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As part of a special Nintendo Direct to celebrate Pokemon Day, Nintendo and The Pokemon Company have finally pulled back the curtain on Pokemon Sword and Shield, the series’ upcoming eighth generation titles for Nintendo Switch. On top of revealing details about the games’ setting, we got our first look at their brand-new set of starter Pokemon, which represent the first Gen 8 Pokemon.

As in previous Pokemon games, players will be presented with a choice of three different Pokemon when they first begin their adventure in Sword and Shield. This time around, the options will be the Grass-type chimp Grookey, the Fire-type rabbit Scorbunny, and the Water-type lizard Sobble. You can see all three of them below.

No other new Pokemon have been revealed yet, but we did get a glimpse at a ton of returning Pokemon, including a handful from Sun and Moon–you can see all the Sword and Shield Pokemon in our gallery. Sword and Shield are set in the new Galar region, which appears to be based on Britain and spans idyllic countryside, rustic towns, and frigid mountains.

Pokemon Sword and Shield are being directed by Shigeru Ohmori, who also served as director of Sun and Moon. Based on the footage revealed thus far, Sword and Shield appear to be much more traditional takes on the series than the recent Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee; random encounters seem to be back, and players will once again be able to battle wild Pokemon before capturing them. It’s also been confirmed that Gyms are returning after they were dropped from Sun and Moon. We also spotted some mysterious symbols, though it’s unclear what significance they have, if any.

Pokemon Sword and Shield release exclusively for Nintendo Switch in late 2019. That doesn’t appear to be all that awaits Pokemon fans this year, however. Toward the end of the presentation, The Pokemon Company president Tsunekazu Ishihara teased that the company has “plenty in the works for the Pokemon brand that we hope will delight you.”

Nintendo debuted the new Pokemon RPGs coming to Nintendo Switch this year during its special Pokemon Nintendo Direct. In the process, it revealed a lot about its new setting. Pokemon Sword and Shield are set in the Galar region, and the gameplay video gives some sense of the real-life setting that inspired it.

Based on what we’ve seen so far, Galar looks to be very heavily inspired by the UK. It’s full of cottages and Victorian architecture, and an overview even showed a tall clock tower that appears similar to the famous Big Ben tower in London, England. The setting also appears to offer a variety of weather types, including winter weather that requires a change of clothes. You might also notice some mysterious symbols scattered throughout; we’re not sure if they have any significance at this point, but they could prove to be significant.

The names “Sword” and “Shield” also invoke imagery of Medieval knights, often associated with English history. In a tweet from 2018 that may have slyly teased the game, Game Freak specifically tagged Nintendo of Europe. At one point in the trailer the player character dons a soccer-like uniform and enters a huge stadium, which contributes to the European feel.

This wouldn’t be the first time Pokemon has been set in a region inspired by Europe. While many of the earlier Pokemon RPGs have been set in areas based on Japanese settings, the Kalos region of Pokemon X and Y was based on Paris and the surrounding French countryside. Other notable non-Japanese regions have included Unova from Black and White (based on New York City) and Alola from Sun and Moon (based on Hawaii).

The debut also laid out the three new Gen 8 starters, and they’re just adorable. We’ve also rounded up all the Pokemon in Sword and Shield we’ve seen so far.

During a special Nintendo Direct for Pokemon Day, Nintendo has finally revealed its upcoming Pokemon games for Nintendo Switch, which seem to represent Generation 8. Named Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield, the games will be released in “late 2019.” You can see the game in action in the trailer below.

The games are set in a new region named Galar, which looks to be similar in appearance to Britain. The three starter creatures were shown off in Nintendo’s Pokemon Direct presentation; they are a grass monkey named Grookey, a fire bunny named Scorbunny, and a sad water lizard, Sobble. Gameplay was shown in the Direct but was not detailed extensively, though it seems like this will bring back random encounters, among other things.

Sword and Shield are directed by Shigeru Ohmori, who previously directed Sun and Moon and has worked on the series since 2002’s Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire. Following Sword and Shield’s trailer, which you can watch below, The Pokemon Company teased it was working on more in the Pokemon franchise besides these new titles. No more details were confirmed.

The Pokemon Company first announced it was working on new Pokemon games at E3 2017. Since then, the publisher said little else about the upcoming titles–only that they are “core RPG Pokemon titles” and that they would launch in the latter half of 2019.

The “core RPG” description is in contrast to the most recent Pokemon games, Let’s Go, Pikachu and Let’s Go, Eevee, which were released for Nintendo Switch in November 2018 as remakes of sorts of Pokemon Yellow. They incorporated some elements of the mobile phenomenon Pokemon Go in an attempt to ease newer players into the mainline series.

February 27 is Pokemon Day, The Pokemon Company’s yearly celebration of its huge pocket monster franchise. Pokemon Go is holding a special event, with generation one creatures spawning more frequently along with shiny versions of Pidgey and Rattata.

NetherRealm Studios has added another familiar face to Mortal Kombat 11‘s roster of fighters: Johnny Cage. The movie star turned kombatant has been a mainstay since the very fist entry in the fighting game franchise and, over time, has changed his look in various ways. In Mortal Kombat 11 he’s a little older and greyer, but still embodies the classic self-involved Hollywood actor stereotype.

You can see Cage in action over on IGN ahead of a full reveal later today. Cage looks to have retained the majority of his iconic moves, like the flip kick, fireball, rising punch, and shadow kick. However, he’s also got some new tricks, such as using a camera’s flash to momentarily stun his enemy, and calling another Johnny Cage–presumably a stunt double–to hold his opponent down while he pummels them. His Fatality is pretty funny, but we’ll let you see that for yourself.

NetherRealm Studios is set to host a Kombat Kast stream today at 1 PM PT / 10 AM ET / 9 PM GMT / 8 AM AEDT (February 28). During these streams members of the development team usually breakdown aspects of the game such as new characters in a great deal of depth. We expect Johnny Cage will be the subject of the latest Kombat Kast, so make sure to watch the stream here on GameSpot.

A Mortal Kombat 11 beta is planned for March 28 for those who pre-order, and the game will be officially released for PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch on April 23. Check out our pre-order guide for all of the various versions of the game, including the $300 edition that includes a wearable Scorpion mask.

As part of a wide-ranging new interview, 343 Industries boss Bonnie Ross spoke candidly about Halo Infinite and what Microsoft wants to achieve with the Xbox One and PC game. She also responded to the battle royale phenomenon and confirmed that Halo Infinite will be at E3 2019.

Starting off, Ross told IGN Halo Infinite is a “spiritual reboot” of the Halo franchise. After the struggles of Halo: The Master Chief Collection and shortcomings related to Halo 4 and Halo 5, Ross said 343 took a step back to better consider what Halo Infinite should be.

“There has been a lot of introspective time to really reflect on what have we done as 343, where have we made mistakes, where have we hit it right, and what does Halo mean to all of us,” Ross said. “[Halo Infinite] is coming from [a place of], ‘What does Halo mean to all of us?’ The trailer that we did [at E3], that’s what Halo means to the studio. Maybe it took us two games to get there. We’ve done good things and bad things. But what does Halo mean to us? It’s about hope and wonder and heroism and humanity and community and bringing a community together. That’s what that trailer is, and that’s what we want to do [with Halo Infinite].”

Ross went on to say that she was proud of Halo 4’s campaign, but acknowledged that the multiplayer “lacked what we needed.” As for Halo 5, the game made improvements to the multiplayer package, but its story was “overwhelming,” she admitted. Halo Infinite aims to get it right with both single-player and multiplayer.

“So I look at Infinite as, we’re going to put the whole thing together,” she said. “Story is incredibly important and so is multiplayer. We have audiences that champion both sides–and then a lot of them that like both of them.”

Also during the interview, Ross responded to the current craze around battle royale games. She acknowledged that 343 is aware that some fans want to see a battle royale mode in Halo Infinite. She praised Respawn for Apex Legends, and said that game feels more like Halo than Fortnite, which could be a clue to Microsoft’s plans for Halo Infinite. But will Halo Infinite have a battle royale mode? “We have conversations all the time about what the right thing to do is,” she said, adding that the sandbox nature of Halo’s multiplayer allows for lots of different game modes, potentially including battle royale.

Whatever Microsoft decides to do with regards to battle royale or any other new game modes, Ross stressed that fans can rest assured that 343 won’t do anything that doesn’t feel right for Halo.

“Whatever we do needs to be the right thing for Halo. Whether or not you call it a battle royale or how we’re thinking about things going forward, the team thinks about, ‘This needs to be right for Halo,'” She said. “It’s always an active conversation, but I’m not saying anything more about [battle royale] right now.”

The interview also touched on the long gap between Halo 5 and Halo Infinite. In the past, mainline Halo games typically came out every three years, but that’s being extended for Halo Infinite. She confirmed that Microsoft considered releasing what she called “Halo 5.5” or a “Halo 6: ODST” type of Halo game that could launch as quickly as two years after Halo 5, but she and Xbox boss Phil Spencer ultimately decided it was “not the right thing for the fans.” Importantly, Ross stressed that no actual development work went into Halo 5.5 or Halo 6: ODST; it was only brainstorming.

She and Spencer had discussions about how to build a foundation for Halo that would set up the franchise for continued success over the next 10 to 20 years. Launching a “truncated” or “half-baked” Halo game, as Ross called them, would have potentially damaged the Halo brand. She acknowledged that Halo 5 lacked the kind of innovation that fans were looking for, so the team is taking extra time with Halo Infinite to ensure it’s an innovative game that also appeals to veteran fans.

Halo Infinite is rumoured to be a launch title for a new Xbox console said to be launching in 2020. Ross said Microsoft’s philosophy is to make sure a game is great before releasing it. It would seemingly be advantageous for a new Xbox platform to launch with a Halo game to help boost hardware sales, but she stressed that Microsoft is more focused on making sure the game is great instead of timing it to launch with new hardware. For reference, Halo: Combat Evolved was the only Halo game to be released as a launch title for Xbox hardware, and that was all the way back in 2001.

Looking ahead, Ross confirmed that Halo Infinite director Chris Lee will talk about the game at E3 2019 in June, but she didn’t give any teases for what to expect. While Halo Infinite’s release date hasn’t been announced yet, there is another rumour that claims the single-player will release in 2019 with the multiplayer component coming in 2020. Nothing is confirmed at this stage, but Microsoft has confirmed it’ll let people play the game ahead of launch through “flighting” programs.

Another interesting tidbit from the interview include Ross stating that Microsoft eventually wants to try again to make a Halo movie. There is a Halo TV show coming up sooner, and Ross said TV is a good format for a Halo story because its provides more time for character development. She also briefly spoke about the canceled Halo Mega Bloks game. She said the game, which had a more “whimsical and fun” take on Halo, lacked a clear design focus, and added that it was in development for a year longer than it should have been. Regarding other more experimental Halo games, Ross said 343 holds “hack-a-thon” events internally to come up with new ideas that could be made into Halo games after Halo Infinite.

Ross was recently inducted into the AIAS Hall of Fame. The first woman in the AIAS Hall of Fame, Ross joins other industry legends like Bethesda’s Todd Howard, along with Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto, Metal Gear designer Hideo Kojima, and Valve founder Gabe Newell.

You can watch the full IGN interview with Ross here.