Remakes of older Pokémon games are as much of a sure bet as corruption in politics or me finding some way to surprise Gavin yet again with my unfiltered takes on food. I can’t believe fruit mince pies don’t have mince made out of fruit, that’s false advertising yo. Now that 2020 has doubled down on Pokémon expansions instead of an all star combo of Pokémon Sword and Shield, it’s time to look towards 2021 and see what’s on the Nintendo horizon.

In a year where people have been encouraged to stay at home, you’d have thought Niantic’s blockbuster mobile game would be in dangerous waters, but some clever tinkering behind the scenes has helped Pokémon Go stay more relevant than ever before.

There’s a simple formula to Pokemon games: Nintendo announces one, I throw money at my screen and for several months I refuse to shut up about my undying hatred for Bidoof. There’s also another simple formula regarding the release structure of these games: Two versions will be released, each one will contain Pokemon unique to them like Cha-Chingmon, and eventually there’ll be a third game to complete the trilogy.

There’s a number of familiar legendary beasts to capture in Pokemon Sword and Shield’s new Crown Tundra DLC, as well as a few new ones! The Regi legendary beasts have some new additions to the menageriem as in addition to Regirock, Registeel, and Regice, you’ll also be able to chuck a few pokeballs at Regieleki and Regidrago.

Pokemon’s latest slice of territory hasn’t been sealed off by blinding bureaucratic incompetence and a populace not giving a toss when the Pokerus arrived on the quaint island’s shores, and the tourism business is booming!

Ooblets is an excellent farming RPG with loads of deep customisation options and a satisfying progression arc, that’s weighed down by an irritatingly cute aesthetic and a battle system that feels like it should have stayed in the oven for a few more hours.

We’ve seen Pokémon revolutionise the strategy genre over the years. We’ve seen Pokémon strategy games, dungeon crawlers and even Pokémon fighting games. But today? Arceus help us all, the next genre that Pokémon is dipping into, is…a MOBA. Announced today in the latest Pokémon Presents showcase, Nintendo is teaming up with Tencent to develop Pokémon Unite.

A modest expansion to Pokémon Sword and Shield, Isle of Armor doesn’t stray away from the established formula of last year’s blockbuster game. But when the core experience was that good to begin with, more of the same is exactly what the series needs to still stay fun and fresh.