Pokémon for Switch Will Be Announced, but Won’t Be What Everyone Is Expecting
During a Nintendo Direct last year, Nintendo confirmed that a mainline Pokémon game would be coming to Switch. Further evidence from an earning’s call pointed towards a 2018 release date, with rumors circulating that the pressure is on Game Freak to get the game ready for launch this year. It’s nothing new that Nintendo fans are hyping up a game release but this one seems particularly tricky to pin down. Many have pointed to the reinvention that Breath of the Wild brought to the Zelda series as a possible direction for this first ever home console Pokémon game. There’s little argument that we will hear more details on the new entry into the series this year but what form it will take remains unclear.
It might be more accurate to look at the way the series has iterated in the past. Generally, each new release builds upon the game before, tweaking and improving certain systems instead of re-inventing the wheel. Games like Diamond and Pearl debuted on new hardware and made use of the new features available, but didn’t represent a quantum leap. It is much more likely that we will see this incremental step this year rather than the mind-blowing open world Pokémon game certain fans are expecting. It’s important to note that while the Switch is indeed a home console, it is still a handheld, a factor which will no doubt factor into the scope of Pokémon Switch. One thing is for certain though, this beloved series sells incredibly well and is particularly good at pushing new systems, probably why Nintendo is so eager to get it out sooner rather than later.
