I found it very hard to get excited about Sword and Shield in the run-up to their release. Not because of the whole National Dex silliness- although like 90% of my faves got cut (argh!). I just remember buying Moon on release and feeling super cheated when Ultra SuMo were announced like a week later. That left a long lasting burn and I couldn’t help worry it would just happen again next gen.
Then the leaks started happening, and Special Interest took over. I was still holding out until midgi decided she was just gonna go buy the game after work one day and I got to share her copy. So!:
Yep! It’s Pokemon. I don’t know that there’s really much to say beyond that- if you liked previous games, you’ll probably like this one too, and if you didn’t, this one wont change your mind.
Something I do want to talk about is the Wild Area, a free-roam expanse of land where a huge variety of pokemon can appear, including very high-level fully evolved pokemon who exist only to embarrass your baby team. It feels very Breath Of The Wild, and it also feels very cautiously done. I’m honestly surprised the game isn’t 99% Wild Area, considering how great it feels to just roam the countryside seeing hundreds of different pokemon and getting chased down by a Level One-Million Dusknoir.
Finneon or Binneon:
Oh, it’s going to absolutely consume my life. That was never in doubt. But since I’m sharing it with midgi and can’t play when she is, the rest of my backlog won’t have to wait for me to Finish this 200-hour behemoth.