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. andoni_galicia
    Dec 10, 2019
    10
    El juego de Pokémon más adictivo de la historia. Cazar, criar, intercambiar y farmear entre otras cosas nunca había sido tan ágil y divertido. Es verdad que el tema de la pokedex es un aspecto negativo, pero se ve más que compensado con la calidad de los modelos y la diversión que proporciona el juego.
  2. TheBlizWiz
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    They cut features and raised the price.

    This is not the law of equivalent exchange
  3. awdwaffges
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    Cut corners mixed with a predictable story, laziness and stupid features noone asked for. Don't spend any amount of money on this. Even if you get it for free, don't play it because your time is more **** valuable than anything this piece of garbage could provide you.
  4. JokerMain115
    Nov 15, 2019
    4
    A lacklustre title, especially by Switch standards. The games graphics are fine enough (Textures are sometimes questionable), but the music is lacking, the weakest in the series of mainline games by far. The cut Pokémon, features and lack of new *Good* ideas with a predictable plot, either annoying or not rememberable characters and a general sense of the game feeling unpolished feels likeA lacklustre title, especially by Switch standards. The games graphics are fine enough (Textures are sometimes questionable), but the music is lacking, the weakest in the series of mainline games by far. The cut Pokémon, features and lack of new *Good* ideas with a predictable plot, either annoying or not rememberable characters and a general sense of the game feeling unpolished feels like a weak and lazy step into a new generation of consoles. The removal of the GTS feels frankly stupid as it was a big help for a lot of players attempting to complete the Pokédex of 400~ Pokémon. The cities feel empty due to your exploration through them being very limited, either by the camera or how you're unable to explore most of what you see. Dynamax feels tacked on and a very weak replacement for Mega evolutions, but better fleshed out than Z-Moves. The Pokémon brought back are baffling and leave the selection dry. 3 Legendaries through both versions + Silvally, lack of starters outside of Charizard and fan favourites just not appearing for seemingly no reason. The animations are nice, but a lot come off feeling extra rather than grand, and defiantly not worth the cut of 400+ Pokémon. Though, the new Pokémon designs are honestly some of the best we've seen in the whole series, outstanding on that part, and the quality of life improvements like Key Item descriptions being shown right away, IV supplements, HM's being completely discarded and the move relearner being easily accessible are absolutely wonderful changes, but don't make up for the games glaring weaknesses. Wouldn't recommend, instead waiting on the next games, or even generation seems to be the move, as the changes that matter here should make their way into the next set of games, as every Pokémon hopefully does too.… Expand
  5. fairyfairyfairy
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    Zero effort was put into this game. Boring ugly not visually appealing and the gameplay is terrible. The new pokemon designs are plain uninspired and just garbage
  6. spicysmoochy
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    Don't buy this crap, seriously. The animations are terrible, all of my favorite Pokemon are gone. Terrible.
  7. langley198
    Nov 15, 2019
    2
    Es lamentable lo que ha hecho Game Freak, se nota que el juego esta a medio coser. La Historia es demasiado corta creo que es la mas corta de todos los juegos de pokemon, el reuso de modelados es clarisimo incluso varios personajes tienen exactamente las mismas animaciones de ultrasol/ultraluna, es cierto que el diseño de los nuevos pokemon están bien hechos, no encuentro nada en el juegoEs lamentable lo que ha hecho Game Freak, se nota que el juego esta a medio coser. La Historia es demasiado corta creo que es la mas corta de todos los juegos de pokemon, el reuso de modelados es clarisimo incluso varios personajes tienen exactamente las mismas animaciones de ultrasol/ultraluna, es cierto que el diseño de los nuevos pokemon están bien hechos, no encuentro nada en el juego que me atraiga o me haga recomendarlo. Sin duda alguna pareciera que se trata mas de un juego indie que de uno hecho por una empresa grandisima, es una lastima porque la región tenia mucho potencial para haber sido el mejor juego de la saga, pero se quedaron demasiado cortos. Mi recomendación final seria no compren este juego e inviertan en algo mejor, una perdida total de tiempo y dinero.… Expand
  8. Volans
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    This is a Nintendo 64 game ported to the Nintendo switch #GameFreakLied. This is actually appalling.
  9. whitecypress
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    This game doesn't deserve my time. It is not finished, contain tons of bugs and doesn't have national dex.
  10. Ivysaurtrainer6
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    A pokemon game without all the pokemon....yeah 0/10. They could have just used all of the 3DS models and called it good. At least then we would use all of the pokemon.
  11. Bunnings_Snags
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    This new Pokemon release is unfitting to Nintendo's high standard of timeless and everlasting game design
  12. MaestroPokeFer
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    Asco de juegos estúpido gamefreak.
    gamefreak le esta apostando mucho a las nuevas generaciones y bota de lado a los que crecimos con la franquicia,
    Pero han olvidado una cosa, las nuevas generaciones ya no son fieles a nada solo siguen lo que esta de moda y cuando pokemon deje de ser moda adios
  13. Javieraso12
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    This game is probably a 4, but a 0 for gamefreak. Poor ney mechanics and graphics. The national dex is obly the peek of the mountain. I'm afraid of the remake of 4th gen. Pls gamefreak do your job.
  14. samuellsilva
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    No National Dex
    Lazy work from GameFreak
    Graphics from 3DS?
    Its a minigame?
    I think that i forgot to cite that no have National dex?
  15. oinutrewas
    Nov 16, 2019
    1
    This is NOT accettable in 2019
    It's the biggest franchise in the world but still we can't get a proper game.

    GF and Nintendo are clearly pointing to the wrong audience with these games, they need to realize that in 2019 most of the people who buys Pokemon are over 18 years old.

    STOP MAKING KIDS GAME
  16. Amenoch
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    Too much water 7/10, too less pokemon 93/100? What's your point, IGN? Now seriously, tell me when a Pokemon game comes out. I said a trully Pokemon game
  17. SamPorters
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    - Less Pokemon species than previous games
    - Less moves than previous games
    - Core mechanics of previous games are removed
    - Worst looking graphics than the average PS2 game
    - Close to every animation is reused from previous games
  18. Inlustris
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    I am a simple man, I see no GTS, the game gets a 0 .
  19. Quinneyboi
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    This game is no improvement. Same old Pokémon game. Graphics are garbage. There’s glitches that happen in the game. Not impressed at all.
  20. Guerreroo
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    Hate the new Pokemon design they look like zootopia characters, the worst Pokemon so far.
  21. Aulina
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    Where my bulbasaur is!!?

    Per amore del brand mi rifiuto di giocare questo capitolo.
  22. CLJgamer
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    #GameFreakLied
    Total descaso com os fans, Pokedex super capada, jogo ficou muito mais casual, reutilização de modelagem 3D, gráficos meh, Pokemons novos péssimos (tudo bem q eles se perderam em alola). Não vale nem ferrando os R$300 gastos.
  23. Mutthear
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    Big disappointment! Just cut most important features and made the journey bland
  24. AntonicoG
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    Only 400 Pokémon, like Pokémok Diamond of 13 years ago. And this sacrifice for a bad experience.
  25. Jorx
    Nov 16, 2019
    4
    Como ya sabéis este juego no ha estado abstento de polémica desde el pasado E3, en gran parte con razón, y con cada declaración de Masuda más todavía.
    Desde Pokemon XY que no he jugado un juego tan malo de la saga principal. El juego lo he completado en unas 18 horas, una historia que engancha muy poco, predecible y terriblemente llevada en el tramo final pero con una mejora notoria en el    Como ya sabéis este juego no ha estado abstento de polémica desde el pasado E3, en gran parte con razón, y con cada declaración de Masuda más todavía.
    Desde Pokemon XY que no he jugado un juego tan malo de la saga principal. El juego lo he completado en unas 18 horas, una historia que engancha muy poco, predecible y terriblemente llevada en el tramo final pero con una mejora notoria en el transfondo de los personajes.
    El arte del juego es bonito en varias zonas como las minas o el Bosque Lumirintico pero que rápidamente te deja con un mal sabor de boca por culpa del Area Silvestre, la gran novedad de este juego, por ser una zona muy mal trabajada que parece estar a medio hacer, realmente tiene unas texturas terribles y por si fuera poco una absurdez los cambios de clima locos entre sus minizonas. Lo único realmente divertido de aqui son las raids aunque me parece fatal que puedas capturarlos así de fácil, como cierto legendario del juego. La idea y el concepto es muy buena, pero creo que está mal llevado a cabo y espero que en futras entregas lo mejoren.
    No es un juego a la altura de lo que se esperaba, parece más un port de los juegos de 3ds que un juego de Switch. En el E3 se dijo que recortaban la pokedex por el tema de hacer nuevas animaciones. ¿Que es lo que nos encontramos al final? Pues que la gran mayoria de las animaciones y modelos son reciclados de X/YSol/Luna y del campamento son del Pokemon Colossus. Tu rival hace los mismos gestos que Haul, el rival de Sol y Luna. Personalmente, me parece bien que hagan un corte de la pokedex si sirve para hacer un mejor juego con nuevas mecanicas, etc. Ahora, creo que después con una actualización añadiendo el resto se puede solucionar porque si no, Pokemon Home no tiene absolutamente nada de sentido.

    La curva de dificultad no es muy buena que digamos, el juego empieza bien ya que tardas casi dos horas para llegar al primer gimnasio pero a partir de ahí es todo como una carrera al tener solo 10 rutas muy cortas y gimnasios, entrenadores y liga muy poco desafiante. Otro punto más en el que Game Freak ha mentido, a medias, al decir que estos juegos están más pensados para los veteranos ya que en la parte que si que cumplen es a la hora del competitivo.
    La parte más trabajada y positiva para mí es la mencionada anteriormente, el competitivo, en este juego se nota que han hecho un gran esfuerzo por mejorar este ambito y que hace que a pesar de lo malo que es tener la pokedex recortada, esta todo bastante equilibrado.<
    Otra parte positiva del juego es que la banda sonora es genial, sobre todo en los gimnasios al enfrentarte a los lideres que parece que el público este coreandolo.    … Expand
  26. AliGrispi
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Ho appena finito la storia dopo 26 ore di gioco. No. Non ci siamo. Cosa non mi è piaciuto: trovare revitalizzanti, anche nelle fasi iniziali del gioco, in così grande numero lo trovo troppo semplificativo, in generale tutto è semplificato, dalla grafica (con quelle maledette texture in 144p) alla trama che spinge sul farti sentire forte ma sbaglia il modo. Non mi sento forte dopo un combattimento, non mi sento forte a catturare eternatus e soprattutto non mi sento forte a battere il campione. Non ha senso la storia del team yell che ti blocca la strada, non hanno senso le pecore che ti bloccano la strada, non ha senso andare a cercare i tipi della lega che hanno la chiave, non ha senso che la segretaria da un momento all'altro si prenda a male e diventi cattiva. In generale la trama non ha senso. Non c'è post game, dopo 26 non ho altro da fare se non Raid e catturare "i pokemon più forti per il competitivo"? Non voglio giocare competitivo, ho speso 60 euro per un gioco vecchio e che non mi ha lasciato niente se non un vuoto dentro il portafoglio. Questo gioco è un insulto ai videogiocatori e soprattutto ai fan del brand. Vergogna GameFreak. Suggerimento: puntare al sandbox più che ad un possibile "openworld", non c'è bisogno di creare nuovi pokemon ma di migliorare l'esperienza con le risorse che avete già. Spero di poter essere ascoltato.… Expand
  27. ryguyreiser
    Nov 16, 2019
    1
    F in the chat for Gamefreak and the Pokemon Company. Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon made me lose hope in the series, but now it is clear to see just how far low this series has come to.
    Yikes.

    Please do not support this game or you are actively telling the Pokemon Company to keep putting out bad, lazily made, poor quality games.
  28. AnRPGFan
    Nov 16, 2019
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. In my opinion, Sword/Shield is weaker than all previous Pokemon games in practically every aspect. There's so many different ways you can look at this game and no matter what it always falls short compared to previous entries.

    Length-wise the game is short, you could potentially beat the main story in one sitting. It still feels like you're playing a handheld game made to be played in short bursts rather than a huge home console game. While this is mostly due to the story's actual length, I'd say the blame also falls partially on the difficulty. I understand that mainline Pokemon games have never really been hard, but this game takes it to another level. In my experience, it felt as though you would have to be constantly going out of your way to gimp yourself to bring any sense of challenge at all. Playing through the game "normally" felt absolutely brainless this time. The post-game content is also what has now become the standard barren experience we've seen in the past couple of generations. There's the usual short story expansion and Battle Tower. It seems to mostly exist just to nudge players toward online interactions with PvP battles or exploring the Wild Area.

    The story is nothing special and, in my opinion, weaker than previous entries in the series. It feels like the developers weren't sure what to do and ended up creating a sort of caricature of past Pokemon stories. Just your standard Pokemon story but with completely ridiculous villains, even for what would be considered the "norm" for Pokemon. I thought the post-game story's plot and villains actually had potential, but they're obviously only around for a short while and thing wrap up way too soon.

    Presentation might be where this game hurts the most. As far as Graphics go the game will bounce from looking amazing to looking like a middling budget Gamecube title. Major story moments look mostly great but then something like wild area is just the polar opposite. Music in this entry is incredibly weak compared to previous entries in my opinion. So many songs are just grating to me and very few stick out. The average Pokemon game doesn't wow me with its music, but it's never been outright bad like in Sword/Shield at times. One sort of small aspect of the presentation that really bothers me is the how battles look. Pokemon are still poorly scaled like they were in battles in other 3D entries. In extreme scenarios like with Waillord this looks completely ridiculous. The majority of Pokemon are still animated to look totally lifeless which is jarring when compared to many of the new, pretty animations given to the moves themselves. Battle issues don't just stop at the Pokemon, I would describe the trainers as robotic in battles outside of scripted scenes. They just stand around and won't react to their Pokemon getting hurt or anything. All of these roll together to make battles feel as far from immersive as possible; they feel closer to simulations of Pokemon battles than actual Pokemon battles.

    The design of the world as a whole I would just say is okay. Towns look pretty and are well-made but are generally lacking in depth which leads to exploring them not feeling very fun. Routes and dungeons, however, are much worse. They're incredibly simplistic and railroaded this time, which leads to very little exploration. If a player wants to explore, the only option is really the Wild Area. Running around in the Wild Area can be fun, but it feels pretty empty and a bit too large for its own good. The world itself is just okay at best, but I was mostly satisfied with the characters in it. Most of the NPCs in the region look nice but don't feel particularly active in the overworld. The new Pokemon of this region are mostly great, but that's obviously to be expected. My favourites are probably the new fossil Pokemon.

    I'd say the new major additions this game brings to the table are a mixed bag. The Wild Area is a great concept, but it ends up feeling empty and what I'd describe as tech demo-like. Pokemon Camp is a big letdown in my opinion. It's this entry's version of Pokemon Amie and Refresh but it doesn't do much new. Just the usual interacting with Pokemon except now you have multiple (awkwardly) walking around at once and can play with a ball. The QoL changes are pretty great, however. With nature mints and the ability to breed egg moves onto existing Pokemon you can now take any Pokemon and make it competitively viable. This means you can eventually take Pokemon you had with you through a single player adventure into online competitive battles with almost no downside. The issue, of course, is that these additions come with the trade off of other major features being removed. In particular, the game's lack of the GTS is just insulting.

    Overall, I see Sword/Shield as easily the weakest mainline Pokemon game. If you skipped out on past Pokemon games I'd recommend you look there for a Pokemon fix before even thinking about this game.    … Expand
  29. disappointedpkm
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    Again, disappointed with the cut Pokémon, lack of challenge and graphics. No background scenery when fighting indoors.
  30. efg94
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    They’ve **** it up this gen. Kuddos to GameFreak for **** on life-long fans. It’s going to take a lot to clean up your act now.
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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.
    Read full review
  3. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Jan 14, 2020
    78
    Pokemon Sword/Shield is uncharacteristically user-friendly: now there’s no need to backtrack half across the world to heal your entire team of pokemon or to get to a particular city, for example. [Issue#242, p.66]
See all critic reviews »