Sword/Shield New Gigantamax forms (October 16)

Overall was pretty happy with this reveal. Apparently this is Game Freak's 30th anniversary celebration but I don't know much about that so I'm just gonna talk about the new things we saw...

- Fat Pikachu makes me very, very happy. It's fun to see them finally acknowledging how much the community loves fat Pikachu, and although I think the lightning tail is stupid, I find Pikachu to look a lot more charming like this than when he's more skinny. Also, semi-unrelated note, but I LOVE the style his G-Max move has and I can't even say why...I guess the way the lightning bolts are super cartoony and kinda freeze in place. Kinda reminds me of past gens' animation for Thunder in a way, which probably has some nostalgia factor in me since I used a Raichu a lot in my first HGSS file. I dunno though, either way this is definitely my favorite of the bunch.

- With Eevee, it honestly felt they tried way too hard to force the design, and since I'm not a fan of Eevee in the first place, this was one of the only forms we saw here that I could say I was against at first. However, apparently this one is based on the Gen 1 version of Eevee as well, with very bad proportions...but I don't see it. I posted the sprite that people are comparing it to below, and I think the proportions here aren't the worst out there, and they definitely don't feel noticable enough to the point where I'd show anyone the two and say "oh yeah that's based on the RB sprite." Apparently that's just me though, so I can't be too mad at it, but I'm still not a fan at all.

Spoiler: Eevee Sprite for Reference

- Meowth was kinda similar to Eevee. I didn't know about the longcat meme until the day it was revealed, but my opinion hasn't really changed about it. Its design just looks so awkward. With Alolan Exeggutor, Sirfetch'd, and Galarian Weezing, they at least make some sense, as there are many trees like Exeggutor, lances need to be long, and Weezing can float so it doesn't care about its hat being big. But doesn't this thing just look awkward to anyone else? There's nothing really going on in the middle, and unlike real world cats, G-Max Meowth can't just retract itself at will. I dunno, not a fan of this one either, even with the memes in mind.

- Charizard's is one that I absolutely love but I feel like something similar could have been done with something else. This is one of the few times they've gone out of their way to make a Pokémon look like a flat-out monster, and they really nailed that look on Charizard, between some parts of its body looking more jagged and its eyes and mouth being lit up. I honestly think this looks much more interesting than the megas, and my only complaint would be the stupid looking fire wings if not for the fact that this is Charizard's third alternate form. If they had put all of these design aspects on something less appreciated then I would love it, but it had to be Charizard. Why can't they do something like this with Druddigon, for example? Maybe they could've tweaked Flygon's proportions and done it with that? I still like it a lot but I feel like a lot of potential was missed here with the design elements.

- Last is Butterfree, the only one that wasn't spoiled by Corocoro. This was a huge surprise to me, and definitely one that I was excited to see. It missed out on a Mega while its friend Beedrill got one, it missed out on a Z-Move, and now it finally has its time in the spotlight, and I feel like it's been too long for Butterfree. Its design is also really good and its G-Max move looks super fun. Overall very happy with this one.

So I dislike two out of five, but I honestly can't say I'm upset with this reveal. Most of the stuff shown off was really predictable and I can't say I expected much better from a Gigantamax Eevee, for example. I'm happy with what I got, I'll happily take the Pikachu and Butterfree we ended up getting.

 

Weirdly, even though I hate Kanto pandering and I've never been a huge fan of Charizard just for how over exposed it is, I actually like all of these designs. This reveal and Galarian Ponyta have just about convinced me to get the games on release, but I think I need to see something really good from the new generation before I fully commit. New forms for gen 1 Pokémon aren't good enough to me. I don't think starter evolutions will do it for me either, unless the evolutions are ridiculously amazing, I just need SOMETHING to really look forward to and say, "Yeah, THAT'S going on my team!."

I agree with Duo that it was nice not having Butterfree spoiled. That one was a huge surprise and I absolutely love it. The wing colors are great, I love that the oval patterns have turned into heart patterns. And it finally has the swallowtail bumps at the end of its wings, which its species should have had, which is a nice touch.

Eevee and Pikachu make a lot of sense considering the Go games, and I think it's nice to have those tied in so the games aren't too much of an isolated thing, if that makes sense. I love how fluffy Eevee is, and in addition to Pikachu's homage to the original design, I really like how long its tail is and how it glows.

Maybe I'm weird, but I actually really like Meowth's design. Its longer body reminds me of a ragdoll, and, its shape aside, I love the new design for the amulet and the elongated whiskers above its eyes. I tried to find anything in Japanese or European mythology that could explain why it's so long, but unless there's some other subtle reference here linked to something other than cats, I couldn't find anything, so memes. Its design does look familiar to me somehow, though, for reasons other than the longcat meme.

And finally Charizard. It looks cool. Like, really cool. I like it more than either of its mega designs, which were always kind of "meh" to me, aside from the length of Y's tail and the flame on the end. Will I use it? Probably not, because I'm so sick of charizard, and also I generally prefer not to use a Pokémon that's sort of the main Pokémon on the Champion's team. I also tend to prefer using a team made mostly or entirely of the new generation's Pokémon, and I'm already reserving a spot for Ponyta. It'll be more fun to fight it than to use it for myself.

 

I think the Charizard looks cool, though I wish that laterally any other starter Pokémon would start to get as much attention as Charizard did. I love how the Butterfree looks, so majestic and pretty.
And I'm probably an outlier here, but I actually like the look of Meowth. It looks like when you take your cat and hold it up by its armpits, dangling its long body down. It's awkward, but fun.
I'm really getting tired of all of the attention being shown to the first generation of Pokémon. Does Gamefreak think that we somehow forgot about gen 1? Did the genwunners just take over gamefreak and are holding all other generations hostage? What's going on?

 

- Pikachu: All right, that's enough Pikachu for a lifetime. It'll be even worse for us Go players when Gen 8 rolls around like 20 years later with the 2000 Pikachu forms or whatnot. All right, screeching over. It's a neat reference to the original design, and honestly, we all saw that coming. I don't think we'll ever get another game without a new Pikachu gimmick at this point, so it was honestly expected. Surprised it wasn't Raichu tho.
- Eevee: Is this even a special form at this point? I can't see a difference, frankly. Something something Gen 1 reference, I don't get it. I guess it has longer ears?
...what animal is Eevee even based on?!
- Charizard: Because two Mega forms weren't enough. Okay, salt over. I agree with Duo/Marshaduo here - there are so pecking many other Pokémon that need it more! Dunsparce is boring right now, I forgot Druddigon exists, Dragonite has no attention outside of Pokémon Go... please, Gamefreak
- Meowth: get that nasty thing away from me
- Butterfree: I like this one! I'm all for it when unexpected Pokémon get a bit of spotlight on them, like Mawile with her Mega and Obstagoon. This was probably the highlight of the reveal for me.

I mean... it was to be expected, and the Butterfree was nice. But if Charizard is the only fire starter getting a Gigantamax form, I will be salty.

 

I find it funny how people are screeching about Kanto pandering when it's just 5 Kanto Pokémon and only 2 will be universally available as 2 are exclusive to Let's Go players and 1 is an early purchase bonus. Still, I do like the throw back to fat Pikachu and the long cat reference. I'm 99% certain that Eevee was only thrown in to balance out the Pikachu vs. Eevee that Let's Go caused.

As for Charizard and Butterfree, I do like their designs and I love that Butterfree is getting some love after Mega Beedrill.

 

G!Butterfree is Mothra.

Change my mind.

 

Gigantamax Pikachu/Eevee are giving major big chungus vibes.

Sad to see the Kanto bias once again though. Hopefully they are just limiting the content we see until release so that there will be a pleasant surprise to discover within the games themselves.