Having a super-sized battle in Pokémon Sword and Shield while in a Max Raid or taking on a gym is one of the mechanics that makes the newest generation of Pokémon so much fun. With select Pokémon getting the Gigantamax design, players are able to see some of their favorites standing as tall as a building with a fun makeover and powered-up moves. However, some Gigantamax designs miss the mark and go from epic to upsetting, and the reasons for the flop vary depending on the Pokémon.
When looking at the designs for Gigantamax Pokémon in Sword and Shield, one of the biggest struggles that can determine the success of a Gigantamax design comes from the angle. Because the Pokémon are so big, the effect of the design can be completely lost once the Pokémon is in battle simply because there is no good way to see it. A few Gigantamax Pokémon suffer from being so large that there is no way to really get a good look at them from the player’s angle on the ground below.
The other setback with the Galar Region-exclusive ability is that sometimes designers just don’t pick the best Pokémon for the special treatment. Much like Mega Evolution in X and Y, the upgrade works best with Pokémon that are well liked by fans already. An example could be Mega Slowbro, which looks lackluster next to a Pokémon as powerful as Mega Charizard. Unfortunately, giving a Pokémon that is already widely unpopular an overhaul almost feels like a waste of potential, and the designs often fall short of being interesting. Here are a few Gigantamax Pokémon who don’t seem to benefit from being sized up.
Worst Gigantamax Pokémon: Copperajah
As a Galar region native in Sword and Shield, Copperajah itself is a fairly powerful Steel type. The elephant inspired design outside of a G-Max battle is cute, with strong attacks to make it an asset to a players team. However, the issue with this Pokémon comes in its Gigantamax design. Copperajah is basically just a giant nose when it Gigantamaxes, and the player can’t really see what makes this extra-large version so special. Besides having a massive nose, there just isn’t anything special about it.
Worst Gigantamax Pokémon: Duraludon
Another addition to the Galar region exclusives is Duraludon. This powerful Steel/Dragon type Pokémon has a questionable design even before the player encounters it in G-Max form. While the building design likely is meant to appeal to it’s Steel typing, it does nothing for its overall appearance. Encountering a large building with arms doesn’t feel very much like a Pokémon, and leans more towards disappointing compared so some of the other G-Max Pokémon available.
Worst Gigantamax Pokémon: Garbodor
The most upsetting Pokémon to get a Gigantamax form, hands down, is Garbodor. This Pokémon and its pre-evolution Trubbish are Poison Pokémon that the games could do without. There is nothing at all appealing about a sentient pile of trash, and super-sizing it with a G-Max factor doesn’t add to the appeal. In short, there were so many other Pokémon that could have been amazing with a Gigantamax design, and giving the ability to Garbodor not only feels like a waste, but is just downright disappointing.
Adding special features like Gigantamax or Mega Evolution has become a regular occurrence in recent Pokémon generations. Creating special looks and powerful moves for a limited selection of Pokémon adds another element to collecting them for a player’s Pokédex and makes battling in each game a unique experience. Pokémon Sword and Shield has continued to add new Gigantamax-capable Pokémon through DLC expansions like The Isle Of Armor, and hopefully players will see more interesting designs added to make up for flops like Garbador in the future.
Pokémon Sword & Shield is available for the Nintendo Switch.
