Pokemon Sun & Moon Files Reveal Unused Buddy Feature
By Boston Blake 25 November 2016
Gamers discover unused buddy system animation assets in Pokemon Sun and Moon files, causing some gamers to wonder if the feature will be available on Nintendo Switch.
With the release of Pokemon Sun and Moon in November, Nintendo kicked off a busy six months for fans. Nintendo 3DS gamers around the world are actively scouring the Pokemon Sun and Moon worlds for rare and mythical Pokemon, while others continue to wait on the release of the Nintendo Switch in March.
So far, Pokemon Sun and Moon have been well accepted by fans, despite a few drawbacks. Naturally, some gamers have taken to digging through the games’ files to see what may be lying in wait for players, or what has been left out of the titles. Interestingly, such mining has revealed a rather well developed feature that was completely left out.
Gamers discovered an unused buddy system for the game, including completed animations for Pokemon to walk alongside players in the games. Many gamers have shared these animations online, along with their confusion for why they were left out.
@RacieBeep pic.twitter.com/TXURCdhaf4— KazoWAR (@KazoWAR) December 5, 2016
There could be multiple reasons the animations were left out of the game. Sometimes developers create features that they hope to include, but don’t make the final cut. Often when that happens, though, such features are left unfinished, with only a ghost of an idea created but not implemented. The fact that the Pokemon Sun and Moon animations were completed seems to hint that something else kept the feature out.
A likely reason could have to do with the load times and power on the standard Nintendo 3DS. It’s already known that the New Nintendo 3DS can handle and load the games much faster, so it could be that the Pokemon animations were too much for the older handhelds.
The fact that the animations aren’t included in Pokemon Sun and Moon on Nintendo 3DS doesn’t necessarily mean players will never be able to play the games with the buddy system. A recent report teased that Nintendo is planning to bring both titles to the upcoming Nintendo Switch, which will obviously be much more powerful than any version of the Nintendo 3DS. So it could be the animations were left in the Nintendo 3DS files, but were only meant to play a part in the Nintendo Switch version of the games.
Magikarp just flops pic.twitter.com/B5CKwlB4bo— Sleepy (@SleepyJirachi) December 6, 2016
That Nintendo Switch version of Pokemon Sun and Moon – apparently codenamed Pokemon Stars – will likely offer additional features outside just the buddy system animations not available on Nintendo 3DS. Reports point to higher resolution assets, and possibly more Pokemon for players to collect. With all that in mind, hopefully players can look forward to seeing the Pokemon buddy system in the games on Nintendo Switch.
What do you think about the missing animations in Pokemon Sun and Moon? Would you like to see the buddy system implemented on the Nintendo Switch?
Pokemon Sun and Moon is currently available for Nintendo 3DS.
