Generation VII of the popular monster collecting franchise is almost upon us. In a 15 minute direct posted today, producer Junichi Masuda and director Shigeru Ohmori went into detail about what we can expect from the newest entree in this long franchise. So lets break it all down.  

The games are set in the Galar region which has many diverse environments for players to walk through and explore. You will go from forests to plains to snowy mountains all in your search to collect them all. You will also come across many cities on your journey to be the very best... like no one ever was. 

Unlike the previous Pokemon game (Sun and Moon), gyms have made a return. This game is a return to form for the franchise. What did carry over from Pokemon Let's Go is the ability to see wild Pokemon on the field. However, some of the more shy Pokemon will hide in tall grass, forcing you to hunt for them. When you find them, an exclamation point will appear over your head singling you that it is close. From there you can either run towards the Pokemon to enter a battle, or run away. In order to collect them all, you're going to have to sneak through tall grass, shake a few trees, and even do some fishing as Pokemon are hiding every where in the world. 

There is also something new to the franchise also, "Dynamaxing". Dynamaxing your Pokemon makes it grow to a huge size.

Dynamaxing your Pokemon unlocks its "Max" move set, allowing its attacks to do more damage. There are draw backs. You are only allowed to Dynamax once per-battle and it only lasts for 3-rounds. After that, the Pokemon returns to its normal form.

This new feature comes a brand her battle mechanic, "Max Raid Battles". It is basically a raid - think World of Warcraft - however this raid only has 4 people and you are fighting against one Dynamaxed Pokemon who stays in that form throughout the entire battle. Its going to take strategy to take down this Pokemon as only one person in the group is allowed to Dynamax their Pokemon. The raid Pokemon will vary from region and weather. They also mentioned during the direct that defeating this Pokemon may unlock similar style Pokemon in that region. 

With a new Pokemon game comes many new friends to met and battle. Your rival this go around is a kid called "Hop" who just so happens to be the younger brother of the Galar region Champion Leon (who is sporting a Charizard, a man of obviously great tastes). There is also Professor Magnolia, who is the professor of the region and here studying the Dynamax effect, along with her granddaughter Sonia, who is also her assistant and childhood friends of Leon.

The direct showed us a load of new and returning Pokemon, it also introduced us to two of the new legendary's for the Galar region. Zamazenta who is the legendary for Shield and Zacian who is the legendary for Sword. Both of them are wolf looking Pokemon, but Zacian wields a sword in his mouth while Zamazenta is covered in armor that makes him look like a shield. I must say, the designs of the new legendary's look fantastic.  

Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield is going to be released on November 15th of this year, exclusively on the Nintendo Switch console. You can buy them individually or in a duel pack. Like the other Pokemon games in the franchise, I am sure there isn't going to be any huge differences between the two other than the type of Pokemon you can collect. 

You can watch the entire direct below. 

As always, this has been James with Game Fix. Game on everybody!