As of today, August 7, Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield are 100 days away from releasing – and we’ve teamed up with Nintendo of Canada to give one lucky reader the chance to win one Nintendo Switch and a copy of the games when they launch on November 15! Want to win a Switch? Continue reading to find out how!

The eighth generation of Pokémon is almost upon us, and the fans that aren’t mortified by the thought of not being able to catch ‘em all are cheering at the death of random battles and the addition of the semi-open world Wild Area. There’s a lot to like in the upcoming Sword and Shield, and with a clearer picture of what the game is going to be like, now’s as good a time as ever to recap the features! Also, stick around for the chance to win a Nintendo Switch from Nintendo of Canada themselves!

Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield bring us to the Galar region, a United Kingdom-inspired area in which Pokémon battling is treated as a widely televised sport. It always kind of was, but it’s at its peak in Galar, a nice contrast to last gen’s Alola which lacked a formal league. In addition to that is the Dynamax and Gigantamax phenomenon, allowing Pokémon to grow to enormous size in certain locations, and even take new forms and use unique moves (like a combination of Mega Evolution and Z-Moves from prior games).

Coming alongside Dynamaxing is Max Raid Battles, where you and three other trainers (humans or AI) meet up and fight a permanently Dynamax’d Pokémon with special abilities. This is a clever evolution of the asymmetric boss fights against Totem Pokémon in the last-gen, and may finally scratch some people’s itch for new and advanced challenges. Beating these Pokémon allows you to catch them in the wild, which brings us to our next big point: the Wild Area.

The Wild Area is a massive map (or set of maps) that lays in the approximate middle of the Galar region. In it, Pokémon roam freely throughout the environment, and you can pick your battles as you wish. You can even wander into areas you’ll have trouble dealing with! I’m eager to see how speedrunners handle this game. With the most immersive world, we’ve seen in a Pokémon game, we can’t wait to get our hands on these games.

Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield will be releasing November 15 for Nintendo Switch. If you’re interested but don’t have the system (or want two for assorted reasons), then we’re running a contest to award one lucky entrant with one Nintendo Switch of their own, along with one copy of Pokémon Sword and one copy of Pokémon Shield. The prize pack will be awarded to our winner when the games launch on November 15! Contest open to Canadian residents only.

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