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. HellsaintED
    Jan 20, 2021
    6
    After seeing the evolution of other Nintendo franchises in the Switch like "Mario Odyssey" and "Breath of the Wild", it is just lame to see Pokemon receive little to no evolution at all, it is a 3DS game with a Switch price tag.
  2. BrightAbyss
    Oct 19, 2020
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Not a ton of new things added and the national dex being cut is a huge con. I am aware of the dlc's coming out later and think that this is a better format than dropping pretty much the same game with a new cover, but the complete lack of a postgame makes waiting for these dlc's difficult. I can't help but feel these games were rushed, and that the creators just needed a little bit more time to make these games perfect. I did enjoy the atmosphere of the gym battles, and I thought most of the new pokemon added had great models, but there are really only 2 new legendaries currently in the postgame, and the battle tower is a joke. Overall, the story isn't terrible, but it's not great either. Team Yell, the newest evil team in the galar region, is by far the worst team to ever be introduced in the pokemon franchise. They play almost no part in the story and have no real purpose. In the end, I do think that this is a step in the right direction for pokemon if they can take these criticisms into account for the next games, as I believe the switch will have a longer lifespan than the traditional handhelds pokemon releases on. Hopefully the upcoming generations won't need to be rushed onto a new console, because I truly believe that we could be in for a treat if the developers are given proper time to make these games great.… Expand
  3. Dsros96
    Jun 3, 2020
    7
    Probably one of the best Pokémon games ever graphics wise. I'm not giving it perfect score because of the Pokedex cut, the lack of postgame, the Mega evolutions being forgotten and the incursions (they are uninteresting). But besides that, this game is amazing. Also version exclusives are a thing from the past and some online functions should be for free but anyway, overall a very good game.
  4. Meheszka
    Nov 20, 2019
    8
    Great game overall. There are some minor bugs but this game feels fresh and coherent. Reading reviews I was expecting the worst but everything is perfectly fine! Haters gonna hate.
  5. PredatorPlus
    Nov 23, 2019
    7
    Gráficamente es un cambio a favor. El área silvestre se trata de una beta, está muy desaprovechada. En cuanto la historia me ha parecido pésima y post-game de tan solo 3 horas. En 70 horas me he pasado el juego al completo, historia y pokedex con la ayuda de únicamente de los exclusivos. En comparación con el resto de juegos de pokemon me parece que se queda corto en algunos aspectos.Gráficamente es un cambio a favor. El área silvestre se trata de una beta, está muy desaprovechada. En cuanto la historia me ha parecido pésima y post-game de tan solo 3 horas. En 70 horas me he pasado el juego al completo, historia y pokedex con la ayuda de únicamente de los exclusivos. En comparación con el resto de juegos de pokemon me parece que se queda corto en algunos aspectos. Espero que esta base la utilicen bien para el futuro.… Expand
  6. pm_goulart
    Jan 2, 2020
    0
    The game was first presented in the begging of 2019 and was very well praised by the fan based community. If good improvements and a new 3D game model, the game raised a lot expectations by public. Also, the developers stated in some interviews that they have learned from previous experiences and they were working hard to give fans the game they wanted. However, things turned out to beThe game was first presented in the begging of 2019 and was very well praised by the fan based community. If good improvements and a new 3D game model, the game raised a lot expectations by public. Also, the developers stated in some interviews that they have learned from previous experiences and they were working hard to give fans the game they wanted. However, things turned out to be completely different from what had being said.
    01 – First, the game lacks graphics improvement. It is the first time that Pokémon hits the tv consoles. For sure it had more power than the previous handheld consoles, but yet, the graphics did not reflect the true power of the Nintendo Switch. We can see that by playing the Legend of Zelda, Mario Odyssey, or Xenoblade Chronicles. The truth is: the graphics improvements were poor and lacks refinement as you can see a lot of pixelate textures throughout the game.
    02 – The cut of National DEX were a very wrong move. The fact that not having all the pokémons in a game is a huge step back in the franchise. They could have worked that part and hired more professionals to do this job. It is not a case of balancing and lack of time. This is a case of misleading in the production and lack of a strong leadership.
    03 – The game does not have any post game adventure. It is the worst ever.
    04 – Along with the Pokémon, the removal of the GTS is another step back as we now have to count on lucky to complete the dex with pokémons we don’t have.
    05 – The game does not stand good frame rates while connect on the internet. There moments of lagging and short freezing if the internet is on.
    06 – Despite all the improvements, the game main story is poorly developed. It grows in the background, which makes the main character be apart of it. This is a shift if you just look back in the other games where the main characters take part of the story and help to build the storyline.
    07 – Mega evolutions, z moves, abilities, deleted items and moves does make a difference. Mega evolutions were a great move. It makes no sense removing it.
    08 – The soundtrack is one greatest things in the game. At least I was not disappointed in this aspect. However, is somehow repetitive as some routes share the same song and some cities have copies of previous ones.
    09 – Differently from Sun and Moon, Pokémon Sword and Shield makes a really [almost absent] referent of other games from the same franchise. They barely mentioned other regions. In consequence, there is not multi plot. The stories do not connect to each other.
    10 – The producers delivered a final product with so much work to be done. And this could be fixed if they either contracted more people or asked for help. They delivered a poorly made game relying on its name to sell millions of copies.    … Expand
  7. coolwali
    Jun 23, 2020
    6
    A game that takes several steps forward with features that really bring Pokemon onto the home console experience.....but takes several steps back in the process. The overly linear nature, the inconsistent story and a lack of postgame do little to justify the hefty price tag
  8. 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
  9. Comradely
    May 14, 2020
    6
    I think a lot of the criticisms are harsh. I don't *really* think it's any easier than the older games. The Pokemon series has always had a problem with difficulty. I don't think the map is any smaller or lacking in 'exploration', I think the simplicity of the route design and the camera (in caverns and caves) is just deceptive and makes you feel like a path is more linear and lessI think a lot of the criticisms are harsh. I don't *really* think it's any easier than the older games. The Pokemon series has always had a problem with difficulty. I don't think the map is any smaller or lacking in 'exploration', I think the simplicity of the route design and the camera (in caverns and caves) is just deceptive and makes you feel like a path is more linear and less convoluted than the caves and routes in the previous games. And I don't think the designs of the new Pokemon are the worst we've ever seen.

    However, the lack of story is there and very disappointing. Pokemon games have never had strong stories or narratives, but the way that your engagement of the mythos with the region is constantly usurped by supporting characters and you're told to (and restricted to) focus on the next gym challenge is such a weird and bad decision...    … Expand
  10. ToadieTo
    Jul 26, 2020
    3
    Very disapointing game. Graphics are horrible. The amount of pokemon is reduced for no real reason. The story is non-existent compared to other pokémon games. The only good thing is that some pokemon have a good design.
  11. PannacottaFugo
    Dec 31, 2019
    0
    I will be completely and utterly honest. I don't think these are bad games. They're unarguably better than garbage that were both Pokemon X and Y and Pokemon Sun and Moon. However this game is undeniably lacking in so much pass content such as minigames, moves, Pokemon that follow you, MORE THAN HALF OF THE NATIONAL DEX, and so much more! Not to mention that there are tons of unpolishedI will be completely and utterly honest. I don't think these are bad games. They're unarguably better than garbage that were both Pokemon X and Y and Pokemon Sun and Moon. However this game is undeniably lacking in so much pass content such as minigames, moves, Pokemon that follow you, MORE THAN HALF OF THE NATIONAL DEX, and so much more! Not to mention that there are tons of unpolished areas and bad graphics AND bad animations. The game itself other than the removed content is very run of the mill and is what we're kinda used to and have gotten used to for over two decades. The gameplay is slightly better than usually I guess, the story is also slightly better, and the characters this time around are way better than usual. I found most of them to be very well written and lovable characters. On a side note I really love the Wild Area and hope they bring it back for future entries but we all know they won't

    This game isn't that bad and more just an okay game. An easy 6/10...however like I said before this game has bad animations, bad graphics, more than half the National Dex removed, and it has nothing to show for all of these problems and missing content we love. I really have no choice but to give this game a 0/10. Hopefully the enhanced versions of these games that will come in a year or so will fix the problems of Pokemon Sword and Shield.    … Expand
  12. jimmercise
    Nov 21, 2019
    6
    Extremely mediocre game. It starts well but quickly becomes tedious. The end is a real drag with no elite 4. It's just the same dudes you've already thrashed with crappy teams, plus one actual champion fight at the end.

    zzzzz.
  13. SirAwesomeness5
    Jun 30, 2020
    8
    Despite all the controversy surrounding this game, I quite enjoyed it. It is pretty barebones with the postgame content without the Expansion Pass, so keep that in mind. 8 out of 10.
  14. hknyrbkn
    May 8, 2021
    5
    As per the generation of newly introduced Pokemon I love this game. The rest, meh. The DLCs, disaster...
  15. Honesthuman777
    Nov 17, 2019
    2
    Frequent frame rate drops. The game sometimes does not scale properly to fit my screen. The end game content is short relative to the previous games. The supplement for not  placing all pokemon species in the game was said to be high quality animations but the majority of the  battle animations are either reused from previous games  or seemingly minimal in that the animation basicallyFrequent frame rate drops. The game sometimes does not scale properly to fit my screen. The end game content is short relative to the previous games. The supplement for not  placing all pokemon species in the game was said to be high quality animations but the majority of the  battle animations are either reused from previous games  or seemingly minimal in that the animation basically consists of the static model being moved up and down and the opposing pokemon would  have a stamped visual that is placed on that model. The lore of the United kingdom is disrespected in this game not because it has been misrepresented but because it was hardly touched. There are countless amounts of stories that relate describe creatures that resemble gen 8 mons and somehow the pokemon are just described as an independent entity and the lore and story is never mentioned in the dex entry. The worst quality of this game is the difficulty, without a hard mode of the ability to turn off the exp share, this game feels like a let's go game and at the bottom of every move during battle the game tells you the effectiveness. In terms of difficulty this game this game is a joke relative to the previous games, not one gym leader has more than 4 pokemon.This game has two redeeming qualities, the online has become an efficient machine because all actions are placed in an efficient and accessible menu where it takes little time to find and do the thing that you want to do as quickly as possible and the wild area feels like a genuine step forward because it allows you to adjust the pace of your playthrough since you could explore and interact with aspects of the game that would normally be allowed much later in previous pokemon games. The reason this score is so low is because there are console spin offs that either have better animations, more pokemon species, more pokemon movies, a more interesting plot, or a more robust endgame.… Expand
  16. 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
  17. BloodMutt
    Nov 21, 2022
    10
    I don't know why everyone has hated on this game. It was good and I played it through to completion.
  18. giannis2001
    Jul 16, 2021
    8
    Not the greatest Pokemon game but still a solid experience. A lot of content, great world to explore and a new addition - open world sections. Some Pokemon desingns are very weird though.Don't let the user score fool you. It's a great game and definetely recommended.
  19. 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
  20. Speedie
    Nov 24, 2019
    7
    If you're looking to compare this game to the rest of the Pokemon series, don't bother. Game Freak is taking their world famous series in a different direction, and as a life long Pokemon fan, I'm not upset at all. There are new introductions to the series between battle functions and main quest direction that keep things interesting at all times. There is of course room for improvement,If you're looking to compare this game to the rest of the Pokemon series, don't bother. Game Freak is taking their world famous series in a different direction, and as a life long Pokemon fan, I'm not upset at all. There are new introductions to the series between battle functions and main quest direction that keep things interesting at all times. There is of course room for improvement, as with any video game produced, but it's plenty of fun, and a welcome introduction to my lineup of Pokemon game cases.

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

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

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

    In conclusion, this generation is very fun, without a doubt. If compared to the rest of the Pokemon games, sure, it's towards the bottom of the list. As a standalone Switch game though, it truly is a great experience! If you can will yourself to simply get excited about a new video game, and jump into it with a positive, or even neutral mindset, you truly will enjoy yourself. The game is worth a full play through, and deserves praise for the things it does well.    … Expand
  21. MrCrowley
    Nov 22, 2019
    6
    While it doesn't deserve the hate it's gotten, this Pokemon installment is somehow both satisfying and disappointing at the same time. On one hand, we have some interesting new Pokemon designs, fun Gigantamax raids, very refreshing gym mechanics, and a fairly beautiful region. On the other hand, we have lazy Pokemon designs, dated and rushed graphics, an extremely simplistic storyline thatWhile it doesn't deserve the hate it's gotten, this Pokemon installment is somehow both satisfying and disappointing at the same time. On one hand, we have some interesting new Pokemon designs, fun Gigantamax raids, very refreshing gym mechanics, and a fairly beautiful region. On the other hand, we have lazy Pokemon designs, dated and rushed graphics, an extremely simplistic storyline that even a child could predict, and a Dynamax mechanic during some battles that barely does anything in my opinion. Therefore, while I had fun playing it, I would only recommend this installment to true fans of the franchise that can look past all of the issues.… Expand
  22. IkOzael
    Jul 11, 2020
    3
    It's the same mediocre games we've been gettin' for 20 years but worse. The story an' post-game is hella shallow. Characters are meh (though y'know Bea, Sonia, Nessa, Marnie... (Gloria's a different case)) but some had potential. The pop-in is atrocious. Feels like the inverse effect of the Green Baby's Stand from JBA: Stone Ocean was put on everything. The Wild Area sounded cool inIt's the same mediocre games we've been gettin' for 20 years but worse. The story an' post-game is hella shallow. Characters are meh (though y'know Bea, Sonia, Nessa, Marnie... (Gloria's a different case)) but some had potential. The pop-in is atrocious. Feels like the inverse effect of the Green Baby's Stand from JBA: Stone Ocean was put on everything. The Wild Area sounded cool in concept, but should've been on the same level as Breath of the Wild's overworld, like with Galar in general. Pokémon Camp is buggy an' the curry thing is a li'l interesting but that Pokémon eating cutscene... yeah, that stuff could've been better. The gameplay is as dull an' lifeless as its ever been, especially with the gimmicky Dynamax, but the animations were supposed to be generally improved... except they weren't. While this game does have some quality of life features, it strips away others like the GTS only to sell it back in subscription form an' bein' able to turn off EXP Share. I'm personally not one to "catch 'em all" since I jus' prefer the variety of Pokémon bein' present assumin' I don't feel like catchin' 'em later or whatever, but the reasons for cuttin' over half the Pokemon from the National Pokédex are dumb, mainly because they tried to dance their asses around it. I get that would've happened sooner or later which is why you don't mindlessly churn out the same-ass formula every year. But hm, who cares? They got kids, nostalgia hoes, etc. to keep 'em well-stocked on money. Give it room to breathe instead of aligning it alongside the Pokemon anime that's also pretty lame. This series was already at a decline a looong time ago, but damn.

    The Isle of Armor is mundane DLC. I'm not surprised. The only thing I like outta this one is, as you could guess, Klara for pretty obvious reasons (*grabs Wacom Cintiq Pro 13*). Somethin' about 'er gives off vibes that made me like the Hex Maniacs so much. But for real, the dojo feels like a post game's replacement. Some other things I like are the li'l cutscenes with Kubfu an' bein' able to travel with one of my Pokémon, but that one is shut down by the fact it's only while I'm in the Isle of Armor, but even then it has it's own problems which never existed in Let's Go. One particularly bein' the movement speed of some Pokemon. God... Damn... Does Slowpoke among many others move like glacial molasses. Ironically, this is in the same area where you were jus' chasing three stampeding Slowpoke a few minutes ago. The new Rotom Bike design is real cool with the black trail it has an' it made me like the bike a li'l more since I preferred skates. The outfit for it is way better, too. Better than the "clown suit" one in my opinion.

    Now to wait on the Crown Tundra, I guess (goddamn, I hate wastin' money)...

    Anyway, online is worse than it was in the past games. Frame rate drops are all too common. GTS was stripped away among other things for this slow-ass tag alert system that is Y-Comm. The only reason to ever use it would be for Surprise Trade or Max Raids which is near pointless 'cause of an abusable exploit that basically ruins it for other people who want to join. It's not like it'll be worth your time anyway since there's no strategy involved because the best way to beat 'em is jus' hit really hard. Anything other than that gets hella negated as if the Dynamon is Gold Experience Requiem but even hittin' hard is a crapshoot 'cause o' the limited damage they take. Oh, you can forget playin' Max Raids offline. The NPCs have critical errors for brains and/or straight-up have weak Pokémon that're actually more like handicaps for yourself. Notice how they all have Focus Sashes because they're so useless. You'll often have at least two on your team online though 'cause o' what I already talked about. By the way, why the hell doesn't GF do updates if they wanna talk about balancing? They've been able to do that since the 3DS days, but nope. None o' that. Gotta coax that money outta your wallet.

    While I still love Pokémon, I'm gonna look into Digimon, Temtem, fan games, etc. at this point. An' I'll most likely stick to drawin' Pokémon stuff instead of buyin' their "new" game.    … Expand
  23. vitin
    Nov 5, 2020
    3
    O jogo tem pontos positivos e eu consegui me divertir bastante com ele, mas a preguiça da Game Freak deixa ele ainda mais odiável. Os gráficos lembram o DS, a National Dex em si é um problema enorme, a história é bem mais simples que os outros Pokémon e ele acaba sendo bem curto. Pro preço dele, não diria que vale a pena, melhor comprar algum jogo anterior.
  24. Soldier_Owl
    Aug 18, 2020
    8
    I like this game. The new pokemon are cool and the galar forms are nice. Go on Nintendo.
  25. Lighty
    Nov 19, 2019
    5
    Too easy, Game Freak lied so much about it, poor graphic and FPS performance, rushed, boring characters, no personality and charm, too much cut content (moves, Pokémon, etc.), boring gameplay, and some minor issues. Wild Area is good though.
  26. 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
  27. JadedSince91
    Nov 15, 2019
    6
    I was very conflicted about the new Pokemon game and while it didn't completely win me over, I also didn't let the hate cloud my judgement about this new installment. Is it the best Pokemon yet? Far from it. Is it enjoyable fun? Definitely!

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

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

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

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

    Ultimately I had fun so far playing the game. The new Pokemon are fun, the world is interesting and the gym challenges are a welcome change (especially the Fire challenge, that was quite fun). Obviously the game could have been much much better if the development was not rushed, but people giving 1s and 2s to the game? Come on!    … Expand
  28. 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
  29. 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
  30. chaputom
    Nov 17, 2019
    8
    15 hours in and loving it! I haven't been this excited/interesting in a Pokemon game since X & Y so it was good to come back to something new and fresh but similar. The Pokedex goes up to 400 (who would ever want 800+ of ANYTHING in a game?) which is more than enough to keep your attention for Catching Them All's sake. The gym battles are unique and atmospheric and have great animations15 hours in and loving it! I haven't been this excited/interesting in a Pokemon game since X & Y so it was good to come back to something new and fresh but similar. The Pokedex goes up to 400 (who would ever want 800+ of ANYTHING in a game?) which is more than enough to keep your attention for Catching Them All's sake. The gym battles are unique and atmospheric and have great animations which are very interesting and engaging. The new rivals and characters are fine. Trainer battling is more interesting with newer Pokemon and animations - and that you aren't constantly being stopped for battle every few feet just to keep up space. The Wild Area still has my interest and I spend most of my time there (Catching higher level Pokemon, visiting with NPCs, Dynamax Raids). All and all a great new entry into the series and one you shouldn't really skip out on with all the (nonsense) negative reviews Game Freak has been getting lately! Play the game.… 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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