Dear Reader:

You are viewing a story from GN Version 5.0. Time may not have been kind to formatting, integrity of links, images, information, etc.

Game Freak says balance of the battle system is the reason for Pokemon Sword & Shield limiting Pokemon to the Galar Region

MUTINY!
by rawmeatcowboy
13 June 2019
GN Version 5.0

Pokemon fans are really, really not happy about Game Freak's decision to limited Pokemon Sword & Shield Pokemon to those found in the Galar Region Pokedex. Many want to know why the decision was made, and USGamer got that answer straight from Game Freak's Junichi Masuda.

There are a couple of different parts to the thinking behind it, but really the biggest reason for it is just the sheer number of Pokemon. We already have well over 800 Pokemon species, and there's going to be more added in these games. And now that they're on the Nintendo Switch, we're creating it with much higher fidelity with higher quality animations. But even more than that, it's coming down to the battle system. We're making sure we can keep everything balanced and give all the Pokemon that appear in the games a chance to shine.

We knew at some point we weren't going to be able to indefinitely keep supporting all of the Pokemon, and we just found that Sword and Shield would probably be a good point to go back and reevaluate what would be the best selection of Pokemon that appeal to the widest audience while keeping into consideration the balance of the battle system. It isn't just going to be all-new Pokemon in the Galar region Pokedex; there's still going to be a lot of favorites that fans will be able to bring over that they've adventured with previously. But yeah, it was pretty much just balancing and getting this optimal selection of Pokemon for the adventure we wanted to provide.

Wondering how Game Freak is picking what Pokemon to include? Masuda had the answer for that too.

There are definitely a lot of factors. The primary focus was the setting of the game. We have the Galar Region, and we spent a lot of time discussing which Pokemon would make sense in that region. We kind of selected from there. But we also selected types that make sure the battles are balanced and really provide this exciting kind of battle experience.

[Link]