Pokemon Sword & Shield Facts One Developer Tried to Hide

DidYouKnowGaming takes a look at some facts from the development of Pokemon Sword & Sheild for the Nintendo Switch, including a few details the game's developers would later try to hide.
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Special Thanks to Jacob Newcomb, Snorlax Monster and Eurasia_M
Research/Writing by Dr Lava
Video Editing by TheCartoonGamer
Narration by Truegreen7 @truegreen7
Sources/Further Reading:
lavacutcontent.com/ken-sugimo...
famitsu.com/news/201906/13177...
4gamer.net/games/451/G045125/...
gameinformer.com/feature/2019...
eurogamer.net/articles/2019-1...
usgamer.net/articles/pokemon-...
pokemon.com/us/pokemon-news/w...
pokemon.com/us/pokemon-news/i...
vg247.com/2019/10/24/pokemon-...
gameinformer.com/gallery/2019...
nintendoeverything.com/how-po...
polygon.com/interviews/2019/1...
• CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara...
• GI Show - Pokémon Excl...
#Pokemon #Nintendo #GameFreak

[@DidYouKnowGamin]

Clarification: There's some debate in the comments whether or not Project Tezu (seen at timestamp 9:55) was technically part of the Gear Project. According to Junichi Masuda, Gear Project games require 3 GF devs to support a project in order to be pitched to GF's higher-ups. Project Tezu had 3 GF devs supporting it: James Turner (SwSh's art director), Go Ichinose (SwSh composer), and Hironobu Yoshida (SwSh Pokémon designer). James mentioned the Gear Project in his now-deleted Twitter thread about Project Tezu, but after this video went up, it was pointed out to us that he said elsewhere that Project Tezu was "just for fun." Whether Project Tezu was technically part of the Gear Project, or a project 3 GF devs made just for fun -- as far as time spent working on it, it's essentially the same as a Gear Project pitch that didn't go any further than the 28 second animation seen in this video (according to what's been stated publicly). In hindsight we wish we'd tweaked the wording used at 9:55. Unfortunately, we can't make those kind of tweaks in a video, like we could in a written article. Apologies.

[@citizen.insane]

Thanks for clarifying, it's so rare to see proper journalism on YT - especially for video games. Amazing work as always

[@TheRealZXXZ]

There's still time. The video hasn't broke 200-300k yet

[@dantelee2485]

Hey there do you think you can buy me one of the sword or shield game and nintendo switch along with it, I can't buy them myself and I really want to play the Galar game.

[@Vilo24]

​@dantelee2485 get a job

[@sakuraflares7054]

Ironically, all gear project games look boring and one dimensional meanwhile Project Tezu would have legitimately had me interested. I could actually see that one blossoming into a franchise if you choild customize your character, their suit and their mecha

[@SmileySadFaceHD]

Damn every time we hear more about the development cycle of pokemon games it gets more and more depressing.

[@LegendStormcrow]

It's like they decided that since gens 1 and 2 dev cycles were a mess that it works the best.

[@michaelriverside1139]

Man, it would be rad if Monolith Soft made the games themselves, while Game Freak designed the creatures, region and characters... Game Freak's team is super passionate about designing everything but the actual games, whereas Monolith Soft actually cares about level design, sidequests and overall, the JRPG experience these games seriously need!

[@toumabyakuya]

@@michaelriverside1139 And then you get a game that feels like anything but a Pokemon games, with questionable decisions to "rise the target demography" ruining everything and the competitive being just an arterthought at best.

[@JJFT235]

@@michaelriverside1139you think Monolith Soft would be ok working under Game Freak’s development schedule?

[@michaelriverside1139]

@@toumabyakuya I dunno about you, but Sword and Shield already felt like anything but a Pokémon game like Black & White or even Sun & Moon to me... And naw fam, that's why Game Freak should keep doing the Characters, Creatures and Region themselves, the art team fires on all cylinders every time, while Monolith Soft's is prone to being horny dumb teenagers. Besides, what did you get in Breath of the Wild & Tears of the Kingdom? garbage waifu designs like Pyra or THREE insanely well crafted sandbox environments in Hyrule, The Sky and the Underworld?

[@M_Alexander]

A bummer about both Galar and Paldea (actually Alola too I think) is that the area around your house looks _so nice_ with lots of littie homey details and then nowhere else in the game has the same level of care

[@internetguy7319]

Sun and Moon is super polished wtf do you mean.

[@M_Alexander]

@@internetguy7319 I mean there's a lot to unpack there but I have a vague memory of there being more personalized details at the start than in the rest of the game

[@deviousj5868]

There are games made 10 years before those games came out and had better care and graphics.

[@M_Alexander]

@@deviousj5868 Pokémon games are always graphically inferior to many contemporary games but that's not the topic at hand. Games don't have to look great to be good. What I'm talking about is parts of each game tend to demonstrate a level of care and detail that's not consistent with the rest of the game. And that's far more significant than how it looks compared to other games made by different people

[@Veemo590]

thats how i feel about the legendaries/starts having the fancy signature move animations and then everything else

[@jjsponge1202]

Fan: "I can't wait to see Bayleef in Sword and Shield!" Devs: "...should we tell her?"

[@LoinkLoink]

Masuda: "No, lemme do a bit of trolling..."

[@BlazeHeartPanther]

Skipper: Naaah. Just smile and wave boys, smile and wave

[@Patterrz]

Pokémon centres should have stuck to the original idea of being Pubs, that would have been hilarious

[@Dakress23]

The stuff about Dexit is fascinating from a Japanese perspective, as reportedly the Pokemon devs never really announced the pokemon cuts would be happening in that region, meaning the whole situation there was more or less just one big "surprise" kept under wraps on purpose.

[@alphamarigi]

Enraging

[@LegendStormcrow]

I remember them scrambling when WE found out. Japan usually gets news first, so they never had reason to look at what we knew.

[@enoyna1001]

​@@LegendStormcrowplot twist

[@SockieTheSockPuppet]

​@LegendStormcrow Yeah, just cements how scummy they were being. A bunch of Western fans were trying to get the information out in the Japanese social media circles, and there definitely was some momentum, but something happened that made the beginning of the anger over there get buried. And I don't know what it was.

[@sirmel11]

Why would they ever announce that?

[@MAZZ0Murder]

"I don't feel bad anymore because I can't hear you over ALL THIS MONEY!" always works.

[@ChangedMyNameFinally69]

I think MAYBE he was saying that he was afraid the games were gonna bomb and were relieved they didn't.

[@JJLarge]

Sword and shield development secrets feel like a conspiracy from the devs and game freak sometimes

[@SockieTheSockPuppet]

Well they did provably lie about many blatantly obvious things between E3 and the game's release. I think opening up and as a result inadvertently revealing that they absolutely did lie would hurt them. So it makes absolute sense that they pull shite like that

[@possumlodge5368]

The idea of pokecenters being more of a hub for trainers to stop and rest along the way (without being reduced to just a healing mechanic) is so much better. Shame that never made it through.

[@retrogamer64007]

Well now it’s like a gas station. Heal and buy goods and that’s it. All look exactly alike with 2 same people

[@shytendeakatamanoir9740]

It's kind of the case in Alola? They have a café at least

[@probablyjinxed]

@@retrogamer64007 haven’t checked on pkmn in a while so went to see. that shit is no exaggeration a gas station it’s almost funny how sad it looks

[@LewtwoYT]

9:53 -- This is an error. Project TEZU was an animation, not a game for GEAR Project (you can even see "JAMATION" at the bottom which he uses exclusively for animation projects) and on James' personal channel, the video is still up, where he states this in the comments.

[@whrivonious]

How did that happen lol?

[@stephjjb]

Why am I not shocked that the people who thought getting rid of the national dex was a good idea also thought that the Nintendo switch would fail?

[@ChangedMyNameFinally69]

NGL they were always lagging behind with the backlog of hundreds of Pokemon each generation, they let catch all the Pokemon but had no NatDex in Gen 7. I can't entirely hate them for making this decision

[@xlbthedemigod5662]

It never was a good idea

[@ChangedMyNameFinally69]

@@xlbthedemigod5662 How many of y'all actually completed the PokeDex?

[@MowseChao]

It's weird how Nintendo and TPC have an almost adversarial relationship with this channel. I get it that there are corporate secrets, but they seem to almost aggressively try to keep everything under wraps, even long after things are cancelled.

[@TheWasthereonce]

I think they try to keep everything concealed because they have been known to use inspiration from the entirety of their whole franchises. Revealing designs later even if they aren't used or referenced would show their hand, and Nintendo is successful because of this (even if it leaves the fans wanting, which is a good thing for their profit margins).

[@AmazinglyAwkward]

I love Nintendos games but damn do Nintendo hate their fans. Been this way for a long time.

[@JoshioE110]

@@AmazinglyAwkward they don’t always hate their fans. I’m sure they like their fans. It’s either A: Japanese companies lack fair use policies. Or B. Fans themselves tend to spoil upcoming information that would’ve been announced.

[@stupidmonkey089]

@@AmazinglyAwkward Wanting to keep leaks secret =/= hating their fans. Not saying they don't have questionable actions like take downs of fan games, but this isn't one of them

[@AmazinglyAwkward]

@@stupidmonkey089 I wasnt talking exclusively about leaks I just meant their attitude towards their fans, as you rightly mentioned fan games or even translations of Japanese only games are good examples

[@moustacheskeleton3808]

Masuda also blatantly lied about a lot of stuff that's conveniently since been deleted, except for the older videos.

[@philatio1744]

what did he lie about?

[@moustacheskeleton3808]

@@philatio1744 One in particular was that he said that Sword and Shield had entirely new animations across the board, nothing was reused from previous titles.

[@0008loser]

​@@philatio1744lmao

[@flarestorm9417]

1:03 Ishihara: "no one would carry around a game console in the age of the smartphone." Masuda: "we would've preferred developing the game for a new DS model." These are different people of course, but I find it odd that they just contradict each other like that. The 3DS was basically the last successful handheld gaming console. It's only competition was the PS Vita, which didn't perform super-well. How long did they think the DS train would last, and what did they expect their next main series game to be on?

[@DaimoHope]

Ishihara seems like a real idiot tbh

[@kippykippowpow9999]

The truth is that Ishihara and Masuda have a warped perception of their demographic, rather viewing them as incapable of critical thought entirely glued to their phones, and have been sticking to this argument ever since the lack of a Battle Frontier in OR/AS. It’s wild how both of them deflect valid criticism with the same excuse they’ve been peddling for about a decade now 😗

[@lizard81288]

I heard upper management doesn't really want to innovative and they are stuck in their ways. GF is also 10ish years behind other developers. This would explain why they would want a weaker console/handheld to work with. With that said, their 3ds games also ran poorly.

[@N12015]

Now you know why a lot of the community despises Masuda. They're indeed THAT out of touch.

[@ChangedMyNameFinally69]

​@@kippykippowpow9999Really I think they removed it because they wanted to put the Battle Maison in there to connect to XY. They also put the Sinnoh Battle Frontier in HGSS for the same reason

[@ArcRay20]

"they dont make meme pokemon" *makes a Meowth form based on a joke form Monty python* all of Monty Python has become ingrained in meme culture because of its silliness, so im counting this.

[@slim_streams]

"Masuda felt really bad after people rightfully called him out for callously interacting with a fan like that. He then felt better once he saw how much money he made"

[@heyhackurs]

I'll have to defend Gamefreak on this one, they are a small studio with no outside help and Nintendo, Pokemon Company, etc seem intent on keeping it that way which is probably why they prioritized project gear as a means to get out somehow (also why project gear seemed to focus on games outside nintendo consoles). The pokemon project gets bigger and bigger yet the devs don't really have the experience on their side to help transition their growth. So for this one, I'll let Masuda wipe his tears with fat stacks.

[@oyeh8908]

@@heyhackurs Game Freak has control over the release schedule and who they hire. It's not like they're some helpless passenger.

[@heyhackurs]

@@oyeh8908 I would agree if it was an independent company. Gamefreak is tightly controlled by Nintendo and The Pokemon Company who I am more than sure are also responsible for the release schedule. This isn't something new to nintendo and games like Pikmin 4 and Tears of The Kingdom are the exception, not the rule. Wii U/3DS era Nintendo was pumping out games that felt unfinished like crazy, throwing mud at the wall and seeing what sticks. Consistently, it was Pokemon, even with how unfinished X and Y were. The Pokemon Company probably also has similar goals to maximize profit. It's not something I think Masuda himself has control over. This is a common problem with companies that work with contractors and/or third/second parties. It's not like this is something Nintendo or TPC invented, but I can definitely see them doing this.

[@LoinkLoink]

@@heyhackurs Size doesn't matter when you're the most profitable gaming company. You can always hire more than the hundred and twenty developers you're so stubbornly insistent on keeping and greatly increase the progress made with dev work in a shorter period of time. The way I see it, Game Freak dug itself into this hole and deserves every bit of criticism because of it, since they always have an easy way out.

[@ChangedMyNameFinally69]

​@@oyeh8908Well they kinda are with the merch machine that is TPC

[@Fuhiro3]

To me, the Pokemon Company & GameFreaks initial gripes withthe Switch seem pretty thinly veiled to be a distaste towards moving to an HD, home console-esque system. You can tell from any of the releases on Switch that the devs just weren't/aren't ready for such a big leap. Why else would they request Nintendo make a console so similar to the platform they were already familiar with instead?

[@jazzrockr]

In the video, it's pretty explicit that many didn't see a need or niche for the Switch due to the immense size of the smartphone market and how much smartphones were changing the models of how gaming were working (often with the help of financiers), likely a sign that there was significant resistance toward actually building up the resources for modern game development (anywhere near the PS3 or PS4 generation of hardware). But they ended up being proven massively wrong (with entire markets being opened up by the Switch for hybrid dedicated gaming PCs/systems).

[@Emily-lh6em]

I'm really glad they did go with developing the switch because I love it. I personally am not into phone gaming and I'm sure many others aren't either. Not only do I like having an actual console with controls & storage that has nothing to do with my phone's power or design but phone games can tend to be a big predatory and I don't like in app purchases. Yeah they definitely weren't ready for the jump in hardware. They'd just mastered in 3ds world building and I'm sure it was tough having to learn how to develop on the switch and do it well.

[@Fuhiro3]

@@jazzrockr it's just strange they would simultaneously request Nintendo to develop a 3DS successor AND also assert that the Switch would fail due to smart phone gaming. The 4DS was gonna find a niche but the Switch wasn't? I was also around for the culture revolving around the Switch reveal. GF was one of the outliers from an otherwise very positive response. Fucking Bethesda and 2K contributed to the reveal.

[@Fuhiro3]

@@Emily-lh6em totally agree. Hopefully since console specs are slowing down with each gen, GameFreak will be able to catch up soon. Despite their shortcomings, I greatly enjoyed Legends & Gen 9.

[@johndinner4418]

@@Fuhiro3 It's easy to say this and I thought this too, but like I said, it's easy to say knowing how they've done with the Switch and how well they did with the 3ds, so it seems *very* convenient for Game Freak, but there's no real evidence to support this. They MAY have just thought the Switch was a bad idea (especially for Pokemon) and also maybe didn't want to work on the switch due to how much harder it would be. If the games had been better, and they still thought that, would you still say this? Probably not, because there's nothing else but the quality of the games to kindaaa suggest this idea in someone's mind. Maybe they thought it'd be harder but that they could pull it off way better than they ended up doing and still thought the Switch would be bad? It's basically all speculation without a strong angle to stay within. As for why they would think the Switch would flop but not the 4ds, well for one, the 4ds would still have the gimmicks of the stylus w touch pad, dual screen, and the 4d screen (:O), to separate it from most smartphones that still don't do that, while the Switch's pro would be to be... able to stay home (with way lower specs than other companies?), which is kind of the opposite of what smartphones were showing the world to go, according to them. The Switch would be way bigger too, making it less convenient than a folded up 4ds. There are legitimate reasons to think outside of retrospective, for a company that has been developing only popular handheld games and is watching the smartphone market boom, that a console like this wouldn't do as well as an actual handheld console. But yeah, there's a good chance it was that they weren't ready for the leap too, lol.

[@sporepics]

"When I hear the outrage of the fans, I feel sad but when I look at the sales of this game compared to the others, it makes me feel better." What a bastard.

[@jark06]

I really wish we lived in a timeline where these games were better. The region, character and pokemon designs are all so cool and the concept for a lot of stuff like the stadiums and gym challenge was awesome, it's just a shame that it couldn't live up to the potential. Evolutions and Twilight Wings sold me on this opinion. Cause the Galar portrayed in those is amazing. That's the Galar I think about.

[@playcube4564]

I agree, I actually really liked this game and thought it could of easily been one of the best pokemon games if they gave it more time in the oven. Even just adding a "hard" mode would of sufficed since the main issue IMO is the difficulty is horribly easy until you get to post game, and even then it can be easy. But this can probably be said about a lot of the modern pokemon games. They just do not get the proper amount of dev time to truly shine.

[@jark06]

@@playcube4564 I can’t really pin point what my main issue with the game was. But I would watch the new episode of twilight wings, enjoy it, then boot up shield and not really know what to do.

[@PrinceAkaiVtuber]

Hopefully in the Galar remake

[@jark06]

@@PrinceAkaiVtuber If pokemon survives into the next decade. I'd be surprised if remakes continue as well after BDSP.

[@pn2294]

@@playcube4564ehh, hard mode doesn’t really change anything

[@purpleomlet]

I hate that they will look at sales numbers rather than quality to influence what they will do next. I know SV didn't sell as well as SWSH so I hope that makes them reflect on what they can do better for the next generation. I have been a fan of Pokemon since the trading cards first came to America, so it truly hurts me that the series has taken such a decline in quality over the last 10 or so years. I really want Pokemon to be exciting and fun again, so I hold out hope they will do something right by the fans.

[@lacuevadelosrpg4070]

Actually Scarlet/Violet sold very well. It gonna surpass sword/shield numbers after the DLC.

[@ChangedMyNameFinally69]

Sun and Moon were pretty good. It's only really been a problem these last four or so years.

[@retrogamer64007]

With 3 year release cycle quality only get worse as consoles get more powerful. Back for game boy 3 years was plenty of time to make a game. For switch you need 5 years for it to be ready and polished bare minimum.

[@ChangedMyNameFinally69]

@@retrogamer64007 They can do 3 years, they just need to stop working on multiple games and even generations at once.

[@StoicForce]

Sheesh... Responding to that Bayleef fan's tweet and then not putting it in the game is like self-immolation. Just don't acknowledge these sorts of tweets if you aren't going to deliver, then you won't shoot yourselves in the foot. It still baffles me how disconnected and socially inept higher-ups can be.

[@Weatherman4Eva]

I feel bad for the developers. You can see how much passion they had, but the brutal release schedule has been ruining Pokemon games for the past decade or so

[@ThePerfectKiosk]

Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon was the first time I noticed a dip in quality. I saw the writing on the wall and haven't bought or played any Pokemon since. In hindsight, it looks like I was totally justified: I would have been disappointed every single core title after those.

[@PeterGriffin11]

@@ThePerfectKiosk Ultra Sun & Moon are some of the best games in the series in my opinion. I loved the story, the characters and the post game & the music.

[@stoneslab]

Between tight release schedules and hate from fans, it feels as though the way they're running the game development now is the best way they can, unless things change in both the company and the fandom. :(

[@stardragon5849]

@@stoneslab Exactly, I feel bad for Gamefreak because of the Tight schedule and the stupid fans themselves.

[@sirmel11]

​@@PeterGriffin11They ruined the story from the original games.

[@gamemasterbob9]

I'm still convinced Eternatus had some connection to ultrabeasts at some point

[@Kateshi]

Another Pokémon British inspiration that you guys surprisingly didn't mention: Mr. Rime; the evolution of Galarian Mr. Mime, is clearly inspired by Charles Chaplin's Little Tramp. While it is truth that the character in a Hollywood icon, Chaplin was British born, being even knighted by the Crown shortly before his death. It also explains why Galarian Mr. Mime looks much more like a traditional mime than its Kanto counterpart (which looks more like a clown, a harlequin even), because; despite the Italian/french/japanese roots of that art form, Chaplin's Tramp was basically an evolution of sorts of traditional mimes and their routines. I hope this can be useful for everyone.

[@jellycore1316]

Thanks for the info, that's really interesting! ^^

[@ChangedMyNameFinally69]

Its Shiny is also black and white like an old movie

[@FurryFoxFires]

@@ChangedMyNameFinally69 Dude, that's actually a really cool detail!

[@ChangedMyNameFinally69]

@@FurryFoxFires Yeah I love that the Shinies in Gens 7 onward usually reference something instead of being seemingly randomly picked or just for aesthetics

[@johndinner4418]

I'm guessing they couldn't find a source to mention that. They didn't really mention any without sources, except for Obstagoon's Kiss part, though in that regard they did mention the source for the design, and specifically mention that there was no response by Nintendo to the Kiss aspect to confirm that was also an inspiration.

[@ThunderGun2]

To the people saying that TPC are forcing GameFreak to work on a deadline, or withholding money, etc. They can’t do that because TPC just handles the brand management, licensing and marketing, not the budget or the release date. And also TPC is partly owned by GameFreak, Creatures and Nintendo.

[@MartynAndStuff]

One of my favourite little references was in the Crown Tundra. As CT is based on Scotland, there's a mythological creature called a Kelpsie, a water horse rumoured to be found by lakes. Now you may remember Keldeo, mythical Pokémon, was obtainable which is unusual for Pokémon games to have (granted BDSP did give you Mew and Jirachi but I digress. It may have happened before. I don't know). Why? Well, it's a water type horse Pokémon based on the Kelpsie. And where do you find Keldeo in-game?

[@Ocsttiac]

ORAS started the trend of making some Mythical Pokémon in-game encounters with Deoxys.

[@MartynAndStuff]

@@Ocsttiac Well remembered! I forgot about that!

[@bushidorox]

I just wish it wasn’t shiny locked.

[@retrogamer64007]

Deoxys was catchable in Oras even though it’s mythical gen 3

[@MartynAndStuff]

@@retrogamer64007 yeah, an above comment pointed that out to me. Thanks though

[@breefyfito7416]

That Masuda story is so disrespectful and exemplifies so many of the issues behind Game Freak's philosophy. He used that girl's excitement to advertise his game while knowingly lying to her, then told everyone how people criticizing him really "bummed him out", turning him into the victim instead. Then, lo and behold, SwSh sells millions of copies, and he's suddenly feeling amazing! I bet ripping people off, manipulating them, and still making a tremendous profit made him and all the people invovled in that lackluster product feel better. What a crappy attitude to have, and even crappier mentality to pass onto others in the game development industry.

[@Cometstarlight]

What rubbed me the wrong way was before the release date of Sw/Sh and just after Dexit, Game Freak and the like said in an interview, "We had to cut Pokemon because there's no room. There literally is no room, so stop asking us for the whole dex because we're not doing it!" and then they turn right around and say, "Here's some DLC that adds 200+ more Pokemon. You gotta pay for it though." So...which is it, Game Freak? Because you can't have both.

[@notscorchingsands9718]

Maybe it wasn't cut at that time. And people attacked him over a fucking fake data..... people need jobs.

[@alexwalker5716]

@@Cometstarlight 200 more isn't the whole dex. I don't know if it's true right now, but at some point there really will be more Pokemon than you can put in a single game. and I may be misremembering, but weren't the re-added Pokemon free, and you only had to pay for the islands and stuff?

[@kylespevak6781]

Most likely Pokémon being based on existing IPs or people's likeness is something Nintendo does not want to acknowledged heavily

[@Purple_Sloth]

Yeah absolutely

[@NitwitsWorld]

Ironically enough Disney wouldn’t mind that 😂

[@Carloste95]

Specially after what happened with Kadabra

[@kirbypower9]

Also, I think it spoils the mystery for the fans, people speculated that the Bulbasaur line was partially based on proto-mammals due to Ivysaur and Venusaur having some mammalian traits such as ears and claws, but then it turned out they were just weird-looking frogs.

[@mrfoxly6833]

It’s really painful, looking at Pokémon games on the Switch. In both Gen 8 and Gen 9 you can see the traces of a good game behind the BS. You can tell the devs are literally trying with what they’re got, but it just isn’t enough. And yes, I absolutely blame the idiot executives up top for messing things up.

[@tuongtrinh4720]

There’s really no one else to blame here, pokemon is the most profitable franchise in the world so money obviously isn’t an issue

[@WouldYouKindlyNot]

And while that is true, its apparently been reported that Game Freak is a very low quality studio to work for, according to devs. It's been reported that even the higher level devs aren't experienced enough in the game they're expected to make, hence why the shift to 3D for pokemon so rough. They literally had to learn how to make the game they were making as they were making it. Meanwhile, the 100 billion dollar franchise can't be bothered to add in a secondary studio or let anyone else develop mainline games. Is creature design still solid? Sure. But these games are a decade behind the industry in quality, if not more.

[@Dremth]

Gamefreak's involvement with pokemon has been a pump and dump scheme pretty much since the beginning, and it's only gotten worse. Their whole reason for existence is to churn out the minimum viable product as fast as possible, and literally the only reason the games still exist is because the poor devs sell their souls because they love the franchise. If it weren't for that, people would have stopped buying the games. For me, I stopped buying the mainline games after Black & White, because I finally realized what they were doing. I still have friends who get every release, and everytime I see them play it, it just reassures me that I did the right thing. The most recent switch game (which I can't even be bothered to remember the names of) is such a janky unpolished turd of a game, and I really hope it's finally a wake-up call for many.

[@N12015]

​@@WouldYouKindlyNotAccording to some sources, the reason why character design is still solid is due to top tier artists and concept design. The reason the games are not good is that the coding/programming team are a bunch of Larrys aka overworked salarymans who don't have good equipment to do their labor.

[@ChangedMyNameFinally69]

@@Dremth Ew shut up Gen 5 fan. There was still quality in Gens 6 and 7. It's only with 8 the problems started

[@DSmith3279]

I didn't even know about that situation with Masuda and this Bayleef girl. Wow, that's just scummy getting her hopes up like that.

[@retrogamer64007]

I’m not defending him but maybe it was planned in there then scrapped. Gaming design is always like that.

[@M_Alexander]

The funny thing about Dexit is that the "National Dex" only really works for the first four Gens; starting with Gen 5 it's more like the _International_ Dex

[@M_Alexander]

To clarify, the first four regions are in fact the same nation, reflecting various real world regions of Japan

[@RainbowGod666]

GEN 5 BEST GEN A-(explosions everywhere like you wouldn't believe) Ok but seriously i still remember when gen 6 came around and brought megas, then gen 7 with ULTRA F***ING NECROZMA amd z-moves... Aaand they then crunched gen 8.

[@aatired7307]

There's actually an argument that the government of the world of Pokemon is a global nation. The argument is, every gens' area is called a region because nations plural no longer exist in Pokemon. The recurring motifs of historical wars and culture shaping disasters fuel the various evil counter cultural teams in each game. They are against globalization because they feel that the peace loving world order is making people and Pokemon weak, and are trying to revert the world to the constant wars of the past to toughen everyone up again. This is part of the reasons Team Aqua/Magma exist despite their plans making no sense. Mass death from sudden water level changes was in their minds a feature, not a bug. Since Team Skull, Pokemon has made an effort to add moral grey by making their complaints more legitimate systemic issues, but the central thesis that everyone is better off working together as much as possible remains solid in even their worst written games. Basically, Pokemon is Star Trek condensed into one planet.

[@Volcanron]

Well they may be based off of Japan, but the Pokémon world likely isn't a mirror copy of our own. I like to think that the first 6 generations were all part of the same country, but starting in gen 7 with no National Dex anymore, we've been in different countries ever since

[@M_Alexander]

@@Volcanron nah there's a Safari zone NPC in like Gen 3 or 4 that makes it clear that the regions are the time are all the same country. While they've mostly phased out the references to real world country names, Lt. Surge is still presumably still from the country that includes Unova and it's likely Alola is still part of that country. We also get references that there _are_ foreign languages in the Pokémon world with rare NPCs speaking entirely in a language different from the game setting, tourists and some others speaking with a different dialect or inserting foreign words, and at least in the English version (I can't speak for the others) characters of Kalos, Alola, Galar, and Paldea intersperse local words based on France, Hawaii, England, and Spain. Heck, Looker is implied to not be totally fluent in the language of Unova despite speaking clearly in other games though I don't know if that's present in Japanese

[@SkorpTS]

I refuse to believe that they actually thought Sword & Shield were going to be the best games in the series. No person could possibly be that out of touch.

[@atre5763]

You’re out of touch.

[@adventfear]

I'm guessing your favorite Pokemon didn't make the cut? lol

[@xlbthedemigod5662]

I thought it would’ve been great but when Dexit happened. God I was wrong

[@D44RK_Iced_Yogs]

Honestly the concept art and direction from the director seems amazing. Too bad they had so many limitations and his ideas were basically watered down which disappoints me. Also, after watching videos about it, GF really is a small team which is so confusing but a blessing as well. The limitations of what they can complete shows but the ideas and passion can also been seen. When you realize how much they put into it just to be shut down by the higher ups it just sucks.

[@TheTheisson]

well they thought that during development no? sword and shield has alot going for it but falls short in many places.

[@aaronknight8735]

Masuda felt saddened by the tweets by angry fans. He Probably thought he should do something about it, but then saw the sales chart...…

[@mattanatior97studios9]

He's also the reason why gamefreak won't hire more people because they would have to spend more money in chefs

[@NoahDaArk]

7:53 Actually, and this is a really cool fact about Aliens so bear with me, HR Giger did NOT design the Alien Queen. It was actually James Cameron who created her iconic look, and when Giger first saw it he absolutely fell in love with it.

[@MegaZeta]

No, the first impressions from Giger were that he was not very happy with the queen from _Aliens,_ derived as it was from his work but not adhering to it. Eventually, he gave interviews where he offered a different perspective on it.

[@NoahDaArk]

@@MegaZeta ooh…

[@DidYouKnowGamin]

Today we're exploring a bunch of facts from Pokemon Sword & Shield, including a few secrets that one developer tried to hide.

[@TramiNguyen-oi3kp]

A lot

[@MegaSceptile99]

You had to have known what you'd get yourselves into when you put "Pokemon Sword and Shield" and "Developer tried to hide" in the title

[@roxaskinghearts]

Why do people game on consoles because pc gaming is un optimized while console gaming is optimized for said console at least to playable enough some times new games dont work on new hardware because its working on everything els that has a bigger playerbase

[@akosvetesi]

You wrote 2 "the" in the description

[@luistoses]

Cool facts but Falinks is based on the Roman soldiers not British ones.

[@xJC4Rx]

The idea of cramming in overworld Pokemon at the last minute really goes into how Galar could've been the best games if they just had more time.

[@playcube4564]

honestly I think a rework in the future might give sword / shield justice, the music and battle system was fantastic it just needs more work on the map and to speed up some animations like grassy field healing being so slow

[@pgj1997]

Really wish Nintendo could just stop putting Game Freak on crunch, and give the games the time they need.

[@xJC4Rx]

@@playcube4564 That almost gives the feeling the the Gen 8 remake might actually be better than the original.

[@mystic6102]

@@pgj1997 Nintendo isn't forcing Game Freak to do anything

[@Lyceaos]

actually theres a LOT to argue a xenomorph would be a bug type if you look at the design, the behavior, the hive mentality and swarming, dark and bug or bug and dragon would be VERY apt for a xenmorph

[@xJC4Rx]

Still waiting for that eventual bug/dragon Pokemon.

[@mauriciozavala3697]

Xenomorphs are known to be weak to fire as well just like bug types

[@primrosevale1995]

@@mauriciozavala3697 If it was still part dragon type it’d be neutral to fire.

[@kirbyofthestarsfan]

It also would erase its partner at the daycare and the egg is always the Xeno's species

[@McC0n0r]

A lot of space/alien based Pokemon are Psychic type so a Xenomorph to me would be Psychic/Bug or Psychic/Poison but yeah, I also agree with you that Poison/Dragon doesn't strike me as THE Xenomorph typing if it were in Pokemon.

[@linkdelodela]

Thank you for saving all the developer tweets, that's a shame that this kind of stuff is going missing before of corporations...

[@luistoses]

⚠️ Falinks is based on the Roman soldiers not British ones. That's because Romans reigned over south England for a while. That's also why this Pokémon appears on a ruined route.

[@ShadowZone1996]

Remember when reports said that morale at GameFreak was at an all time low after the Dexit thing? They certainly didn't take in the criticism considering the state Scarlet and Violet was released in

[@nathanwebster5705]

Here in the UK, "Postwick" wouldn't be pronounced "Post-wick" it would be "Pozzick"

[@safebox36]

I always find the early negative reactions to the Switch understandable yet surprising. Given how it's not a powerhouse like the PlayStation or Xbox, but it managed to become the 3rd best selling console of all time; only beaten out by its ancestor the DS and the PS2.

[@mattwo7]

Yea Nintendo has been coasting by on weaker hardware since the Nintendo 64. The Wii U was only even such a failure because it was poorly marketed (and because somehow people couldn't run a quick google search to figure out the gamepad is not an addon for the Wii, seriously). They learned from their mistake and made the Switch simple AF to understand and fully demonstrated exactly just how simple it was. Also the NDS is in the #2 while Switch is #3 spot if you count handhelds, which you should as it's both. Then it's GB and GBC at #4 PlaySation at #5 Wii at #6 PS3 at #7 XB360 at #8 (legit no clue how PS3 beat the 360) GBA at #9 and PSP at #10

[@ikwilgeenkanaalzeur]

To me sun and moon on the 3DS looked better. Better water effects and dynamic battle camera. Also the style was more worked out not as clean and empty as Sword/Shield.

[@safebox36]

​@@mattwo7 > because somehow people couldn't run a quick google search to figure out the gamepad is not an addon for the Wii, seriously To be fair, even news outlets and game stores were confused about what it was until a few months before the actual release date. It was really bad marketting on their part given how similar it looked to the previous console; Microsoft and Sony could get away with similar looks and names to their previous consoles, but Nintendo wasn't known for it and that tripped people up. I remember an interview from one of the big names saying that if the Switch equally flopped, then Nintendo would consider pulling a SEGA and making games for other consoles instead. Their strength has always been gimmick consoles, it's why their second poorest selling after the Wii U was the GameCube; it didn't really have one other than the handle that a lot of people still don't know is there. The lack of VR titles is semi-surprising, given it's already been tested as a viable headset by a few KZbinrs despite its low resolution.

[@LegendStormcrow]

@@mattwo7 Dude, there was nothing to suggest that the google search was necessary. Even game journalist publications thought it was an expansion device. The only game console marketing fail that is worse is Sega releasing 2 expensive consoles too close to each other. He did count the DS. I'd say the underpowered consoles is generally fine, but in this case, when you wanna go full Pokémon Stadium, you want to be impressed, at least by the art. And yeah, how the heck did the PS3 outsell the 360. I know some dropped it over the red ring, but others bought multiple AND it was the only online gaming console for like a year.

[@JohnDoe______]

@@LegendStormcrowI’ve seen videos blame the Kinect add on for this since by the end of the 360 life and even a little bit into the early years of the Xbox one it was heavily pushed Also people seem to mention how in the later years PlayStation started creating more beloved exclusives near the end which is still an argument being made about Xbox

[@BonnyJohn]

So dope to see TrueGreen7 narrate one of your videos!

[@justinarney3050]

11:09 This bar graph is kind of misleading with how it is formatted. It makes it seem like Sword and Shield sold more than double than the other titles shown but in reality that's not true if you look at the actual numbers.

[@dannykazari2875]

Hard to feel bad for Masuda at the end there when he's one of the people at the top calling the shots. Like yeah, I'm sure SwSh seeing well did make him happy, woo hoo 🙄

[@bm1747]

In this video: GameFreak failing at technical competency; being dead wrong about the target hardware; refusing to credit, thank, or even acknowledge their inspirations; being aggressively ant-transparency; and explicitly prioritizing pet projects noone ended up caring about over the most valuable IP on Earth despite their continued disappointing products. God, they are truly a stone around the neck of Pokemon.

[@spoopyweeb326]

As a Scot, i only really wish they put more Scottish influence. Scotland has sooo much lore and amazing architecture and castles everywhere... i guesstku could say the DLC was Scotland... but not really since its all snowy (which Scotland really isnt, its more wet, gray and cloudy)

[@Doomsword0]

Weird that they seem so against people knowing the inspirations for the designs

[@grunkleg.3110]

If I had to guess, they want to avoid another Kadabra situation

[@CocoRoxas]

@@grunkleg.3110 Whats the Kadabra situation?

[@Doomsword0]

@@grunkleg.3110 What happened there?

[@RapidsLurker15]

@@CocoRoxas @danwalsh4125 I'll just copy it from Wikipedia since it explains it better than I could: "In November 2000, it was reported that Uri Geller, an Israeli "psychic"-magician who claims to bend spoons with his mind, sued Nintendo over the Pokémon Kadabra, due to its Japanese name (Yungera) which he claimed was an unauthorized appropriation of his identity. Geller learned of the similarity after fans of both himself and Pokémon noted a resemblance to the character's Japanese name, behavior and face and presented him with cards of the character to autograph after he had finished taping a television special in Japan. He further claimed that the star on Kadabra's forehead and the lightning patterns on its abdomen were symbols popular with the Waffen-SS and that, through the character, Nintendo had "turned him into an evil, occult Pokémon character". Nintendo countered by stating there was no connection between the two and that they had not named any of the Pokémon after actual people to the knowledge of their staff. In 2008, Pokémon anime director and storyboard artist Masamitsu Hidaka confirmed in an interview that Kadabra would not be used on a Pokémon Trading Card until an agreement was reached on the case. In November 2020, after Geller told TheGamer that he received an amount of emails from Pokémon fans convincing him to drop the case and allow Nintendo to bring back Kadabra, Geller announced he had given Nintendo permission to resume printing Pokémon cards depicting Kadabra."

[@TigirlakaLaserwolf6]

​@@CocoRoxasKadabra was based on a real guy, who ended up suing, so for a decade+ Kadabra was not present in the tgc I don't recall exact details, but there's more than a few videos floating around

[@TheProfesorZ]

"Sword and shield will be pokemons strongest entries" this aged like milk in the summer heat in the middle of a volcano

[@MM80536]

No matter what people feel about sword and shield, there was clearly a vision here they wanted to reach but couldn't. I honestly feel bad for Ohmori cuz. I remember him saying on his Twitter he dreams of galar in his sleep every so often. He wanted the games to be one of the best and only came out as a mixed bag to the fans. I hope it can get some continuation or remake

[@alphamarigi]

He nodded along with Masuda's nonsense. I hope he has an awful day Edit: apparently wanting small amounts of bad luck to happen to people who committed small wrongdoings isn't completely normal behavior, as seen in sitcoms but indication that I have no compassion or empathy and I think Ohmori is a supervillian. Way to show me the opposite of overacting lol.

[@Ma121Hunter]

Sw/Sh deserved better than what it got, and so did we. On the bright side, Scarlet/Violet make it look better by comparison.

[@THGMR-ox7sd]

I wish they reached that vision. Such a huge letdown. 😢

[@Zistheone2]

@@Ma121Hunter The glitches say otherwise

[@stygy9929]

@@Ma121HunterFor me, SV was lacking on the technical polish while SwSh lacked as a pokemon game. It was literally a hallway simulator with a wild area just to appease to the open world begging. I just wanted it over so I could PvP.

[@UltraThunderSurge]

I imagine the Gear Project was one of the most demoralizing things to happen to Game Freak simply because they were forced to come to terms with the fact that they weren't good enough at what they do to make something outside of the Pokemon brand. The audience they cultivated don't care about them or their creativity, and they're all completely justified in thinking that after they dropped duds like Tembo, Little Town Hero, and Giga Wrecker. I don't think anyone is having a good time over there except execs.

[@PC-tan]

It's a real shame since there are gamefreak devs that are tired of "making the same game over and over" and they do that because the executives make a lot of money and it sells well. But yet when they tried to do something different it just didn't work out and sadly just lead them back to where they initially were. Maybe one day they might find a balance between the two but I do have my doubts.

[@TheEmeraldWeirdo]

@@PC-tan I feel like the balance should be "Stop trying to get a new Pokemon game out every single year and take your damn time."

[@matthewwilliams8267]

​@@TheEmeraldWeirdo Thing is, that's the only thing keeping Gsmefreak afloat. They stop making Pokemon games, they stop existing. Period. The Gear Project showed that- different parts of the fanbase, yet they all want Pokemon. Nobody wants to play Giga Wrecket or Tembo, they want Pokemon games at a scale way higher than Gamefreak could feasibly make. Bc somehow Money=Talent=Fun (which makes zero sense, tbh) But honestly, as a Pokemon Fan, they should end the franchise at Gen 10.

[@matthewwilliams8267]

@@amadeus.7436 Yea, but the funding and extensive interviews (can't let a "Sound type is actually good" employee live) would take too much time, and their contributions would be minimal at best. I'd rather it just stops. Yeah, there's whole other regions that could be made, but they're working like Y2K is a year away, the fanbase is basically fighting itself on every angle known to man (people can't even agree to like pokemon in the first place) and hardware is moving faster.

[@davebob4973]

idk harmoknight was pretty good and those games all have lots of promise too

[@cinthiaMP]

1:10 "because i thought, in the age of smartphone, no one would carry a console around" not to sound harsh, but i feel like this shows a pretty big dissonance between his mindset and videogame players

[@retrogamer64007]

I guess he thinks nobody has a house to live in and we all just walk around like nomads….

[@theshinyglaceon5969]

being made before Ultra SuMo is released explains a lot about the textures but they should've split some team members to quickly upscale them. also EternaFish looks funny as hell

[@suroguner]

They were split enough already and never should have done little town Zero.

[@theshinyglaceon5969]

@@suroguner this too It looked promising but the gameplay is ass

[@SleepyBasin]

I still think there should have been a Legendary trio of a lion (England) a unicorn (Scotland) and a dragon (Wales) and perhaps a mythical based on a Leprechaun. Huge missed chance for GF to not include something based on the Welsh dragon... It's on the flag😂

[@Dr18Registered]

it's still so disappointing how much nintendo and the pokemon company have locked down behind the scenes and development information in the latter parts of the switch era, it's really sad

[@coolyeh1017]

Essentially they only want to curate what they want to show behind-the-scenes stuff, you see this sometimes on the Nintendo directs or channels where they post interviews or music videos but it is pretty confined compared to the Iwata era. Pokemon also does this with curated appearances at tech conventions and seminars where they talk about the challenges and shortcuts they made (or how successful they are), but all questions a screened by a guy in a suit first before it can make it to the panel.

[@mattwo7]

1:03 They still haven't officially ported Skyrim to mobile. I mean with cloud gaming like Gamepass Ultimate you could play it on mobile but that's not really the same thing, you need a controller and unless you have fiber optic, you'll need a steady 5G mobile connection. Mobile gaming and the Switch are such massively different beasts.

[@Dandy_]

1:58 I'm sorry, it's just so funny and sad that they genuinely hoped that these would be the strongest entries in the series 💀

[@ChangedMyNameFinally69]

Well this gen DID bring us Legends Arceus which is still one of the best games they've made in years

[@skibbitybebop]

Shame they didn't include more elements from other areas of the UK, feels like Northern Ireland got ignored entirely Giant's Causeway would've been a great area to explore for a Galar route or even just pokemon designs

[@NitroIndigo]

The Max Raid Dens kind of look like the Giant's Causeway.

[@elise205]

Good point, though perhaps Galar is just Britain and not the whole UK, and they'll have an Irish region at a later time, with Northern Ireland in the DLC? It'd undoubtedly be controversial amongst certain groups of Brits if they did that second part, but I think it'd work well personally!

[@ChangedMyNameFinally69]

I wonder why they didn't include Northern Ireland, it's not like there's issues relating to that area...

[@retrogamer64007]

There’s a part called giants bed

[@MrGuypi]

These games had a lot of of cool concepts, they just needed time to polish them

[@paledesertmoth6255]

"GameFreak as a company is prioritizing Gear Project, more than Pokémon in general" yeah, we can tell

[@christophermartinez8836]

Now I wanna see Scarlet and Violet next. I wanna see how much stuff they had to cut out in order to rush out the games before the holiday's.

[@AllTimeScary]

Great video! I’m still bummed about Sword and Shield though. I just don’t understand how a company that makes that much money can be so understaffed, underfunded and put out such awful products. These games should blow us away all the time but constantly underwhelm.

[@joshuahunt3032]

In case anyone wonders why Runerigious was in a British-inspired region instead of a Scandinavian one, the age of Vikings coincided with England’s early formation, and Vikings were absolutely involved in the early post-Roman history of Britain and even Ireland. There was even a single failed Viking raid in Al-Andalus(Muslim-controlled Iberian Peninsula, parts of modern-day Spain/Portugal)

[@hihi-heart]

4:55 "A *less obvious* one is Runerigus, who's *clearly* based on..." That mistake was clearly less obvious to the writer. 😅

[@christiancinnabars1402]

A reference can be both clear and "less obvious," which is exactly the case here. If you ask the average person what Runerigus is based on, I doubt a majority of people would know. Show that same person a side-by-side comparison of Runerigus and the runestone shown at 5:02 immediately afterwards, and they'll probably say it's a very close match. Hence the design origin being both less obvious and clear.

[@andresmarrero8666]

Yeah I don't feel pity for them. They change the development part way through because they saw the Let's Go games go somewhat well? They thought mere phones would do better than a new console? Running out of design ideas? And only feeling momentarily feeling bad after the deceptive stunts they pulled and splitting the team in two? This only highlights how poor their planning, business decisions, and priorities are.

[@Jonnicom]

The literal first facts are all I needed to hear to understand why these games are so subpar. They don't take their time, they rush, and they try to please everyone.

[@MegaZeta]

what about the figurative first facts though

[@StormBlazePegasus]

What i understand from this is that nintendo had no idea the UK existed until their research trip. Also they snuck a monty python gag in the game XD

[@Mijzelffan]

I really loved the pokemon and cities from Sword and Shield, it seems like for Scarlet and Violet all of the effort went in making the open world work instead and we got a completely barebones region.

[@supervivo7069]

It sucks because Spain is beautiful and has amazing cities.

[@thosebrownboxes6736]

I don’t hold much hope, but from the dlc trailers, it looks like the main town in kitakami has a more flushed out design and more unique buildings

[@dantemustdie00]

@@supervivo7069 yeah I honestly couldn't recognized any notable Spain landmarks in Paldea aside from Mezegoza obviously being based on Madrid and the skyscrapers in Levincia being based on the Cuatro Torres Business Area, which is ironically in Madrid.

[@ultimapower6950]

@@dantemustdie00 well it is just a landmass in the distortion world it’s unlikely gratina cared all that much about that when making a mini-domain to rule over.

[@STULF20X6]

It shows in the Pokemon designs too. Like we're getting more Asian mythology than Spanish mythology. Most other regions, even if creatively bankrupt, at least had some folklore reflective of the irl mythology. This go around can't even manage that much

[@GundamDragonLord]

Meganium did later become box art for New "Pokemon Snap" I believe this is directed to the Bayleaf incident where the fan of the pokemon never got to see it in Sword and Shield.

[@retrogamer64007]

All GEN 1, 2, 3 and 4 pokemon are in diamond pearl remakes but people hated them games. It’s only one on switch with national dex and isn’t piss easy. It’s old school grind to be strong

[@0008loser]

​@@retrogamer64007except they had to patch the intro lol

[@nicolassanabria3219]

Its a shame Gamefreak rarely does interviews nowadays. I would like to know lots of things about the DLC and Legends Arceus.

[@lawznwdsc]

Yeah it would have been cool to learn more about the development of the dlc and Legends Arceus, and also scarlet and violet

[@coolyeh1017]

They do have some interviews and classes in Japan here and there. Most game development conferences have Gamefreak speak, most of the time it is about them being creative in making shortcuts and the struggles they faced and how they conquered those struggles. I think in late August they will be appearing at a Japanese conference, but no videotaping or recording allowed. I will say that the team is pretty creative with their shortcuts in the super limited time frame they have though.

[@MarioSonic46]

I'm not surprised that they don't do them as much considering Masuda's interview on why the Battle Frontier was not put in ORAS, as well as many other things about the game.

[@internetguy7319]

They talked about Arceus and the dex cut at GDC last year.

[@gustavju4686]

​@@internetguy7319Yup! They revealed that PLA was developed parallel to SV.

[@anonymouscandle1223]

The legends about catching cotton puffs drifitng in the air have nothing to do with good fortune. You catch them, and the idea is you make a wish on them and then blow them into the wind.

[@SakuraAvalon]

The success of Pokemon is lightning in a bottle. Right time, right place. Team 1 is a pipe dream.

[@pictonomii3295]

I think wanting to diversify outside of Pokemon is a smart idea, but expecting anything they make that isn't Pokemon to sell as well is ludicrous.

[@carminedangelo8213]

I swear to god if they bring up again the argument that people don’t play on the go with consoles anymore or don’t like challenges because “SmARtphOnEZzz” imma fucking implode and haunt them. I will never understand how can they be so out of touch with the real world and the fanbase.

[@lillith7257]

i just realized i forgot to comment on something. James mentioned "ideas are running short we keep running into similar concepts and colors" something like that? Bruh has he seen fanart? Maybe not all of it is good but ideas NEVER stopped being abundant. i always bring this up when a topic like this is discussed amongst friends, SO SO many of fanartists would happily give away their ideas for free. No idea why Pokemon is so insistent on not taking in outside ideas. Getting James on the creative team was a freakin miracle. if they're struggling many of us would give our kidneys to them if they asked lol just to see a creation realized in an actual game. (hyperbole but you get the point, ideas are out there and there would be no issue if they just asked people)

[@caesar2185]

gamefreak is so incompetent

[@TheCartoonGamer8000]

Some great stuff in here! I'd believe Eternatus was a Xenomorph, for sure.

[@Evilriku13]

if oyu happen to know G Gundam then check out how the Ultimate Gundam in the final episode looks like in terms of it's exoskelett when it was ultimately stopped because it really looks like Eternatus and being lore bound to be a big energy source from outer space does fit what it tried and set out to be. Even the pose they strike are VERY reminiscing.

[@fullriver1234]

The games selling so well doesn't mean shit when it's Pokemon on the Switch we're talking about. They were always going to sell well.

[@suroguner]

The fact they sell this good is more about the Switch than about Pokemon. It also means that because more eyes are on them, the scrutiny gets that much worse for Game Freak.

[@supervivo7069]

Not to mention no Pokemon games have still outsold RBY, which came out 25+ years ago.

[@matteste]

If anything, it more tells how the masses are willing to eat up any garbage thrown their way as long as it has the proper branding and marketing.

[@pokemontrainerLRPP]

remember how the whole not having the entire dex was being kept under wraps because GF knew how much of a backlash they would get, especially given the damage control they gave saying that it was for time constraints and to better the graphics and animations 🙈

[@JonnySpec]

4:27 Now I'm imagining Gigantamax Pikachu saying "Pee fi fo fum, I smell the blood of a Galarian man." lol

[@IidosGamingDen]

I'm honestly surprised to hear how much heart was put into the development of this game, given the controversies surrounding it. It's a shame it didn't turn out better. Good grief though, that message from Masuda was a jerk move.

[@rhodrage]

I do love how British Galar is. May be bias due to me living here, but a lot of it felt like home.

[@M_Alexander]

GameFreak: has the key to printing money with Pokémon. Also GameFreak: would rather make _anything_ else

[@apt-rex7539]

It would be cool if you guys made a video on the SWSH beta, although I understand why they haven’t

[@vvlaze]

True, though also if there was a whole video on it, it would probably just be them reading off the page on the Cutting Room Floor. Unless they do some new insight, there wouldn’t be much new info to come from if.

[@GalaxiaSword]

It’s very difficult to find objective videos about Pokémon nowadays. Let alone sources that have been throughly fact checked.

[@Divridend]

Dex cut wouldve been way less of an issue if they didnt try to lie their way out of it claiming they couldnt remodel every pokemon, even though they reused the DS models.

[@DaPootis]

It was all just an excuse to sell a mediocre cloud service and hold your data hostage until eventually a game that has that specific Pokémon releases

[@alphamarigi]

It would still be an issue of them trying to have their cake and eat it to. They should have just not made Home so bank collectors could have closure. Or just spent the chump change to patch in national dex after launch

[@internetguy7319]

​@@DaPootisNah, Legends Arceus only existed because of the Dex Cut. Before the cut, uploading/downloading new builds took hours. The increased efficiency meant less staff could focus on making Legends Arceus, which ended up being a fan favorite.

[@DracoSafarius]

Oh god yeah. The "we can't afford to remake every Pokemon model" which was combined with them claiming every move's animation was newly created, which was then debunked unbelievably hard the very first day lmao

[@SockieTheSockPuppet]

Don't forget the trees. After people mocked trees in the Wilds as looking like they came from Ocarina of Time, they claimed that it wasn't the finished product and they'd fix things if they had the time. Not only did they not fix the trees, they claimed that it would've taken too much time and resources to do so. A single modder threw that lie back into their faces when the modder fixed the trees in a single day - it didn't even take hours.

[@AlexandraStubbs]

Such a great video, learned a lot more about Pokémon. So much I didn’t even know before now, thank you!

[@gregorycarter1940]

The only reason Legends isn't on the sales list is because it sold almost 15 mil without needing to sell you another version to get exclusives

[@professorhazard]

I guess Dr. Lava is now so ubiquitous in Pokémon videos that he doesn't warrant getting a shout-out at the end?

[@nintenx1235]

I get them wanting to make another hit series especially since Pokemon is gonna sell well even if it's scarlet and violet. But they're trying to make lightning strike twice and for the wrong reasons. Pokemon was successful because it was something they were passionate about, it was new, and it had tons of adorable and cool creatures. If they are making something because they want a megahit they're gonna fail. If they're making something they're passionate about then I'm sure it will be good and sell well. Not Pokemon numbers of course but well nonetheless.

[@malic_zarith]

They could've made these games way better. They needed way more development time.

[@Nthsey]

The point about Gene Simmons stating his support for Obstagoon really surprises me, I would’ve expected him to pull a Uri Geller. Of course Nintendo/The Pokémon Company’s boomer corporate culture would never allow for them to turn that into a cool thing by sending him and his kids Obstagoon merch or prerelease SwSh copies or something even though that would generate good publicity for Pokémon.

[@NitwitsWorld]

Boomer? Most of Japan’s population is almost gone 😂

[@0008loser]

​@@NitwitsWorldI think more of boomer mindset than age because they still use fax machines

[@NitwitsWorld]

@@0008loser mmhmm

[@TheAwesomeDarkNinja]

It's such a shame this franchise will sell so ridiculously well regardless of quality. To this day, Scarlet and Violet have terrible performance. For any other game, it would be a death sentence.

[@JudeMichaelPeterson]

I've always felt that Sword and Shield felt graphically like it was made with the N3DS in mind and only later got shifted to the switch.

[@Hydra_X9K_Music]

Makes sense when gamefreak was a handheld developer for most of its time until recently

[@Ebola-Jones]

A huge chunk of the assets and animations from 3ds were basically ported to the switch. The development seems so lazy and could be put to shame by what some random dedicated fan could do in unreal engine 5 on their own.

[@Hydra_X9K_Music]

@bengrinter1980 Well those fans have all the time in the world to make something good. Gamefreak barely has any time

[@ChangedMyNameFinally69]

​@@Ebola-JonesLet's not resurrect the "Nintento hire this man" shit

[@jeepmega629]

They clearly tried to hide them

[@FFXI_Addict]

"WHY ARE YOU CHILDREN HAVING FUN WITH A VIDEOGAME?" It's not enough for some people to hate a game. They need everyone else to hate it with them. Insecurity is funny.

[@ktash8937]

They should make a Sword and Shield 2, like Black and White 2, but make the games how they actually wanted to make them with more time and polish.

[@allister-malister9179]

I hope someday that’s the case, everyone being a bit older, some new post-game content and some new small locations ie dungeons. Would be so awesome.

[@Steven-hr7rb]

I feel like it's a good thing you posted this years later. I'm not sure how long this research took, from when the video was posted to the game and now is 4 years. That's a good idea as Pokemon Gen 8 had a lot of controversy, though calling it controversial isn't right but I don't the right word maybe a different wrod, and posting it years later where it's died down is certainly a good idea. Great video.

[@griff6447]

I'm still mad that SWSH didn't base more of the reigon on Scottish lore & culture past a few tiny tidbits. Rillaboom would have been a really good tenor drummer like in a scottish marching band.

[@MidoriNatsume]

Pokémon Company doesn't allow James Turner to share information officially, but then Riddler Khu is allowed to leak their projects for the next 10 years. I despise the people behind Pokémon.

[@bananaforscale1283]

Who are the drippers? My guesses: 1: Gloom/Grimer 2: Slugma/Smeargle 3: Mega Camerupt 4: Hippowdon 5: Cubchoo 6: Goodra 7: Sandygast/Alolan Grimer 8: Galarian Slowking 9: Grafaiai

[@pkmntrainermark8881]

What one was actually introduced in Gen III, though?

[@CthonicWisdom]

​@@pkmntrainermark8881gulpin kinda drippy

[@MissRora]

@@CthonicWisdom Swalot's 'dex entries _do_ mention secreting toxic liquid from its pores...

[@lillith7257]

What does Hippowdon drip?

[@TriforceChad]

​@lillith7257 the sprite for hippowdon has sand pouring out of the holes on its back