Going Big in Galar

As I've indicated yesterday, something important actually happened the day I also wrote about the special time, two days ago. It was, of course, the Pokémon Direct for the Sword and Shield games that I also mentioned in my prior recap of the previous press conference. Conceivably, something had to give, and I let the special time take precedence, but of course not without a Pokémon twist. Plus, as I said yesterday, I wanted to "distill" it a bit before I discuss it in a post on this blog. I have done just that, which allows me to write up this post.

Now, the title of this post is as such, because it describes the major new feature (or mechanism) added to the new games: Dynamax. During battles, a Pokémon may trigger the mechanism, becoming giant-sized in battle. The moves of the Pokémon adjust to the new state of the Pokémon, becoming "Max Moves". Dynamax may only be triggered once in a battle, with the mechanism reverting after three turns. As such, the mechanism may be considered partial adjuncts to Mega Evolution and Z-Moves, though it remains to be seen how both will work with the new mechanism.

Pokémon in the Dynamax state become a key part of another new feature: Max Raid Battles. This feature is obviously and evidently influenced by its counterpart in Pokémon Go, but it's supposed to work somewhat differently. Here, a team of four Trainers are to work together to take down a Pokémon, with it being in Dynamax. This kind of multiplayer is something fascinating to have in the main series games after it has shown its popularity in Go, but the particulars need to be further acknowledged. At the least this brings significant interactions into play. In other areas, Gyms have returned, and now one has to look around in finding Pokémon; these are good news in a way as well.

As for individual Pokémon, now a few more are known, besides the starters. Shown in the Direct were Wooloo, Gossifleur and Eldegoss (the latter an evolution of the former), Drednaw, and Corviknight. The last one looks like an armored crow and is set to find a liking among different fans. No starter evolutionary forms were divulged, so this will have to wait somewhat longer. As well, the identity of the "box legends" are now known: they are the sword-wielding Zacian and the shield-faced Zamazenta, for the respective games. They too have their share of appreciation and criticism. The rest of the generation still awaits, but from this, at least a bit of excitement is in order.

The Sword and Shield games are already big news for any Pokémon fan, and the announcements through this Direct have contributed to its magnitude. At least, that's what I've been able to distill from the Direct. Evidently, Galar is going to be big in many ways, even physically and perceptibly. It seems one will have to make room for the game, and again within it in order to go big, and then make it big.

One year ago: Pokémon Archetypes
Two years ago: New Paradigms