History BrokenBase / Pokemon

''Pokémon Sword and Shield'' proved themselves to be the most controversial titles in the entire franchise since ''Pokémon Black and White'', thanks to a number of design choices that not only [[OldGuardVersusNewBlood greatly shifted the priorities of the games]], but [[FranchiseOriginalSin brought several long held problems with the series to a head]]. Nearly every facet of the game starts some kind of debate, and just about the only thing Pokémon fans can agree on is that these games completely shattered the fandom. But two things that stands out on both sides of the fandom are cautionary tales about why game development should be handled carefully and why the developers should take both praise and criticism seriously from fans.

''Pokémon Sword and Shield'' proved themselves to be the most controversial titles in the entire franchise since ''Pokémon Black and White'', thanks to a number of design choices that not only [[OldGuardVersusNewBlood greatly shifted the priorities of the games]], but [[FranchiseOriginalSin brought several long held problems with the series to a head]]. Nearly every facet of the game starts some kind of debate, and just about the only thing Pokémon fans can agree on is that these games completely shattered the fandom. But two things that stands out on both sides of the fandom are cautionary tales on why game development should be handled carefully and that the developers should take both praise and criticism seriously from fans.

''Pokémon Sword and Shield'' proved themselves to be the most controversial titles in the entire franchise since ''Pokémon Black and White'', thanks to a number of design choices that not only [[OldGuardVersusNewBlood greatly shifted the priorities of the games]], but [[FranchiseOriginalSin brought several long held problems with the series to a head]]. Nearly every facet of the game starts some kind of debate, and just about the only thing Pokémon fans can agree on is that these games completely shattered the fandom.

* The music. Some think ''Pokémon X'' and ''Y''[='=]s soundtrack a solid entry in the series, while others find it painfully bland compared to that of other games. The end credits song "KISEKI", in particular, is seen as either heartwarming and beautiful or pretentious and unfitting, particularly as its lyrics aren't actually sung; many fans agree that the concept of a Nintendo song with lyrics was built upon better with "[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Lost in Thoughts All Alone]]", "[[VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey Jump Up, Super Star!]]" and "[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate Lifelight]]", all of which have sung lyrics and varying moods.

** Generations VI, VII, and VIII marked a general shift towards streamlined, casualized and linear main plots, gimmicks such as Mega Evolution, Z-Moves, and Dynamaxing, larger regional Pokédexes that rely heavily on past generations (especially [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Gen I]]), and more user-friendly competitive breeding and training in favor of fewer postgame features. Some fans highly enjoyed these changes, as shown by the greater sales and mainstream attention of games from ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' onwards; the increased focus on classic Pokémon helped [[WinBackTheCrowd win back]] those who were alienated by the Unova games, and many fans highly appreciated how Game Freak finally acknowledged and helped players deal with GuideDangIt competitive mechanics like [=EV's=] and [=IV's=]. Other fans did not enjoy this new direction for the franchise, mostly for making the games less engaging for fans invested in single-player campaigns, sidequests/exploration, and postgame facilities. This divide wasn't at all helped by the many design and technical flubs in the Gen VI, VII, and VIII games, such as highly inefficient programming (resulting in framerate drops), oversights in Pokémon movesets and mechanics, underwhleming visuals, and of course the infamous Pokédex and move exclusions. Overall, fans in the latter category accused the games of transitioning from self-contained creative endeavors to an unpolished, MerchandiseDriven arm meant to advertise the rest of the franchise and establish Pokémon as marketing icons, much like [[Anime/PokemonTheSeries the anime]].[[note]]Coincidentally, the corresponding seasons of the anime are viewed as significant improvements over its adaptations of Generations III through V, but suffer from many of the same complaints, leading to accusations that effort is "divided more evenly" between the anime and games than before.[[/note]]

** Generations VI, VII, and VIII marked a general shift towards streamlined, casualized and linear main plots, gimmicks such as Mega Evolution, Z-Moves, and Dynamaxing, larger regional Pokédexes that rely heavily on past generations (especially [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Gen I]]), and more user-friendly competitive breeding and training in favor of fewer postgame features. Some fans highly enjoyed these changes, as shown by the greater sales and mainstream attention of games from ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' onwards; the increased focus on classic Pokémon helped [[WinBackTheCrowd win back]] those who were alienated by the Unova games, and many fans highly appreciated how Game Freak finally acknowledged and helped players deal with GuideDangIt competitive mechanics like [=EV's=] and [=IV's=]. Other fans did not enjoy this new direction for the franchise, mostly for making the games less engaging for fans invested in single-player campaigns, sidequests/exploration, and postgame facilities. This divide wasn't at all helped by the many design and technical flubs in the Gen VI, VII, and VIII games, such as highly inefficient programming (resulting in framerate drops), oversights in Pokémon movesets and mechanics, and of course the infamous Pokédex and move exclusions. Overall, fans in the latter category accused the games of transitioning from self-contained creative endeavors to an unpolished, MerchandiseDriven arm meant to advertise the rest of the franchise and establish Pokémon as marketing icons, much like [[Anime/PokemonTheSeries the anime]].[[note]]Coincidentally, the corresponding seasons of the anime are viewed as significant improvements over Generations III through V, but suffer from many of the same complaints, leading to accusations that effort is "divided more evenly" between the anime and games than before.[[/note]]

* [[VideoGame3DLeap The transition from 2D sprites to 3D models.]] While there's no denying that many of the models are pretty and many think they blend in well with the stereoscopic 3D, [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks some think they aren't as cool as the Gen V animations were]]; many Fire-types have SpecialEffectsFailure with their body flames, and many flying Pokémon with wings are showing hovering in place in a very {{Narm}}y way ([[http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-xy/277.shtml Swellow]] is probably the best/worst example of this one) since they have to use the same models for Sky Battles. There's also the fact that ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' was ''Creator/{{Nintendo}}'''s only major IP that didn't make the VideoGame3DLeap yet (even ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' games had started to mostly use 3D models), and many 2D sprite fans found it refreshing they stuck to them for so long. Others think it was about time they did it and were happy with the results.

* The overall structure of the main series has been slowly but surely causing more and more rifts in the playerbase, with there being numerous points of contention. Many players want to see ''some'' sort of noticeably distinct change to the plot mechanism and/or battle mechanics, seeing the games as extremely similar and derivative, and those who don't want to fix what isn't broken, as the games in spite of this are of generally good and consistent quality. Major changes in creative direction were made twice -- first in Gen V, then in Gen VI, the latter lasting through Gen VII -- and both times evoked mixed reactions in the fanbase, with different demographics.

** Generations VI, VII, and VIII marked a general shift towards streamlined, casualized and linear main plots, gimmicks such as Mega Evolution, Z-Moves, and Dynamaxing, larger regional Pokédexes that rely heavily on past generations (especially [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Gen I]]), and more user-friendly competitive breeding and training in favor of fewer postgame features and increased linearity. Some fans highly enjoyed these changes, as shown by the greater sales and mainstream attention of games from ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' onwards; the increased focus on classic Pokémon helped [[WinBackTheCrowd win back]] those who were alienated by the Unova games, and many fans highly appreciated how Game Freak finally acknowledged and helped players deal with GuideDangIt competitive mechanics like [=EV's=] and [=IV's=]. Other fans did not enjoy this new direction for the franchise, mostly for making the games less engaging for fans invested in single-player campaigns, sidequests/exploration, and postgame facilities. This divide wasn't at all helped by the many design and technical flubs in the Gen VI, VII, and VIII games, such as highly inefficient programming (resulting in framerate drops), oversights in Pokémon movesets and mechanics, and of course the infamous Pokédex and move exclusions. Overall, fans in the latter category accused the games of transitioning from self-contained creative endeavors to an unpolished, MerchandiseDriven arm meant to advertise the rest of the franchise and establish Pokémon as marketing icons, much like [[Anime/PokemonTheSeries the anime]].[[note]]Coincidentally, the corresponding seasons of the anime are viewed as significant improvements over Generations III through V, but suffer from many of the same complaints, leading to accusations that effort is "divided more evenly" between the anime and games than before.[[/note]]

** Generations VI and VII marked a general shift towards streamlined, casualized and linear main plots, gimmicks such as Mega Evolution and Z-Moves, larger regional Pokédexes that rely heavily on past generations (especially [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Gen I]]), and more user-friendly competitive breeding and training in favor of fewer postgame features. Some fans highly enjoyed these changes, as shown by the greater sales and mainstream attention of games from ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' onwards; the increased focus on classic Pokémon helped [[WinBackTheCrowd win back]] many fans who were alienated by the Unova games, and many fans highly appreciated how Game Freak finally acknowledged and helped players deal with GuideDangIt competitive mechanics like [=EV's=] and [=IV's=]. Other fans did not enjoy this new direction for the franchise, mostly for making the games less engaging for fans invested in single-player campaigns, sidequests/exploration, and postgame facilities. This divide wasn't at all helped by the many design and technical flubs in the Gen VI and VII games, such as highly inefficient programming (resulting in framerate drops) and oversights in Pokémon movesets and mechanics. Overall, fans in the latter category accused the games of transitioning from self-contained creative endeavors to an unpolished, MerchandiseDriven arm meant to advertise the rest of the franchise and establish Pokémon as marketing icons, much like [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} the anime]].[[note]]Coincidentally, the anime saw an overall bump in quality at that time, but suffered from many of the same complaints, leading to accusations that effort was "divided more evenly" between the anime and games than before.[[/note]]
** The intense extremes between the above have led fans to debate whether the main series should go in a more story-driven direction like Generations V and VII, or stick to an ExcusePlot like the older games and Generation VI, and make the game more about [[GottaCatchEmAll catching 'em all]] and exploration.

** There's also a FandomRivalry between fans of Flygon (an antlion [[OurDragonsAreDifferent that is somehow a dragon]]) and Garchomp (a land shark... [[OurDragonsAreDifferent that is also somehow a dragon]].) Flygon fans viciously and relentlessly bash Garchomp for being overrated, overpowered, outclassing Flygon in every way, having an ugly and overcomplicated design, and getting "special treatment" from Creator/GameFreak while Flygon's been left in the dust ''since the generation of its debut'', ''especially'' after Garchomp got a [[SuperMode Mega Evolution]] and Flygon didn't[[labelnote:note]]Gamefreak's actually pretty much MisBlamed on that last bit; they genuinely tried to come up with Mega Evolutions for ''both'' Pokémon, and while they succeeded with Garchomp, even after several attempts during the development of ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' and ''[[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire]]'' they couldn't get a design for Mega Flygon down they felt was good enough[[/labelnote]]. Garchomp fans just want Flygon fans to stop complaining and leave them and their landshark be, are just as prone to playing the "overrated" card as their opposition, and sometimes claim ''they'' and their Pokémon of choice are the ''real'' underdogs fandom-wise (the last two being fueled by the fact people who prefer Flygon actually seem to outnumber them by a good margin).

* Tying into EnjoyTheStorySkipTheGame, the games' main campaign, ditching the ExcusePlot of previous games (aside from Gen 5) in favor of a more serious and overarching storyline and dialogue reminiscent of other [[EasternRPG JRPGs]], which notably reverses the Gen 5/Gen 6 rivalry. Many fans love it due to giving the plot more significance and fleshing out the characters and story more, particularly against ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' which were often criticized for lacking in these regards. On the other hand, other fans find it a case of TheyChangedItNowItSucks, as the ExcusePlot was a keystone of Pokémon games in the past and they feel the design of Pokémon games does not facilitate serious stories well. The implementation of said story is also a frequent point of debate, with Pokémon threads on Twitter, reddit, and elsewhere constantly going back and forth about the long stretches of dialogue at each plot point (some of which is arguably unnecessary), the subsequent decreased focus on competitive battling improvements and map exploration (particularly from those who PlayTheGameSkipTheStory), the major players of the story's conflict being {{Base Breaking Character}}s (the biggest example being Lillie), and the questionable pacing of the campaign itself (particularly dealing with the third island). And that doesn't even get into the replacement of Gyms with trials...

!!''BDSP''
* The chibi artstyle. There are people who prefer the artstyle of SWSH and there are others who liked the artstyle as they compare it to ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening''.

''Pokémon Sword and Shield'' proved themselves to be the most controversial titles in the entire franchise since Pokémon Black and White, thanks to a number of design choices that not only [[OldGuardVersusNewBlood greatly shifted the priorities of the games]], but [[FranchiseOriginalSin brought several long held problems with the series to a head]]. Nearly every facet of the game starts some kind of debate, and just about the only thing Pokémon fans can agree on is that these games completely shattered the fandom.

''Pokémon Sword and Shield'' proved themselves to be the most controversial titles in the entire franchise, thanks to a number of design choices that not only [[OldGuardVersusNewBlood greatly shifted the priorities of the games]], but [[FranchiseOriginalSin brought several long held problems with the series to a head]]. Nearly every facet of the game starts some kind of debate, and just about the only thing Pokémon fans can agree on is that these games completely shattered the fandom.

* The Gym-less gameplay has had some levels of this thrown at it. Many people liked the formula being shaken up a bit and bringing a new idea to the table. Others cried that [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks they changed the formula]] and [[ItsShortSoItSucks it makes the game feel even shorter]]. ''Others'' don't think enough changed, arguing that the Island Trials were still too similar to gyms (both involve beating a strong opponent of a certain type specialty and their underlings), aside from a few elements such as the Totem calling an ally Pokémon.

* The main plot. On the one hand, there are those who consider it a step back from ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' for various reasons, including flat characterisation, less involved Gym Leaders, less detailed (and [[spoiler:apart from AZ,]] [[TrueArtIsAngsty less tragic]]) backstories, and a smaller post-game. On the other, there are those who felt the story in ''Black'' and ''White'' was melodramatic and overblown (and point out that the post-game of the original ''Black'' and ''White'' was also small - not as much as ''X'' and ''Y'' but not as large as [[VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2 their own sequels]]), and see ''X'' and ''Y'' as a nice step back to the more conventional plots of the series.

* A common debate is whether these games or ''Omega Ruby'' and ''Alpha Sapphire'' are the superior Gen VI games. Supporters of ''X'' and ''Y'' tend to enjoy the hugely expanded Pokédex and the return of Gen I favorites, Trainer customization, the Friend Safari and the Kalos region itself. Supporters of ''ORAS'' cite the wider variety of features, more balanced difficulty, greater level of polish, more extensive postgame, wider variety of obtainable starters and legendaries, and the Delta Episode. Of note is the fact that both sets of games [[PanderingToTheBase attempt to pander to nostalgic fans]], albeit in different ways, and also have deeper and more involved plots than previous ''Pokémon'' games.

* The selection of older postgame Legendary Pokémon brings up some "quality vs. quantity" debates; apart from Latios and Latias, none of them are particularly popular or iconic, so there's some debate on how good the selection is and whether it would have been preferable to have more iconic legendaries such as the version mascots and Mewtwo.

* Iris, the gym leader in the first ''White'' game/Drayden's apprentice in ''Black'' is now the games' new champion, dressing like a fancy Franchise/DisneyPrincess and giving off a roar in her sprite animation before she battles you. There's a legion of fans who love this, while others argue that Iris is too bratty to actually deserve the title, claiming Alder, Marshal or even Drayden himself more fitting for the title. Her theme is either refreshingly upbeat compared to the intense themes of champions past or unfitting MagicalGirl anime music that serves as the worst Champion theme ever.

* There's a huge drift in the fandom on whether Lyra is a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute or she simply is Kris redesigned.

* Datamining, [[ContentLeak the act of going through the game's code to suss out every secret and tidbit the game has on file]]. On one hand, people appreciate plumbing the depths of the game's coding because [[GuideDangit so many mechanics on how the game functions is largely unexplained by the game itself]][[note]]Without datamining, things such as Pokémon stats, movepools, egg groups, effort values and individual values would be completely unknown without tedious trial and error as they are intentionally kept secret by the developers to make the experience more "organic"[[/note]]. On the other hand, it also inadvertently reveals a great number of spoilers (story related or Pokémon related), who some people unscrupulously post everywhere upon revelation. It's nearly impossible to go into the newest generation of games completely blind unless you've actively avoided all social media or the internet in general (which is increasingly harder to do as time goes on). It also spoils when things such as a new mythical Pokémon is officially revealed by the company; [[ItWasHisSled the fanbase already found out about it months in advance]], thus the shock factor of the reveal that the company wanted is completely lost. A portion of the fanbase feel the need to put on a {{Kayfabe}} of sorts (pretending that the information isn't known) while a portion does not and treat the spoilers as common knowledge (without consideration for those who do not want to be spoiled). It also puts fan websites, wikis (including this one), gaming news sites and Website/YouTube channels in a bind where their creators and maintainers want to enjoy the product spoiler-free but need to post ''something'' about the revealed information. Gen VIII would rectify some of this by leaving its mythicals out of the game entirely at launch, only adding them in with an update after the reveal. (Though that said, when the first DLC was released lots of data for the ''second'' DLC was found to be in the files as well.)

* The PronounTrouble that occurs when referring to certain Pokémon. Is it appropriate to use "[[ItIsDehumanizing It]]", or go with gender-indicating pronouns? This is prominent in regards to Pokémon that are {{One Gender Race}}s, especially since there's more then one individual.

* The CasualCompetitiveConflict of Pokémon is also a common source for breaks in the fandom. It isn't as bad as other fandoms, as most competitive gamers also play casually, and the vast majority of people on both sides just kinda wanna have fun playing the game their own way, but there's enough dicks on either side (competitive gamers who are insistent that it makes them smarter to play the game this way, regarding casual gamers as incompetent noobs and "not real fans", and casual gamers who treat competitive gamers as though they're abusing real animals instead of game data and then hypocritically scorn competitive gamers for taking the game 'too seriously' as though [[MeasuringTheMarigolds wanting to know deeply about something makes it impossible to enjoy it]]) to make it a touchy subject at times.

* For your own sake, it's best you don't get into a debate regarding whether or not "Pokémon" and the species' names should be capitalized when referring to the creatures. For example, is it proper to say "My strongest Pokémon is a Pikachu", "My strongest pokémon is a pikachu", or something in-between? It's a very hot-button issue in the fanfic community.[[note]]To elaborate, those opposed to capitalization argue that since you don't capitalize words like "animal", "cat", "dog", or similar, you shouldn't capitalize the word "pokémon" or any of the species names. The people in favor of capitalization point out that the words are capitalized in canon, so it would make sense to capitalize them in fanfiction. Most writers don't care either way, but some are very adamant about how they think it should work.[[/note]]

* Dynamax and Gigantamax. Reception to them was already cold from the start thanks to being partially to blame for the Dex exclusions as well as being seen as an uninspired combination of Mega Evolutions and Z-Moves, neither of which returned in these games, resulting in the mechanic being seen as a big-time ReplacementScrappy for those mechanics by many people. On the one hand, many enjoy the simplicity of the mechanic and how much the additional effects of Max Moves add to the battle dynamics (especially in doubles), while rectifying issues that both Megas (being usable by only 42 Pokémon) and Z-Moves (were one time use) had (both mechanics also required giving up the Pokémon's held item, with one wild exception) and being set as a more fitting and time appropriate spectacle in the game's story. On the other hand, others see Dynamax as unoriginal and boring, as well as horridly unbalanced in practice (especially in singles), with people disliking the numerous benefits Dynamax Pokémon gain for what is seen as little to lose (the big one being their ability to set up a number of beneficial field effects and stat boosts ''and'' deal hefty damage to opponents at the same time).

* The big one is the infamous decision to disallow the acquisition and subsequent use of Pokémon not in the game's regional Pokédex. Formerly one of the core pillars of the franchise (per the former series tagline "Gotta catch 'em all!"), this change in mindset already proved incredibly divisive from the onset of its announcement, what with the Treehouse stream where it was announced being slammed by thousands of dislikes, and the topic trending within hours and being a source of debate for the rest of the prerelease. But the game's release and the reveal that 465 Pokemon were completely unavailable, thus excising over half of what the roster totaled to then, added further fuel to the fire. Those opposed to the decision, especially those whose main directive in the games was to collect them all, argue that having them all is so fundamental that removing them is not only an insult to both the fans that cherish each creature and the people that made them, but led to many other parts of the game suffering (such as the Battle Tower, which was inevitably going to be far less compelling as a result of a Dex purge). Those who defend it say that they never cared to collect them all and that the work needed to bring them all in every game would be massive for very little payoff, especially when the series had been piling up baggage for so long, and "Dexit" gave them a chance to start fresh and reevaluate the series on the whole (though whether they succeeded or not is a subject of very heavy debate as well).

* The fanbase is hugely divided over which generation is best, and with every new addition (or lack thereof) to the series, many people cry the entire franchise (or just a generation) ruined.
* Even playing the games divides the fans. Either [[StopHavingFunGuys you play competitively and are "taking the game too seriously"]], or [[{{Scrub}} you play for fun and "can't understand the subtle mathematics of the game"]].
* Fans are also divided over whether the main series should go in a more story-driven direction like [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Generation]] [[VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2 V]] and [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon Generation VII]], or stick to an [[ExcusePlot excuse plot]] like the older games and [[VideoGame/PokemonXAndY Generation VI]], and make the game more about [[GottaCatchEmAll catching 'em all]] and exploration. There's also a divide between those who care more about what goes on during the main story campaign to those who care more about competitive battling [[note]]You usually only have access to the tools needed to create competitive monsters only after completing the main story, which can be a huge slog for those who only pick up the game for the competitive battling aspect.[[/note]]

* There is a growing divide within the fanbase ever since Gen V and the perceived direction of the franchise, with several things being a point of contention. Major changes in creative direction were made twice -- first in Gen V, then in Gen VI, the latter lasting through Gen VII -- and both times evoked mixed reactions in the fanbase, with different demographics.
** Generation V was the first generation to see significant change for the ''Pokémon'' franchise, mostly with a focus on deeper lore and more developed characters and stories, as well as a completely new, self-contained regional Pokédex with no older species. However, the games were met with glowing praise by some fans and apathy from others, resulting in lower sales than Gen IV; many of the changes and innovations Gen V introduced fell by the wayside in the subsequent (and differently polarizing) 3DS entries. Some fans (especially overzealous supporters of the generation) believe Gen V to be [[SacredCow perfect]] and point to "[[FirstInstallmentWins genwunners]]" as the main or sole reason why its innovations fell by the wayside. Others believe that the games' novelty was undermined by some of their creative decisions being out of touch with the fanbase at large -- such as with the extremely polarizing Unova Pokédex of ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' -- and that Game Freak misattributed the blame to fans not liking Gen V in general, resulting in future games distancing themselves from Gen V as a whole. Others still believe Gen V [[http://twinfinite.net/2017/12/best-pokemon-generations-ranked/1/ to not have been as innovative or groundbreaking at many people claimed]], and in fact that its weak attempts at being "different" were already signs of ''Pokémon'' being desperate for new ideas and continuing along its path of being a FranchiseZombie -- and that, in fact, the games tried ''so'' hard to be different that they ended up alienating fans of the classic formula and Pokémon species.
** Generations VI and VII marked a general shift towards streamlined, casualized and linear main plots, gimmicks such as Mega Evolution and Z-Moves, larger regional Pokédexes that rely heavily on past generations (especially [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Gen I]]), and more user-friendly competitive breeding and training in favor of fewer postgame features. Some fans highly enjoyed these changes, as shown by the greater sales and mainstream attention of games from ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' onwards; the increased focus on classic Pokémon helped [[WinBackTheCrowd win back]] many fans who were alienated by the Unova games, and many fans highly appreciated how Game Freak finally acknowledged and helped players deal with GuideDangIt competitive mechanics like [=EV's=] and [=IV's=]. Other fans did not enjoy this new direction for the franchise, mostly for making the games less engaging for fans invested in single-player campaigns, sidequests/exploration, and postgame facilities. This divide wasn't at all helped by the many design and technical flubs in the Gen VI and VII games, such as highly inefficient programming (resulting in framerate drops) and oversights in Pokémon movesets and mechanics. Overall, fans in the latter category accused the games of transitioning from self-contained creative endeavors to an unpolished, MerchandiseDriven arm meant to advertise the rest of the franchise and establish Pokémon as marketing icons, much like [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} the anime]].[[note]]Coincidentally, the anime saw an overall bump in quality at that time, but suffered from many of the same complaints, leading to accusations that effort was "divided more evenly" between the anime and games than before.[[/note]]

* The addition of the rollerblades; some find them to be RollerbladeGood and a nice way to get around quickly while others consider it a ScrappyMechanic, especially since it's impossible to remove them, unlike a bike.
* A common debate is whether these games or ''Omega Ruby'' and ''Alpha Sapphire'' are the superior Gen VI games. Supporters of ''X'' and ''Y'' tend to enjoy the hugely expanded Pokédex and the return of Gen I favorites, Trainer customization, the Friend Safari and the Kalos region itself. Supporters of ''ORAS'' cite the wider variety of features, more balanced difficulty, greater level of polish, more extensive postgame, wider variety of obtainable starters and legendaries, and the Delta Episode. Of note is the fact that both sets of games [[PanderingToTheBase attempt to pander to nostalgic fans]], albeit in different ways, and also have deeper and more involved plots than previous ''Pokémon'' games.

* A common debate is whether these games or ''X'' and ''Y'' are the superior Gen VI games. Supporters of ''X'' and ''Y'' tend to enjoy the hugely expanded Pokédex and the return of Gen I favorites, Trainer customization, the Friend Safari and the Kalos region itself. Supporters of ''ORAS'' cite the wider variety of features, more balanced difficulty, greater level of polish, more extensive postgame, wider variety of obtainable starters and legendaries, and the Delta Episode. Of note is the fact that both sets of games [[PanderingToTheBase attempt to pander to nostalgic fans]], albeit in different ways, and also have deeper and more involved plots than previous ''Pokémon'' games.

''Pokémon Sword and Shield'' proved themselves to be the most controversial titles in the entire franchise, thanks to a number of design choices that not only [[OldGuardVersusNewBlood greatly shifted the priorities of the games]], but [[FranchiseOriginalSin brought several long held problems with the series to a head]]. Really the only thing Pokémon fans can agree on is that these games completely shattered the fandom.