The newest trailer for Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield revealed a new ability called ‘Gigantamax,’ in addition to several new gym leaders in exciting in-game battle footage reminiscent of Pokken Tournament and the earlier Pokemon Stadium for the Nintendo 64.
The video explained that Gigantamax was a new ability that not only changed the size of the Pokemon, like the already-revealed Dynamax, but would also give the Pokemon unique abilities and a fresh appearance. Of course, only certain Pokemon are capable of using the Gigantamax ability. The trailer also revealed two new gym leaders for fighting-type and ghost-type Pokemon. And it all looked fantastic.
Previously, fans had only seen the Dynamax ability, which is new for the Pokemon series. Dynamax will be able to make the Pokemon increase in size to allow players to fight battles of epic scale. But Gigantamax goes a step beyond: making the Pokemon completely different then they were before.
Sword and Shield are Nintendo’s continuation of the Pokemon series, which started with Pokemon Red and Pokemon Blue for the original Gameboy and continued with others, including Ruby and Sapphire, Diamond and Pearl, as well as Black and White. Each of which was released on Nintendo handhelds like the Gameboy, DS and 3DS.
There have been other Pokemon spin-offs through the years too, usually on Nintendo’s major console rather than the handheld. These games include the likes of Pokemon Snap and Pokemon Stadium.
But the difference between many of the spin-offs and the main series has been this: the main series has remained on Nintendo handhelds, which is why Sword and Shield will be different. They will be on the Nintendo’s major console, the Switch.
The use of the Switch for Pokemon’s latest installments will undoubtedly allow the Dynamax and Giganatamax abilities to be shown at their most enormous potential—big battles deserve big graphics.
Of course, Sword and Shield received some fan hate last month at E3 for having a poor graphical rendering of a tree in-game. But this week’s trailer seems to have the graphics everyone has been hoping to see. Let’s hope it remains consistent with the final product.
The latest games will take place in the Galar region, which was largely inspired by Great Britain. Screenshots and trailer footage shows Big Ben-like clocktowers, palaces, and Houses of Parliament-style buildings in the main city of the game. Even the main soundtrack for Sword and Shield was modeled on British rock.
Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield will be released worldwide on November 15, 2019, for the Nintendo Switch.
