There was some confusion not too long ago when it was reported that Pokemon Sword and Shield would have 18 Gyms in total, number much higher than previous games in the series, before Game Freak clarified that the number of Gyms would be the same as in other instalments. However, though that has been cleared up, one question that many still have is- how long are Pokemon Sword and Shield going to be?
Speaking in an interview with Game Informer, director Shigeru Ohmori said that the games would be as long as previous Pokemon titles, without giving any exact figures- though that would put Sword and Shield’s runtime in the 25 to 30 hours range. Ohmori also brought up the Wild Area, saying that it’s something that he thinks will greatly add to the games’ replay value.
“I think it’s hard to go into details of that, but in terms of the volume or the amount of content in the main adventure, it’s comparable to other Pokémon generations that we’ve played,” said Ohmori. “I think there’s a lot of interesting activities that, for example, completing the Pokédex or really going out into the Wild Area and engaging with those mechanics, that’ll add a lot of replay value for players who are looking to get really hardcore into that.”
The size of the Wild Area and how much players choose to engage in exploration and other side activities – like Max Raid battles – is also something that will probably determine how much time one can spend with the game. We recently got a look at the Wild Area’s map, and it looked surprisingly big, so there’s potential for some interesting content there.
Pokemon Sword and Shield are out for the Nintendo Switch on November 15. Reportedly, they’ll require over 10 GB of free storage space on your system.