Pokemon Shield

 Switch
User Score
4.7

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 3465 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,154 out of 3465
  2. Mixed: 587 out of 3465
  3. Negative: 1,724 out of 3465
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  1. Kenmei
    Nov 21, 2019
    5
    If this game had come out on the 3DS, this would easily be considered the worst mainline Pokémon game in a very long time. The game feels like it consistently takes one step forward, then two steps back, and that's not even taking the National Dex controversy into question. Just because this is the first mainline game on the Switch, people are going to play it. And it feels like Game FreakIf this game had come out on the 3DS, this would easily be considered the worst mainline Pokémon game in a very long time. The game feels like it consistently takes one step forward, then two steps back, and that's not even taking the National Dex controversy into question. Just because this is the first mainline game on the Switch, people are going to play it. And it feels like Game Freak knew this and put out a subpar product. Even outside of the review bombing this game has received, its still underwhelming and, for whatever they do after this game, whether it be a 3rd game to these two or a new Remake, then they need to fix a lot of stuff to get back on the elite level that pokemon usually stays.… Expand
  2. Patrick95
    Nov 27, 2022
    6
    Tenemos delante una entrega algo floja de la franquicia. Pero a pesar de eso, creo que tampoco merece el hate desmesurado que recibe. El juego hace cosas mal, como la trama, la dificultad o los gráficos del área silvestre, pero hace otras muy bien como algunos personajes, el primer leve contacto con mundo abierto o su banda sonora. Al final es un juego más de Pokémon, por lo que, es divertido.
  3. WinterSoldierAM
    Mar 2, 2020
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. So how is Pokemon Shield on its own? The answer is mixed to say the least. The first thing any Pokemon games exposes you to is your rival and starters. I like the design of the starters but ended up choosing Scorbunny. Your rival Hop is one of the worst rivals in the series, partially because he is so much like Hau. He is the brother of the Champion (another awful character) who just wants to be able to win. And he doesn’t. He loses over and over again throughout the game. To the point that it is annoying to even interact with him. The professor of this region isn’t present much in the story at all, instead her granddaughter is the one who follows you around and reveals plot points throughout the story. Sonia is the most likeable character in the game and has the best story of all the characters. One that shows her full growth from aspiring historian to full on Pokemon Professor. The Champion as mentioned earlier is hollow. He appears several times to simply save the day (offscreen) and when he actually interacts with you it is usually just to stroke his own ego. He is the “Unbeatable Champion”. And you will read that again, again, and again. And I say read because there is no spoken dialogue in the game, but we will get to that. The main baddie doesn’t appear until the very end when you and several leaders and other rivals come together to confront a legendary brought back to life. Team Yell follows around Marnie, another rival with limited time and development, which is more than team Yell gets. Unfortunately, Pokemon Sword and Shield have some of the worst characters in the series as well as a story with most of the interesting points being hidden as you get shuffled to the next gym(arena) to face the next leader.

    Pokemon games have never had voiceovers, however at this point dull characters backed up by zero spoken lines reflects poorly on these next-gen games. This would have been a great time to introduce voice acting to help make these characters more endearing to the player. But like many of the other woulda coulda shoulda elements of these games, a lot of it comes down to time. As for the other audio in the game many of the Pokemon cries are good and reverb throughout the open wild area as they spawn. The music tracks don’t really start to pick up until the very end of the game, but they are really good. The beats during the tournaments in the game are great fun and really push the feeling of a crowded stadium battle. The old traditional sounds from pokemon hatching to leveling up and evolving are all present and are as great as they have always been.

    Gameplay is much the same as usual, catch Pokemon, have them battle in turn-based segments and repeat. The battle animations vary widely with a handful being really cool and most others being very bland and old by this point. You travel through very small linear routes and no dungeons to get to each town some of which look much better than others, all fairly small and desolate overall. Even the final city is filled with buildings with nothing to do in them. No interesting side quests, items or dialogue. They just exist as window dressing. The Wild Area gives you an open area with a free camera to use and explore. While it is a great new element, it is pretty limited and presents many bland looking vistas and major performance drops. The weather changes are nice but some like fog and sandstorms obscure raids and Pokemon because they are so thick. The max raid battles are a new interesting element not devoid of issues of course. The rng nature of them makes trying to find a specific Pokemon an arduous task. The game saves before starting the raid off so whatever Pokemon appears in that bastion appears until the day resets or you beat it. Jumping into a raid with ai is frustrating as the ai can often have Pokemon weak to the raid boss leading to multiple faints and a loss on your part. Waiting for real people to join sometimes works and other times fails entirely. But what is worse is getting a match finally only to have your teammate earthquake and lose the match just because they have nothing better to do.

    The post-game is not long, however the story is much more enjoyable and introduces raid battles in case you have been waiting to do them. You revisit some gyms and fight a new threat that makes a lot of sense. It resolves in a fairly benign and unsatisfying way, but it is a lot more interesting to see the characters develop some compared to the main story. The battle tower is as you would expect from the series, fight several battles with your teams at preset levels for BP that can be used to buy items.

    Ultimately, Pokemon sword and Shield are games that display just how stuck in the past Game Freak is and how the development schedule for Pokemon games keeps them from ever innovating unlike newer jrpgs. Pokemon has the potential for so much more, and it is a shame that this is the best we will get for the foreseeable future.    … Expand
  4. Guy_McDude
    Jan 10, 2020
    5
    Very little inventive features. Frame rate issues and a clunky online sticker system. The worst aspect is arguably the narrative that says nothing and does nothing but trot out the franchise cliches without charm. It feels like the game is a labor of begrudging obligation.
  5. death12123
    Jan 11, 2020
    6
    The game is still Pokemon and fun but the lack of content and with how easy this is, just wait for a used copy at the bargain bin. Full price isn't worth it. Especially with how easy this game is. You can beat it in a day if you wanted to. The amount of FPS drops this game has is also eye hurting. Down to as low as 10FPS. The performance alone is what hurts the game most for me and hopingThe game is still Pokemon and fun but the lack of content and with how easy this is, just wait for a used copy at the bargain bin. Full price isn't worth it. Especially with how easy this game is. You can beat it in a day if you wanted to. The amount of FPS drops this game has is also eye hurting. Down to as low as 10FPS. The performance alone is what hurts the game most for me and hoping a "Switch Pro" would fix that issue. You can still enjoy and like a game but you can also still give full criticism.

    Some good things on the other hand are the raids are actually cool and it's still at the end of the day Pokemon as usual. The soundtrack is great and the character models are better than ever. However why add those models and not add them as available clothes to wear? The customization in the game is pretty barebones and NPC outfit parts should easily be available.    … Expand
  6. hoznex
    Sep 13, 2020
    6
    It is not a bad game, but far from the best.
    We are not on the 90’s anymore so we don’t hace any hardware restrictions to cut the pokedex, there are so many unpolished places and the ones that look awesome you can barely interact with it. The difference between male and female customization is abysmal and it leaves you with less replaying value when you choose to play as the male    It is not a bad game, but far from the best.
    We are not on the 90’s anymore so we don’t hace any hardware restrictions to cut the pokedex, there are so many unpolished places and the ones that look awesome you can barely interact with it. The difference between male and female customization is abysmal and it leaves you with less replaying value when you choose to play as the male character. Not being able to rematch the gym leaders when they have all theese enormous gyms created is a huge miss too.    … Expand
  7. jztigersfan23
    Nov 21, 2019
    5
    The game is fun but there is a terrible bug That makes the game force your TV into a shut off the loop if you have a certain smart TV brand. Not having the national Dex is also an issue but I bought this game to play it on my tv and I can even play it on my tv. nintendo please don't rush game freak to make these games if there are bugs like this in them. If this is how things are going toThe game is fun but there is a terrible bug That makes the game force your TV into a shut off the loop if you have a certain smart TV brand. Not having the national Dex is also an issue but I bought this game to play it on my tv and I can even play it on my tv. nintendo please don't rush game freak to make these games if there are bugs like this in them. If this is how things are going to be done I do not think I am buying the next title in the franchise. Not being a bublic catch all wild pokemon in the wild area no matter the level also is a big restriction for some people, it just doesn't want me to going to the wild area at all until I finished the game.… Expand
  8. Tabamon97
    Jul 31, 2020
    5
    I just feel like the developers were lazy. The game progression feels dumbed down to the max. streets being blocked by grunts that well for no apparent reason. Pokemon ruby was at least forcing you to use special moves in order to block progress until the gym leader was defeated. The plot does not make much sense. The supposed villain is again, dumbed down and without any personalityI just feel like the developers were lazy. The game progression feels dumbed down to the max. streets being blocked by grunts that well for no apparent reason. Pokemon ruby was at least forcing you to use special moves in order to block progress until the gym leader was defeated. The plot does not make much sense. The supposed villain is again, dumbed down and without any personality traits or clear end-goal like team magma and aqua were, and I am not even comparing this game to the best pokemon games ever made. Ruby and Saphire have their flaws, but not as big as this one. From the same people that have Zelda on their console, this is just a joke. Graphics were lazy, character development was extra lazy. The combat is almost the good old "find a good pokemon against a certain type and spam their move". I kind of wish they were a bit braver with this.… Expand
  9. gooblaster
    Nov 20, 2019
    6
    Does a lot of stuff really well,but what it doesn't do well, it does terribly. A one step forward, three steps back kind of game.
  10. koolaidman486
    Nov 18, 2019
    5
    Honestly, Sword and Shield aren't HORRIBLE. They're perfectly fine games.
    However, they aren't real steps forwards for the series.
    The Good: - A lot of the music is quite good - The character models look quite nice - More condensed areas look good, if not a massive improvement over the Sun and Moon games - There's more good than bad with the new Pokemon. Almost all of them either are    Honestly, Sword and Shield aren't HORRIBLE. They're perfectly fine games.
    However, they aren't real steps forwards for the series.
    The Good:
    - A lot of the music is quite good
    - The character models look quite nice
    - More condensed areas look good, if not a massive improvement over the Sun and Moon games
    - There's more good than bad with the new Pokemon. Almost all of them either are nice looking, or good in battle
    The Bad:
    - REALLY bad overworld animations
    - The scaling of the Pokemon is also all sorts of messed up (really big Pokemon are comically small in a lot of cases)
    - The Wild Area looks outright bad and unpolished
    - Bad Route design, they're overly condensed and straightforward
    - No real dungeons
    - About 60% of the old Pokemon are just not in the game, and there's no new models or animations to compensate for that, and GameFreak outright lied several times about the reason for the cut.
    - Really bad frame rate drops, despite the fact that graphics of this mediocrity should be running at 60 FPS
    - Bad overall polish, the game isn't super buggy, but it's clearly not out of beta in various places yet.

    Overall:
    Wait for a deep sale, or just play one of the OG DS games instead    … Expand
  11. dislexicpotato
    May 6, 2020
    6
    Pokemon Sword & Shield are by far the weakest mainline Pokemon games in years, just a bit of context:

    Gamefreak lied to the fanbase, claiming that they needed to remove over HALF of the Pokemon in order to ‘improve animations’ when in reality the animations are ripped right from the 3DS games. The annual releases are killing this franchise nevermind the mediocre graphics, laughable    Pokemon Sword & Shield are by far the weakest mainline Pokemon games in years, just a bit of context:

    Gamefreak lied to the fanbase, claiming that they needed to remove over HALF of the Pokemon in order to ‘improve animations’ when in reality the animations are ripped right from the 3DS games. The annual releases are killing this franchise nevermind the mediocre graphics, laughable animations, noticeable pop in, EXP share being mandatory making the games even easier than usual when the Pokemon games are already too easy, the game also only takes 15 hours to beat and has practically 0 post game. Do not support Gamefreak with these half assed efforts. They even removed Aipom wtf???    … Expand
  12. julianym89
    Nov 20, 2019
    6
    Nueva entrega, en general continuista, con algunas nuevas mecánicas, dirección artística muy buena (inspirada en UK) aunque motor gráfico rozando lo mediocre. Las animaciones en combates han avanzado poco.
    Mantiene el encanto y sigue siendo adictivo.
  13. Frenish
    Nov 18, 2019
    5
    Finished the shield under 25 hours, now I’m playing sword. The game is pretty underwhelming. The design of the Pokémon are underwhelming as well. I got a eve evolved it into sylveon and got it to lvl 60 while everyone one else was 20-35 Including gyms, so pretty easy. The feature of dynamaxing is also lame.
  14. zasham
    Feb 2, 2020
    5
    For me the biggest negative thing about the new Pokémon games are the difficulty. They are likely the MOST easiest/casual Pokémon ever. No puzzles, no real dungeons, experience points for all Pokémon, exchange Pokémon directly without going to the center, way too easy trainers ect. ect. ect. There are so many flaws in difficulty, it seriously hurts!
    If those were the first games in the    For me the biggest negative thing about the new Pokémon games are the difficulty. They are likely the MOST easiest/casual Pokémon ever. No puzzles, no real dungeons, experience points for all Pokémon, exchange Pokémon directly without going to the center, way too easy trainers ect. ect. ect. There are so many flaws in difficulty, it seriously hurts!
    If those were the first games in the whole series, Pokémon wouldn't have been such a big success as it is today. Hope they learn the next time! If not, it will be my last one forever.    … Expand
  15. Kyo_Bogard
    Jan 16, 2020
    7
    Demasiado fácil.

    Es un regreso a la fórmula. Pokémon de toda la vida con las suficientes novedades como para que no se sienta el mismo juego de siempre. Los nuevos Gimnasios Pokémon hacen que no sea tan repetitivo. Por otra parte, el área silvestre, aún siendo una gran idea, le falta por pulir ya que tiene grandes bajadas de framerate, sobre todo conectado a internet. En cuanto a la    Demasiado fácil.

    Es un regreso a la fórmula. Pokémon de toda la vida con las suficientes novedades como para que no se sienta el mismo juego de siempre. Los nuevos Gimnasios Pokémon hacen que no sea tan repetitivo.
    Por otra parte, el área silvestre, aún siendo una gran idea, le falta por pulir ya que tiene grandes bajadas de framerate, sobre todo conectado a internet.
    En cuanto a la nueva generación, aún siendo muy fan de las 2 primeras generaciones, no me ha resultado tan mala. No creo que el hecho de no tener a todos los Pokémon existentes sea un punto negativo.    … Expand
  16. Spagbonara
    Dec 16, 2019
    5
    This is as barebones as Pokemon gets. I like Raid battles and dynamaxing, but the bad online and story even for pokemon standards drag this experience down. The gameplay at it's core is nothing new for pokemon with slightly better visuals than Sun and Moon. Speaking of the visuals, I think it looks good in towns and routes but the Wild Area just looks ugly. In my experience, it took 70This is as barebones as Pokemon gets. I like Raid battles and dynamaxing, but the bad online and story even for pokemon standards drag this experience down. The gameplay at it's core is nothing new for pokemon with slightly better visuals than Sun and Moon. Speaking of the visuals, I think it looks good in towns and routes but the Wild Area just looks ugly. In my experience, it took 70 hours to do everything there is in the game including finishing the Pokedex and beating the postgame. If this pokemon game had everything in Sun and Moon and these extra stuff on top, It would have been an easy 8 or 9 from me, But as it stands, it's a game you play through once and sell. If you like pokemon, you'll like this game but don't expect anything more.… Expand
  17. Pookytookybaby
    Nov 18, 2019
    7
    I had a lot of fun with the game. I was a little shocked at the lack of graphics and textures, especially in the wild area. Zelda botw and Mario Odyssey set a standard for this generation Nintendo games. This game is not great in that department. I have a lot to say about this game, but not here. Was wanting more out of a console Pokemon game.
  18. jljosue
    Nov 28, 2022
    5
    The game promised a lot but in the end it came to nothing, it was just a graphical update of the 3DS trees and very poorly used ideas, with a very mediocre story. It would have been nice if the base game included DLCs for a more optimal experience, as the sparse content didn't show the game's potential. I really disliked Dynamax's mechanics, as the flow of the battles are slow, and theThe game promised a lot but in the end it came to nothing, it was just a graphical update of the 3DS trees and very poorly used ideas, with a very mediocre story. It would have been nice if the base game included DLCs for a more optimal experience, as the sparse content didn't show the game's potential. I really disliked Dynamax's mechanics, as the flow of the battles are slow, and the animations tiresome.… Expand
  19. dash383535
    Jun 23, 2020
    5
    #DashReviews

    The Pokémon series has finally come to home consoles after two decades of handheld mainline games. With expectations high for what the series can do with this new powerful hardware, will it be able to live up to these expectations or will fall flat on its face compared to the less powerful 3DS versions of the game? The story in Pokémon Sword and Shield is pretty generic    #DashReviews

    The Pokémon series has finally come to home consoles after two decades of handheld mainline games. With expectations high for what the series can do with this new powerful hardware, will it be able to live up to these expectations or will fall flat on its face compared to the less powerful 3DS versions of the game?

    The story in Pokémon Sword and Shield is pretty generic when it comes to the standard Pokémon adventure. Nothing really deviates you from going to the gyms, getting the badge, rinse and repeat. The story has a villain and a bit more going on besides the standard of trying to become the ultimate Pokémon trainer but it strangely set up near the end of the game. This makes for a story with super-fast pacing that has almost nothing interesting happening through most of its run time. The pacing is so fast and rushed, that the box art legendary plot is saved for the post-game. The story is easily one of the most boring aspects of this game which is a shame since titles like Pokémon Black and White had more going on and those are $30 DS games.

    Gameplay-wise, this is a Pokémon game through and through. It’s the standard turn-based RPG everyone has been playing for years. There a few new gimmicks like Dynamaxing, a way for your Pokémon to turn into kaiju monsters. There one open area in the game with a free-roaming camera. The game treats this as a big deal but consoles games have had free moving cameras since the N64 days. The best new mode in the game is Co-Op raid battles since you will be working with your friends to catch powerful Pokémon. These few new modes and gimmicks are also at the expense of half of the Pokémon roster being cut. Even with the fun of raid battles, it not enough to make these games stand out as next-gen titles. They are painfully average games in the series that are super easy to boot. If you love Pokémon games, they're passable but I feel like these games need more innovation for being console games in 2019.

    This is the least polished Nintendo I have ever played. Framerates dropping drastically every time you go into the open area, models pop in constantly, and it graphically looks like Pokémon Sun and Moon unscaled to HD. Animations are so stilled to the point that everyone moves like a robot and no one blinks. The soundtrack is my personal favorite of the series but the amazing songs don’t make up for this game's wealth of technical problems.

    Pokémon Sword and Shield are passable games in the franchise that will either please fans that want more of the same or anger others that wanted these games to have a new life on a home console. They don’t do enough to innovate this stale franchise and don’t even bother to give this generic game the polish it should have. I would wait for a discount or skip these games entirely. Hopefully, the next installments in this franchise give fans what they truly deserve.

    Pros:
    +It’s the Same Old Pokémon
    +Great Soundtrack

    Cons:
    -Boring Story
    -No Innovation in the Gameplay
    -Technical Mess
    -Cut Roster for Little Change    … Expand
  20. RahmenX
    Nov 21, 2019
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. May contain very minor spoilers.

    Cons:

    -Very easy, and gym leaders have only like 3 pokemons, that are also low level. Untill lategame where they get higher level and have more pokemons. Still MEGA easy, mainly because of EXP share that you can't turn off.

    -I've played for many hours postgame and so far I've filled half my pokedex with pokemons caught in this one same area. All you have to do is run around aimlessly and wait for the right conditions for certain pokemon to spawn.

    -Dynamax pokemon fights in the Wild Area are essentially identical. No matter which pokemon you are facing you do the same thing. And you can only do so much damage before they enter a protection phase. Which then repeats once more. So it really doesn't matter how much stronger you are cuz you will hit this damage cap and trigger the break point for the protection phase anyways.

    --Using support abilities and poison moves in the Wild Area Dynamax fights are essentially pointless due to the protection phase and damage cap.

    ---High level Dynamax Fights can feel cheap. With a full NPC team it's pointless cuz they will get killed off 4 times, and thereby you lose the fight. Same thing happens if you are strong and playing with lower level players. No matter how strong YOU are, if you are the only one not getting one-shotted/not doing any damage you will most likely lose the fight because of damage cap and protection phase.

    -Graphics are kinda 3DS'y and can definitely be improved ALOT. This is not even close to the Pokemon remake.

    -Abyssmal animations compared to MY expectations. And I have low standards here. Some attacks are awesomely animated, but other times the pokemon just jumps up and down.

    -NPCs and pokemons pop in to existence only when you get real close.

    -No compelling postgame whatsoever. Nothing more entertaining to explore and everything siphoned down to running around in the hub, AKA the Wild Area.

    -No real "bad guy"? I felt like the entire plot was all around people misunderstanding eachother and they all actually wanted the best for everyone.

    -Doing stuff with other random players is MEGA ANNOYING. You have to through a list of people wanting to trade or fight, BUT if they have cancelled/finished their request their announcement is STILL THERE and when you click it you get an error message. This happens ALOT cuz there is no "UPDATE LIST" BUTTON. It happens automatically when certain conditions are met. (Restarting game / finish a dynamax fight with other players etc). My god, man, come on Game Freak.

    Pros:

    +It was quite enjoyable to play through the game. Even though you got interrupted every 5seconds of walking through it cuz some story event or npc wanted to interact with you.

    +Not too many tutorials, you could skip alot by choosing you already knew the thing.

    +The Wild Area made it possible to get your pokemon team set up really early.

    +Plenty of accessible TMs and TR's(one-time use TM's) to choose from so you could hook your pokemons up while playing through the story.

    +Each gym had, in addition to the fighting, different tasks to complete. They where really fun.

    +You could see pokemons walking around. But you didn't get one following you, nor being able to mount one, like in the Pokemon remake.

    To reach this conclusion I spent about 50hrs in the game.    … Expand
  21. Alvz9
    Jul 20, 2020
    7
    Este juego no es la revolución que todos estábamos esperando. Es bien continuista respecto a las entregas de 3DS; más allá del apartado gráfico, me refiero principalmente a la parte jugable. Creo que el tema de "no agregar todos los pokémones de la pokedex" resta ganas de jugarlo tras terminar la historia principal, y el hecho de que los DLCs añadan más pokémons no soluciona el problemaEste juego no es la revolución que todos estábamos esperando. Es bien continuista respecto a las entregas de 3DS; más allá del apartado gráfico, me refiero principalmente a la parte jugable. Creo que el tema de "no agregar todos los pokémones de la pokedex" resta ganas de jugarlo tras terminar la historia principal, y el hecho de que los DLCs añadan más pokémons no soluciona el problema inicial (de hecho, vuelve grave que se tenga que pagar nuevamente para agregar nuevos pokémons). Espero que la próxima entrega de la franquicia logre posicionar una narrativa más profunda, un nivel gráfico que exprima la potencia de Nintendo Switch, y todos los pokémon.… Expand
  22. DeadSmack
    May 17, 2023
    7
    Can't get the hate on this series. The games are GREAT, the online events were great also. The new regional forms are... meh, i don't like the idea of regional forms, but that's me. The story is not that great at all, but it's entertaining at least. Gameplay is fine, the pokedex are great, and the dlc's add the diversity much needed in the game. While they are not the best games of theCan't get the hate on this series. The games are GREAT, the online events were great also. The new regional forms are... meh, i don't like the idea of regional forms, but that's me. The story is not that great at all, but it's entertaining at least. Gameplay is fine, the pokedex are great, and the dlc's add the diversity much needed in the game. While they are not the best games of the series, or in general, great addition to the franchise.… Expand
  23. HellsaintED
    Jan 20, 2021
    6
    After seeing the evolution of other Nintendo franchises in the Switch like "Mario Odyssey" and "Breath of the Wild", it is just lame to see Pokemon receive little to no evolution at all, it is a 3DS game with a Switch price tag.
  24. BrightAbyss
    Oct 19, 2020
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Not a ton of new things added and the national dex being cut is a huge con. I am aware of the dlc's coming out later and think that this is a better format than dropping pretty much the same game with a new cover, but the complete lack of a postgame makes waiting for these dlc's difficult. I can't help but feel these games were rushed, and that the creators just needed a little bit more time to make these games perfect. I did enjoy the atmosphere of the gym battles, and I thought most of the new pokemon added had great models, but there are really only 2 new legendaries currently in the postgame, and the battle tower is a joke. Overall, the story isn't terrible, but it's not great either. Team Yell, the newest evil team in the galar region, is by far the worst team to ever be introduced in the pokemon franchise. They play almost no part in the story and have no real purpose. In the end, I do think that this is a step in the right direction for pokemon if they can take these criticisms into account for the next games, as I believe the switch will have a longer lifespan than the traditional handhelds pokemon releases on. Hopefully the upcoming generations won't need to be rushed onto a new console, because I truly believe that we could be in for a treat if the developers are given proper time to make these games great.… Expand
  25. Dsros96
    Jun 3, 2020
    7
    Probably one of the best Pokémon games ever graphics wise. I'm not giving it perfect score because of the Pokedex cut, the lack of postgame, the Mega evolutions being forgotten and the incursions (they are uninteresting). But besides that, this game is amazing. Also version exclusives are a thing from the past and some online functions should be for free but anyway, overall a very good game.
  26. PredatorPlus
    Nov 23, 2019
    7
    Gráficamente es un cambio a favor. El área silvestre se trata de una beta, está muy desaprovechada. En cuanto la historia me ha parecido pésima y post-game de tan solo 3 horas. En 70 horas me he pasado el juego al completo, historia y pokedex con la ayuda de únicamente de los exclusivos. En comparación con el resto de juegos de pokemon me parece que se queda corto en algunos aspectos.Gráficamente es un cambio a favor. El área silvestre se trata de una beta, está muy desaprovechada. En cuanto la historia me ha parecido pésima y post-game de tan solo 3 horas. En 70 horas me he pasado el juego al completo, historia y pokedex con la ayuda de únicamente de los exclusivos. En comparación con el resto de juegos de pokemon me parece que se queda corto en algunos aspectos. Espero que esta base la utilicen bien para el futuro.… Expand
  27. coolwali
    Jun 23, 2020
    6
    A game that takes several steps forward with features that really bring Pokemon onto the home console experience.....but takes several steps back in the process. The overly linear nature, the inconsistent story and a lack of postgame do little to justify the hefty price tag
  28. kaelmato
    Dec 1, 2019
    7
    First off, I really wanted to give the game a 7,5 but since that isn't an option I leaned more heavily on the 7 side.

    So lets get the good things out of the way first. The gameplay is fun. The new raid system is suprisingly fun (when it actually works). The wild area is actually a neat idea. The entry for competitive battling has been streamlined a great deal, which is great for people    First off, I really wanted to give the game a 7,5 but since that isn't an option I leaned more heavily on the 7 side.

    So lets get the good things out of the way first. The gameplay is fun. The new raid system is suprisingly fun (when it actually works). The wild area is actually a neat idea. The entry for competitive battling has been streamlined a great deal, which is great for people like me who don't have all day to breed and ev train those perfect pokemon. The music is really good and I absolutely love most of the new designs.

    So why a 7? This game has... Issues. a lot of them.

    I'm not going to touch on the graphics issues as this game in my opinion has passable graphics for a switch game. They're not great, but they're not horrible, it's a switch game.

    So lets start actually with missing features: Over half of the entire national dex have been cut from the game, and while I can live with this decision, I know a lot of others cant.
    The GTS has also been cut, this allowed people to easily trade pokemon around the world without the hassle of going to online forums looking for trades. In fact the online features of the game have been turned to an absolute nightmare. You go online, and you see bunch of people... doing stuff, but there's absolutely no way to interact with any of them in any way. Jacob is searching for a double battle? Well too bad, I can't join him. Nessie wants to trade? Well good luck with that. The only relevant information that shows up is people seeking for raids and even those rarely show up, and when they do show up, the joining window has most likely passed already.

    Moving on,

    The story in this game is actually so bad it would've been better if there wasn't one. Now pokemon games have never had that good stories going on (With the exception of black and white), but this one was especially bad. The lack of any kind of decent post game (with the exception of copy-paste battle tower and version legendary catch) doesn't really help either.

    This game is also incredibly easy, but this has been a trend for years so I cant really pin it on this games faults.

    And last but not least, the fps in wild area when connected to the internet tanks hard. I'm not just talking about few frames here, for instance when you're breeding in the wild area, sometimes it's lagging so bad that when your egg starts to hatch, your character stops in their tracks a few SECONDS before the text box "oh" pops up.

    In conclusion, the game is OK, not great, but it's not bad either. It is actually super fun to play and battling online still feels mostly the same, however the game is plagued with crippling issues that may or may not hinder your enjoyment of the game.    … Expand
  29. Comradely
    May 14, 2020
    6
    I think a lot of the criticisms are harsh. I don't *really* think it's any easier than the older games. The Pokemon series has always had a problem with difficulty. I don't think the map is any smaller or lacking in 'exploration', I think the simplicity of the route design and the camera (in caverns and caves) is just deceptive and makes you feel like a path is more linear and lessI think a lot of the criticisms are harsh. I don't *really* think it's any easier than the older games. The Pokemon series has always had a problem with difficulty. I don't think the map is any smaller or lacking in 'exploration', I think the simplicity of the route design and the camera (in caverns and caves) is just deceptive and makes you feel like a path is more linear and less convoluted than the caves and routes in the previous games. And I don't think the designs of the new Pokemon are the worst we've ever seen.

    However, the lack of story is there and very disappointing. Pokemon games have never had strong stories or narratives, but the way that your engagement of the mythos with the region is constantly usurped by supporting characters and you're told to (and restricted to) focus on the next gym challenge is such a weird and bad decision...    … Expand
  30. jimmercise
    Nov 21, 2019
    6
    Extremely mediocre game. It starts well but quickly becomes tedious. The end is a real drag with no elite 4. It's just the same dudes you've already thrashed with crappy teams, plus one actual champion fight at the end.

    zzzzz.
  31. hknyrbkn
    May 8, 2021
    5
    As per the generation of newly introduced Pokemon I love this game. The rest, meh. The DLCs, disaster...
  32. Speedie
    Nov 24, 2019
    7
    If you're looking to compare this game to the rest of the Pokemon series, don't bother. Game Freak is taking their world famous series in a different direction, and as a life long Pokemon fan, I'm not upset at all. There are new introductions to the series between battle functions and main quest direction that keep things interesting at all times. There is of course room for improvement,If you're looking to compare this game to the rest of the Pokemon series, don't bother. Game Freak is taking their world famous series in a different direction, and as a life long Pokemon fan, I'm not upset at all. There are new introductions to the series between battle functions and main quest direction that keep things interesting at all times. There is of course room for improvement, as with any video game produced, but it's plenty of fun, and a welcome introduction to my lineup of Pokemon game cases.

    When the game was first announced, and we were told that the National Pokedex was gone (meaning not every existing Pokemon would be in the game) I was quite upset to say the least. I had a feeling some of my favorite Pokemon would be cut, and I was correct. Looking back on it, I was an idiot. The 400 Pokemon included in the game fit so perfectly into the world, being spread out not too thin, but also not having an overwhelming variety in each area. The game feels balanced on the combat side of things due to the limit on specific Pokemon and abilities. Cutting Pokemon from the final project wasn't a split second decision of laziness, it was a decision made to ensure the world feels expansive enough without being crowded, it it works like a charm.

    The story driven content in the game isn't very deep. Not in the slightest. The sad excuse for the "Team" of this generation is something to be disappointed over for sure. The climax has very little build up at all, and a majority of the game is just the protagonist children talking about how they'll be the best trainers there ever was. The post game content is a bit better. More witty, funny, and overall entertaining, but short. I do wish there was deeper lore in the game, or really any significant lore at all to make me excited about the world, but sadly there is no hope. The one slight upside, is that some of the character development is very fun to follow, and caused a few smiles and laughs from me watching the characters change, or chose not to.

    The online features work a bit better than I expected. A bit laggy in the Wild Area sometimes, but otherwise very smooth and reliable. The servers had some issues at the start, but that has nothing to do with the actual experience I had while they were active. The new Raid addition to the game, as well as Trades and Battles are very smooth and work like a regular online game server, which is more than is usually expected from Nintendo.

    In conclusion, this generation is very fun, without a doubt. If compared to the rest of the Pokemon games, sure, it's towards the bottom of the list. As a standalone Switch game though, it truly is a great experience! If you can will yourself to simply get excited about a new video game, and jump into it with a positive, or even neutral mindset, you truly will enjoy yourself. The game is worth a full play through, and deserves praise for the things it does well.    … Expand
  33. MrCrowley
    Nov 22, 2019
    6
    While it doesn't deserve the hate it's gotten, this Pokemon installment is somehow both satisfying and disappointing at the same time. On one hand, we have some interesting new Pokemon designs, fun Gigantamax raids, very refreshing gym mechanics, and a fairly beautiful region. On the other hand, we have lazy Pokemon designs, dated and rushed graphics, an extremely simplistic storyline thatWhile it doesn't deserve the hate it's gotten, this Pokemon installment is somehow both satisfying and disappointing at the same time. On one hand, we have some interesting new Pokemon designs, fun Gigantamax raids, very refreshing gym mechanics, and a fairly beautiful region. On the other hand, we have lazy Pokemon designs, dated and rushed graphics, an extremely simplistic storyline that even a child could predict, and a Dynamax mechanic during some battles that barely does anything in my opinion. Therefore, while I had fun playing it, I would only recommend this installment to true fans of the franchise that can look past all of the issues.… Expand
  34. Lighty
    Nov 19, 2019
    5
    Too easy, Game Freak lied so much about it, poor graphic and FPS performance, rushed, boring characters, no personality and charm, too much cut content (moves, Pokémon, etc.), boring gameplay, and some minor issues. Wild Area is good though.
  35. JadedSince91
    Nov 15, 2019
    6
    I was very conflicted about the new Pokemon game and while it didn't completely win me over, I also didn't let the hate cloud my judgement about this new installment. Is it the best Pokemon yet? Far from it. Is it enjoyable fun? Definitely!

    Let's start with the negatives. The characters in this game (mainly Hop, Leon, Sonia) are extremely annoying. Hop never shuts up about how great    I was very conflicted about the new Pokemon game and while it didn't completely win me over, I also didn't let the hate cloud my judgement about this new installment. Is it the best Pokemon yet? Far from it. Is it enjoyable fun? Definitely!

    Let's start with the negatives. The characters in this game (mainly Hop, Leon, Sonia) are extremely annoying. Hop never shuts up about how great this adventure is and how he will be the next champion while he is a pathetic opponent. He is Hau 2 basically. His brother, Leon, is presented as the unbeatable champion of the region and the "all around" cool guy, but he is just a lame guy with a terrible fashion style. Sonia is just stopping you to share irrelevant information all the time. They are just annoying.

    The animations are sometimes really basic. There are a few flashed our moves (mostly the recently added or new moves), but the older ones (like Double Kick) are just sad to look at. The graphics are alright in my opinion, but this is largely due to the better camera movement in cutscenes and battles. What is a huge negative for me is the battle backgrounds. I encountered several indoor fights where the background was just a generic grey area (like another dimension) which is truly pathetic from Gamefreak. They clearly rushed the product for the Christmas season.

    I read many people complain about the difficulty, but I think it is fine. I played with "set" ruleset and didn't grind my team and some of the fights were challenging without using items - although never lost a single battle in the end. It is important to remember this game is for everyone so if you are 14+ and want a challenge then don't grind, use set rule, don't use items, and change your team frequently. You can also do Mono type challenges, whatever. I had some really tense moments and I'm 28 and played all Pokemon games in the past.

    Ultimately I had fun so far playing the game. The new Pokemon are fun, the world is interesting and the gym challenges are a welcome change (especially the Fire challenge, that was quite fun). Obviously the game could have been much much better if the development was not rushed, but people giving 1s and 2s to the game? Come on!    … Expand
  36. goiky
    Jan 22, 2020
    5
    Not one of the best pokemon games, but definitely utilizes its platform well. The story is absolutely horrendous, with being horribly paced, bad motivations for almost every character except for Hop, and humor that's forceful and unfunny. The gameplay though is pretty good. The cutting of the National Dex was a genius move, especially when considering how tedious it would be to complete aNot one of the best pokemon games, but definitely utilizes its platform well. The story is absolutely horrendous, with being horribly paced, bad motivations for almost every character except for Hop, and humor that's forceful and unfunny. The gameplay though is pretty good. The cutting of the National Dex was a genius move, especially when considering how tedious it would be to complete a dex otherwise, given the expansive world that they have. The mechanics that this game introduce (the wild area and raids) are the best to be seen in any pokemon game, because it's on a switch. However, I had 0 difficulty the entire game. I mean, it's a pokemon game, it's gonna be fun, but this one was incredibly easy, and that's coming from someone who had difficulty with sun and moon. Still, people who are calling this game the worst are nitpicking and biased.… Expand
  37. Squishydew
    Nov 19, 2019
    5
    Pokemon sword & shield show everything thats wrong with mainline pokemon games.

    Every generation it becomes more obvious that gamefreak puts in minimal effort with lacking animations, graphics, and this time a story that is outright annoying, being delivered by CONTINUOUS npc interuption. Even worse, at times the npcs run off to experience the real story while you just do a    Pokemon sword & shield show everything thats wrong with mainline pokemon games.

    Every generation it becomes more obvious that gamefreak puts in minimal effort with lacking animations, graphics, and this time a story that is outright annoying, being delivered by CONTINUOUS npc interuption.

    Even worse, at times the npcs run off to experience the real story while you just do a meaningless task.
    On top of the Dex cut, subpar online functionality and FPS drops, these games feel rushed and uninspired.

    There are redeeming qualities - Like overworld pokemon are amazing and miles better than random encounters, but its sort of ruined by the extremely obvious pop-in issues the game has.

    The leap to console should've been amazing, sadly its below average at best.

    This is a €20 game being sold for €60    … Expand
  38. Strewth
    Dec 6, 2019
    5
    1. Your character choices are 6 different shades of child
    2. Incomplete Pokedex (gotta catch em all?)
    3. Laughably lazy battle animations that look like they're from gen 1(tail whip im looking at you) 4. Shockingly rough graphics 5. Shoehorned online features 6. Suuuuuper casual easy difficulty 7. Lame uninteresting story (gotta be the best yada yada yada) 8. Score for the most part    1. Your character choices are 6 different shades of child
    2. Incomplete Pokedex (gotta catch em all?)
    3. Laughably lazy battle animations that look like they're from gen 1(tail whip im looking at you)
    4. Shockingly rough graphics
    5. Shoehorned online features
    6. Suuuuuper casual easy difficulty
    7. Lame uninteresting story (gotta be the best yada yada yada)
    8. Score for the most part is great except for a few battle songs that sound like the composer was on crack and speed (sounds like 3 different songs being played over each other at times)

    That's 8 reasons why Death Stranding is a better investment.    … Expand
  39. Antares_87
    Jun 23, 2020
    5
    No National pokedex , No Party. Besides this game haven't a long story , only 15 hours of campaing, I'm sorry gamefreak but this is a Shame
  40. Grijandor
    Dec 10, 2019
    5
    Es un juego con muchas carencias, la primera la nula dificultad, el juego te invita a explorar el área silvestre que está metida con calzador en medio del juego y que a nada que estés un rato recomiendo volverás a la historia principal con muchos niveles por encima de los rivales que te encuentres. La historia del juego también es bastante plana, no incita a la rejugabilidad. El online, enEs un juego con muchas carencias, la primera la nula dificultad, el juego te invita a explorar el área silvestre que está metida con calzador en medio del juego y que a nada que estés un rato recomiendo volverás a la historia principal con muchos niveles por encima de los rivales que te encuentres. La historia del juego también es bastante plana, no incita a la rejugabilidad. El online, en el que se ha hecho bastante énfasis es digno del año 2001, la interacción con otros jugadores no pasa de verlos corretear por el área silvestre. Por otra parte el único interés en el que se ha hecho mejoras reales que es el competitivo, se ve roto gracias al dynamax, el cual además, está poco trabajado limitando los ataques a prácticamente uno por tipo, lo mismo que las incursiones, muy buena idea esta última pero vista una, vistas todas. Si bien el número de Pokémon recortado es suficiente para disfrutar el juego habría sido imposible meter el resto coherentemente, serían casi el doble en un área silvestre demasiado pequeña y poco variada. Aún así el juego de las arregla para ser divertido como cualquier otro juego de Pokémon, pero mucho menos memorable que otros juegos de la saga. Muchas ideas buenas que no se han sabido llevar a cabo que tal vez culminen en un juego próximo bien hecho de verdad que realmente esté a la altura del salto generacional y de lo que Nintendo switch es capaz.… Expand
  41. DeltaHaven
    Oct 20, 2020
    6
    one of the most bland Pokemon games yet. Finished the main campaign in less than 18 hours, and other than completing the Pokedex (what is left of it in this generation), I had little to no reason to keep playing this game. The raid battles are a slog, the Battle Tower is boring, the Online is even worse than S&M Festival Plaza and makes the game lag in the Wild Area and the Wild Area looksone of the most bland Pokemon games yet. Finished the main campaign in less than 18 hours, and other than completing the Pokedex (what is left of it in this generation), I had little to no reason to keep playing this game. The raid battles are a slog, the Battle Tower is boring, the Online is even worse than S&M Festival Plaza and makes the game lag in the Wild Area and the Wild Area looks like a badly executed concept that was added last minute.
    Buy this game on sale. Maybe buy the $30 DLC if you like it.    … Expand
  42. MarinoMele
    Jun 25, 2020
    7
    A good game, certainly not great, that barely scores a 7.
    Game Freak has to understand that they're not on a portable console anymore.
    The absence of half of the existing Pokèmons is a let-down, I get it, but it doesn't ruin the experience. THE REAL ISSUE HERE IS HOW BAD THIS GAME IS FROM A TECHNICAL STANDPOINT. It's a tragedy that "Pokémon Battle Revolution", a 2006 game for the    A good game, certainly not great, that barely scores a 7.
    Game Freak has to understand that they're not on a portable console anymore.

    The absence of half of the existing Pokèmons is a let-down, I get it, but it doesn't ruin the experience.
    THE REAL ISSUE HERE IS HOW BAD THIS GAME IS FROM A TECHNICAL STANDPOINT.
    It's a tragedy that "Pokémon Battle Revolution", a 2006 game for the Wii, looks incredibly better. Look for yourselves:
    Pokémon Sword and Shield are Nintendo 3DS games, with upscaled resolution and not-enough-upscaled textures. They tried their best to mask themselves as Switch games, but to no avail.

    To add salt on the wound, on top of the poor graphics, the most jarring aspect is that the animations are straight terrible.
    I haven't seen anything this basic since the PS2 era - even Pokémon on Game Cube had better animations (even if extremely over-the-top sometimes).

    The main campaign is pretty enjoyable but you'll reach a point where you start wondering if they ran out of time/resources. There are cities as small as a corridor...
    Not to mention that this game doesn't have the Elite Four:
    You'll re-battle some of the gym leaders instead. It's sad.

    The best aspect of these games is how well-balanced the competitive scene is. Especially double-battles that really are turn-based gems.
    It's truly a pity that COVID-19 put an end to every competition this year...

    All in all this was an overall good experience for a Pokémon game, but since it doesn't cost 40€ anymore... It was not worth the money, sadly.

    Game Freak has to understand that they're not on a portable console anymore.    … Expand
  43. Andrito
    Nov 15, 2019
    6
    In certain parts, grafically disrespectfull. Dishonoring nintendo switch system.
  44. Yauboio
    Nov 17, 2019
    7
    These games are not bad. In fact they are perfectly decent Pokémon games. In some areas there has been great improvement, in particular the menus, the ability to skip some tutorials, the concept of the wild area. However for the first console Pokémon game it's dissapointing and unimaginative. If you love Pokémon you'll have some fun with it but it could have been so much better.
  45. yukidalemania
    Nov 17, 2019
    5
    Un verdadero y emocionante juego. Esos que lo critican con un 0 ni siquiera lo han jugado. Seamos honestos.
  46. Flarec
    Nov 18, 2019
    6
    Pokemon.... Es esto enserio? Este juego, es un buen pokemon y nadie lo va a negar, sigue usando la misma formula de toda la vida..... Esto, es un efecto fifa ya no tengo que decir mas que espero que los proximos pokemon lo hagan com tiempo.... Es un salto grafico de lo mas pobre para venir de 3ds, el juego es lindo y detallista en algunos sectores pero esto.... No lo compensa vamos, podianPokemon.... Es esto enserio? Este juego, es un buen pokemon y nadie lo va a negar, sigue usando la misma formula de toda la vida..... Esto, es un efecto fifa ya no tengo que decir mas que espero que los proximos pokemon lo hagan com tiempo.... Es un salto grafico de lo mas pobre para venir de 3ds, el juego es lindo y detallista en algunos sectores pero esto.... No lo compensa vamos, podian hacerlo mucho mejor... Mas que todo es tan cerrado y no se diga la zonas para silvestres.....
    Para mi, me parece un insulto, que me parece un insulto? Que este juego tenga una historia tan cutre..... Alguien a visto la critica de pokemon mundo misterioso exploradores del cielo????.....
    Este titulo tiene 5.4..... Y puedo decirle que es mas injusto que la alta calificacion que tiene este juego, la historia es paraa adultos disfrazada con un humor infantil.... ES UNA DE LAS MEJORES TRAMAS DE UN VIDEOJUEGO..... Deberian hacer mas cosas asi pero no..... Tienen que atraer el publico casual, si estas leyendo esto ve a ver la critica de ese pokemon MM Si lo has jugado sabrás que tiene una trama tan superior.... Este juego puede hacer llorar si le das la oportunidad de llegar al final de la historia principal.....    … Expand
  47. iMDario
    Nov 18, 2019
    7
    +good music
    +dynamax/gigantamax seems ok in competitive
    +new gyms are ok -no national dex
    -GameCube grapichs
    -0 character design
    -poor coded
  48. MysteryFruit
    Nov 18, 2019
    5
    A lot of controversies surround the release of the first main series Pokemon game for the Nintendo Switch. I have had various hours to play and complete the Pokemon Shield version of the game and grew to enjoy it. I do, however, stand disappointed as a Pokemon Fan of many years at what was cut from the game. It is a good game, but not an excellent game, with amazing features such asA lot of controversies surround the release of the first main series Pokemon game for the Nintendo Switch. I have had various hours to play and complete the Pokemon Shield version of the game and grew to enjoy it. I do, however, stand disappointed as a Pokemon Fan of many years at what was cut from the game. It is a good game, but not an excellent game, with amazing features such as over-world pokemon, challenging gym battles for new and returning players, dynamic character arcs, however as the saying goes, for every step forward Pokemon Co. takes two steps back. Half of the Pokemon were cut from the game, Mega evolution was forgotten entirely rather than built upon, gigantamaxing feels like an empty feature to fill what Mega evolutions once brought to the table. The disappointment, in my opinion, comes from a fear of what the Pokemon Co. holds for its fans, whether it will always just release mediocrity at a rushed pace to make deadlines meet, or if it will do the fans right and release what we know a company as big, wealthy and recognized as Pokemon can. For now a full-fledged Pokemon game on the switch such as Sword and Shield are acceptable and worth the play, but hopefully, the next release of Pokemon can lay to rest any doubts we have about Pokemon's future and produce the best Pokemon game of them all.… Expand
  49. Reprise
    Nov 19, 2019
    6
    Pokemon Sword and Shield can only be described as a huge disappointment. Despite these games being hyped as the first 'real' Pokemon games on the Switch and the next generation in the series, Pokemon Let's Go (the sort of spinoff/Pokemon Yellow remake) released last year was actually a far more enjoyable game.

    Instead of taking the series forward, Sword and Shield take things backwards.    Pokemon Sword and Shield can only be described as a huge disappointment. Despite these games being hyped as the first 'real' Pokemon games on the Switch and the next generation in the series, Pokemon Let's Go (the sort of spinoff/Pokemon Yellow remake) released last year was actually a far more enjoyable game.

    Instead of taking the series forward, Sword and Shield take things backwards. It looks and feels like a 3DS game, but more importantly, the gameplay feels a bit stale. You experience the same story beats play out once again, the environments aren't great and catching and battling Pokemon just doesn't feel as good as it used to.

    Overall, I don't feel Pokemon Sword and Shield are bad games per se, they are reasonable adventures and I'm sure younger audiences will find them mostly enjoyable, but for those who have played Pokemon games before, will find that not only do these new games fail to take the series forward, but there are also far better Pokemon games out there.    … Expand
  50. Akayomi
    Nov 19, 2019
    7
    Short version:
    The Good:
    - Refreshing feeling overall - Good character designs - Good looking graphics and animations (Half of the time, more on this down on the 'bad') - Wild Area is amaizing The bad: - Lazy animations on a lot of attacks (Which makes it even worse, considering some attacks have beautiful animations) - FPS drops on the Wild Area, even in Docked mode - Cutting    Short version:
    The Good:
    - Refreshing feeling overall
    - Good character designs
    - Good looking graphics and animations (Half of the time, more on this down on the 'bad')
    - Wild Area is amaizing

    The bad:
    - Lazy animations on a lot of attacks (Which makes it even worse, considering some attacks have beautiful animations)
    - FPS drops on the Wild Area, even in Docked mode
    - Cutting the National Dex to "include better animations". Animations that are not in the game.
    - General unpolished feel to the game. This game needed at least 3-6 more months of development, and it could've easily been the BEST pokemon game of all time. Instead, we get a half-baked, mediocre pokemon game.

    Overall: If you enjoyed pokemon games, you will have fun. The game lacks in a lot of aspects, but it's still an enjoyable experience. I wish GameFreak would've taken more time to polish it a bit more, or at the very least that they adress the issues on patches down the line.

    Long version:
    I'm glad I bought this.

    Yes, the game has issues (FPS drops, some animations are cheap as **** it's generally unpolished, unnecesary dexit) but the game really ISN'T as bad as leakers and naysayers would have you believe. It pisses me off because if they had a few more months (say, 3 months, like Animal Crossing) this game could have been the BEST pokemon game ever. Instead, we get a half-assed mediocre game, but with enough fun stuff that it guarantees a huge profit for GameFreak, therefore they will not learn, and will continue to half-ass games, most likely. That's pretty sad.
    Also, anyone saying "the game is short!!! you can beat it in 8 hours!!" is full of **** I haven't even finished the main story and check it: 26hs and ticking. And I haven't even started doing max raids or anything endgame like that.
    The XP share turned on all the time is a pain in the ass, and we SHOULD have an option to turn it off.
    The difficulty is... very low. You can just mash A and you will probably win most fights. That being said, difficulty does spike in a few battles here and there. But most of the time it's very easy.

    Is this game perfect? No, not at all. Is it bad? Not really. It's average, or mediocre, whatever word you prefer to use. But it's fun. If you walk into the game wanting to hate it, you'll nitpick and hate every part of it. If you walk into the game wishing to have fun... well, you'll have tons of fun.

    Whether or not this game is worth 60$ is up to you to decide. For me, it should be 40$ and not a cent more. But I still bent over and paid full price. Even tho I reckon it shouldn't be full price, I personally am having lots of fun, and that makes it worth my time and money.    … Expand
  51. Krakuan
    Nov 19, 2019
    7
    Its by no means perfect but the game is fun to play. The new pokemon look cool and i particularly like the look of Dragapult and toxitricity. I'm a bit bummed about the fact that i can't bring in Regus ( my swampert from my emerald game) but it's honestly a minor annoyance for me as i tend to use a team of new gen pokemon anyway and only bringing in one or two old favourites from previousIts by no means perfect but the game is fun to play. The new pokemon look cool and i particularly like the look of Dragapult and toxitricity. I'm a bit bummed about the fact that i can't bring in Regus ( my swampert from my emerald game) but it's honestly a minor annoyance for me as i tend to use a team of new gen pokemon anyway and only bringing in one or two old favourites from previous gen games.

    Collecting all the pokemon is only one aspect of pokemon and I've always maintained that its the journey and becoming champion that are the main aspects of pokemon. Personally i don't do multiplayer at all for anything so i don't really do the whole battling other people thing. Dynamax raids are a bummer in this regard but hey i can just not do them so its fine. I would have liked team yell to be a bigger threat and since i still have all my pokemon in my pokebank i have still basically almost caught them all ( still struggling with dreepy aquisition) so it doesn't really matter if i can't have them all in one game as i still have them. I do recommend getting it on special or do what i did and split the price of a sword and shield bundle with a friend or family member to reduce the cost. Graphics are a bit lackluster but honestly as someone who plays almost all his games on low quality i don't really care ( this is a personal thing) and i would have liked the option to turn shared exp so that i actually use pokemon to get them to evolve (this is actually a very good way to find out move sets and abilities about pokemon you thought sucked based on looks but turn out to be awesome when you take the time to battle with them. I would have liked some more end game content like in emerald with the battle frontier or something similar to heartgold with those race minigames and pokemon contests from emerald where you could be a coordinator. All in all its not a bad game its just missing a few minor things some some people are blowing a bit out of proportion. You can still catch all the pokemon you just can't have them all in the same region now and lets be honest that makes sense. Satoshi doesn't take all his pokemon with him when he goes to a new region ( he just takes pikachu) he leaves them in kanto. I view this the same way i just wish i could have taken my version of pikachu ( Regus) with me    … Expand
  52. Gtwoodin
    Nov 19, 2019
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Pokémon has been a mainstay in my life since I was 6. I’ve loved Pokémon and even battled in the world championship. I honestly loved the game. I’ve played over 24hrs and for a busy student that’s a feat. Negative:

    But I have some unavoidable problems. First off the bat not a full Pokédex. Game freak is lazy simple as that. The laziness is felt through the game and that makes me mad and disappointed. Each town feels so close to good that it sucks. We see locations that are constantly not explorable. This is laziness that needs to be fixed. Pokémon that are in the game sometimes don’t even make sense. Why is Durant in the game when mareep a literal sheep Pokémon not in a game that has a use for sheep Pokémon. Then not being able to fit all the Pokémon in the game is bs and the models look like exactly what they are, up scaled sun and moon models. The cut of moves and TR system is stupid. Team yell is the worst yet, they aren’t even evil just something in the way. If game freak thinks the gym challenge is enough for a campaign they are sorely wrong. Constant frame rate issues gets in the way too. Mega evolution was the last time a gimmick truly worked but I’m neutral on dinamaxing. Bring me more to do. If there was a second region with an updated Kalos story I would have been way happier. Pokémon camp is just bad Pokémon ammie

    Positives:
    Great npc designs, I love the gym leaders and their trainer cards. I have never caught so many Pokémon in a main story campaign I have a 150 in the box rn. Games look great, from a spectacle standpoint. I do honestly enjoy the max raid battles and it’s fun to do in that sense but in gyms it’s dumb. I love most all of the new designs. Some of my favorite were hatterne, coalossal, and duraludon. Some of these new Mons’ look great for competitive. And the music is really well composed the gym theme really gets you hyped up. Overall had fun but game freak has their work cut out to make it up to the fans and I really hope they do. Pokémon is just such a heartwarming phenomenon and deserves better than what gamefreak put into this game.

    5/10-ok not great had more fun than sun and moon but sun and moon has more to do with a real story.    … Expand
  53. Cassichu
    Nov 20, 2019
    7
    I have been a long time pokemon fan since before I can remember, and have faithfully followed the franchise through thick and thin, from Kanto to Hoenn to Alola and now to the wide open fields and idyllic landscapes of Galar. I came into this new game with certain expectations - and they were met to a certain degree, and in some areas they fell miserably short. I got a pokemon game, withI have been a long time pokemon fan since before I can remember, and have faithfully followed the franchise through thick and thin, from Kanto to Hoenn to Alola and now to the wide open fields and idyllic landscapes of Galar. I came into this new game with certain expectations - and they were met to a certain degree, and in some areas they fell miserably short. I got a pokemon game, with its beautiful world and its unique character designs, both human and pokemon; I got a promising look into the post-game competitive scene and the excitement of all the new ways to find shinies! Personally, the cut pokedex never bothered me personally - we all knew it was coming, and you would be disillusioned to say that you didn't, what with there being over 1000 unique pokemon and designs when including form variations into the mix - but I will say that the PR response by Nintendo and GameFreak has been disappointing. The game suffers not only because what it could have been, but for the excuses that were given that these features were not available.

    The game itself is solid (though the lack of a real VILLAINOUS PRESENCE really was something that I found more disappointing than I thought I would), but I will say that they are lacking in some respects. The wild area is an amazing concept, but never quite reached its full potential, the story was shallow and I found myself reminiscing about the deeper more engaging stories of generations past; the textures were rough visually in some places, and we all know about the animations.

    My score comes from a place of concern and love. This was a pokemon game - but it was nothing more. It wasn't unique and revolutionary like Pokemon Black/White's story, and it wasn't the first of its kind for the time like Pokemon Yellow/Red/Blue. Pokemon has and continues to be one of my favorite franchises, and while I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in Galar thus far (~50 hrs at the time of this review), I am left with wanting more.

    More content, a deeper story, a heftier post game concerning more than just the competitive scene that will turn off plenty of casual players. I loved Sword and Shield, more than likely many of the upset fans leaving their countless reviews here - but as a fan of the franchise, I want it to be better. I want it to be more than what we've been shown and to take advantage of all the resources laid out at their feet. I hold close to my heart a dream that soon, we'll be given the pokemon game we want that gives us a new look on the franchise without wiping clean the slate that they have laid out for us in generations past, where we're given voice acting, a more high-def view of the world, and a story that carries more weight. Pokemon may be considered a child's game, but it carries with it the nostalgia and the love of generations of fans - and GF/Nintendo haven't quite found the balance where it caters to both.

    Pros:
    - Beautiful at a glance, a new take on how a pokemon game is laid out
    - Amazing new designs, human and pokemon alike
    - Small steps towards innovation in the form of the Wild Area and erasure of restrictive HM moves
    - Customization is much more varied and refreshing; finding a trainer that looks like you is a hard task
    - A genuinely enjoyable experience for a casual player, as well as old fans looking for a comfortable playthrough

    Cons:
    - Limited graphics compared to what the Switch is capable of
    - A story that lacks the weight/impact of previous titles
    - A lackluster post-game unless you're looking into getting into the competitive/shiny breeding scene
    - Where there is some innovation, there feels like there's a loss of soul that makes pokemon what it is

    Any hard core pokemon fan would be remiss to not get these games, but the $60 price tag is certainly something that hurts a game that feels like it would have been nearly the same as a $40 DS title. I would recommend the games wholeheartedly, but with the footnote that it's all what it appears on the surface: a pokemon game. Time will tell if this whole debacle will finally get through to GameFreak and Nintendo as a whole, but for now - until the next games come out - I will enjoy my foray through Galar. I hope those that give these games a chance will do the same.    … Expand
  54. BobeoFunnelcake
    Nov 21, 2019
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It’s a solid Pokémon game, and is the first to bring back the enjoyment I felt playing black and white for the first time. Animations leave things to be desired, but what it lacks in animations it makes up for in new Pokémon designs. The wild area makes leveling up much easier, as opposed to grinding in previous games. Dynamaxing Pokémon is certainly an interesting mechanic, though I’m disappointed that mega evolutions were removed, as that felt like a new constant game mechanic. It’s a perfectly fine Pokémon game, however I hoped that gen 8 would’ve done more with the series, but if you like Pokémon games, I’d say give it a shot.… Expand
  55. EliteLucario
    Nov 21, 2019
    5
    It's not a bad game, but it's not a great game it's just meh... Everyone has been wanting a game that feels like your a kid again playing on the GameCube and being amazed at the lemon in 3D. Unfortunately this isn't that this is borderline a HD 3ds game with the same animations.
  56. Reaper2187
    Nov 21, 2019
    5
    Great pokemon game, could have done a few things differently but all in all I find the game really enjoyable. I have played every pokemon game since red and blue, and this did not disappoint
  57. macboybr
    Nov 22, 2019
    5
    So, I've been playing the game for 30 hours so far, and with both main and post-game finished, here's my sincere opinion, as a long term Pokémon fan.

    This game has some great ideas, but almost all of then are poorly executed by GameFreak. I know GF has a background history of being most of a creative company, and not the most technical among all of Nintendo's elite studios. Back    So, I've been playing the game for 30 hours so far, and with both main and post-game finished, here's my sincere opinion, as a long term Pokémon fan.

    This game has some great ideas, but almost all of then are poorly executed by GameFreak.

    I know GF has a background history of being most of a creative company, and not the most technical among all of Nintendo's elite studios.

    Back at the 2000's Gold and Silver development, they had to outsource Satoru Iwata simply because they just could not make the games fit the Gameboy Cartridge. The game's code was so amateur and poorly made, that even they couldn't understand.

    Taking note of those historical problems with the development of Pokémon games, we know that things like having the best graphics and the best animations in comparison with some other games like Breath of the Wild should not be a thing to consider.

    But there are so bad things happening technically, that those games are really disappointing.

    Problems like framerate dropping constantly, really poor draw distance, some really bad textures that look like coming directly from a Nintendo 64 game. I've even had problems with input lag. And for an input lag problem to be noticeable on an RPG game, it's because it is really bad.

    With that problem in mind, we need to talk about "Dexit".
    GF told us that the main reason for removing a lot of pokémons from the game, was because they where remodeling everything from scratch, with brand new animations, for a propper HD game.

    While playing the games, we instantly notice that the pokémon models are clearly the same from the previous 3DS games, and a lot of the animations were reused as well, with almost no modification to them. Telling us that GF was lying and just being lazy at best.

    Changing the topic and ignoring the technical problems with the game, let's talk about the history line of the game. Aaaand... there's no story.

    It is by far, the worst plot of a Pokémon game, with almost no events to explain what is happening to this world.

    We are constantly reminded by the NPC's to just focus on the Gym challenges, and everything else is just ignored.

    During a lot of moments, something happens, and instead of our character (supposedly the protagonist of the game) go there and, you know, be the protagonist, some "adult" shows up and tells us to leave it to the grown people.

    We just go to the next gym, without even being explained about what happened back there.

    I remember having 7 badges and thinking about how they where giving me the main legendary of the game, without even involving me with the events that tell something about them (7 badges is usually when that happens on the previous games), and I was surprised that they simply didn't, and I had to basically finish the gym challenges, to even heard about a legendary pokemon in the game. (Which wasn't even the main one of the game)

    The routes are extremely linear, with no alternative paths (beyond the obvious ones), and really few trainers to encounter and battle.

    The cities, even though they look massive, they're just big corridors, with almost no exploration, and the few constructions that we can go in, are always the same model, with the same decoration, changing only the npc's inside

    And during the entire game, I had a feeling of not being really free to explore the world (A feeling that I've had previously while playing Sun and Moon). It feels like we are constantly with our hands being held by some NPC, telling us where to go, and what we should do.

    They even put some icons and texts on the terribly bad map of the game, showing where to go next.

    Exp Share, which was previously used to make training our team easily (but not too easy), evolved to the point that we can't turn off, and we have it from the beginning of the game. During all the campaign, my whole team was almost 10 levels above every npc, and despite the noticeable efforts GF made to make battles more balanced, it was too easy.

    It's not a bad game. If it was, I wouldn't have played for 30 hours straight, but it's really a bad pokémon game.

    It's the first time that I'm really disappointed to a Pokémon game to a level that I felt the need for writing a review about it, and I'm really worried about the future, and what will be the next big feature cut poorly justified by the bad innovations promised by them.    … Expand
  58. DarkGio
    Nov 22, 2019
    6
    Look,this game isn't as bad as some people say.
    However,it could be much better.
    The music,the character design and the trainer customization are great,but I just can't look past the cuts and the absurd excuses they used to justify them. The wild area is a step in the fight direction,but on the other hand many of its textures look unpolished and It also lags at times,especially    Look,this game isn't as bad as some people say.
    However,it could be much better.
    The music,the character design and the trainer customization are great,but I just can't look past the cuts and the absurd excuses they used to justify them.
    The wild area is a step in the fight direction,but on the other hand many of its textures look unpolished and It also lags at times,especially online,where frame drops are very noticeable.
    The animations are mostly reused and Pokémon and people pop in and out of existence depending on how far you are from them.
    The story is...lackluster,It had some potential,but ultimately It wasn't enjoyable.
    The game can be challenging at times (provided you don't overlevel your Pokémon with XP candies) but it's still a pretty easy game overall.
    To conclude,it's a fun experience,but once you stop and look at its flaws you can't help but wonder why Game Freak didn't use all the resources they had in order to make this a better game.    … Expand
  59. Lovio
    Nov 24, 2019
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I wish to start out by saying that I have 100% the game and clocked 111 hours. I have completed the Pokedex, I have the shiny charm, catch charm, and oval charms. I did the post-game and I have done a bit of online play as well.
    I'm going to split this review into a few parts, these are just my thoughts and might be a bit unorganized.

    Part 1: Story
    The story for the games is very par for the course for Pokemon- its enough to keep you playing. A few arcs are very interesting- like hop feeling subpar to his brother. I often found myself wishing I could interact (optionally) to get more of that from him. I also adored Marnie and Bede's arcs- while they could have used more development as well, they wrapped up nicely. Overall Team Yell opted to take a more "team skull" approach while the actual evil team was Marco Cosmos. This really confused me as the only part of the game I'd even be able to see mentions of them was in Pokejobs. I wish there was a more active role by these people and perhaps even an optional side quest about learning more. Catching Eternatus at the end was a very epic moment- but it was badly placed. I don't see why it messed up the champion match. Instead of building tension, it ruined it for me. I found myself wanting to go and beat Leon the entire time I was fighting Eternatus. The post game was also very light, running around past gyms defeating dynamax Pokemon but not being able to catch them? I get it, but it was a bit boring for me. The rare league cards were a very nice touch though, I loved the system with them where you could learn more about characters from them.

    Part 2: Pokemon/Variety
    Every review has probably touched on this, but there isn't a lot of variety in terms of Pokemon. I can count the amount of fire lines on two hands! But somehow I was able to fill a box and a half of water Pokemon. It was a very frustrating moment for me to realize how little variety there is in terms of Pokemon. Many of the 400 included are just Pokemon lines or ones of similar typing. I was disappointed by it.
    However, the new Pokemon where phenomenal! Their new animations were beautiful and they were super fun to collect! I also loved the weird, niche ways to evolve some of them (like Yamask for instance!) it was very refreshing and super fun! It reminded me of why I love Pokemon so much.

    Part 3: Graphics
    Many, many people love to gripe on the graphics. For the majority of the game (not in the wild area) they're actually completely fine. There is a lot of detail and the new shading system is beautiful! I love just how colorful everything is, the ambient light, etc.
    However the wild area has very low graphic fidelity, the trees have bad textures, the grass has apparent tiling, etc. Though these are easy to ignore due to the wild area being beautiful. Eventually it fades into the background after a while. This is NOT a deal breaker for me.

    Part 4: Mechanics
    Wild Area.
    Its a beautiful area with free roaming Pokemon and fun challenges. The balance of the wild area is perfect- you level as you move forward. Its terrifying and fun and game freak needs to add more of this! However, staying in the wild area too long makes you overpowered, as the rest of the game is not balanced for it.
    Camping.
    Extremely fun! I loved playing with my Pokemon and feeling bonded with them. I loved cooking and unlocking the balls via the curry dex. The cooking system is also very fun when you get the hang of it. I can safely say this is much more fun and interactive than amiee. I do wish I could actively play games with my Pokemon, clean them, and pet them though.
    EXP share
    I usually play with this setting on, but I dislike that the option for it to not be turned on/off was sad. I wish it was maybe hidden with an NPC in Wedgehurst, like how the earbuds are hidden.
    Earbuds
    I ADORE this feature. Turning off the background music and strolling through the wild area makes the game a nature documentary. It is beautiful and relaxing. It was a very refreshing change to the game.

    Part 5: Balance
    The game has a few balance issues- mainly late game. There are several people who grind levels and they will always be over powered- but the extent in this game was awful. Trainers on routes had Pokemon that were lower level than the wild Pokemon! There is no reason to grind- and the wild area on top of that makes for a nasty combo. I constantly found myself pushing the level cap until I hit 60.
    However, the start of the game (Milo, Nessa, and Kabu's gyms) were perfectly balanced. Their Pokemon were at the current level cap and it felt like a challenge! But near the endgame I found myself 10-20 levels above everything. It became very boring.
    This should all be scaled to the wild area, with more of that and less traditional routes.

    Part 6: Final thoughts
    I love the game, but there are some things that aren't justifiable. These games deserve so much better than what we got. Its also not fun without online.    … Expand
  60. JoshuaEric
    Oct 13, 2020
    6
    As someone who has only kind of played one other Pokemon game before this (Ruby), I went into this game basically as a new Pokemon player. After 16 hours of game play, I can confidently say that this is a GREAT game. I am having so much fun battling and catching as many Pokemon as I can.

    The game follows the same formula as previous games, at least from my little knowledge of them.    As someone who has only kind of played one other Pokemon game before this (Ruby), I went into this game basically as a new Pokemon player. After 16 hours of game play, I can confidently say that this is a GREAT game. I am having so much fun battling and catching as many Pokemon as I can.

    The game follows the same formula as previous games, at least from my little knowledge of them. Start off in a small town, follow routes, get to the next town, get badge, route, town, etc. Battling seems to be the same, aside from dyanmaxing in gyms which is super fun and makes me laugh seeing these tiny cute creatures turn into giants.

    The characters are great. I love Hop and his ambition to take his brothers spotlight, but he never seems jealous of his brother, only driven by his greatness and how to be better than him. Sonia keeps the story interesting by continuously researching the events of the past and the truth behind it.

    The game is definitely not what it could have been, however, it is exactly what it needs to be. I have not encountered anything in the game that would make me consider it to be "bad". The game is very well polished, no glitches or other hiccups that might cause frustration to the player.

    Overall, the game is FUN. I am having a blast. The backlash and enormous negativity surrounding it almost kept me from buying it, but I got it anyway and I have no regrets. If you like Pokemon and can see a game for more than just graphics, this game will be perfect for you! Looking forward to the next entry in the series.    … Expand
  61. GarrMoose
    Nov 25, 2019
    5
    The move onto the Switch brought forth much for this series and while it has delivered a totally new Pokemon experience the many lackluster aspects of the game hold it back from being the truly excellent game it easily could have been. I guess I will go and break down the good and then the bad points of the game. *=Key Points

    Pros: -The game looks better than it ever has graphically. -The    The move onto the Switch brought forth much for this series and while it has delivered a totally new Pokemon experience the many lackluster aspects of the game hold it back from being the truly excellent game it easily could have been. I guess I will go and break down the good and then the bad points of the game. *=Key Points

    Pros:
    -The game looks better than it ever has graphically. -The gym system overhaul brought a breath of fresh air to the series and played well into the main story.*

    -The new Pokemon designs for the most part felt very inspired and I overall enjoyed them.

    -Seeing Pokemon in the overworld really changed up the Pokemon experience and having them also appear in random encounters kept part of the classic feel. The large, open explorable Wild area is the best example of this.

    -Handholding was slightly reduced in the sense of forced tutorials.

    -A great deal of things were made more convenient like the introduction of nature changing mints, easier ev training, egg move transferring and using your pc almost anywhere. This makes things like preparing Pokemon for competitive play far less time consuming.*

    -Dynamax raids offer a fun new way to catch special Pokemon.

    -3D character designs themselves look better than ever.

    Cons:
    -More than 50% of Pokemon models were excluded from this game. You are limited to a regional dex of 400 and around 30 more models are within the code.**

    -Mega evolutions and z moves were cut and replaced with the lackluster dynamax feature, essentially a 3 turn long combo of both concepts but far less enjoyable and meta shifting in a way I and many others find unideal.*

    -While graphically the best of the series the game still lacks polish in many areas. Models still bear a good amount of pixelation which I expected a departure from moving onto the Switch and many even lack detailed textures to a great extent. You would expect after having had to cut back on so much Pokemon content that the studio would have been able to at least deliver the level of smooth clean looking textures one would expect from a 2019 AAA Switch title.*

    -Story playthrough difficulty was immensely lowered, partially due to an exp share system that you are no longer able to turn off and then due to opponents having weak team builds and/or movesets or just a lower number of Pokemon on their team to take on your full team. Veteran players or even those who want some more difficulty out of their playthrough will not find it in this game.*

    -Lacking postgame content compared to most Pokemon titles.

    -Routes were very linear and uninspired, wild area while fairly vast was also somewhat bland and lacking graphical polish most of all.

    -Unideal online interface. Better than Sun and Moons but still lacking in how easy it makes it to connect with others.

    -Lacking game functionality with online. The wild area is supposed to turn into a big open world experience with others when online but with online functions enabled it turns into an absolute mess of different players frozen and appearing all over different parts of the wild area everywhere you go. I also struggle to be able to connect with others for raids/etc oftentimes and have had similar troubles with local play. You often have to try several times to get it to work even in local play.

    -Forced 20 min time limit on 6v6 rule formats. The one thing I love to do most is 6v6 singles battles online and now I will have to have most of my battles cut short due to a short time limit. (most singles battles I have done take around 24 or more minutes) This almost makes the ease of preparing competitive Pokemon all for naught for players like me and 6v6 online battling is what gives many players reason to keep playing months and months after release.**

    There are probably other more minor issues and pros I have with the game but these basically sum up why I give it the rating I do. This game had everything set up for it to be a 9-10 and possibly even the best in a long running series of good games jumping off of the very limited and antiquated 3DS system but yet squandered so much of its potential with the controversial and even bizarre decisions made by its studio, Gamefreak and overall lack of polish.Despite introducing some truly great aspects to the series this game continues the trend of Pokemon’s last two generations of taking one step forward for the series and one larger step back, this time in possibly the most detrimental ways the series has ever seen.    … Expand
  62. Truconium
    Dec 2, 2019
    5
    Firstly, let me talk about what this game does right. The rivals in this game are pretty good. Bede is a jerk like a rival should be, so it feels good when you beat him. Hop becomes a little depressed in the middle of the game and isn't just a "happy go lucky" rival throughout the entire game like other rivals have been in recent games. The evolution methods are also extremely unique!Firstly, let me talk about what this game does right. The rivals in this game are pretty good. Bede is a jerk like a rival should be, so it feels good when you beat him. Hop becomes a little depressed in the middle of the game and isn't just a "happy go lucky" rival throughout the entire game like other rivals have been in recent games. The evolution methods are also extremely unique! Gigantamaxing is a nice combination of mega evolutions, Z-moves, and dynamaxing; however, I still prefer both mega evolutions and Z-moves over G-Maxing. I like the return of character customization, I like the rotom bike because it lets you travel very quickly, the fact that evolutions were given to Galarian-form Pokémon, Pokécamp because it is cute and fun, and the fact that I can move around while in a queue for a surprise trade. And as always, the music is amazing. However, just because I like these features does not mean I had fun while playing the game. The only time I had fun was when I encountered the new Pokémon, but since I know them all now, the game is boring. One time my brother walked into my room and pointed out how bored I looked while playing the game, and that is when I realized how bad this game actually was.

    Now to start with the bad. There is no plot in the game until the very end of the game. The entire plot is "go collect your gym badges" and then it suddenly switches right before you fight Leon to "defeat Eternatus and Rose." The villain in this game is also non-existent. Team Yell isn’t evil, Piers, the leader of Team Yell, isn't evil, and Rose abruptly becomes evil at the very end of the game. Sordward and Shielbert are the most villainous people in the game, but they are both found in the post-game.

    Speaking of the post-game, it is almost non-existent. The only thing you can do after the game is to complete the Pokédex, go to the battle tower, and complete the legendary Pokémon story. There are no master trainers, no Looker missions (even though they were mediocre, but they would have been something to do), or really anything from previous games.

    The game frame drops way too frequently. It is most noticeable in the Wild Area but can also be seen outside the Wild Area. NPCs and Pokémon pop in way too close to the player to the point where it ruins the emersion and experience. The sudden climate changes in the Wild Area also ruins the emersion and experience. A nice gradual change from snowy, to rainy, to cloudy, to sunny, would have been nice instead of an abrupt change from snowy, to sunny, to a sandstorm.

    There are way too few routes in these games. There have been about 20-30 routes each entry, but this game only has 10 short and linear routes. Also, why was the GTS removed? It was essential to completing the Pokédex if you didn’t have Pokébank. Now I have to hope that I randomly gett a Sawk from a surprise trade.

    The exp share is horrendous in this game. It gives every Pokémon way too much exp to the point where you can choose to not grind at all, only use one Pokémon, and still have everyone in your party 3 levels above every trainer in the game and OHKO every Pokémon they have. Game Freak should also make the exp share optional, and have the exp share be received upon completing the first gym.

    There is too little Pokémon in the game, yet most animations and models are identical to the S/M animations and models which proves that Game Freak lied about their excuses to not include half of the Pokémon in the game. One of the more known animations is where Zacian or Zamazenta have their model turn 180° for a turning around animation. Another example is where a kid asks for a handshake from an adult and the adult pulls a handshake out of their pocket. Hello what?? That doesn't even make sense. Even if every Pokémon isn’t in the game, more of the well-designed and popular Pokémon should've been included such as the Gible line and not Pokémon that are just animals from the real world like the Purrlion and Pidove lines. In addition, the models could have been used from the Let's Go games so there could have been more Pokémon in the game.

    This is a 2019, basically 2020 game, so there also should have been voice acting in the game. Not for every line like in Fire Emblem Three Houses, but for important characters like Hop, Rose, Leon, and the gym leaders. It would've really brought the characters to life. The voice actors could've even had British accents to emphasize the fact that Sw/Sh take place in Great Britain.

    For the gym leaders, I like that there are version exclusive gym leaders and the fact that we have our first dark-type gym leader. However, the dark-type gym leader is Piers, the leader of Team Yell, which is great, but Team Yell aren't even villains like how Giovanna and Team Rocket were. Furthermore, you can't even Dynamax against Piers. I love that Raihan is a doubles fo    … Expand
  63. Joblinski69420
    Nov 27, 2019
    6
    Pokemon Shield is by far, not the the greatest title released by Nintendo and Game Freak, there are other better, older titles out there, and I would honestly wait until the price drops or a big sale goes on. Pokemon Shield I've noticed, can be broken sometimes, and despite cutting the national dex. The game had its moments, with a few of the gym leaders and the champion. Nintendo andPokemon Shield is by far, not the the greatest title released by Nintendo and Game Freak, there are other better, older titles out there, and I would honestly wait until the price drops or a big sale goes on. Pokemon Shield I've noticed, can be broken sometimes, and despite cutting the national dex. The game had its moments, with a few of the gym leaders and the champion. Nintendo and G.F. did something new and different with the gyms and league, which I was impressed with, and I think they did an amazing job with Hop with how they fleshed him out as a character, and having him be your rival. Now the animation quality takes a very noticeable dip in certain part of the story, and the walking cycles of always ended awkwardly, both with people, and Pokemon in the camps. They reuse the same character models for Team Yell, passerby, and npcs, which in other games it wasn't so bad as it is in Shield. Plus i wasn't sold on the whole dynamax thing to begin with. Had they removed that feature all together, this game would've been like 5 times better in my opinion.

    In conclusion, it's not a bad game over all, I really had fun playing it, but it's certainly far from being a good, re playable game, and I wouldn't recommend you go and buy it. Wait until it becomes cheaper.    … Expand
  64. Keeb79
    Nov 27, 2019
    7
    OK, this game is really difficult to talk about, as it gets a lot of things right, but also a lot of things wrong. Let's start positively, though.

    Most of the things that this game does will satisfy fans, at least I think so. There's about 90 new Pokémon and most of them are great, you'll definitely get a lot of fun battles out of them, even if the game isn't all that challenging. The    OK, this game is really difficult to talk about, as it gets a lot of things right, but also a lot of things wrong. Let's start positively, though.

    Most of the things that this game does will satisfy fans, at least I think so. There's about 90 new Pokémon and most of them are great, you'll definitely get a lot of fun battles out of them, even if the game isn't all that challenging. The Gym Challenge is a fun idea, and with a little bit more exploration, would have really improved this game. There isn't a lot of outstanding points to make, but this game does most things pretty well.

    But I know why you're here. The Pokédex has been Thanos Snapped, the story is well... non-existant and most of the characters are boring and have no personality. Look, these are major flaws that do prove how rushed the game is, but if you're just a casual player looking for some Poké-fun, you will probably look past these annoyances and be able to enjoy the game for what it is. No, it's not as good as let's say, Sun & Moon, but it still holds up... decently. At least I think it does.

    You don't have to agree with me, but I think it's ok. 7/10/B-    … Expand
  65. Amytitt
    Nov 27, 2019
    7
    I can see why a lot of people dislike this game (lack of national dex, bad animations and graphics) but overall the game is fine. It’s not the greatest Pokémon game like some people say, nor is it the worst thing to ever exist like others say too. I had fun with this game which is the only thing that I want in a video game, to have fun. But I can see why some people won’t have fun in thisI can see why a lot of people dislike this game (lack of national dex, bad animations and graphics) but overall the game is fine. It’s not the greatest Pokémon game like some people say, nor is it the worst thing to ever exist like others say too. I had fun with this game which is the only thing that I want in a video game, to have fun. But I can see why some people won’t have fun in this game, like if their favorite Pokémon isn’t in the game or something like that. A lot of people say that the game was short, but to me it was ok length. It took me 28 hours in main game which isn’t much but it’s not as measly as what others say. Many others say how one of the rivals, Hop is a rip off of Hau if you spam A while their talking. Unlike Hau, Hop actually has character development and changes as a person. Hop is a bit annoying in the beginning but he gets better throughout the game. Most of the characters are good and perfectly fine. For Pokémon and their designs are fully opinionated. But to me their most good and fine with a few slip ups. Overall, the game is great for casual fans, but if you’re a hardcore fan, don’t get your hopes up.… Expand
  66. FriedMelon
    Nov 28, 2019
    7
    In my personal opinion these games are mediocre. They’re not Omega Ruby levels of awfulness but Story Wise they don’t hold a candle to Gen 5 or even mid to late game Ultra Sun and Moon. It doesn’t have Mega Evolution or Z-Moves. It does have the speed though, fastest to date. It makes do with what it has. One thing before I end this I ain’t looking for perfection, I’m looking for jawIn my personal opinion these games are mediocre. They’re not Omega Ruby levels of awfulness but Story Wise they don’t hold a candle to Gen 5 or even mid to late game Ultra Sun and Moon. It doesn’t have Mega Evolution or Z-Moves. It does have the speed though, fastest to date. It makes do with what it has. One thing before I end this I ain’t looking for perfection, I’m looking for jaw dropping experiences and that’s what the Switch has been doing back to back to back to back. Unfortunately Sword and Shield, don’t do it. Was it fun, yes, does the music slap, yes. But even if it’s fun it doesn’t mean this franchise is stuck in ’96. This game even with the wild area feels the same and as I’ve said before that’s a damn shame. 6.7/10.… Expand
  67. Cleiclei
    Dec 8, 2019
    5
    Reading so many reviews I feel I am not alone on this. It is not a 0 and definitely not a 10(delusional people). It is a 5 for me. I can say i am more disappointed than pleased with the game. The whole Dynamax feature that is getting praised does not add anything, the game feels rushed and this could have been adapted for the 3DS instead (same models used right?) Horrible textures and lackReading so many reviews I feel I am not alone on this. It is not a 0 and definitely not a 10(delusional people). It is a 5 for me. I can say i am more disappointed than pleased with the game. The whole Dynamax feature that is getting praised does not add anything, the game feels rushed and this could have been adapted for the 3DS instead (same models used right?) Horrible textures and lack of dimension specifically to the pokemon's face is a killer to this game. I am hoping the next main game in the series can take on visual like Mario Odyssey/ Pokemon Colosseum.… Expand
  68. NooodleLegs
    Dec 8, 2019
    5
    Was really disappointed in this game. Finished the game and was heartbroken how this is all GameFreak had to offer. The story was awful and the animations being unbearable. Really felt that they substituted magnitude and size of the pokemon more than the quality of the game itself. First game I have ever returned for something else.
  69. CasualGames
    Dec 8, 2019
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Honestly, this game is just too 50/50 to really have a definitive opinion on it. There are several things done really well, making it a step up. And then there are things that are so bad, they take the games several steps back. It’s too many strange ups and downs to call it a decidedly good or bad game. Here are just some examples.

    Graphics - There are moments when this game is visually stunning. Just take one look at the cities from afar, and they are breathtaking. The gym battles are clearly where the developers were putting all those “high fidelity animations.” You really feel like you’re watching a real sports match. But outside these areas, these games look like a student who turned in a paper without spellchecking it. Pop-in is laughable, and it looks like something a game development student would turn in. Textures are really uninspired and too old-school to be “hip.”

    Story - I think the game really tried to shake things up with the story at the beginning. I had high hopes for it, but the further you progress, the more of a let-down it becomes. There were so many missed opportunities for good story, and you could see it. These are some of the most expressive characters we’ve seen, but we don’t get a chance to see their stories because we keep getting shoehorned into moving through the gym challenge. I really wanted to be some of the other characters in this because they seemed to be having more interesting adventures than my character was.

    The Pokemon - Boy, some of these were really hit or miss here. Some designs, like Thievul, Alcremie, and Corviknight were spot on. Others, like the Frankenstein-like fossils and Duraludon were just too weird. And the starters definitely left something to be desired. They were good in their first form, but I sorely regret evolving my Grookey.

    All in all, this game felt half-baked, hence the score of 5/10. Masuda is right. Kids just aren’t staying interested in Pokemon games, but Game Freak is doing themselves no favors with half-done work like this. There are some great things this game has to offer, but then it’s topped off with so many missed marks. Combined with cut content like the transferability of pokemon for the national dex, I just don’t think it’s worth $60. It may have been better as a 3DS game. I hope they come back at it with something better.    … Expand
  70. bakuboy
    Dec 11, 2019
    6
    The most disappointing thing in SWSH isn't even the graphics or national dex, Galar itself is just the most boring and mechanicswise uninspired region of all. The cities look beautiful, but they are ridiculously small and hollow, there is almost nothing to do there besides the main quest. That's why this game is just not as good as the older ones, it cuts too much content, even with goodThe most disappointing thing in SWSH isn't even the graphics or national dex, Galar itself is just the most boring and mechanicswise uninspired region of all. The cities look beautiful, but they are ridiculously small and hollow, there is almost nothing to do there besides the main quest. That's why this game is just not as good as the older ones, it cuts too much content, even with good improvements like Overworld Pokémon and Raids, it's not enough to call this game a "really good Pokémon game". It's still fun because it's Pokémon, but it is by far the most lazy installment in the franchise.… Expand
  71. Maucritic
    Dec 11, 2019
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Esse jogo é bem divertido dependendo do seu ponto de vista , porém , ele tem problemas gráfico-visuais em alguns pontos , os vilões são ridículos ( no caso a team Yell ) , falta de pokemons e novos pokemons sendo alguns com designes horríveis pode fazer você odiar o jogo .… Expand
  72. HappyTorchic255
    Jan 3, 2020
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Not a 'great' game but it's also not a bad game. Yes, it sucks that 455 Pokémon are removed from the game (including one of my favorite Pokemon Blaziken) and some animations are honestly bad (like Dubwool using headbutt with its feet). The wild area and Max raid battles are some of my favorite features of this game. Plus this generation introduces in my opinion many great Pokemon's (Dragapult and Cursola are two of my new favorites). The games are flawed, but still fun. So I think 6-7/10 are the most fair and deserving scores this game can get.… Expand
  73. Rebel20
    Dec 20, 2019
    7
    Un juego que ilusionaba por su salto de generación y las posibilidades que está podría ofrecer, hay conceptos innovadores que no concretan un elemento sólido en la experiencia general.
  74. DarthNexus
    Dec 24, 2019
    7
    The Story - 5/10

    The story begins simple enough. You live in a small town called Postwick, in the far southern end of the Galar region. Galar is based on western Europe, and plays that up rather well, as Euro slang such as ‘telly,’ ‘cuppa,’ ‘shut yer gob,’ etc, are frequently seen throughout the game. Your mother is even named ‘Mum!’ You’re quickly introduced to Hop, your rival for the    The Story - 5/10

    The story begins simple enough. You live in a small town called Postwick, in the far southern end of the Galar region. Galar is based on western Europe, and plays that up rather well, as Euro slang such as ‘telly,’ ‘cuppa,’ ‘shut yer gob,’ etc, are frequently seen throughout the game. Your mother is even named ‘Mum!’ You’re quickly introduced to Hop, your rival for the campaign, and you will get annoyed with him faster than Hau from Sun and Moon. His brother, Champion Leon, provides you with your starter (The grass-type monkey Grookey, the water-type gecko Sobble, and the fire-type rabbit Scorbunny). He tasks you with taking on the Gym Challenge, and hopefully one day to face him in a battle (The writing heavily plays up his ‘undefeated’ status). You travel with Hop around the region, collecting Badges, meeting NPCs, and capturing Pokemon. I will refrain from going into specifics to avoid spoilers, but you gain a few new rivals and meet Team Yell along the way.

    Overall, the writing is kind of odd. I felt like I was a side character to the main plot, while the NPCs figured out each of the major driving plot details, and my character was just along for the ride. The end of the story was interesting to me. I will say this much, I was not expecting what happened to happen. The story itself was alright, fit well with the theme of the region, but did not stand out as ‘great’ to me. My play time of the story, including the post-Champion battle story, clocked in at about 25 hours.

    The Gameplay - 6/10

    The core gameplay of catching Pokemon and battling with them has not changed much in the last 20 years. Heck, it took almost 15 years for them to add a new Pokemon type to the series (Fairy-type was added in X and Y in 2013, previous to that the last new types were Dark and Steel introduced in Gold and Silver in 1999) Notable cut features are Mega Evolutions (introduced in X and Y in 2013), and Z-Moves (Sun/Moon, 2017) in favor of the new Dynamax ability, allowing you to grow one of your Pokemon into a giant Kaiju-sized powerhouse temporarily, gaining strength and increased health to combat your opponent. Dynamax does not last until the end of the battle, rather ending after a few turns. In addition, it can only be done in certain places (you're given a minor cutscene at the beginning of a battle if Dynamax is available).

    Dynamax feels like a nerf of Mega Evolution, and personally, I don’t like it. Mega Evolution certain pokemon changing types, or giving them a different passive Ability, on top of changing their appearance. The fact it only lasts for three turns presents a new dynamic of when to use this power spike over the course of a battle. In the context of the story, most times I used it was at the end of a battle where Dynamax was allowed, to help seal victory.

    New Pokemon Designs - 7/10

    91 new Pokemon were added to the game. While not all of the designs look great, a good portion of them look pretty well done. One Pokemon in particular, Alcremie, has 63 different forms. Which one your Milcery evolves into is determined by its held item and how quickly you spin in a given direction. Overall, the designs of the new Pokemon (and the Galarian variants on existing pokemon) mostly fit the theme of the region, and those that don’t do not look out of place in the Pokemon world.

    Quality of Life Changes - 9/10

    Continuing the quality of life changes from the previous games carry over, including seeing if an attack will be super effective (provided you’ve got the pokemon registered in the pokedex), and the Bottle Caps from Sun and Moon return. New to Sword and Shield are the Mints, which will allow you to change what stats are affected by the Pokemon's nature, as well as removing the cap on using vitamins to fully train your Pokemon's stats. These small changes help to open up competitive play to more people! Some other changes are the Name Rater and Move Relearner are present in every Pokemon Center, and you are now allowed to nickname a Pokemon you got in a trade, provided they do not already have a nickname.

    Overall - 7/10

    Pokemon Sword and Shield bring a lot of new ideas to the table, while removing a few things that worked in the past. As for a product that stands on its own, it's ok! Not terrible, but not great. Yes, the controversy surrounding Dexit and some of the graphics bring the score down a bit, but overall it's still a decent entry into the Pokemon franchise, even if it's not the greatest (That honor to me still goes to HeartGold and SoulSilver). The new Pokemon designs are above average, the story feels like it was rushed in order to get the game out on time, leading to a short campaign, the characters you interact with regularly are overly annoying (Looking at you, Hop), and the new gameplay elements do not deliver compelling gameplay compared to previous titles.    … Expand
  75. CupcakePrincess
    Dec 25, 2019
    6
    I enjoy this game but I have no idea why. Well made, but totally lacking in content.
  76. HonestCoolKid
    Dec 28, 2019
    5
    The game from a new comer to the series perspective is its a good game from a veterans perspective WTF like actually what was Game Freak smoking
  77. Wildrover
    Dec 28, 2019
    7
    This game is fun going through the story portion, but fails in online play.

    Joining raids and trading pokemon are a real pain. There is no in game chat to set up trades and surprise trade is a gamble.

    I still enjoy the game for what it is, but it could be better.
  78. mattzideaz
    Jan 1, 2020
    6
    It's not the best pokemon, and the games is a little too easy. But the wild area is good and some of the new pokemon are great. $60 is more than previous pokemon games, so 6/10 is fair. R.I.P National Dex.
  79. heypikmin
    Jan 3, 2020
    6
    Gamefreak is out of their league with this one, with games like Gold/Silver/Crystal and Black/White that pushed the consoles boundaries, they barely scrachted the surface with the Switch.

    There's alot to be desired with Sword/Shield; New animations, most of the Pokédex, More postgame content and new things that Pokémon should've expanded upon, like voice acting or multiple save states.    Gamefreak is out of their league with this one, with games like Gold/Silver/Crystal and Black/White that pushed the consoles boundaries, they barely scrachted the surface with the Switch.

    There's alot to be desired with Sword/Shield; New animations, most of the Pokédex, More postgame content and new things that Pokémon should've expanded upon, like voice acting or multiple save states.

    However, this game nails alot of things, like the new Pokémon desgins, character designs, and a few other things. I thought some areas lowkey looked really cool.

    I don't hate how this game looks in general, but for a Switch game it's very inconsistent and I've seen PS2 games that look better. Now the main game

    I had alot of fun with the main game, the new Pokémon while already amazing looking are very fun to use, they brought back gyms which are still fun to go through, the Wild Area, while barren, is still interesting to explore and is a great place to train later on, the music is still amazing. This game is what I like in a Pokémon game, fun Pokémon to use with a side of challenge (There were some points in the game I had trouble with), not alot of tedious grinding, an amazing soundtrack, and good characters.

    I'm not too deep in the postgame but from what I've seen, it's not alot, which downgrades my score.

    Pokémon needs more time in the oven, this is the repercussion of being a yearly franchise, if your games released every 2 years or so for some extra content and QoL updates, nobody would mind. Gamefreak needs to get help from other to make their games better. Let's just hope that they actually listen when the Diamond/Pearl remakes inevitavely roll around.

    In conclusion: PLEASE ADD VOICE ACTING TO POKÉMON PLEASE PLEASE I BEG OF YOU GAMEFREAK    … Expand
  80. Hanneymax
    Jan 4, 2020
    7
    There are enough very good Pokémon to make the game fun and although once completed there isn’t much to do, if you rate this below a 6 you are dim
  81. random_person89
    Jan 7, 2020
    7
    For a Pokemon game it's pretty mediocre, it had it's moments when it was fun and sometimes when it's not. The game is not worth $60. It feels rushed compared to other Pokemon games. Some of the Pokemon this generation where pretty cool and interesting. This generation had some of the best music in the series and some good characters. But the characters interact with you too much and thereFor a Pokemon game it's pretty mediocre, it had it's moments when it was fun and sometimes when it's not. The game is not worth $60. It feels rushed compared to other Pokemon games. Some of the Pokemon this generation where pretty cool and interesting. This generation had some of the best music in the series and some good characters. But the characters interact with you too much and there isn't really much of a story. Some of the most suspenseful moments are over when you arrive there. Some of the areas are too small and the textures are some objects are well... not good. Some of the areas look amazing and some just look lazy. They put so much work into some area's but some just look lazy. Also the battle animation with the Pokemon don't really look that good. They don't even move for some of them, some Pokemon have work put into them and some don't. They have done battle animations in the past but why can't they do that now. We can expect these things from game freak but they don't really seem to care about Pokemon.… Expand
  82. LightMicky
    Jan 12, 2020
    6
    Speravo che potesse essere un bellissimo NUOVO gioco di Pokémon, invece sembra una remaster di vecchi titoli! Sarebbe bello vedere qualcosa di nuovo!!
  83. disposable
    Jan 13, 2020
    6
    For a game following the wonderfully inventive Sun/Moon entries, Pokemon Shield is startling in its lack of ambition. The marquee feature, the wild area, feels more like a zoo than an expanse. It is absolutely arresting to recall that Pokemon and Breath of the Wild originate from the same parent company. In this day and age, it is not unreasonable to ask for freedom in our enormouslyFor a game following the wonderfully inventive Sun/Moon entries, Pokemon Shield is startling in its lack of ambition. The marquee feature, the wild area, feels more like a zoo than an expanse. It is absolutely arresting to recall that Pokemon and Breath of the Wild originate from the same parent company. In this day and age, it is not unreasonable to ask for freedom in our enormously popular well funded collectathon RPGs.

    It is frustrating to see an IP as strong as Pokemon so abused. Even through Game Freak's shallow innovation, the core gameplay loop of the most valuable IP of all time still shines. Pokemon battles are still fun, even with fewer pokemon. Still, Game Freak comes close to hamstringing battles with the Dynamax system. By Dynamaxing pokemon in certain environments, you gain exceptionally powerful pokemon for a few turns of the battle. This is a gimmick made by someone who fails to understand Pokemon's most basic complexity- the move system. Changing every move to a boilerplate (albeit strong) selection reduces the otherwise engaging battle dynamics to little more than a slap fight.

    Dynamaxed enemies in the wild area are another way in which Game Freak comes close to souring Pokemon's core loop. Five star dynamax pokemon generate shields that need to be broken down with brute force multiple times while decimating their opponents with powerful moves. This would be a compelling challenge, were it not for the incompetence of the AI trainers you're given to work with. You're frequently paired with ridiculous pokemon such as a Wobbufett that just counters or a magikarp, of all things. Making matters worse, you instantly lose the battle if four pokemon are KO'd. And of course, the Magikarp comes back after a couple turns so it may be killed again. These fights are nigh unwinnable without the aid of other players, a luxury not available to the socially inept or internet deprived. Happen to be in a car? You're not trying hard enough for the Pokemon company's standards.

    Failings aside, what Game Freak had brought to the table this entry is a graphical update. They've not done a bad job either. Gym battles held in huge soccer stadiums with screaming fans feels like the proper answer for the otherwise ludicrous notion of over the top pokemon gyms existing with mystery funding sources for ridiculous puzzle mazes. Battling in front of a huge crowd tickles the id in a way that no other Pokemon entry, save perhaps Colosseum/XD, have managed. It's an incredibly fun setting that ends up regretfully brief.

    Broadly, Pokemon shield is an entry that will hopefully be seen as the early prototype for a new kind of Pokemon game. If Game Freak accepts the feedback on their Wild Area and makes one much more expansive in the next entry, Pokemon could legitimately reach the zenith of its potential. At last, a world broad enough to truly contain and compliment the enormous Pokemon roster. For now though, this entry comes off threadbare and uninspired. A nice show piece, but not much more.    … Expand
  84. Robertinho123
    Jun 20, 2020
    7
    I really enjoy the base game, but there's very little postgame, raiding is okay, but honestly the online system is so crap that 5 star pokemon are almost impossible to catch.

    When some of the mechanics are so broken, it's hard to give it more than a 7. If they fix the online, I'll bump it to 8, but I doubt that'll happen.
  85. Andros777
    Jan 31, 2020
    6
    So here's the thing, even a lazy and somewhat empty version of Pokémon (oh and trust me, Game Freak have been cutting content hard from this one) is still an enjoyable experience to me. Is it as good as previous generations? In terms of story progression and characters I certainly did not mind it, yet, the endgame lacks serious content aside from Max Raid Battles. The number of legendariesSo here's the thing, even a lazy and somewhat empty version of Pokémon (oh and trust me, Game Freak have been cutting content hard from this one) is still an enjoyable experience to me. Is it as good as previous generations? In terms of story progression and characters I certainly did not mind it, yet, the endgame lacks serious content aside from Max Raid Battles. The number of legendaries to catch in this game is insanely low at a measily two per version.

    The content drought will be fixed this year as two expansions are planned. If you somehow managed to wait out on this game, go and buy it together with both expansions once they are out and you will surely find a great Pokémon game. As of right now, it is just alright.    … Expand
  86. Nitroade24
    Jul 17, 2020
    7
    It felt a bit empty but overall it was enjoyable as a game. Nothing to write home about.
  87. Enterkiou
    Feb 25, 2020
    7
    No es un mal juego, claramente no merece una cero. Lamentablemente no es lo que los fans de pokemon esperaban del juego. No tiene mucho avance en relación a otras entregas de la franquicia, salvo el área salvaje. Cuenta con limitaciones técnicas inexplicables para la época, como texturas mediocres y Pop-In, lo cual no concuerda con lo que uno espera de un triple A. Sin embargo, esNo es un mal juego, claramente no merece una cero. Lamentablemente no es lo que los fans de pokemon esperaban del juego. No tiene mucho avance en relación a otras entregas de la franquicia, salvo el área salvaje. Cuenta con limitaciones técnicas inexplicables para la época, como texturas mediocres y Pop-In, lo cual no concuerda con lo que uno espera de un triple A. Sin embargo, es principalmente más bueno que malo, dado que mantiene la jugabilidad adictiva de otras entregas, y respecto a eso, la jugabilidad siempre debiese tener más peso en un videojuego. Pasarás horas y horas de entretenimiento con este juego, siempre y cuando seas capaz de dejar de un lado sus notorios defectos.… Expand
  88. Fazalchaudhry
    Mar 2, 2020
    5
    Very mixed. Game has lots of flaws but the stuff it dose right are great. Main game is bone dry very short. Post game also bone dry. However the new Pokemon are great and the characters are memorable. It has some of the best gyms in any Pokemon game.
  89. A99wxy
    Jun 23, 2020
    5
    This game costs like a triple A therefore, in my opinion, as such it should be evaluated, therefore, it does not deserve a higher rating than this.

    The game is really disappointing, certainly as a fan of the saga I would have expected a better debut on a console with the capabilities of Nintendo Switch, however, this game not only does not even reach the quality of triple A games like    This game costs like a triple A therefore, in my opinion, as such it should be evaluated, therefore, it does not deserve a higher rating than this.

    The game is really disappointing, certainly as a fan of the saga I would have expected a better debut on a console with the capabilities of Nintendo Switch, however, this game not only does not even reach the quality of triple A games like Zelda, Mario Odissey, Dragon Quest 11 etc. but it has some mechanics that just don't work.

    The only reasons I didn't give a minor grade are:
    the design and the values ​​of many new pokemon introduced, really interesting (but after all this is an advantage of the whole brand not of sw / sh), the new dynamax mechanics (which is actually not so original but it works), the new metagame and the new features introduced for some time by competitive players (even if I'm not one of them).

    For the rest, however, the game really has problems everywhere. Among the problems there are:

    - the really low technical and graphic level, not in step with the times and not comparable with what a triple A should offer today (poorly detailed textures, bad animations);

    - a level design that is too linear and flat and which eliminates the exploratory component of the title.

    -a setting and a loore with interesting ideas but often left to chance and treated superficially;

    - a story that is too linear, without feelings and tension and in general told badly. There is an absence of cutscene and dubbing.

    -the total absence of valid secondary and postgame activities and missions, present in every jrpg worthy of the name.

    - an excessively low level of challenge, even lower than the previous chapters of the saga. Leveling up is too easy but not only, even completing the pokedex is now very easy (even the rarest pokemon such as Lucario and Tyranitar can be found walking through the Wild Areas).

    - the bad online system prevents you from enjoying mechanics like raids etc. without problems.

    In general, the lack of attention to detail that the game denotes is evident. It has at its base interesting ideas which, however, are left to themselves and not completed.

    I do not want to express myself about the dlc because they must be evaluated apart in my opinion, however, just because they are products separate from the base games and must be bought separately, it does not make sense to say that they solve the situation of the base games. In other words the dlc will not be able never justify the purchase of sword and shield pokemon.

    From Gamefreack I expect more on Nintendo Switch.    … Expand
  90. JancoBH
    Jun 1, 2020
    7
    Este juego es bueno, no el mejor pero si es bueno y disfrutable, lo malo es que mejora al tener switch online.

    Dentro de poco habrá un DLC que complementará el videojuego y lo hará mejorar mucho, lo malo es tener que pagar 30$ usd por ese contenido.

    También hace falta algunos Pokémon. hola
  91. Keeb999
    Jul 23, 2020
    6
    This is definitively this series' lowest point for me. It has all the things that make a Pokemon game great, but because of how rushed the game feels, a giant leap to stronger hardware just means that so many other staple positives of the series are brought down. Although it's not all doom and gloom, hardcore fans of the series and families will likely still have fun playing it,This is definitively this series' lowest point for me. It has all the things that make a Pokemon game great, but because of how rushed the game feels, a giant leap to stronger hardware just means that so many other staple positives of the series are brought down. Although it's not all doom and gloom, hardcore fans of the series and families will likely still have fun playing it, experiencing the (obviously now limited) array of wonderful out-of-this-world creatures this series is known for, a decent battle system (while I find the X&Y battle system to be definitive) and *some* fun characters like Marnie and Bede.… Expand
  92. Italloko
    Apr 18, 2020
    6
    Without national dex, easily gyms, poor game, short map, i guess the game was making at the rush, the only good thing is pokémon 3d appearing in grass
  93. yagitoshi
    Jun 18, 2020
    5
    Good music, good character design, I enjoyed the new Pokemon.
    I spent 60$ for the base Game and 30$ for the Dlc's. After trying the first Dlc I'm finally going to say my opninion.
    The game it's a techical disaster. Glitches everywhere, empy spaces, no difficulty at all, level design is weak, the characters introduced in the first DLC are pretentious but void. Pokemon following you in    Good music, good character design, I enjoyed the new Pokemon.
    I spent 60$ for the base Game and 30$ for the Dlc's. After trying the first Dlc I'm finally going to say my opninion.

    The game it's a techical disaster. Glitches everywhere, empy spaces, no difficulty at all, level design is weak, the characters introduced in the first DLC are pretentious but void. Pokemon following you in the Isle Of Armor? More like you run while they desperately try to follow you. I feel nothing playing Shield, and while the first DLC introduced new - kinda - intricate areas, the experience didn't improve. 90$ wasted.    … Expand
  94. Faxi
    May 23, 2020
    7
    Pokemon Sword & Shield introduces us to the galar region, with a bunch of new but also returning pokemon from the past games in the series. While the national dex isn't a thing in Pokemon Sword & Shield, the game is still a great pokemon game.

    While the game has a lot of different elements compared to the other pokemon games in the series. It was still fun exploring the Galar region,    Pokemon Sword & Shield introduces us to the galar region, with a bunch of new but also returning pokemon from the past games in the series. While the national dex isn't a thing in Pokemon Sword & Shield, the game is still a great pokemon game.

    While the game has a lot of different elements compared to the other pokemon games in the series. It was still fun exploring the Galar region, and leveling up and evolving one's pokemons.

    The game was far too easy, and the gyms didn't really offer any challenge whatsoever. The game did offer a more open area also known as the ''Wild Area'' with many different pokemon, one could catch.
    While also even your rival isn't even challenging at all, just makes the game far more easy and not challenging at all.

    Other than the easy gym challenges the game offers, there is no elite four, but instead ''Semi-Finals'' which felt like beating the gym challenges all over again.

    The game doesn't even offer a interesting story, but rather an awkward story about your rival and his constant craving beating you.

    Though, even with the small disappointments the game has, the game was still quite fun to play through.

    With the 2 ekspansions releasing later this year, hopefully we will get a lot more of great content.    … Expand
  95. Baximi
    May 3, 2020
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Es ist ein gutes Spiel, aber eines der schlechtesten seiner Reihe. Die Story lässt wieder einmal zu wünschen übrig und Dynamax ist meiner Meinung auch nicht sonderlich interessant. Die meisten neuen Pokémon sind sogar in Ordnung, aber ein paar waren wie immer unnötig. Dennoch hatte ich mit dem Spiel eine Menge Spaß.… Expand
  96. TrasteroDPablo
    May 8, 2020
    5
    5,4 Sin duda alguna el peor videojuego de la saga principal. Sacaron un juego incompleto por 60 euros y ahora quieren que paguemos 30 euros más. Casi que no hay historia, única edición que no puedes tener todos los pokemon. Me encantaron los diseños de los pokemon, buen campeón, buen malo final.
  97. Theuzetz
    May 6, 2020
    6
    I think this is a pretty decent game,however,considering how much the franchise has been stuck,and they are yet to innovate,and wasted an incredible opportunity to do so in this game,because it's a new gen,in a home console,they had a big shot,and missed,however,pokémon is still great either way.
  98. Yammy
    May 29, 2020
    6
    Pokemon Shield is for sure a huge dissapointment as a Pokemon game. I was able to play a lot of this and have fun doing it, but it is pretty underwhelming...
  99. VeryOaty
    Jun 2, 2020
    5
    The game is okay at best, which isn’t great. There is still some time to make the game better via dlc which will most likely help the franchise. It’s better than having a whole other game for 60 dollars than two dlc packs for 30.
  100. Arthur26670
    Jun 24, 2020
    6
    Animações porcos e mal feitas e não tem quase nenhum desenvolvimento dos personagens além de não atribuir em nada o universo pokemon mas pelo é divertido as raids principalmente.
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Awards & Rankings

76
#76 Best Switch Game of 2019
3
#3 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 89 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 69 out of 89
  2. Mixed: 20 out of 89
  3. Negative: 0 out of 89
  1. Nintendo Force Magazine
    Apr 30, 2020
    90
    Sword & Shield have a lot to love for old and new fans, and they're pure quality from top to bottom. [Issue #44 – January/February 2020, p. 72]
  2. GameCritics
    Feb 6, 2020
    75
    I enjoyed my time with Pokemon Sword and Shield, but I ended feeling conflicted. I appreciate many of the changes and felt that it generally respected my time, but I almost felt like a passive participant. The more complex gym challenges had a meatier role, but the narrative shouldn’t have been shoved to the side. Overall, I would recommend it to players who want to have a Pokemon experience, but this one won’t stick with me the way the older ones have.
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  3. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Jan 14, 2020
    78
    Pokemon Sword/Shield is uncharacteristically user-friendly: now there’s no need to backtrack half across the world to heal your entire team of pokemon or to get to a particular city, for example. [Issue#242, p.66]
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