Pokémon Sword and Shield for Nintendo Switch: 10 things we want

More visually dynamic battles

Though it’s a major component of the games, the actual battling in the series has always been a kind of dry affair. It’s always a challenge to make turn-based battles exciting for sure, but this series, in particular, has been incredibly stale when it comes to having exciting-looking battles. It made sense in the early days in the series, but even the most recent entries have had at best minimal animations in the actual fights that take place. For the series debut on the Nintendo Switch, more flourish is a must.

Pokémon is a series filled with exotic, colorful, wondrous creatures that can do fantastical things, and somehow throughout the series that’s never been visually represented very well. There will be no legitimate excuse for this to be the case on the Nintendo Switch with Sword and Shield. The attacks should look amazing; trainers should be very animated during battles, even react to how the match is going.

Pokémon should react accordingly to how they are doing in battle and how they are hit, if they have a status effect, etc. This should easily be the most visually impressive battles in the series to date. It’s the most powerful hardware it’s been on, and it’s long overdue.