How Pokmon Sword and Shields creators balance risk-taking with tradition

Pokémon Sword and Shield, the pair of new games in the iconic monster-collecting series due out November 15th, come with unprecedented expectation.

They’re the first mainline Pokémon games from developer Game Freak designed for the Nintendo Switch, meaning they’re also the first of those titles playable on a proper console, granted one you can take with you on the go. Sword and Shield are also the first installments to break the link with past games; you won’t be able to import the pokémon you may have been collecting for the last decade or so into these new entries, much to the die-hard Pokémon community’s everlasting frustration.

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