The Mewtwo Raid Battles Highlighted a Big Problem for Pokemon Sword and Shield

As part of the Pokemon Day 2020 celebrations, Game Freak introduced a special round of Raid Battles to Pokemon Sword and Shield, letting players take on several Generation 1 Pokemon as part of the festivities. Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle were all available for a time in the Raid Battle rotation, as well as the powerful Legendary Pokemon Mewtwo.

However, fans who went up against Mewtwo expecting a normal raid left with a bitter taste in their mouths and little to show for it as Mewtwo’s Raid Battle had several glaring issues that really highlighted the worst parts of the Raid Battle experience.

Why Are Fans Upset?

The Mewtwo Raid in Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield was quite easily the hardest Raid Battle in the game for a number of reasons. For starters, Mewtwo is an insanely difficult opponent to defeat without strong team coordination and proper Pokemon choice. Mewtwo has six moves, instead of the standard four, as well as phenomenal IVs to capitalize on the fact that Mewtwo is also Level 100.

Any unsuspecting trainer who joined in on the battle thinking it’s just another raid got absolutely decimated by the Gen 1 psychic Legendary. Only those who brought in perfect type match-ups and moves were able to defeat this powerful foe. However, the difficulty was only one of the factors that fans were upset about. When players actually managed to defeat Mewtwo, they quickly learned that the Pokemon couldn’t be caught, essentially ruining the whole purpose of the raid outside of getting some decent rewards.

Why Couldn’t Mewtwo Be Caught?

While Game Freak did not officially announce why Mewtwo was not able to be caught, many fans have some theories about why this was the case. First and foremost, Game Freak may have wanted to ensure that teams were not flooded with incredibly powerful Mewtwo for the foreseeable future. Currently, Mewtwo is only obtainable by transferring it through Pokemon Home from a previous title, though Mewtwo is one of the many Legendary Pokemon returning in The Crown Tundra DLC.

Since Mewtwo is one of the Pokemon tied to the new co-op game mode coming in The Crown Tundra, there is a good chance Game Freak wanted to make Mewtwo exclusive to that game mode rather than just a standard Raid Battle. Regardless of reasoning, many fans were quite upset when they managed to finally beat Mewtwo only for them to be unable to catch it. If Game Freak had been upfront about not catching Mewtwo then perhaps fans wouldn’t have been quite as upset, but that won’t change the disappointment in players who are currently working towards their living National Pokedex in Pokemon Home.

The Bigger Problems with Raid Battles

Raid Battles have been a selling point for Pokemon Sword and Shield, often being updated with new Dynamax and Gigantamax Pokemon, and while they are a fun mechanic to get some more powerful Pokemon, there are some major flaws in the system that make them less enjoyable than they could be. First and foremost is matchmaking. Getting a match with other players to take on a Raid Boss is agonizing and often times players are forced to take on powerful Pokemon with only AI-controlled teammates.

This is perhaps in part due to Sword and Shield’s spotty networking functionality, or perhaps due to players changing their console times to jump ahead to battle new Raid Battle Pokemon. Regardless, the AI teammates are some of the worst teammates out there. Considering one teammate could possibly be a Magikarp and one could be a Solrock that does nothing but Cosmic Power, it’s basically asking for the battle to fail.

This wouldn’t be such a big deal if there wasn’t the fainting penalty, where after four Pokemon faint then the Raid ends and the Pokemon escapes. This is all too common of an occurrence when playing with AI teammates,but fixing this is not so easy, as removing the fainting penalty makes it so the battle might be too easy to just force through with enough time. Perhaps if it was changed to a one-life situation then if everyone faints then the battle is over, then perhaps it would be more manageable.

It’s a difficult line to walk between making a challenging encounter and making it fun for those who can’t get into a match, and it’s something that definitely needs addressed before The Crown Tundra. Hopefully, if other Legendary Pokemon return as part of a limited-time event, they will actually be able to be caught, so fans will be less disappointed.

What This Could Mean for The Crown Tundra DLC

With The Crown Tundra’s new co-op game mode revolving around raid-like activities to catch returning Legendary Pokemon, this Mewtwo raid fiasco has some players worried about the difficulty of the encounters. Since The Crown Tundra is a ways off, Game Freak has yet to reveal the specifics of the new game mode outside of it being a co-op raid-like activity that will allow players to catch returning Legendary Pokemon.

Since the Legendary Pokemon will be cable to be caught, odds are they will be a little bit easier to battle compared to Mewtwo – though they will likely still have powerful moves and abilities that will make the encounter difficult. Without knowing the exact details of the new game mode it’s hard to say how Game Freak will balance the encounter, but in a perfect world it will be balanced so that it will not require a perfectly coordinated team to pull off.

While bringing back the original starts and Mewtwo for Pokemon Day 2020 was a great idea, the execution of the Mewtwo raid left much to be desired. Since Mewtwo was Level 100 and featured more moves than a standard Pokemon, the battle was oppressively hard and even if players managed to defeat the powerful Pokemon they were unable to catch it. While the rewards were considerably better than normal Raids, fans ended the Pokemon Day celebrations feeling disappointed since Game Freak removed a key part of the Raid itself. Hopefully future Legendary Raids will be a little more forgiving (and will let players actually catch the Pokemon).

Pokemon Sword and Shield are available now, exclusively for Nintendo Switch.

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