One of the most consistent things about the mainlinePokemongames, a series well-known for staying consistent, is the way the difficulty scales throughout the mostly linear adventures. The way they’re set up, players never really have to worry about wandering off the intended path and coming across overpowered opponents they have no chance of beating at that point.Pokemon SwordandShieldare going to do things differently, however, by letting players do just that, if they so choose.
ThePokemonseries’ first mainline console entries will be shaking things up in more ways than justturning Meowth into a hilarious meme. One of the biggest shakeups will be the addition of the Wild Area, a big open-world area in the heart of the Galar region where players will be free to explore to their hearts’ content and experience things like different biomes and changing weather. Eurogamer recently got to go hands-on with Sword and Shield, and it came away with brand new details about the Wild Area that should excite fans eager for a little unpredictability.
In the Wild Area, players will be able to encounter Pokemon in a variety of ways. In addition to the traditional random encounters triggered by walking in tall grass, Pokemon will also appear roaming around like inPokemon Let’s Go PikachuandLet’s Go Eevee. Moreover, exclamation marks will occasionally appear in tall grass, signaling a rarer Pokemon encounter that players can approach or avoid at their leisure.
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While past games may have constantly scaled Pokemon in the Wild Area so as to make them never too far above players’ current levels,Pokemon SwordandShieldaren’t bothering, according to Eurogamer. This means players can head into the Wild Area early and, depending on where they wander, come across “drastically overleveled” Pokemon that will absolutely steamroll their fledgling team.
Besides over-leveled Pokemon, players will also encounter what Eurogamer referred to as “very strong looking” versions of regular Pokemon in theWild Area. Taking another page out of theLet’s Gogames’ book, these Pokemon will stand out from their normal counterparts by emitting a faint aura. More than that, these rare Pokemon will always boast a number of maximum “IVs,” the hidden stats that are randomly applied to Pokemon upon being caught.
Players will definitely want to capture these Pokemon when they get the chance, though the words “very strong looking” make it clear that it’s going to be quite the challenge to get them. If that doesn’t work, though, at least they’ll potentially have500 other Pokemon to catch inPokemon SwordandShield.
Pokemon SwordandShieldwill release for the Switch on November 15.
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