It’s been quite some time since there were any new details on Pokémon Sword & Shield.
But thanks to the recent Pokémon Direct, we now know way more about what makes Gen
8 different from what came before.
Game Freak spent 15 minutes detailing many of the new features coming to Sword & Shield,
but that hasn’t answered all of our questions.
There’s still plenty more to discover when it comes to the Galar Region.
So it’s time to max out the old Analysis Machine to see what secrets and hidden details
it can find.
And there’s a ton here to see.
Enough that we’re splitting up the Sword & Shield analysis.
Today, we’ll be focusing on the expanded look at the different towns, the Wild Area,
Max Raid Battles, and Dynamaxing.
We begin with our first look at a new town.
While it appears to be the same place just north of the player’s home at first glance,
it’s actually the town on the other end of those tracks.
Here, the train station is located at the top of a hill.
And although the Galar map only shows this station, there’s much more around it, including
several houses and its own Pokémon Center.
And it must be at least somewhat important considering it serves as the gateway to the
Wild Area, but we’ll talk about that soon enough.
This mainly serves to show that while the Galar region map is detailed, it’s not exact.
The trailer next shows the steam town at night, confirming a day/night cycle.
It’s an angle we’ve seen before thanks to the previous Direct, but here the streets
are actually populated.
Even the strange red, green, and blue objects are revealed to be water fountains for Pokémon.
We also see what’s on the right side of this town as several stores are shown including
a barber so players can change their haircut and and a plant shop.
Now the plant shop would seem insignificant, except it shows up in another town.
Later in the Direct, we see a second shop featuring the new Pokémon, Gossifleur, in
the Grass Gym town.
So it has to serve some purpose, right?
Well, there’s always someone standing outside so we can’t say for sure, but growth looks
to be a major aspect of Sword & Shield and even the new Professor, Magnolia, has a garden
of her own.
Maybe it’s possible that players can garden in some way beyond growing berries?
Continuing on, we get our first good look at the central city in the Galar region, which
features a massive tower.
Based on the angle, this seems to be a slightly above ground level look.
We can see the upper portion of a wall as well as another building with a logo that
depicts train tracks in the center of what appears to be a planetary map.
Perhaps this is the place that manages all the trains in the region?
Behind it is what we referred to as the private school that reminded us a little of Hogwarts.
Now this does prove that there are three levels surrounding the central tower.
On the Galar map, we can see nondescript homes just below the wall, then the train building
on the level above that, and then the private school above that.
The tower is already huge but seeing how big everything else is next to it shows just how
massive it really is.
In fact, everything seems to be big in Galar.
We get another look at the Dugtrio sculpture to the west of the fortress city, which now
could be an ancient reference to the Dynamax ability that’s so central to this region.
But the rest of the town is kept out of view.
And there is certainly more to see.
We get a different view of the steam city where the female trainer is descending a set
of stairs to a lower level.
Looking at the background, we can see how the pathway curves to the rear and then continues
down.
Cities in Galar are going feel like cities it seems, rather than just large towns.
Multiple levels seems to be a pretty common trend as well.
This isn’t our only look at the steam city though.
Another short scene shows a Wynaut playing hopscotch while a girl and her father watches.
Perhaps it’ll be possible for the trainer to interact with small games like this as
well, maybe as a way of building trust with your Pokémon.
There’s also a curious detail in the background.
Octillery in a suit and hat is featured on one of the buildings.
Could this be a fire station?
Or is something else going on here?
And even more curious is the Pokémon Center next to it.
This isn’t the same street that was shown before so it appears that this one city has
two Pokémon Centers.
We presume it’s for a matter of convenience since the city is so big, but could this also
mean that Pokémon battles will take place in the city?
We know it house a Gym so maybe one Center is close the entrance while the other is close
to the Gym?
That’s our best guess at the very least.
But the steam city is also home to another service in the Galar region, the taxi offered
by the new Pokémon, Corviknight.
Here we see it along with its trainer and the vehicle itself.
It seems pretty likely that this is the replacement for Fly.
After all, it can only take you to places you’ve been before.
But this also means that Corvinight’s taxi will appear in every town.
Or it can at least be summoned when needed.
It’s certainly more impressive-looking than a Lyft.
One other thing to mention before moving on from this scene are the NPCs as two chat in
the background while another actually approaches the taxi and acknowledges Corviknight.
It’s a miniscule thing, but it does show that the NPCs won’t stand in the same place
at all times and give the slight illusion of a bustling city.
It’s not entirely surprising, but even the early areas have a grander sense of scale.
You still come from a small town, but we can see it lined with farmland as the new Wooloo
Pokémon roam around.
In fact the background shows that Wooloo will sometimes move by rolling along the ground.
Later parts of the trailer do show them walking normally, but this seems to be their faster
method of travelling.
The final two town locations we’re shown includes the interior of a building and a
lighthouse.
The lighthouse is almost guaranteed to be the eastern coastal city that we can see on
the Galar map.
Like the Dugtrio sculpture though, we’re not shown the rest of the city.
And we don’t even know what city this interior shot takes place in.
But it is interesting to note that the Pokémon website mentions that companies are eager
to have Pokémon on their workforce while showing this screen.
What connection it has to the player’s adventure as whole though, we’re not sure.
Maybe it’s possible to get your Pokémon a job and earn extra money?
Now while that’s mainly all we saw of the towns around Galar, there’s one major aspect
here that’s well worth talking about, the Wild Area.
It’s a massive part of the region where the largest variety of Pokémon roam and their
appearance is dependent on the weather.
That said, the trailer is pulling at least a little trickery here.
We see lakes, snow, and a desert, giving the illusion that the Wild Areas are spread all
over Galar.
But that’s that thing.
There’s only one Wild Area.
Now granted it is quite huge, stretching all the way from the train station near the southern
mountains, around the steam city, and to the the entrance of the fortress city.
That’s a lot of real estate to work with as we see in the trailer.
But don’t expect the other locations in Galar to be like this.
As we see in the footage, every place beyond the Wild Area works like a traditional Pokémon
game with a fixed camera and relatively limited paths.
And unlike the Wild Area, Pokémon can’t be seen roaming around.
Instead they must be encountered in the tall grass.
That said, it seems special Pokémon can be found in that grass thanks to exclamations.
The way the player seems to stop on a dime, crouch, then take off seems little quick to
us.
It’s possible that if players hit the confirm button with the exclamation appears, the encounter
will be automatic, similar to to fishing.
In fact, we see the same exclamation later in the trailer when showing off fishing.
Although the Wild Area is the only place to be wide open in Sword & Shield, there’s
still plenty to see within and the Direct showed off a ton of different vistas to experience.
But thought it’d be worth showing exactly where each of these scenes take place on the
Galar map.
It begins with a sweeping pan down the center of the area.
We can see the steam city to the left, it’s continued wall on the right, the three bridges
that pass over the valley below, and even the massive fortress city in the background.
That would put the trainer roughly here, just the before the land curves into the lake.
The next scene takes us north of the steam city as the camera looks south.
We can see the three bridges again as well as the dead trees down below.
Notably, there’s also this unique-looking rock which means the camera’s relatively
close to the entrance of the fortress city.
Slightly harder to place is this moment with the Hippopotas.
We can still see the clock tower of the steam city, but only one bridge this time.
On top of that, there’s no brown grass shown on the map.
However, we can see these rocks leaning against one another, which would put the camera slightly
behind that.
We then go to the southeast of the steam city where we can see the clock tower, one of the
bridges, and even the slope leading down into the lake.
The camera is once again near a large rock, which we can see on the map, so it looks like
it’s possible to get pretty close to these eastern mountains.
And really, bless rocks because this sandstorm makes it nearly impossible to tell where this
is in the Wild Area.
Except we have this line of angled rocks which just so happens to be on the map meaning the
camera is angled to the southwest and just below the dead trees.
And those trees appear once more in the next scene as the camera looks south so we can
see the bridges, the clock tower, and even many of the rock formations we already mentioned.
Based on the nearby slope and the rock shelf on the right, it seems the camera is placed
here, just as the path is beginning to curve.
We then leave the northeast and head southwest of the steam city.
The nearby leaning tower is likely the same one we see here on the map, but the scale
of the map is starting to become questionable.
We can certainly see the nearby ridge as on the map, yet despite looking southwest, there’s
no sign of the bridge on the west end.
The sloping geography also hides the nearby lake.
The Wild Area is certainly bigger than what the map makes it seem, but the camera is almost
certainly placed here, just northeast of the tower.
Unfortunately, the lake scene with Gyarados might be too tricky to place.
For one it features a bridge that just isn’t on the map.
And second, there’s nothing especially noteworthy about the surrounding area.
We do suspect that this the western side of the west lake though as the next scene shows
the island that’s signature of the eastern side of this same lake.
The camera seems to be southwest of the steam city entrance as it looks toward the island.
We then see the island again to the left of the trainer as he runs through the center
path.
This is essentially just a little farther ahead and to the left of the first Wild Area
scene.
But what’s notable here is that we can indeed spot a Pokémon Center just inside the entrance
to the steam city.
So that’s one Center located.
And yet again, it’s fascinating to see what’s not shown on the Galar region map as the next
scene has the trainer just north of the second bridge.
Here we can see a small pond nearby and how the ridge meets to the city wall just ahead.
That would put the camera near the eastern ridge looking toward the city’s northeast
corner.
We then return to the north as the trainer is in the the middle of the dead trees while
a sandstorm rages around him.
We even have a vague sense of where the camera is pointing as we can see one of the leaning
rocks nearby.
That means the camera is facing the southwest.
But once again, we have no idea where this next scene takes place.
There’s a massive clue thanks to this circle of leaning rocks, but they’re not represented
on the map at all.
Our best guess places it near the fortress city with the camera facing the south just
between the northern body of water and this other rock.
It could also be to the east, just north of where the path curves toward the fortress
city, though again we can’t say for sure.
We then get a very clear look at our next location as the trainer is following the path
toward the fortress city and we can clearly see the dead trees and even the small pond
to the east, which would put the camera here.
Continuing on, we finally get to see the small lake to the southwest of the fortress city,
or so you’d think..
We can clearly see the city, but also this cylindrical rock that’s also featured on
the map.
The angle of the camera and their locations just don’t match up.
So we believe the map is inaccurate with this portion, namely that the lake is a little
farther south as this would also account for the angle that shows both the city walls and
entrance.
For the next scene, we’re once again unsure of where this could take place.
We know it has to be close to the steam city, but this seems closer and higher in elevation
than what we’ve witnessed previously.
Our best guess is this is just south of the steam city entrance and the wall is the portion
on the eastern side.Perhaps the large rock is the same one on the map?
But then it appears closer to the wall here than it does on our map.
The trailer then shows off the new method of collecting berries as this is located opposite
of the run-down tower.
We think this places us on the island in the western lake.
Speaking of which, we then get another look at the island as the trainer does something
completely new, whistle.
This draws the curiosity of the nearby Pokémon in the grass.
It’s a unique way of potentially catching the Pokémon that you want.
Another thing to note is the nearby rock that we mentioned before.
The Galar map makes it seem like the lake area is completely flat, but they’re on
different levels which means the previous scene is likely just south of the steam city
entrance.
Finally, we get a better look at the dragon-like entrance to the fortress city as Max Raid
Battle nodes are scattered all around.
We can also see the rock shelf and dead trees just below, making it so the camera is looking
across from near this rock.
A different angle is then shown as the trainer runs along the central path toward the trees
and the leaning rocks are just to the left, putting the camera right here.
The Direct also provide a few other glances at the Wild Area.
One shows the steam city entrance, the western lake with its island, and the ruined tower.
As the shot fades and the view widens, we potentially see the bridge where we spotted
Gyarados before.
It’s possible he was in the westernmost part of the western lake.
Another different view places the camera just below the large southern bridge as it look
to the north.
We can also spot the small pond with a tree in the center nearby, just before the second
bridge.
But yeah, every Wild Area scene from the Direct takes place in these locations and this is
the only place where players will have full camera control.
However, there are plenty of reasons to continually explore the Wild Area.
As the Direct says, different weather will affect it and also determine which Pokémon
appear.
Day, night, sunny, rainy, snowing, and sandstorms all hit this area as we’ve seen and different
Pokémon are shown each time.
The Pokémon website has confirmed that it has a greater variety of Pokémon than any
single route.
Of course, it also helps that this is where the new Max Raid Battles take place.
They can be seen dotting the landscape though this seems to be either a choice that players
can toggle or something that’s not available right away as we’ve seen the nodes without
any light emanating from them.
But when they are active, four players can meet up to take part in a raid either locally
or online.
What we’re not sure of is if these four players meeting up is a stock cutscene since
it’s highly unlikely that players will be able to roam around each other’s games.
That being said, it would be pretty cool if the Wild Area could also serve as an online
location for you and your friends to interact and battle together.
It makes a certain amount of sense despite being extremely ambitious for Nintendo online.
After all, this is the only place Raid Battles can appear.
This scene also provides our first look at player customization, namely the different
clothes that can be worn.
While two trainers are in the standard clothes, the other two show off some of the options.
The boy has a different hat, a sports jacket, a button-up shirt with prints on it, and white
sneakers.
He seems to be wearing the same pair of pants as he still has the green plaid at his pockets,
indicating they’re decorative rather than part of another shirt.
The girl also has a new type of hat, a more stylish jacket, her own button-up shirt, and
shorts.
This means, like previous generations, that she doesn’t always have to be in a dress.
However, we are curious about whether the male trainers can wear different length pants
as their options were usually thin.
But let’s talk about these raids and their connection to the new Dynamax form.
In normal battle, players will now have access to this form which causes their Pokémon to
increase in size tremendously as well as boost their power.
This is reflected in their moves as well as they’re changed to powered forms of that
type.
Electric attacks become Max Lightning, Fighting moves become Max Knuckle, and so on while
any status move becomes Max Guard.
The Pokémon website also confirms that these attacks will have extra benefits.
For example, the Normal Move, Max Strike, also lowers the opponent’s speed stat.
While this is absolutely powerful, it also only lasts for three turns.
In addition, it can only be used in certain locations such as Gym Stadiums and the Max
Raid Battles.
The transformation is triggered thanks to the Dynamax Band which is vaguely reminiscent
of the Z-Ring.
It definitely has some of the markings so they seem to be related in some form.
However, the rules change a little during Max Raid Battles.
The raid Pokémon is always in its Dynamax form and never reverts during the battle.
And only one of the four participating trainers can activate their own Dynamax during the
Raid.
But the trainers do get four attacks for every one that that the raid Pokémon dishes out.
So some can focus on attack while the others protect their allies.
We see this in action with the creation of either a Reflect or Light Screen.
Not only that, but when we see the Gyarados use the Max Water attack, only Golurk is hit
meaning, at least with this move, it can’t attack every Pokémon at once.
So this is how the battles are balanced and the players can eventually attempt to capture
the raid Pokémon.
The raid Pokémon that appears is dependent on the the weather.
The Pokémon website gives the example that Steenee will appear when it’s sunny while
Lanturn only shows up when it’s raining.
And many Pokémon can only be caught in Raid Battles.
Fortunately, if you don’t have any local friends at the moment or access to the internet,
the game will provide support Trainers to get you to the requisite four so it’s possible
to still participate.
Of course, Dynamaxing isn’t only tied to the raid battles, but the Gym Battles as well.
That analysis will have to be for next time though as there’s still plenty to cover
in this Direct including the Gyms, the new characters, and the new Pokémon.
We’ll have that analysis ready for you as soon as possible.
Of course let us know if we missed anything about the towns, the Wild Area, or raid battles
in the comments.
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things gaming.