Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield, developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo, will be releasing November 15th, and the game is very controversial.

Some long-time fans are very excited about the upcoming title, thinking it looks amazing and could be the best Pokemon entry as of now. Others think the game won’t be very good, namely the removal of the National Dex (an item with the Pokemon games which keeps records of every Pokemon), which was done in Pokemon Ultra Sun and Pokemon Ultra Moon, the last games in the series, however, you could bring all Pokemon into it from other games.

In Pokemon Sword and Shield, only Pokemon that appear in the game normally can be used. This has caused many fans to become upset and cause an uproar for not being able to carry Pokemon they’ve spent many hours training and playing with, only for them to not return in the new games, missing out on an adventure.

What was Game Freak’s reasoning for this? Well, they had multiple. “We knew at some point we weren’t going to be able to indefinitely keep supporting all of the Pokemon,” Masuda, the Game Freak director, told USGamer at E3, the world’s largest gaming convention. “The biggest reason for it is just the sheer number of Pokemon. We already have well over 800 Pokemon species, and there’s going to be more added in these games,” Masuda explains.

Another reason cited for the removal of Pokemon is battling, the main draw of Pokemon games. “…what would be the best selection of Pokemon that appeals to the widest audience while keeping into consideration the balance of the battle system,” Masuda says.

Another reason for Pokemon’s removal is that Game Freak decided to remake models and animations from the ground up… Which fans quickly debunked in a manner of hours.

So what could be the cause? Most fans point a game that Game Freak is working on currently called ‘Little Town Hero’, which is a Role-Playing Game (or RPG) that takes place within one town. An unknown Game Freak employee claimed that half of the studio at Game Freak is working on Pokemon Sword and Shield, with the other half working on Little Town Hero. This has not been confirmed as of yet, so take this with a grain of salt.

With all of this said, there’s still clear time and effort taken to make these new installments of the Pokemon franchise. From how amazing it looks to the smaller details, I’m sure this will be one of the best Pokemon games to date, even with the restrictions.