E3 2019: Dyanamaxin’, Relaxin’ All Cool With ‘Pokemon Sword And Shield’
During Nintendo’s Pokemon focused Direct presentation the week prior to E3, the developers went into detail about the new Dynamax mechanic debuting in Pokemon Sword and Shield. Replacing Mega Evolutions and Z-Moves from previous generations, this serves to mimic the Raid Battles in Pokemon Go by allowing trainers to team up against a single giant Pokemon in the hopes of catching it. During traditional battles, Dynamax gives a single Pokemon on your team the chance to receive a temporary power boost to go with their significant increase in size, a mechanic that gym battles are centered around this time. Giving us the chance to explore a new gym before coming face to face with Nessa, the new water leader, we were able to experience the ins and outs of Dynamaxing first hand.
First off, despite the gym following a similar structure to the games before it, the environments and characters look so much more grand compared to the previous games, Sun and Moon. The environment was brighter, the trainer animations had more life to them and the overall flow of the game seemed to come together much more seamlessly. Before we could encounter Nessa, we had to solve some basic switch puzzles, (no pun intended), to turn off waterfalls blocking our path. In between puzzles stood opposing trainers who would approach for a battle, which gave me the chance to try out some of the Galar Region’s new Pokemon.
Using level 50 versions of Pokemon we’ve seen before like Grookey, Sobble, Scorbunny, Corviknight and Wooloo, the debuting Yamper rounded out the party, (the electric corgi with a heart of gold… On its butt.) The typical battles then ensued, with each Pokemon having a list of four moves to choose from in turn-based combat. Sadly, none of the moves used by the party were anything new. Purists might not like that the guy who gives you advice at the front of the gym can fully heal you, but there’s nothing stopping training from ignoring him either if they choose to do so. To me, it saves me a trip to the Pokemon Center if nothing else!
When it was finally time to face off with Nessa, it should have been an easy battle. Grookey and Yamper both had type advantages against water, and I had four other monsters on standby just in case. Yet, that’s when her Dynamax kicked in when she was down to her last Pokemon, Drednaw. The rock / water type should have gone down easy, especially when matching her play with a Dynamax’d Yamper. Almost as if turning its entire move set into Z-moves, each of Yamper’s attacks were replaced with powered up versions of the move’s attributes. This meant that both of its electric attacks were changed to the same Dynamax move, each of which would also electrify the field when used. Shockingly, Drednaw’s rain effect allowed it to withstand Yamper’s best shot, it took down the corgi quickly with a powerful water attack. Since Dynamax lasts for three turns, the rest of the team would have to ride out a kaiju sized onslaught before they would have a chance to win. Even Grookey’s double type advantage was no use against Drednaw’s newly found might.
Next, Corviknight tried to use Drednaw’s strength against it by using Swagger, (a move that raises the opponent’s attack power further, but confuses it in the hopes of it knocking itself out). In typical Pokemon fashion, the opponent proceeded to land every shot and never hurt itself. It wasn’t until Dynamax wore off and I was able to get a lucky hit in with Sobble, a fellow water type, that we were able to take Nessa down.
Walking away from the demo, I realized that Dynamax is going to be a much bigger factor than I anticipated going in. Essentially marrying the concepts of Mega Evolution and Z-Moves while applying them to the entire roster, making sure your usage of the mechanic is well timed will be essential for victory. Putting up regular Pokemon up against a Dynamax opponent is almost surely a recipe for a clean sweep, so using status and weather effects to both help the team and hurt the opponents will be essential to set up a comeback. As someone who was a big fan of Megas but largely disliked Z-Moves, I’m interested to see how much farther this new concept will be taken once the full game releases.
Pokemon Sword and Shield are scheduled for a worldwide launch on November 15 exclusively for Nintendo Switch.
