The new Pokemon games are called Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield, and they will be launching worldwide on Nintendo Switch later this year. This morning, during a special Nintendo Direct presentation, we were given our first look at Pokemon Sword and Shield. Check out the beautiful new reveal trailer right here:

This time, players will be exploring the vast Galar region. The Galar region looks very much inspired by locales one might see throughout the United Kingdom. We have rolling hills of green and yellow, small, snowy towns, and big cities with a bold industrial aesthetic. The Galar region looks to have a little bit of everything, and is definitely the largest world ever constructed for a Pokemon game.

The footage in the trailer is indicative of the return of random encounters, which not everyone will be a fan of. In recent games, like Pokemon Let’s Go, players were able to initiate or avoid battles by pursuing or avoiding wild Pokemon. This time, it looks like battles will initiate with or without our consent. Personally, I’m okay with random encounters, but this won’t be a welcome change for many.

As for our new starter Pokemon, all three variants were revealed. Once again we have a fire, water, and grass-type Pokemon to choose from. Scorbunny is the fire type rabbit Pokemon; Sobble is a an adorable, aquatic, frog-like Pokemon; and Grookey is a cute, grassy monkey.

At the time of writing, we don’t know what the differences will be between Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield. Very likely there will be certain Pokemon that can only be found in either version, which will encourage players to trade with one another.

So what do you think of Pokemon Sword and Shield? How do you like the Galar region, and what do you think of the new starter Pokemon? Let us know in the comments below!