Pokémon Direct - 9/January-2020

The Pokémon Direct has finished and given us the news. Home was barely featured within it, with the meat of the presentation diving into the Sword and Shield Expansion Pass. Just at the beginning, though, we got news that the original Pokémon Mystery Dungeon is being remade for the Switch as Rescue Team DX – and there’s a demo already available to try it out.

The first Mystery Dungeon game was one I played a lot when it first came out, with it offering a blend of turn-based battling and a full range of movement that couldn’t be found anywhere else at the time in the series. The story was fun to experience, with it being involving as you worked toward becoming the best rescue team in the world. Gaining experience and getting to tackle more difficult missions was all part of the fun, and felt your team really was growing.

I never really played any of the later games even though I did finish Red Rescue Team, as I didn’t feel there was anything else the series could offer me. I tried Gates to Infinity but felt it lacking in the charm of the original. Getting to experience the original with new features and opportunities should be a great experience, and I will certainly enjoy digging into that demo later on. The full game releases 6/March, which is a bit close to Animal Crossing, but that should really offer much of a problem.

When I first set foot in the Wild Area of Shield, I felt it one of the best things to happen to the main series in a long while, which gets me very excited for the expansion pass of the game. Two new areas are set to be included with the expansion pass, and both are full Wild Area type experiences. The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra will offer new places to visit, with new characters to get to know, and new story chapters related to that area. With new Legendries being a part of that, I’m hoping for something good.

From what we’ve seen, the new areas look great, with the concept art showing in greater depth the sort of things we’ll be able to find within these new locations. Returning Pokémon that weren’t included in the base game will be found in these new areas, including the Legendries of past generations. Along with them come new clothing options and other new features that are still to be revealed. The Isle of Armor is set to come first in June, so we can probably expect to see another Pokémon Direct before E3 giving a deeper look at what’s coming. The Crown Tundra will follow in the Autumn.

An update to Sword and Shield is coming later today to get ready for this new expansion into the world. We’ll meet one of the trainers from the expansion, as well as one of the new Pokémon we’ll encounter. With this expansion pass replacing the need for the director’s cut (or third version) of the game, there should be plenty to experience and gain from this pass, and for half the price of a new game.

There’s also more set to come, with Home being announced for a release next month with more information being released on it soon, and if I’m not jumping to conclusions, the saying of “continue to bring new things in 2020” means there’s more yet to come. Just what new things are coming is anyone’s guess, but with no new main series game for the year (you would expect), it should allow for the spin-offs to come out of hiding once more.

And with that lovely surprise of Pokémon news, I hope that the next general Direct can surprise and excite me just as much with even just one of the announcements it brings.

Nintendo E3 Direct 2019

Nintendo showed quite a bit, bookending the Direct [not counting the one more thing] with Smash DLC. First shown was the Dragon Quest Hero, with every mainline hero looking to be a skin for this one character. Then for the last thing they followed on from the King K. Rool reveal with another troll. This time Duck Hunt Dog pretending to be Banjo and Kazooie, before the duo come crashing down themselves.

While the Dragon Quest reveal was followed by a Dragon Quest XI Definitive trailer, we didn’t get anything for the Banjo and Kazooie one. There was plenty of other things to get stuck in to, though. Before we got into all that, Doug Bowser was introduced with a nice gag of the real Bowser showing up. Pokémon Sword and Shield got a recap of its Direct, but also announced that the Pokéball Plus would work with the games.

Where the quite a few new things announced, such as The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete, The Dark Crystal, Trials of Mana and Collection of Mana, Contra Rogue Corps and Contra Anniversary Collection, Empire of Sin, Panzer Dragoon, and No More Heroes 3. A sizzle reel near the end also revealed Spyro Reignited Trilogy, Super Lucky’s Tale, and Alien Isolation, along with a few other games that were shown off at other conferences such as Minecraft Dungeons.

Luigi’s Mansion 3 is looking good. I haven’t played the first, and felt the second had some interesting stuff within it but felt it wasn’t for me. Even if I don’t play the series, the third is looking like a return to the style of the first, being set within a large hotel. It looks to be offering some good gameplay, and the Scarescraper returns from the second for some multiplayer action.

Daemon X Machina got a new trailer, as did Astral Chain. Resident Evil 5 and 6 were announced, and the Link’s Awakening remake is getting a dungeon creator. Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 and Fire Emblem Three Houses also got trailers, along with Cadence of Hyrule. We also saw a Mario and Sonic at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games trailer, and it looks to be packed with content. I have a feeling they’re going all out with this one.

The last thing we saw in the Direct was a tease for a sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, though I was hoping for Animal Crossing. That game did appear, and it looks pretty great. Titled New Horizons, we’re no longer a mayor of a town. In fact, we’re no longer even within a town. Instead, we’re on a deserted island, having been dropped off by Tom Nook, and we’re building everything from scratch.

It’s still the same as every other game in the series. We still have other villagers, we still have fishing and bug catching, the time in-game is still locked to the actual time and day set on the console itself. It’s very much playing like an Animal Crossing game, but rather than just buying things, we are now building them from materials we gain. As such, there’s a bit more in terms of true goals to aim for. It’s a shame about the delay, but when we eventually get to it, it will prove to be an effective timesink, and I cannot wait to be seeing more soon.

Supersizing the Action With Pokémon Sword and Shield

 That Pokémon Direct has recently finished, giving a fresh look at the Galar region – including a Wild Area that is a vast, open land filled with lakes, trees, ruins… and Pokémon visible on the overworld. The main series is including overworld appearances – even if just in this one area, and this is also looking to be a push to that thing many people have wanted – a true open-world online Pokémon experience.

Away from the Wild Area, we got to see some more new creatures of Galar, as well as a few of the people. Wooloo looks like a real cute sheep, while Corviknight is a very fine-looking raven. Drednaw looks like a turtle, while Gossifleur is another flower-based ‘mon – which got an evolution shown in the form of Eldegoss. The legendaries of the region were also revealed. Zacian and Zamazenta representing the sword and shield respectively.

 As for the characters, we got Professor Magnolia and her assistant and granddaughter – Sonia. We got the Galar Region Champion Leon and his younger brother Hop – who just so happens to be one of your rivals throughout the adventure. One of the gym leaders also featured – Milo, the grass-type expert. Along with those were plenty of people just filling up the streets and within crowds.

The connections and crowds are already telling me we might just be seeing a story putting focus into the interactions more than ever before, with Pokémon also being a greater presence within those towns and cities. I’m certainly hoping that will come to be. There were a few pieces of footage within the Direct that felt as though they had such a vibe.

Back onto the Wild Area, this place introduces the concept of Dynamaxing within the trailer. This is the new battle gimmick, though it seems it will see less use than previous ones, as it is only allowed in certain areas – such as the gyms. As for what Dynamaxing is – huge Pokémon alert. Dynamaxing allows a trainer to take advantage of a special energy which can supersize a Pokémon, though it can only hold such a size for three turns.

Using such a feature should help very much when it comes to the raid battles. This is where you can team-up with other trainers to take on a Dynamaxed ‘mon in the hopes of catching it. Some Pokémon are exclusive to the raids, which is where that open-world online experience I mentioned comes into play. Teaming up with three other trainers to tackle such supersized ‘mon should be a great challenge, and in the third version or sequel [perhaps even in the post-game of these two] might even offer previous generation legendaries in the post-game.

The visuals and sounds have seen a boost in quality since the last trailer, and I’m happy to see them being touched up, which will hopefully continue until release. The designs are looking great, seeing more of Galar was a lovely sight, and while we didn’t see much more in terms of battles, there’s a lot that seems to have gone into making them look more expressive.

A great Direct then. Pretty much helped with a trailer that had a beautiful, if somewhat cheesy, vocal theme that feels as though it’s giving the vibe of the music we can expect to hear – and I’m pretty sure at points, actual parts of the soundtrack had been worked into it. It’s looking like it’ll be a grand adventure to run through once they release 15/November. I look forward to seeing more in the future.