The Pokemon Sword/Shield Controversy

The long and short of it, for those that are unaware, is that Game Freak announced around 2-3 weeks ago that they would be cutting some of the older Pokémon from the Pokedex for the upcoming mainline entries, Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield.

This announcement made some sense to me given the amount of work they would have to put in to animate and add HD textures for 900 Pokémon (1000 with alternate forms) with the tight release schedule that they are virtually forced to work with, on top of the work stress workers deal with in Japan with the work culture in that country. I generally didn't let this announcement get to me too much as I was going to enjoy the games to some capacity anyway like I've done with every Pokémon game since Black/White 2.

What has gotten to me, however, is the community reaction that has come out of that announcement. People were obviously furious about this at first, which I saw coming since there's always a section of a fanbase of whatever piece of media that is unhappy with that media creator's decisions; That much I understood and empathized with.

What I am appalled at is how vehemently people are going after Game Freak. It's to the point where Game Freak critics have been nitpicking over things like one particular tree texture or one particular wall texture looking off (which btw, that stuff is from a BETA BUILD from a few months before E3, and will likely be improved come the November 2019 release date). I understand cancelling your order for a game because you disagree with a company's or game developer's decision, and constructively criticizing the company/developer accordingly, but this level of outrage that I've been seeing is a bit much.

For those wondering where I stand on this issue: It's kinda half-and-half for me. On one hand I'm siding with Game Freak because of what I explained before about the strict work culture in Japan and meeting deadlines for a timed release, but on the other hand I empathize with the critics of Game Freak who are long time fans that in some cases won't be able to bring their favorite Pokémon over to the latest entry in one of their treasured game series.

What I fear is that these same people that are criticizing Game Freak will see my stance on the issue, and deem me as a gamer that refuses to criticize, even constructively, thereby hurting the gaming industry in the process by letting shitty games slip by. Such a thing would hit me really close to home and really hurt my feelings, because so-called "non-critical" gamers are generally heavily looked down upon within the gaming community, and being given such a label would essentially be like being banished from the community.