Issue #43: Division in the Ranks – November/December 2019

We try our best to keep things positive in the pages of good old NF, but to claim that everything’s all hunky-dory heading into the release of the new Pokémon Sword & Shield would be disingenuous. Controversy has overrun the hype cycle for this particular pair of series sequels. Fans are angry! And their anger is valid, too – were it a misplaced rage, we might breeze right past it. But no, the division in the ranks that has appeared in the Pokémon fandom is worthy of attention and discussion. So that’s what we’re going to do!

As with past Pokémon-led issues of NF Magazine, we made the decision to split this edition into two pieces. But whereas the similar issue we published in the lead-up to the release of Sun & Moon in 2016 simply used its twin lead feature articles as two parts of one grand final preview for those games, we’re doing things differently this time around.

The titular Division in the Ranks feature appears on the Sword side of NF #43. In it we discuss what it is that’s got the fans so riled up about the mainline series’ debut on the Switch, but we do so with our signature NF move of couching everything in its proper historical context. The article rewinds things back to the beginning of the brand and chronicles the smaller controversies the series has endured over the decades, leading up to the Pokédex problem that’s now taken center stage. In addition, we’ve printed an image of every past Pokémon – so you can hopefully get a proper sense of just how massive a monster catalog it really is that Game Freak is having to deal with these days!

Meanwhile, on the Shield side, the easier-going Bigger Than Ever Before feature serves as our more standard final preview of what the new games have in store for us. Specifically focusing on how things in the new Galar region are larger in scale and scope than we’ve ever previously seen!

Our regular Reviews, Previews, Comic Breaks and more are here as well, of course, as we close the book on another calendar year and begin to look ahead to 2020. Here’s hoping you get to finish 2019 strong by having a blast journeying through Galar!

. . . Or, you know, skipping that. Since that’s an understandable decision to be making too!

As always, print copies of this issue ship with a double-sided wall poster! On one side, a full map of the Galar region from Pokémon Sword & Shield is ready to hang on your wall and help guide you through your journey. And on the reverse, a different Game Freak-developed game: Little Town Hero!