Pokemon Sword/Shield: Back at it Again in the Galar Region

Hey Dylan!

I think the thing that really grabbed me about your letter was the concept of “being over” Pokemon, because honestly until I played Shield, I really thought I was done with it. I haven’t played any of the games since White, because they just stopped vibing with me. It was painful to feel that a franchise I had loved for so long was no longer doing much for me, but I accepted it and did my best to move on because, you know, that’s what you do when something just isn’t for you anymore. 

But seeing the trailers and promo art for Sword and Shield actually got me kind of excited. And the more I saw, the more excited I started to get. I don’t know if it was just having several generations of distance so I was coming back with new eyes, or if the new designs were just appealing to me again (I have a sneaking suspicion this might be part of it, as evidenced by this article by a different, but equally good Dylan). Whatever the case, I decided that I would break my Pokemon fast and dive into the new generation in November. 

It is not an exaggeration to say that Sword and Shield made me fall in love with Pokemon again. I devoured it, practically beating the game in two sittings. With so many quality of life changes at my disposal, the Galar region did not know what hit it when my Scorbunny and I blazed through the gym challenge. For the first time ever, my whole team was overleveled, even though I really hadn’t done much grinding, aside from catching critters that looked neat. I crushed every trainer who stood in my way, and only lost once, in the very last storyline battle. It was incredible. 

I know the challenge and grind really make these games for a lot of people, but that’s not really how my brain works. I like games for their settings, their stories, and the way they make me feel. If playing the game gets in the way of that, it’s a turn off for me. Sword and Shield took away all the barriers that used to make the games frustrating for me, especially towards the end. Instead, I was able to just play and have everything work out, because unlike Hop, I understand type advantages. 

Since I didn’t have to worry about grinding or catching different mons because my team was deficient, I could just enjoy being in the world and seeing what was around for me to bask in. Now that the story is wrapped, I’ve just been wandering around in the wild area and setting up camp whenever I have enough ingredients to whip up a new curry. Speaking of curry, this game has a cooking system.

I realize that’s extremely obvious since we’ve both played the game and I literally just mentioned making curry, but I have to emphasize it because cooking games are one of my favorite things about video games. If you let me cook, I will be so much more inclined to try your game than literally any other feature (except maybe somewhat realistic queer characters…). Am I going to complete the curry dex? Probably not. I’ve never been much of a completionist, and as always, the backlog is calling. But getting to mess around with it and watch my different poke pals enjoy the food I’ve cooked them warms my heart in a way that not much else has. 

I don’t know how your year went, but mine has been…rough. I haven’t found a lot of joy in this year’s releases, and I honestly haven’t had the bandwidth to even engage with a lot of them. Having so much pure fun with Shield has been the biggest relief of 2019 for me with games. I expected to like it, but I never expected to have it reignite my childhood love of the series and just genuinely turn the mood of gaming this year for me so much. It’s an awesome feeling, and one I’m glad that you and I, and seemingly lots of other folks, are getting to share.