>>42414907Yes, they cleary did, since, once fucking again, you can see it with your own eyes by comparing models that were modded into the game and blatantly do not resemble the models that have shadowmaps and more tailored for Sword Shield's artstyle.
"The rubber" look, the rim-lighting, is clearly there so that the models reflect the dynamax effect properly when the magenta lights are shooting up. Look at the Dragonite in SwSh mod people have posted lately here where it Dynamaxes and you'll see how badly lit the model gets without those normals and shadowmaps making sure the geometry is lit properly by it.
The game has a cel-shaded look that all models had to be tailored for, that's a clear creative decision, as the models do not have these shadowmaps in the datamine of any of their other variations and uses in recent days like in Masters and in Let's Go.
