SwSh Pokemon Sword/Shield will have no HMs

[Marc]

I didn't even notice HMs weren't in Sun/Moon but it's been confirmed that they will not have a part to play in the upcoming Pokemon Switch titles.

Some words from planning director Kazumasa Iwao:

“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. 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.”

I don't really care too much. I just hope we can get moves like surf, waterfall etc through other means like TMs. Would suck that we wouldn't have unlimited usages (if I'm remembering correctly) but I hope the more important moves can be obtained multiple times.

As a competitive player, I need Waterfall on my Gyarados

 

[Starry Windy]

I'm pretty sure that even though HMs are not available in recent Pokémon games, moves like Surf and Fly are still available albeit relegated as TMs. So I don't mind quite much about the omission of HMs as long as they can provide nice alternatives in place, just like having Partner Pokémon learn it as Secret Techniques (in Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee) or utilizing PokéRide in Alola region.

 

[Marc]

moves like Surf and Fly are still available albeit relegated as TMs.

Wait.. I can't remember since I haven't played in a while. Do TMs have unlimited uses in the latest games?

 

[Starry Windy]

Wait.. I can't remember since I haven't played in a while. Do TMs have unlimited uses in the latest games?

Yep, they sure are.

 

[Marc]

Yep, they sure are.

Okay then I don't see the point in HMs anymore.

 

[Bagel]

Good to know, but we could've guessed that already based on the fact that they weren't present in sun and moon or lets go pikachu and eevee. Too bad some of them will probably take up a tm slot like in Sun and Moon.

 

[Artisan]

Marc TMs had unlimited usage since B/W.

It would've been neat if your starter could only learn 1 HM and then travel to X locations just to add variety between groups of friends playing the game. There is a definite positive to this. Progression depends more on your key items now. You have more moves to choose from and not limit your Pokémon if you needed an HM before. You cannot trap yourself in game. Sure that was the case with every Pokémon game because you could use your moves even when Pokémon faint/not forget a move and replace it with another. So that means you can forget moves any time you want to. Moves like Cut serve no purpose anymore.

How this can be bad... Good moves like Surf might appear later in the game. Ultimately meaning you have to look for every TM again and might have to beat certain trainers without it.

 

[Pandaxclone2]

As far as feature discarding is concerned, I'm not too fussed about HMs being removed. But the fact that the National Dex is still on the chopping block makes me concerned quite a bit for Pokemon's future.