Pokemon Sword and Shield will be a familiar affair to long time fans, including many things you’ve come to expect from the franchise. However, there’s going to be some things that are quite different from the norm (some of which have made some people very, very unhappy). But it’s looking like at one point in time, it could’ve potentially shaken up things in a much bigger way in terms of how the game is played.
In a recent interview with Game Informer, Planning Director Kazumasa Iwao talked about how the upcoming titles changed up the systems of the gameplay quite a bit early in development. Some of them were minor changes, such as the amount of attack slots a Pokemon has, but it seems there was some other major alterations that were considered, as he hints that Game Freak “thought about changing up the very core of the battle system from the traditional turn-based experience, but reconsidered when thinking of the initial themes for this next entry.”
So, it’s entirely possible that the battle system for Sword and Shield could have looked much different than what we got. But for now it seems the game will be familiar for fans, though maybe the next entry will see the company pull the trigger on those big changes. Pokemon Sword and Shield will release November 15th exclusively for Nintendo Switch.