Pokemon Sword and Shield Art Director Shares Inspiration for Early Starters Scene

Pokemon Sword and Shield, the latest and greatest Pokemon game, is now available for Nintendo Switch. The first mainline game for a non-handheld gaming console features some distinct starting Pokemon with vastly different personalities. Unlike previous generations where the three starters were broadly similar in that way, this one takes a slightly different tact -- and art director James Turner recently shared a look behind the curtain, so to speak, at one way in which the game introduces these differences.

Turner took to Twitter this weekend to share the inspiration behind a cute little scene between the three starters, Scorbunny, Sobble, and Grookey, in Pokemon Sword and Shield. In the scene, a falling fruit drops into a pond near Sobble, and it causes the Pokemon to jump out, startled. It's then joined by both Grookey and Scorbunny, each of which seemingly try to calm the Water-type Pokemon down in various ways.

I came up with this little bit at the beginning of the game because I wanted to show the three starter’s personalities and show how they look out for each other
🍃 🔥 💧 https://t.co/7yygtuItAd

— James Turner (@JamesTurner_42) November 17, 2019

What do you think of Turner's little behind-the-scenes explanation here? Are you already playing Pokemon Sword and Shield? Let us know in the comments, or hit me up directly on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk all things gaming!

ComicBook.com's review of Pokemon Sword and Shield gave the new games a 4 out of 5, overall. You can check out an excerpt of our review below:

"Once the dust settles from the controversies stirred up over the summer, Pokemon Sword and Shield will be looked upon by fans fondly. This is a great Pokemon game, one that, at times, pushes up against its self-imposed limitations and teases a new path for the Pokemon franchise. The real question coming out of Pokemon Sword and Shield is whether the Pokemon Company will build upon the newest innovations seen in the game and strive to keep the Pokemon franchise exciting and relevant, or if they'll just retreat to familiarity and disappoint a fanbase looking for reasons to keep playing for decades to come. Pokemon Sword and Shield is a half-step forward for the Pokemon franchise — we'll see if they put the other step forward with their next set of games, which could be critical to keeping some of its more jaded fans."

Pokemon Sword and Shield are now available for Nintendo Switch. This marks the first time a mainline Pokemon game has released on anything not considered a "handheld" Nintendo console, though the Nintendo Switch does, er, switch back and forth in its original model. You can check out all of our previous coverage of Pokemon Sword and Shield right here.