Game Freak explains why HMs are not in Pokémon Sword and Shield

The folks at Game Informer recently made a trip to Game Freak’s Tokyo headquarters for this month’s cover story, which happens to be Pokémon Sword and Shield. They had a chance to chat with the game’s director, producer, planning director and art director, picking their brains on the direction of the series and what they hope to accomplish with the upcoming Nintendo Switch titles. Among the topics discussed include Max Raid Battles, The Game Informer Show, the new autosave feature, controversy surrounding the National Pokédex and the decision to exclude HMs:

According to planning director Kazumasa Iwao, HMs didn’t fit into the philosophy of Pokémon Sword and Shield. “I think they played a role in the series traditionally to be like the relationship between a door and a key; the HM will unlock something and you’re able to progress and feel the ability to go to a new place,” he says. “We didn’t have them in Sun and Moon, and this time around, we didn’t feel it really matched the concept, especially with the Wild Area and wanting to have this higher degree of freedom. The player can kind of choose how they want to engage with the gameplay. Having the more HM-based elements, we didn’t feel it really matched the game, so this time around they’re not in it.”