Pokémon Sword and Shield may not have even hit store shelves yet, but they’re already set to be two of the most divisive titles in the series’ history, with angry Pokémon fans venting their frustration on social media.
Earlier this year it was confirmed that the games would feature a reduced Pokédex to allow for a quality-over-quantity approach, and there’s recently been rumblings of levelling restrictions to keep the game balanced but considerably less fun.
In light of the controversies, Japanese Pokémon fans have taken action – by adopting the trending “#ThankYouGameFreak” hashtag and changing it into the much-less-wholesome “#F*ckYouGameFreak.”
One Twitter user used the adapted hashtag to rant: “Stop rewarding and excusing laziness. Game Freak has always been 10 steps behind every other major developer, blaming the nintendo consoles limitations instead of admitting their own limits. Now they’re finally under fire and they deserve all the criticism.
“If you buy sword and shield you make a disservice to the entire fanbase. You’re basically telling them it’s ok to make subpar games and make us pay more for less. Your attitude towards this is the same of when people began to accept the first ‘harmless’ microtransactions. Stop.”
Another raged: “I don’t get why people are still defending GameFreak. Some people just want a quality product for their hard earned money, how is that a bad thing? Especially when this is what we’re getting.”
The Pokedex controversy is one of the biggest the games has faced, with lots of people deciding to boycott the purchase as their favourite pocket monsters won’t be appearing.
In a recent interview with Inside Gamer, Game Freak producer Junichi Masuda, said that there’s currently no plans in the works to add missing Pokémon into Sword and Shield – or any future titles.
“We currently have no plans to make the Pokémon that are missing from the Galar Pokedex available in-game,” Masuda told the publication. “This is an approach that we want to continue with in future Pokémon games.”
Pokémon Sword and Shield are due to launch exclusively on Nintendo Switch, November 15.
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Featured Image Credit: Nintendo