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. TheFanOfFans
    Mar 11, 2020
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. So I thought that this game was pretty cool, but has many flaws. First off, the national dex doesn't bother me. It can be a game breaker if you want to use your favorite Pokemon. However I like using the new ones the most, and to anyone on the fence about the game because of this. I say get it and just try some new Pokemon, you might find a new favorite! Now the game is slow paced. The main characters will stop you over, and over. This is definitely a damper on the experience as a whole as when you want to go somewhere you are almost guaranteed to be stopped by a character. The graphics are nice when in towns and on the routes. Nothing crazy, but sometimes the towns actually look great. But in the Wild Area stuff goes downhill. The graphics aren't too great. The tree's look very strange and pokemon pop in and out (though this is an issue with the whole game). In the Wild Area you can do these Dynamax pokemon battles. These I am a bit mixed on. Once you beat the game most if not all raids are 5 stars. This means they put up their shield multiple times. The shields in my opinion aren't very good. A Dynamax pokemon deals 2 bars, while regular does 1. If there is 1 bar, a dynmax pokemon wastes it's attack and still only does one. This wouldn't be an issue except it wastes 1 of your 3 turns in as a Dynamax. Also the CPU players aren't to great. I'll get to the online after this but just know that you get the same pool of CPU Pokemon and it can feel really bad when one just keeps using stat boosters. Now the online (at least for me) is very hit or miss. Sometimes when I try to trade it takes a while to connect, other times it's almost instant. It definitely works more then it doesn't, but that's just something to keep in mind. The gameplay is great, it's just pokemon. The gyms this time are the best they have ever been, definitely a highlight. After you beat the game you can make tournaments with the gym leaders and that is constantly fun. Now there isn't much of a story in this game. Basically Leon and Sonia get most of the action and just tell you about all the crazy stuff that happened. Towards the end stuff starts picking up and you fight one of the Legendary Pokemon. The scaling of him was very weird though. His size seemed to change a lot. Overall I don't mind the lack of story, it would have been nice though and if you want one this game will not deliver. The difficulty is a bit too easy, but I've come to expect that with Pokemon at this point. I might have left some things out, but overall, it's a fun experience that has it's faults. Get it at a discount because $60 is a bit to much.… Expand
  2. aurel14
    Mar 10, 2020
    4
    a really poor game outdated graphics and a empty story my last pokemon game was silver and i have not felt the gap
  3. Shimmeywill
    Mar 10, 2020
    8
    While the plot was lacklustre, the visuals are fun and the character customization is solid. A decent time waster.
  4. Greendeer23
    Mar 6, 2020
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Good works in my opinion , good graphics and good world is great experience… Expand
  5. JRobson
    Mar 5, 2020
    4
    As the latest entries in the Pokemon video game series, "Sword" and "Shield" are as generic and tired as their subtitles would suggest. As video games, they are a master class in how not to plan, develop or market your product. To the average Pokemon fan, they are so-so games that do just enough to scratch the itch. To longtime fans who have spent the majority of our young lives growing upAs the latest entries in the Pokemon video game series, "Sword" and "Shield" are as generic and tired as their subtitles would suggest. As video games, they are a master class in how not to plan, develop or market your product. To the average Pokemon fan, they are so-so games that do just enough to scratch the itch. To longtime fans who have spent the majority of our young lives growing up with this beloved twenty-four year old series, "Sword" and "Shield" are an insult and a misstep so hideous and poorly-conceived at every step of their execution that they do not merely scrape the bottom of the barrel, nor can they be described as the bottom of the barrel: these games do not deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence with the barrel.

    For the uninitiated, Pokemon is a series in which players explore a vivid world and discover a diverse cast of monsters. Players form a close bond with these monsters by capturing, evolving, and training their skills in turn-based battles. In contrast, "Sword" and "Shield" invites players to vainly attempt to explore a lifeless husk and discover a limited selection of 3D models T-planing their way across an unambitious, empty world reminiscent of video game worlds two decades its senior (with worse lighting). Pokemon float aimlessly with no sign of intelligent AI beyond simple walking and "player noticed" animations. Shamefully, no interaction between Pokemon and the environment is to be found, nor is any world-building tell that would give players the impression the world is occupied by powerful creatures -- a particularly disappointing fact given how much focus was dedicated to the open world section during the game's promotion.

    Seemingly tacked on mid-development, the open world section features a surprisingly solid if janky player-controlled camera (a series first and a marked improvement over past entries). Despite this, the majority of the game bizarrely does not make use of it, instead employing the automated camera seen in past entries. The resulting conflict in gameplay is the most glaring fundamental flaw of "Sword" and "Shield"; half-heartedly teasing players with the illusion of freedom only to take it away for the majority of the game (think Super Mario Bros. but with a jump button that stops working after the first jump). Coupled with lackluster level design, "secret" items that predictably spawn at the same spots within the world, and a lack of player-world interaction, and players are left feeling punished rather than rewarded for exploring -- a perfect microcosm of Game Freak's decades-old development strategy, a "more of the same thing" development rut which allows for changes only if they come half-baked and ten years late.

    Graphically, 2019's "Sword" and "Shield" are somewhere between 2001 and 1996. Compared to titles released on the same platform (the most powerful Nintendo console to date), textures range from passable to hideous. Lighting is poor overall, with over-exposed whites in bright conditions and color blending so poorly-implemented that cave Pokemon encounters can easily be mistaken for rare "shiny" events. The art style is especially appalling in how little stylistic continuity it features. Even experienced players may find themselves confused by the contrast between ordinary trees and Berry Trees, which feature a repetitive cartoon-like design with vivid colors that contrast dramatically with the muted greys and greens of their non-interactive counterparts (assuming those players can forgive the jarring close range pop-in). The resulting effect makes one feel like some art assets have unceremoniously "glitched in" from an entirely different game. Equally jarring are the open world section's weather events, in which sunny, flowery fields adopt the ambiance of tornado-stricken disaster zones in the blink of an eye, with no visual indicator from a distance.

    Gameplay is unworthy of a mention, with the same slow, clunky cycle players have endured since 1996 in full effect. The latest gimmick to be introduced (and will almost certainly be disappointingly forgotten by the next entry) is "Dynamaxing", a temporary battle gimmick which allows Pokemon to become giants with preset movesets replacing their player-given moveset. As with past gimmicks, many players ignore this feature in competitive play. The "Curry Dex" exists in the way the letter 'Q' exists.

    Sporadic quality of life changes do little to improve the overall UX of these titles, with battles still encumbered by meandering "It's super effective!" messages that could be communicated more eloquently with a quick on-screen visual.

    Players are advised to treat these titles with the same reverence Game Freak's art director James Turner holds for Pokemon fans (Turner publicly "liked" a social media post calling passionate fans who voiced criticism of his project the C-word in the weeks leading up to the game's release).

    Dynamax your wallet instead.    … Expand
  6. loserkid182
    Mar 5, 2020
    4
    Una lastima que no consigan hacer un juego decente que niños y adultos puedan disfrutar, no necesitan genios guionistas de cine, un equipo de personas competentes serian capaces de con 10 consejos hacer una buena historia, pero por desgracia tenemos otra entrega mas de la franquicia que caerá en el olvido.

    Los personajes son la cosa mas vacía que he visto en mucho tiempo, desde luego la    Una lastima que no consigan hacer un juego decente que niños y adultos puedan disfrutar, no necesitan genios guionistas de cine, un equipo de personas competentes serian capaces de con 10 consejos hacer una buena historia, pero por desgracia tenemos otra entrega mas de la franquicia que caerá en el olvido.

    Los personajes son la cosa mas vacía que he visto en mucho tiempo, desde luego la peor de la saga, o empate con otras 3 al menos. El rival es cosa intensita, y los personajes que interacciones con nosotros en la aventura dan ganas de darles una patada en la boca a todos.

    Lo de la zona central tipo mundo abierto y que los Pokemon de nivel superior aparezcan por ahí es buena idea, pero esta FATAL implementado. Los caminos entre ciudades son cortos y SUPER lineales.

    La dificultad del juego es sin duda lo peor que tiene, he subido 4 equipos de Pokemon a mas del nivel 70 solo en una primera pasada del juego y sin farmear ni nada.

    En fin, una lastima que al final la gente dejara de comprar estos juegos por la baja calidad que tienen y ya vendrán las lagrimas de la compañía.    … Expand
  7. Shaydows
    Mar 2, 2020
    0
    Even though this was a rushed mess, I would have given this at most a 2/10. However, Gamefreak lied to the entire fanbase about why it's so bad and not a complete game. That combined with my original score makes this a easy 0/10, I wish it could be lower.
  8. WinterSoldierAM
    Mar 2, 2020
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. So how is Pokemon Shield on its own? The answer is mixed to say the least. The first thing any Pokemon games exposes you to is your rival and starters. I like the design of the starters but ended up choosing Scorbunny. Your rival Hop is one of the worst rivals in the series, partially because he is so much like Hau. He is the brother of the Champion (another awful character) who just wants to be able to win. And he doesn’t. He loses over and over again throughout the game. To the point that it is annoying to even interact with him. The professor of this region isn’t present much in the story at all, instead her granddaughter is the one who follows you around and reveals plot points throughout the story. Sonia is the most likeable character in the game and has the best story of all the characters. One that shows her full growth from aspiring historian to full on Pokemon Professor. The Champion as mentioned earlier is hollow. He appears several times to simply save the day (offscreen) and when he actually interacts with you it is usually just to stroke his own ego. He is the “Unbeatable Champion”. And you will read that again, again, and again. And I say read because there is no spoken dialogue in the game, but we will get to that. The main baddie doesn’t appear until the very end when you and several leaders and other rivals come together to confront a legendary brought back to life. Team Yell follows around Marnie, another rival with limited time and development, which is more than team Yell gets. Unfortunately, Pokemon Sword and Shield have some of the worst characters in the series as well as a story with most of the interesting points being hidden as you get shuffled to the next gym(arena) to face the next leader.

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

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

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

    Ultimately, Pokemon sword and Shield are games that display just how stuck in the past Game Freak is and how the development schedule for Pokemon games keeps them from ever innovating unlike newer jrpgs. Pokemon has the potential for so much more, and it is a shame that this is the best we will get for the foreseeable future.    … Expand
  9. Fazalchaudhry
    Mar 2, 2020
    5
    Very mixed. Game has lots of flaws but the stuff it dose right are great. Main game is bone dry very short. Post game also bone dry. However the new Pokemon are great and the characters are memorable. It has some of the best gyms in any Pokemon game.
  10. Lightning_Chasr
    Mar 1, 2020
    4
    More of the same, with less of what makes the series special to so many. Ugly open world area but beautiful towns. Spotty online. The most cinematic the series has ever been, sadly ruined by a lack of voice acting.
  11. Edumiroku
    Nov 24, 2019
    0
    The same thing that in Sword. I have to be with myself and my thoughs after playing the Game.
  12. TreeckoRate
    Feb 28, 2020
    3
    Good gameplay and pokemons, but textures like a **** and... WHERE THE NATIONAL POKEDEX, why over 450 pokemons are DiE where treecko, other really good pokemons MANY moves are disable too :/
  13. Terranut
    Feb 26, 2020
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. He tenido que comprar Pokémon x y para.comprobar que la saga Pokémon ha muerto con la última entrega..Es el peor con diferencia. os recomiendo ultra luna sol o x e y antes que este.… Expand
  14. Enterkiou
    Feb 25, 2020
    7
    No es un mal juego, claramente no merece una cero. Lamentablemente no es lo que los fans de pokemon esperaban del juego. No tiene mucho avance en relación a otras entregas de la franquicia, salvo el área salvaje. Cuenta con limitaciones técnicas inexplicables para la época, como texturas mediocres y Pop-In, lo cual no concuerda con lo que uno espera de un triple A. Sin embargo, esNo es un mal juego, claramente no merece una cero. Lamentablemente no es lo que los fans de pokemon esperaban del juego. No tiene mucho avance en relación a otras entregas de la franquicia, salvo el área salvaje. Cuenta con limitaciones técnicas inexplicables para la época, como texturas mediocres y Pop-In, lo cual no concuerda con lo que uno espera de un triple A. Sin embargo, es principalmente más bueno que malo, dado que mantiene la jugabilidad adictiva de otras entregas, y respecto a eso, la jugabilidad siempre debiese tener más peso en un videojuego. Pasarás horas y horas de entretenimiento con este juego, siempre y cuando seas capaz de dejar de un lado sus notorios defectos.… Expand
  15. Howtomesup
    Feb 22, 2020
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. - game after 10 hours is boring.
    -Too easy. Like you can beat this game with three or four Pkmn and spamming a single attack, you even need to bother to buy potions or items at all because you can beat the opposing trainer with one hit and they barely damage your team, like why not put a hard or challenging mode where you can have to be more aware of items and attacks, etc. Overall it was underwhelming Rpg experience
    -Lack of content. Not minigames, boring battle cafe thing, boring battle tower, no rematch, boring, forgetable and too small region with nothing to do in it. No sidequest, no other activities like Battle Frontier, contest or visiting other islands.
    -Horrible graphics. The grass, the trees and that berries trees, oh boy that berries trees looks out of place with the other trees also in the Wild Area there three berries trees that are arranged in a way that doesn't look well in a "natural/wild" space.
    -This game has lazy animation. I remember a section near the final of the game that they don't even bother to animate the Pokemon using a move to turn on a switch. The water looks so bad and doesn't feel real that the Pokemon doesn't even interact with it. Pkmn lack like good animations, most notably flying type Pkmn like their just has their wings open, without flapping them that doesn't make sense. Moves and attacks looks awful.
    - This games have too much recycle stuff. Every item sprite and descriptions are the same as old titles, same with some moves and Pkmn sprites and descriptions, also the same old chimes and sound effects are old and it felt off and outdated. So this basically is copy and paste and it was no much effort in it.
    - The story is forgettable, unmemorable, predictable and boring, like there is no character motivation, same with the antagonist, and that thing of the Darkest Day what even concludes or is important.
    - The lack of voice acting in places where it should. The introduction and where Piers is "singing" is cringy and painfully to watch.
    -The unnecessary cut of Pkmn. If you are already copying and pasting everything why not cut and paste the rest of the Pkmn. Ohh i know because you want a Dlc that doesn't even include all the remaining Pkmn.
    The only decent thing of this game is the music and there is not a lot of it.
    But I know this is a very small indi company and like they are not obviously the owner of one of "THE HIGHEST GROSSING FRANCHISES".    … Expand
  16. Persona5Royale
    Feb 22, 2020
    10
    Much better than it's dumb counter partner sword. Get this version instead!
  17. MonkdemMan
    Feb 20, 2020
    7
    Ok gamefreak didn't really push the boat out too far and kinda played it safe. Fanboys giving it a zero need to get a life. This is a game made for all ages and all level of "fans" not the obsessive angry weirdos. Its exactly what I expected from a pokemon game. Travel a decent looking world catch all the pokemon take on gyms ect. I like the graphics not every game needs high detail theOk gamefreak didn't really push the boat out too far and kinda played it safe. Fanboys giving it a zero need to get a life. This is a game made for all ages and all level of "fans" not the obsessive angry weirdos. Its exactly what I expected from a pokemon game. Travel a decent looking world catch all the pokemon take on gyms ect. I like the graphics not every game needs high detail the art work works. The sounds is more of the same and can't say I'm a fan of the music.
    I had a good time with pokemon shield it's an innocent piece of my childhood bought to a colourful great map. It's not a perfect masterpiece but should we really expect that from a game that is made for ages 3 and upwards. I can enjoy it and so can my kids.... when I eventually have some    … Expand
  18. Lonchoya
    Feb 18, 2020
    3
    Ever felt so frustrated with a game that you felt compelled to go out of your way to create a Metacritic account to give it the pathetic score you feel it deserves, and even write a detailed review of it? Well, this is me feeling and doing precisely that.

    I will breeze through the issues everyone got to know from the start and focus more on the recent announcements and events. How they    Ever felt so frustrated with a game that you felt compelled to go out of your way to create a Metacritic account to give it the pathetic score you feel it deserves, and even write a detailed review of it? Well, this is me feeling and doing precisely that.

    I will breeze through the issues everyone got to know from the start and focus more on the recent announcements and events. How they go about the story's climactic events makes no sense and the story in general is as dull as it gets; we all know Gamefreak codes like 5-year-olds, most attack animations are recycled; the game is laggy in the Wild Area even when offline and a framerate nightmare when online. We all know the games are toddler-level easy if you do not handicap yourself, but this has been the case for every Pokemon game. We all know the pokedex was cut and many jokingly said they were gonna sell the missing Pokemon back to us. Personally, I was suspicious of the lack of GTS since it made no sense to have removed such a helpful feature for completing the Pokedex. Yes, many people made ridiculous requests but I never struggled to complete my Pokedex when asking for reasonable trades, e.g. a starter for a starter. Enter $30 DLC and Pokemon Home's $16 annual suscription. Now it all fell into place and gamefrEAk (see what I did there?) showed us their true intentions.

    When Ishihara promised a "game for veterans in 2019", unfortunately, he was not referring to the content/quality of the games appealing to a more mature audience. He meant a game for older fans, yes, but older in the sense that they have their own money, and can pay more for less, which seems to be the direction the gaming industry in general is following: Release an incomplete game at full price, then sell the missing components.

    You can argue they always sold to us a full-price, third game "DLC", but at least all iterations always felt like a complete game, and you could get every pokemon just by trading. You might say, "well, you can still get the DLC mythicals via GTS", and to that I respond: good luck getting a stranger to let go of his/her mythicals/legendaries, assuming you don't receive a hacked mon.

    Having spoken about the bad stuff, there are some good things in the game. This is the most I've felt involved in a pokemon league and the battles are quite the spectacle. This shouldn't be the case for any game, but there is actually a right way to play a Pokemon game's main story. I did find enjoyment and a glimpse of difficulty by mainly sticking to 2 points:
    A) Rotating as many pokemon as I could. This allows you to remain underleveled and also to familiarize yourself with the newest Pokemon.
    B) Avoid help from NPC/Rivals. You always have enough money to rely on your own Potions, anyway.

    The music is also some of the best in the franchise, my favorites being Marnie's theme and Gym Leader match theme. Character design is pleasant, too, they're really going the Waif-I mean, FIRE Emblem route in these last games, if you know what I mean. But that's basically it for the good stuff.

    As to what frustrated me so much that I had to write this review? Dyna/Gigantamax raids have an absurd, artificial and cheap difficulty to them if you're playing solo. Most NPCs are just terrible and if you lose, it's because of them. Even in this game's cut dex, Gamefreak has a repertoire of 400 strong, and what do they give to the NPCs to use? Magikarp. Pikachu. Clefairy. Or single-stage Pokemon, but rarely a fully-evolved one such as Salazzle. Adding to the frustration, their online, like mentioned before, is horrendous, so it can't really count as a soluton to this. It's even a meme at this point the fact that most Pokemon players play on their own, you'd think Gamefreak would have allowed for better Pokemon to be used by the NPCs, for us sad, friendless souls. Or make a good online experience, but I guess that's too much work. There's also a fixed amount of damage you can inflict on a Dynamax Pokemon before it places its shields up, what's up with that?

    In no way is this game worth $60. I have been a Pokemon fan since 1998, and this has been the first time I did not do a day-1 purchase, and rightly so. If you must have this game, do what I did and get it on sale or pre-owned. Bought it at 3DS price ($42), because that's what it barely reaches to be: a better-looking, yet content-lacking, 3DS game.    … Expand
  19. GrungeHamster
    Feb 16, 2020
    6
    The game does scratch the itch for capturing and battling fun, colorful monsters. However the game feels lackluster in a number of departments.

    The game admittedly does get some things right, things such as accessing all monsters from anywhere in the game world except for battles. Creating battle ready teams is easier than ever. Though some changes are a little strange. The Escape Rope,    The game does scratch the itch for capturing and battling fun, colorful monsters. However the game feels lackluster in a number of departments.

    The game admittedly does get some things right, things such as accessing all monsters from anywhere in the game world except for battles. Creating battle ready teams is easier than ever. Though some changes are a little strange. The Escape Rope, a dungeon escaping item is no longer limited to being a purchase item and has unlimited uses. This would normally be a good thing, however there are no dungeons in the game and no puzzles.

    This leads to the next issue that the game is fairly hand-holdy. You can explore the 'Wild Area' which allows for real defeat and failure. Outside of this however the game feels and plays like a theme park.

    The story isn't very engaging, while this may not be the primary reason one plays these games it needs to be said that the game doesn't seem to have a clear idea of what it wants the player to focus on. Without any spoilers, the game wants you to focus on your journey through the land, all while hinting at some corporate issue go on in the background. Characters will tell you to pay it no mind, then 20 minutes later interrupt your adventure to have you pay attention to the very thing they just told you to ignore.

    Finally, graphics are fairly off here. The game feels and looks like it was mashed together by several different teams and studios, and we see that is the case in the end credits. Some visuals are very clean and clear, while others are muddy, bland and polygon-like. The final icing on the cake is the fact that you can literally see a mouse cursor in the end credits as the editor was working on their computer to edit the sequence.

    It's an okay and playable game, but it is not out of this world. If you want more of the same or are a returning fan, you will likely enjoy it. If you were hoping for something to blow your mind, look elsewhere.    … Expand
  20. Irarius
    Feb 14, 2020
    1
    ok so it took me a month to actually rly rly get through this game because it was just so boring.
    i originally gave it a 4.5
    but i have to go down. this game is miserable. the story sucks ass, like you cant even understand how bad, **** just happens for no reason... the graphics are ps2, like jesus christ you will notice it. the wild area feels good for like an hour AT MAX 2-3    ok so it took me a month to actually rly rly get through this game because it was just so boring.
    i originally gave it a 4.5
    but i have to go down. this game is miserable.
    the story sucks ass, like you cant even understand how bad, **** just happens for no reason...
    the graphics are ps2, like jesus christ you will notice it.
    the wild area feels good for like an hour AT MAX 2-3 bland, empty, nothing to do.
    npcs in raids are actually retarded. you get magicarps and wobblefet into ur team. and that is rly rly bad. the pool of mons is rly small too...
    the wil area pop in kills the idea of it. you dont see mons exept u are in front of them 2 meters away,    … Expand
  21. Maxtron
    Feb 12, 2020
    7
    A good game but it falls in some parts like in the main game it seems that is unfinished an the climax appears from non-where; the graphics are not the same quality as the other games from the console. But at the end is fun, I would recommend it? Only if you are a big Pokémon fan.
  22. Xxdaniels751xX
    Feb 11, 2020
    3
    Perhaps in another circumstance I could have supported a downloadable content like the one proposed by Game Freak, but never given the current circumstances. Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield has turned out to be a launch that, despite successful sales, raised a lot of controversy. I don't think there was a worse time than this to announce an expansion pass with these characteristics. ThePerhaps in another circumstance I could have supported a downloadable content like the one proposed by Game Freak, but never given the current circumstances. Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield has turned out to be a launch that, despite successful sales, raised a lot of controversy. I don't think there was a worse time than this to announce an expansion pass with these characteristics. The Pokémon brand has deteriorated during the past 2019 due not only to a video game that does not include all the Pokémon, but to an improved communication by The Pokémon Company.… Expand
  23. Moglipapy
    Feb 7, 2020
    1
    There is too much to say in how bad the game is. I rather play silver on my old gameboy than that. Just don't buy it and don't encourage GameFreak on this. Shame.
  24. Smoothhands
    Feb 6, 2020
    4
    Pokemon is a very unique franchise. No matter how much they half-ass it, people will still buy it.

    This game adds nothing of value. The graphics are just upscaled 3ds graphics. I did not expect them to put any work into it. It's just not how they do things. I don't care about the national dex. I think it's low to lie about why. The story is blegh. Again... To be expected. It's    Pokemon is a very unique franchise. No matter how much they half-ass it, people will still buy it.

    This game adds nothing of value. The graphics are just upscaled 3ds graphics. I did not expect them to put any work into it. It's just not how they do things.
    I don't care about the national dex. I think it's low to lie about why.
    The story is blegh. Again... To be expected.

    It's Pokémon, they can continue slapping something together and it will be fun or at least a nice way to kill time for a short while.

    What I think is almost unforgivable is sticking Hard-Mode into a freaking paid DLC that adds nothing of value except that hard mode.

    This is a bland game from an amazing franchise made by a lazy company.
    You should do yourself a favour and pick up TemTem.    … Expand
  25. lorvha
    Feb 6, 2020
    0
    The price increase of "Pokemon Sword and Shield" and their passage on a more powerful Console must necessarily lead to an overall technical and graphic improvement.
    Pokemon Sword and Shield have a technical / graphic shortage. Now this is no longer admissible
  26. HipSGuinness
    Feb 3, 2020
    4
    This game is just an other pokemon game. DLC are joke, they need to be on the game at the start of for free.
    The main history are very easy and clean on less than 20h if you collect just normaly. And if you finish the game all pokemon on the central zone jump lvl 55/60 wtf oO
    The help on typ and you can see if your attack is effective or not... (the gigamax evolution are nothing more    This game is just an other pokemon game. DLC are joke, they need to be on the game at the start of for free.
    The main history are very easy and clean on less than 20h if you collect just normaly. And if you finish the game all pokemon on the central zone jump lvl 55/60 wtf oO
    The help on typ and you can see if your attack is effective or not... (the gigamax evolution are nothing more than a boost)

    Maybe the DLC can improve the game, but the game are expensive for nothing more.    … Expand
  27. Lone_Wolf_Sones
    Feb 2, 2020
    5
    Where to start with Sword and Shield. Are they bad games? No. Are they great games? No. So what are they then? Well they strangely find themselves sitting in the middle. Considering these were to be the first console mainline installments in the series? Expectations were understandably high.

    That is not to say that there aren't any redeemable aspects about these titles. However for    Where to start with Sword and Shield. Are they bad games? No. Are they great games? No. So what are they then? Well they strangely find themselves sitting in the middle. Considering these were to be the first console mainline installments in the series? Expectations were understandably high.

    That is not to say that there aren't any redeemable aspects about these titles. However for every step forward? It feels like one step was taken back. First we have to talk about the cuts to the national dex as well as the move pool. Game Freak said this was in an effort to deliver high quality animations. Unfortunately, we do not really have "high quality animations" here.

    The Wild area is easily the biggest new addition and it is a positive step forward. However this is tempered by the fact that you will find high level pokemon early on. You can't catch them. This would have been somewhat tolerable if you could catch them but couldn't use them in battle due to the level restrictions that have been in place since the series' inception. Also a bummer is that while online the frame rate tanks and trainers you come across can't be interacted with.

    The games also have a shocking lack of visual polish across the board. There are some glaringly low resolution and muddy textures. The cities and towns feel like window dressing and facades. Many doors can't be entered. Interior's of buildings have been copied and pasted with the same layout in each.

    Dynamax and Gigantamax battles feel like gimmicks. They add very little to the meta and feel like nothing more than damage sponges even if you exploit elemental advantage. I would rather the time spent on these have been spent on creating more new pokemon or getting more of the roster in there.

    The new pokemon we did get are generally cool. Regional variants though again I could do without in favor of more new ones or more of the proper national dex.

    Now we come to the really scummy part. They revealed DLC where many of the cut pokemon will be added back in for $30. They said there would be a "Free" update. But many people fail to consider this isn't really free. We also have been given the news of Pokemon Home and that it will cost $16 for a year. Also placed behind Pokemon Home is the GTS system that has been carved out from the previous games.

    IF you want to transfer from pokemon Bank which itself already costs $5 a year? You need Pokemon Home which is another $16 for a year. This is on top of paying for Switch online at $20 for a year. That means you will have spent $41 on subscriptions alone just to transfer/trade and battle online. And if you want the DLC which most fans are probably going to want as there are yet new legendaries in there, that's another $30. That's $71 total on top of the $60 for the base game where you already were paying $20 more up front being a switch title vs. a 3DS title.

    This kind of excessive monetization of Pokemon is my greatest fear come true.
    (copied from my review of Pokemon Sword)    … Expand
  28. Ernest_Figueroa
    Feb 2, 2020
    8
    Gran juego de pokemon, grandes sorpresas al nivel jugable, el apartado visual es de un pokemon Ultra moon reescalado. En portátil se ve muy bien, La manera en que se desarrolla el juego es muy ágil y casi no es necesario levear mucho más de lo que leveas de camino al destino.
    No es nuevo que copien animaciones en la saga y no me molesta armar un nuevo equipo para esta entrega, el juego es    Gran juego de pokemon, grandes sorpresas al nivel jugable, el apartado visual es de un pokemon Ultra moon reescalado. En portátil se ve muy bien, La manera en que se desarrolla el juego es muy ágil y casi no es necesario levear mucho más de lo que leveas de camino al destino.
    No es nuevo que copien animaciones en la saga y no me molesta armar un nuevo equipo para esta entrega, el juego es muy bueno, pero no es bueno gráficamente para los lanzamientos que tenemos en switch. Tiene unos momentos en la narrativa que no me esperaba. Depresión y otras instancias que le dan peso a la carrera de entrenador que las anteriores entregas no lo hacían tan bien como este. Subestime a los oponentes y tuve que tomarme el juego en serio como en los pokémon rojo y esmeralda y de ese estilo donde si que tenias que tener estrategia y un poco de suerte para vencer. El vicio en pokémon ha vuelto señores. Luego de 200 horas, siento que el juego pudo ser mucho más, falto mejorar las texturas y el frame rate cuando pones el online en la zona salvaje, por lo demás, bien, pudieron hacerlo mejor y más épico pero veo mucha flojera por parte de gamefreak.    … Expand
  29. Potatoes953
    Feb 2, 2020
    1
    It's not good, I hate this game with a passion. Its easy, boring, glitch y, ugly, unfinished game. I used to be a fan of the series on the 3DS but here's the thing those only costed $40 and even that was over priced, but 60. This game I knew from the leak and rumors was going to be bad. The only reason I have played is because my little brother got it for Christmas. The story is god awful,It's not good, I hate this game with a passion. Its easy, boring, glitch y, ugly, unfinished game. I used to be a fan of the series on the 3DS but here's the thing those only costed $40 and even that was over priced, but 60. This game I knew from the leak and rumors was going to be bad. The only reason I have played is because my little brother got it for Christmas. The story is god awful, in the over world and cut scenes the models look like they belong on the PS2 they cut over half the content from the previous games then lied about the models taking too long to upgrade even tho they were reused from 3DS games.
    Also they are putting a band-aid on through DLC and Pokemon home, and because of the fact that content is locked behind the other game and you need two different versions of the same DLC it costs just under $200 to get a complete experience. Don't buy these games, they aren't fun aren't pleasant to look at, and have like $20 worth of content at most. If you must play an RPG on switch there is always Final Fantasy 7, Octopath-Traveler, and Valkyria Chronicles. Don't feed the beast (Nintendo) or they will keep pumping out bad games like this.    … Expand
  30. zasham
    Feb 2, 2020
    5
    For me the biggest negative thing about the new Pokémon games are the difficulty. They are likely the MOST easiest/casual Pokémon ever. No puzzles, no real dungeons, experience points for all Pokémon, exchange Pokémon directly without going to the center, way too easy trainers ect. ect. ect. There are so many flaws in difficulty, it seriously hurts!
    If those were the first games in the    For me the biggest negative thing about the new Pokémon games are the difficulty. They are likely the MOST easiest/casual Pokémon ever. No puzzles, no real dungeons, experience points for all Pokémon, exchange Pokémon directly without going to the center, way too easy trainers ect. ect. ect. There are so many flaws in difficulty, it seriously hurts!
    If those were the first games in the whole series, Pokémon wouldn't have been such a big success as it is today. Hope they learn the next time! If not, it will be my last one forever.    … Expand
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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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