Pokémon needs a renaissance. The pocket monsters themselves are a visual delight, and the intricate choice-driven battle system continues to provide all sorts of meaningful decision points for players. But the series’ formula is beginning to show its age.

Every three years, a new mainstream Pokémon title is released. Game Freak adds new features that tweak and complicate the time-tested core, but the fundamentals don’t change. While Pokémon Sword and Shield added open Wild Areas, Pokémon camps, and the ability to embiggen your monsters with dynamaxing, there were still eight Gym Leaders who slavishly use a single type of Pokémon, a dubious evil team, and a climactic battle with the Pokémon League Champion.  

This formula is long past being stale and is now dangerously moldy. 

I will battle across the land 

Breath of the Wild shows just what can be gained by reinvention. Nintendo returned to the fantasy the classic 2D Zelda games offered and tried to capture that for modern consoles, dispensing with the traditions that didn’t serve its new focus. 

Breath of the Wild was a bold step for Nintendo and presented a vast, rich, and interconnected open world. Pokémon Sword and Shield flirted with this idea by adding the Wild Areas: explorable zones in the middle of the map where players could seek out Pokémon and even rotate the camera. Though a welcome addition to the game, the fact that the Wild Area was literally fenced in from the rest of the world spoke volumes. 

The Wild Areas of Sword and Shield felt like a tacked-on extra, a gentle nod to the idea of open-world play, timid in comparison to Breath of the Wild. A step forward from Red and Blue’s corridors, it was a far cry from the vast horizons of Zelda’s open-world Hyrule. 

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet aim to take this further, making the majority of the map into a Wild Area-style region and giving you legendary pokémon with which you’ll be able to glide, swim and ride across the world. On paper, this seems promising. However, this change is concerning within the context of wider stagnation for Pokémon. 

Searching far and wide 

Reinvention doesn’t mean scrapping what’s good about Pokémon but sweeping away the systems and features that get in the way of its glittering heart. 

After more than 25 years, it’s amazing how well Game Freak’s sophisticated combat holds up. It’s still exciting to pick through your squad in the thick of a battle, finding the perfect counter to the monster you face or, if you fall short, trying to level the playing field with support moves and items.

However, even after all these years, it’s surprising Game Freak rarely gives Pokémon’s combat a chance to shine. 

Are you headed to the Fire gym? Go and catch a couple of water-type pokémon, and you’ll walk it. The gym leaders still field only one type of pokémon, making battles a simple case of stocking up on a single counter type ahead of battle.

The battles that break from this formula show you what Pokémon can be. Raihan, the eighth and final gym leader in Pokémon Sword and Shield, ostensibly specializes in Dragon types but uses a wider variety of Pokemon than you’d expect. He also specifically emphasises using environmental conditions like sandstorms to change the battlefield in his favor. 

I was thrilled when his Torkoal, a fire-type Pokémon, used Solar Beam, a grass-type move, on my water type out of nowhere. In an instant, my Intelion went down like a sack of potatoes in a clutch moment worthy of the Pokémon anime. You see, he’d used Sunny Day a turn earlier to allow his Torkoal to instantly use Solar Beam rather than charge it up like usual. This move set the stage for a phenomenal Pokémon battle that made my inner 12-year-old happy.

The fact that this is the exception, not the rule, speaks volumes about the limits of Pokémon’s worn formula.

The power that's inside

Pokémon Legends Arceus did offer some promising departures in the form of open-world exploration along with a fun and slightly bonkers story. Though it had flaws (especially regarding graphical presentation), it was bold and deeply refreshing and clearly took pains to do justice to the Pokémon fantasy. 

Scarlet and Violet continues to step in the right direction, but it may well be the case that Pokémon needs a break. Every three years, we are treated to a new iteration of the same formula, which, usually boasting interesting quirks, does not offer the revolution that the series sorely needs. 

Perhaps Game Freak should stop tweaking and set their minds to building something new and exceptional. After all, isn’t novelty a big part of what made Pokémon so inspiring in the first place? 

• Looking for some great Switch games in the meantime? Here's our list of the very best. 

Pokémon Sword or Shield is a question bothering many Trainers-to-be, since choosing between two versions of the same Pokémon game can be confusing.

You're certainly not alone if you feel similarly stuck. Since the very beginning, Pokémon games have had two versions, with different names and box art. These are just the surface-level differences, however, as there are many more once you begin. Certain Pokémon are exclusive to particular versions, for example, and the list of gyms you can encounter while playing will be different depending on which you pick up.

For some players, this admittedly won’t make an iota of difference. However, since Pokémon Sword and Shield actually feature more contrasts between them than previous generations did, it’s definitely not a bad idea to know what those are before you commit. It's always possible to find someone to trade with if you have missed out – and you can always buy both versions if you want to – but that's a bit of a hassle and can be avoided if you want an easier life. 

Here's what the differences between Pokémon Sword and Shield are, from exclusive Pokémon to gyms you can take on.

Pokémon Sword or Shield: version differences

Pokémon Sword and Shield: version-exclusive Pokémon

To help you decide whether Pokémon Sword or Shield is the one for you, we’ve compared both versions - as well as their DLC releases - so that you can feel confident in your decision either way.

Pokémon Sword exclusives

• Deino (Dark/Dragon)
• Hydreigon (Dark/Dragon)
• Jangmo-o (Dragon)
• Kommo-o (Dragon/Fighting)
• Hakamo-o (Dragon/Fighting)
• Farfetch'd (Normal/Flying)
• Sirfetch'd (Fighting)
• Zweilous (Dark/Dragon)
• Gothita (Psychic)
• Gothorita (Psychic)
• Gothitelle (Psychic)
• Turtonator (Fire/Dragon)
• Seedot (Grass)
• Nuzleaf (Grass/Dark)
• Shiftry (Grass/Dark)
• Mawile (Steel/Fairy)
• Solrock (Rock/Psychic)
• Basculin (Water)
• Darumaka (Ice)
• Darmanitan (Ice)
• Scraggy (Dark/Fighting)
• Scrafty (Dark/Fighting)
• Rufflet (Normal/Flying)
• Braviary (Normal/Flying)
• Swirlix (Fairy)
• Slurpuff (Fairy)
• Passimian (Fighting)
• Coalossal, Gigantamax Raid native to Sword but can be shared (Rock/Fire) 
• Flapple, Gigantamax Raid native to Sword but can be shared (Grass/Dragon)
• Stonjourner (Rock)
• Indeedee, Male (Psychic/Normal)

Pokémon Shield exclusives

• Goomy (Dragon)
• Sliggo (Dragon)
• Goodra (Dragon)
• Larvitar (Rock/Ground)
• Pupitar (Rock/Ground)
• Tyranitar (Rock/Ground)
• Galarian Ponyta (Psychic)
• Solosis (Psychic)
• Duosion (Psychic)
• Reuniclus (Psychic)
• Drampa (Normal/Dragon)
• Vullaby (Dark/Flying)
• Mandibuzz (Dark/Flying)
• Gengar, Gigantamax Raid native to Shield but can be shared (Ghost/Poison)
• Lapras, Gigantamax Raid native to Shield but can be shared (Water/Ice)
• Cursola (Ghost)
• Lotad (Water/Grass)
• Lombre (Water/Grass)
• Ludicolo (Water/Grass)
• Sableye (Dark/Ghost)
• Lunatone (Rock/Psychic)
• Croagunk (Poison/Fight)
• Toxicroak (Poisin/Fight)
• Basculin, Blue-stripe form (Water)
• Spritzee (Fairy)
• Aromatisse (Fairy)
• Oranguru (Normal/Psychic)
• Appletun Gigantamax Raid native to Shield but can be shared (Grass/Dragon)
• Eiscue (Ice)
• Indeedee, Female (Psychic/Normal)

Pokémon Sword and Shield: version-exclusive Gyms

Sword and Shield also have version-exclusive gyms so, depending on which version you pick, you will find yourself facing an exclusive Gym Leader with their own type-focus.

Pokémon Black and White had a similar scenario where, depending on which version you picked, you found yourself battling either Drayden or Iris. That said, both Drayden and Iris used Dragon-types, so you likely weren't having a hugely different experience. 

This time, though, the version-exclusive Gym Leaders are different people who also use different types.

Pokémon Sword's exclusive gyms are:

• Bea, the Fighting-type leader
• Gordie, the Rock-type leader

While in Pokémon Shield you'll be battling against:

• Allister, the Ghost-type leader
• Melony, the Ice-type leader

If facing off against any of these particular Pokémon types makes you break out in hives, then it could really help you in your decision whether to go for Pokémon Sword or Shield. If you hate them all then we don’t know what to say – go for the lesser of two evils?

Pokémon Sword or Shield: Legendary Pokémon

Another classic version difference is in the Legendary Pokémon which plays the biggest part in your Pokémon adventure. Traditionally, the Legendary Pokémon featured on the cover of the game is a Pokémon you’ll be able to catch in your version of the game and this remains true in Pokémon Sword and Shield. 

For Pokémon Sword, this is Zacian, a Pokémon carrying a sword in its mouth that can cut through opponents. For Pokémon Shield, it’s Zamazenta, a defense-based Pokémon whose shield-like body can reflect attacks back on opponents.

The Pokémon Company is providing players an opportunity to get the Shiny version of the legendary they didn’t have access to in their original game as part of a temporary promotion starting October 22 2021 and running through November 2021. Yes, that’s right. If you’ve got Pokémon Sword, you could get your hands on a Shiny Zamazenta while Pokémon Shield players can get Shiny Zacian. The Pokémon will be free and can be added to your game via a code that’s claimed in-game in the Mystery Gift menu. Where and when you can get that code depends on where you’re living. 

In North America, it’s an in-store GameStop offer. In the US, Zacian is available until 11 November while Zamazenta’s code can be obtained between November 12 and 26. In Canada, Zacian is only available until 4 November with Zamazenta available from November 5 to 18. In the UK and Ireland, both Pokémon are available at the same time in GAME and GameStop stores respectively. 

Pokémon Sword or Shield: version-exclusive curry ingredients

These exclusives are more minor than the others but there are version-exclusive curry ingredients in Pokémon Sword and Shield. Fortunately, there are only two total. 

Those playing with Pokémon Sword get Bob's food tin to cook with, while those playing with Shield get Bach's food tin. Both can be bought from the ingredients sellers in the Rolling Hills and Hammerlocke sections of the Wild Area in your version of the game.

For those who want to experiment with the ingredient that's not in their version in order to expand their CurryDex, you can either trade Pokémon to get one holding that ingredient, or you can cook with a player who has the opposite version of the game as recipes you create while cooking with others will be added to your CurryDex. 

Pokémon Sword or Shield: Isle of Armor DLC differences

Pokémon Sword and Shield's first expansion, Isle of Armor, is out now and is available for both versions of the game. The Pokémon DLC brings with it a new mentor, dojo master Mustard, new Pokémon (including the return of some old favorites), and new rivals. 

But, while the Isle of Armor content for Pokémon Sword and Shield is pretty much the same, which version of the game you have will determine which rival you face off against. 

Owners of Pokémon Sword will get Klara, a poison-type trainer, as their rival; while owners of Pokémon Shield will face off against Avery, a psychic-type trainer.

Pokémon Sword or Shield: Crown Tundra DLC differences

Pokémon Sword and Shield’s second expansion, The Crown Tundra, is out now and is available for both versions of the game. Larger than Isle of Armor, The Crown Tundra takes players to colder climes where they’ll be appointed as the leader of an exploration team tasked with investigating the far reaches of the land, including its underground Pokémon Dens. 

Like Isle of Armor, the content in The Crown Tundra is quite similar between Pokémon Sword and Shield. In terms of version-exclusive Pokémon, Sword players will be able to catch Omanyte, Omastar, Bagon, Shelgon, and Salamence.  Shield players on the other hand will be able to watch Kabuto, Kabutops, Gible, Gabite, and Garchomp.

More notable differences between the Sword and Shield versions are the Legendary Pokémon you’ll be able to encounter in the game’s new Dynamax Adventures. Sword has the legendaries Ho-Oh, Latios, Groudon, Dialga, Tornadus, Reshiram, Xerneas, and Solgaleo, while Shield has Lugia, Latias, Kyogre, Palkia, Thundurus, Zekrom, Yveltal, and Lunala.

This can be worked around, though, as you can simply join in the Dynamax Adventure of someone with the opposite version to you in order to try and catch that version’s exclusive Legendaries in a team Dynamax Adventure.

Do you now have a better idea of whether Pokémon Sword or Shield is for you? Maybe it's both? Either way, we've included the best prices on both Pokémon Sword and Shield below:

• Gotta catch 'em all? Check out our list of the best Pokémon games of all time

When it comes to gaming, I’m not the most social person in the world. Co-operative, competitive, close friends or complete strangers, it doesn’t matter; I’d really rather play completely on my own. So, when details of Pokémon Sword and Shield’s second DLC, The Crown Tundra, were revealed, I was pretty excited to see that the Galarian Star Tournament would be a post-game pursuit alongside the new Dynamax Adventures. 

If you’ve not dug into the details of Crown Tundra yet, the Galarian Star Tournament comes right at the end of the DLC, after you’ve completed the main story. It sees you return to Wyndon to compete in 2 versus 2 battle tournaments with gym leaders and rivals from Sword and Shield as well Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra.  While I found it kind of bittersweet that I had to finish the last bit of new mainline Pokémon content we’re probably going to get for a while before I could try the Star Tournament, it hasn’t disappointed me. 

If you’re the kind of player, like me, who prefers to play your games without any online elements, the single-player Star Tournament is a nice alternative to the co-op Dynamax Adventures and a good way to balance out the relative isolation of scouring the Wild Areas to complete your Pokédex after the main story is done. Essentially, it's solo gameplay without the feeling of being completely on your own. 

• Pokémon Sword or Shield: version differences and exclusives explained
• Best Nintendo Switch games: the most essential Switch releases
• Best Pokémon games: ranking from Gold to Sword and Shield

Interaction without interacting

Sometimes, after completing Pokémon games, it can feel like all of the characters that were key to your journey just vanish off the face of the region. But, with the Star Tournament, you get the opportunity to enjoy some meaningful interactions with them while you continue to hone your battle skills. 

The Galar region is, after all, home to some memorable, even likable, characters and it would be a shame for them to go to waste. The Star Tournament gives you the opportunity not only to see more of them but to see slightly different sides to them. It’s nothing drastic; you don’t, for example, get to see the deep pain that I suspect lies dormant behind Leon’s perma-smile. But you do get the chance to fight alongside your rivals for once and you even get a better sense of the personalities of some of the gym leaders with whom you usually spend relatively little time. 

Seeing all of the game's characters interact with one another brings the world to life slightly more, giving you a sense of how they know one another and how Galar exists beyond yourself. You might not have heard of Mustard before Isle of Armor, for instance, but Bea certainly had.

It’s also pretty nice to play in a post-game world where your battle skills as the champion are not only explicitly acknowledged and respected, but also challenged by the gym leaders you’ve previously faced. It allows you to appreciate how far you’ve come while helping to make the post-game world feel a little less static.

Hey, AI'm talking to you

The Galarian Star Tournament’s suitability for solo players also really struck me when I considered it alongside another kind of extra-story battling available in Crown Tundra: Dynamax Adventures. Dynamax Adventures are actually available from the start of Crown Tundra but you can play them right through to the post-game when the addition of Ultra Beasts reinvigorates them. 

Dynamax Adventures are an extension of Max Raids, pitting you and three others against several rounds of Dynamax Pokémon with the hope of encountering a legendary at the end of the adventure. I’ve played a few now and they are fun but, as someone who prefers to play offline, they’re not really the post-game I’m looking to throw myself into for an extended period. 

While you can play Dynamax Adventures on your own (the game will just add in three AI companions of its choosing), I get the feeling the experience is probably more fun when you’re fighting alongside your real-life friends, not least because you can tell them off for using useless moves, which I’ve been unable to do with my new AI nemesis Isabella. If your friends aren’t really all that interested in Pokémon, though, or you’re not keen on playing with real-life strangers then you’re left with little option but to rely on the AI. 

Unlike the AI trainers in the Galarian Star Tournament, there really isn’t much character to the trainers you’re fighting alongside in Dynamax Adventures. Admittedly, there doesn’t have to be (that’s not the point of the battles, after all). But, between your teammates that left their personalities at home and the rental pokémon you have to use rather than your own, the whole experience feels somewhat impersonal and closed-off from the rest of the game world—you’re there to get the legendaries and get out. 

With the Star Tournament, on the other hand, the personalities involved and the interactions between them create much more of an “it’s the journey as much as the destination” atmosphere that I’ve enjoyed. 

HM02 in the ointment

The Galarian Star Tournament isn’t all rainbows and smiles, though; it has faults of its own. For one thing, sometimes the lines characters say can be a little repetitive. When two characters fight together more than once, for example, they might repeat the same banter and when you beat someone they tend to have a particular thing that they like to say. 

That’s all very well the first time but, personally, when it’s the fourth or fifth tournament in a row someone’s suffering defeat at my hands I’d like their outburst of lament, self-flagellation or resentment to have a little more history behind it. 

Also, as good as the Star Tournament is at mixing up pairings to keep battles fresh, you will still find yourself up against the same pairings repeatedly (I’m convinced Bea and Gordie have something going on, to be honest). This can be irksome if you don’t want to see them have the same interaction all over again but it is, at least, slightly offset by the fact that you’re probably fighting alongside someone new on your own team who will either trigger a different interaction or mix up the battle experience with their own type-specialism. 

As post-game content goes, the Galarian Star Tournament isn’t quite as expansive as Gold and Silver’s legendary “So you liked Johto? How about some Kanto?” encore. But, considering it’s actually just one part of what is effectively the post-game’s post-game it’s pretty great and something I’d like to see again in the future. 

In fact, if it was to return in some way I’d like to see the Star Tournament go even further and bring back gym leaders and characters from other regions—I’ve always wanted to fight alongside Sabrina rather than against her and I wouldn’t be totally against having Whitney’s Miltank on my side rather than my last nerve. I think what I'm actually asking for is for Pokémon Black and White 2’s Pokémon World Tournament to make a return, just with the enhancements and personality of the Galarian Star Tournament. 

In the meantime, I’ll just have to bide my time and continue fighting my way through the Galarian Star Tournament to find my ideal battle partner, even if I am sure that I fight better solo. 

• Nintendo Switch vs Switch Lite: is bigger really better?

The video announcement for Pokémon Unite has been unceremoniously slammed on YouTube – so much so, that it’s become one of the most disliked videos of all time for a Nintendo property.

After teasing a brand new announcement last week, where The Pokémon Company showed off New Pokémon Snap and Pokémon Café Mix, fans were eagerly anticipating something special. Instead, they were treated to a free-to-play mobile and Nintendo Switch MOBA game in association with the Chinese publishing giant Tencent, which has earned it 164,000 dislikes at the time of writing. 

So what is Pokémon Unite? Well, it’s a five-versus-five team battle game where you face-off in an arena and attempt to control various key points. Your Pokémon can level up and gain new moves, but there’s no type advantage or turn-based combat. It’s coming to mobiles and Nintendo Switch, and you can check out the announcement video below.

Tyrantrum

As spotted by Bronyficent on the Nintendo Switch subreddit, Pokémon Unite has now claimed the unfortunate title of Nintendo’s most disliked video – although there is a caveat. The video was uploaded to The Pokémon Company’s channel, who are largely independent from Nintendo, despite Nintendo owning a 33% stake in the company. 

Still, it’s now dethroned the likes of Metroid Prime: Federation Force, which has amassed 94,000 dislikes; last year’s Nintendo Treehouse: Live for Pokémon Sword and Shield with 89,000 dislikes; and the Byleth Smash Bros Ultimate DLC reveal, which has a total of 86,000 dislikes as of writing. 

Don't Digglet

Does this mean that Pokémon Unite is dead on arrival, then? Well no, not necessarily. Both Pokémon Sword and Shield went on to sell incredibly well, and although Byleth wasn’t a popular choice for Super Smash Bros Ultimate (please, no more Fire Emblem characters, Sakurai), we’d wager a guess it didn’t stop people from downloading her on mass. Even Nintendo’s own announcement video for Nintendo Switch Online was greeted with 84,000 dislikes, however, the service has gone on to gain millions of subscribers.

The angry reaction from fans seems to be more towards the expectation built up by The Pokémon Company, rather than the game itself. After showing off New Pokémon Snap, which conversely has 15,000 likes and only 160 dislikes, fans were rightly miffed when the big wait was for a spin-off game loosely based on the Pokémon formula. A misunderstanding, then, but one that's clearly irked fans enough to voice their discontent through the power of YouTube's dislike button. 

• Pokémon Unite not for you? Here are the best Nintendo Switch games

Isle of Armor, the first of two planned Pokémon Sword and Shield DLC titles for this year, is now available on Nintendo Switch and, as has been widely reported, its overarching theme seems to be growth. 

Aside from the instances where characters explicitly use the word “growth”—because who needs subtlety – the theme creeps up in a number of ways while you play. 

There’s extremely limited personal growth for new characters like Klara and Avery; emotional growth, when you as a trainer learn that pleasant views can help you bond with your Pokémon just as much as brutal battles; and some extremely literal growth for your new partner Kubfu and the Pokémon you can teach to Gigantamax.  

Growth definitely runs through Isle of Armor and with DLC being a new direction for the Pokémon series – a franchise that doesn’t typically mix things up just for the sake of it – it feels like an appropriate theme for Game Freak to have landed upon.

• Best Pokémon games: ranking from Gold to Sword and Shield
• Best Nintendo Switch games: the most essential Switch releases
• Pokémon Sword or Shield: version differences and exclusives explained

Enhance!

In some ways it’s surprising that a franchise as long-running and successful as Pokémon hasn’t dipped into something as standard as DLC before now. I’ll be the first to admit that I wasn’t entirely convinced by the idea when Isle of Armor was announced. 

When it comes to “mainline” Pokémon games, I’d grown used to the base games being my lot until the release of a standalone enhanced version the following year. That version would largely follow the same story structure—with some deviations here and there – while making improvements and adding neat new features that ranged from barely noticeable to extremely significant. 

The enhanced versions largely felt like the generation reaching its peak and the new features they introduced were a chance to see where Game Freak might take the franchise next. In my eyes, DLC posed the risk of losing the exciting mid-generation tweaks or improvements I'd come to associate with the enhanced games. 

But after playing through Isle of Armor, I’m going to have to eat my words. 

Growth spurt

With Isle of Armor, there are still changes and new features but they come with the added pleasure of seeing more of the Galar region’s charming personality through new characters, new items and a new location.

It felt great to pick up my Switch and be whisked off on a new Pokémon adventure with minimal preamble. No “this is the world of Pokémon”, or “what’s your name?”, and, best of all, no lesson on catching Pokémon to put dangerous pressure on my Switch’s ‘A’ button. 

It was also fun to be playing as the champion rather than starting all over again as a fresh-faced trainer – even if no one on Armor had the decency to acknowledge my supremacy until the very end. The increase in trainer customization that’s been introduced in the newer Pokémon games has, I have to admit, made me a little more attached to my avatar than I’ve ever been before so to be able to keep playing with her and the fantastic outfit purchased with her winnings is a small but important pleasure. 

The Wild Area was one of my favourite additions in Pokémon Sword and Shield so I appreciated that the DLC made it possible to experience the ideas underpinning this feature again but in a completely new, improved setting.

Making the old new again

Isle of Armor is just one big Wild Area with a diverse mix of caves, green spaces and islands. While it’s nowhere near as big as an entirely new region, it actually felt more enjoyable to explore than the Wild Area on mainland Galar. 

This is in part because Armor's topography is more varied than the predominant flatness of the original Wild Area. It's also potentially due to what felt like an improvement in the balance between complete freedom and use of story-based tasks to organically pull you around the map.

I loved that I could arrive on Armor and immediately bike out to a cool-looking island in the distance with nothing but some rabid Sharpedo to stop me. But I also appreciated that this aimless exploration was balanced out by things like having to learn my way around the forest in order to reunite a young Pokémon with its parent or finding viewing spots for my Pokémon and I to visit. 

Then there’s the fact that you can have your lead Pokémon wander alongside you. This isn’t a new feature for Pokémon by any means but it was nice to see it being used with the Wild Area mechanics, hopefully not for the last time.

I don’t know if Game Freak ever intends to release a mainline game that only uses the free-roaming aspects of the Wild Area, but I’m quietly hoping that the combination of experimentation and iteration made possible by DLC titles like Isle of Armor could get us to something like that faster. At the very least I feel like I have a better sense of what the Wild Area has the potential to be.

A personal touch

As well as trying new things with the Wild Area, Isle of Armor felt like it was trying to do something a little different with storytelling and pacing. Isle of Armor’s story is far from long and I don’t think I could say it had a great deal of depth but it definitely had its own personality. 

Between the uncharacteristically fast Slowpoke, Klara's Shakespearean asides and dojo master Mustard’s general attitude, Isle of Armor managed to extract some chuckles from me. 

Not only that, the journey it takes you on is refreshingly personal and a departure from the high-stakes, save-the-world stuff that’s become the formula for the main games. That’s not to say I want the overall narrative structure of the main games to change – far from it – but I definitely appreciated that Isle of Armor gave me the chance to experience a slightly different side of the Pokémon world. 

All of this said, Isle of Armor isn’t totally perfect and I don’t think I could say it’s an example of Game Freak perfecting the generation in the way that I could with some of the enhanced versions from yesteryear. 

Many of the visual limitations from Sword and Shield remain, some of the animations of “buddy” Pokemon are awkward, and as nice as this new Wild Area is, it doesn’t have the same distinctness of personality that you find in the towns and cities on the Galar mainland. Plus, while the story does offer something different, there’s no denying that it’s pretty bare bones.

But for now I’ve decided to forgive that because, looking at Isle of Armor through the lens of its own theme, even though it revolved around the traditional training and battling, I can appreciate that it did things a little differently and I'm looking forward to seeing what The Crown Tundra might try later this year. 

I don’t know if the shift to DLC means that an enhanced version of Sword and Shield is completely off the cards but, if I could take a moment to channel dojo master Mustard, it’s hard to grow and improve without taking chances and doing things differently. With that in mind, for the moment, I’m willing to watch, wait and hope that delving into DLC will continue to allow the Pokémon games to flourish with the benefit of keeping things fresh and fun for players.

• Nintendo Switch vs Switch Lite: is bigger really better?

Working at home evokes a feeling of freedom. With no bosses looking over your shoulder, you're free to indulge in your favorite relaxing hobby and decompress while you're on a lunch break. For people who play games, it's a rare chance to enjoy something you love without looking "unprofessional" in the office.

That said, telecommuting isn't all fun and games. Some workers have to watch their kids while they work. Many feel lonely and trapped, with no time or ability to go outside and seek out company. And most have trouble setting boundaries, working much harder and longer than they would in a 9–5 setting.

We're laying out some of our favorite video games for the work-at-home crowd: games to play in short bursts or when work gets slow, to enjoy the "outdoors" when you physically can't, and to have fun with kids or roomies that might also be self-isolated at home. Obviously, we primarily recommend playing these in allocated breaks, or at least discretely in an otherwise uninteresting meeting. Hopefully you'll find something new to enjoy. 

• Things to do while you're in self-isolation
• The best singleplayer PC games
• The best PS4 games

Lunch break games

Large open-world games can feel unsatisfying to play in short bursts, and it it's more fun to explore for a couple of hours and really dive into a quest. But for players looking for a quick session during a lunch break, go for titles designed to be played one short segment at a time, so you don't feel cut off when you have to start working again.

The first and obvious choice is Stardew Valley, the wildly popular farm simulator RPG for consoles, PC and mobile that has you escaping crowded city life to raise crops and livestock. Each in-game day lasts about 14 minutes according to the wiki, giving you a few days of planting, exploring, mining and flirting before you hop back into real life.

Outer Wilds, a GOTY choice for several gaming sites, traps you in a 22-minute Groundhog Day-esque loop in which you blast into space and search alien ruins for clues, right before the sun goes supernova and you time travel back to the start. Its open-ish world is designed to be explored in short, exhilarating bursts, with each session advancing the game's story forwards.

Work out your pent-up aggression with Hitman 2's addictively replayable missions and contracts. Each mission, taking place at fantastic sunny resorts and exotic locales, usually takes about 20–45 minutes to complete, as you search for increasingly elaborate ways to kill horrible people. On subsequent lunchtimes, you can shave minutes off that time to climb the in-game leaderboards. 

Finally, Super Mario Maker 2 offers the perfect balance of short user-created levels and endless replayability. You can easily hop into a dozen or more levels in an hour, or just play one or two in-between meetings. The combo of tough puzzles and inventive designs will keep your spirits high.

Honorable mentions: Join a grand prix or two of Mario Kart 8 with your kid or roommate. Test your communication and relationships with a few five-minute rounds of Overcooked 2. Play a couple rounds of online card games like Gwent or Magic the Gathering: Arena, or dive into an hour-long playthrough of infinitely replayable roguelikes like Dead Cells or Slay the Spire.

Conference call games

There's no worse fate than being stuck on a useless-yet-mandatory conference call. The solution? Play a game on mute that will keep you entertained without requiring much mental energy, ideally without any loud controller clacking being audible on the call. We won't tell your boss if you don't.

Pokémon Sword and Shield battles require some thought, but running around the Wild Area looking for rare Pokémon does not. Nor does beating up weak monsters for EV training or shiny hunting. These are just time-consuming activities that you can do without paying much attention. You should be able to make some real progress and still have the capacity to contribute to any given call.

So long as you're playing on Peaceful and won't scream when a Creeper explodes, Minecraft is a natural choice. Mining for ore or building a new house is the kind of relaxed, mind-numbing fun that won't let your coworkers catch on that you're multitasking.

If you need to be on your computer for a web call, a free browser-based game will keep you entertained while ostensibly staying glued to the conversation. One favorite of ours, Slither.io, lets you compete to become top worm in a battle royale of sorts, without any noisy mouse-clicking.

Honorable mentions: Any MMO that requires grinding – WoW, Diablo 3, etc. – assuming your mouse isn't too noisy. Flying peacefully around space in No Man's Sky or Earth in Microsoft Flight Simulator X is low-maintenance, relaxing fun. Or just stick to classic time-wasters like Tetris or Minesweeper.

Escapist games

If you're self-isolating or just swamped with projects and can't make it outside, don't work a second longer than you have to. At 5PM, hop into some of our favorite massive virtual worlds. The best games give you the feeling of being an intrepid explorer and hero, even in your pajamas.

PC gamers will recognize most of the big name franchises from our Best PC open world games list: The Witcher, Red Dead Redemption 2, GTA, Fallout, Forza and Assassin's Creed. Trapped inside, you'll finally have the time to dive into that hundred-hour game you've been putting off until you "have time". Now's that time!

The true explorer's dream game is, of course, Breath of the Wild, which lets you look in the distance at a mountain that would be decorative in any other game, and then climb up that mountain. It's a freeing, immersive experience for all types of players.

Aloy's journey through a post-apocalyptic yet gorgeous world in Horizon: Zero Dawn is inspiring during tough times. Even when the world seems irrevocably damaged, the narrative tells us that strong and brave people working together can overcome dangerous hardships and find a way to persist.

Or, if your perfect idea of exploration is less pastoral and more urban, and your favorite heroes have superpowers, swing through New York as everyone's favorite superhero in Marvel's Spider-Man.

Honorable mentions: Hack San Francisco in Watch Dogs 2, defeat a corrupt utopian society by running in Mirror's Edge: Catalyst, or dive deep into the ocean in Subnautica.

Connecting with friends and co-workers via games

Check out our best co-op games feature for a definitive list on this. 

Working from home can feel incredibly lonely over time. And it can be hard to reach out to friends without some kind of work-based reason or ice-breaker to bridge the gap. Games after work can be an excellent way to make that connection and give people an excuse to virtually hang out, and make spending all day alone less isolating.

You can't go wrong with starting up an online Dungeons & Dragons group. Anyone, including non-gamers that might be intimidated by hardcore online games, can quickly pick up on the premise: magical beings explore a magical land and get into adventures. Use Google Hangouts and start an adventure over video, or start a conference call on Discord and have players type out the adventure.

If your friend group is more into actual video games, it can still be hard to get everyone into a game all at once. So consider titles that let you do whatever quests you want and new party members drop in and out. Sea of Thieves and its aimless pirate adventuring, or Destiny 2 and its co-op loot grinds, are great examples of this. 

Or, if you're looking for some bonding two-person co-op, try A Way Out, which has two characters breaking out of prison and travel across the country by relying on one another. Only really in-sync friends will be able to succeed.

• The best Steam games in 2020

Has your Pokémon Sword and Shield game crashed unexpectedly while you're trying to access online features like Y-Com or Surprise Trade? It may be that you’ve been the victim of hacked Pokémon entering the Poké-ecosystem for the latest mainline games.

How did this happen? As reported by Polygon, it seems that some Pokémon modders putting their own, modified creations into the Pokémon Sword and Shield games have been maliciously causing crashes and connectivity issues through the Surprise Trade feature – which swaps out a creature of your own for a mystery Pocket Monster from another Trainer.

While you may get a buzz from the surprise of the transaction – even if it’s unlikely that you’ll ever get a really fantastic Pokémon through the feature – it seems that some less principled hackers have been causing mischief with hacked Pokémon designed to mess with the game.

It seems to be a minor issue – it isn’t corrupting save files, apparently – but it has been enough to raise some alarm among the Pokémon modding community.

Prepare for trouble! Make it double!

It’s not the best press for Game Freak, shortly after the launch of its Pokémon Home smartphone app – essentially a hub for storing and trading. But you shouldn’t run into these issues when moving your own Pokémon about, or when trading with gamers that you know and trust.

For those of you set on using Surprise Trade, the issue has been reported to Nintendo and Game Freak, and we'll likely see some resolution or action plan in the coming days, possibly with a software patch. For now, though, you might want to steer clear of the feature.

• What is Pokémon Home? Nintendo's Pokémon storage app explained
• What are the best Pokémon games?
• The Pokémon Sword and Shield DLC is the perfect response to disappointed fans

Pokémon is the highest grossing media franchise of all time, currently with 890 weird and wonderful Pocket Monsters to catch, 22 films to watch (with the twenty-third coming out on Netflix soon) and a whopping 122 video games to play through. 

That cultural dominance is certainly good business, but it also means criticism from fans can get pretty loud, with the launch of Pokémon Sword and Shield being marred with backlash and controversy. The limited Pokédex drew particular ire, with some fans even calling for a boycott during pre-release. 

For mainline games expected to usher in a new era for Pokémon RPGs on Nintendo Switch, especially in comparison with the somewhat-light Pokémon Let’s Go games, it probably wasn’t the reaction Game Freak was hoping for.

However, the latest Pokémon Direct announcement of new DLC – Crown Tundra and Isle of Armor – goes a long way to addressing fan concerns and moving the franchise in the right direction.

But first we need to look at what exactly when wrong.

Why the backlash?

The pre-release of Pokémon Sword and Shield received an unusual amount of backlash, even for a franchise with such an involved fandom. 

Longtime fans of the series were particularly unhappy about Game Freak’s decision to not include all of the Pokémon from previous games, given the sheer number now created for the series. This decision would later become known, perhaps unaffectionately, as ‘Dexit’: a surprisingly fitting tongue-in-cheek play on words of Brexit, given Galar’s loosely British setting.

Online communities quickly worked themselves up over the smaller Pokédex, culminating in calls to boycott the game entirely. Social media sites such as Twitter and Reddit were filled with people exclaiming they would never buy a Pokémon game again.

The reaction was disconcerting enough that Game Freak’s Junichi Masuda issued an official statement in response to the criticism, clarifying that the sheer number of Pokémon now in existence (over 800) had forced the developer to choose quality over quantity – while hinting that, “even if a specific Pokémon is not available in Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield, that does not mean it will not appear in future games.”

Unfortunately for Sword and Shield, this criticism didn’t die down when the games were released. Players continued to have complaints, from the hand-holding nature of the story, its relatively short length, the quality of the graphics – including re-used, broken and lazy animations – and the fact that several aspects of the game seemed unfinished or rushed.

When love wins out over hate

Of course, this is still a beloved franchise,, and angry chatter on Twitter did little to impact sales.

The two Pokémon games had sold a combined 16.18m copies in their first six weeks, meaning that the franchise’s new installment had already outsold its recent predecessors in lifetime sales, beating the 16.17m units of Pokémon Sun and Moon, and the 11.76m units of fellow Switch titles Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee.

There were also several positives to be taken from the new games. The new free-roaming Wild Area and Raid system were gladly received, and a massive indication of what could be possible in a Pokémon game. Several quality of life gameplay changes were also made to improve playability and, for the most part, the new generation Pokémon designs were well received.

Not everyone is happy about the state of the games, of course – and Game Freak’s latest announcement shows that there’s plenty happening to amend this.

You, me, and DLC

Three months after the November 2019 release of Pokémon Sword and Shield, a Pokémon Direct stream in January 2020 provided a huge announcement: Pokémon’s first ever DLC, The Isle of Armor (releasing in June) and Crown Tundra (late 2020). 

The DLC will add 200 Pokémon to the games’ Pokédex, including brand new Pokémon and even more Galarian regional variants, which should appease those upset over ‘Dexit’. Those who thought the main gameplay in Sword and Shield was too short and lacking in side quests, too, will get two more missions to complete – and there’s even a graphics fix that improves upon some of the worst graphical elements of Sword and Shield (the trees in the Wild Area being the main culprits.)

More importantly, the ability to add DLC gives Game Freak the option to do something they’ve never been able to do before in a Pokémon Game: they can respond meaningfully to player feedback, add in substantial changes, and give players more things to do.

There is an additional cost to purchase the DLC – $29.99 / £26.99 for access to both packs – but it’s not out of touch with the way Nintendo (and other publishers) and releasing content for flagship games. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild similarly had two expansion packs within a year of release.

For some, this was another cynical game studio trying to milk their customers for all they’re worth. But for others this was a genuinely positive step in the right direction and, as we’ve posited in the headline, the perfect response to the pre-release criticisms.

• Breath of the Wild 2: when will the sequel land?

This set of DLC has officially replaced the previously traditional ‘third’ game entry for Pokémon Sword and Shield, and arguably offers a lot more new content than you would normally get in a third, sibling instalment. You’ll also be getting it for roughly half the price of a new game, at just $29.99/£26.99, making it far better value for money.

Of course, some of that saving may be eaten up by Nintendo Switch Online, and a subscription to the new Pokémon Home app – which will also bring back the Global Trade System – but catching ‘em all and hanging on to your favourite creatures should help soften the blow.

Masuda said that Game Freak had a plan, and the incoming DLC looks set to address a lot of the bugbears that players had around Pokémon Sword and Shield pre-release. It might not be enough for some, but it looks like there’s a promising future ahead for many a Pokémon player.

• What are the best Pokémon games?

Pokémon Sword and Shield are finally getting an expansion pass, the first Pokemon DLC to date.

The announcement was made during the latest Pokémon Direct, where Game Freak revealed that the newest Pokémon games are getting an expansion pass this year which will grant players access to two DLC packs: Crown Tundra and Isle of Armor.

Isle of Armor is due for release in June 2020, while Crown Tundra is due to release in 'Autumn' 2020 (so sometime between September and November of this year).

Isle of Armor

The Isle of Armor DLC will release in June 2020 and introduces a bunch of new characters and Pokémon for you to check out. In fact, both DLC introduce over 200 Pokémon to Sword and Shield - including some old favorites - but each game has differing offerings.

Isle of Armor's theme is "growth" according to Game Freak and this DLC sees you gaining a new mentor - called Mustard - and some new rivals. In addition, there's also a new fighting-style Pokémon that you get to train with, called Kubfu, who evolves into a Urshifu, who offers two distinct fighting styles that you can choose between. Isle of Armor also adds new fashion for your character and bike.

If that's not enough, you also get to see new unseen areas of Galar and can take part in online (or official) competitions.

Crown Tundra

Crown Tundra is a snow-themed DLC, releasing between September and November 2020. This DLC focuses on exploration and small communities, introducing you to new characters and Pokémon that you haven't seen before.

This DLC introduces Calyrex, a psychic-grass type enigma, whom a lot of the narrative revolves around. You can also exlore Pokémon dens to see both older and new legendary Pokémon - some even dynamax.

If that's not enough, Crown Tundra introduces a new co-op play mode and clothing. There's also new battle challenges for finishing both DLC.

Expansion pass details

The Pokémon Sword and Shield expansion pass grants players access to both DLC, however each game requires its own expansion pass. You'll be able to carry your game on from where you left off as your save game carries on.

It's also welcome news that an upcoming update will allow you to trade the new Pokémon with those who don't own the DLC. You'll also be able, through Pokémon Home, to import your older Pokémon (from previous games) into Sword and Shield - as long as those Pokémon appear in the DLC (or Sword and Shield). Pokémon Home is releasing in February 2020.

The Pokémon Sword and Shield expansion pass can be pre-purchased from the Nintendo eShop for £26.99 / $29.99.

• How to decide between Pokémon Sword and Shield: exclusives and gym leaders explained

In Pokémon Sword and Shield, Gigantamax Pokémon are something special. While all Pokémon in the games can grow in size through the new Dynamax feature, Gigantamax Pokémon are more rare, more powerful and they’re capable of some pretty nifty form changes. So of course they’re harder to find. 

Fortunately, for players who have previously played either Pokémon Let’s Go Eevee or Let’s Go Pikachu on their Nintendo Switch, there’s an easy way to get your hands on a special Gigantamax version of one of these Pokémon.

The Pokémon you get depends on the game for which you have a save file, so those with a file for Let’s Go Eevee will receive a Gigantamax Eevee while those with a file for Let’s Go Pikachu will get—you guessed it—a Gigantamax Pikachu. 

Now, onto how to get them. Like the Hi-Tech Earbuds item in Sword and Shield, getting your hands on these Pokémon is simply a matter of finding and talking to the correct NPCs. 

It's all about who you know

These generous NPCs can be found in the game’s Wild Area, specifically in the train station that’s located in the Meetup Spot zone. If you’re already playing the game you can return there via fast travel and if you’re just starting out you’ll arrive in this location within the first couple of hours of play. 

In the top left corner of the station, a boy and a girl are talking—these are the NPCs you’re looking for. If your save is for Let’s Go Eevee, talk to the boy, and if it’s for Let’s Go Pikachu, talk to the girl, and they’ll hand over your reward, no questions asked. 

It’s as simple as that! You can walk away with your new Gigantamax Pokémon and continue your journey together.

It’s worth noting that like their Let’s Go counterparts, these Eevee and Pikachu cannot be evolved in the game. 

• Don't forget to check out our guide to the differences between Sword and Shield

Pokémon Sword and Shield are now available on Nintendo Switch and one of the most exciting elements of these new games is the Wild Area. 

Introduced in the first couple of hours of play, this expansive location in the centre of the map marks the closest the Pokémon series has come to an open world and it can be pretty intimidating when you first enter it—what to do with all this unfamiliar freedom? 

Well, the beauty of it is that this is pretty much up to you. Want to run around and see the sights? Go for it. Prefer to battle some wild Pokémon? You can do that too. Looking for a specific type of Pokémon to catch? Go looking for it. 

We’ve put together a collection of hints and tips to help you make the most of the Wild Area, whether it’s your first or fifteenth time in it. 

Give a little whistle

When you’re wandering around the Wild Area, you might notice some Pokémon (commonly flying-types) soaring over your head. They won’t bother you until you bother them so if you want to catch their attention simply walk near them and press the left analog stick to whistle. That’ll bring them down to your level for an encounter.

Cast a line

In previous Pokémon games you’ve had to find a fishing rod (usually gifted from an NPC) before you can start fishing for Water-type Pokémon. That’s not the case in Sword and Shield. If you see a spot of water in the Wild Area that’s slightly darker and bubbling, just walk to the water’s edge and press A to start fishing. When a Pokémon bites, draw your line in by pressing A again. 

Make sure you come back to the Wild Area after you get the bike upgrade later in the game that allows you to travel out onto water. You’ll be able to access further out fishing spots then too. 

Go fast

The Wild Area is pretty expansive so if you want to make your way around it a little faster, hop on your bike and get a temporary boost by pressing B. You can lengthen this boost by upgrading your bike which we’ll go into below. 

What are Watts?

Watts are a form of currency in Pokémon Sword and Shield that’s primarily used in the Wild Area and there are a few ways to pick it up. The easiest way is to approach a Raid Den that isn’t active and interact with it. This will yield at least 50 Watts with no effort. You’ll also receive Watts for actually taking part in a Max Raid Battle and by battling or catching Pokémon in the Wild Area that are glowing. 

What’s the point in this, you ask? Well, Watts can be traded with the various NPCs dressed in League uniforms that are doted around the Wild Area for a variety of items and services. You can get your hands on PokéBalls, Pearls and new TR moves. You can also upgrade your bike’s boost up to three times using Watts and recruit a couple of diggers who’ll find you things like evolutionary stones and fossils for a bargain 500W. 

Rotom Rally

Speaking of Watts, you can earn some more by taking part in the Wild Area’s Rotom Rally mini-game. 

To start this game, you have to find the Watt trader who gives you the choice of courses, each a different length. Once your course is chosen, you have to ride around it as fast as you can on your Rotom bike. The faster you go, the more points you get. 

As you go around the course, follow the balloons. Try hitting small balloons for a speed boost and avoid the large red ones which incur time penalties. Also try to avoid hitting any wild Pokémon wandering around. One, it’ll slow you down and two, it’s just not a very good look for you. 

Don’t waste PokéBalls

The Wild Area is home to Pokémon of all levels but you can’t catch them all right away. In Sword and Shield, the gym badges you have determine the level of Pokémon you’re able to catch so if you’re going into the Area with one badge under your belt there’s no point in attempting to capture a level 60 Corviknight. When you defeat gym leaders, they’ll tell you what your new level capture cap is so it’s worth returning to the Wild Area after each victory to have a look around. 

The highest level Pokémon tend to be those strutting around outside of the grass.

Be a magpie

Throughout the Galar region you’ll spy sparkles on the ground as you’re walking around. These indicate items to be picked up and they’re in the Wild Area as well as everywhere else. Sparkles can be a range of things but they’re always worth picking up. To interact, just walk up to where you spotted the sparkle and press A. These re-spawn unlike those in the wider game world so don’t assume you’ve got them all. 

Organize your team before entering a Raid

Like in a Pokémon battle, the Pokémon listed first in your party is the one that will be sent out to battle in a Dynamax Raid. Unlike a Pokémon battle, however, you don’t have the option to swap it out as only one Pokémon enters a Raid battle. 

When you first interact with an active Raid den (they’re the beams of red light you’ll see scattered around the Wild Area), you’ll be able to see the type of the Pokémon you’ll be facing before you confirm that you want to go ahead either with friends or an AI team, so use the opportunity to rearrange your team and send out the ‘mon that offers you the best chance of winning, whether it’s your most powerful or the one with a type advantage. Raid battles can be tough so this is key to winning. 

Set up camp

If your Pokémon take some damage when battling, you don’t have to leave the Wild Area to heal them at a Pokémon Centre, you can just set up camp and cook them a curry. 

If you’re short on the right ingredients or berries, there’s also an NPC outside the train station at the entrance to the Wild Area who will heal your Pokémon up for you. 

Keep a weather eye

It's worth exploring the Wild Area in its entirety as different biomes will naturally house different Pokémon types. The Watchtower Ruins, for example, is the place you’re more likely to encounter Ghost-types, while at Giant’s Seat there are Steel-types abound. 

However, the changing weather also has an effect on the Pokémon that spawn so it’s worth popping back now and again in the event of a notable weather change. When you open up the game’s menu with the X button, significant weather events in the Wild Area will appear in an an info pop-up box sand you can also check the weather conditions across the region on the Town Map so have a look before trailing back. 

• Don't forget to read our Pokémon Sword and Shield review

There are a few things in Pokémon Sword and Shield that you won’t come across if you refuse to converse with random NPCs and the Hi-Tech Earbuds is one of them. Unless, of course, you browse online guides like this one. 

The Hi-Tech Earbuds are a new item in Pokémon Sword and Shield which, once found, allow you to access more in-depth volume controls like background music and sound effects. 

Seems a little weird to lock what would be a basic menu option behind a completely missable in-game item, right? It’s certainly a risky way to call attention to an option that hasn’t featured in the series before. 

Fortunately, this new item is not hard to find or obtain. 

How and where?

To get the Hi-Tech Earbuds for yourself you simply have to head to the city of Motostoke—the first big city you’ll come to in the game. Once here, walk down the central street that leads to the large central elevator and just before you get to the end look to the right. You’ll see a male mustachioed standing outside what appears to be a vintage music store (heavy-handed hint there). Engage him in conversation and he’ll hand the earbuds over. 

It’s really that easy. The guy is just giving tech away. If this was the real UK you’d suspect they were stolen, but in Galar giving stuff away is the done thing. 

Once the earbuds are snug in your Key Items pocket, you don’t have to equip them or use them or do anything to them, really. Just having them in your possession makes the new sound-focused sliders appear when you click into the options menu. 

Now, you have total control over the volume of the game’s background music, Pokémon cries and sound effects. Perfect if gym battle music gives you performance anxiety. 

• Still trying to decide between Sword and Shield? Check out our guide to their differences

When it comes to charm, Pokémon Sword and Shield have it in spades. Whether you’re cooking a curry for your Pokémon around a campfire or being cheered outside Gyms by complete strangers who recognize you off the “telly”, these games go out of their way to warm you up, welcome you into their world and make you want to stay there.

Sword and Shield introduce players to the new Galar region. Inspired by the UK, this region is characterful and utterly full of personality. It has a cohesive identity that affectionately caricatures British pop culture and speech, while each town and city that make it up still manages to have its own utterly distinct look, resulting in a region that’s a playful mix of modernity and mythology. We had a niggling feeling as we wandered around the suspiciously clean cities and green rolling hills that this is potentially what some have convinced themselves the pre-EU UK once looked like. Galar is idyllic bordering on fantastical. 

Drawing on British culture and folklore in a similarly successful manner are the new Pokémon native to this region. These regional variants and completely new creations are some of the best Pokémon designs we’ve seen in a long time, not only because they’re so creative and likeable but because they actually introduce some exciting new type combinations, adding a greater capacity for variety and balance when building your team. 

Welcome to Galar guv'nor

Game Freak was fairly tight-lipped when it came to revealing the new Pokémon that would feature in Sword and Shield. It was the right decision— this was the first game in a few generations that we felt a real sense of discovery when venturing into the long grass from the very start because we couldn’t predict exactly what we were going to see. 

We would be remiss in talking about the game's Pokémon if we didn't mention the cut to the National Pokédex. Some of the furore around the cut of the National Dex from Sword and Shield has been understandable. For those who haven’t heard, where players could once catch the several hundred Pokémon on a game’s Regional Pokédex and then import the hundreds of others from across the series to complete a National Pokédex, this is no longer possible. 

For long-standing fans who have been committed to bringing their team from the earliest games forward through successive generations, this is upsetting. This isn’t an unreasonable feeling—none of us can pretend we haven’t had an emotional attachment to a Pokémon even without years of dedication and attention plugged into them. 

However, it’s important to note that the majority of players aren't likely to feel the effects of this, so while the loss of the option rankles it doesn't outright ruin by any means—the game is still chock full of great monsters to catch and you might even discover some new favorites. 

While Sword and Shield does have some of the best-looking towns we've seen in the Pokémon series, sometimes they fall short in terms of depth. Most of the towns are built around their Gym, which is understandable as they're the focal point of the community in Galar. But centralizing Gyms to this degree does sometimes leave the rest of the town feeling like somewhere that looks good with little else of importance to offer—something to admire but not dig too far into. 

There’s one particular town (and we won’t spoil where it is) which basically is the gym. Aside from its Pokémon centre and its gym battle, there’s really nothing much else to see or do here which feels like a waste of an original location that a distinctive and central character of the game proudly calls home. 

Not every town in Galar is exactly like this—there are a couple of big cities to offset it with a bit more to see and do—but it’s symptomatic of a bigger issue in the games whereby some areas can leave you feeling like you’re being funnelled through an exceptionally pretty tunnel without a great deal of consequential interactivity or exploration. 

It's a wild, wild area

In complete contrast to this, however, is the game’s sprawling Wild Area which sits in the centre of the map. This is the closest Pokémon has gotten to a truly Breath of the Wild-style open world, where you’re able to explore with control over the camera. It feels like a take on the real-life Pokémon Go events that have been popping up over the world, where you’re able to wander around a park area dedicated to finding and catching Pokémon as well as engaging in Raids and bumping into other players. 

Whether you’re a seasoned player or relatively new to Pokémon, the first sight of the Wild Area with its changing weather conditions and wandering Pokémon is striking. Nothing really beats the excitement of walking over a bridge and seeing a Gyarados glide through the water beside you. 

Significantly, the Wild Area is home to Pokémon of all levels. This can be impressive and frustrating in equal measure as, alongside the usual obedience level cap, gym badges now determine the level of the Pokémon you can catch.  So if you only have one gym badge and you bump into a level 30 Snorlax, you might as well throw your PokéBalls at a wall. 

As annoying as this can be, it makes the world more dynamic and helps Gym battles feel like an integral part of your journey of improvement—powerful Pokémon don’t exist in a vacuum until you’re ready for them and just because you can’t catch them doesn’t mean you can’t battle them for training. 

With its diverse biomes and weather cycles allowing for adaptive spawning as well as its online social aspects, the Wild Area marks an exciting milestone for the series. The initial thrill of the area is never quite as strong on successive visits, in part because while the long grass is always densely populated, you can walk for quite some time before coming across the impressive sight of a strong Pokémon stomping around in the open. And even then it’s likely to be alone. But its appeal still holds.

The Wild Area is a significant and positive break from tradition which successfully marries the linear Pokémon story with the increased desire for more open worlds and we hope to see it built on in future releases. 

Dynamixed feelings

The Wild Area is also the home of Dynamax Raids, where you can join a team of three other players at a glowing den to battle and catch powerful and massive Dynamaxed Pokémon. These Raids can be played with up to three friends online (or with three AI ‘friends’ if you’re not really interested in online), and they vary in difficulty and worth. It’s not a bad idea to dip in and out of them for the chance of encountering a powerful Pokémon. However, a lot of the time the spectacle is more enjoyable than the battle itself.

Dynamaxing as a mechanic generally doesn’t always hit the right notes. It behaves like an amalgamation of Mega Evolution and Sun and Moon’s Z-Moves by changing your Pokémon’s size and allowing it to use more powerful moves. Like previous iterations, it has limitations and can be used once per battle for three moves as long as those battles take place in the Wild Area or in a Gym. The first couple of times Dynamaxing is used is fun thanks to the novelty of the animation and seeing the Godzilla Vs King Kong scale battles, but it begins to grate.

Aside from how it looks, Dynamaxing doesn’t actually add much to battles and the fact that Gym Leaders use it so predictably makes it feel like a chore you have to get through before you can collect your badge. 

Gym battles being televised from cavernous stadia is a great change because it finally brings the excitement and fervor around competitive Pokémon battling that was so palpable in the anime to the games. There isn’t really any need to fill the space with huge hulking Pokémon to make it any more exciting. 

There’s also even less need to complicate it further by including Gigantamaxing. This additional mechanic is very similar to Dynamaxing but is more rare and only possible for certain Pokémon, changing their size and form as well as giving them more powerful moves. It feels like a needless additional layer. 

As Dynamaxing is so closely tied to the game’s story it’s hard to dismiss it entirely but there is a sense of style over substance with this mechanic. 

Speaking of the gym battles, regardless of our feelings towards Dynamaxing, these are very fun in Sword and Shield. 

Building on the Trials from Sun and Moon, the Gym Challenges in Sword and Shield mix mini-game elements with battles before face the Gym Leader. Not all challenges are made equal but there are some standouts that do a very good job of breaking up the monotony of continuous Pokémon battles and smack talk from lesser trainers. 

Pokémon Sword and Shield actually feature plenty of light touches like this—both new and expanded from previous releases—that add a greater sense of fun to the game.

We're going through changes

A minor indication of the series’ attempts to move forward and go bigger is the game’s character customization options. While the customization is not the most comprehensive in the world, for the mainline Pokémon games, it offers a lot more scope.  

With each boutique carrying its own clothing styles, we spent quite a large sum of in-game money and time sifting through the range of hair, makeup and clothing options and changing them up. This is the Pokémon game with the best hair and for some players that will be a more ringing endorsement than anything else. 

Customization is just one optional enhancement that you can take advantage of in Sword and Shield. Others include the ability to swap your team from boxes out on the road, rather than visit a Pokémon centre to use the computer; autosaving (even though we always saved twice manually before shutting down anyway); and streamlined fast travelling, where you can open the map and select somewhere you've been before, without any annoying animations or interactions dragging the process out further. 

You can still stick to the traditional methods and ignore these changes but for most the pull of convenience will simply be too great.

Other enhancements aren’t optional and it depends on player preference whether this is a good or a bad thing. The most notable one is that XP Share—which allows you to spread your XP earned in battle more evenly across your team and level them up together. This is now always on where before it’s been an option. 

For those who have never liked cycling their team in battle to keep levels balanced and avoid missing the Pokémon team equivalent of leg day, this is unlikely to be an issue. But for those who enjoy the challenge, the removal of choice may rub the wrong way. The Pokémon winning the battle does always get more XP even with the share system, so to keep things on a completely even keel it’s still worth putting all of your team up to bat at some point, but it’s not completely essential. Given XP Share has been optional previously, it just seems curious and slightly unnecessary to change it now.  

There are small changes which are likely to be less contentious, though. For example, now when you open the menu there’s a handy little pop-up that tells you where you ought to be going next. You can ignore this, of course, but when you’re being frazzled by your real-life and can’t play Pokémon for a while, it’s nice to know you can drop into the solace of your virtual world and quickly pick-up where you left off. 

As appealing and necessary as many of these advancements are, however, when it comes to graphics Sword and Shield don’t feel like they've advanced quite as far as we’d like, at least relative to other big Switch releases. 

Having spent more time with Sword, it’s clear that it shows the Pokémon series at its visual best, but compared to other Nintendo Switch titles like the bar-setting Breath of the Wild it's not quite up to par. 

There were moments where Sun and Moon felt like they were straining against the confines of the 3DS system which made us excited for what was to come on Switch. And while Let’s Go certainly did step up from there, Sword and Shield don’t really feel like they’ve gone much further. Draw distance isn't always great and in set-piece-heavy areas like the biggest cities and the Wild Area, the frame rate can drop. 

Cut scenes look good but not great and a little more variety in expressions would be welcome on characters. It’s somewhat odd to see a character express distress in a text box while their face shows nothing but a benign smile and a quizzical brow. In this vein, some voice acting wouldn’t go amiss in the future either. Even if only added to the game’s cutscenes, this could really elevate the atmosphere, particularly in Gyms where the moments before a match feel oddly anticlimactic as the huge crowd cheers around two mute trainers. 

Verdict

Pokémon is a hugely popular series with a passionate fanbase so what it’s been doing for past two decades clearly works. But the old adage "if it’s not broke don’t fix it" doesn’t leave a whole lot of room for innovation or creativity.  

Games are an inherently creative medium, in terms of both making them and playing them, so at a certain point doing the same thing just because it works and the predictability is enjoyable is a disservice to both sides. It’s not easy to break new ground to welcome new players when you’re having to maintain a painstakingly honed and fiercely guarded garden of nostalgia at the same time, but Pokémon is clearly learning to strike a balance.

As much as we will cling to releases gone by, it’s been refreshing to see Game Freak continue to build on some of the key changes it made in Sun and Moon with Sword and Shield. 

That said, the risk hasn’t always paid off and not everything lands. Some of the changes and additions would have been better off not being made and in some areas the game just doesn’t feel quite as full or as polished as it could be.

But it’s also important to note the many smaller changes intended to make gameplay more fun and flowing have absolutely been successful and worth making. And that's not even mentioning the excellent new Pokémon designs and the Wild Area which is an exciting addition showing genuine promise. 

Overall, Pokémon Sword and Shield are solid and memorable releases for the series’ first mainline Switch release. They’re not flawless but they’re enormous fun for players new and old, establishing a solid base from which to build when it comes to future generations.

• Pokémon Sword or Shield: version differences and exclusives explained

Pokémon Sword and Shield released last week, but already the games seem to have a big bug – and we're not talking about a Gigantamaxed Butterfree. 

Highlighted by a thread on Reddit, some Pokémon players say that the Switch games are causing their Roku devices to crash. The issue seems to arise if the Nintendo Switch (or Switch Lite) and Roku are on the same network, ultimately causing certain Roku devices to boot loop.

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What's gone wrong?

So, what's going on? Reddit user MazInger-Z, who started the thread, thinks they may have worked it out.

"At some point the Switch begins spamming some sort of proprietary action that one can assume is its attempt to find other Switches playing Pokemon," they wrote. "At that point the Roku that's crashing (this is a Stick HD, we have two Stick+ 4K that aren't crashing) stops talking to the network and enters the boot loop. It seems the Roku is listening to the packet and FUBARs because the packet is proprietary, may look familiar, and tries to read it."

The good news is that Roku is aware of the issue. In a separate Reddit thread about Roku devices boot looping, the Roku Reddit team assured users that it's working the fix the bug.

"We are aware of an issue when using Nintendo Switch and the latest Pokémon game impacting a limited number of Roku devices," the team wrote. "We are working diligently to resolve this issue. In the meantime, turning off your Nintendo Switch or setting to airplane mode should resolve the issue."

What do I do if my Roku device crashes?

For now, the advice (that seems to be working) from both Roku and those experiencing the issue is that you need to turn on airplane mode on your Nintendo Switch when playing Pokémon Sword and Shield. At least until Roku correct the issue properly. 

You can also contact Roku via its customer support site.

• These are the best Pokémon games of all time

Game Freak's decision to feature a reduced Pokédex in Pokémon Sword and Shield has been a controversial one, but it seems the cut could be a permanent one.

In an interview with Inside Gamer (via VG247), Game Freak producer Junichi Masuda stated that the developer plans to remove the national Pokédex in future Pokémon titles.

"We now have no plans to make the Pokémon that are missing in the Galar Pokédex in-game available," Masuda said. "That is an approach that we want to continue in the future with Pokémon games." 

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You'll never catch 'em all

It's understandable that Game Freak can't fit every Pokemon into new games – there are over 800 of them; however, previous Pokemon titles feature both a regional and national Pokédex.

While the regional Pokédex lets you track the Pokémon you find in that specific game, the national Pokédex keeps track of all the Pokémon you've found across all games to date, and allows you to trade them into your most recent game through the Pokémon Bank. 

This means that while, for example, you may not actually find a Vulpex in the game you have, you can still own one by transferring it from another game. Truly letting you catch 'em all.  

However, this national Pokédex is absent from Pokémon Sword and Shield, which only lets you collect and catch Pokémon from the new Galar region. No trading allowed.  

Masuda's comments suggest this will be the case going forward, with the Pokémon Home app on the way to allow players to keep track of all their Pokémon. However, you still won't be able to transfer all your Pokémon into Sword and Shield. 

"Currently the Pokémon Home app is under development, where players can collect their different Pokémon, and only Pokémon in the Galar-Pokédex can be transferred from there to Sword and Shield," Masuda explained. "But the way of playing is actually not very different from before with Pokémon Bank: until now you have always been able to meet only the Pokémon of a certain region."

While the Pokédex is reduced now, and may be in the future, Masuda hasn't completely ruled out the prospect of a national Pokédex returning.

"We encourage people to use Pokémon Home to collect their Pokémon from old games there," he said. "From there, they might be able to take it to other games in the future. So take good care of your old Pokémon, because you might be able to go out with them again in the future."

Pokémon Sword and Shield will release on Nintendo Switch on November 15.

• Hands-on: Pokémon Sword and Shield review

Pokémon Sword and Shield are less than two weeks from release, but it seems someone has leaked both games' full Pokédex roster. 

Resetera user Atheerios posted several spoilers and leaks about the new games, including a list of every Pokémon we can expect to see in them, including lists of every eighth generation Pokémon, several Galarian forms and evolutions and new Gigantamax forms. Plus, a lot more has been revealed.

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Pokéleak

We're not going to post any spoilers here, because it's up to you if you want to go find them for yourself, but the lists highlight which classic Pokémon are returning – and which aren't.

What we will tell you is that there's a total of 81 new species and 13 Galarian forms of existing characters – making for a total of 94 new Pokémon and an overall total of 400 Pokemon.

There have also been quite considerable cuts, which has seen a lot of fan favorites not making the final roster. This isn't a huge surprise considering there's now eight generations of Pokémon to fit into the games.

Nintendo hasn't confirmed if these leaked lists are true, but all signs point to that being the case. We'll just have to wait until Pokemon Sword and Shield officially release on November 15.

• Check out our hands on: Pokémon Sword and Shield review

Nintendo Switch Online is, and will continue to be the only way to get access to online functionality on Nintendo Switch games, says Nintendo – despite some brief fear around plans for the paid subscription service.

TechRadar reported yesterday on some ambiguous wording on the official listing pages for the Pokémon Sword and Shield games, set to land on the Switch console in November.

The listings cited "an in-game purchase option for users who do not have a membership" to Nintendo Switch Online, suggesting that some online features like battling and trading could be accessed through a separate payment method that circumvented Nintendo's paid online service.

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However, a spokesperson for Nintendo of America has now clarified to us that this in-game option is simply another way to purchase a Nintendo Switch Online subscription while playing the game – giving players the option to buy the functionality they need when they're attempting online gameplay. You can read the comment in full below: 

"As stated on the Game Store pages for the Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield games at www.nintendo.com, a Nintendo Switch Online membership is required to use the games’ online features. The games include an in-game option to purchase a Nintendo Switch Online membership for those who do not already have one."

Nintendo Switch Online lives on

When Nintendo Switch Online first launched in 2018, it was hard for many to swallow – given that online functionality had been free in Switch games up until that point.

And while Nintendo released free monthly NES games with a subscription – and recently a load of 20 SNES games – that drip-feed of content has since dried up, and there aren't any regular content drops to look forward to when your bank account is charged each month.

We don't blame Nintendo for being consistent for their pricing model across all their games, but even its low $3.99 / £3.49 / AU$5.95 subscription price is increasingly hard to justify without new games arriving in the vein of the PS Plus free gamess or Xbox Games with Gold.

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UPDATE: We now have official word from Nintendo of America that there won't be a separate payment option for online features. Instead, "the games include an in-game option to purchase a Nintendo Switch Online membership for those who do not already have one." So, it's a handy way to pay for online functionality when you need it, but it doesn't let you circumvent Nintendo Switch Online entirely – as it first appeared.

Annoyed? So are we. But you can read our original article below...

Pokémon Sword and Shield may have a workaround for those of you without a Nintendo Switch Online subscription, if the official game listing is anything to go by.

The upcoming Pokémon games on Nintendo Switch are set to launch this November, though players wishing to take part in online bouts with each other would usually require a subscription to Nintendo's paid online service – as you do for the likes of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Splatoon 2, or similar multiplayer games.

However, Sword and Shield seems to be doing things a bit differently, with an option to pay for online access for your Pokémon game alone.

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The official Nintendo website cites the unusual payment strategy in the text below (emphasis our own): "Nintendo Switch Online membership (sold separately) and Nintendo Account required for online features. This game includes an in-game purchase option for users who do not have a membership. Not available in all countries. Internet access required for online features. Terms apply. nintendo.com/switch-online."

It's very effective!

By the sounds of it, even those without a full, paid subscription to Nintendo Switch Online will have a way to partake in online battles, trading, and the like – though we're yet to see whether it would be a cost-effective alternative, given the already low $3.99 / £3.49 / AU$5.95 price.

It may make a lot of sense for those largely using their Switch as a Pokémon machine. After all, the Pokémon Let's Go games didn't allow players to make use of Nintendo Switch Online's cloud saves, to prevent reloading saves with Pokémon you'd traded away. A standalone purchase option that focuses on the online features, without having to pay for a save feature you can't use, may be a smart way to utilize the options available.

However, Nintendo Switch Online relies on the pulling power of its biggest AAA games to sell the subscription – so it's hard not to see the standalone payment option undermining that, especially if this feature gets rolled out to other big-name Nintendo Switch games.

• What are the best Pokemon games?

Via NintendoEnthusiast

Patient fans who tuned into a recent livestream for Pokémon Sword and Shield were rewarded with the reveal of a brand new Pokémon from the Galar region, the UK-inspired location for the next generation of games. 

After teasing viewers with galloping sounds and a few obscured glimpses, the new Pokémon walked briefly across screen and then, shortly before the stream came to an end, two of the new Pokémon emerged together. And they appeared to be Galarian variants of Ponyta, one of the original 150 Pokémon.

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The stream didn't have any accompanying text or commentary to confirm that this is definitely the case, but it's the most likely explanation.

Galarian Unicorn Attack

From what we could see, the Galarian version of the fire-type horse Pokémon takes the form of a unicorn, which ties in well with the UK theme of Sword and Shield's world. Instead of being fiery, the Galar region Ponyta's mane is pastel-toned and fluffy, like cotton candy. 

The mythical appearance of the new Pokémon and the fact that it was spotted in newly confirmed Glimwood Tangle, a location that seems to draw inspiration from fairy glades, suggests that it could be a fairy-type but we won't know this for certain until it's confirmed by The Pokémon Company and Game Freak. 

This new Galarian variant wasn't the only Pokémon to appear on the stream—others, including Impidimp, Pikachu, Phantump and Morellul and Shiiinotic also appeared, confirming their presence in Sword and Shield when the games are released on November 15. 

According to the official page of the livestream, Pokémon researcher Sonia is gathering together reports to create a summary. We imagine we'll find out more about this new unicorn Pokémon when The Pokémon Company updates its website with some kind of research report soon. 

• Everything you need to know about Pokémon Sword and Shield

The Pokémon Company is preparing to broadcast a 24-hour Pokémon Sword and Shield livestream that will unveil a brand new location and potentially some more Pokémon native to the Galar region. 

Under the title The Pokémon Live Camera, the stream will take place on Friday, October 4 at 6am PT/ 9am ET/ 2pm BST and run for a full 24 hours. 

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According to the official Pokémon Sword and Shield site, the stream will show “live footage for 24 hours from a camera set up in Glimwood Tangle—a strange forest location deep within the Galar region.” 

Who's that new Pokémon?

It seems that the camera has been set up by Professor Magnolia’s assistant, Sonia, who is looking to observe the Pokémon that live in the forest and learn more about them. If you're prepared to put on your Attenborough hat, you can join her. 

Sonia's message reads “I’m sending this message because I could really us your help with some research I’m doing. Next week, a camera will be set up in a strange forest here in Galar … if you could take a gander when you have time that’d be just great.” 

The livestream will be hosted on the official Pokémon Twitch and YouTube channels, where, the official site states, “This is your chance to get to know the various Pokémon that make their home in this forest! You may notice things that surprise you!” It seems likely that this means the stream will be the chance to catch a glimpse of some new Pokémon or even some new evolutions from the Galar region, though exactly what we'll see during the stream hasn't been confirmed.

Any new creatures that are introduced will add to those we’ve seen already from the latest generation which include a Galarian Weezing, Polteageist, Wooloo and, of course, Sirfetch'd, the long-awaited evolution of Farfetch'd. 

Pokémon Sword and Shield launches on Nintendo Switch on November 15. 

• Everything you need to know about Pokémon Sword and Shield

A brand new Pokémon is being teased for the upcoming Generation 8 titles Pokémon Sword and Shield, but at the moment it’s not entirely clear what that Pokémon is. 

On the official Pokémon Twitter it was posted that a brand new Pokémon has been discovered with a link purporting to lead to some Galar region research. 

The link leads to the official website for Sword and Shield  where a glitched image of a Pokémon now appears. Chase this moving image across the screen enough and you can click on it to access a Pokédex entry that has more redactions than revelations. 

Farfetch'd theories

From the entry all we can really tell about the cryptic new Pokémon is that it’s a fighting-type, coming in at 257.9 lbs with an ability called Steadfast. There’s also a small descriptive paragraph (with many further redactions) which reads: “Only [redacted] that have survived many battles can attain this [redacted]. When this Pokémon’s [redacted] [redacted]ers, it will retire from combat.”

Of course, this enticing mystery has led to a rush of theories from fans. Somewhat ironically, one of the most plausible theories is that the glitched Pokémon is an evolved form of Farfetch’d called Sirfetch’d, found only in the Galar region. Sirfetch’d has already been rumored as a new Pokémon prior to this.

Given the original Farfetch’d holds a leek in battle it’s not completely, er, far-fetched that in the British-inspired Galar region this leek could become a knightly lance which, once shattered, forces the Pokémon into retirement. Certainly the green, beige and cream color palette of the glitched image matches that of a Farfetch’d. 

There’s been no further information on when this Pokémon’s identity will be confirmed but it’s really not long until Sword and Shield’s November release date. Whatever it is, this Pokémon will join the roster of new Generation 8 Pokémon which has already been confirmed to include a Galarian variant of Weezing as well as Polteageist the teapot Pokémon and the adorable sheep Wooloo. 

• Everything we know so far about Pokémon Sword and Shield

The latest Nintendo Direct landed today packing new details on a few familiar titles but, as the Japanese gaming giant has been known to do of late, a few big surprises were snuck in there as well – not to mention some Smash Bros Ultimate DLC.

While it’s been heavily rumored for some time that Overwatch would be coming to the Switch, Nintendo has now officially confirmed that Blizzard’s smash-hit online shooter will be landing on the console October 15.

A trailer for the launch of Overwatch: Legendary Edition was premiered during the Nintendo Direct, showing off the game's ability to be played in the console's portable handheld mode, with some additional gyroscopic motion controls included.

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Arguably one of the biggest surprises, however, was the announcement – and immediate launch – of epic RPG Divinity: Original Sin 2. The game's Definitive Edition is now available to purchase for Nintendo Switch.

You can play this turn-based RPG either by yourself or online with up to four players in your party. Because it’s the Definitive Edition, all current and to-be-released DLC is included as well.

For those who have already played the game on PC or Mac via Steam and want to keep up their character’s progress, the Definitive Edition allows you to share cloud saves between the two platforms. This could even allow you to take the game on the go with the Switch’s handheld mode, and then carry on your progress at home on your computer.

• Nitendo Switch Online: should you sign up?

When Nintendo Online first launched, it came with the promise of a roster of playable classic NES games, the list of which has kept expanding over the 12 months that the service has been running, and now Nintendo has revealed a list of SNES games to join the fun.

From September 6, 20 titles will be available for Nintendo Online subscribers to play and, as is the case with the current NES games, further titles will be added to the collection in the future.

• Super Mario World
• Super Mario Kart
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
• Super Metroid
• Stunt Race FX (Available for the first time since its original Super NES release)
• Kirby’s Dream Land 3
• Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island
• Star Fox
• F-ZERO
• Pilotwings
• Kirby’s Dream Course
• BRAWL BROTHERS
• Breath of Fire
• Demon’s Crest
• Joe & Mac 2: Lost in the Tropics
• SUPER E.D.F. EARTH DEFENSE FORCE
• Super Ghouls’n Ghosts
• Super Puyo Puyo 2 (Available for the first time in Europe)
• Super Soccer (Available for the first time since its original Super NES release)
• Super Tennis (Available for the first time since its original Super NES release)

The other announcements are too numerous to list exhaustively, but some highlights include a Definitive Edition of the original Xenoblade Chronicles, as well as ports of Return of the Obra Dinn, Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore, and Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast.

For Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Banjo & Kazooie have now officially joined the roster of playable DLC fighters, with Terry Bogard of Fatal Fury fame being announced as the fourth member of the five-character Ultimate Fighter Pass, although there’s no word yet on an availability date.

Some further details regarding some much-anticipated titles arrived as well, including Pokémon Sword & Shield, the remake of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, Luigi’s Mansion 3, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

For a full rundown of the finer details of everything announced, check out the video below.

• Best Nintendo Switch games 2019: the most essential Switch games right now

The Pokémon World Championships are taking place right now and that makes it the perfect time for Nintendo and Game Freak to drop some brand new Pokémon Sword and Shield information, including a new trailer. 

The new details revolve around the game’s updated and layered battle system which will have some new attacks and abilities as well as some new items to use. 

New abilities will include Galarian Weezing’s Neutralizing Gas, which, as the name suggests, will neutralize the abilities of all other Pokémon on the battle field (including those of your teammate as the trailer shows with the failure of poor Rotom’s Levitate). We're not sure what happens if two Galarian Weezings go head to floating head and we're even less sure we want to find out. 

In a similar vein, Corviknight is shown to have a Hidden Ability called Mirror Armor which will allow it to reflect any stat-lowering effects back at its opponents. 

Hidden Abilities, it’s been confirmedin a blog post, are slightly more special than standard abilities as they’ll only feature in Pokémon that have been caught in Max Raid Battles (so a Corviknight you catch from a normal encounter won't have the Mirror Armor ability). 

These Max Raid Battles, coincidentally, are the way to encounter another kind of special Pokémon: one that's capable of Gigantamaxing. If you’re really lucky you might go into a Max Raid Battle and come away with a Pokémon that can Gigantamax and has a Hidden Ability but that’ll be a very rare event and you’ll have to take part in a lot of Raids. 

The first new held item revealed in the trailer is Room Service, which will lower the speed of the Pokémon holding it during Trick Room. The other is Eject Pack which will switch the holding Pokémon out of battle if its stats are lowered, allowing you to replace it with another from your team. 

New moves are always exciting and the trailer reveals one called Breaking Swipe, an attack capable of hitting two Pokémon at once and lowering their attacks. 

Max Moves

The biggest (and we mean that literally) detail to come from the trailer is with regards to the new Dynamaxing mechanic. 

You can Dynamax any Galar region Pokémon as long you have the Dynamax band (making this different to the aforementioned Gigantamaxing, which only some Pokémon species can do) and those you ‘make big’ will never feel the inconvenient effects of flinching. Even better, their powerful Max Moves will have secondary effects that could see your team gain advantage in battle. Max Geyser, for example, is a Water-type Max Move that will bring rain to the battlefield, strengthening Water-type moves and weakening Fire-type moves, something that could really give you the edge.

Finally, a few more details on the Online Battle Stadium have been confirmed. Players with a Nintendo Switch Online subscription will be able to connect over the internet and compete in single or double battles. These battles can be ranked or casual, with the former involving facing trainers of similar ranks to try and earn points to move up, while the latter is, well, just for fun. 

Pokémon Sword and Shield will release on Nintendo Switch on November 15. If you’re attending Gamescom 2019 this month you can get hands on with the game at Nintendo’s booth on the show floor. 

• Everything you need to know about Pokémon Sword and Shield

What exactly are Poké Jobs? Fans all the world over are eagerly awaiting the release of Pokémon Sword and Shield, the next mainline Pokémon game. If you thought you had to work hard to afford your Nintendo Switch console, though, spare a thought for those poor Pokémon – who will be taking part in the gig economy to earn 'experience' in the game.

The official website for Sword and Shield includes a listing for something called "Poké Jobs", with all kinds of potential employment for your battle-hardened Pokémon. Examples include "help with cooking", "construction work", or "protect our investments", with the player able to select how long the Pokémon works for.

Poké Jobs seem like a similar dynamic to Pokémon Day Care, where you leave your Pokémon at a kindergarten to learn and grow without having to battle with you – hugely useful for levelling up weaker creatures before you add them to your party.

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Why do my Pokémon need Poké Jobs?

Apparently, "There are many places requesting the help of Pokémon, including corporations and universities", meaning you'll have the option of helping the pursuit of learning, or (ruthless?) corporate interests. Whether Pokémon who have joined the workforce will act any differently in battles is unclear, though we can confirm having a desk job will tend to reduce your speed stats.

Rather than earning hard cash to buy more Poké Balls, however, it looks like Poké Jobs will reward your Pokémon with "experience" – much like internships in the real world.

The website adds that "They’ll receive rewards like Exp. Points or base points, and how much they get will depend on factors like how long they work and their types!" – also suggesting that the level of pay may vary depending on whether a Pokémon is a Fire, Water, Grass Type, or otherwise, which could open up these prospective Poké Jobs employers to various lawsuits over unequal pay.

We'll be campaigning for a fair wage for all Pokémon, at least until Pokémon Sword and Shield releases on November 15 and we remember to enjoy ourselves instead.

• Here are the best Switch games to tide you over until then

Via Polygon

Nintendo has dropped a new trailer for Pokémon Sword and Shield that reveals further details about the franchise's new Gigantamax battle mechanic.

Previously we had heard of the Dynamax feature that allows Pokémon to become super-sized during battles, however Nintendo has now revealed the "phenomenon" of Gigantamaxing. 

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While Dynamaxing can only occur in specific areas of the Galar region, and is a common occurrence for Pokémon from the region, Gigantaxmaxing is only specific to certain species of Pokémon and kicks things up a notch by not only increasing a Pokémon's size but also its appearance.

In addition, Gigantamaxing boosts the power of the Pokémon and allows it to use a unique move known as a G-Max Move - each G-Max Move is particular to a specific species of Gigantamax Pokémon.

Check out the trailer below:

Big changes

So far we know that two species capable of Gigantamaxing are snapping turtle-looking Pokémon Drednaw and Raven-looking Corviknight. 

When Drednaw Gigantamaxes, it stands on its hind legs and become bipedal - from this position it will crash onto opponents, crushing them. If that's not enough, the normally shell-dwelling Pokémon will also shoot its neck out when it attacks and, when combined with a super powerful chomp, it can bite through buildings and punch holes in mountains.

So what is Drednaw's G-Max move? Water-type moves used by Gigantamax Drednaw will change to G-Max Stonesurge. G-Max Stonesurge causes splash damage, injuring both the opponent and damaging any Pokémon entering the battlefield.

Meanwhile Gigantamax Corviknight uses its massive wings to catch updrafts created by Gigantamax energy to hover in the air while it battles. It also has extra armor that
means attacks from Pokémon on the ground barely make an impact, this armor also sees Corviknight's wings become blade birds that can fly around independently. 

Flying-type moves used by Gigantamax Corviknight will change to G-Max Wind Rage, which removes any effects of moves like Reflect, Light Screen, Spikes, and Electric Terrain that the opponents may have.

What else did we learn?

In addition to details about Gigantamaxing, we also learned more about some of the new Pokémon we'll be encountering and the Galar Pokémon League, including the walking ice-cream sundae Alcremie (who can Gigantamax), adorable puppy Yamper, coal chunk Rolycoly and steel dragon Duraludon.

Accompanied by these new Pokémon pals, you can undertake the Gym Challenge in an effort to collect all eight Gym badges and become a Pokémon master. 

Pokémon Sword and Shield will have version-exclusive Gym Leaders. In Pokémon Sword you will battle karate prodigy Bea, while in Pokémon Shield, you take on emo king Allister.

Once you complete the Gym Challenge you can show-off your Pokémon prowess by taking part in the Champion Cup, which sees you challenging the reigning Champion for their seat.
 
Pokémon Sword and Shield may be a bit different to what we're used to, but we can't wait to get our hands on them come November.

• Pokémon Sword and Shield: everything we know about the 2019 Pokémon RPG

Pokémon Sword and Shield producer, Junichi Masuda, has issued a message to fans of the series, addressing the negative reaction to the recent news that the latest games won’t feature every single Pokémon.

During E3 2019, it emerged that Sword and Shield, the eighth generation of Pokémon games, would not allow players to catch ‘em all or import catches made outside the new Galar region through Pokémon Home. This makes Sword and Shield the first mainline games in the series not to support every single Pokémon species, the number of which has now climbed beyond 800. A far cry from the 151 that appeared in the first games. 

The backlash from fans was swift and Masuda addressed it in an interview with Famitsuearlier this month. In this interview, the producer explained the difficulties of rendering so many Pokémon models on the Nintendo Switch to the right graphical quality and pointed out the challenge of balancing each and every monster in battles. While, he said, it was a very difficult decision, he knew it was one he would have to make eventually and decided to “choose the quality”.

Catch as many as you can

In this latest statement posted on the official Pokémon site, Masuda stands by the decision despite ongoing discontent (on which he puts an admirably positive spin).

“Thank you to all of our fans for caring so deeply about Pokémon. Recently, I shared the news that some Pokémon cannot be transferred to Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield. I've read all your comments and appreciate your love and passion for Pokémon.

Just like all of you, we are passionate about Pokémon and each and every one of them is very important to us. After so many years of developing the Pokémon video games, this was a very difficult decision for me. I'd like to make one thing clear: even if a specific Pokémon is not available in Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield, that does not mean it will not appear in future games.”

Masuda then points out that “the world of Pokémon continues to evolve. The Galar region offers new Pokémon to encounter, Trainers to battle, and adventures to embark on. We are pouring our hearts into these games, and we hope you will look forward to joining us on this new journey.“

Pokémon Sword and Shield will release on November 15 for Nintendo Switch.

• Everything you need to know about Pokémon Sword and Shield is right here. 

Attention Trainers! Pokémon Sword and Shield finally have a release date.

During a special Nintendo Direct focusing on Pokémon Sword and Shield, Nintendo revealed that both games will release globally on November 15, 2019. 

Alongside a release date, developer Game Freak revealed more details about what we can expect from the upcoming Pokémon games including new Pokémon, characters and features.

You can watch the video below:

What did we learn?

The 15-minute Nintendo Direct shed a lot of light on what we can expect from Pokémon Sword and Shield. 

Firstly, we know that the new Galar region will encompass grasslands, towns, and various other environments. Perhaps the most important of these areas is the Wild Area, where Pokémon run free and you are free to capture them. However, which Pokémon appear will depend on weather and the area you are in. 

In these areas, trainers can team up with up to four others online in something called Max Raid Battles - essentially Pokémon Go's raids but not on mobile. Teaming up, you and your fellow trainers attempt to take down a very large and powerful Pokémon that's in a new Dynamax state – which makes the Pokémon giant. 

Dynamax is a new feature to Pokémon and can also be used by trainers once per battle (for three turns). Dynamax makes your Pokémon huge and boosts its powers. So, it's handy that Pokémon gyms are now massive stadiums with a cheering crowd.

We also learned about some of the new Pokémon coming to Sword and Shield: Wooloo, a fluffy sheep Pokémon, Gossifleur, a fancy lady Pokémon, Drednaw, which resembles a snapping turtle and Corviknight, a raven and glorified taxi service for Galar. 

In addition, we now know a bit about the two Legendary Pokémon that differentiate Sword and Shield: Zacian and Zamazenta. The two Legendaries resemble wolves, with Zacian sporting a sword and Zamazenta brandishing a shield-face.

The new games look a bit different to the Pokémon games we're used to, but only time will tell if that's a good thing.

Pokémon Sword and Shield will release globally on November 15, 2019. Nintendo has announced a pre-order double-pack including both games will be available.

• Read more: Pokémon Sword and Shield: everything we know 

Ever get scared that everything in your life will one day be subsumed within the entertainment complex? Well, sleep those worries away with the next entry in the Pokémon universe, Pokémon Sleep: a game where you are somehow rewarded for sleeping.

Pokémon Sleep is set for release in 2020, and will aim to turn "sleeping into entertainment". 

The title is a shared juncture between Select Button – the developer behind mobile game Magikarp Jump – and Niantic, who you'll know for their bestselling AR game Pokémon GO. 

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So how will Sleep end up playing? We expect some reference to the most famous napping Pokémon – Snorlax, of course – possibly involving a leveling-up system based on how much rest your Pokémon get. 

Given Niantic's involvement, it's also possible the creatures you capture in Pokémon GO will be ported over for you to interact with in a different way.

While it may seem like an odd twist on the series, Nintendo has something of a history with "quality of life" products, like the Wii Vitality Sensor pushed by the late Nintendo President Saturo Iwata. And if there are Nintendo games for exercising, fighting, and exploring, why not a sleeping game for when the first three options have exhausted you?

Drowning in Pokémons

The Nintendo Direct announced number of new Pokémon products on their way to fans, including another mobile game called Pokémon Masters, for 3v3 battling with iconic trainers from the Pokémon franchise (Brock, Misty, Lance, Cynthia, and the like).

Pokémon Sleep will also work in conjunction with the new Pokémon Go Plus+ (you read that right), an upgraded version of the AR game's smart wristband, adding a sleep tracker that can connect wirelessly to your smartphone. 

In a world packed with smartwatches and fitness trackers, could this be what bridges Pokémon training with, you know, actual fitness training? We'll have a nap and get back to you.

• Pokémon Sword and Shield Direct coming before E3

If you thought you were going to have to wait until E3 2019 for some new details on Pokémon Sword and Shield you were (probably quite happily) mistaken. 

Yes, despite the fact that one of the world’s biggest gaming conventions is only two weeks away and Nintendo itself will be broadcasting a Direct from there, the gaming giant and The Pokémon Company have announced that there will be a dedicated Sword and Shield Direct taking place on June 5. 

The Direct will broadcast on Nintendo’s YouTube and Twitch channels at 2pm BST/ 6am PT/ 9am ET and run for around 15 minutes, during the course of which fans will get to see brand new information about the Switch games that are due to launch later this year. 

That's not all, folks

That’s not the only Pokémon news that will be announced this week. The Pokémon Company has also confirmed that it will host a press conference on May 28 at 6pm PT, 9pm ET or 2am on May 29 BST. The conference itself is taking place in Tokyo but it will be live-streamed and available to watch on the company’s YouTube and Twitch channels. 

This conference will stand separate to the Sword and Shield Direct, so it’s likely to feature a wider range of Pokémon news. What exactly will be mentioned isn’t known just yet but the company has said there will be “a number of topics of interest to Pokémon fans”.

That’s a lot of news to reveal this close to E3 but it’s a bonus for Pokémon fans looking for a closer look at the new Galar region and bodes well for a jam-packed press conference from Nintendo on June 11. 

• All the latest news around Pokemon Sword and Shield

We've not heard much in the way of details about the next generation of Pokémon games since Nintendo announced them in February.

We do know that Pokémon Sword and Shield will be set in Britain and introduce a new generation of Pokémon for us to swoon over and now, thanks to Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa, we know a key difference between the upcoming games and last year's Pokémon Let's Go.

According to comments made by Furukawa during Nintendo's March 2019 Financial Results Briefing (via Nintendo Life), Pokémon Sword and Shield will focus on utilizing the Nintendo Switch's handheld mode.

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"Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee!, which were released in November of last year, are designed to highlight the fun of Nintendo Switch in TV mode, for example by waving the controller at the TV screen to capture Pokémon," Furukawa stated. "Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield are being developed to emphasize the fun of playing Nintendo Switch in handheld mode."

"We want these games to be played not only by longtime Pokémon fans, but also by consumers whose first encounter with the series was on a dedicated video game platform with Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee!"

Recapturing the magic

By developing Pokémon Sword and Shield with the Switch's handheld mode in mind, it seems Nintendo is trying to recapture the portable fun that's made the Pokémon games such a success. 

This is the first time the core Pokémon titles have made their way to the Nintendo Switch, so it's promising to see the company does not want to lock players onto their sofas by prioritizing the Switch's TV mode. After all, on-the-go gaming is a huge part of what's made Pokémon Go such a success...

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