Reception to the initial reveal for Pokemon Winds and Waves has been largely positive. After years of disappointment in Scarlet and Violet’s frankly very rough visuals—mended somewhat with the relative improvement seen in Pokemon Legends: Z-A—it seems like the future of Pokemon’s mixed-results 3D era is finally looking brighter.
Not only that, but the tidbits of gameplay we’ve seen also seem pretty great. Diving! Heck yes! Island-hopping! Whew! This open world looks more interactive, more old-school in its diverse approaches, than anything we’ve seen since Sword and Shield slowly began the tilt to this less structured approach.
But with all the hype over the big graphics update for the Switch 2 exclusives due for release next year, many have wondered which real-world location this as-yet-unnamed region takes its inspiration from. Thanks to a mix of eagle-eyed fans, Southeast Asian residents, and even last year’s deluge of leaks, we have a cool answer.
Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Represent!
As Twitter user SevyPlays notes above, the parallels to the Philippines at several points in Winds and Waves’ trailer are unmistakable. The bit I love the most is that over-water collection of buildings… it reminds me so much of Hoenn, but also, the cultural anthropology major in me also immediately thought of Southeast Asia! So, yeah! That tracks! Honestly, it feels like Gen 10 already has more personality than Paldea did. Or Galar, for that matter. No offense whatsoever to British and Spanish fans, and you’d all know better than I would, but by and large, the realization of their regional potential left me wanting.
Pokemon Winds And Waves’ Nintendo Switch 2 Exclusivity Is Already The Best Thing About It
The Pokemon Company and Game Freak have revealed our first look at Pokemon’s next generation.
IGN even ran an article on this effectively confirming the Malaysian and Indonesian connections as well. It’s clear that the map will be less direct about this than some previous iterations—you can basically match Kalos, Galar, and Paldea to parts of their respective real-world counterparts, for instance, and there are obvious representations to be found in the landmasses of the original four, all Japan-based, regions. This new spot is going to need to meld, or else stretch in a very specific cross-seas way, to pull in fantasy variations of its several inspirations.
It’s exciting times. I’m not going to link to those old leaks, by the way, but you can find them pretty easily on the internet… including right here at TheGamer. You’ll see firsthand, then, that this decision was vividly made much earlier in development. It all clicks.
