Pokemon is the highest-grossing media franchise of all time, having amassed $90 billion in revenue since its creation in 1995. Despite this, the games tend to evolve at a glacial pace, rarely making major shifts from one entry to the next. That’s why it’s so exciting that the series’s newest games, Pokemon Sword and Shield, are set to change up Pokémon’s formula in a big way. There’s a new Wild Area kitted out with a rotational camera and online support, the National Dex is no more, and instead of mechanics like Z-moves and Mega Evolutions, pokémon can now be Dynamaxed in stadiums, causing them to grow in size and take on brand-new forms.
While these changes are drastic for a slow-moving franchise like Pokémon, they’re not quite as…