Masuda: Removal Of National Dex In Pokemon Will Allow Game Freak To Prioritize New Ways To Enjoy The Games

Earlier today, Gameinformer published a series of special features on Pokemon Sword And Shield which revealed some new insights into the upcoming titles.

Naturally, Gameinformer had to ask about the most controversial move Game Freak made in relation to the new games: The Removal Of The National Dex. As you are likely well aware, the move have been sharply divisive among many Pokemon fans, with some being fine with the move while others have been vehemently opposed to it.

Speaking to Gameinformer, producer Junichi Masuda reiterated a number of points that he shared previously. However, he did reveal one new tidbit of information that he hadn’t mentioned in those previous interviews, namely that the biggest reason they decided to remove the National Dex from Pokemon was so that Game Freak could focus on “creating new ways to enjoy the game”.

“Up until now, we’ve been proud we’ve been able to include so many Pokémon in the games, but as a result of that, there’s actually been quite a few features or gameplay ideas that we’ve had to abandon in the past,”

“Going forward, thinking about the future of Pokémon, we want to prioritize all those new gameplay ideas, new ways to enjoy the game, and want to challenge ourselves at Game Freak to create new ways to enjoy the game. That’s really what drove the decision for this new direction.”

“We have a lot of awesome new challenges that we haven’t even revealed in Sword and Shield, we want to continue to come up with these new features, so we figured this was the best path forward for the franchise“

Regarding the features and gameplay ideas Game Freak had to “abandon” in the past, Masuda may be referring to the rumored cut content from Pokemon X & Y. If that account is to be believed, Pokemon X & Y launched with many of its planned features and story removed due to the need to model every single Pokemon in 3D. As such, it is quite possible that Game Freak intended to avoid a similar fate befalling Pokemon Sword & Shield, at the cost of removing the National Dex.

Masuda also clarified that the decision was a joint one made between Game Freak, The Pokémon Company, and Nintendo. He also talked a bit about the selection process for which Pokemon would be included, and which Pokemon would be left out. Once again, he mentioned that it was mainly those who “fit best” with the setting.

“A wide variety of discussions happened; it’s not just one kind of criteria for deciding which Pokémon are going to appear in the games, but a lot of different reasons, a lot of different directions, a lot of debate over which ones would be the best in the game,”

“I think one example of that is figuring out the Pokémon that would make sense for the setting of the game the most; these Pokémon look like they could live in the Galar region. We really spent a lot of effort deciding which would best fit the setting of the adventure and the features that we wanted to implement. I think players will be satisfied. There’s quite a few Pokémon that you’ll encounter in the Galar region Pokédex, so I think players will have fun seeing all the Pokémon.”

That said, Masuda re-iterated that Pokemon that are not available in Galar will indeed return in future Pokemon games, once again citing Pokemon Home as a means to do so. When asked if he could reveal more details however, Masuda said we would have to “wait a little while longer”.

“You can look forward to seeing Pokémon that don’t appear in these games appearing in different regions in future games. I think Pokémon Home, for a lot of players, will serve as a launching pad to gather them all there and then embark on future adventures.”

“We’re really designing it as the place for all of your Pokémon together, so it’s really important for the future of the franchise, and it’ll be more than even Pokémon Bank as a place to gather all your Pokémon together in one spot.”

Pokemon Sword And Shield will be launching on November 15 2019 for Nintendo Switch.

What do you think of Masuda’s words? Let us know in the comments below.