One of the longest-standing traditions in the Pokémon series has been the inclusion of time mechanics. Depending on whether it’s day or night, you’ll find a massive visual difference in many later games, as well as several new Pokémon and characters to interact with depending on the in-game time.
Pokémon Sword & Shield features a day-night cycle too, but the time-based mechanics in this game are far less prominent and features greatly different benefits other games. There are a few ways that this game’s day and night cycle are spectacular changes for the series, but there are also some reasons why it’s more of a disappointment.
10 Fails: There Are No Time-Specific Pokemon
The first big issue with this game’s night and day cycle is that, unlike nearly every game since time mechanics were introduced, no Pokémon are found exclusively during day or night. Every Pokémon in the game can be caught at any time of day, making nighttime much less interesting overall.
Considering how many Pokémon in this game were originally introduced based on their timely appearances, such as Hoothoot at night in the Johto games, it’s a shame that wild Pokémon are always consistent. It’s convenient for every Pokémon to be available any time you play, but also makes playing at night much less interesting.
9 Succeeds: Graphically Beautiful
It might be a shame that the Pokémon you interact with are identical through the hours, but nighttime still exists in Galar as a visual feature. Many areas will darken as the day goes on, letting you see lampposts light up and a darker color scheme as the sun hides away. There are several places where this is especially beautiful, such as the bridges overlooking the Wild Area.
Even if it isn’t mechanically different, this visual trait is still a wonderful addition that makes the world feel more real and engaging. Playing late at night and seeing the morning sun can be extremely unsettling, so it’s great for Pokémon Sword & Shield to keep daylight and nightfall for players to organically know what time it is.
8 Fails: Time Is Fixed In Several Places
While there are some places you’ll witness the time change clearly, there are far more areas in Pokémon Sword & Shield where time is completely ignored. This has always been true of indoor spaces, but even outdoor environments like Gym Leader Opal’s place of residence, Ballonlea, are always dark whenever you show up.
It would’ve been lovely to see what Ballonlea looks like when the bright mushrooms have faded, and how the sun shines through the massive trees. The environments in this game are quite gorgeous thanks to the gorgeous graphics, but it’s exceptionally weird for places like this to be frozen in time.
7 Succeeds: Several Daily Events
Pokémon Sword & Shield might not have many differences between day and night, but the progression of time is still extremely prominent. Time matters less as a matter of night and day and more through the transition between full days, with daily events such as the Wild Area and Pokéjobs both refilling with content after every 24-hour cycle.
Between those main changes, and several interactable NPCs that you can battle or talk to each day, there’s much more to do each day once you’ve completed the game’s main story. The time of day might not matter as much in Galar, but each full cycle of day and night will always provide you with more tasks, rewards, and content.
6 Fails: Weather Can Disguise Time
One of the larger emphases in Galar is the changing weather, particularly in the Wild Area and the Isle of Armor. Rather than fixed weather patterns for each space, everything from blazing sunlight to sandstorms will appear randomly throughout the region, giving much more diversity to your adventures each day.
Unfortunately, these effects can often hide the time of day. Many conditions like thunderstorms simply obscure it, but some like harsh sunlight can defy time and appear as late as midnight. The weather is a great feature of this game, but it’s disappointing to see it run over this other environment-changing condition.
5 Succeeds: Time Changes Much More Gradually
Time in Pokémon games remains extremely straightforward, even in Pokémon Sword & Shield. Since there are relatively few mechanics in the game that occur in short windows of time, just being able to recognize day and night are all that’s necessary for most evolutions and events. This is made even easier thanks to less sudden shifts from day to night, with sunset being incredibly detailed over the hour.
This might not seem like a huge convenience, but not every Pokémon game has had such visible time changes. Before their remakes, Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire did had time mechanics, but there wasn’t any way to check the time besides going to clocks inside of buildings. This made the time much more confusing to use for evolving Pokémon, but in Pokémon Sword & Shield it functions much more fluidly.
4 Fails: Confusing To Utilize
Time might be fairly easy to understand by itself, but how to use it for evolution can be slightly more difficult. The game shifts between between day and night during six and seven o’clock in the morning and evening, but there aren’t NPCs that tell you this and you can only find out by slowly watching the clock yourself.
The reason this is confusing is that the game also doesn’t tell you what Pokémon evolve at specific times of day. For example, if you wish to evolve your Eevee into either an Umbreon or Espeon, you’ll need to evolve it with high Friendship at either night or day, but neither of these mechanics are explained to you with clear instructions.
3 Succeeds: Can Be Easily Changed
One of the big reasons day and night cycles have shown up in so many Pokémon games is because of the Nintendo DS’s internal clock. Since Pokémon Diamond & Pearl, the clock is always running and doesn’t require the slow and awkward in-game clock that early Pokémon games had, which needed to be set up manually when starting your journey.
This thankfully still exists on the Switch, and so this feature works seamlessly and organically without any additional in-game setup. Many players also have learned exploits to skip time for daily events that are easier through the Switch’s settings, which can be quickly and speedily accessed for a variety of great tricks for bolder players.
2 Fails: Many Time-Based Evolutions Are Missing From Galar
One of the more common complaints with Pokémon Sword & Shield as a whole is its smaller Pokédex, as not all Pokémon are transferable or usable in the game yet. There aren’t too many commonalities between those excluded from the initial game, but several Pokémon like Gligar, Tyrunt, and Amaura that evolve at specific times of day are still missing.
This isn’t to say there aren’t many time-dependent evolutions like the multi-formed Alcremie, but Pokémon Sword & Shield’s Pokédex still lacks many others. Without more Pokémon that evolve at specific hours, time remains a fairly irrelevant factor for many players.
1 Succeeds: It Isn’t Vital To Completing The Pokedex
Having no time-based Pokémon is undoubtedly frustrating for those wishing for a more realistic world, but for completionists, this is a bit of a blessing. No longer do you need to fiddle with your system settings just to catch rare Pokémon, and instead you can dive in any time and find any Pokémon whenever you boot up the game.
Even time-based evolutions aren’t as large of a problem anymore, since many difficult evolutions are available to capture through Max Raid Battles. It was never a massive inconvenience, but it can make completing the Pokédex far easier for both new and veteran trainers.
NEXT: Pokémon Sword & Shield DLC: 10 Additions To Character Customization We’d Love To See
