spikemuth or nearby is a whole other conversation).
Piers himself is a character disillusioned with the system that left his town behind and whose community had to fend for itself, thus his beef with Rose. (It is a shame how poorly Team Yell were handled, if they’d been made an effective scapegoat like Team Skull in SuMo it would’ve really helped the narrative)
The way Piers and Team Yell are set up as the fake out villains of the game fits well with the narrative Rose wants to tell. That Spikemuth is a failing town because of its stubbornness and lack of civility, not underfunding and neglect.
Marnie has a big mantle to take up, and yes I would argue that shouldn’t have been placed on her shoulders, but that’s what happens in poverty. Kids end up taking on more responsibility than they should.
I could go on for a long time but I just really think a lot of thought and care went into this game and the depictions of the region and people who live there, and the representation meant a lot to me playing through it.
I sure loved Spikemuth. With the whole zero houses you could enter. And its incredible 3 dimensionality. If you honestly defend Spikemuth in any way you are just coping. It's lazy design through and through.
It really shocked me just how pertinent so much of the world building was to classism and poverty in the uk! Was not expecting it in a pokemon game! Which, whilst I’m thankful for it, made me a bit self conscious (is british class warfare THAT obvious that we’re seen this way by other countries…? 😳)
@@alexspeake9359 I think it’s clear they put a lot of time into their research, but I think it’s so ingrained in the culture it’s hard to avoid it! It would feel like a disservice to create a Pokémon northern England and not include the class disparity, or Wyndon and ignore the capitalism that has it in a chokehold.
Similar to what they did with Alola, showing the negative effects of pollution and tourism and colonialism in Hawaii while also clearly putting in the research for the culture and state they’re representing. When they do it well they do it very well! When they do it not so well you get Kalos
Alot of thought and care did not go into the game swsh is by far the most rushed and laziest game they have ever produced in their history they didnt put any effort into swsh they badly rushed it and didn't care at all about the game
@@sweetwolfsteve5583I consider Legends Arceus the worst, but opinions are opinions I guess.
I just want to thank you for being not just funny but also fair. A lot of the community tends to just absolutely rip Sword/Shield apart but you took the time to bring out not just the (to be fair many) flaws, but also it’s (equally many) good points and the things it did right. While I agree that even a lot of this gen’s good point could have been even better, I have to give credit where it’s due.
You're telling me Dexit only happened because they couldn't get all of the models ported over in time? And they still kept every Pokémon out of the DLC? And did it again with Scarlet and Violet and its DLC? Oh, I hate Pokémon sometimes.
I don't know who's worse: Pokemon or Kingdom Hearts?
According to Terra leak insiders, the new games also use a very resource intensive way of keeping all models loaded in that prevents too many being present at once.
@@SophiaSanders61 That makes sense. I don't think Game Freak is lazy in any way, and they are very heavily pressured by the other arms of The Pokemon Company, especially Nintendo, but they're pretty bad at actually implementing their ideas into the games and making them functional :/
I mean, that much was obvious. Dexit garnered a lot of criticism, but I always thought the reasons were quite clear.
Game Freak are effectively an indie development team who, 12 years ago, were still making 2D games with B2/W2. With nearly 900 Pokémon by the time of Gen 8, it was obvious that they were going to save themselves all the time creating new 3D models. LGP/E was their chance to remake the 151 in 3D, and they set the stage for remaking the rest between Sw/Sh, Arceus, and Scarlet/Violet. Dexit was literally a temporary issue that bought the programmers time to produce 3D models and animations for every Pokémon.
I mean really, was Dexit such a problem? Did anyone actually care that they couldn't play Sw/Sh with a freaking Bellsprout? A Pokémon that became available like 2 years later in the next Gen.
*I say indie because, despite the huge IP and merchandise, Game Freak have a relatively small development team and not a lot of experience. That's a real investment problem, but they simply cannot hold a candle to Rockstar, Ubisoft, EA, or some other huge development house. With Dexit, they produced the best possible outcome given the level of resources they're afforded. I'm not defending that, it's an issue, but it's a Nintendo/Pokémon Company issue, not a Game Freak issue.
@InhabitantOfOddworld
Every Pokemon is somebody's favorite. Some people were heartbroken over the lack of Tailow or Bellsprout. I know I was saddened by a fair few of the cuts.
Im curious to see if he mentions it, but one of my favorite things about the Max Raid battles is that on the Isle of Armor Klara or the other one might join you, and in thencrown tundra Peony and Nia also have a chance to join you. I was genuinely surprised not seeing it in S/V
Also so happy to see someone playing through Shield, I feel like every playthrough is of Sword
I have Shield version and enjoy the game. In fact, I've even done several challenge playthroughs of the game(none of them are on social media, though).
Alssso magikarp hydro pump girl = funni
I got Shield after trying my brother's copy of Sword.
I think the part of the story that made me the most mad was Sonia somehow trusting a random statue in a hotel without even going to the regions museum that just straight up tells you there's 2 heroes. And even then, she *doubts* the accuracy of the museum tapestries. She only actually believes there's 2 heroes when Bede destroys a random wall that reveals another statue of two heroes. That and the fact the nothing happens ever made me just not want to finish the game. I pushed through and was greeted with a postgame that I would've rather just not exist at all.
25:58 maybe it gets brought up later, but a semi-hidden mechanic of cooking curry not mentioned here is that it alters the spawn rates of wild Pokémon hiding in tall grass nearby, making some hard-to-find 'mons a bit more accessible
It WHAT
31:32 my head was banging the whole time u were explaining the music
THE GYM THEMES ARE SUCH A BOP
quite literally was playing sword earlier and going against gordie's gym and BY THE GODS IS THAT THEME A BANGER (even tho the gym challenge had me literally quaking with anxiety)
It's a pokemon game so I expect the gym theme to be go- OH MY GOODNESS IT'S SO HYPE.
Me too hahaa! ^^
1:28:09 To play devil's advocate for a little, people have been making jokes for decades about the children being more capable and useful during crises than the adults:
"Oh no, Kyogre and Groudon are gonna destroy the region! Good thing this kid from Littleroot Town is gonna save the day!"
"I'm a cop, investigating Team Galactic and their plans; I'm gonna hire this random kid and have them do most of the work!"
"Team Rocket has had an iron grip on this region for years, even controlling one of the Gyms. Oops, scratch that; here comes two kids from Pallet Town, ready to topple their entire empire over a couple of days!"
Etc.
If I were to give the MAXIMUM benefit of the doubt, I'd say that them having Leon and Sonia doing important things without you was their attempt to somewhat address these "criticisms", or at least do something similar to what they did with Cynthia.
Still doesn't change the fact that it was done _terribly,_ not letting us see ANYTHING until the Darkest Day happens. And even _then,_ Rose's motivation is so flimsy that an errant piece of paper in the wind could topple it.
This particular aspect of the games has been handled better elsewhere. Black/White had all the Gym Leaders actually putting up a fight against Team Plasma, but you're still the one that catches the legendary and saves the day. Platinum had Cynthia actually contributing to the fight against Cyrus, but Looker was charmingly incompetent, and Cynthia still stepped back to let you deal with Giratina alone. In X/Y, the kids _don't_ actually stop the superweapon from destroying a town, although they still do a _lot._
Heck, _Scarlet/Violet_ - two games that I'd say are even _more_ controversial than Sword/Shield somehow - handle this aspect better. Not only is the "evil" team itself comprised of kids (and not actually evil, just misunderstood and lashing out), but Director Clavell is there alongside you at every step. And when it comes time for the secret expedition into Area Zero, the four kids chosen - one of the Champions, the Professor's son, the hacker and former leader of the "evil" team, and the newest Champion (who also rescued the Legendary at the start, and has bonded closely with it) - are pretty darn qualified individuals. Plus, with it being a _secret_ expedition, the 'Professor' wants as few people involved as possible, and two of those kids were involved from the moment the 'Professor' called to give the mission.
At the end of the day the problem if kids toppling down criminal organizations is solved easily with suspension of disbelief, same way you solve the question of how can a mouse shoot lightning out of its body. You might be right but if it's true then gamefreak should've considered it a non issue and let the player handle it at least with adult supervision like you mentioned. With Scarlet and Violet the least controversial thing about it is the story.
Honestly the lack of exploration was the biggest killer for me. Which, as a UK resident, felt like such a shame when all the memes prior to game release were pretty amusing and hyped me up. Some of the visuals are so good but there was just nothing to do.
Meanwhile, S/V feels pretty barren to run around and doesn't even have any buildings you can explore. There are good and bad points about all the games, I suppose.
Yes, someone else who appreciates Hop's arc! Welcome to the Hop Defense Squad, Newsteevie! 🎉
YESSSS MORE MEMBERS OF THE SQUAD
WE.NEED.MOAARRRR!!!!
@totallynotvolohaha YESSSSS
Always thought it was an excellent imposter syndrome arc
@johnpaulcross424 When it happened I had a heart attack and realized that I finally found my comfort character
Wow, that really was the best retrospective of Sword and Shield that I've seen. You did a great job man, the conclusion was kinda what I expected, the games really have major flaws even though it is my favorite region, also I appreciate you highlighting the things that genuinely are amazing. And yes Twilight Wings definitely is the best thing to come out of this game (plus the pokémon and characters, specially Raihan although in that I'm 100% biased)
I really hope you make more longform videos like this in the future, this was an absolute joy to put on in the background while doing stuff.
After playing Sword again, I can say, yeah I'd probably put it in C tier as well. There are some great ideas and amazing moments, but there are a lot of bad executions as well that heavily drag it down.
The story is a fine example. I'll state the whole Leon telling us to stay out of it while he handles it does hurt on a game level, but I do like it on a story level. It does make me appreciate Leon as a character for being probably one of the most active champions in the series. I mean, Cynthia is a powerful champion fight, no arguments there. But in terms of story relevance, she's real just there for exposition. Lance and Steven help to a degree, but just barely. They assist in one thing, but in the bigger climax for the games they ether no where to be seen or just standing around. And Diantha and Iris just exist. I'll give credit to Alder though. He failed, but at least he tried.
Rose is a perfect example of the poor writing as I 100% agree with what you said on him. Like I get it. We as humans tend to procrastinate a lot, but to go to instant desire to start the apocalypse for an energy crisis that won't happen for another 1000 years is too ridiculous. Especially since it feels like there wouldn't even be a future worth saving if he succeeded. But if it was a lot closer, I could understand his fear a bit more. I kind of feel that if they did an extra revise, it could have worked.
Despite that though, I do like a lot of the characters in the game. I enjoyed the spectacles of the gym battles, and I really did love that climax.
And the postgame? Yeah. There was almost nothing there.
Did I enjoy it? Yeah, kind of. I stand by what I said in the post. Far from the best in the series, but not as bad as what people made it out to be when it came out.
I look forward to your video on the DLC.
I'm curious: what WOULD you say is the worst game in the series?
@ for me, BDSP
@@joegreen3802 Oh yeah, that's a stinker.
i was accidentally watching this at 0.75 speed and thought you where sick for like 30 minutes through video lol
i can't stop laughing at this comment
> open up analysis
> plot summary.
Many such cases!
I rarely ever focus on long form videos, but this one was so fun to watch! Couldn’t take my eyes off the screen, and I laughed so many times. I really hope to see more of these!
23:12 why would you say that.
1:05:33 YOU CAN TOUCH THE MUSHROOMS???
I didn’t notice Hop stopped using his Wooloo, that was really interesting. I boxed my Thwackey because he really was holding my team back type-wise.
1:26:24 Yeah I was really looking forward to seeing a cutscene of Kaiju-like Dynamaxed pokemon wreaking havoc on Hammerlocke and destroying it a bit.
1:29:32 WTF
1:35:39 I just played this part a day ago. Leon said he would take Hop and you out for a celebratory dinner, I think. Or you guys were meant to meet up at a certain time, and Leon didn’t show. Hop got worried, because although Leon is “pants” with directions, he would never leave him on read or ghost him like that. So that’s why he’s concerned.
1:36:55 I didn’t notice that with Garbodor either!! They actually put thought into the teams.
1:42:18 You’ve now inspired me to name Eternatus, Zamazenta, and Zacian as Gaslight, Gatekeep, and Girlboss respectively.
1:45:08
> Highlights characters that infamously did nothing in the story
> Puts Lance, the guy who stormed Team Rocket's HQ with you, over Cynthia, the woman who does nothing about Team Galactic despite her core characteristic, studying lore, directly tying into their actions and motives
That aside tho, this video has helped me gain somewhat of an appreciation for some of what SwSh does whilst also highlighting some issues I genuinely never even thought of. Also a really big fan of this longform style of content, your editing style lends itself surprisingly well to it.
Yea, I guess Cynthia doesn't do much, especially DP and BDSP where she doesn't so anything about the events in Spear Pillar. But it's probably due to them wanting to do the suprise that Cynthia is the champion.
Also she does something in Platinum with Cyrus with the Distortion World BTW.
01:03:01 omg I NEEDED someone to talk bout the Cindaraca Fire Ball animation
TY Newsteevie
I genuinely think it's probably the best animated thing Pokemon has ever done (games wise). It's part of what makes Cinderace my favorite Galar mon. It's so clean and crisp and some other third positive word that starts with C.
@@castform7captivating
Oh boy! Another 2 hour video about something I will completely forget after a week!
Thats what shorts do to you jibanyan
A very refreshing and open-minded review of the game!
57:51 isn't the artist NPC the only one you fight against in the entire game? Because of that I imagine that he's his own character and the artist you find in the mushroom city is him since he doesn't have a name
1:11:52 The Circhester hotel might actually be my favorite part about SwSh, it's like the one building they fleshed out with things to do in and don't roll out the narrative red carpet for and overexplain any intrigue it could have had
Why is everyone talking about sword and shield now????
Facts. Rouge was just talking about it and now this guy
I’m guessing because 5 years is when the nostalgia for something begins.
For the 5-year anniversary.
@@Manueltion15the bat?
Anniversary
Honestly, aside from the plot, the biggest miss for me was how many places felt like they should be explorable, but weren't.
Route 3, Galar Mine 1, Turffield, Ballonlea, Spikemuth, Hammerlocke and maybe Route 10 were the biggest offenders that i can remember. Englands got great cities (York, which inspired Turffield being a personal favourite) and its a shame most of them were so half-baked.
Okay, Spkemuth is intentional, but the rest is fair.
@@Lithosagymfan173. Personally think Spikemuth should've still had an actual town to it. The Alleyway grunt gauntlet of a gym would be more excusable if there was an actual town to explore and learn from
1:13:20 so THATS why this gym’s puzzle always annoyed me. I’ve only ever played it on switch lite which has no vibration
12:26 Bede losing his endorsement and being adopted by Opal is a big plot point (havent gotten to that point in the video so i don’t know if he corrects himself)
Yes, the topic of endorsements comes up again but I still don't really get why you need an endorsement to do the gym challenge.
@@castform7Because when there's 3000 people showing up to watch, you need to be a little better than Joey and his Rattata.
23:11 as a digital artists the stray pixel physically hurts me, it makes me feel like i need to make a mod specifically to remove it💀
Imagine a Gym Challenger went through the strenuous journey of getting all the gym badges and beating all the other competitors in a tournament… just to then get defeated by one of the Gym Leaders that you already beat, who didn’t have to work to enter the tournament, and THEY get to go on and fight the champion?
1:29:09 i think she means what were the pokemon that were the heroes as we they are pokemon but not what kind of pokemon for all they know it could have been 2 bolthund dressed up
I think another explanation for Marnie’s oddly robotic behavior is that she’s embodying the kuudere trope you see in anime occasionally (think Todoroki). It doesn’t translate well since western tropes don’t have a direct analog but it makes sense when put through that lense.
Goth girls act aloof a lot, too.
See also: Wednsday Addams, Luna Lovegood.
1:40:56 Rose is a Longtermist with a hero complex. He fully believes the most moral actions he can take are ones that will improve the world for the future, and he takes it to the extreme by trying to fix a problem in the distant future so that he'll be known for a millenium like the ancient heroes who first stopped the darkest day
I spend the entire day watching this video on and off since I didn’t have the opportunity to sit down and watch it through. But I couldn’t help keep coming back, I’ve only played scarlet/violet. Arceus and recently picked up emerald but this does low-key make me want to try the games since the high sound high enough for me to somewhat enjoy it. Though the major limitations that seem to be in play, I’m excited for the next video going over how the dlc might change that!
oh my god this feels like a never ending short
I hope this vid gets a lot of traction, because not only is it the most fair analysis of SwSh that I've seen, but also because it's just a really well-made video that I would love to see more of from you. I found you through your YT Shorts and this vid really has the same comedic value those have, just a bit more spread out, and your skill with running bits carries over super well into a long-form media.
Very excited to see your channel going forward :)
Shield was my first ever Pokémon game. I liked Pokémon before, but after watching ThinkNoodles playthrough of Sword, I went and go Shield for 2 reasons:
1) Shield has slight differences from Sword, and I wanted to experience something slightly different than what I watched.
2) G-Max Gengar (He’s my favourite Pokémon)
Shield is actually the reason why Inteleon is my favourite starter, and my 2nd favourite Pokémon.
Should have mentioned stunfisk being a bear trap and how it interacts when you walk over it
can’t wait for the two hour video on the dlc next
This was genuinely a really good video. I know these videos take forever but I'd absolutely love more long form videos from you!!
1:54:20 In my headcanon Sonia and the scientist really loved each other, that's why Sonia was so sad
6:58 scorbunny, i remember you're behind the slaughter
I think Sword and Shield was the first big showcase of 3 years not being enough dev time anymore. I feel like there was a want to do more but cut corners like the many seen in this video are why Sword and Shield has the reputation it does. The highs are pretty enjoyable but the lows pile up to where the good to bad ratio becomes a bit too close.
The worst part for me is that the game plus the DLC is 90 USD.. 90 whole dabloons for a lackluster game with 30 of them being for the best part of it. There was so much potential, they could’ve made us wait just a bit longer and it would’ve been so much better than what we actually got.
dlc still woulda cost extra don't kid yourself.
Yeah I want to try the DLC but there’s no way I’m spending thirty bucks when I can get at least two indie games for the same price lol
And they made the dlc basically mandatory for competitive players…
Seriously though, I am adamant that they absolutely should’ve made Leon into the main villain of this game. Have him be more of a cocky brat, be afraid of how fast you were improving as a trainer, and being afraid you’ll revoke his title as the unbeatable champion. Leon and Rose do awaken Eternatus a day before the finals, he catches it with the Master Ball, he then betrays Rose and decides to keep Eternatus for himself. Then on the day of the finals you battle Leon and he uses Eternatus as his final Pokémon in order to ensure his victory. But in the end you still win. Leon is pissed, Eternatus gets out of control, and the Darkest Day happens. Leon gets reprimanded for his crimes, Rose also goes to jail willingly just like in canon, since plotting to use a Pokémon as a battery and staging an operation without proper precautions that has the risk of inciting a world ending threat is still a crime. But he serves a lighter sentence.
I think it would’ve made for a more interesting climax and actually make Leon a little more interesting of a character.
pokemoon sword was my 1st pokemon game cuz covid so it will always hold a special place in heart
Me too! Although I wish it had ride Pokemon instead bike. Or do both.
Same. I try not to be biased but those games are seriously under appreciated.
Me too! Never got into Pokémon as a kid, but I bought a Switch during Covid and I love this game. It’s got some objective problems, but what it does well it does sooooo well.
Same with X for me
Honestly really appreciate the Leon section cause that was also me. I got thrashed the first time (mostly cause of his Haxorus getting super lucky with confusions and still hitting all the Outrages it wanted). I think (relative to other challenges within the Pokemon franchise) he's one of the tougher battles especially if you picked Scorbunny since I think that team is best. Not to mention his music is really great and a very clever incorporation of the Hall of Fame theme. Great finale to a mediocre Pokemon experience.
1:59:28 Is that really true? I just looked up a video showing what happens when you lose a Title Defense match and the game treats it as a normal Game Over.
The person in the video lost to Plumeria, then battled his way back to the Champion’s room, but she wasn’t there. Guzma showed up instead. So the opponents are still randomized.
The same thing happens when you lose the League in literally every other game. So I don’t agree with your complaint here. For simplicity’s sake, SwSh brushed off you losing the League in the post-game as another Game Over. Simple.
And I think these games treating these side features as normal gameplay mechanics is fine. It’s what most games do. Story-gameplay segregation and all that. As long as the dialogue and attention to detail is kept to actual important story beats, that’s what matters.
I agree with most of the rest of this video, though. SwSh are unfortunately very half-baked games,
Loved this video. It's a really good sign that your longform content is just as enjoyable as your shortform content. Hope to see more longform soon!!
38:38 Kinda funny how even though Sonia is taller than the player, in this scene when she sits she’s as tall as the player.
1:08:05 i thought you added that sound for the cutscene. When i heard it, my first thought was also FNAF6 but knowing that it's actually in the game and not an edited sound byte makes it so much better.
The main issue I had with Hop is that the story wants him to feel like my rival, but the gameplay doesn’t. He’s never actually threatening so instead of being someone I’m constantly testing my skills against, he feels like an annoying little brother who won’t stop getting in the way.
0:22, i guess not the International Church of Jesus Christ, because one of the pokemon animes longest running VA's is a minister for them
Wait who?
@pokemonmusiclover5 Marc Thompson
Newsteevie: The 1+2 punch of this and USUM made fans unhappy.” Me: *has it as their favorite Pokémon games
Finally someone who understands
I don't really get having this one as a favourite, but I think USUM is a great choice.
Me as well
2:01:29
I myself love USUM - probably my favorite mainline games, heck i own Ultra Sun on cart as opposed to pirating nearly every other game i have on my 3ds, but swsh was jsut... not that good :/
The Double-Kick animation was patched in, that was not how it was on-release.
This is honestly gonna be my go to memory refresher for this game it explains everything very well
You've earned my subscription. Great summary and retrospect video on gen 8 with humor that caught me off guard but were funny. I'd love to see you do a simmilar video on scarlet and violet and/or the gallar dlcs.
This is the very first Pokemon game that made me not had to think about types advantage's and made me have actual fun and not being lost too much and this game really made me buy the DLC and the music, OH the music. I LOVE the music in this game(mostly the gym battles and Leons) and I didn't even care if it's terrible, this game will always be within my heart, so now Ima go play the game again.
As someone who has over one thousand hours (This is not a flex, possibly a cry for help) I adore the game. I am also British so I feel right at home amongst the rolling fields of Galar so yes I am biased
It was my first real Pokémon game 😢 I had played Pokémon go, but when Sword and shield came, I got my switch a few days before. I went to game stop and bought shield, and a wooloo plushie. It was magical.
Anyway yeah I couldn’t pass the fairy gym and gave up
As a story and character standpoint: Leon making sure that the kids don’t risk their lives against dangerous threats allowing them to focus on their gym challenge is a great trait for a champion and adult to have, especially a champion as marketed in the region as him. Makes me respect him a lot as his title of champion actually means something instead of just being the strongest trainer in x region
As for gameplay: yeah it does suck having potentially fun parts of the story for players being denied which results into a stale gameplay loop for the majority of the main story adding up into what makes swsh the Pokémon games of all time
1:31:16 ignore the small explosion in the corner, the card is too wholesome and employed my heart
26:45 I never saw anything about why dexit happened during the teraleak. I even double-checked. I heard rumors/hearsay during the Sword Beta leak that someone screwed up the model importing process, but there were no leaked documents or emails to the degree of what the teraleak dumped. Can I get a source for this if it doesn't appear later in the video? And I mean something hardcore like official documentation because an interview from "my uncle who works for Nintendo" isn't going to do it for me
1:25:40 I never thought of that Penny does actually give kids weapons through illegal hacking to attack bullies. And then pays you thousands of dollars by hacking an unknown source. Like how is Penny not in jail for stealing thousands if not millions of league points aka poke dollars since it is an exact 1:1 currency ratio.
Her punishment was basically being turned into an IT guy for the league.
@@hailthequeenFM yeah but is that a good punishment? and we also see the team use force to try and extort kids and force conscription to their illegal paramilitary and there is no way their revavroom weapons are legal.
As a cybersecurity major student, I consider working IT a sufficient punishment.@@HaydenFPlaysVODS
@@HaydenFPlaysVODS Considering she's hired explicitly to fix the holes she used to hack the league, it seems fair to me. Undoing all the potential harm she did.
@ she still started a illegal gang of minors and gave them weapons and illegal cars
I didn't even know the league cards had words on the back. I'm going to have to go back and look at them
The Hop glaze is crazy
Story Time!
One time there was a power outage at my house, there wasn’t anything to do except play stuff on my brother’s Switch (My Switch only worked with the internet). So I booted up my bro’s Switch. He had all the classic games. Mario Odyssey, Super Smash Bros., FIFA for some reason. But I saw Pokemon Shield. The only thing that I could play without getting bored out of my mind. So I made a new profile, booted up the game, and I got hit by a MASSIVE nostalgia attack. I was playing nonstop.
Btw this is my team.
Cinderace
Centiskorch
Bewear
Mudsdale
Copperajah
And Corviknight.
The wild area's design and grindability is easiest to explain by saying that it's the postgame grind made available immediately. TMs? Items? More Pokemon than you know what to do with? All here. It's the same design principle of Scarlet and Violet's overworld. Instead of making cool items like ability patches available as rewards (optional or not) in the game, you are simply able to grind for them when you come back later with pokemon who can actually do the higher tier raid dens. It's this very strange halfway move towards sandbox teambuilding with options flowing out the ends, but still with asinine restrictions on item availability (especially the ability modifying ones). Pokemon is unwilling to be a 'designed' rpg but also makes customization tedious and deceptively unavailable at the start.
It was a big part of why I burnt out of the game before Kabu, solved only by inviting a friend over to commentate/banter and changing focus to a bug monotype run.
What was consumed by the post-game style of item obtainment was the progression of obtaining cool things. TMs aren't particularly linked to progression, a problem very much exacerbated by the routes not having a lot of route to them.
26:31 That title page art looks so good i wish they made that the official one
0:07 HELPL THIS VIDEO WAS PLAYING WHILE I WAS SHINY HUNTING ON LA AND I GOT OFF WYRDEER, SAVED, PAUSED THE VIDEO, AND STARTED FRANTICALLY LOOKING AROUND😭
“It’s my sleepover and I get to choose the movie!”
Love your long form content dude and super glad this is the subject ya decided to tackle
I don't live in the UK but from what I've heard it's not uncommon to just come across history, like a random London pub having an old seat roped off because king George once sat there. That is to say I like how they have the random tapestry in a restaurant
"Five years too late" but it feels like it came out months ago.
OMG your humor and editing just scratches a very specific itch and I love it 😂😊
I love all the different names you gave to swordward and sheildbert
Oh man now I want to see videos like this for other regions!!!!!
The fact I JUST started my "replay" of Shield(I played Sword first but It doesn't work anymore..)On my youtube! It's fun.
Considering how much content was scrapped for X and Y as recently revealed in the tera leak, Sword/Shield scream to me games plagued by development issues, crunching and just general lack of development time. I feel like one extra year of development would have really given the care and polish they deserved, especially how beautiful they sometimes can be.
1:08:09
I thought the sound effect was familiar, but for some reason you mentioning it was in pizzeria sim made me absolutely lose it
Super great video! I'm very critical of SwSh, but there's something that makes me come back to it and love it. I'm glad to see an analysis that puts into works the stuff I like. Hope to see more long-form content from you, this is fantastic!
I love that you pointed out that the gyms here actually feel like in the anime unlike the old gyms they always felt like they're just a building these ones are actual stadiums for a sport every pokemon games doesnt really make it feel like they are part of a sport and more of just an obstacle
59:14 in Irish but I do feel the theming works so well I feel like I connect Galar straight to my real world it’s so amazing
Man these long form videos are always so charming and enjoyable 🥰 and I actually laugh! Out loud! For real! I’m currently on the death march towards Christmas (yaaay… retail… 💀) and I forgot what that was like 😭
The bunny behind the fainting
The difference between this game and SV is that SWSH has an excellent foundation, but lacks in quantity (small towns/routes, a wild area that could have been a bit bigger, a story that had good moments and characters but could have been expanded on, etc) while SV has a BAD foundation, but lots of... ahem... quantity.
My favorite 3D visuals in the series are definitely Gen6, but that doesn't mean I think Gen8's style looks bad. The routes are really unique and good looking! The character animations are a bit stiff but when haven't they been, it's just more noticeable now because the characters themselves are more detailed in the overworld. Still, it being noticeable now isn't exactly stellar. As always, the game suffers from being rushed out before it was fully ready.
Also, my pet headcanon is that Chairman Rose is the player's deadbeat dad. They both know it and neither of them is going to say anything. Why else would he invite them to lunch only to immediately have a work emergency and leave?
Watching this along side RadicalSodas video at 2x speed to form a truly unbiased opinion
I actually loved the DLC of Sword and Shield. I still play through the game just so I can play the DLCs again
Never forget how much was taken despite being the first major pokemon game on the switch, also man did journey not like gen 8 too, rip marie, one episode. Along with rushing gen 8 plot for more kanto filler
I really enjoyed this long form content.
Appreciate all the hard work that went into it.
Longform content from newsteevie? I don't need sleep, I need answers!