The Switch 2 needs a great, exclusive Pokémon game – will Winds and Waves finally oblige?

It's been too long since many of us have been able to be excited for a Pokémon game without needing to make some major qualifications to that excitement – whether it was the extreme performance issues that Scarlet and Violet brought, the repetitive locations of Legends: Z-A or the restrictiveness of Sword and Shield.

Now, though, that moment might have finally come, in the form of a pretty triumphant first trailer for Pokémon Winds and Waves, the next two mainline games in the series – Switch 2 exclusives, thank goodness. For the first time in ages, it looks like we could be getting Pokémon games that actually make the most of the system they're launching on, revealed on the 30th anniversary of the series.

The rumours about this next generation of games had been plentiful in recent weeks and months, to the point where the titles were all but confirmed a good while ago. Still, it's one thing to read leaks and claims, and quite another to see a debut trailer this impressive, relative to what's come before.

First Look: Pokémon Winds and Pokémon Waves | Announcement Trailer - YouTube

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The trailer doesn't have any voiceover or firm details about the region it'll be set in, or indeed how the game will work from a mechanical point of view, but it's a fairly safe assumption that it'll have the same freeform exploration that worked so well in Scarlet and Violet.

It's immediately obvious, though, that we'll be in a totally different stratosphere as far as graphical presentation goes. On Switch 1, Scarlet and Violet were downright ugly at times, while posting dire frame rates; on Switch 2, they're smooth as butter but still not the prettiest.

Winds and Waves, by contrast, looks staggering – with far more detailed environments and some water effects that are more than one generational leap ahead of what came before. The fact that the trailer also confirms we'll be able to explore underwater makes that look all the more enticing.

In fact, given the huge expanses of ocean we see at various points, you can bank on flying and surfing being two major game mechanics, whereas only gliding was really central to Scarlet and Violet. The draw distances appear to be far better now, too, making it easier to pick somewhere on the horizon to make for.

It all looks pretty brilliant, even if we have no real clue how it performs in stability terms (or indeed in target frame rate). The pessimist in me (and the experience) says the games are almost guaranteed to target 30fps, for instance, but there's nothing to know on that front for a good while.

What we do know is that the games will come out in 2027 for Switch 2, without a more precise date – and be a major system-seller for the Switch 2 when they do so. The console is, in my mind, a simply superb bit of hardware, but I've no doubt that by that time it will be wanting an exclusive on this level quite badly. In the absence of a new 3D Mario game, for instance, a Pokémon game will certainly help keep it moving off the shelves.

So, I'll allow myself to get more than a little hyped for this one – I haven't seen a Pokémon trailer this impressive in years, so let me have my fun.