Earlier today, Nintendo showed off their latest Nintendo Direct, focusing on the upcoming Pokemon Sword and Shield, revealing some exciting news. Among them was a new battle mechanic that makes your Pokemon huge for a few turns called Dynamax, boosting their moves and making the battle something like you would see in a Godzilla movie. It’s pretty similar to Mega-Evolutions and Z-Moves from earlier Pokemon titles, but it’s not clear yet if these are getting replaced by the Dynamax mechanic.

Despite how cool it sounds, some people are pretty skeptical of how the mechanic will affect the flow of gameplay, myself included. However, it does open up a whole new type of gameplay that I’ve only ever imagined in my wildest dreams… raid battles! These involve you and three other trainers battling against a powerful Dynamaxed wild Pokemon. Coordination will apparently be key in these battles, as for instance only one trainer’s Pokemon can be Dynamaxed, and you can only do it once per battle. There are probably other cooperative mechanics as well such as a shield move that can be seen in the trailer.

These raid battles are similar to those already present in Pokemon Go, and is probably where Sword and Shield have taken inspiration from. I never really had a chance to participate in Pokemon Go raids myself, since everyone I knew had already moved on from Go at that point, but from what I’ve seen the raids in Sword and Shield seem to require more coordination then raids in Go. The battles in Sword and Shield more so remind me of a raid boss you would find in an MMO; a bunch of people coordinating to take on an impossibly powerful enemy.

During the Direct they also revealed a new area called the Wild Area: a completely open environment that dynamically changes depending on factors such as the in-game weather. Here you can control the camera freely and move around sort of like Breath of the Wild, and also see wild Pokemon outside of battle similar to the Let’s Go games. This also seems to be where you and your friends will gather to fight the raid Pokemon, and you will be able to connect with your friends with local wireless. But fortunately, if you’re like me and prefer to be a little more… reclusive, then you can also find people through the internet and play with them that way as well.

Pokemon Sword and Shield will be released on November 15th. You can see the full Direct here.