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Comparing Pokémon Winds & Waves To The Last Generation Shows A Massive Upgrade Pokemon winds and waves character running with a windmill and sky behind her

Pokemon winds and waves character running with a windmill and sky behind her

By Yuliya Geikhman Published Feb 28, 2026, 7:30 PM EST Yuliya Geikhman has been writing professionally for over 17 years. She started out in the MMO scene with Pando Media Booster and now dives into everything gaming at Screen Rant. She's a lifelong gamer, a relentless industry sleuth, and a passionate follower of everything happening in the games industry. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Add Us On Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

Pokémon Winds & Waves was announced during Pokémon Day yesterday, and the early footage is extremely promising. Winds & Waves will take the franchise into its tenth generation, with a lush tropical island location bursting with biomes to explore. After months of leaks and rumors, the official launch trailer shows a game that's a huge graphical push forward.

Recent Pokémon games have been criticized for not meeting current-gen visual standards. Game Freak has come under heavy fire from fans for bland-looking environments, textures, and buildings—the latter being especially jarring in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, which took place in a city almost entirely made up of buildings. The upcoming game is breaking through these visual limitations, especially when compared to the most recent games in the franchise.

Pokémon Wind & Waves Gets A Switch 2 Boost

The Improvement Is Immense

Winds & Waves will be released in 2027, which is a longer wait than between most mainline franchise games. However, this slight delay may be a good thing. It means Game Freak will have more time to create a product that will look and feel like a title that pushes current gen standards.

Pokémon Scarlet & Violet also suffered from performance issues and glitches, combined with a world that felt empty. These issues are especially jarring when compared with Game Freak's other project, the stunningly beautiful and detailed Beast of Reincarnation.

The Winds & Waves trailer shows a game that may finally allow the franchise to shake off these criticisms. The world previewed in the video is one that's alive with foliage, textures, lighting, and environments full of personality. The Gen-10 Pokémon game seems to be fully utilizing the improved power of the Nintendo Switch 2. And with at least a year left in development, things can only get better from here.

Generation 10 Is A Huge Visual Upgrade

Comparison Shots Show An Obvious Improvement

A screenshot from the pokemon winds & waves revealGame Freak/Nintendo

The huge leap from Pokémon Scarlet & Violet to Pokémon Winds & Waves is made even more striking when you compare the two side by side. This X post by Soen Yuju shows just how much of a difference a new console and a few years can make in game development. More side-by-side comparisons like this one from YouTuber GVG make the leap even more impressive.

Game Freak has clearly been working hard to meet fans' expectations. After 30 years, Pokémon Winds & Waves is poised to bring the Pokémon franchise into the modern age.

Pokémon Winds and Waves

Like Follow Followed Action Adventure RPG Open-World Released 2027 Developer(s) Game Freak Publisher(s) The Pokemon Company, Nintendo Multiplayer Online Co-Op, Online Multiplayer Prequel(s) Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Franchise Pokemon Number of Players Single-player