Future 'Pokemon' Titles Might Be Open-World, 'Pokemon Sword And Shield' Director Says

Many video game titles today feature vast open worlds where players can freely roam around. These titles, which are often action or adventure games, give players the opportunity to explore and enjoy their worlds for as much as they want – often with some bonuses like secret locations and such.

If there's one series that offers a lot of adventure sans the open-world and free-roaming feature, however, it's got to be the “Pokemon” series of titles. These games often had players moving only in four linear directions (up, down, left and right) whether it appears that in-game locations look like they're best traversed otherwise.

Game Freak, the studio behind the “Pokemon” games, realized this and introduced the “Wild Area,” found in “Pokemon” titles for the Nintendo Switch. This location allowed players to move freely within the environment, ComicBook noted.

The studio likely saw how the free-roaming mechanic made players happy and decided to bring the feature to new “Pokemon” titles, “Pokemon Sword” and “Pokemon Shield.” These two upcoming titles are the first mainline “Pokemon” games to feature free camera movement all throughout the game.

Does this mean future “Pokemon” titles will always have free camera movement? More than that, does the development imply that future “Pokemon” games will have fully open-world environments? Game Freak's Shigeru Ohmori, director of “Pokemon Sword and Shield,” hints that it is possible based on the public's response to the upcoming games.

Ohmori, speaking to Pokemon.com, said the studio is always looking for ways to “come up with new surprises for our players” with every “Pokemon” title it releases. One of those surprises, the game director said, is the introduction of free camera movement.

“ This is our first time introducing free camera movement in the series, so we're excited to see how our players will respond to it once they get their hands on the games,” Ohmori said.

Adding an open world to succeeding “Pokemon” titles, Ohmori explained further, depends on the public's response to the upcoming games. “We'll think about what we want to do in the future based on those reactions, ” Ohmori said.