In 7 of the shortest minutes, possibly ever, the newest mainline Pokémon game was revealed. Then again, Nintendo has truly optimized the concept of the reveal, maximizing information in the shortest amount of time. Well, except for that one time when they spent 24 out of 30 minutes talking about every single costume in Smash Bros.

The good news is, we now have a title, and a general release window! It looks like we’ll be graced with Pokémon Sword & Shield and begin our exploration of the new Galar region in the later part of 2019.

One of the most commonly predicted parts of the Direct was the starters, of which we hit the nail on the head – what we didn’t fully expect was how damn cute the little fellas are: Grookey, Scorbunny, and Sobble will be joining the elite ranks of starter Pokemon, as the first revealed pocket-sized monsters of Generation 8!

I’m thinking I’m going to have to go with Grooky. The first Pokemon starter I ever picked was Bulbasaur, and leaf-Pokemon have a special place in my heart as a result of this.

The Galar region, based on a mystery location yet to be revealed, looks gorgeous – the first thing that popped out to me was the colors:

I mean, look how freaken purple everything is! The environments look crisp and lush, warm and vibrant. Also, very purple. Seriously though, it’s as if they moved the slider labeled PURPLE all the way to the right, and then the lever broke off. Pokemon Purple confirmed?

While the over-saturation does make it look a bit like a modern art masterpiece, I suppose it suits a happy shiny game like Pokemon quite well. Plus, purple is my favorite color.

Speaking more to the region, it seems to have the same type of diversity that we’ve come to expect from the mainline Pokemon series games. Big cities, small towns, snowy and mountainous regions, you name it – it’s there.

Of course, in 7 minutes you can’t really cover that much, and I’m sure that Gamefreak and Nintendo still want to slow-trickle more information about Sword & Shield. (oooh, just typing that felt nice!) Naturally, I have about a hundred questions, but in the meantime, I’ll go over just a few to think about for now, as I’m sure we’ll get more information about it in a few months or, hopefully, earlier.

First off, the battle system in Let’s Go was dramatically altered. Being that Sword & Shield is in the same engine as Let’s Go… does it still use the Let’s Go catching mechanic? Are there random encounters? I’m a fan of Let’s Go so for me personally, I’d like to see this kept in, but I’m aware the purists might have an issue with it.

Secondly, is the game focused more on exploration? There was no mention of the phrase “open world” which was something hypothesized by many including myself – giving this relatively old franchise new life by giving the player a big, lush landscape to play around in, a-la Breath of the Wild. Perhaps this is information we’ll hear about soon – is this a linear Pokemon game, better known as “old-school Pokemon”? Or is this more Sun & Moon, which was heavily story-oriented?

For one, I hope that the hand-holding is cast aside and the player is left to his or her own devices to figure out the game. But, being that this is a series catering to the younger crowd, I personally don’t see that happening.

What I would like most of all, however, is my roller skates back. Grinding rails in Pokemon X & Y was one of the most satisfying things ever.

Anyway, that’s it for now – thanks for reading! Let me know what you thought of the Pokemon Direct in the comments below! With that, I leave you with this purple-ass house.