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. Ghostvine
    Nov 16, 2019
    2
    The game has poor graphics, and feels shallow not much story or depth. Was excited to explore the wild area, but was really upset with the force badge collection to catch high level pokemon.
  2. Jkfudge
    Nov 16, 2019
    10
    It’s a wonderful game, and a lot of the people giving bad reviews have not finished the game, and went on to this site straight away because they didn’t like things announced before it was even released, I recommend you give this a genuine try before forming an opinion
  3. rogene13
    Nov 16, 2019
    4
    The game feels rushed. The story is mediocre and short. There are almost no sidequests. The map feels empty. There are no voice acting even on cut scenes. The music is annoying most of the time. Graphics are outdated and it looks worse in the wild area, Almost half of pokemon and dozens of moves are missing from previous games yet they charge $60 for this.
  4. DavoNZ
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    Such poor quality despite funds clearly not being an issue...this is Pokemon after all. Haven't seen pop-in this bad or textures this bad since the Wii
  5. Gsyrek10
    Nov 16, 2019
    10
    I have never had so much fun playing a Pokémon game, the amount of time you can spend doing literally whatever you want without even following the story is amazing. So much freedom and so much variety to how you can do it!
  6. Kingmercyles
    Nov 16, 2019
    10
    One of the best pokemon game I ever played, great job game freak, I'm sure there is more to discover
  7. zzzelkova
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    I ignored the controversy and gave this game the benefit of the doubt and boy did I pay for that blind ignorance this game bricked our Roku because it is so poorly optimized, I have to put my switch on airplane mode while playing Pokemon specifically so my family can watch TV. Nintendo should pass this game to a different developer in the future,
  8. LokiWhite
    Nov 16, 2019
    9
    It's a polished Pokemon game. That makes it an 8 already. Those giving low scores are doing so because it isn't vastly improved on the others, so are judging by a lack of increase in quality rather than the quality that was already there. It's based off of disappointment and lack of delivery of potential not a poor delivery of what IS there. This isn't extraordinarily revolutionary, butIt's a polished Pokemon game. That makes it an 8 already. Those giving low scores are doing so because it isn't vastly improved on the others, so are judging by a lack of increase in quality rather than the quality that was already there. It's based off of disappointment and lack of delivery of potential not a poor delivery of what IS there. This isn't extraordinarily revolutionary, but it's a Pokemon and a good one at that. They tried some new things which I enjoy, which gives it the bonus point. I would have wished for more innovation which is why it misses anything higher. I'm playing it, I'm loving it, what else do I need?… Expand
  9. GeekFrank
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    After removing all the Pokemon I love, there isn't much you get to replace them. Less content, and just a cheap way to change the meta. I was hoping so much more from this "real" Pokemon game after Pokemon Lets Go, and I'm really disappointed.

    Bare bones game that got pushed out just because Nintendo needed something for Christmas.
  10. Duelz96
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    Pokémon Shield is absolute trash.
    This game is very much the same as Pokémon sword. I put the game down before the 3rd gym this time. From poor animations to terrible graphics, this completely ruins the atmosphere of the game. Many successful features have been removed. The new content is not the best either.
    This is the worst entry in the Pokémon series by far. Save your money and by a    Pokémon Shield is absolute trash.
    This game is very much the same as Pokémon sword. I put the game down before the 3rd gym this time. From poor animations to terrible graphics, this completely ruins the atmosphere of the game. Many successful features have been removed. The new content is not the best either.
    This is the worst entry in the Pokémon series by far. Save your money and by a game that’s been polished and has actually been made with care.    … Expand
  11. FruitJuicer
    Nov 16, 2019
    5
    !!WARNING!! I HAVE TERRIBLE GRAMMAR I'M DOING MY BEST

    So pokemon sword/shield I wasn't going to buy this game cause of all the lies that came from the pokemon company, gamefreak, creatures inc and Nintendo. Now why do I blame all of them cause they all have hands on the pokemon license and they know how big it is, so why they decided to not put there time and effort in one of there    !!WARNING!! I HAVE TERRIBLE GRAMMAR I'M DOING MY BEST

    So pokemon sword/shield I wasn't going to buy this game cause of all the lies that came from the pokemon company, gamefreak, creatures inc and Nintendo. Now why do I blame all of them cause they all have hands on the pokemon license and they know how big it is, so why they decided to not put there time and effort in one of there biggest IPs, unfortunately I don't know. What I do know is the game is a below average game and doesn't deserve to be sold at 60 bucks. From low resolution textures to frame drops and most agregious the pokemon count has been decreased dramatically and the pokemon models are still the old models from PokemonX/Y. These models aren't even scaled properly. In pokemon Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee all the pokemon were to scale is Sword/Shield they aren't, also you might make the argument that there were just 150 in let's go but there isn't alot of pokemon in Sword/Shield. (I don't know the exact number o haven't beaten the game yet but I know its below half the pokedex) Now the game is fun for what it is I like the wild area idea but it isn't implemented, dinamaxing (I know I didn't spell that right) is a cool idea but Megas were better and you can use then in any battle. It is better then Sun/Moon but that's not saying much. There is alot of dialog but it wasnt as bad as Sun/Moon. The bike just sucks we have all these cool creatures and we can't us them to sure and why do we need to have on that ugly bike suit... its ugly as @#$%. Customizing your character is nice and fun you get a good variety of clothes and makeup up. Its still limited but its better and going into the right direction. They need to stop making making digimonmons and start making pokemonmons. The pokemon in Sword/Shield are okay but I found out that all the pokemon or alot of newer pokemon are humanoids and when you try to picture them in there environment... well you can't... atleast I cant and I now that's probably just me but I feel like they could he better. Gyms are fun but nothing special they were advertising that each game had had different gym leaders that's cool but the gym gimmicks are the same just diffrent color. For example: they showed off the ghost and fighting gyms and said they were exclusive to one of the games but what they didn't say is they were going to copy and paste the mini game you do before you fight the gym leader. The music is shallow and limited beside the gym leader track (witch they play when you fight any gym leader) witch is pretty cool all the music is stock or just boring. The game isn't difficult but I will say please for the love of mewtwo stop forcing us to use the XP share god let us turn it off or have a different difficultly setting please. In conclusion this game is blow average and isn't worth 60 or 40, this is a 20 dollars game. I am enjoying my time with this game but if you are going to charge 60 bucks a game and with the highest grossing game franchise in the world you guys can do better. But I know they won't they don't car about the license or the fans they just want to appease the casual. So that includes my thoughts I know I'm missing some this but you get the picture right? Well enjoy and have a nice day.    … Expand
  12. Jeryr
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    Not for True Pokemon fans,

    The Dex cut was an insult to most as their favorite Pokemon were excluded, the animation and model has not change since the previous games, Gamefreak made an attempt to lie to us by saying the Pokemon cut was to improve quality but there models and animations are EXACTLY the same as the previous games. It was a amateur attempt on lying and a amateur attempt    Not for True Pokemon fans,

    The Dex cut was an insult to most as their favorite Pokemon were excluded, the animation and model has not change since the previous games, Gamefreak made an attempt to lie to us by saying the Pokemon cut was to improve quality but there models and animations are EXACTLY the same as the previous games.

    It was a amateur attempt on lying and a amateur attempt of making a new game with no innovation, hope they improve the next game even better.

    Refunding/reselling the game after completing it is a good choice as $60 is unjust price for this beta version.    … Expand
  13. hiimdaisy
    Nov 16, 2019
    1
    I don't understand why people's reviews are getting deleted, including my brother's so I'm gonna post it for us both because not even this webpage is worthy of attention now apparently.

    The only positive the game has is that well, it's pokemon, it's kinda fun and chill at the end of the day but this specific iteration suffers from so many steps back it's actually kind of incredible.    I don't understand why people's reviews are getting deleted, including my brother's so I'm gonna post it for us both because not even this webpage is worthy of attention now apparently.

    The only positive the game has is that well, it's pokemon, it's kinda fun and chill at the end of the day but this specific iteration suffers from so many steps back it's actually kind of incredible.

    This game is rushed. Animations are choppy, graphic and texture quality is kind of horrible and there is performance issues everywhere to the point where in cutscenes and multiplayer double battles the docked switch can barely make it to 18fps.
    450+ pokemon got cut and no new models were made in the porting of the rest. Only 80 new pokemon. Uninspired music. A joke of a story that's as shallow as a hollywood influencer. Reused model for Hop from the Alola rival, who already was hated.

    The gameplay is the exact same, but duller. The music choice for many """"tense"""" moments is horrible, non-existent, or the game cuts into it suddenly without any sort of fade-in fade-out. Everything feels rushed.

    The difficulty aspect finishes killing this game off as boring and lackluster. Exp. Share is forced on and the AI is more ridiculous than ever. The game might be for kids but the lack of difficulty options is almost unforgivable at this point. Or multiple save files. Or be allowed to turn exp. share off. Or anything at all. This game holds your hand through the story even more than sun and moon and the permanent tutorial makes it even more linear than before.

    The story is the shortest, the variety the smallest in 17 years, the graphics look 2 or 3 generations old, the battle system is the exact same as always but duller (no megas, no z-moves, -150 moves, dynamax is a very uncompetitive feature if you care about that).
    Lack of innovation, lack of true open-world, wild area being buggy, laggy, lifeless and unvaried, etc. make me have to give this game a 1/10.

    Toby Fox's song gets that 1, otherwise it's just a cashgrab from gamefreak. Awful job.    … Expand
  14. Cosmic06Star
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    Awful game made by awful developers. This is not a current gen game, this barely qualifies as a PS2 game at best. Don't support this game so that maybe the devs learn and actually decide to put effort into Pokemon.
  15. Anelko
    Nov 16, 2019
    10
    Good game. Better than expectet. I dont need every single pokemon in the game.
  16. lemony
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    Lying Devs
    Reused animations
    Reused Models
    No Global Trading
    No National Dex

    0/10
  17. memelasjoey
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    Feels like a 3rd party, unpolished and incomplete game, lacks a lot of content and graphically is severely subpar to the console's capabilities.
    The kind of game that could fit in a smartphone free to play app, but packed in a 60$ box
  18. Zp999
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    Underwhelming gameplay, terable graphics compared to what game freak was eluding to, unbearable loss of my personal favourites like kingdra, metagross, etc. Not worth a penny out of your pocket...
  19. Gigachad
    Nov 16, 2019
    1
    With a heavy heart I write this review.
    My long time friend, Vargene, has been a fan of Pocket Monsters ever since we were kids. Now, I personally lost interest in this series after Emerald, but my friend enjoyed every single iteration of these games. That is, up until now. Vargene's birthday was coming up and what better gift, or so I thought, than the latest new Pokémon game: Sword and    With a heavy heart I write this review.
    My long time friend, Vargene, has been a fan of Pocket Monsters ever since we were kids. Now, I personally lost interest in this series after Emerald, but my friend enjoyed every single iteration of these games. That is, up until now. Vargene's birthday was coming up and what better gift, or so I thought, than the latest new Pokémon game: Sword and Shield. I bought a copy for both of us, because I wanted to spend some time with my friend since we're both working adults now. At his birthday party, which comprised of him, myself, and his dog, I gave him the games. He was so excited, he had kept himself spoiler free all this time. I brought my Nintendo Switch so we could play together.
    When we started the game, both of us encountered crashes. No problem after a few tries. Once the ball got rolling we were transported to the world of Pokémon, while graphically on the low-end, I didn't mind as long as my friend was happy. We were plagued by the rival and champion character of the game. It was charming at first, but quickly turned to annoyance when the rival and the so called champion halted us in our exploration. Speaking of exploration, we were shocked when we encountered strong Pokémon, but were not allowed to capture them. I brushed away these minor hiccups, and my friend was thoroughly focused on the game. That's when the straw broke the camel's back. Vargene and I looked online to see how to transfer some Pokémon, he expressed horror when we came across information that his favorite Pokémon, the one he raised since we were kids, his Venusaur, could not be transferred. He burst into tears, I couldn't believe it, I thought this game was meant for "long-time veterans". The fact that one of the original starter trio was excluded from the game was unforgivable. I calmed him down and we played the Digimon game that came out on the Switch together instead. Vargene was angry and never wants associate with the Pokémon brand ever again.
    I, of course, returned both our copies. Its tragic that this game had to ruin my friend's birthday party. I strongly dislike this game and only give it a 1 out of pity towards hard-working developers who were no doubt shut down and out while making it.
    Please avoid this game, and brand until they create a worthwhile product.

    Sincerely,
    A Disheartened Customer    … Expand
  20. Charzilla
    Nov 16, 2019
    9
    This game is amazing. Even without every pokemon EVER (BTW) it's still great. For all those reviewing bad because of the cuts, that's horrible. Judge it for what it is, not what it could be.
  21. ResilientFightr
    Nov 16, 2019
    10
    Graphics get a B. Story a B+. Characters a B+ and new pokemon designs an A. The added mechanic of giant pokemon is amazing its like my kaiju childhood fantasy from playing rampage came true with CHARIZARD and TYRANITAR
  22. Longoria21
    Nov 16, 2019
    10
    Pokemon Sword and Shield are the best games in the series, streamlining its most tedious traditions without losing any of the charm.
  23. CuteCatXIII
    Nov 16, 2019
    10
    Best Pokémon yet. A lot of people are upset they removed some Pokémon into Pokémon home comes out but no Pokémon game has had them all. Generally confused but it’s good.
  24. Somonoxide
    Nov 16, 2019
    7
    The wheel hasn’t been reinvented. No giant leap forward.

    However! If your a Pokemon series fan this will satisfy your itch. Wild zone has huge potential for future games. Gyms are back with fun “all be it simple” puzzles. The games still aimed at kids, it always will be.... And tbh how many people actually completed the National Dex anyway.
  25. AliGrispi
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Ho appena finito la storia dopo 26 ore di gioco. No. Non ci siamo. Cosa non mi è piaciuto: trovare revitalizzanti, anche nelle fasi iniziali del gioco, in così grande numero lo trovo troppo semplificativo, in generale tutto è semplificato, dalla grafica (con quelle maledette texture in 144p) alla trama che spinge sul farti sentire forte ma sbaglia il modo. Non mi sento forte dopo un combattimento, non mi sento forte a catturare eternatus e soprattutto non mi sento forte a battere il campione. Non ha senso la storia del team yell che ti blocca la strada, non hanno senso le pecore che ti bloccano la strada, non ha senso andare a cercare i tipi della lega che hanno la chiave, non ha senso che la segretaria da un momento all'altro si prenda a male e diventi cattiva. In generale la trama non ha senso. Non c'è post game, dopo 26 non ho altro da fare se non Raid e catturare "i pokemon più forti per il competitivo"? Non voglio giocare competitivo, ho speso 60 euro per un gioco vecchio e che non mi ha lasciato niente se non un vuoto dentro il portafoglio. Questo gioco è un insulto ai videogiocatori e soprattutto ai fan del brand. Vergogna GameFreak. Suggerimento: puntare al sandbox più che ad un possibile "openworld", non c'è bisogno di creare nuovi pokemon ma di migliorare l'esperienza con le risorse che avete già. Spero di poter essere ascoltato.… Expand
  26. EonRonin
    Nov 16, 2019
    1
    Not so good I'm not happy with the game Everything is wrong and the graphics are awful
  27. Jorx
    Nov 16, 2019
    4
    Como ya sabéis este juego no ha estado abstento de polémica desde el pasado E3, en gran parte con razón, y con cada declaración de Masuda más todavía.
    Desde Pokemon XY que no he jugado un juego tan malo de la saga principal. El juego lo he completado en unas 18 horas, una historia que engancha muy poco, predecible y terriblemente llevada en el tramo final pero con una mejora notoria en el    Como ya sabéis este juego no ha estado abstento de polémica desde el pasado E3, en gran parte con razón, y con cada declaración de Masuda más todavía.
    Desde Pokemon XY que no he jugado un juego tan malo de la saga principal. El juego lo he completado en unas 18 horas, una historia que engancha muy poco, predecible y terriblemente llevada en el tramo final pero con una mejora notoria en el transfondo de los personajes.
    El arte del juego es bonito en varias zonas como las minas o el Bosque Lumirintico pero que rápidamente te deja con un mal sabor de boca por culpa del Area Silvestre, la gran novedad de este juego, por ser una zona muy mal trabajada que parece estar a medio hacer, realmente tiene unas texturas terribles y por si fuera poco una absurdez los cambios de clima locos entre sus minizonas. Lo único realmente divertido de aqui son las raids aunque me parece fatal que puedas capturarlos así de fácil, como cierto legendario del juego. La idea y el concepto es muy buena, pero creo que está mal llevado a cabo y espero que en futras entregas lo mejoren.
    No es un juego a la altura de lo que se esperaba, parece más un port de los juegos de 3ds que un juego de Switch. En el E3 se dijo que recortaban la pokedex por el tema de hacer nuevas animaciones. ¿Que es lo que nos encontramos al final? Pues que la gran mayoria de las animaciones y modelos son reciclados de X/YSol/Luna y del campamento son del Pokemon Colossus. Tu rival hace los mismos gestos que Haul, el rival de Sol y Luna. Personalmente, me parece bien que hagan un corte de la pokedex si sirve para hacer un mejor juego con nuevas mecanicas, etc. Ahora, creo que después con una actualización añadiendo el resto se puede solucionar porque si no, Pokemon Home no tiene absolutamente nada de sentido.

    La curva de dificultad no es muy buena que digamos, el juego empieza bien ya que tardas casi dos horas para llegar al primer gimnasio pero a partir de ahí es todo como una carrera al tener solo 10 rutas muy cortas y gimnasios, entrenadores y liga muy poco desafiante. Otro punto más en el que Game Freak ha mentido, a medias, al decir que estos juegos están más pensados para los veteranos ya que en la parte que si que cumplen es a la hora del competitivo.
    La parte más trabajada y positiva para mí es la mencionada anteriormente, el competitivo, en este juego se nota que han hecho un gran esfuerzo por mejorar este ambito y que hace que a pesar de lo malo que es tener la pokedex recortada, esta todo bastante equilibrado.<
    Otra parte positiva del juego es que la banda sonora es genial, sobre todo en los gimnasios al enfrentarte a los lideres que parece que el público este coreandolo.    … Expand
  28. 360barrier
    Nov 16, 2019
    1
    Awful graphics, awful controls, awful camera and bad theme. This is a pretty mediocre release in every way. Graphics are like welcome to five years ago. Were they blindfolded when making the camera? Main character is boring. Hopefully this is the last game in the series.
  29. Minishfrank
    Nov 16, 2019
    10
    Looks pretty great, all big a colorful! Also, this game is SO fun & the soundtrack is AWESOME.
  30. GDarch
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    I’m disappointed : no national pokedex, poor animations, gamefreak lied to us.
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Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 89 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 69 out of 89
  2. Mixed: 20 out of 89
  3. Negative: 0 out of 89
  1. Nintendo Force Magazine
    Apr 30, 2020
    90
    Sword & Shield have a lot to love for old and new fans, and they're pure quality from top to bottom. [Issue #44 – January/February 2020, p. 72]
  2. GameCritics
    Feb 6, 2020
    75
    I enjoyed my time with Pokemon Sword and Shield, but I ended feeling conflicted. I appreciate many of the changes and felt that it generally respected my time, but I almost felt like a passive participant. The more complex gym challenges had a meatier role, but the narrative shouldn’t have been shoved to the side. Overall, I would recommend it to players who want to have a Pokemon experience, but this one won’t stick with me the way the older ones have.
    Read full review
  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]
See all critic reviews »