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. Sakoondomla
    Nov 26, 2019
    2
    A total let down. I had such high hopes for this game and I bought both versions, but the 20 hours of gameplay (across both titles) and totally subpar endgame make me want to cry.

    When are we going to het a truly open world immersive pokemon game on the level with BoTW? I desperately want to be wandering through open world forest in an expansive setting seeking my prized caterpie using my    A total let down. I had such high hopes for this game and I bought both versions, but the 20 hours of gameplay (across both titles) and totally subpar endgame make me want to cry.

    When are we going to het a truly open world immersive pokemon game on the level with BoTW? I desperately want to be wandering through open world forest in an expansive setting seeking my prized caterpie using my pokeball plus to rain pokeballs down on creatures.    … Expand
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. fiTy
    Nov 29, 2019
    2
    An RPG game with competitive online system with more exploits than its 20+ years ago predecessors.
  5. 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
  6. 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
  7. 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
  8. nochianand
    Jun 12, 2020
    2
    This game is so boring. It does nothing new at all and the graphics look like ****
  9. YuckZane
    Jan 17, 2020
    2
    I wanted to like this game very much. But I just couldn’t. Pokémon Sword and Shield felt completely uninspired, uncreative, and I felt no drive to keep on playing through it (But I did anyway).

    Pros: * Setting * Very cute and cool new Pokémon * Music for most of it (there were some repetitive songs that got really annoying like in the wild area) * Wild area * Playing with the toy    I wanted to like this game very much. But I just couldn’t. Pokémon Sword and Shield felt completely uninspired, uncreative, and I felt no drive to keep on playing through it (But I did anyway).

    Pros:
    * Setting
    * Very cute and cool new Pokémon
    * Music for most of it (there were some repetitive songs that got really annoying like in the wild area)
    * Wild area
    * Playing with the toy and games like fetch with your Pokémon for about three minutes before it got boring
    * More variety of types available (Ice, Fairy, Dark, Ghost, Fighting)
    * More variety with the Gym leader types
    * Get ability to “fly” early and no HMs

    Cons:
    * Not a lot of depth
    * WAY TOO EASY
    * Shared exp is STILL too much
    * Story doesn’t really start kicking in until very late
    * Characters were annoying (except Bebe and Marnie)
    * Hop is an extremely boring character and his constant positivity and uncomfortable amount of worship towards his brother gets obnoxious after a while.
    * Team Yell is useless
    * Bike outfit is yuck
    * The look and art of the interface, health bars, experience points were all very lazily done
    * Charizard is no longer a Pokémon I enjoy anymore because of overstimulation
    * The first play through should not leave me in a questioning state of “what was the point of any of this?”

    While I personally think this game looks really good a lot of the time, there is a severe lack of depth and characters that players can connect to and enjoy. I think this game was lazily made and basically pushed out for profit and should’ve given it another year to maybe make a game worth playing.    … Expand
  10. Mediocur
    Jan 7, 2020
    2
    a game title which almost guaranteed million of sales number. I don't understand why they don't invest more money to improve their coding and graphic.
    in the beginning GameFreak said because there are too many pokemon have to made. so they need to make a compromise to remove some of them to guarantee the quality.
    but the fact is, most of the pokemons are the same model from the mobile    a game title which almost guaranteed million of sales number. I don't understand why they don't invest more money to improve their coding and graphic.
    in the beginning GameFreak said because there are too many pokemon have to made. so they need to make a compromise to remove some of them to guarantee the quality.
    but the fact is, most of the pokemons are the same model from the mobile pokemon game. which means they should had more time to improve other stuffs.
    THEY DIDN'T. the game is overrated.
    The background story should be very attractive, don't know how they screwed this up to tell players the story so badly.
    Pokemons animation is so so lazy, fire not even shot by my Charizard' mouth.
    The stupid competitor ( the champion's brother) is kind of forcing player to do tutorial. sometime even force you to fight against him. why can't I choose to fight him or not?
    in the 2/3 of game, everything became so rush. I don't even know what's my next challenge and is almost over.
    Everything, Everything should had make better experience for players, but it just screwed up.

    But the bgm is good though, that's why I gave 2/10.    … Expand
  11. Bojack349
    Jan 9, 2020
    2
    Unacceptable DLC price when the game is still stuttery online/doesn't really change the Pokemon formula.
  12. Oxyacetylene_
    Jan 9, 2020
    2
    Missing massive amounts of content that was available in previous entries, and costs more to boot.
  13. Xelfyy
    Jan 9, 2020
    2
    Historia pobre, personajes secundarios poco interesantes, te lo puedes llegar a pasar bien si le echas imaginación, el area silvestre está laggueadisima. Le hubiese puesto un 4, pero me entero de que van a sacar DLC'S... ENCIMA! se han cagado en la saga.
  14. GabFire
    Aug 9, 2020
    2
    Tutorial de como estragar uma franquia super conhecida e aclamada por todos:
    Passo número 1: Chame a Nintendo!
    Parabéns!!! Você concluiu seu tutorial.
  15. notakid
    May 20, 2020
    2
    How anybody who's been a fan of the pokémon games for a long time can excuse big flaws of these games is truly beyond me. All of the criticism directed towards the developer is fully justified seeing as the complaints have to do with things that could have been implemented in such a way to increase everyone's satisfaction with the games.

    Higher quality and more advanced animations? An    How anybody who's been a fan of the pokémon games for a long time can excuse big flaws of these games is truly beyond me. All of the criticism directed towards the developer is fully justified seeing as the complaints have to do with things that could have been implemented in such a way to increase everyone's satisfaction with the games.

    Higher quality and more advanced animations? An option to turn off the EXP. Share that is making the game too easy even for a small child? Having all the previous pokémon included in the game, seeing as we know they have the models for them? All of these suggestions, do they hurt you? Is this sort of criticism "unfair" or "exaggerated"? Who do you think you are to decide what is "reasonable" criticism? The fact is, these things clearly matter to the majority of user reviews - looking at the user score clearly reveals that. If you can't handle people disliking a game you yourself like then, man, life has to be very difficult for you. Implementing these suggestions would hurt nobody. The games would be of a higher quality.

    There are many more reasons as to why users dislike these games, just have look at the reviews, but one thing is for certain: Game Freak is a lazy developer who is not to be trusted, considering all the lies that have been spouted.    … Expand
  16. LesterYida
    Jun 25, 2020
    2
    Worst gen ever. Compared with other games on Switch, the graphic Sword & Shield is not good tbh. But let's forget that, Pokemon is never good with the graphics. But excluding hundreds of Pokemon from the game? Making such a boring story with absolutely no innovation? Selling a DLC with such poor content (oh, that's nice. at least is not ultra sword & shield) ? Game Freak and The PokemonWorst gen ever. Compared with other games on Switch, the graphic Sword & Shield is not good tbh. But let's forget that, Pokemon is never good with the graphics. But excluding hundreds of Pokemon from the game? Making such a boring story with absolutely no innovation? Selling a DLC with such poor content (oh, that's nice. at least is not ultra sword & shield) ? Game Freak and The Pokemon Company seems very satisfied with what they have right now and have no intention to improve anything in the Gen 8. The only good thing about this gen is getting a Pokemon ready for online battle is much easier than before. Unfortunately I don't like online battle. So screw it, worst Pokemon game ever for me.… Expand
  17. Sesma007
    Jul 19, 2020
    2
    More of the same, next generation of Pokémon and we still see same combat mode no effort in the game Nintendo is just milking the franchise
  18. Niwai
    Jun 11, 2021
    2
    Нет русского языка. Игра и так не шедевр, а без русского вообще шлак. Русский язык третий в мире, но разработчику пофиг.
  19. Paragonii
    Jul 20, 2020
    2
    Tbh this game is not good. I just cant understand people who are saying that generation 8 should be the best. It just steps back. If you still want to go through this game, expect like 25 hours, which is definitely the shortest Pokemon game, less content, a story that is non-existent and a rushed game in general. But that is not enough, they destroyed Competitive Play with thatTbh this game is not good. I just cant understand people who are saying that generation 8 should be the best. It just steps back. If you still want to go through this game, expect like 25 hours, which is definitely the shortest Pokemon game, less content, a story that is non-existent and a rushed game in general. But that is not enough, they destroyed Competitive Play with that 20-minutes-timer. The new feature the wild area is not really good, its like an excuse for doing less routes because you have to go through it many times instead of going on a new route and your wont be able to see new stuff there. Playing online while being in the wild area is a pretty bad idea, players gonna teleport around and the performance will be even more bad. The bad graphics is a point you can really see in the wild area, nothing looks really impressive plus things and NPCs are just appearing right in front of you. The only good thing about this game is probably the design of the characters which looks pretty decent. So should you play it? No. Should you play it if you are a big fan of Pokemon? No. And now, they want more money for more Pokemon in the DLC, I cant say how good or bad the newest DLC is, but one thing Im sure about is that Im not gonna waste any more money on Pokemon.
    Title: Worst Pokemon main game.    … Expand
  20. Saintadi
    Jul 10, 2020
    2
    Boring, nothing new, a bad game is a bad game. It feels like a 3ds game.
    Spend your money else where
  21. Sibree
    Jul 24, 2020
    2
    most pokemon missing, what pokemon there are in this game are the more boring ones. It's basically the same as all the other pokemon games but with a changed gym battle system and gimmicky dynonaxing (nowhere as cool as mega evolutions in some of the more recent games former games) You can change your players appearance slightly (not many options)
  22. frdifrna
    Aug 8, 2020
    2
    A very shallow pokemon experience, with a story and lore where everything happens under the player's nose, and cities that, no matter how big a populous, you only have access to a few houses, besides the extremely short routes. All this for a very badly executed open world that is the Wild Area, where it relies mostly of the online services that are very primitive in Y-Comm. InterestingA very shallow pokemon experience, with a story and lore where everything happens under the player's nose, and cities that, no matter how big a populous, you only have access to a few houses, besides the extremely short routes. All this for a very badly executed open world that is the Wild Area, where it relies mostly of the online services that are very primitive in Y-Comm. Interesting characters but extremely bad exploited in the game itself. It simply could be a better game with the developers weren't so greedy.… Expand
  23. Kung_Kjartan
    Aug 14, 2020
    2
    Ugly graphics (TPC should be ashamed of themselves for that), bad story, weak gameplay and a way too easy game. Definitely the worst RPG of this generation. That's a shame, Pokemon has so much more potential but there isn't passion and boldness anymore.
  24. Puma10
    Sep 26, 2020
    2
    Es un juego incompleto, mal programado y demasiado lineal, se hecha de menos los juegos hechos de la primera a la 5ta gen, donde se superaban cada juego, ahora se nota que hacen juegos por hacer
  25. xchrmoney
    Oct 5, 2020
    2
    Rapido e incompleto. post-game absurdo. Y online pesimo
    Cuando me lo compre tenia mucho hype y disfrute las primeras 20 h pero cuando me pase el juego no había otra cosa que hacer ni estaba la pokedex completa ni habia un online bueno como el online de juegos anteriores. Kenebfujsnjeifisjenoeuyfnfrk dibfrn ixbrnek k la is a good 7 for all the use of the web and the website itself is not    Rapido e incompleto. post-game absurdo. Y online pesimo
    Cuando me lo compre tenia mucho hype y disfrute las primeras 20 h pero cuando me pase el juego no había otra cosa que hacer ni estaba la pokedex completa ni habia un online bueno como el online de juegos anteriores. Kenebfujsnjeifisjenoeuyfnfrk dibfrn ixbrnek k la is a good 7 for all the use of the web and the website itself is not the same as the one who has the most excellent quality and quality and you can buy a new one 4 a great price and a great idea of how many you will need for the new year with a price for of your two products to make sure you your best product and for the selling of product and is the a leading supplier to for sale your business product in order with the highest quality and affordable quality of product for your home customers or with other any products that are available for purchase and sell or products to or from any from the manufacturer or from any other any manufacturer of products or services that are available in the following categories or by the seller or by the seller or by the manufacturer or manufacturer supplier of to provide information on the    … Expand
  26. CurriMan
    Jan 4, 2021
    2
    My expectations were really low, and it still dissapointed me.

    The game takes out a lot of stuff from previous titles and gives really little back, the only way I found to make this game even a little difficult is by imposing limitations yourself, wich is really underwhelming. Most of the stuff in the DLCs and the other services this game requiers you to have for you to enjoy it as    My expectations were really low, and it still dissapointed me.

    The game takes out a lot of stuff from previous titles and gives really little back, the only way I found to make this game even a little difficult is by imposing limitations yourself, wich is really underwhelming.

    Most of the stuff in the DLCs and the other services this game requiers you to have for you to enjoy it as it was supposed to is stuff that was included with the purchase of games that came long before it, and even then most things are poorly optimized and really leave a lot to be desired.

    The "plot", gameplay and several aspects of the game are really underwhelming, even with the standards that the last few titles have set. The game doesn't rival the grafic capacyties of most switch games, and the plot doesn't even get close to other pokemon games that came more than a decade before it, everithing in the game seems really artificial, you don't get rewarded for exploration and most times random NPCs will pop up and drag you in the direction required for the game to progress, most of the adventure and region comes out as linear and really unnatural, when I, for example, came across people repairing or doing contruction works in a route, that served as a roadblock and also felt natural in it's enviorment, but when i come across a random corvinight in the middle of nowhere blocking a path, that feels really forced and artificial.

    The dinamax mechanic, as mos other recent gimmicks, is absurdely broken, and the fact that it can be used by any pokemon without any restriction or downside really hurts. The other gimmicks in the franchise at least had some limitations and downside, but this one is just plain broken.

    In a nutshell: SW/SH are really underwhelming pokemon games and even with their DLCs and punchrasable content, they don't mach any spectations and come out as lame and unidimensional.    … Expand
  27. jar6
    Feb 18, 2021
    2
    Pokemon Shield (and Sword) are easily the worst in the franchise's history. The potential that a Pokemon game on the Switch has is incredible. This could have been one of the greatest games of all time. Period, full stop.

    BUT, GameFreak decided to just wing it this time. This game, to put it bluntly, sucks. The graphics are legitimately 3DS quality (arguably worse at times), the    Pokemon Shield (and Sword) are easily the worst in the franchise's history. The potential that a Pokemon game on the Switch has is incredible. This could have been one of the greatest games of all time. Period, full stop.

    BUT, GameFreak decided to just wing it this time. This game, to put it bluntly, sucks. The graphics are legitimately 3DS quality (arguably worse at times), the gameplay is the same as every other Pokemon game and does stand out, and this entry in the series is by far the most empty one. This is despite touting its expansive wild area as a selling point. Speaking of the wild area, it also sucks. When you're connected to the internet, you are moving at around 3 frames per century. And, as alluded before, despite being the largest area in a Pokemon game to date, it is barren of any content. The dynamax dens are cool for the first five or so raids. After that, it's just a slog fest and is honestly one of my least favorite parts of the game.

    I forgot to mention this point before, but now that I'm on the topic of the dynamax dens, it needs to be mentioned: the candies you get from these dens make this game so unbelievably easy. In fact, even without these candies this game is a breeze. Realistically, the only way to make this game challenging is by using a self-imposed ruleset known in the community as the Nuzlocke ruleset. This means, essentially, when you lose a Pokemon, it's gone for good. I could go on about the difficult,y, but that is one of the most cited issues.

    In fact, everything I've brought up has been talked to death. However, I think a less common insight (while still being pretty well-discussed) is how this game's mechanics translate to the competitive side of the game. Dynamax is a terrible mechanic. Ever since mega evolution, Pokemon's gimmick mechanics have been getting worse. Mega evolution was actually a pretty cool opportunity to give weaker Pokemon the boost they need to be competitively viable (did this happen? No, but you can thank GameFreak for this). Z-moves were kind of a mess and spawned a lot of annoying builds (i.e. Z-Geomancy Xerneas). However, topping the faults of both of these mechanics is Dynamax/Gigamax. This ability, on its face and in concept, should be the best gimmick. However, the implications of stat-boosting moves, doubled health, and the fact that any Pokemon (including already broken and overpowered ones) have access to this makes it terrible to play against and not that exciting to use either.

    Finally, perhaps the worst transgression that this game has made is the $60 price tag. Now, I would understand $60 if this was the greatest Pokemon game in the history of the planet. However, I believe that this is the opposite. This is the worst Pokemon game in the history of the planet, and I'm including Pokemon GO, Let's GO, and Pokemon Rumble Blast in this history. Charging the player $60 for a bad 3DS (at best) is one of the most insulting things I've ever seen a company like GameFreak do. On top of this egregious pricing, GameFreak has the audacity (THE AUDACITY!) to charge money for DLC that should have been in the game on release, bumping up the price for the (full) game to $90 ($60 for the base game and $30 for the expansion pass which gets you Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra). I will not address the Isle of Armor or Crown Tundra DLC expansions for two reasons: this section of Metacritic is for the base game of Pokemon Shield (and Sword) and I was smart enough not to buy the DLC.

    In summation, Pokemon Shield (and Sword) are easily the worst games in the franchise. I credit this label to numerous parts of the game that are either low quality or obstruct good parts of the game (the general Pokemon game formula). This game is not worth buying. Please, value your voice as a consumer and don't encourage lazy, greedy behavior in the gaming companies which are supposed to cater to YOU. I understand that companies are greedy by nature and will cut corners if possible, but you are able to hold them accountable with your dollar. So, PLEASE, do not purchase either game in this installment in the franchise. You are better off playing a fanmade rom hack (this is not to insult these games, they are sometimes better than most of the mainline games) and have an exponentially greater amount of enjoyment. Thank you, do not buy these games, be well.    … Expand
  28. Kennanady
    Mar 6, 2021
    2
    I was very excited for this game when it came out being an avid Pokemon fan, but boy was it a huge disappointment. I’d like to address its flaws:
    The online is horrible. Nintendo online has never been great, but this takes it to a whole other level. While in the Wild Area and connected to the Y-Comm, the game’s frequent lag-spikes and FPS drops to at times 5 FPS can be truly unbearable.    I was very excited for this game when it came out being an avid Pokemon fan, but boy was it a huge disappointment. I’d like to address its flaws:
    The online is horrible. Nintendo online has never been great, but this takes it to a whole other level. While in the Wild Area and connected to the Y-Comm, the game’s frequent lag-spikes and FPS drops to at times 5 FPS can be truly unbearable. They managed to downgrade true online system that the 3DS had already well-established. The graphics are nothing short of lazy. The tree textures look fresh out of a PS2 game, not to mention the same poor Pokemon move animations that haven’t changed since essentially the original with Pokemon not even getting up close. How is a Pokemon using scratch going to show me a poorly animated claw effect that my Pokemon just summons that doesn’t even go near the opposing Pokemon?
    These are only a few of this games several horrific flaws—completely skipping over the story (with writing that truly does show how much of a rushed project this was, the post game is probably the worst wrote thing I have ever seen in a game), the limited amount of content in the base game and more. The only well-done original thing I can see from this game is Pokemon camp. This is where you can tell the animators had more time to give your Pokemon character and life rather than the soulless beings they are everywhere else. The cooking I also found to be quite fun and just watching your Pokemon interact with each other each with actual personality was definitely my favourite part. The game also has the huge national dex problem which was sought to be fixed by a poor and sloppy dlc that I won’t be talking about. Overall, very lacklustre and there are so many games out there on the switch that are just better. This was the game that truly told me to wake up and stop buying Pokemon, the franchise is running itself into the ground.    … Expand
  29. eljajas
    Jan 30, 2022
    2
    El peor juego de toda la saga, excesivamente facil, muy lineal, no hay nada interesante en todo el mapa, y el area silvestre pese a estar muy bonita es aburrida y no hay nada mas alla de pokemon(poca variedad) arboles, y mierdas para incursiones . No le doy un cero por que el apartado grafico me parece bonito y el diseño artistico de escenarios es muy bueno tambien
  30. Patedus
    Mar 15, 2022
    2
    An absolutely pathetic game to add to a franchise with so much potential. Extremely disappointing.
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Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 89 Critic Reviews

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