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. hacazevedo
    Dec 17, 2019
    10
    Best game in the world. Great RPG, good cutscenes, I loved the new Pokémon. Congratulations to Game Freak for the game. One of the best I've ever played on the switch. Recommended
  2. Sasa789
    Dec 17, 2019
    0
    Pokemon, make REAL videogames! This is not what we wan't. Evolve like all that other video games have, you of all companies have the funds to make the greatest game EVER.
  3. 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
  4. N7NormandySR2
    Dec 16, 2019
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A below average Pokemon experience. The national Dex and graphics are the majoritys complaints it seems and I can respect that. It's not something that bothers me a lot though. Biggest things that get me are the inability to play the game ranked. Sure they made it easier to grind out comp. Pokemon but what's the point if I can't even find someone to play ranked with? Last game session I spent an hour and a half searching and found 1 person. One before that spent an hour to find nobody. Ranked is completely broken so I'm forced to go play casuals and all that happens there is playing against legendaries or cheated g max Pokemon. I've played for 200 hours so far and at least 100 of it has been going for ha pokemon or grinding up comp. teams for ranked. Now I'm realizing it was a complete waste of time since can't play against anybody. By far worst game in the series. There are some innovative things I enjoy like I said about being able to grind comp. mons easier but that's really about it except some of the new mons designs. Either than that. Meh. Worst story as well imo with the worst antagonists. Almost felt forced in for no reason. End game is weak as hell compared to sun and moon. Hopefully GF steps it up next gen and actually starts putting in a lil effort instead of putting in the bare minimal. 1 more thing. WHY NO MASS RELEASE FEATURE. Releasing Pokemon 1 at a time is absolute insanity. Thought I might try my hand at shiny grinding but not a chance without that feature lol seems Niantic is a bit smarter than GF when it came to that. Take a page out of their book GF. All in all there's things that I like but only a few and out of all the Pokemon games it's definitely the weakest. Thanks to any for reading my rant!… Expand
  5. ASDfdffsf123314
    Dec 16, 2019
    1
    I think the game may be a great gift for a small child who has never played a pokemon game before but that's about it. And it's a 60$ gift too if you go that route. Otherwise, it's just a bad game. The series is incredibly formulaic if you've played more than one and way too easy. And for people who want to play competitive battles, you can just play pokemon showdown online without theI think the game may be a great gift for a small child who has never played a pokemon game before but that's about it. And it's a 60$ gift too if you go that route. Otherwise, it's just a bad game. The series is incredibly formulaic if you've played more than one and way too easy. And for people who want to play competitive battles, you can just play pokemon showdown online without the grind. Also, not all pokemon are available so many people's favorites are missing which seems lazy when they are just reusing sprites; it’s not that big of a deal to those new to the franchise and it does push people to newer and fresh options but at the same time it was a disappointing choice game freak made. The dialogue coming from the NPCs seems strange and inhuman when talking to characters besides the main cast. I’m sure someone who has never played one of these before or is just into the games for the quite designs and nostalgia would still find it enjoyable and I can’t honestly recommend it to anyone else.… Expand
  6. jimmya0
    Dec 16, 2019
    4
    This has been the worst pokemon game in the franchise by far:

    - They have cut many features which were available in previous games. - Not all pokemon are available in the game. - Difficulty is WAY too easy specially with the multi-exp you have from the start. - End game is basically non-existent - Graphics look like the ones you'd expect in a 3DS game. - Your rival is the most    This has been the worst pokemon game in the franchise by far:

    - They have cut many features which were available in previous games.
    - Not all pokemon are available in the game.
    - Difficulty is WAY too easy specially with the multi-exp you have from the start.
    - End game is basically non-existent
    - Graphics look like the ones you'd expect in a 3DS game.
    - Your rival is the most incompetent I have seen in the pokemon franchise.

    Basically it is a rushed game which shouldn't have released in this state. I hope this serves as a wake up call to Gamefreak and the next installment is much better    … Expand
  7. cepanutis
    Dec 15, 2019
    3
    [REVIEW IN SPANISH]

    Lo primero que quiero dejar claro es que no soy ni un hater de pokémon ni de nintendo, solo un jugador que cuando un juego es bueno lo dice y cuando es malo, también. Y aquí comento las sensaciones que me ha dado este juego tras haberlo finalizado, ni más ni menos. AL TEMA: > Dificultad nula debido al absurdo nuevo sistema de Rep. Exp de esta generación. >    [REVIEW IN SPANISH]

    Lo primero que quiero dejar claro es que no soy ni un hater de pokémon ni de nintendo, solo un jugador que cuando un juego es bueno lo dice y cuando es malo, también. Y aquí comento las sensaciones que me ha dado este juego tras haberlo finalizado, ni más ni menos.

    AL TEMA:

    > Dificultad nula debido al absurdo nuevo sistema de Rep. Exp de esta generación.
    > Rutas vacías y sin alma. Lineales, cero exploración.
    > Animaciones del paleolítico, quitando 4 o 5. Ya no solo en combate si no en general.
    > Entre alguna medalla y la siguiente hay literalmente 10-15 minutos de juego, sin palabras.
    > Los pokemon nuevos en su mayoría muy flojos a nivel artístico.
    > El rendimiento del area silvestre en el modo online mejor ni mencionarlo.
    > El team Yell es el peor de la saga y sus motivaciones son un chiste de mal gusto al jugador.
    > Personajes olvidables 100%. Paul es irritante.
    > La historia ni te engancha ni despierta el más mínimo interés, y encima pasa casi todo en la última hora y media.

    Cosas buenas que mencionar:
    > Algún que otro diseño que está muy bien.
    > Cambios de calidad de vida como lo de los motes o recordar movimientos en cada centro.
    > Los desafios de gimansio (me parecen el camino a seguir aunque aquí no se han hecho demasiado bien, pero hay margen de mejora).

    En definitiva, por lo que nos dan, me parece que es un juego de 20€ y me arrepiento de haber pagado por él más del doble de eso, siendo sincero. No justifica su precio, es un producto inacabado en el cual se nota que han faltado tiempo y recursos. Algo inconcebible viniendo de una compañía de este tamaño.

    Que no olviden nunca que si son algo es gracias a los títulos consoleros de la franquicia, no gracias a los jueguecillos de móvil con microtransaciones. Que parece que es lo único que les importa ahora. NO todo es dinero a veces señores.    … Expand
  8. Silaf
    Dec 14, 2019
    2
    This game was made in really little time cutting the corners. To me it kind of fell soulless even tough it has his own good points like the characters and new pokemon designs (stonejourner is an exception).
    Online services, grafic and animations are unacceptable.
    The missing pokemons in the pokedex could have been easily added by hiring new programmers for the job. Fake buildings with    This game was made in really little time cutting the corners. To me it kind of fell soulless even tough it has his own good points like the characters and new pokemon designs (stonejourner is an exception).
    Online services, grafic and animations are unacceptable.
    The missing pokemons in the pokedex could have been easily added by hiring new programmers for the job.
    Fake buildings with no doors and linear corridor like cities and routes (wrose than other pokemon games).
    Oh and it's super short.    … Expand
  9. Wayne86
    Dec 13, 2019
    10
    Jogo maravilhoso, iniciais perfeitos, desafio de ginásio épico. Trilha sonora impecável. Dex maravilhosa. Senti falta de alguns poke, mas no futuro em outros games matarei a saudade deles.
  10. Rare289
    Dec 12, 2019
    7
    So, let's just get this out of the way: the story is very meh. To be frank, I haven't felt as engaged with a Pokemon story in a while, with the last time I actually enjoyed one being in Pokemon X and Y. But this go around, I feel like this is mainly do to the lackluster characters involved in the story. Not to mention that, rather than let my character get more involved in theSo, let's just get this out of the way: the story is very meh. To be frank, I haven't felt as engaged with a Pokemon story in a while, with the last time I actually enjoyed one being in Pokemon X and Y. But this go around, I feel like this is mainly do to the lackluster characters involved in the story. Not to mention that, rather than let my character get more involved in the mystery/world-ending phenomenon, it just gets pushed aside so that I can "continue my journey while the adults take care of stuff". Aside from that, what did save this game for me was the new quality of life improvements, the Wild Area, Surprise Trade and the new Pokemon from the Galar region. I love Dreepy, Grapploct and Boltund, but all the other new Pokemon are cool and unique in their own ways and in their designs. Especially since I found Sun and Moon's new pokemon to be pretty bland, Shield really did impress me with it's Pokemon. And I've put tons of hours into just exploring the Wild Area, doing Max Raids, and doing tons of surprise trades with people. And, I've got to admit, I've had fun. This is still a fun and enjoyable Pokemon game. I would say try it out before completely rejecting it, but I do hope that we can see and even better game, with an actually good story, in the next generation. Not sure if I'll write a Sword review, but it will probably be similar to this.… Expand
  11. Derbearz
    Dec 11, 2019
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Legit feels like a hollow shell. Gamefreak really crapped on the true fans with this incredibly awful game. It’s Pokemon dumbed down to the lowest degree. Linear routes full of lifeless battles, no caves/dungeons/caverns to explore. The towns are empty shells. No use for TMs/HMs there are no hidden paths. Routes are generally blocked by Team Yell grunts. Team yell is irrelevant, probably the most uninteresting team or antagonist in any Pokemon game. Their hideout doubles as a “town” which is a straight left to right town of absolutely nothing. I wasnt expecting this game to be the greatest, but I did not expect this game to be this bad. The wild area is lifeless and feels like a random assortment of pokemon that feel out of place. Theres nothing really else to do in the wild area other than raid battle. It’s like a bigger, more controlled safari zone. I could go on about how disappointing this game is. Graphics not being the most important thing are lackluster. Looking at the coding of this game, it was done very sloppy. The code is so messy, textures in the game look terrible. Pop in looks adds to the lifelessness of this game. No elite 4, you just re battle gym leaders at the end. The final showdown of the game is so anti climactic. Just don’t buy this game. I rarely regret buying a game especially Pokemon, but this hame is just god awful. I could go on and on about how bad this game is.… Expand
  12. jumpingmanx
    Dec 11, 2019
    0
    Pobre contenido . Pobre desempeño pesimo diseño, pesimo online multijugador. Inexistente dificultad.

    No pagues por el así de simple.
  13. Bullish
    Dec 11, 2019
    4
    This is my first pokemon game since the original red/blue, and when I first started it, it really did get its claws in me. But over time, the luster faded as I started to sense how rushed and lazy the game felt.

    If you don't know what I mean by rushed and lazy, please take a long look at Team Yell. Other Beef: - Identical characters everywhere - Bad translations all over the    This is my first pokemon game since the original red/blue, and when I first started it, it really did get its claws in me. But over time, the luster faded as I started to sense how rushed and lazy the game felt.

    If you don't know what I mean by rushed and lazy, please take a long look at Team Yell.

    Other Beef:

    - Identical characters everywhere
    - Bad translations all over the place. This is the first pokemon game on a major console. This thing should have been polished to a gleam.
    - Dynamax system just seemed dragged fights out, and the moves were just replicas? I never understood that
    - Sometimes there was absolutely nothing in between gyms
    - Music was completely unspecial
    - I don't know about you, but the actual pokemon have seemed to drop in originality/creativity over the years. There's an apple, a teapot, a cart filled with coal. Who thought these things up?    … Expand
  14. OTMRUSH
    Dec 11, 2019
    3
    Not the best Pokémon they have released. The game it’s self is not that bad but if you’re big into shiny hunting don’t even bother... I’m 83 hours into Pokémon shield and still haven’t gotten a single shiny. I’ve breezed and hatched over a thousand Lapras eggs and battled over 1000 zigzagoon and the list goes on. It’s kind of ridiculous
  15. Sensey_DARJ
    Dec 11, 2019
    9
    Vengo jugando desde pokemon amarillo para el GBC y después de terminar el juego con los 400 pokemon máximos por capturar hasta ahora, pasar toda la historia que es corta y resumida pero te entretiene,incursiones , las animaciones y lo fácil que es subir de nivel a tus pokemon como hacerlos perfectos para el competitivo que ahora ya no nos llevaremos eternidades en crear un pokemonVengo jugando desde pokemon amarillo para el GBC y después de terminar el juego con los 400 pokemon máximos por capturar hasta ahora, pasar toda la historia que es corta y resumida pero te entretiene,incursiones , las animaciones y lo fácil que es subir de nivel a tus pokemon como hacerlos perfectos para el competitivo que ahora ya no nos llevaremos eternidades en crear un pokemon perfecto.... mi nota final es 9. Y las canciones de los gimnasios y las de enfrentamiento como la de la Torre de batalla son hermosos… Expand
  16. 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
  17. 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
  18. AllenF
    Dec 10, 2019
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Pros: most of the new Pokemon are all around great! Some very neat designs, unique moves, and unique typings. Very good job on the new 'mons, Gamefreak

    Cons: where do I begin? I'll just list a few

    1. Dynamaxing. This new feature is by far the worst of the battle mechanics in recent memory. It is 3 turns of Z moves (which were already a bit broken) from a Pokemon with massive HP and a downgrade from mega evolutions, creatively (which actually had creative designs and brought old 'mons back to life). An overall disappointment and a broken game mechanic.

    2. Dexit. I am very sad and still confused that about 1/2 off all Pokemon were just cut from the game entirely. And after having seen which ones remain, I'm even more baffled. This leads to my next point

    3. Lack of content. After beating the boring campaign, I am left feeling empty. The routes are short, there is no reward for exploring, there is no middle dungeon, no puzzles, confusing storyline, and anti-climactic lore leading to the legendary battle. What is the most odd to me, though, is the complete lack of endgame content. After catching the box legends, there's nothing. There are a total of 3...yes 3 legendaries in the entire game. I'm stunned. 4. To finish, I'll comment on max raids. These are fun until about your 3rd raid. They are monotonous and tedious after that. Every battle is the same strat: destroy as quickly as possible. Many 5* raids are literally impossible with the complete garbage AI that is given to single players who don't play online. To top it off, the spawns are random and rare. If you happen to find a rare spawn, you must go through an excruciatingly long battle only to have 1...yes 1 chance to catch it. The catch rate is trash for high tiers. This is a boring, chance-filled, unoriginal, tedious battle format. I'm ashamed at Gamefreak for this nonsense.


    There is so much more I could complain about (HA hunting, harvesting EV berries, poor animations, etc.) But overall gen 8 is a complete downgrade from previous installments. It's a literal step backwards in so many ways. As a Pokemon fan and competitive battler for 20 years now, I wanted to love this game. I anticipated it since it's announce. Now, I'm giving it away to a kid who is new to Pokemon and is saving up to buy it. I don't want him to have to spend his money on this game. Here's to hoping for gen 9    … Expand
  19. Herbyy
    Dec 10, 2019
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The routes were way too short compared to previous games which destroyed any sense of exploration and made it feel rushed. The cities and towns were just there, there were no activities or mini games only the gyms and Pokémon centers which made it really boring. The story was bland and the plot twist at end came out of nowhere and tell yell is the worst team in the series by far. I was really hoping to love this game but I just ended up being super disappointed. I really hope gamefreak learned their lesson and give us a much better game that ya Pokémon deserve next time.… Expand
  20. andoni_galicia
    Dec 10, 2019
    10
    El juego de Pokémon más adictivo de la historia. Cazar, criar, intercambiar y farmear entre otras cosas nunca había sido tan ágil y divertido. Es verdad que el tema de la pokedex es un aspecto negativo, pero se ve más que compensado con la calidad de los modelos y la diversión que proporciona el juego.
  21. 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
  22. GreyKompot
    Dec 9, 2019
    8
    First of all I'm a zoomer who has played all the pokemon games except gen 1/let's go (played the gen 3 remakes). -Gen 1 on the gameboy is bad and broken, that's a fact-. My top favourite 3 games are pokemon or/as ,pokemon fire red/leaf green and heart gold /soul silver ,which from what i know most of the community agrees on. (Played pokemon shield on the switch lite, 55hrs*)
    Ok, and now    First of all I'm a zoomer who has played all the pokemon games except gen 1/let's go (played the gen 3 remakes). -Gen 1 on the gameboy is bad and broken, that's a fact-. My top favourite 3 games are pokemon or/as ,pokemon fire red/leaf green and heart gold /soul silver ,which from what i know most of the community agrees on. (Played pokemon shield on the switch lite, 55hrs*)
    Ok, and now that we are done with the introductions.
    Let's get on with the review. Pokemon shield does not deserve the low score it has from the users, it is by far top 3 in my opinion. Beating out the gen 3 remakes , and is edging the gen 2 remakes. I think the game solidly deserves an 8.5/10.
    The game is a step up from gen 7, in gameplay, gyms/trails and gym leaders. Not so the story
    Let's address some of the complaints:

    Graphics: I heard a ton of people hating on the graphics and "old reused animations". Not only are they blatantly wrong, but some of the rumours are just ridiculous, it's like they haven't played the games.
    The game by far looks the best out of the series, with new and improved animations (just watch it on YouTube or something if you don't believe), tbh i loved every single tweak they added and welcomed any change in the animations.
    One complaint would be, everything gets a bit pixelated if you stand like 10m/~33ft from it. It wasn't a big deal for me personally, but i see why people might be frustrated.

    Music: One of the best part of the game, you have some classical Scottish bagpipes, some funky groovy edm and a mix of rock. And it features by far the best gym leader/champion theme. The rival theme is ok but still doesn't beat the best one (the or/as one).

    Story:I'm not gonna spoil it ,but just rank it 7/10. (Took me 26hrs of casual play to finish up till champion.)

    The national dex: I'm gonna be real with you, my favourite pokemons didn't appear in this generation. But we need to move on. Personally I'm a fan of competitive. And i think removing some pokemon (like landorus) can spice up the competition. I will miss the pokemon I love, but I will grow to love new ones.

    Now if you will excuse me i have to get back to catchin' em a--, some of them.


    Btw created an account just to make this review. English is not my first language so i hope I made a satisfactory review.    … Expand
  23. PachirisuFanNo1
    Dec 9, 2019
    1
    The game is way to easy. I cleared the story in about 7 hours. There are also numerous bugs and glitches, like being able to teach an egg tm's, seeing the eggs stats before it hatches, and a computer mouse cursor moves across the screen in multiple cutscenes, just to name a few. To top things off, the meta is completely revolving around a single Pokemon. If the national dex was available,The game is way to easy. I cleared the story in about 7 hours. There are also numerous bugs and glitches, like being able to teach an egg tm's, seeing the eggs stats before it hatches, and a computer mouse cursor moves across the screen in multiple cutscenes, just to name a few. To top things off, the meta is completely revolving around a single Pokemon. If the national dex was available, I don't think this would have been an issue due to not having a limited number of pokemon. This game feels very rushed.… Expand
  24. lazy_vortex
    Dec 9, 2019
    4
    Okay guys. I'm OK with Cutdex, this would happen, sooner or later.
    But game has a lot of problem and I couldn't make myself fall in love with SwoShie.
    1. No touch-screen. Absolutely. Giant disadvantage for hand-held game. 2. Сlumsy engine. Game Freak doesn't know how to work with devkit. When you touch the staircase you also use ZA WARUDO and freeze all over the world. 3. Broken online    Okay guys. I'm OK with Cutdex, this would happen, sooner or later.
    But game has a lot of problem and I couldn't make myself fall in love with SwoShie.
    1. No touch-screen. Absolutely. Giant disadvantage for hand-held game.
    2. Сlumsy engine. Game Freak doesn't know how to work with devkit. When you touch the staircase you also use ZA WARUDO and freeze all over the world.
    3. Broken online system. Really, it is THE WORST trade in hystory.
    4. The 5-6th points will be a little bit spoiler, please don't read if you are not ready.
    4.1. The designes are totally crienge. Fossils looks like a vomit in agony.
    Impidimp looks like from Yo-Kai Watch and NOT from Pokemon.
    Eiscue is laziest design ever.
    Alcreamie, Polteageist and apple dragon? Pokemons are wild creatures, they hunt, kill and eat each other! But these dudes looks like they accidentally escaped from a Disney tea party
    5. SPOILER ALERT!
    5.1. The story is very bad. Really:
    WE HAVE AN EXPLOSION IN THE CITY, BUT YOU MUST RUN TO THE NEIGHBORING CITY TO THE STADIUM, BADGES ARE MORE IMPORTANT.
    Or how Chairman decide to defeat third legendary (awful design btw).
    Yeah, very realistic and logic.
    6. Characters are empty and worthless.
    Professor is so usless, so if you cut her out from story, nothing will change.
    Hau ew Hop is cheap copy of Hau. The only one bright moment in him it's his sorrow and fear of disgracing brother. The other is bruh moments.
    Or Team Yolo. Yeah, they were trying to create Team Skull-2, but it isn't earnestly.
    7. A lot of trash instead of content. Those collecting cards, curry dex. Who cares?! It's trash!

    I will lie if I say "there are no good side in game".
    1. Wild Areas are interesting. At least first 10 hours. I left them only for obtaining new badges and compliting **** story.
    But at one moment even the Wild Areas make me tired with their repetitiveness.
    2. Some animations REALLY are nice. My personal love -- Falinks's NO RETREAT. It cool, but not at all. Other animations are cheap and askew, like Flamethrower not from mouth but from forehead.

    IN CONCLUSION: this is not AAA-title. It is VERY raw beta but it cost like complited game.
    I suppose the main problem in fate of Pokegames is Gamefreaks. In the foreground are their general incompetence and lack of development skills.
    I am ashamed that I supported this game with a purchase.    … Expand
  25. Spiritombed
    Dec 8, 2019
    0
    Spiritomb isn't in this game, therefore it's a terrible game. I am absolutely livid, I am full for agony. My wife left me, my son no longer loves me, due to how broken I have become. The Day of Reckoning is upon Gamefreak. You will all suffer the consequences.
  26. Nobuemon
    Dec 8, 2019
    10
    This game is great even without the National Pokedex (I miss Oshawottt tho)
  27. Zool098
    Dec 8, 2019
    0
    Stop giving this game a 10/10 rating. All you're doing is making it worse and damaging the franchise. Do not encourage Gamefreak to stay lazy, we need to keep the score low so gamefreak sees we are not happy and actually put effort in their next game. You can enjoy this game all you want, but you can't ignore the objective flaws it has, such as the poor performance, poor graphics, poorStop giving this game a 10/10 rating. All you're doing is making it worse and damaging the franchise. Do not encourage Gamefreak to stay lazy, we need to keep the score low so gamefreak sees we are not happy and actually put effort in their next game. You can enjoy this game all you want, but you can't ignore the objective flaws it has, such as the poor performance, poor graphics, poor animation, cut Pokemon, no voice acting, lack of story, pop ins, poor textures, and many more problems. This game is a 6/10 at best, so let's keep the score and hope it sends the message to Gamefreak!… Expand
  28. 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
  29. BaldFrog
    Dec 8, 2019
    8
    I would say decent pokemon game, not as bad as ppl make it to seem like, but decent. It can be that my 8 is only from the reson that its pokemon and the core of pokemon is fun.

    Also pokemons that i mostly cared was in the game so i dont have anything to say, but if thay would keep every pokemon every time in the game, the memory ussge would get really big and it would not make sence in    I would say decent pokemon game, not as bad as ppl make it to seem like, but decent. It can be that my 8 is only from the reson that its pokemon and the core of pokemon is fun.


    Also pokemons that i mostly cared was in the game so i dont have anything to say, but if thay would keep every pokemon every time in the game, the memory ussge would get really big and it would not make sence in natural perspective, like why there would be a animal from shout america in europe, daam nature ripping off    … Expand
  30. kenshingensai
    Dec 8, 2019
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. postgame is lacking, There are no Elite Four, you fight the same trainers all over again instead, wild area don't care for, raid battles don't care for, towns are empty, lifeless animations, feels more like a port from 3DS, improvements come at way too high a price, the game suffers from many graphical issues. Pokemon, trainers and objects will just pop into and out of the overworld for seemingly no reason.… Expand
  31. 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.
  32. 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
  33. Kamicarze
    Dec 8, 2019
    10
    Very good game, fantastic pokemon and very good story line with the openworld play
  34. NotMyHighscore
    Dec 8, 2019
    1
    Pokemon word and shield is just plain evidence of how out of ideas GameFreak is. The messages from the community where never heard. Dinamaxing is an uninspired way to solve the unbalance Mega evolutions and Z moves created on the previos gemes
  35. Militos
    Dec 8, 2019
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A ideia de ter um jogo de Pokémon em mundo aberto (na série principal) é algo sem procedentes. Uma gameplay mais leve, que facilita o treinamento de pokémons, além de novos artifícios para aumentá-los de nível mais rapidamente são muito bem vindos. Porém, alguns detalhes não podem deixar de serem vistos, como a possibilidade real de ter inserido todos os pokémons e a queda de frames quando conectado a internet na Wild Area. E claro, uma história ingame um pouco mais fraca em relação aos títulos anteriores. Posto isso, uma nota 8 é mais do que justa.… Expand
  36. Daitya
    Dec 8, 2019
    10
    Como todo juego de la saga Pokémon es un buen juego. Nuevas criaturas, batallas, la magia de empezar de nuevo en una nueva región, una nueva cultura regional y personajes, una banda sonora impresionante... Pero también nos encontraremos con numerosos fallos como... Ciudades un poco monótonas, el recorte de Pokémon(que espero que metan un DLC para compensar), la falta de libertad delComo todo juego de la saga Pokémon es un buen juego. Nuevas criaturas, batallas, la magia de empezar de nuevo en una nueva región, una nueva cultura regional y personajes, una banda sonora impresionante... Pero también nos encontraremos con numerosos fallos como... Ciudades un poco monótonas, el recorte de Pokémon(que espero que metan un DLC para compensar), la falta de libertad del principio o la escasez de postgame.

    Lionel, el campeón de Galar se ve más humano y actúa como tal, además de ser querido y conocido por todos los habitantes. Me gusta su expresión al perder(aunque me da un poco de pena combatir contra él XD). Eso sí, este personaje fue el único que me derrotó y me superaba en nivel.

    Para terminar me gustaría destacar la toxicidad de la comunidad de Pokémon. Una comunidad tan tóxica que no puede disfrutar de un juego de su saga favorita y prefieren insultar y amenazar de muerte a Game Freak porque no se sienten satisfechos con el juego(o al menos es lo que dicen). También deberíamos apreciar la otra posición donde se ponen como locos cuando hacen una crítica a su juego favorito.

    Conclusión para ambas opiniones de ardidos y amargados: Disfrutad del juego y pasad de vuestro "Orgullo Pokémon" parecéis una secta. Es un juego y ya está, no han matado a vuestros padres. Como cada juego tiene sus puntos fuertes y sus puntos débiles y ya está. Eso sí, estáis en vuestro derecho a decir que el juego está "incompleto" o que podrían haber hecho algo mejor... Pero hacedlo sin insultar y con un punto de vista neutral, que hay cada crítica destructiva que no tiene sentido.    … Expand
  37. luis2667
    Dec 7, 2019
    8
    pese a todas la criticas mal hechas, es un gran juego, adictivo, con fallos claro esta, mecánicas muy buenas, si la compañía decide seguir usando el área silvestre y expandirla a mas partes del mapa, la franquicia daría un gran salto y mas, si lograran evitar los bajones de frames con el modo on-line activado, definitivamente no le doy 10 solo por esos detalles que faltan por pulir, peropese a todas la criticas mal hechas, es un gran juego, adictivo, con fallos claro esta, mecánicas muy buenas, si la compañía decide seguir usando el área silvestre y expandirla a mas partes del mapa, la franquicia daría un gran salto y mas, si lograran evitar los bajones de frames con el modo on-line activado, definitivamente no le doy 10 solo por esos detalles que faltan por pulir, pero se lo merecería para subir la calificación del review bombing que le hicieron, ojala corrijan esto, como lo han hecho con death stranding, que no se merece mas de 5… Expand
  38. SarkTG
    Dec 7, 2019
    9
    The core fundamentals of this game are not a major departure from other Pokemon titles. Favorite poke not in the game? Me neither. Move on and get yourself a new pal. Graphics, glitches, end game? Do the zero reviewers even play Pokemon games? At least with the Dex being reduced to a selection people are forced to rethink builds and movesets rather than just reusing old ones or completelyThe core fundamentals of this game are not a major departure from other Pokemon titles. Favorite poke not in the game? Me neither. Move on and get yourself a new pal. Graphics, glitches, end game? Do the zero reviewers even play Pokemon games? At least with the Dex being reduced to a selection people are forced to rethink builds and movesets rather than just reusing old ones or completely copying Smogon 24/7. Plus, from a battler primarily, the wild area is making catch and collect much more fun than in previous titles.
    So if you've played these games since at least X/Y, get yourself a copy and get going. Let this be the review that gets you off the fence. Or don't. Meta will survive with or without you. And if you're so with dexit, temtem is right around the corner. You can migrate and proceed to get your a** kicked there too.    … Expand
  39. tenebrarum91
    Dec 7, 2019
    2
    This game makes me sad: Popping in characters, low resolution textures, embarissing animations.
    There is no remarkable character, a stupid loser rival, the gameplay is stucked in the 2000s and there is no real innovation at all. This game was so boring, that even my wife, who never says something about my video games, commented, that this game looks "dumb and boring".
    Bringing Pokémon    This game makes me sad: Popping in characters, low resolution textures, embarissing animations.
    There is no remarkable character, a stupid loser rival, the gameplay is stucked in the 2000s and there is no real innovation at all. This game was so boring, that even my wife, who never says something about my video games, commented, that this game looks "dumb and boring".

    Bringing Pokémon to the Switch could have been the opportunity to finally innovate in a big scope, but Gamefreak fricked it up. Unbelievable. Sorry Pokémon. That's it for me.    … Expand
  40. SilexEco
    Dec 7, 2019
    9
    Bueno, lo primero un enorme saludo a los piperos de 3dMaletines que tan enamorados andan de mi ojete, en especial al admin "yasif-nator", chico a ver si dejas de atragantarte con tanto maletín de PlayStation España, que es que no se puede ni leer cada noticia que publicas, perdón, quería decir publicitas, con tanta baba, menos mal que poco a poco van despertando las neuronas de la gente yBueno, lo primero un enorme saludo a los piperos de 3dMaletines que tan enamorados andan de mi ojete, en especial al admin "yasif-nator", chico a ver si dejas de atragantarte con tanto maletín de PlayStation España, que es que no se puede ni leer cada noticia que publicas, perdón, quería decir publicitas, con tanta baba, menos mal que poco a poco van despertando las neuronas de la gente y os van mandando a donde os corresponde.

    Dicho esto y vamos al meollo de la cuestión, Pokémon Escudo, un salto tecnológico muy grande desde las últimas ediciones pero con algún pero, lo mejor, el área silvestre y su conectividad con otros jugadores, le da un aire fresco y una vida increíble al videojuego, sólo por esto es imposible que algunos medios de prensa "especializados" de videojuegos (propaganda de alcantarilla) le den un triste 8. Sinceramente, espero que la próxima gen, la novena, sea 100% área silvestre.

    Lo peor del juego para mí puede ser por ejemplo, la historia, no termina de enganchar y casi hasta el final del juego no ves realmente un gran avance, que casi parece sacado con prisas y debajo de la manga, en anteriores ediciones te mantenía enganchado desde el inicio, otro punto negativo es que al juego le falta esa pizca de oscuridad/mezquinidad que ofrecían otras entregas, por ejemplo, el team Yell me parece una broma de mal gusto, y el rival Paul / Hop que es casi tan irritante como un pipero.

    Y hasta aquí todo, sin más, un juego redondo que merece la pena hasta el último céntimo, hay cosas sin mayor impotancia en los que se enfrascan los piperomasones y los pokéllorones como los gráficos o que no hay pokédex nacional para tirarle mierda al juego, creedme que a los jugadores de bien son cosas que ni las vais a notar porque el juego divierte y es adictivo, que es lo importante.

    Bueno haters, ya podéis seguir "jugando" con vuestro simulador de repartidor del cual hasta elrbiusomg ha hecho una parodia, porque esa cosa soporífera no la soporta ni Dios.

    P.D.: El cero al GOW muy bien merecido, ya que lo puse justo cuando lo arruinaron con aquella actualización que calló toda la prensa piperomasónica.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    ENGLISH:

    Pokémon Shield represents a very great technological jump since the last editions, the best, the wild area and it's connectivity with other players, it gives a fresh air and an incredible life to the game, just because of this it is impossible that some media "specialized" video games (sewer propaganda) give him a sad 8. Sincerely, I hope that the next gene, the ninth, could it be 100% wild area.

    The worst part of the game for me may be, for example, the story, it does not finish hooking and almost until the end of the game you do not really see a breakthrough, which almost seems taken out in a hurry and under the sleeve, in previous editions it kept you hooked From the beginning, another negative point is that the game is missing that bit of darkness / meanness that other deliveries offered, for example, the Yell team seems like a joke in bad taste and the rival Hop is nasty.    … Expand
  41. 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
  42. Meowmeowmix26
    Dec 5, 2019
    1
    I'm giving this game a 1 only because it's Pokemon. This game is a mockery of how lazy Nintendo got with this one. Why try? They know that we are going to buy the game *which I did). But here's the thing..Pokenon sun and moon *the last installment) is a quality game. Better graphics, pokemon design, animations story telling, soundtrack, starters, wayy more pokemon, *this one isI'm giving this game a 1 only because it's Pokemon. This game is a mockery of how lazy Nintendo got with this one. Why try? They know that we are going to buy the game *which I did). But here's the thing..Pokenon sun and moon *the last installment) is a quality game. Better graphics, pokemon design, animations story telling, soundtrack, starters, wayy more pokemon, *this one is subjective)the fact I could turn off exp share. Shall I go on?… Expand
  43. Wingmanwesty
    Dec 5, 2019
    1
    This game had huge potential, but ultimately put half effort into each and every aspect of this game. The Raids were the biggest dissapointment to me. Such a cool idea. Teaming up online with friends to fight a giant pokemon you'd been hunting for. Wild. Yet actually broken online matchmaking completely ruin that experience. You can join an online raid that the game tries to matchmake youThis game had huge potential, but ultimately put half effort into each and every aspect of this game. The Raids were the biggest dissapointment to me. Such a cool idea. Teaming up online with friends to fight a giant pokemon you'd been hunting for. Wild. Yet actually broken online matchmaking completely ruin that experience. You can join an online raid that the game tries to matchmake you into maybe 10% of the time. Otherwise you've timed out, its no longer available, lost connection. This game may as well use link cables again. There is no friend system so its much harder to link up with my friends in game then should be for anyonline game made after 2010. There is no GTS so trading for specific pokemon isn't an option unless I go on reddit to match with someone and hopefully the 4 digit code actually works. Sometimes it just doesn't. This isn't a bad idea, your online just isn't usable. This game is not finished, this part doesn't work. Shoddy. For a game about giant pokemon it is super jarring that scaling is completely gone from the game. All pokemon are now 4 feet tall. That's so jarring. Routes are essentially boring hallways. No discovery or adventure here. One route is literally a hallway made of ice. Remember the first time you went through the whirl islands? Finding rare mons, discovering how to navigate with boulders, trying to remember the layout. In swsh you get an infinite use escape rope. i haven't had to use it yet cause galar mine 1, and galar mine 2 (super epic names fit for adventure btw) are straight lines. Just hold up to get through it. No routes reward or require exploration. The story was super bland and felt detached from gameplay. I loved the part of the story where they told me to ignore the cool action, and mystery and let an npc deal with it offscreen. What idiot put that on a storyboard. I liked the story of really pushing the gym challenge. Too bad that's really only 3 hours of story there. Leon is a terrible champion. His only character trait is that he's undefeated, spoiler alert, he gets defeated. Such a shallow charcter, with a lame signature pokemon for him and this generation, and such a poorly designed character. Seriously looks like an 8 year old picked out all the cool clothes they could think of to put on him. Hop as well was shallow, his only character trait is that he'll kiss your butt, and he's sad that you outshawn him. Actually a cool trait if only it wasn't said just as much as was leons undefeated status. Shiny hunting is just a grind now, kill 500 mons, no chains, no combos, no dexnav hunting. Just start killing everything you see. NPC's in raids actually negatively impact you as the AI are apparently missing the I part of AI. Sure bring your jolteon against the Runerigus, spam quick attack, and thunderbolt to no effect and die every other turn. Designing my own character is severely limited. why can NPC's have clothes, and hairstyles I can't, and No one on earth would ever go on a cross country adventure wearing that travesty of a bag, who backpacks with a suitcase. Get a backpack, or an over the shoulder bag, or better yet. Give players a choice. The bag isn't meant to be worn like this, yet here I am with a roller-suitcase on my back. The cities were huge to look at but ultimately empty, easily explorable in under 5 minutes, not very rewarding, and only two cities have more than 5 buildings in them. This is the worst battle tower in generations, lack of super-battles, and multi battles make it boring, and the absolutely trash reward system make it a chore to do. 2BP per win, forever, and when you reach the highest rank you get less rewards cause you can't go up a tier. Such a grind. And you need to grind because you want mints for gigantimaxers, cause only caught ones can do it. Not the Drednaw I've used for my whole playthrough. Cool guess I'll just bin him and swap him out for a new one that can do cooler tricks. This game is also missing several features that'd drastically improve the game: National Dex, Mega Evolution, All mons in the overworld, following pokemon, any sense of exploration, and overworld shinies. How did they go back on features. Why would they remove something people loved from previous games. What felt great: Stadium style gym battles, text speeds, accessible box's, Accessible tm relearners, Bede was a cool character in the main story, less so in the post game. What should just be removed: NPC AI in raids, Hop, Leon, RPG style text options that don't have any impact on the game.
    Overall
    - boring routes
    - no exploration
    - broken online
    - Pokemon scaled wrong
    - Shallow characters
    - stupid AI
    - Limited fashion choices
    - Hollow cities
    - Missing pokemon
    - Missing adventure
    - lackluster postgame
    - Uninteractive shiny hunting    … Expand
  44. Homelessbrian
    Dec 5, 2019
    4
    Could have been great but it's almost like they came up with the story in the last few days of production. Gamefreak needs to hire some new people who aren't stuck in the Gameboy development days and some better writers.
  45. Aprexdator
    Dec 5, 2019
    1
    Pinshe juego qlero, la camara va como el culo y snorlax gigamax, a diferencia de su ilustracion no se se mueve -1 por publicidad engañosa.
  46. Bnois
    Dec 5, 2019
    1
    1, not 0, because it was still playable. I've so many bad things to say about this "game" and only few good, but there's no point in doing so cause everybody already knows how bad it's, and if you don't - stop lying to yourself and others
  47. SuperDuck23
    Dec 5, 2019
    9
    Pokémon Shield is addictive and satisfying - like what a Pokémon game should be. Setbacks include a few technical issues (mostly graphical) and while a reduced Pokédex won't please hardcore fans, it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the game.
  48. well_in_town
    Dec 4, 2019
    8
    This game is SOOO FUNNN! Its the best pokemon game I had ever played. But it have a lot of problems and can be better than it is unfortunately.
  49. CrazySeanDX
    Dec 4, 2019
    9
    Allister is a good boi.

    Pay no mind to the negative reviews, it's just a bunch of trolls with nothing better to do with their miserable lives. Honestly, the game's amazing. The graphics are beautiful(don't judge it based on a single tree, for Pete's sake), the gameplay is enjoyable, and, tbh, my only real criticism is that Dynamax/Gigantimax is rather limited. Though, you'll likely    Allister is a good boi.

    Pay no mind to the negative reviews, it's just a bunch of trolls with nothing better to do with their miserable lives.

    Honestly, the game's amazing. The graphics are beautiful(don't judge it based on a single tree, for Pete's sake), the gameplay is enjoyable, and, tbh, my only real criticism is that Dynamax/Gigantimax is rather limited. Though, you'll likely be doing so many Max Raid Battles that you'll barely notice how limited it actually is in Story Mode, in that you can only do it in certain locations such as Gym Battles and specific story battles.

    I'm just under 40 hours in, and kinda don't wanna stop, which is only an issue cause I've still got a ton of other games I wanna play.

    The trolls are in the minority, no matter how many bots accounts spam hate. Happy catching ^^    … Expand
  50. MetteCraft
    Dec 4, 2019
    9
    Beautiful region, great designs to pokemon og characters, great character development for some central characters, wild area with it's raid is the best, gym challenge was great, camp is great too (could be better if there was petting your pokemon in it). Story is ok, could be more expansive than it is, but more realistic than previous pokemon games in a good way. Graphics like texturesBeautiful region, great designs to pokemon og characters, great character development for some central characters, wild area with it's raid is the best, gym challenge was great, camp is great too (could be better if there was petting your pokemon in it). Story is ok, could be more expansive than it is, but more realistic than previous pokemon games in a good way. Graphics like textures could be better, and the inside of some of the homes in the cities is too similair in the funiturese. Haven't used any of the online things, and if you have a specific kind of sd card (Official sd card should be fine) when it might delete the games on you switch (it doesn't delete your saves) this is a switch thing it's not because of the game it just happen while playing the game.… Expand
  51. AlfonseK
    Dec 4, 2019
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Ok so first off it's a ds version on a switch second the whole game was lazy
    The starters are boring types and after having all the creative dragon types.Wasnt worth an extra cost    … Expand
  52. Onichan_69
    Dec 3, 2019
    0
    Baja calidad de animaciones, no tiene todos los pokemon, historia corta y mala. Simplemente no vale la pena el juego es un ultrasol o ultraluna recortado.
  53. justino901
    Dec 3, 2019
    8
    Pokemon Sword and shield are both really good games.
    They have the best graphics that I've ever seen inside any pokemon game.
    The battles have a good UI and are the same as all the other pokemon games. but the game is not all perfect just as every single game out there pokemon sword and shield are pretty easy to level up the pokemon and the exp share just make exp appear out of nowhere    Pokemon Sword and shield are both really good games.
    They have the best graphics that I've ever seen inside any pokemon game.
    The battles have a good UI and are the same as all the other pokemon games.
    but the game is not all perfect just as every single game out there
    pokemon sword and shield are pretty easy to level up the pokemon and the exp share just make exp appear out of nowhere as the pokemon you are using without any other pokemon in your team will get the same XP as when you defeat or catch a pokemon with a full team of 5 other pokemon.
    The story is really good compared to the previous games in the past as you can slightly edit what some other character is going to say at a certain moment. It integrates the game mechanics perfectly inside the game. The Pokemon camp isn't as easy as one might think as well as getting close to your pokemon might be tough at first as they mostly want to play with the other pokemon instead of talk with you.
    In all this game is great even with the descent which honestly I think was necessary with all the imbalances that pokemon online battles always have now as it kept on being the same pokemon all the time at tournament or random online battles as well and this is with my favorite none-legendary and potentially legendary ( I don't check Pokedex's online in order to not spoil myself from discovering all the new pokemon or new forms of pokemon) being cut from the game which is Torterra and Lugia. Hopefully, you'll give the game a fair trial without having your expectation too high or the game being just dead for you because of the review bomb    … Expand
  54. WizardChamp
    Dec 3, 2019
    10
    First to adress the elephant in the room, the visuals contain a lot of reused 3DS assets and unoptimized loading for the Switch. This game isn't overly visually stunning but it's if you approach it as a handheld game built for a home console by people who have little experience with optimizing the hardware, it's alright. Second, no not all the Pokémon are in the game but technically youFirst to adress the elephant in the room, the visuals contain a lot of reused 3DS assets and unoptimized loading for the Switch. This game isn't overly visually stunning but it's if you approach it as a handheld game built for a home console by people who have little experience with optimizing the hardware, it's alright. Second, no not all the Pokémon are in the game but technically you couldn't obtain them all in previous games either without transferring them from older games, it's fine, we still have about 400 Pokémon. The story echoes the traditional Pokémon plot structure 8 gyms, beat your rival(s), beat the team of miscreants that get in your way, and make your way to the Pokémon league. There's been 8 versions of this story prior with a few changes and adjustments (not counting retellings), it's just how Pokémon is. That being said the minor adjustments in Sword and Shield really echo some of the best past versions of it with some really neat and interesting twists, don't expect Shakespeare but if you liked past Pokémon stories you will like this one. The region the game is set in, Galar, is based on England and is probably going to be one of my favorite regions looking back. Most of the game takes place in one large connected segment of the region which honestly brings me back to games before the 6th and 7th generation of Pokémon on 3DS, and the Wild Area just adds to this connected feel (of course don't expect to have access to everything all at once, blocked off areas do open up as you go as in any other Pokémon game, and the beginning and ending segments have their own areas you won't be spending as much time in). As for the Pokémon themselves the game has a fine Pokémon selection including a bunch of new Pokémon and Galarian forms of old ones I absolutely love. The gameplay keeps the soul of the series while also offering some great stream lining and plenty of improvements, including some brought over from last years' Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee. I love the dynamax concept as a whole especially how it gives the feeling of unique and special Pokémon battles to wild non-story based encounters and just adds plenty of room to create new kinds of encounters as a whole. I finished the main story very over leveled but a post game encounter showed me that I could still improve so it's never too easy, just more accessible to everyone. In short despite the shortcomings Sword and Shield has improved where I think it matters most and offers excellent gameplay and story (for a Pokémon game's story) and has easily become one of my favorites in the series. I give Pokémon Sword and Shield a 10 out of 10.… Expand
  55. WillyViking
    Dec 3, 2019
    3
    De principio es un juego que logra atraparte debido a la exploración de una nueva región y los nuevos pokemon (en mi caso evite ver las filtraciones) que aparecen, pero simplemente la baja dificutad termino por cansarme, pokemon que aguantaban ataques de gigamax quedando en 1 ps porque no quería ''darte pena'', repartir experiencia obligatorio que hizo que mínimo superara a los rivales yDe principio es un juego que logra atraparte debido a la exploración de una nueva región y los nuevos pokemon (en mi caso evite ver las filtraciones) que aparecen, pero simplemente la baja dificutad termino por cansarme, pokemon que aguantaban ataques de gigamax quedando en 1 ps porque no quería ''darte pena'', repartir experiencia obligatorio que hizo que mínimo superara a los rivales y lideres de gym en 10 niveles usando 6 pokemon en la ''aventura'', amigo/rival hincha pelotas que no estuvo ni cerca de derrotarme 1 miserable pokemon, mapa super lineal que no representa ningún desafío durante el trayecto, el team yell es un chiste... y en lo técnico popping demasiado notorio y molesto de ver, animaciones muy poco pulidas en diferencia a los de 3DS... En fin, una decepción total, ya que de tan solo imaginar como sería un pokemon (antes de que anunciaran escudo y espada) en nintendo switch me hacia explotar la cabeza, más cuando estaba jugando BOTW por primera vez.… Expand
  56. 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
  57. Poyzo
    Dec 2, 2019
    9
    Let me first address one thing. I am also disappointed that there was no National Dex. I have Pokémon on Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon that I caught over a decade ago in Pokémon Sapphire. That being said, the sheer number of Pokémon that exist means that a hard decision has to be made at some point, and while I hope more Pokémon are released as DLC or in a future games, I understand why theyLet me first address one thing. I am also disappointed that there was no National Dex. I have Pokémon on Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon that I caught over a decade ago in Pokémon Sapphire. That being said, the sheer number of Pokémon that exist means that a hard decision has to be made at some point, and while I hope more Pokémon are released as DLC or in a future games, I understand why they couldn’t be in this game. I normally don’t leave reviews, I’m one of those people who normally buy the game, play it and live my life. However, I feel like due to all the ridiculous review bombing from entitled whiny people that I need to set the record straight: These are good Pokémon games, great ones even. The max raid feature keeps me going back to the wild area and the campaign was fresh and interesting. The sports vibe was a natural fit with both British soccer culture and Pokémon generally and the rivals had real personality. The difficult was more balanced than in other 3D offerings on the 3DS but the experience candy allow for less experienced or casual players enjoy the game. There are flaws and the graphics aren’t perfect but the game was engaging, playable and nostalgic. I never felt wanting choices when it came to Pokémon and the game allows for greater flexibility to add and remove Pokémon from your party.… Expand
  58. Solarhands
    Dec 2, 2019
    4
    This game had so much potential and expectations were high, unfortunately it failed to meet any of them. On much more powerful hardware I expected to see some brand new assets and graphics for the series but was dismayed to see a huge amount of assets reused or half finished. The cinematics excluding the introduction to the starters were lazy and unfinished, with stiff rotating modelsThis game had so much potential and expectations were high, unfortunately it failed to meet any of them. On much more powerful hardware I expected to see some brand new assets and graphics for the series but was dismayed to see a huge amount of assets reused or half finished. The cinematics excluding the introduction to the starters were lazy and unfinished, with stiff rotating models looking like a grade-schooler tried to animate them. The story was mediocre at best but the constant hand-holding from the minute you begin your adventure to the final battle was irritating, the lack of freedom in an rpg with an open-world aspect was disappointing. The cities looked fantastic however the routes between them felt tiny and lackluster, the only saving grace being the glimwood tangle.

    On a positive note, all the brand new pokemon look fantastic, they have excellent designs, interesting type combos and a lot of them have cool and unique evolution methods. The starter evolutions unfortunately failed to impress and were sent to the box as I'd rather have a rattata. The music was fantastic and the ability to customise your character with a wide variety of clothing was refreshing.

    Overall I don't think the game is worth its retail price and as a mainline pokemon series it was extremely disappointing. Lacking a true post game and having seemingly unfinished graphics and animations has left a sour taste in my mouth. I would only buy this game again if it was on sale for 1/2 price.    … Expand
  59. 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
  60. Moderatebongo49
    Dec 1, 2019
    10
    I must say that Pokémon Sword and Shield diverted my expectations in almost every way. As a big Pokémon fan, I was very upset about the removal of half of the Pokémon as well as many other aspects of this game before launch. That being said, upon my playthrough of the game, none of this worries affected my enjoyment at all. I was attached to many fun characters, great Pokémon design, andI must say that Pokémon Sword and Shield diverted my expectations in almost every way. As a big Pokémon fan, I was very upset about the removal of half of the Pokémon as well as many other aspects of this game before launch. That being said, upon my playthrough of the game, none of this worries affected my enjoyment at all. I was attached to many fun characters, great Pokémon design, and an over great time. At the end of the day, this was a very quality Pokémon experience that was miles better than both of the 3ds outings for the franchise. I recently finished the Pokédex, and am now assembling a few teams for competitive play, and have enjoyed every minute of it. I implore you to give the games an honest try despite all of the controversy surrounding it. Although it is a bummer to see so many Pokémon go, it hardly impacts your experience, as the appearance of Pokémon are varied and plentiful in every corner of the game.… Expand
  61. FlaviaHolanda
    Dec 1, 2019
    10
    É tudo que um fã de Pokémon poderia esperar, com gráficos lindos e uma boa história. Amei!
  62. Noreak
    Dec 1, 2019
    1
    It is not quite as good as Colloseum (Story).
    It is not quite as good animated as Battle Revolution.
    It has for some reason problems with the framerate.
    Not as many Pokémon as in Platinum Edition.
  63. teroblepuns
    Dec 1, 2019
    4
    Pros:
    - good Pokémon designs
    - some beautiful shots (starter town, snow town, legendary shrine) - new Pokémon nature-changing gimmick - great simplistic user interface design - customizable league (or "trainer") card - rival Hop shortly has a character arc from an annoying optimist to a depressed loser back to an annoying optimist (similar to Hau's character from Pokémon Sun and    Pros:
    - good Pokémon designs
    - some beautiful shots (starter town, snow town, legendary shrine)
    - new Pokémon nature-changing gimmick
    - great simplistic user interface design
    - customizable league (or "trainer") card
    - rival Hop shortly has a character arc from an annoying optimist to a depressed loser back to an annoying optimist (similar to Hau's character from Pokémon Sun and Moon)
    - smug rival Bede has a kickass battle theme
    - the soundtrack is overall good
    - league theme is inspired by the UK's love for football/soccer and gym leaders dress accordingly
    - Marnie rival is somewhat interesting as a character
    - breeding has improved, you can now pass egg moves from one Pokémon to the other partner without breeding a completely new one
    - Pokémon boxes are now accessible from your inventory
    - waifu material
    - wild area touches the idea of an open-world game with a moveable camera
    - defeating a raid boss will give you EXP candies which level much better than rare candies, reducing grinding for lvl 100

    Inbetween:
    - Surf has been replaced by a water bike and Fly by a flying taxi, it makes it much easier to travel but removes the interactivity of your Pokémon with the environment
    - camping is just like Pokémon-Amie and all the spin-offs and encourages you to interact with your monsters which can be cute for those who like that kind of stuff but strengthening your bond with a Pokémon will result in extra animations during battles and make your team OP - as if the forced EXP share didn't overpower you enough, camping also gives your mons EXP
    Cons:
    - awful graphics for a 2019 Switch game, textures look ridiculously low res
    - only half of the national Dex "for better animations"
    - animations are bad and reused over and over again (characters turn on the spot, Double Kick is a simple up and down of the entire model, same character encounter poses)
    - rival encounters are inevitable and happen every 5 minutes
    - cutscenes are lackluster and rare
    - wild area is a mess: bad graphics, tiny LOD (level of detail = "viewing distance" -> subjects pop in and out very often, also on routes and cities), hefty frame drops, very limited interactivity with other players, it takes ages to find other players for raid battles which then take just as long to wait for one turn to be over - oftentimes the raid boss triggers its ability once for each of your ally's Pokémon and then resets it after some turns to repeat the madness, level cap for capturable Pokémon which depends on your badge number, entire area feels more like a big field with a lot of grass than an open world
    - flat characters with no arc
    - minor improvements and changes from previous titles, the formula of the game hasn't changed a bit
    - time occasionally freezes when climbing ladders
    - a LOT of handholding, there is not a single moment you don't run into a forced cutscene or steamroll through a gym with one pokemon
    - EXP share is mandatory
    - team yell is forgettable and has no charm
    - the story does not involve you, most of the time you are a bystander, giving opinions and then catch the legendary ultra beast-like creature with 100% succession rate for any Pokéball
    - some TMs have been reduced to one-time use TRs
    - link trade is no longer that simple to perform
    - no voice acting, dialogues only consist of speech bubbles, text and repeating simple animations
    - curry dex (is this to mock the removal of the national Dex?)

    Verdict:
    Not worth $60. Even $15 indie games provide better quality than this. I hear praise from some fans and outrage from others. I feel terrible for those at Game Freak who poured their hearts into this franchise, only to realize that someone with high power decided to rush it and drag the company through the mud. The entire drama is unnecessary. But, this game is a joke and there is no denying. Get the game to experience it yourself but be prepared to laugh at how bad it can get. Also, even though they rushed this title to hell, this game had the highest box-office of all Pokémon games and received high scores from game journalists (#notsponsored). Embrace the absurdity of our world.

    "The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense." - Tom Clancy    … Expand
  64. iMustang
    Nov 30, 2019
    9
    Minus a handful of Gigantamax Pokemon and a couple of Rare Trainer Cards, I have 100% completed Pokemon Shield after over 100 hours, including a complete living dex minus 2 legendaries. This game was absolutely fantastic, with a story that was straightforward but still very charming with a cast of colorful and fun characters. Visiting the gyms wasn't something you were doing between theMinus a handful of Gigantamax Pokemon and a couple of Rare Trainer Cards, I have 100% completed Pokemon Shield after over 100 hours, including a complete living dex minus 2 legendaries. This game was absolutely fantastic, with a story that was straightforward but still very charming with a cast of colorful and fun characters. Visiting the gyms wasn't something you were doing between the story in this game, but rather it WAS the story as you're apart of an elite set of challengers participating in a spectator's sport that the whole world loves watching. Every gym leader you battle is a celebrity because of that, having unique personalities and playing a role in the overarching plot, and even coming back from time to time to carry the plot. Like in Let's Go, visiting the "World of Pokemon" was an absolute joy with them walking and flying around towns, and seeing them live in the wild in a fantastic hybrid of seeing them in both the overworld and in random encounters (especially in the Wild Area where the weather effects which ones you'll see). The new features like the camp were cute and fun, especially with the 400+ varying animations, but the mentioned Wild Area was definitely the highlight of this game. It pushed the social interaction to a whole new level, giving you even more reason to join up with friends and go hunting for rare and powerful Pokemon. I've never played a Pokemon game before where I was so motivated to play with others, and with the addition of more Gigantamax Pokemon and more in the future, this will probably be the first Pokemon game I'm constantly coming back to. With a charming story, an amazing soundtrack, and the best social interaction the franchise has had yet, Pokemon Shield is worth diving into and never looking back.… Expand
  65. solarhorse
    Nov 30, 2019
    4
    Are you looking to get back into Pokemon after losing interest several years ago, eager to see how the franchise has changed? This game isn't for you.

    Are you a die-hard Poke-fan excited to see what a mainline Pokemon game looks like on a home console? This game still isn't for you. Pokemon Sword and Shield, the latest installment in the Pokemon franchise, marking the start of the    Are you looking to get back into Pokemon after losing interest several years ago, eager to see how the franchise has changed? This game isn't for you.

    Are you a die-hard Poke-fan excited to see what a mainline Pokemon game looks like on a home console? This game still isn't for you.

    Pokemon Sword and Shield, the latest installment in the Pokemon franchise, marking the start of the 8th generation of core game titles, is tacky, uninspired and offers little of the wonder and adventure that the franchise used to be celebrated for.

    Like previous entries, the game sees you, a young aspiring Pokemon trainer from a quiet town, setting off on an adventure with a starter Pokemon of your choosing through a large region as you catch, train and battle Pokemon to earn all 8 gym badges and defeat the regions champion. Nothing much is new here, except that now the region is based on England, very loosely.

    But the lack of originality could be forgiven if the game could at least excel in what it had to offer, and for a while the tried-and-true cycle of discovering, catching and raising brand new Pokemon was enough to keep me hooked for a while. There's nothing quite like the excitement of discovering a new Pokemon for the first time, hence why I always go into these games blind.

    But the excitement stops when you realize that there are only 80 new Pokemon, not that much considering previous installments typically add over a hundred of them for the first pair of games. And when the excitement stops, the disappointment sets in. But what's so disappointing about this game? Is it all just a lot of non-issues cherry-picked by fans who got too caught up in the "Dexit" controversy leading up to release? I'll let you decide if the following complaints are "cherry-picked".

    My first complaint, the game feels lifeless. The design of the towns and cities lack any depth or character, populated only with small groups of NPCs standing around doing nothing, (and the numbers seem even smaller when you factor in the pop-in issues). Buildings, walls, rivers and roads look like they're built out of cardboard. You never feel like you’re exploring a living, breathing world as much as you’re watching a stage play with cheap props.

    The lifelessness doesn't end with towns or people, it also extends to the Pokemon themselves. If the animations in battle seem frigid, wait until you try out "Pokemon Camp", a feature which allows for all six party members to interact with one another. What could have been a great device for building character turns out to be a complete mess, with Pokemon sliding all over the place like bumper cars as animations fail to sync with motions and AI fails to find appropriate paths around other characters.

    Second complaint, the story. Pokemon has never been known for daring stories, but they're at least functional. There's an evil team with an agenda, a legendary Pokemon gets involved, the world ends, there's stakes, there's urgency, etc. Sword and Shield has this, technically speaking, but decides to cram it all at the very end of the game, leaving the majority of the campaign with no antagonists, no tension and any hint of danger washed over as other characters deal with issues that in any other game you would need to deal with yourself.

    My third complaint, the formula is stale, particularly the combat. There's nothing wrong with turn based combat per se, and anyone who says it's outdated clearly hasn't tried out the Shin Megami Tensei games, but it has to be done right. The combat here, however, plays exactly like every other Pokemon game has played since Red/Blue. What worked fine for a Game Boy feels out of place on a modern console, particularly when played on the big screen. It's slow, it's cumbersome and it needs to change.

    My fourth complaint, the purging of Pokemon, the source of the infamous "Dexit" controversy. I'm less bothered by not having access to all Pokemon from previous titles and more bothered by what the design philosophy behind this game is. The game isn't a "fresh start", as discussed above. It isn't reinventing the wheel, it's building on the established foundation. But it also removes from the foundation by not having all Pokemon available. If a lack of technical expertise or manpower are the reason for this, then it would've been a better idea to give Pokemon a hard reboot and "re-invent" the franchise instead. At least that vision of the game would've been achievable.

    It's not all gloom and doom though. For example, the gym battles are easily the best in the franchise, with giant "Dynamaxed" Pokemon, music that escalates as battles progress and gym leaders that ooze personality. It's as though the gym battles and the Dynamax gimmick were what Game Freak started with before adding in a half-hearted game afterwards. It's a shame they couldn't start by imagining how to recapture what made Pokemon such a wondrous experience to begin with.    … Expand
  66. xRedAcex
    Nov 15, 2019
    9
    Fantastic game, definitely worth getting. Don't listen to any of these negative reviews because they don't actually own the game and are just a bunch of self entitled crybabies who think they deserve everything handed to them on a silver plater
  67. Maluigii
    Nov 30, 2019
    10
    This game really doesn't deserve the bad criticism it's getting. This is a pokémon game just like the other main games. Okay there are a lot of mons cut from the game, but i think its a good thing. Other mons now get a chance to shine! (Eg. There is no Alakazam so other psychic types need to be used
  68. Termitt
    Nov 29, 2019
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I had an ok time playing it and wondered if I should give it a 6, but it felt wrong all things considered. As of writing this, I've put in 40 hours of gameplay.

    The good:
    -It looks pretty! I'm not one to harp on graphics as long as a game is good. Overall, the graphics are fine and do their job. In the overworld, at least.
    -The character designs are pretty neat! I can always say that the gym leaders always look good and they're always fun to see.
    -The gyms were a blast! I loved the focus on the gym and everything the game built up for the first 2 gyms and how important they made the gym challenge feel! But the game felt completely empty afterward and I can't say I enjoyed it all that much after that point, which is a shame since I had such a good time at the start...
    -I can't say that I liked a lot of the new Pokemon from what I saw at the start, and some are still bad... but they grew on me a lot, and I like that I had to play with pokemon I usually wouldn't use to normal.
    -The camping stuff was fun, not something I used a lot, but it was cute.
    -The music is nice
    -I had fun. I'm not going to deny that at all. This was a fun game and I'll play it some more. While I have a lot of grievances it's not the worst thing I've ever played. It's ok.
    -The customization feature is back - though I found the outfits rather bland it's nice to see it return.

    The bad:
    -It's under 15 hours long if you speed through it.

    -The games, like most in the pokemon series, are pretty hand-holdy. There are no challenges and you constantly get directed towards the main path no matter how much you want to do other things. Which is fine enough, but I only wish the games let me explore some more without the game spelling it out to me that I need to go to X because of reasons. Almost every time, almost every route, an NPC would tell me to follow them or go somewhere.

    -And to make it worse, the roads are small and short. There's very little to discover and see. While it looks pretty what little there is, there's next to no substance in the routes with how short they are.

    -The free camera is only usable during the Wild Area when I REALLY wanted to be able to use it in other places as well. Every time I left the Wild Area and wanted to look around in certain towns and routes, that want got squashed because of the fixed angles. Some of the angles they used are garbage.

    -The towns
    The first big town we enter is built in a straight line to make the fixed camera work. The camera decided the town layout, essentially. And that's pretty bad for a game that offers such a vast 3D environment. And in some places, the camera was placed in an odd way, like a sky-high birds view, or try to show off an angle of a big building... things that would have been fixed completely if the camera had been free at all times.

    -They removed the national dex...
    I don't mind that they keep a small dex during the main game, but let me at least transfer my old pokemon post-game. There's really no reason to remove it completely if they wanted me to use the new pokemon they added to the game during the campaign.

    -The Dynamax mechanic is rather uninspired.
    I didn't enjoy it and would rather avoid it as much as possible. Sadly impossible, though. Blowing up the pokemon just screams lazy to me.

    -The story is non-existent.
    The Pokemon series has never been well known for their masterful storytelling, but the plots got their charm. This game had a good start but tethered out already at the third gym. After that, the plot might as well have been discarded entirely with how little it wanted to have my character in it. When something exciting happened, we were ushered aside to ignore the plot. There were times where the plot demanded me to help the professor's assistant, but it constantly felt like her story more than my character's.

    -The battle animations suck.
    They are lifeless, soulless. They just jump there. There's nothing interesting going on.

    -Team Yell
    They were... there... I guess? I wish more was done with them. They just ended up feeling like a discount Team Skull without the charm. There was potential for them to be proper hooligans, but not fully realized potential. You probably wouldn't have noticed it if you removed them out of the game.

    -The wild area is an empty hill with nothing to do in it. The roads are linear, and there's little to explore. I wish they had dome more interesting things with the concept, widened out the other routes to feel similar to it.

    -They removed way too many features and cut too many corners and it shows...
    Like... Some background areas in the game weren't animated. When you fight indoors, there are some places where it's just a white background with nothing there. If you fight on a bridge in a town, you're suddenly in a grassy patch outside of the town.

    The game is fine, I'd give it a 6, mediocre at best on normal. But there's more going against it than what builds it up.    … Expand
  69. Rift
    Nov 29, 2019
    9
    A visually enhanced, more enjoyable entry when compared to Sun/Moon. Most of the people complaining are either just trying to jump on the hate bandwagon and haven't even played the game (hence the reviews posted as soon as the game released), or are just pissy because their favorite Pokemon didn't make it into the game.

    The game is good, and having 400+ Pokemon instead of ~900 doesn't    A visually enhanced, more enjoyable entry when compared to Sun/Moon. Most of the people complaining are either just trying to jump on the hate bandwagon and haven't even played the game (hence the reviews posted as soon as the game released), or are just pissy because their favorite Pokemon didn't make it into the game.

    The game is good, and having 400+ Pokemon instead of ~900 doesn't take away from the fun. Get off your high horse and get over it.    … Expand
  70. TheTrueFacts
    Nov 29, 2019
    10
    I wrote this whole big long reason for why I love Pokémon Sword and Shield over on Pokémon Sword but since I don’t want to waste another hour of my life I’ll summarize it. I like the story, characters, character development, Pokémon in it, and graphics.
  71. RetroMatero
    Nov 29, 2019
    1
    Con todo lo que tenían para hacer un nuevo juego de la saga, vinieron con esto.
    Mi primo, luego de 12 horas de juego, no aguantó más, y lo iba a devolver. Yo le di una chance, porque no me parecía tan malo...
    2 horas después... Uffff... -Gráficos que no van a la altura ni de las otras franquicias que gráficamente son excepcionales, para esa consola, se ve como un port en HD de la 3DS.    Con todo lo que tenían para hacer un nuevo juego de la saga, vinieron con esto.
    Mi primo, luego de 12 horas de juego, no aguantó más, y lo iba a devolver. Yo le di una chance, porque no me parecía tan malo...
    2 horas después... Uffff...
    -Gráficos que no van a la altura ni de las otras franquicias que gráficamente son excepcionales, para esa consola, se ve como un port en HD de la 3DS.
    -Jugabilidad muy aburrida, y es poco para esta consola. Nos castigan con el mismo sistema de hace 20 años, sin mucha variedad.
    -Lo que era un RPG en el pasado, se redujo al ir de punto A a punto B, sin siquiera dar la sensación de volver al punto anterior.
    -He sabido de usuarios que en 5 horas ya eran los más fuertes, cuando en entregas de la GB me tomó casi 70 horas llegar a tener pokemons del nivel de Zapdos, Moltres, y Articuno.
    -Parece hecho para niños de 5 años, y encima con un estilo de jugabilidad muy anticuado.
    -El lore es completamente absurdo, y los personajes muy mal aprovechados. Qué se meten los guionistas para tirarnos personajes que lucen interesantes y terminan siendo más planos que una tabla, a la par de acartonados? Agárrate, Final Fantasy XIII...

    En resumen, no puedo recomendar esta entrega a alguien que quiera iniciarse en la saga, recomendaría los de GB del clásico al Advance, y los Black and White, que al menos se sienten (más o menos) como juegos frescos...

    Nintendo y Game Freak... Les duele sacarse unos millones de dólares para hacer algo de verdad, no?    … Expand
  72. Magma1234
    Nov 29, 2019
    9
    Just way better then the other newer games so far. And makes for a wonderfull game to play thrue several times
  73. LevelUpGaming
    Nov 29, 2019
    0
    Absolute garbage. Undeveloped story, one-dimensional characters, empty towns, a "wild area" that be explored in its entirety in 5 minutes, no postgame content, 2/5 of a Pokédex, and professional reviewers and fans who would rather lick Junichi Masuda's boots that accept that the games aren't good.
  74. fiTy
    Nov 29, 2019
    2
    An RPG game with competitive online system with more exploits than its 20+ years ago predecessors.
  75. 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
  76. drowzeem
    Nov 28, 2019
    0
    Pokemon Sword and Shield are strong proof that at some point Gamefreak just stopped caring. The level of mediocrity showed in this game is insulting to their fanbase, the game is inconsistent to the core (rushed times and unfulfilled deadlines show clearly). Part of the mediocrity comes from management, a bunch of people rushing the game for the holidays and for 2019. That mixed withPokemon Sword and Shield are strong proof that at some point Gamefreak just stopped caring. The level of mediocrity showed in this game is insulting to their fanbase, the game is inconsistent to the core (rushed times and unfulfilled deadlines show clearly). Part of the mediocrity comes from management, a bunch of people rushing the game for the holidays and for 2019. That mixed with Gamefreaks usual level of mediocrity and laziness is a recipe for disaster. Pokemom became too big for Gamefreak to handle. Is inexcusable that a multi billionaire franchise like this has such poor development team, just sad and disheartening to see such a beloved thing as Pokemon being treated so lightly and rushing it to the point of making it the worst game in the main series. Pokemon stands as the black sheep of beloved Nintendo games. The Legend of Zelda continues to show great games not year after year, they show the game when it’s ready, even if it takes 2 more years, they show respect, they show integrity to provide quality and a magical experience. Gamefreak just wants to finish it and move on to the next one so management and marketing stops bothering them. The recipe for disaster: Bad Management, Marketing that doesn’t care, Unqualified Development Team, Bad Writers, Bad Animators. It just gets worst from here on.… Expand
  77. Kacek1996
    Nov 28, 2019
    8
    I did take a few days off from finishing the game and writing this review to rethink it as well as I could.

    First thing first, I know that the opinions on this game will be different and kind of random, but mine will be written without thinking about others, just my experience with Pokemon Shield. It is bad that Game Freak lied about some things (looking at the list...), but overall    I did take a few days off from finishing the game and writing this review to rethink it as well as I could.

    First thing first, I know that the opinions on this game will be different and kind of random, but mine will be written without thinking about others, just my experience with Pokemon Shield.

    It is bad that Game Freak lied about some things (looking at the list...), but overall I did enjoy this game a lot.

    Starting with bad things:
    - For me it's truly sad that they added questions like "are you ready to battle me?" before nearly every rival fight and some more. I liked these challenges of unexpected battles, but now if I thought "nah, mate", I backed a little to heal, and then fought the fight,
    - Plot and script was kind of lame, but what should we expect from the child game...,
    - I dislike that baddies/villains apologize for their crimes,
    - The one and only f*****g tree model,
    - Post game/legendary quest was kind of lame, but Hop was reclaimed there in my eyes.

    Now some good things:
    + Gyms (especially Water, Ice, Dark and Dragon type gyms). Water and ice types were just like in the old days, puzzle mixed with battles (MARVELOUS). Also, I liked dark and dragon gyms, since they were pure fights only,
    + I like designs of so many new pokemons from gen 8 (Dragapult, Corviknight, Inteleon, Appletun, Hatterene, Centiskorch were in my team),
    + Wild area is a cool concept,
    + I like this game for giving us overworld and random encounters.

    Some things I want to address:
    a) dynamax in gym battles and league was a 'meh' mechanic for me (I played without it). I'm using it only in wild in raid battles,
    b) About the controversial national dex, I was kind of sad that some of my favs were cut, but damn... I expected them to give us a game with less than half of all pokemons xD
    c) Starters are too humanoid for me, but overall Inteleon won a place in my team.

    I'm planing to finish my pokedex and do some shiny hunting/breeding for the pokemons I do like a lot. Also, Nessa, Allister and Raihan as well as Shield (girl protagonist) have a really cool designs.    … Expand
  78. Larsofmars
    Nov 28, 2019
    8
    My first Pokemon game in a while. The game not having all of the pokemon doesn't really bother me. The game is fun, but it does have problems.
  79. Shaposa
    Nov 28, 2019
    10
    These games are absolutely fantastic. The Dynamax/Gigantamax mechanics are fun, the OST is fantastic, the characters are memorable and the visuals are stunning! Now. There are a few things keeping this game from a 10. There's a tiny bit of lag in some areas. Marnie doesn't feel developed enough. And the online can be **** sometimes (That's just because Nintendo Switch Online is hotThese games are absolutely fantastic. The Dynamax/Gigantamax mechanics are fun, the OST is fantastic, the characters are memorable and the visuals are stunning! Now. There are a few things keeping this game from a 10. There's a tiny bit of lag in some areas. Marnie doesn't feel developed enough. And the online can be **** sometimes (That's just because Nintendo Switch Online is hot garbage.). But there's a reason I'm giving it a 10 instead of the 9. To counteract the review bombing that this game is receiving.… Expand
  80. Ryzacus
    Nov 28, 2019
    8
    Time played at review: 55 hours

    PRE LAUNCH: Going into this generation of Pokemon a lot of people were sceptical. A number of leaks had told us that "There's badge requirements to catch Pokemon of a certain level", "The exp share is automatic and none removable" and the classic "The national dex is no more". This had a lot of people including myself worried that Gamefreak was taking    Time played at review: 55 hours

    PRE LAUNCH:

    Going into this generation of Pokemon a lot of people were sceptical. A number of leaks had told us that "There's badge requirements to catch Pokemon of a certain level", "The exp share is automatic and none removable" and the classic "The national dex is no more". This had a lot of people including myself worried that Gamefreak was taking a step in the wrong direction especially for such a jump in hardware.

    Is this the case? Not really. These things all worried me and after not liking Sun & Moon I expected very little. I was surprised to find that Generation 8 of Pokemon was acctually one of my favourites.

    OVERVIEW:

    - New Pokemon: 8/10 While no generation of Pokemon can seem to scratch that of Generation 1 - 4, the Galar region is home to some of the coolest new Pokemon in years. Strong starters and a good number of unique but fitting Pokemon designs were implemented in these games. Some personal favourites were Dragapault and Toxtricity.

    One thing I really appreciate that some people didn't like was that there are only 3 Legendary Pokemon in the Galar region. This is good as it makes the few more memorable unlike previous games where having far to many was starting to cause me to care & remember them far less.

    - Story: 7/10
    The story is straight to the point and typical for a Pokemon game. You are a trainer, go get the 8 gym badges and try to beat the champion while also stopping a legendary Pokemon from making the world go **** up. The charectars are great. You have 3 other main trainers you encounter throughout the game this time and also 2 professors. I enjoyed each of them and the paths they all took by the end.

    - Towns and Locations: 6/10
    While the Galar region does a good job of portraying the UK, its also the games weakest point. Some areas such as Glimwood tangle & Stow on side were nice but over all I found a lot the towns to be quite empty and was in and out of some of them whilst exploring everything in 20mins in some cases. The wild area was a great addition and is where you will spend most of your time searching for Pokemon. Hopefully this is fully implemented into the entire region in future games.

    PROBLEMS ADDRESSED:

    The exp share feels balanced and doesn't over train Pokemon you aren't using improving upon the past few ganes. This was a pleasant surprise as previous games were far too easy with this feature. The ability to turn it off isnt there but this feels right and will probably be the standard for all future installments.

    The lack of national dex is unfortunate but didn't ruin the experience for me. More would have been nice but again this is not as bad as people like to go on about and as far as I'm aware was down to cuts made to compensate for problems during development.

    Catching over leveled Pokemon is also somthing that never bothered me as In other games they just wouldn't obey you anyway so again this is just another complaint the internet jumped on.

    One problem I had is the lack of Pokemon bank at launch. This is to be added early 2020 but is a problem for completion in the meantime. This and the trading features are very behind the time. You can only random trade or trade using a pin. You cannot request or offer Pokemon on a market like system to find and offer what you need or what.

    Another feature I disliked is the fixed camera angles in certain routes and towns. This feels outdated and needs to be change in future installments for a full controllable camera like in the wild area. This also added to towns feeling 2d and shallow.

    The wild area while online is laggy and ugly to look at. Again this needs to be improved by adding more interaction and options. The switches online in general isnt great and is probably the cause of charectar models lagging.

    IMPROVMENTS:

    Some long over due improvements were implemented in these games such as the ability to use your PC on the go. This made swapping my party, catching & breeding so much easier and It will surely be the norm from now on.

    Another great addition is the inclusion of 'Nature Mints' which can be earned post game to change natures of Pokemon. This is great for people playing comp online or with friends.

    The pokemon animations and models are surprisingly crisp, so much so I found myself liking the look of certain Pokemon I never thought much of in previous games.

    CONCLUSION:

    These game are very good and without the internet's pre launch **** storm I'd say the reviews would be as good as previous titles. I can see these game selling upward of 12 Million by January 2020 and deservingly so. With 200 more pokemon or so and more going on in towns, this game would be brilliant, but Game freak really need to take a big leap with the next generations to keep up with the advancments of other Nintendo titles. Definitely in my top 5 Pokemon games though and am looking forward to future installments in the series.    … Expand
  81. BachelorMusty
    Nov 28, 2019
    2
    This game is in my opinion the worst game in the series. I have played casual and competitive for the last few years (since Gen4) and I never saw such a poor Pokemon game! I will break down my review in two parts for casual and competitive players:
    -----------------------------
    Casual: Lets start with the graphics. Its well known that they reused older models from the 3DS and some were    This game is in my opinion the worst game in the series. I have played casual and competitive for the last few years (since Gen4) and I never saw such a poor Pokemon game! I will break down my review in two parts for casual and competitive players:
    -----------------------------
    Casual:
    Lets start with the graphics. Its well known that they reused older models from the 3DS and some were just slightly altert. Still they say they had to redo everything ... a poor excuse too cut content from the game. The design of new Pokemon is a mixed bag. You got some really solid designs but on the other hand there are some really bad ones and some of them are just altert versions of older pokemon. Animations have been recycled as well. NPCs animation are the same as in USUM (of course not all of them) and Pokemon have a limited pool of animation when attacking or getting hit. Dynamax looks weird and is causing some weird visual glitches.

    The story isn´t great either. Pokemon never had that great of a story, but this game just tops it all. I don´t remember anything special about it ... The rival(s?) has been the same for a few games now, there is now real bad guy in this game and the post game is content that would have fit in the main story. Since there is no bad guy the danger of the game is gone and you basically just have too do all the gyms and become champ. There is one part in the story were they try to implement a bad guy but he doesn´t do anything special.

    The Gameplay has been downgraded as well. The exp-share is constantly active, you level way too fast and NPCs don´t understand how Pokemon work. Gone are the days of Megas and Z-Moves!
    Dynamaxing becomes such a must, that the entirety of the game revolves around that mechanic. The first time it is fun, but after watching the same animation for 10 times you get bored of it very quickly. The concept is boring and a weak combination of Megas and Z-Moves.

    Now to the part i was disappointed by the most: The Wild Area. This area is so poorly made it hurts. It looks bland, no details and it feels empty. Sure it made catching good Pokemon easier, but I can´t shake off the feeling that this could have been just another route. Every other place/route in the game looks more gorgeous and detailed than the wild area. The area is also very small. You can walk though it in the blink of an eye.

    Something equally as bad are the new dens/raids. They made catching Pokemon easy as hell. The easy way to get Pokemon with hidden abilities, Pokemon with near perfect stats and evolved forms. This makes certain parts of the game less important: Breeding, trading and training. Why do all of these when you can just catch the Pokemon you want in the wild area in a raid? If you want to catch those Pokemon you have to defeat them first ... but it is not that easy. The raid Pokemon generate shields which nullify all damage, the are Dynamaxed for the entire battle and if you don´t play online your NPC partners don´t do anything useful in the fight. If you manage to defeat them you are able to throw a ball, but good luck catching them. The higher the difficulty, the lower the chance of catching the Pokemon (even lower if it is a Gigantamax-Pokemon). The rewards are free rare candy, TR (basically the older TMs which are destroyed when used) and some stuff for cooking.

    -----------------------------
    Competitive:

    You really feel the cut of content here. Less Pokemon, no Megas or Z-Moves and a mechanic that takes over the entire way of playing the game. You are sadly forced to use Dynamax. If you do not you lost the battle because the mechanic is broken and can sweep a full team in VGC format. The meta will only contain a few Pokemon that everyone will use because the other ones won´t be viable.

    -----------------------------
    Conclusion:

    If you want a stripped down Pokemon with poor design, less Pokemon than Gen 4 and removed features that made Pokemon what it is ... then go for it. It is sad to see this games getting less and less content or mechanics being removed for the sake of getting more casual. The game plays itself on auto-pilot and the experience is NOT worth the money. I will go back to older games and play them. If you bought this game let me tell you this: Go to the store you got the game from and get your money back or trade it for a Pokemon game on DS or 3DS - bettern known as the good Pokemon games. And I am not joking!

    I left out a lot of things i don´t like about the games, but i just had 5000 characters to make this review. Be aware that there is even more stuff in the game, that will ruin your experience with the game.    … Expand
  82. TimFunk
    Nov 27, 2019
    8
    Best pokemon game in years, fixed my Marrige which has been failing since X and Y came out
  83. JinnRemona
    Nov 27, 2019
    1
    Pokemon Sword and Shield was supposed to be the first great Pokemon game on the Nintendo Switch and people were very excited for a console mainline Pokemon, and what the game actually contained within itself was nothing short of horrible.

    As the game approached launch, many problems with the game began to surface from people who got leaked or broken street date copies of the game. What    Pokemon Sword and Shield was supposed to be the first great Pokemon game on the Nintendo Switch and people were very excited for a console mainline Pokemon, and what the game actually contained within itself was nothing short of horrible.

    As the game approached launch, many problems with the game began to surface from people who got leaked or broken street date copies of the game. What came to light was that Gamefreak has lied about a insane amount of its promises and left out so much content that it feels like they don't even care about the series anymore.

    These problems are fairly well documented by this point, but I'll do my best to list them off again:
    - The game has a strange amount of technical and graphical problems. Graphics in areas look like they came straight out of an old PS1 game and problems have been found with both the frame rate and movements of both characters and on screen Pokemon.
    - In the new Wild Areas that Gamefreak introduced in this game, there is a lot of Pop-in issues as you attempt to navigate these areas looking for Pokemon.
    - Cutscenes in the game feel like they were originally designed to have voice acting, but it was later removed, so the characters movements feel very awkward.
    - This was one of the larger issues with the game that Gamefreak has enforced multiple times to its fans. The much beloved National Dex has been completely removed from the game, along with nearly 600 Pokemon. The sheer amount of removed Pokemon is crazy enough as no previous Starter Pokemon, Legendaries and more were included into this new game.
    - The story that Pokemon Sword and Shield attempts to tell is very bland, even compared to other Pokemon games, and the complete lack of any good End Game is problematic for long term players of the game.
    - This was another major problem with the game. Gamefreak said multiple times that they were removing so many Pokemon from the game in order to use that Manpower to improve the Pokemon's models and make them new and better. Once the game leaked out, players found that almost all of the returning Pokemon's models were ripped straight out of Pokemon Sun and Moon and were not changed in the slightest, proving that Gamefreak has lied to their fans to try and calm them down about the National Dex.
    - Nearly 144 moves were removed from the game as well with no plausible reason as to why this was done. Like all the removed Pokemon, some of the removed Moves were ones that had been in every iteration of the game since the move was introduced.

    So far I have been very disappointed in what this game has attempted to sell to its fans, and even more disappointed by how many people are buying into it regardless of these problems. It has now shown Gamefreak that no matter how bad of a job they do on a game, if they put the name Pokemon on it, there will also be people willing to waste money to buy it.    … Expand
  84. ZephyrSunDragon
    Nov 27, 2019
    3
    What a disappointment.

    The good: 1. There's new pokemon. 2. The graphics look really good in some areas. 3. The gym presentation feels more immersive and exciting, treating it like a real sports competition with other competitors that fits really well into the setting. 4. The wild area in theory. The bad: Literally everything else. Everything else about this game is literally a    What a disappointment.

    The good:
    1. There's new pokemon.
    2. The graphics look really good in some areas.
    3. The gym presentation feels more immersive and exciting, treating it like a real sports competition with other competitors that fits really well into the setting.
    4. The wild area in theory.

    The bad:
    Literally everything else. Everything else about this game is literally a HUGE step backwards for what is supposed to be a "new era" of pokemon on a mainline console.

    1. This might be the smallest region yet... the SMALLEST. I guess the wild area compensates but a large open field with a movable camera is hardly innovative. But the camera is fixed everywhere else. And there's these awful hallway like routes and caverns that leave no room for exploration at all. Sun and Moon was bad enough as it was, but this is just so much worse.

    2. Way too easy. This as been a problem for the last few generations but it just makes the game boring and forgettable. Pokemon has so much potential to be engaging with the amount of strategies available. It seems like such a waste. Also the force exp. share is absolutely horrid.

    3. Story is the worst it's ever been. Everything happens on the side and you don't get to see any of it. Now would've been the perfect time for high quality cut scenes but we don't get to see any of it. There's not even a cut scenes for flying to town to town like every other game. The only cutscenes we get this time is boring NPC dialogue. When the DS and 3DS had more exciting cutscenes, you know you messed up.

    4. Arguably less side activities than any other previous game. Definitely less than X&Y, Sun and Moon, and Diamond and Pearl. They removed so many beloved features. The one that hurt the most for me was not included following overworld pokemon like in Let's Go.

    5. Gamefreak lied to us about dexit. They said they were cutting pokemon because of expressiveness and "high quality animations" when the pokemon's animations are literally IDENTICAL to the 3ds games. The only new animations I've seen are the ones for the new pokemon.
    The pokemon are like dead lifeless puppets with no emotions. The battle animations on the Wii and gamecube looked better!

    6. The graphics look bad in other areas. Obviously an improvement compared to previous pokemon titles but total garbage compared to other switch games.

    The fact that they played this up to be the "next evolution of pokemon" and the "ultimate pokemon game" is complete **** While I will give some credit to the art director for the atmosphere of the region and new creature designs, this is clearly the least ambitious and most bare bones pokemon game I've ever played. I'm sure there were devs who were passionate about this project but the higher ups clearly didn't care or just didn't have the time.

    I hope this outrage is a wake up cake because changes NEED to be made. For being the first mainline game on the home console, this is just unacceptable. I'm glad people are angry. I'm glad the japanese fans are angry. I seriously hope we can get a new development team for future pokemon games because pokemon deserves better than this.    … Expand
  85. 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
  86. ArthurSG
    Nov 27, 2019
    9
    great game but the graphics leave a little to be desired but the game is a lot of fun and brings a great gameplay experience
  87. Kenzieausten
    Nov 27, 2019
    1
    This is such a sad excuse for the first offical non-ds game. The graphics are lazy, the plot is non existent, there’s no actual excitement in the Pokémon games anymore. There’s no exploration, no post game action, the Pokédex is tiny, NOT TO MENTION the fact that for some god forsaken reason you can’t transfer your Pokémon from your DS games that you’ve been carrying to every new game thatThis is such a sad excuse for the first offical non-ds game. The graphics are lazy, the plot is non existent, there’s no actual excitement in the Pokémon games anymore. There’s no exploration, no post game action, the Pokédex is tiny, NOT TO MENTION the fact that for some god forsaken reason you can’t transfer your Pokémon from your DS games that you’ve been carrying to every new game that has come out to the Switch. Like, what was the point of having poketransfer if it isn’t going to work for any of the other Pokémon games?! If all of them are being put out on the switch from now on, they had better make a poke transfer system that works for the switch. The GTS is gone, so many little things that made the games more enjoyable are just gone. There’s never been much difficulty in Pokémon games, but there’s NONE in this one. Pokémon games used to be so fun and exciting, the exploration, getting lost in the caves or forests, and now it’s a thoroughly watered down version of what they used to be. ITS THE BIGGEST FRANCHISE THAT NINTENDO HAS, IT MAKES THE MOST MONEY OUT OF ANYTHING NINTENDO HAS EVER PUT OUT AND YET THEY STILL DONT CARE ENOUGH TO LISTEN TO PEOPLES CRITIQUES AND FIX THE GAME. THEY STILL RUSHED THROUGH THIS AND IT SHOWS. The only positive thing that I can say about this game is that the new generation of Pokémon’s designs as a whole is the most solid one they’ve had in a long time. The next game better be a massive step up. I haven’t been this disappointed in a game in such a long time. This is a pathetic excuse for a Pokémon game.… Expand
  88. 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
  89. Theaquagroup
    Nov 27, 2019
    2
    Fun for the first few hours, but in all reality the main story can take you between 20 and 60 hours. I went with the 60 hours, except that was also pretty much finishing the living pokedex for the region. I got to the point where it was kinda pointless not to finish the game. The post game (if you can call it that) takes between 200 minutes and 2 hours. Honestly this game kinda reaches itsFun for the first few hours, but in all reality the main story can take you between 20 and 60 hours. I went with the 60 hours, except that was also pretty much finishing the living pokedex for the region. I got to the point where it was kinda pointless not to finish the game. The post game (if you can call it that) takes between 200 minutes and 2 hours. Honestly this game kinda reaches its limit when you hunt down the gigantamax Charizard, catch it in a luxury ball with Hidden ability. Everyone says there's more to do, except within 100 hours, you can have 100% done.… Expand
  90. SpeedHunter
    Nov 27, 2019
    4
    Pokémon Sword and Shield are undoubtedly the worst games in the series, and are a step back in almost every way when compared to even the 3DS games. I could go on a tangent but you've heard it before. If GameFreak isn't going to give us a high quality Pokémon game that deserves the full $60 at least give us a game on par with Emerald, Platinum, HGSS, BW and BW2
  91. 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
  92. smw66466
    Nov 26, 2019
    1
    Horrendously ugly games. Pokemon XD and Colosseum are more graphically impressive and they're both over a decade old. What's even more amazing is that these games are coming from one of the most profitable IPs in the world. Nintendo and Gamefreak are truly taking advantage of the loyalty of their fans.
  93. Underrated
    Nov 26, 2019
    2
    "The lowest improving pokemon generation", thank you Gamefreak for trying to break the old thing but it turns into worst with your lazy nature. The first worst of this generation is cutting the pokemon without reasonable but with many excuse to make sure you could go comfort zone. The second worst, you committed that you will never update other patches to add cut pokemons, this so attacks"The lowest improving pokemon generation", thank you Gamefreak for trying to break the old thing but it turns into worst with your lazy nature. The first worst of this generation is cutting the pokemon without reasonable but with many excuse to make sure you could go comfort zone. The second worst, you committed that you will never update other patches to add cut pokemons, this so attacks fan hearts who believe the core of the pokemon in the concept "Catch 'em all". The worst of this generation, you complained about animation of 3DS how it poor but your ruined your mouth with lazy by using all recycled animations and while you couldn't make the scene of battle to be good. Plus the open world is the worst but I expected it to be good with patch if you read this little comment. 2 points for you made open world but it so poor. bye see you next gen.… Expand
  94. PokeSpot
    Nov 26, 2019
    0
    Beat the game. My overall feelings, they didn't even try with this game. Everything about it is lazy.
  95. Tam3000
    Nov 26, 2019
    1
    Pokemon were cut without any official post I had to learn this information the hard way. It's not even worth the cut, the online service is lagging, everything freezes by a simple transaction(going up and down the ladder). The gimmick is uninteresting and doesn't change much of the battle
  96. Logibear1010
    Nov 26, 2019
    0
    This has to be the worst game to date. Crap graphics, reused animations. Hop is Jay from sun and moon, they are the exact same. I want my favorites, all 1000 Pokemon. I just want to be excited about Pokemon again, make the game a challenge, make it hard. No exp share permanently on. This game is a shame to Pokemon.
  97. MadMaxxieXD
    Nov 26, 2019
    3
    Very lazy, the animations are very bad still, moves coming out of random parts, inconsistent sizes(things like Wailord are knee high, or Tyranitar being bigger than you our of battle then suddenly toddler sized in a game based around turning Pokemon huge), crazy pop in, the raids are ridiculously repetitive, online is awful and clunky, can't refresh stamps until game randomly decides to soVery lazy, the animations are very bad still, moves coming out of random parts, inconsistent sizes(things like Wailord are knee high, or Tyranitar being bigger than you our of battle then suddenly toddler sized in a game based around turning Pokemon huge), crazy pop in, the raids are ridiculously repetitive, online is awful and clunky, can't refresh stamps until game randomly decides to so you have loads of old raids that you waste time trying to queue for only to get an error, no GTS so the only way to trade is randomly, you can't even see what you're getting until you confirm the trade, no way to communicate when trading or in raids, it's basically impossible to get Pokemon from the other game without a local friend to trade from. No Postgame, the story is very bad and short. You'll have fun playing online if you play competitive but if not, this feels worse than the 3DS games. There's less than half as many Pokemon, the story is even shorter online is much worse. Unless you play competitive online, skip these games, it's a rip off and very pathetic coming from the biggest media IP in the world.… Expand
  98. blackwolf07
    Nov 26, 2019
    4
    This is a below average game. it's fun and has nice art, but everything else is lackluster. The pop in is hilarious, most of the towns are tiny. There is a lack of meaningful exploration, and it has one of the worst stories in the history of the franchise. Online is almost unplayable, especially when trying to max raid with others. I do enjoy most of the new pokemon designs and think itThis is a below average game. it's fun and has nice art, but everything else is lackluster. The pop in is hilarious, most of the towns are tiny. There is a lack of meaningful exploration, and it has one of the worst stories in the history of the franchise. Online is almost unplayable, especially when trying to max raid with others. I do enjoy most of the new pokemon designs and think it might be the strongest group of new pokemon since gen 5 or maybe even 3. This isn't even getting into dexit and the things the game is lacking, because I need only talk about what's there to note why the game is so behind the times. It's immature in a way that I haven't seen in years from such a major studio, especially when put next to their Nintendo peers. Game Freak needs to do better than capitalize on "fun," because this series' ceiling can reach so much higher.

    By the way, 5 is an average game on my scale. Most people will find it playable and entertaining, but very few will think it innovates or is a must play game experience. Pokemon is fun and entertaining for sure, but its technical faults are as laughable as flat-earthers in 2019, and the storytelling and overall presentation shouldn't even be permissable on a handheld system. The game is certainly below average technically, has a below average story, and below average turn based gameplay, when compared to its peers. 4 out of 10 might be generous.    … Expand
  99. 1t2e3w
    Nov 26, 2019
    10
    Honestly this is the most fun I’ve had playing a Pokémon game in a long time.
  100. albinopanda77
    Nov 26, 2019
    4
    While I actually enjoyed the series like the rest of them, I can’t say this game deserves anything higher than a 4. The game was rushed and looked like a direct port from the 3DS. The animations, while some looked nice, were better a decade ago on the GameCube. The graphics were sloppy and rushed. The plot was linear and lacked substance. I had high hopes for the first 1080p mainlineWhile I actually enjoyed the series like the rest of them, I can’t say this game deserves anything higher than a 4. The game was rushed and looked like a direct port from the 3DS. The animations, while some looked nice, were better a decade ago on the GameCube. The graphics were sloppy and rushed. The plot was linear and lacked substance. I had high hopes for the first 1080p mainline Pokémon game, but was quickly let down by the negligence and greed of Gamefreak.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

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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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