It looks an awful lot like Pokémon Sword and Shield will be the first mainline Pokémon games to have an autosave function, something which has the potential – if nothing else changes – to drastically impact how the most dedicated players actually play the game.
Fans spotted apparent evidence of the new feature in the form of a “Now saving…” dialogue, which briefly popped up during the latest Sword and Shield trailer released in last Wednesday’s Nintendo Direct. Take a look for yourself, in the top right corner at about the 45 second mark.
Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield – Nintendo Direct 9.4.2019 – Nintendo Switch Watch on YouTube
It’s always possible that “Now saving…” dialogue is on screen for that brief moment because the player had just manually saved and quickly quit the menu, of course, but it’s unlikely – given the player character seems to be running into the building as it appears, it like the kind of Skyrim-like autosave function which occurs every time you cross a certain in-game threshold.
Why’s it so important, you ask? Well, mainline Pokémon games have had a single save system since the original Red and Blue way back in the ’90s. It’s how the choice of starter Pokémon is given its weight – you only get one, and can’t play through with another without wiping your entire save – and perhaps more cynically preserves the value of having at least two, separate editions with each release. You’re more likely to double-dip on Pokémon Moon when you’re tied to just the one save in Pokémon Sun.
Trading over the internet has mitigated that somewhat, but the competitive, “hardcore” Pokémon fans still rely quite heavily on controlling where and when they save. Players who want a shiny version of a one-off Pokémon like a legendary, for instance, will save and reload hundreds or even thousands of times to get it. The same goes for getting the right IVs and nature – which dictates which two stats get a slight boost or reduction in power – on a certain Pokémon, an essential part of min-maxing ‘mons for competitive use.