Pokemon Shield

Is this your first Pokémon game? Welcome! You will immediately feel at home, because the game takes you through the region by hand. There may not be a lot to do, but you do get to know the gameplay and Pokémon in an accessible way and you can immediately experiment with remarkable typing combinations.

To focus on what's missing would be to overlook the joys that remain. [Issue#340, p.106]

All the pieces were in place for Game Freak to make a truly stunning and ambitious new entry in gaming's biggest franchise. Tragically, it clearly wasn't given enough time to realise that ambition. Pokémon Sword & Shield aren't bad games - not even close - but they fall far short of what they might have been: the biggest and best Pokémon games in years, and the evolution the series needed.

Pokémon Sword / Pokémon Shield hasn't brought much to the series in spite of sky high expectations. It's still an enjoyable ride along, in spite of the heavy clipping and the lack of challenge.

Pokemon Sword & Shield doesn't take enough risks or attempt anything really new and important. The overwhelming amount of re-used assets and shortcuts leads to one of the biggest missed opportunities on the Switch to date. Newcomers will find a lot to love here, with no previous games to measure it against, but longtime series fans will likely be left wanting in almost every area.

If you have a decent interest in Pokémon, there is a largely enjoyable time to be had with the latest generation. There’s still a magic present that nothing else has been able to quite replace, and the improvements and additions are meaningful. It's also easy to want a mightier effort. There are times when you can see where the game could be so much better, and it's frustrating how it falls short of ideas that seem to be right in front of it. Whether it's the fact that a beloved pokémon might not be in the game, the mediocre story, or a strong sense of having seen a lot of this before, you may be left hoping that the next effort packs a more substantial punch.

Ultimately, while Pokémon Shield could be considered the best Pokémon game in the series, its repeated flubs keep it from being truly excellent. Shield gives the series a much needed rest by limiting Pokémon availability and move set overlap as well as adding some welcome variety to the game’s progression. It’s truly a joy to play, with ample side activities to break up the otherwise familiar gameplay loop. That being said, Shield is still a Pokémon game; anyone not already a fan or tired of the series won’t find a compelling reason to return here.

It's still an incredibly fun new adventure, and the Pokémon selection and variety is the best it's ever been. That said, it would be incredible to see the Wild Area become the new norm for the series, but as it stands, many of the new features feel more like spraying your sofa with Febreeze when really you need to buy a new sofa. Sure, it smells and feels new, but it's not, and you should really just commit to moving on from what was normal, and forge a new path into a new sofa. Look, just go with it.

It's easy to judge Sword & Shield as a quick cash grab during it's first hours. The rich and complex story from Sun & Moon is all gone in favor for a more classic Pokémon story with no flimsy side tracks. Graphically, it is also not as impressive as other major titles from Nintendo. But what we get instead shows a willingness to take the series forward with new, fresh features with Dynamax and the open world hub that is the Wild Area. And in the end the fight is the most important thing in a Pokémon game. When we're in the middle of a gigantic and crowded stadium, enjoying the most dynamic battles of a Pokémon game, it's hard to think of anything else. Then we realize that Pokémon should be all about becoming "the very best." Everything else is secondary.

Pokèmon Sword and Shield is the result of going all-in in some aspects of the game, completely forgetting the adventure elements of the RPG formula: dungeons and story.

While returning to its roots in some ways, Pokemon Sword and Shield feels stuck in a transitional phase – where Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee felt like a tech demo for what could be done on the Switch, these games feel like a mix of thoughts from the last generation that weren’t completely utilised. Having said that, Pokemon Sword and Shield offers a tried and true Pokemon experience that fulfilled expectations and gave nostalgic glimpses into why the series has maintained a presence for so long.

If you’re not sick of the formula, or if you’re new to the franchise, then it’s easy to forgive the meh story, subpar visual presentation, unchanged battle system, and messy multiplayer. It’s a solid Pokemon game that anyone can enjoy. Nothing more, nothing less.

Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield, the first real original duo of the main series on Switch, are not to Pokémon what Breath of the Wild is to The Legend of Zelda, namely a bold upheaval of fundamentals to establish a formula reinvented for coming years. With these new games Pokémon, Game Freak proceeds as usual in the evolution of the series, small touches, all the more welcome this time they seem absolutely necessary today, like the boxes PC accessible everywhere. Without major disruption but with significant improvements, in terms of game comfort mainly, and while some will probably deplore the reduced number of Pokémon referenced base in the Pokédex Galar, new region that enjoys a care of atmosphere and staging undeniable, Pokémon remains faithful to its formula still winning for over twenty years, at the risk of missing the evolutionary step offered and hoped for by its convergence with the so popular Nintendo Switch. That said, the proposal is still effective for those for whom risk taking is secondary and of course the newcomers, especially children, the first public concerned and whose generations succeed and always succumb to the charms of those offered over the years by Pokémon.

The furore over Dexit may be overblown but even without it this is an underwhelming and unambitious attempt to modernise Pokémon and expand its horizons.

Pokemon Shield isn't a bad game but it certainly feels like one of the lazier entries in the long-running series. It still has the core things that make Pokemon great but it comes up short in a few too many areas. I didn't feel like my time was wasted but once I reached the end, I had no desire to turn it back on again which marks the first time a Pokemon game has made me feel this way.

Pokémon Sword and Shield are solid Pokémon games but are too close to what we’ve seen before. It was time for some more ambition to rocket the main Pokémon series onto TV screens, but far more ambition was required than delivered.

There was a chance for these games to be some of the best in the series, and it’s just depressing that the final product that we’re left with is so utterly flawed. What was cut from the experience wasn’t worth what sparse improvements that the games received, and what we got feels like it should match the 3DS games’ price-point, and not a $60 Switch game’s. Pokemon deserves better, and I don’t think that’s greedy to hope for.

Pokemon Sword & Shield is all too often a bit disappointing, and in some places actually feels a little unfinished, but it also fully provides that warm, fuzzy feeling that one expects from the series. Crucially, even through frustration, never once did I think about putting it down, which is to its credit.