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. Mordgesr
    Jul 21, 2020
    6
    This is my first game in the Pokémon series, so I cannot compare it with the previous installments. For a beginner, this is a good game that allows you to immerse yourself in the atmosphere of adventure that was in the old anime series.
  2. Darkmagician13
    Jul 22, 2020
    6
    As a massive pokemon fan this surely has been the most disappointing main game yet. The fact that game freak is making us pay extra to "catch them all" the lazy animation and some lazy graphics too. Also the story and plot are really boring and the villain has to be the less memorable of them all.
    On the other hand, the game has a beautiful soundtrack and the multiplayer raids it's    As a massive pokemon fan this surely has been the most disappointing main game yet. The fact that game freak is making us pay extra to "catch them all" the lazy animation and some lazy graphics too. Also the story and plot are really boring and the villain has to be the less memorable of them all.
    On the other hand, the game has a beautiful soundtrack and the multiplayer raids it's something that really is appreciated.
    The champion is actually great, with some charisma and it's actually pretty hard to beat unlike other champions before.
    Overall it's a mesh game, not to bad but not too good.    … Expand
  3. Luts1224
    Nov 30, 2020
    6
    A really basic RPG. Nothing special about it. A few fun moments. Poor graphics. Poor story.
  4. ShaddowMaann
    Aug 3, 2020
    6
    I think there is alot of negative reviews here the game isn't bad but its not amazing its a pokemon game with open world which is pretty cool but battles are too easy
  5. Cormacd69
    Mar 7, 2021
    6
    It’s easy to hate on the game because of the graphics, however even if the graphics were better, would this be a memorable experience? In what is in my opinion are worst the worst games to date, Pokemon must wake up and realise it needs to take a leaf out of it’s book and evolve. From a boring world and open area with next to no little grooves and hidden areas to explore, to the theIt’s easy to hate on the game because of the graphics, however even if the graphics were better, would this be a memorable experience? In what is in my opinion are worst the worst games to date, Pokemon must wake up and realise it needs to take a leaf out of it’s book and evolve. From a boring world and open area with next to no little grooves and hidden areas to explore, to the the abysmal and uninteresting story, these games are a hugely disappointing and lazy entry in the franchise. The open area seeks to be something intriguing but instead is a mess, where Pokemon only roam wild when you are close enough for them to pop in, the first encounters may amaze you but it grows old very fast. The DLC adds more to the wild area idea and is definitely a more polished and likeable wild area(s). However these games have let themselves down hugely nonetheless.… Expand
  6. Crisener
    Sep 9, 2020
    6
    Pokemon formula has been proving to be timeless for many generations of consoles. Here we are, at the brink of a new decade, with Pokemon being the highest-grossing media franchise of all time, and yet it seems like for a good and polished game we will have to wait another few years.
    Every part of the game feels like it's unpolished in some way, the story is predictable and not    Pokemon formula has been proving to be timeless for many generations of consoles. Here we are, at the brink of a new decade, with Pokemon being the highest-grossing media franchise of all time, and yet it seems like for a good and polished game we will have to wait another few years.
    Every part of the game feels like it's unpolished in some way, the story is predictable and not interesting in the slightest and there are many additions which feel unnecessary, and the resources put to make them appear in the game could have been directed to making graphics look better or making multiplayer work intuitively.
    If you haven't played any Pokemon game for some time, go and grab this one (the best option being resale), as it still is a fun game. The Pokemon mechanics still work really well in 2020, the thrill of catching new monsters and making a team is still there, and the new Pokemon designs are very well done. It's just that Pokemon deserve better and releasing a game like that considering the franchise's position is just outrageous. It may not necessarily be Game Freak's fault, maybe they've done the best they could, and it's the pressure or lack of support from Nintendo or The Pokemon Company that resulted in all of this. But something definitely needs to change.    … Expand
  7. EatMyMayo
    Jul 29, 2020
    6
    I think having a mainline Pokemon game on Switch is awesome, and overall I have had a good time with the game. I am well over 150 hours into the game and I enjoy my time shiny hunting and completing my Pokedex. However, the story for this game was atrocious...it was the most mind numbing, hand holding experience that I have ever had in gaming. At every corner I was being told to go do thisI think having a mainline Pokemon game on Switch is awesome, and overall I have had a good time with the game. I am well over 150 hours into the game and I enjoy my time shiny hunting and completing my Pokedex. However, the story for this game was atrocious...it was the most mind numbing, hand holding experience that I have ever had in gaming. At every corner I was being told to go do this or go do that, and I was given little freedom to explore and do the game at my own pace. Hop is also super annoying to the point where I would dread going into new towns or going into gym challenges. Besides the story the game is pretty good in my opinion and I hope that GameFreak can pull their act together and make a really great game in the next couple of years.… Expand
  8. hector_bcn98
    Oct 31, 2022
    6
    +
    Fórmula Pokemon, funciona y divierte.
    Muchísimos pokemons a ser capturados y criados. Las áreas silvestres pueden suponer un reto, ya que hay pokemons de todos los niveles. - Gráficamente es para echarse a llorar, de lo peor de la consola. Es para despedir a cada uno de los trabajadores de Game Freaks y otorgarles el premio al vago del año. Inadmisible en un AAA. 0 interés en    +
    Fórmula Pokemon, funciona y divierte.
    Muchísimos pokemons a ser capturados y criados.
    Las áreas silvestres pueden suponer un reto, ya que hay pokemons de todos los niveles.

    -
    Gráficamente es para echarse a llorar, de lo peor de la consola. Es para despedir a cada uno de los trabajadores de Game Freaks y otorgarles el premio al vago del año. Inadmisible en un AAA.
    0 interés en completar la pokédex invirtiendo una descomunal cantidad de horas en conseguir todos los pokemons para que la recompensa sea nula.
    Las incursiones no funcionan y suponen una pérdida de tiempo inmensa.
    La franquicia pide a gritos una revolución. La habrá? No lo creo.    … Expand
  9. fed_up_nerd
    Dec 21, 2020
    6
    Expected way more, it was enjoyable but the mechanics and game design has not changed in two decades.
  10. Firekirb74
    Feb 19, 2022
    6
    Is this game the best PKMN game? Absolutely not. The story isn't that great, the game's map design is pretty terrible, and the game is rather easy overall. I don't mind the lack of the National Dex, but the graphics should definitely be better. There are also not many QoL features in this game. But, this is one of the best games for competitive battling, the characters are all great, theIs this game the best PKMN game? Absolutely not. The story isn't that great, the game's map design is pretty terrible, and the game is rather easy overall. I don't mind the lack of the National Dex, but the graphics should definitely be better. There are also not many QoL features in this game. But, this is one of the best games for competitive battling, the characters are all great, the Wild Area is super fun and enjoyable, and the music is bopping. I don't think this is the best thing in the world, but it certainly does not deserve this much hate.
    Gameplay: great 8/10
    Charm: 6/10
    Graphics: 4/10
    Sound: 9/10
    Other: 5/10
    Total Score: 6/10    … Expand
  11. nowhy
    May 6, 2021
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The "plot" gets forgotten about halfway through the game, and when you're reminded that there's supposed to be a story, the champion tells you to mind your own business and keep getting gym badges. Then when the story gets decent, they tell you that Eternatus was awakened! Who or what is Eternatus? They don't tell you, and it's an insta-catch. This was a rushed game and it shows.… Expand
  12. Herbalmouse1305
    May 29, 2022
    6
    this is a pokemon game

    plain and simple, if that statement does not appeal to you, please god dont buy this game. luckily it does appeal to me, and i mustered quite a bit of fun out of this. not enough to get the dlc tho. Btw dexit is fine, it was inevitable. their excuse kinda sucked, as this game doesnt look too good, but with PLA and Sc/Vi it looks like the smaller scope is    this is a pokemon game

    plain and simple, if that statement does not appeal to you, please god dont buy this game.
    luckily it does appeal to me, and i mustered quite a bit of fun out of this. not enough to get the dlc tho.
    Btw
    dexit is fine, it was inevitable. their excuse kinda sucked, as this game doesnt look too good, but with PLA and Sc/Vi it looks like the smaller scope is starting to pay off    … Expand
  13. Christian_TV
    Apr 15, 2023
    6
    This game it's just what you expect from Game Freak.Nothing more,nothing less
  14. xSpOokie
    Dec 1, 2022
    6
    stop listening to this critics , the game is great , the graphics are a bit poor but the game is a lot of fun and the story is good , not the better , anyways the generation is so good have some pokemons who are so cool , people nowadays in nintendo always try to make something to give a game a poor rating , they want everything in a game , the cons in this game are the legendarys and thestop listening to this critics , the game is great , the graphics are a bit poor but the game is a lot of fun and the story is good , not the better , anyways the generation is so good have some pokemons who are so cool , people nowadays in nintendo always try to make something to give a game a poor rating , they want everything in a game , the cons in this game are the legendarys and the fact that the game is to easy , but yes if you're a pokemon fan YOU SHOULD buy this game! [UPDATE] after 2 years i replayed the game , after playing brilliant diamond and arceus to , for the record i love arceus 9/10 , after replaying the game , i can tell the game isnt that good , than i first writed , not talking about graphics , but talking about performance itself , a lot of fps drops , and when you connect to wifi to do raids , very laggy servers , the first time i didnt pay to much attention on the story but after replaying i have to say that the story is not that good , you get very confused even if you pay to much attention + is boring and one more thing that is extremely anoying is the fact that you constantly battling with your rival who btw is to much annoying , changing from 9/10 to a 6/10 , the only thing who is preventing me from putting red score is the pokedex , the pokedex was the reason who made me replay the game because the first time i played it i didnt use any of the new pokemons from this gen , and other thing that is preventing me to put score 5/10 is the world building , citys and the wild area + the gym leaders are well designed , concluding i dont change my opinion about the game , if you like pokemon i recommend you buying this game , because after all its still a pokemon game , the mechanics , the thing of training them and the gameplay itself is what can get you through the game and make you have fun , because is still pokemon and the essence is there , so yes if you are a pokemon fan you should buy this , its gonna get you those 25 hours of fun .… Expand
  15. baja_dan
    Oct 27, 2022
    6
    A solid entry in the franchise mixed with a few new ideas. I enjoyed the online play and battling my friends from across the world. The new "open" areas were interesting, but felt like they could have benefitted from some more polish. I noticed some frame-rate issues and a few bugs during my 200hr playthrough. I've been a fan of the series since the red/blue/yellow days, but I stoppedA solid entry in the franchise mixed with a few new ideas. I enjoyed the online play and battling my friends from across the world. The new "open" areas were interesting, but felt like they could have benefitted from some more polish. I noticed some frame-rate issues and a few bugs during my 200hr playthrough. I've been a fan of the series since the red/blue/yellow days, but I stopped playing the series during the DS run due to fatigue and how the Pokemon Company hadn't really strayed from it's basic formula. I think that helped me view this entry with a fresher set of eyes overall.… Expand
  16. Luky1996
    Nov 30, 2022
    6
    Tecnicamente arretrato rispetto ai giochi contemporanei, comunque gradevole da giocare.
    I nuovi Pokémon sono molto belli e accattivanti.
  17. Cer2xrafa
    Aug 7, 2023
    6
    De los juegos que más he jugado en la switch, pero fue por una época de cuarentena, haciendo intercambios y combates onine continuamente, por ello, creo que es una experiencia remplazable, y no recomendaría jugar teniendo otros juegos mejores dentro la misma saga
  18. MasterGubbers
    Jul 11, 2023
    6
    Shield certainly has several flaws, but it also brings many new interesting Pokemon into the series. The biggest flaw is that you can blast through the game with seemingly no challenge, as it is easy to level up your Pokemon to level 60 before beatiflng the first couple of gyms. This ruins most of the game, but the Wild Area and new Pokemon make the game better.
  19. fnenamg
    Sep 8, 2023
    6
    Considering it's a product of Game Freak, it's somewhat acceptable.
  20. Kenmei
    Nov 21, 2019
    5
    If this game had come out on the 3DS, this would easily be considered the worst mainline Pokémon game in a very long time. The game feels like it consistently takes one step forward, then two steps back, and that's not even taking the National Dex controversy into question. Just because this is the first mainline game on the Switch, people are going to play it. And it feels like Game FreakIf this game had come out on the 3DS, this would easily be considered the worst mainline Pokémon game in a very long time. The game feels like it consistently takes one step forward, then two steps back, and that's not even taking the National Dex controversy into question. Just because this is the first mainline game on the Switch, people are going to play it. And it feels like Game Freak knew this and put out a subpar product. Even outside of the review bombing this game has received, its still underwhelming and, for whatever they do after this game, whether it be a 3rd game to these two or a new Remake, then they need to fix a lot of stuff to get back on the elite level that pokemon usually stays.… Expand
  21. Arcayon
    Jan 10, 2020
    5
    This game is a pokemon game. So most people are going to enjoy it. I regrettably bought it because it was a pokemon game, but I've still had fun with it. That being said, this is likely the worst pokemon game ever released by Game Freak. They lied multiple times to consumers about their decisions in order to take advantage of their loyal fanbase. The business tactics are alone areThis game is a pokemon game. So most people are going to enjoy it. I regrettably bought it because it was a pokemon game, but I've still had fun with it. That being said, this is likely the worst pokemon game ever released by Game Freak. They lied multiple times to consumers about their decisions in order to take advantage of their loyal fanbase. The business tactics are alone are shameful. The game itself is not polished or finished. You'll need to pay an additional 30$ to get a finished game via DLC around a year from now.

    Pokemon are missing. The designs of new starters is really bad. Gyms are great, but there is a huge lack of story missing and I feel like I'm not doing much other than going from town to town beating gyms. The lack of the GTS is a killer if you are a collector. Wonder trade is still there but requires a nintendo online subscription of 5$ per month. In order to transfer your pokemon from previous generations, you need to have a pokemon box which costs money. Pokemon must then be transferred from their legacy storage pokemon box to pokemon home which is an additional fee.

    This game is all about additional fees and reminds me of an EA games business model. Tons of microtransactions to enjoy the base game. The base game is not a finished product. But hey no matter what, Pokemon is always gonna be fun.    … Expand
  22. Guy_McDude
    Jan 10, 2020
    5
    Very little inventive features. Frame rate issues and a clunky online sticker system. The worst aspect is arguably the narrative that says nothing and does nothing but trot out the franchise cliches without charm. It feels like the game is a labor of begrudging obligation.
  23. jsharkey621
    Aug 13, 2020
    5
    Simply put, Pokemon Sword and Shield can best be described as phoned in games that take one step forward and 3 steps back for the Pokemon series.

    The Bad: When Gamefreak said they were cutting down the number of available of Pokemon in the game in order to improve the models and animations I was hopeful that we would finally get a main game that had animation quality equal to or    Simply put, Pokemon Sword and Shield can best be described as phoned in games that take one step forward and 3 steps back for the Pokemon series.

    The Bad: When Gamefreak said they were cutting down the number of available of Pokemon in the game in order to improve the models and animations I was hopeful that we would finally get a main game that had animation quality equal to or surpassing games like Battle Revolution (a Wii game from 2006). Instead we get terrible animations where barring signature moves, most Pokemon have a single unique animation or just hop in place to attack and which one they use seems incredibly arbitrary and can lead to comically awful results like pokemon doing a kicking animation for a charging or punching attack and just hopping in place for kicking attacks. In addition, many of the idle animations seem lifeless. In a game that’s main gameplay loop revolves around battles, this is unacceptably bad. Another aspect where this game fails is the content. The routes in this game are incredibly short and linear compared to previous generations and offer no ability or incentive to explore since there are no optional routes and only one item that allows you to explore additional areas that is used in 1 route you can backtrack to. There’s also almost no endgame since the only things you unlock after the endgame are stupidly rare gigantamax raids and the Battle Tower. There are no new routes or optional legendaries to explore/find. Compounding this, all of the towns are small and offer no fun activities to do outside of checking out new clothing options in towns that have boutiques. There are only two “mini-quests” in the game that both occur in the same town. Where are series staples like the safari zone, arcades, and contests? As is you basically just go from town to town to complete the main story and then have nothing to do but grind out max raid battles and the Battle Tower. Finally, why did they remove QoL features like super training for easy EV training? Instead you have to put your Pokemon on jobs in your PC and then can’t use them until the job is done.

    Finally, the online features are abysmal. Playing online in the Wild Area makes your game lag like crazy. They also removed the ability for you to search for online trades based on what you want and then see what others want in turn or vice versa, and instead force you to post a public trade offer and hope that whoever decides to take your offer has what you want... when there’s no in-game chat so you can say what you want. Finally, they didn’t put a refresh button for event cards so half the time you try to join someone else’s raids you discover they already have a full party or started the raid already.

    The Good: I like a lot of the designs for this gen (which is admittedly entirely subjective). I love new mons like Appletun and Corviknight. Also, certain QoL features like being able to transfer egg moves between breeding partners are really convenient. Finally, the Wild Area is a (small, unpolished) step in the right direction for what the series can hopefully become.    … Expand
  24. jztigersfan23
    Nov 21, 2019
    5
    The game is fun but there is a terrible bug That makes the game force your TV into a shut off the loop if you have a certain smart TV brand. Not having the national Dex is also an issue but I bought this game to play it on my tv and I can even play it on my tv. nintendo please don't rush game freak to make these games if there are bugs like this in them. If this is how things are going toThe game is fun but there is a terrible bug That makes the game force your TV into a shut off the loop if you have a certain smart TV brand. Not having the national Dex is also an issue but I bought this game to play it on my tv and I can even play it on my tv. nintendo please don't rush game freak to make these games if there are bugs like this in them. If this is how things are going to be done I do not think I am buying the next title in the franchise. Not being a bublic catch all wild pokemon in the wild area no matter the level also is a big restriction for some people, it just doesn't want me to going to the wild area at all until I finished the game.… Expand
  25. Tabamon97
    Jul 31, 2020
    5
    I just feel like the developers were lazy. The game progression feels dumbed down to the max. streets being blocked by grunts that well for no apparent reason. Pokemon ruby was at least forcing you to use special moves in order to block progress until the gym leader was defeated. The plot does not make much sense. The supposed villain is again, dumbed down and without any personalityI just feel like the developers were lazy. The game progression feels dumbed down to the max. streets being blocked by grunts that well for no apparent reason. Pokemon ruby was at least forcing you to use special moves in order to block progress until the gym leader was defeated. The plot does not make much sense. The supposed villain is again, dumbed down and without any personality traits or clear end-goal like team magma and aqua were, and I am not even comparing this game to the best pokemon games ever made. Ruby and Saphire have their flaws, but not as big as this one. From the same people that have Zelda on their console, this is just a joke. Graphics were lazy, character development was extra lazy. The combat is almost the good old "find a good pokemon against a certain type and spam their move". I kind of wish they were a bit braver with this.… Expand
  26. koolaidman486
    Nov 18, 2019
    5
    Honestly, Sword and Shield aren't HORRIBLE. They're perfectly fine games.
    However, they aren't real steps forwards for the series.
    The Good: - A lot of the music is quite good - The character models look quite nice - More condensed areas look good, if not a massive improvement over the Sun and Moon games - There's more good than bad with the new Pokemon. Almost all of them either are    Honestly, Sword and Shield aren't HORRIBLE. They're perfectly fine games.
    However, they aren't real steps forwards for the series.
    The Good:
    - A lot of the music is quite good
    - The character models look quite nice
    - More condensed areas look good, if not a massive improvement over the Sun and Moon games
    - There's more good than bad with the new Pokemon. Almost all of them either are nice looking, or good in battle
    The Bad:
    - REALLY bad overworld animations
    - The scaling of the Pokemon is also all sorts of messed up (really big Pokemon are comically small in a lot of cases)
    - The Wild Area looks outright bad and unpolished
    - Bad Route design, they're overly condensed and straightforward
    - No real dungeons
    - About 60% of the old Pokemon are just not in the game, and there's no new models or animations to compensate for that, and GameFreak outright lied several times about the reason for the cut.
    - Really bad frame rate drops, despite the fact that graphics of this mediocrity should be running at 60 FPS
    - Bad overall polish, the game isn't super buggy, but it's clearly not out of beta in various places yet.

    Overall:
    Wait for a deep sale, or just play one of the OG DS games instead    … 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. Frenish
    Nov 18, 2019
    5
    Finished the shield under 25 hours, now I’m playing sword. The game is pretty underwhelming. The design of the Pokémon are underwhelming as well. I got a eve evolved it into sylveon and got it to lvl 60 while everyone one else was 20-35 Including gyms, so pretty easy. The feature of dynamaxing is also lame.
  29. 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
  30. Spagbonara
    Dec 16, 2019
    5
    This is as barebones as Pokemon gets. I like Raid battles and dynamaxing, but the bad online and story even for pokemon standards drag this experience down. The gameplay at it's core is nothing new for pokemon with slightly better visuals than Sun and Moon. Speaking of the visuals, I think it looks good in towns and routes but the Wild Area just looks ugly. In my experience, it took 70This is as barebones as Pokemon gets. I like Raid battles and dynamaxing, but the bad online and story even for pokemon standards drag this experience down. The gameplay at it's core is nothing new for pokemon with slightly better visuals than Sun and Moon. Speaking of the visuals, I think it looks good in towns and routes but the Wild Area just looks ugly. In my experience, it took 70 hours to do everything there is in the game including finishing the Pokedex and beating the postgame. If this pokemon game had everything in Sun and Moon and these extra stuff on top, It would have been an easy 8 or 9 from me, But as it stands, it's a game you play through once and sell. If you like pokemon, you'll like this game but don't expect anything more.… 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.
    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 »