This may come as a huge surprise, but some people are not happy with Pokémon Sword and Shield. Specifically, the 400 cut Pokémon and graphics have left people a little sour. This has left an opening for a modding community to step in and try to give the unhappy campers what they want, which is proving surprisingly easy.

A video by BSoD Gaming shows progress modders have made on the game so far with a side-by-side comparison of the work. In terms of graphical upgrades, modders have darkened the ground, added some textures, and gussied up the Wild Area trees which have been much maligned by fans expecting significantly better graphics.


Furthermore, fans have gotten to work adding missing Pokémon to the game. Modder @SciresM has showed off progress on adding Omastar to the game by copying the character's code from Pokémon Let's Go. Omastar is also one of 35 Pokémon that were found in a datamine of the game but are not in the roster.


Still, these edits are only available on a hacked Nintendo Switch or a Switch emulator, so if you're a layman with a regular old-console, don't get too excited. Still, the mods are a fascinating look at the ongoing obsession of passionate Pokémon fans and a brief glimpse at what Sword and Shield could have been had the directors gone in a different direction.


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Comments 16 total

Nedhitis

It is absolutely pathetic that recurring to the modder scene is slowly becoming the go-to solution for AAA games failing to meet the lowest of expectations with the highest of resources, and it will become even more pathetic when these modders inevitably get slammed down with C&D orders once they get too popular. We need less Junichi Masudas and more Christian Whiteheads in the gaming industry.

6

sborbl

"Modders will fix it!"

Pokemon 76 when?

2

Nick Gears

At least modders can fix it, unlike fallout 76.

1

mandrac

I prefer the cartoony look of the vanilla texture.

1

nobi

I'm sorry, but this is crap. And I don't mean this looks crap – the modders are doing a lot of work. But it's the same problem I have with Bethesda games:
"Aw sweet! Another Elder Scrolls game! I know it's kinda shitty, there isn't much content and it looks meh, but it doesn't matter – the modders will fix it! GOTY award!"

2

Witch Dianna

I'm glad these exist and are being worked on so early, but I feel like this will be short-lived since there's shills/apologists out there that are very keen on shutting down anyone trying to hack/mod the game in any way.

6

Soxar

"Omastar is also one of 35 Pokémon that were found in a datamine of the game but are not in the roster."
FYI this is not true, the 35 pokémon found in the code are all starters and legendaries. (which means Omastar is not among them)

4

Timey16

What is a bit different is that the model is from LGPE… meaning that it was already converted into the newer overall engine. However, the shader effects are still off (it is not cel shaded like the other Pokemon in the game). Additionally it is a mix of "make a copy of of an existing one (Yamper) and give that copy a different model". So it hasn't been fully imported in the way of movelists, stats, growth and evolution line.

It's going to be interesting on when they try to import Gen 2 – Gen 7 Pokemon that, for all we know, haven't been converted yet… as well as import movesets, shiny versions, variations, etc.

Also if Gen 1 is completely compatible why isn't it in? My guess is that having all of Gen 1, but the rest cut, while Gen 1 ALSO had a game completely dedicated to it just last year would look kinda bad (Gen 1 favoritism and all that).

And knowing gamedev… the last 10% can easily be 90% of the overall work… I have a feeling modders will still encounter some major roadblocks there. They did a first step… a very visible first step (what is more visible than a 3D model?) but a first step nonetheless.

0

Triplem

The fuck did you just say about our glorious Lord Helix?

0

Xtweeter22x

Great. Now all the Dexit elitists are going to be using this another excuse. "hOw cAn tHe fAnBaSe dO mOrE wOrK tHaN tHe dEveLoPeRs

?"
-14

Nedhitis

So, just like Sonic, which eventually brought us Mania when SEGA themselves understood the point. Thanks, now I am hyped for Pokemon Mania.

3

Krazy-Chibi

Modders are a blessing, they made Bethesda games playable.

20

Jon the Wizard

Game Freak, your services are no longer required.

3

Kenetic Kups

Just like always in the current year 5
games are lacking fetures and full of bugs and the masses still eat it up and don’t care
and modders are the only ones doing shit

2
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