Pokemon Sword / Shield Dual Pack

 Switch
User Score
4.4

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 404 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 151 out of 404
  2. Mixed: 24 out of 404
  3. Negative: 229 out of 404
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  1. WizardChamp
    Dec 3, 2019
    10
    First to adress the elephant in the room, the visuals contain a lot of reused 3DS assets and unoptimized loading for the Switch. This game isn't overly visually stunning but it's if you approach it as a handheld game built for a home console by people who have little experience with optimizing the hardware, it's alright. Second, no not all the Pokémon are in the game but technically youFirst to adress the elephant in the room, the visuals contain a lot of reused 3DS assets and unoptimized loading for the Switch. This game isn't overly visually stunning but it's if you approach it as a handheld game built for a home console by people who have little experience with optimizing the hardware, it's alright. Second, no not all the Pokémon are in the game but technically you couldn't obtain them all in previous games either without transferring them from older games, it's fine, we still have about 400 Pokémon. The story echoes the traditional Pokémon plot structure 8 gyms, beat your rival(s), beat the team of miscreants that get in your way, and make your way to the Pokémon league. There's been 8 versions of this story prior with a few changes and adjustments (not counting retellings), it's just how Pokémon is. That being said the minor adjustments in Sword and Shield really echo some of the best past versions of it with some really neat and interesting twists, don't expect Shakespeare but if you liked past Pokémon stories you will like this one. The region the game is set in, Galar, is based on England and is probably going to be one of my favorite regions looking back. Most of the game takes place in one large connected segment of the region which honestly brings me back to games before the 6th and 7th generation of Pokémon on 3DS, and the Wild Area just adds to this connected feel (of course don't expect to have access to everything all at once, blocked off areas do open up as you go as in any other Pokémon game, and the beginning and ending segments have their own areas you won't be spending as much time in). As for the Pokémon themselves the game has a fine Pokémon selection including a bunch of new Pokémon and Galarian forms of old ones I absolutely love. The gameplay keeps the soul of the series while also offering some great stream lining and plenty of improvements, including some brought over from last years' Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee. I love the dynamax concept as a whole especially how it gives the feeling of unique and special Pokémon battles to wild non-story based encounters and just adds plenty of room to create new kinds of encounters as a whole. I finished the main story very over leveled but a post game encounter showed me that I could still improve so it's never too easy, just more accessible to everyone. In short despite the shortcomings Sword and Shield has improved where I think it matters most and offers excellent gameplay and story (for a Pokémon game's story) and has easily become one of my favorites in the series. I give Pokémon Sword and Shield a 10 out of 10.… Expand
  2. Daitya
    Dec 8, 2019
    10
    Como todo juego de la saga Pokémon es un buen juego. Nuevas criaturas, batallas, la magia de empezar de nuevo en una nueva región, una nueva cultura regional y personajes, una banda sonora impresionante... Pero también nos encontraremos con numerosos fallos como... Ciudades un poco monótonas, el recorte de Pokémon(que espero que metan un DLC para compensar), la falta de libertad delComo todo juego de la saga Pokémon es un buen juego. Nuevas criaturas, batallas, la magia de empezar de nuevo en una nueva región, una nueva cultura regional y personajes, una banda sonora impresionante... Pero también nos encontraremos con numerosos fallos como... Ciudades un poco monótonas, el recorte de Pokémon(que espero que metan un DLC para compensar), la falta de libertad del principio o la escasez de postgame.

    Lionel, el campeón de Galar se ve más humano y actúa como tal, además de ser querido y conocido por todos los habitantes. Me gusta su expresión al perder(aunque me da un poco de pena combatir contra él XD). Eso sí, este personaje fue el único que me derrotó y me superaba en nivel.

    Para terminar me gustaría destacar la toxicidad de la comunidad de Pokémon. Una comunidad tan tóxica que no puede disfrutar de un juego de su saga favorita y prefieren insultar y amenazar de muerte a Game Freak porque no se sienten satisfechos con el juego(o al menos es lo que dicen). También deberíamos apreciar la otra posición donde se ponen como locos cuando hacen una crítica a su juego favorito.

    Conclusión para ambas opiniones de ardidos y amargados: Disfrutad del juego y pasad de vuestro "Orgullo Pokémon" parecéis una secta. Es un juego y ya está, no han matado a vuestros padres. Como cada juego tiene sus puntos fuertes y sus puntos débiles y ya está. Eso sí, estáis en vuestro derecho a decir que el juego está "incompleto" o que podrían haber hecho algo mejor... Pero hacedlo sin insultar y con un punto de vista neutral, que hay cada crítica destructiva que no tiene sentido.    … Expand
  3. SilexEco
    Dec 7, 2019
    9
    Bueno, lo primero un enorme saludo a los piperos de 3dMaletines que tan enamorados andan de mi culo, en especial al admin "yasif-nator", chico a ver si dejas de atragantarte con tanto maletín de PlayStation España, que es que no se puede ni leer cada noticia que publicas, perdón, quería decir publicitas, con tanta baba, menos mal que poco a poco van despertando las neuronas de la gente yBueno, lo primero un enorme saludo a los piperos de 3dMaletines que tan enamorados andan de mi culo, en especial al admin "yasif-nator", chico a ver si dejas de atragantarte con tanto maletín de PlayStation España, que es que no se puede ni leer cada noticia que publicas, perdón, quería decir publicitas, con tanta baba, menos mal que poco a poco van despertando las neuronas de la gente y os van mandando a donde os corresponde.

    Dicho esto y vamos al meollo de la cuestión, Pokémon Espada y Escudo, representan un salto tecnológico muy grande desde las últimas ediciones pero con algún pero, lo mejor, el área silvestre y su conectividad con otros jugadores, le da un aire fresco y una vida increíble al videojuego, sólo por esto es imposible que algunos medios de prensa "especializados" de videojuegos (propaganda de alcantarilla) le den un triste 8. Sinceramente, espero que la próxima gen, la novena, sea 100% área silvestre.

    Lo peor del juego para mí puede ser por ejemplo, la historia, no termina de enganchar y casi hasta el final del juego no ves realmente un gran avance, que casi parece sacado con prisas y debajo de la manga, en anteriores ediciones te mantenía enganchado desde el inicio, otro punto negativo es que al juego le falta esa pizca de oscuridad/mezquinidad que ofrecían otras entregas, por ejemplo, el team Yell me parece una broma de mal gusto y el rival Paul (Hop), que es casi tan irritante como un pipero.

    Y hasta aquí todo, sin más, un juego redondo que merece la pena hasta el último céntimo, hay cosas sin mayor impotancia en los que se enfrascan los piperomasones y los pokéllorones como los gráficos o que no hay pokédex nacional para tirarle mierda al juego, creedme que a los jugadores de bien son cosas que ni las vais a notar porque el juego divierte y es adictivo, que es lo importante.

    Bueno haters, ya podéis seguir "jugando" con vuestro simulador de repartidor del cual hasta elrbiusomg ha hecho una parodia, porque esa cosa soporífera no la soporta ni Dios.

    P.D.: La nota de cero al GOW muy bien merecida, ya que lo puse justo cuando lo arruinaron con aquella actualización que calló toda la prensa piperomasónica.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    ENGLISH:

    Pokémon Sword and Shield, represent a very great technological jump since the last editions, the best, the wild area and it's connectivity with other players, it gives a fresh air and an incredible life to the game, just because of this it is impossible that some media "specialized" video games (sewer propaganda) give him a sad 8. Sincerely, I hope that the next gene, the ninth, could it be 100% wild area.

    The worst part of the game for me may be, for example, the story, it does not finish hooking and almost until the end of the game you do not really see a breakthrough, which almost seems taken out in a hurry and under the sleeve, in previous editions it kept you hooked From the beginning, another negative point is that the game is missing that bit of darkness / meanness that other deliveries offered, for example, the Yell team seems like a joke in bad taste and the rival Hop is nasty.    … Expand
  4. WeepingWillow
    Dec 22, 2019
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game takes several steps forward and several steps back. Depending on your priorities, this could be the best or worst game ever. It has very streamlined gameplay, with some tutorials being skippable and a lot less cutscenes then previous games. The Wild Area alone made me want to buy the game - it has all kinds of cool multiplayer features(though the UI is very confusing), its open world and lets you catch all kinds of pokemon you normally wouldn't, it lets participate in "Max Raid Battles" where you and three players/npcs fight against one giant Pokemon, and it lets you spend a new currency called "Watts" on cool new items. Pokemon Camp is a great feature, letting you play with Pokemon in a way never seen before. In previous games, you played with pokemon one at a time. But in this game, you can play with them all at once. You can talk to them, play fetch with them, or sit back and let them interact with each other! The best part about Pokemon Camp is seeing how your pokemon interact with each other. They have conversations, they race, they argue, they help each other play fetch, ect. And you can also cook curry with them. This is a fun minigame that while there isn't much motive you use, its pretty cool to see all the different ingredient and berry combinations you can make.

    Now on to the rest of the game. I'll talk about the good before the bad. Some of the characters have the most personality and are the most fleshed out of any pokemon game that I know of. Even the rival that everyone hates, Hop, has a great character arc. The music is very good, though not as good as Black and White or Sun and Moon. The new pokemon designs are very cool, though I wish there were more new pokemon. Gym battles are the most fun they've ever been. You fight in a massive stadium with people cheering you on. I have a love-hate relationship with Dynamax. It is very fun to use and visually appealing, but it is very imbalanced and can be easily abused.

    Now, onto the bad.

    A lot of people posting bad reviews are annoyed about the "National Dex Cut" or "Dexit". In previous games, you would be able to transfer pokemon from previous generations over to your current game. But in this game, you can't. Essentially, only about 50% of the pokemon are in this game. If this is your first game, you don't normally transfer pokemon over, or you just don't care about a lot of the pokemon cut, then this really doesn't affect you at all. Keep in mind, 50% of 880 pokemon is about 400 pokemon. That's a lot of fully functional characters in a game. You won't find another switch game with 400 unique characters that you can "play" as. But I'm not saying it's not a disappointment, and people have a right to be mad. It doesn't completely ruin the game.

    As for the other flaws, I think the absolute biggest problem with this game is the removal of the ability to turn off XP share, and the easiness of the game in general. I found the game quite difficult, but only because I worked quite hard to make sure I didn't get overleveled or I didn't use a Pokemon that would allow me to essentially skip a fight. Normally, you can turn off XP share to make the game more difficult(XP share gives XP to all of your pokemon, even when they don't battle). But for some reason, they removed it, meaning its a lot harder to make the game harder.

    The graphics are alright, I guess. The reason why people hate them so much is the devs claimed they were improving the graphics and animations and that's why they cut pokemon. There are actually a lot of other legitimate reasons why they cut the pokemon(the main one being they couldn't afford enough storage) but this isn't one of them. The graphics, while the best we've seen in a Pokemon game, are not up to par with other $60 switch games.

    The plot is the biggest disappointment for me. While the postgame has some decent plot, the main plot is hot garbage. And I say its a disappointment because the characters are so good. I love all the characters in Sword and Shield, yet the actual plot is near-nonexistent. Its like a D&D game, with great players and a bad dungeon master.

    My recommendation is:if you want the game, buy it. If you don't, don't. If your kid wants it for Christmas or something and you can afford it, buy it. Keep in mind, the game is $60, whereas previous games on the 3DS have been $40.

    All things considered, it's all about priorities. And my priorities are Pokemon designs, music, plot, and gameplay. So I give it an 80%.    … Expand
  5. Mykeeh
    Feb 17, 2020
    8
    I play the Shield version and my nephew plays the Sword version. In his opinion he said “This is the best game i have ever played! I don’t want it to end” he is 8 and satisfied. I on the otherhand am 27 and have more opinions. The animation on some attacks needs improvemen and there is a bug on some attacks that says it is not effective even though it is. It could be more challenging tooI play the Shield version and my nephew plays the Sword version. In his opinion he said “This is the best game i have ever played! I don’t want it to end” he is 8 and satisfied. I on the otherhand am 27 and have more opinions. The animation on some attacks needs improvemen and there is a bug on some attacks that says it is not effective even though it is. It could be more challenging too when in come to defeating the players in the game. Winning every time seems to be a given.… Expand
  6. XsGamer
    Nov 19, 2019
    10
    NOTE: If you are review bombing because of the pokedex. Grow up, you're a child and should never be taken seriously. I would urge anyone actually reading these user reviews to ignore the ones spouting crap about it due to a pokedex (not all the pokemon being in the game). Their opinion in this matter is invalid.

    With that said: Pokemon sword/shield provide a different experience than    NOTE: If you are review bombing because of the pokedex. Grow up, you're a child and should never be taken seriously. I would urge anyone actually reading these user reviews to ignore the ones spouting crap about it due to a pokedex (not all the pokemon being in the game). Their opinion in this matter is invalid.

    With that said: Pokemon sword/shield provide a different experience than previous games. None of my favorite pokemon are in the game. However that sort of thing doesn't bother me. Unlike people complaining about the lack of the entire dex I know it would take tens of thousands of hours to animate every single action and attack.

    The biggest downfall is the performance issues when you play with the online enabled in the wild area. Other than that it's really not a big deal. The entire experience is enjoyable and I've done nothing but enjoy my time spent playing.    … Expand
  7. TalionSwift
    Nov 17, 2019
    10
    Have played a good 10 hrs so far 2 gyms down, i love this game so far! The music is legit my favorite Pokemon soundtrack so far i love it and several choice songs are on my playlist. The new Pokemon are pretty great and SIr Fetche'd is awesome looking. In anycase i look forward to finishing this game, i cant believe all the hate this is getting over mostly Nitpicks IMO.
  8. viniLPS
    Nov 16, 2019
    10
    achei os jogo excelentes, mas com muitos diálogos no início, e alguns cenários de batalha deveriam ornar melhor com o local que vc está
  9. LycanLiam
    Nov 17, 2019
    10
    Pokemon Sword and Shield are the best Pokemon games in the series! I play the game every day! They are fun, exciting, and easy to play. I hope to see more Pokemon games that focus on story, character development, and gameplay! I recommend these games to everyone! I have played every Pokemon game in the series so far. This game is the best one so far. It is also really easy to learn and getPokemon Sword and Shield are the best Pokemon games in the series! I play the game every day! They are fun, exciting, and easy to play. I hope to see more Pokemon games that focus on story, character development, and gameplay! I recommend these games to everyone! I have played every Pokemon game in the series so far. This game is the best one so far. It is also really easy to learn and get the hang of. The graphics are great and the storyline is fun and engaging. I like how you can customize your character, and what types of new Pokemon are available, and it adds an additional depth to the gameplay. It is my favorite game in the Pokemon series. The storyline is very well thought out and is always interesting.… Expand
  10. Vordx
    Nov 17, 2019
    10
    An awesome improvement over previous titles. The changes to the random encounters as well as online functionality made the world feel much more alive. I've never caught so many Pokémon during the main storyline
  11. Flare748
    Nov 19, 2019
    10
    The flaws are so minor they really don’t matter to me. I haven’t had this much fun in a Pokémon game since XY. I would recommend this game to everybody. Gyms are so hype now thanks to the music, setup and camera angles. The wild area is so fun and full of fun and engaging max raid that you can play online and locally. Towns look amazing on the Switch and I will be playing this game forThe flaws are so minor they really don’t matter to me. I haven’t had this much fun in a Pokémon game since XY. I would recommend this game to everybody. Gyms are so hype now thanks to the music, setup and camera angles. The wild area is so fun and full of fun and engaging max raid that you can play online and locally. Towns look amazing on the Switch and I will be playing this game for hundreds of hours.… Expand
  12. RepentantSky2
    Nov 21, 2019
    10
    I'm very glad I bought the dual pack of Pokemon Sword and Shield, because playing through one game wasn't enough, these games are too much fun for that. Despite the hate being sent their way, Pokemon Sword and Shield are the best games in the series to date, period.
  13. liquidkitten
    Nov 17, 2019
    8
    In the end there are only about 40 pokemon I miss from the roster. Game is really fun and well made! I do not know what the issue with animations is. To me they seem great!
  14. Queensephora
    Mar 7, 2020
    10
    They have really outdone themselves. I have been playing pokemon since a kid. I love the pokemon link box, taxis, and xP share with out needing xP share. There is so much new content!
  15. VTII
    Nov 17, 2019
    10
    Sad to see so many false reviews on here hopefully they get removed because they clearly haven't played the game. There are no graphics issues or bugs. It's the best pokemon game in years. The missing pokemon ended up being small issue then first stated, they weren't missed. Were you really going to breed across a zubat to play the game with there are plenty good new and returning pokemonSad to see so many false reviews on here hopefully they get removed because they clearly haven't played the game. There are no graphics issues or bugs. It's the best pokemon game in years. The missing pokemon ended up being small issue then first stated, they weren't missed. Were you really going to breed across a zubat to play the game with there are plenty good new and returning pokemon to keep the game fun.… Expand
  16. DuckTurtle
    Nov 18, 2019
    9
    The game has a lot to offer and is with out a doubt the most difficult modern Pokemon game especially in the second half. The animations are smooth and the frame rate didn't drop. Most of the landscapes look great. While the did cut half of the Pokemon there are still a ton of Pokemon in the game (400), and most of the new Pokemon look good. Honestly a very solid game.
  17. Geraldux
    Nov 15, 2019
    8
    No se por que tan malas criticas es un gran juego, es divertido, adictivo, competitivo, multijugador, tal vez no contenga a todos los pokemones pero contiene a muchos de generaciones pasadas , la parte donde es como un mundo abierto, y te encuentras otros jugadores online, los gimnasios, los nuevos pokemones e ir descubriendo sus aptitudes y evoluciones siguen emocionando.
    se ve bien no    No se por que tan malas criticas es un gran juego, es divertido, adictivo, competitivo, multijugador, tal vez no contenga a todos los pokemones pero contiene a muchos de generaciones pasadas , la parte donde es como un mundo abierto, y te encuentras otros jugadores online, los gimnasios, los nuevos pokemones e ir descubriendo sus aptitudes y evoluciones siguen emocionando.
    se ve bien no sera la máxima calidad en la consola pero se ve bien, no hay bajones de frames y el sonido es espectacular. Si le ponen malas criticas solo por el hecho de no tener a todos los pokemons, les digo jueguen sin ver nada de spoiler ni vídeos y verán como se emocionan.
    Recomendado    … Expand
  18. Cassiel
    Nov 15, 2019
    10
    It's more or less a perfect game and a true successor to the series. True Pokemon fans will enjoy it, the rest shouldn't bother.
  19. lexistrainer
    Nov 15, 2019
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Hola a todos apenas el dia de ayer pude probar el juego para mi si fue un gran cambio a lo que conocemos pokemon desde sus inicios desde pokemon rojo fuego y verde hoja con nuevas mecánicas desde la función de Gigamax el poke campamento entre otras cosas por otro lado sabemos que pokemon salto a una nueva generación asi que en sus gráficos si dejo mucho que desear pero eso no te impide jugar con gran ilusión o otros motivo negativo es por que el juego dura menas horas que los otros juegos de pokemon pero si se ponen analizar el personaje tiene mas velocidad que los anteriores juegos que sus pasos eran mas peque;os y la velocidad realmente recorta tiempo asi que si en mi opinión vale toda la pena jugarlo.… Expand
  20. Fizalpha
    Nov 15, 2019
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. So much unjust hate for the best Pokemon game in the entire series, there is no other Pokemon game that even comes 10% close to this one, it's everything you'd want for both competitive and casual, no need to breed or do monotonous things anymore, you can change personalities with discs, find a Pokemon you like with great IVs but horrible personality? Hold onto it and change it with a disc, and you never have to give up your hard earned Pokemon.

    The Wild Area is the best thing to ever be done in a Pokemon game, with online co-op play and changing biomes rotating what you can catch, along with a bunch of special things to do and see, there's literally nothing I can find wrong with this game when compared to my last favorite game which was White. The Gym leader battles are fun and exciting, with minigames before each one, or during them in some cases...

    You actually feel like a Pokemon trainer in this game, from the anime, and there's so much detail in every little part of this game... Yes half the Pokemon are missing, but there's more than enough to make up for it in the actual GAMEPLAY and what is there is great and all competitively viable.    … Expand
  21. LuckyAbsol
    Nov 15, 2019
    4
    Your average pokemon game that'll probably be fun for the casual fan. The story is below par compared to past pokemon games, suffering from clear pacing issues towards the end. The graphics were only slightly better while some of the animations are also lacking. Clear pop ins and low resolutions textures litter the game while severals bugs are also present. For example, the battleYour average pokemon game that'll probably be fun for the casual fan. The story is below par compared to past pokemon games, suffering from clear pacing issues towards the end. The graphics were only slightly better while some of the animations are also lacking. Clear pop ins and low resolutions textures litter the game while severals bugs are also present. For example, the battle backgrounds not always matching up with battle. The quality of life changes were very welcomed but the EXP Share was still too strong and could not be turned off. It's not worth getting both games, get one and trade what you need from someone with Sword. I'm giving it a 4/10 instead of a 5/10 simply because there's no reason to get both as not much changes between them bar a few pokemon.

    I must also add that the soundtrack was very forgettable this time around which is strange for a pokemon game, the postgame is also extremely short with it only being about 1-2 hours long. The battle tower makes a return but it's been stripped down to it's bare bones.    … Expand
  22. Conas
    Nov 15, 2019
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The good about this game is the same that can be said about other Pokemon games. Exploring is fun, battling is fun, and training is fun. But the wild area was suppose to be a trade off for little routes, but the wild area is fairly small. Pokemon in the over-world don't interact with the over-world save for chasing after the trainer. The weather changes in the wild area are way too sudden. And have the bike become the hm replacer is bad, should've sticked to how SM and LGPE did it. The routes are fairly short and route 7 especially takes less than a minute to cross including trainers. The story is very bland. I don't expect much from Pokemon but after SM I at least wanted to interact with more personal stories characters had. There is no evil team in the game. Team Yell are just Marine fans who like to get in your way. Then turns out they are actually the gym trainers for the 7th gym, Piere's gym. Marine's older brother. It seemed Marine was gonna have a small story arc when we got to the seventh gym, but it was shafted after we beat Piere. The League got rid of the Elite Four and replaced it with a tournament. Not bad , it's execution in this game sucks because it's against Gym Leaders and characters you didn't really bond with. The twist in the game was Chairman Rose wanted to awaken a pokemon with infinite energy for dynamaxing. Dynamax energy runs out in 1000 years btw. He decides to awaken it during the tournament, we literally would've helped after the tournament. But he was too impatient to wait 1 day for a problem that wouldn't happen for 1000 years. The battle against Eternatus sucks, you don't fight whatsoever. The two box legionaries are the only one's that can damage him, and you don't even control them. You're just in the battle was picking whatever move, because it doesn't matter. YOU can't hurt him. After the battles the legionaries jump into the sunset, you don't get to catch one until post game. The game has so much potential, but it just fell flat for me. Also gamefreak, this is scummy releasing the same game so metacritic score is different… Expand
  23. WorriedDenizen
    Nov 15, 2019
    2
    From my Sword review:

    Sword and Shield is a shameless, rushed cashgrab. These games are easily one of the biggest disappointments in 2019, and one of the worst JRPGs in recent years, and perhaps one of the worst switch games thus far. The positives of SwSh are few, but they're there. For one, the moveset availability is a lot better since while it sucks to have the good attacks go    From my Sword review:

    Sword and Shield is a shameless, rushed cashgrab.
    These games are easily one of the biggest disappointments in 2019, and one of the worst JRPGs in recent years, and perhaps one of the worst switch games thus far.

    The positives of SwSh are few, but they're there. For one, the moveset availability is a lot better since while it sucks to have the good attacks go back to the 1 use TM system known as TRs, at least moveset potential is still flexible.

    The new pokemon is always a good addition to the ever increasing size of the amount of pokemon that well... would have existed.

    SwSh also brings back the smug @sshole rival archetype that wasn't seen since Silver in gen 2 and it's remakes.

    Yet these are a few compared to the few of many huge downsides below:

    SwSh most common and biggest problem is the cut pokemon. You can't transfer any pokemon from previous games that aren't in the Galarian dex into the games. You have to wait for that potential cashgrab known as Pokemon Home as well. Plus you can't even inject, or even attempt to play as the missing pokemon. Only some of the ones not part of the dex are programmed in, and they're the starters and some legendaries. At least in gen 3, the missing pokemon were programmed in, and you could use gameshark to play with them.

    SwSh also removes mega evolutions, and z-moves and creates yet another gimmick which is inferior, and more broken to the 2 separately. Dynamax and Gigantamaxing are poor gimmicks which only benefit the fast, and powerful mons. What it does is it increases the hp temporarily, and turns all attacks in dyna/giga attacks which are powerful attacks that each one has a secondary effect. All status moves turn into protect. Essentially a temp hp boost with z-moves, and it doesn't take up an item slot.
    This sucks since it just means that in game, the ace mons that are giga/dyna often die in very anti-climatic means, and in competitive play, these mechanics force the other player to utilize it to stand a chance.

    Graphically, the game looks even worse than 3H. Water reflections are off, theres those infamous n64 trees, and the texturing is PS2 tier. Which is an honest to god achievement, how does a game manage to look worse than 3H on the same console. At least 3H has great gameplay, and decent story for the most part, SwSh has none of that.

    The technical aspects, and animations of SwSh is truly atrocious. The games have hideous draw distance, and random FPS drops. the game that does ZA WARUDO whenever the player fishes, or climbs a ladder. Horrible graphics in general, terrible scaling especially for mons like Wailord and Tyranitar. The animations look especially bad on a lot of attacks. The infamous double kick animation, and even the important plot cut scene with the box art legendaries when they just turn around in place.

    The GTS is also looking to be missing which is another huge downside, considering the GTS was pretty much a series staple, and to see it removed adds to the ever growing list of features GF introduces then throws out in the next gen.

    The main story is really short, you could probably finish it in 8-10 hours, and the intrusive dialogue from S/M makes a return in SwSh, meaning the biggest problem with S/M is back again in these set of games. No you cannot skip the dialogue, only the actual cutscenes.

    EXP Share is on permanently and is no longer a key item. This means that training up a low leveled will lead to your other mons being massively overleveled. Oh and for some reason sound settings are locked behind a key item which you have to get from a rather easily miss able NPC.

    The post game is once again barren, perhaps even moreso than XY. You get 2 hours worth of post game, and it's mostly just going to the other gyms and fighting dynamax mons, and then fighting the box art legendaries. That's seriously it. Oh and you can do a gimped battle tower if you really wanted to.

    The biggest crime of them all though. It has most of the flaws which I listed above, and it costs $60 USD. Yeah that's the same price as a triple A game, yet this game is basically a shovelware tier joke.

    Seriously this is supposed Pokemon's mainline series debut on a console? This is what it has to offer? Nothing but pure disappointment, and a total step backwards from a 3DS game? The GC spin offs, and Wii's Battle revolution were a better taste of what a main series pokemon game on a console could have been. But alas here we are, sitting here with quite possibly the worst set of pokemon games ever, and disappointed again after a slew of mediocre 3DS games.

    Stay away from these games, it's not worth your money at all.    … Expand
  24. Dhbbjuf
    Jun 22, 2020
    10
    Very nice game
    Good gameplay
    Plenty of new Pokemon
    Interesting story
    Will recommend
  25. Akayomi
    Nov 19, 2019
    7
    I got Pokemon Shield but since they're pretty much the same game, I'll paste my review here as well.

    Short version: The Good: - Refreshing feeling overall - Good character designs - Good looking graphics and animations (Half of the time, more on this down on the 'bad') - Wild Area is amaizing The bad: - Lazy animations on a lot of attacks (Which makes it even worse, considering    I got Pokemon Shield but since they're pretty much the same game, I'll paste my review here as well.

    Short version:
    The Good:
    - Refreshing feeling overall
    - Good character designs
    - Good looking graphics and animations (Half of the time, more on this down on the 'bad')
    - Wild Area is amaizing

    The bad:
    - Lazy animations on a lot of attacks (Which makes it even worse, considering some attacks have beautiful animations)
    - FPS drops on the Wild Area, even in Docked mode
    - Cutting the National Dex to "include better animations". Animations that are not in the game.
    - General unpolished feel to the game. This game needed at least 3-6 more months of development, and it could've easily been the BEST pokemon game of all time. Instead, we get a half-baked, mediocre pokemon game.

    Overall: If you enjoyed pokemon games, you will have fun. The game lacks in a lot of aspects, but it's still an enjoyable experience. I wish GameFreak would've taken more time to polish it a bit more, or at the very least that they adress the issues on patches down the line.

    Long version:
    I'm glad I bought this.

    Yes, the game has issues (FPS drops, some animations are cheap as **** it's generally unpolished, unnecesary dexit) but the game really ISN'T as bad as leakers and naysayers would have you believe. It pisses me off because if they had a few more months (say, 3 months, like Animal Crossing) this game could have been the BEST pokemon game ever. Instead, we get a half-assed mediocre game, but with enough fun stuff that it guarantees a huge profit for GameFreak, therefore they will not learn, and will continue to half-ass games, most likely. That's pretty sad.
    Also, anyone saying "the game is short!!! you can beat it in 8 hours!!" is full of **** I haven't even finished the main story and check it: 26hs and ticking. And I haven't even started doing max raids or anything endgame like that.
    The XP share turned on all the time is a pain in the ass, and we SHOULD have an option to turn it off.
    The difficulty is... very low. You can just mash A and you will probably win most fights. That being said, difficulty does spike in a few battles here and there. But most of the time it's very easy.

    Is this game perfect? No, not at all. Is it bad? Not really. It's average, or mediocre, whatever word you prefer to use. But it's fun. If you walk into the game wanting to hate it, you'll nitpick and hate every part of it. If you walk into the game wishing to have fun... well, you'll have tons of fun.

    Whether or not this game is worth 60$ is up to you to decide. For me, it should be 40$ and not a cent more. But I still bent over and paid full price. Even tho I reckon it shouldn't be full price, I personally am having lots of fun, and that makes it worth my time and money.    … Expand
  26. MathSlompo
    Nov 21, 2019
    6
    This game is really nice comparing with the previous ones, but comparing with the potencial it has, omg. It just seems like they didn't finish the game or they really didn't care much about it. The game isn't deep, it doesn't have the realism we always wanted, the nature, habitats, mystery, exploration, challenges, CHALLENGES. It's all too easy and i can't even contemplate the landscapesThis game is really nice comparing with the previous ones, but comparing with the potencial it has, omg. It just seems like they didn't finish the game or they really didn't care much about it. The game isn't deep, it doesn't have the realism we always wanted, the nature, habitats, mystery, exploration, challenges, CHALLENGES. It's all too easy and i can't even contemplate the landscapes and the pokemon living, because it's unreal and sometimes looks really bad. It's still making the same mistakes of all the other pokemon games. This is more of the same, but a little bit better.
    It could be so much better, but i'm playing anyway, because it's pokemon and i love it, the game is awesome, but i was expecting something new, something real, something better.
    Sorry about my english.    … Expand
  27. Mimikyu
    Nov 27, 2019
    7
    It's not a bad game, but also not amazing.
    Graphics are a bit mixed: I have experienced a bit of graphical glitches, like problems with shadows and saw Sonia's hair acting on it's own, however in battle the graphics are pretty great. The starters do have more animations, while not being as great as last gen.
    The starters are ugly imo, but some designs are weird, but not bad. it is a case    It's not a bad game, but also not amazing.
    Graphics are a bit mixed: I have experienced a bit of graphical glitches, like problems with shadows and saw Sonia's hair acting on it's own, however in battle the graphics are pretty great. The starters do have more animations, while not being as great as last gen.
    The starters are ugly imo, but some designs are weird, but not bad. it is a case of getting used to it.
    There IS less post game content and hunting for gigantamaxed pokemon is kind of tedious and unnecesairily grindy, but it keeps you from getting bored from the game.
    The pokedex IS ofcourse decreced, but i don't have any problems with it. Some pokemon i would have like to be in it were scrappe, but by thinking back. Most of these pokemon were broken (always in competetive teams) some pokemon were nerved like mimikyu, but it does make the game more balanced.
    The wild area is a place to catch pokemon in a 3D setting ,but this place does feel rushed. I often get a lot of framedrops and pokemon keep popping in a way I will accidentally battle them unwantedly.
    Especially when connecting online are these problems noticable bad.
    They also need to go back to the old trading system the y-comm is a very bad system, where you need to make a code to trade eventhough the switch has a working invite system. They also removed the GTS which was a great place to trade pokemon you needed for your pokedex, but removing it did make me more active in catching them myself.
    The story, while predictable is very pokemon like. I would've wanted it to be a bit more in dept like in gen 5 and a little bit darker. The evil team (team yell) wasn't even evil, but more like foothball (sOcCEr) supporters are in reallife.
    I didn't haven any problems with the autosave (due to being only in the Japanese versions, with a faulty SD card)
    But the game could have been harder or at least, they could have added a challenge mode like in gen 5.    … Expand
  28. Metagrass
    Nov 15, 2019
    2
    I have also done a review for Pokemon Sword, but as both versions are more or less the same game, I've copied it here.

    This game... is not great. It's not even good. You can't imagine how much that bothers me as a 12 year Pokemon fan to say this, but I have to be honest, I regret buying these games. There is a myriad of issues with this game that give it a feeling of being rushed.    I have also done a review for Pokemon Sword, but as both versions are more or less the same game, I've copied it here.

    This game... is not great. It's not even good. You can't imagine how much that bothers me as a 12 year Pokemon fan to say this, but I have to be honest, I regret buying these games.

    There is a myriad of issues with this game that give it a feeling of being rushed. Firstly the game suffers from many graphical issues. Pokemon, trainers and objects will just pop into and out of the overworld for seemingly no reason, many battle arenas lack backgrounds and trainers will disappear and reappear from them, completely breaking my immersion. Another issue is the game is extremely short. I am already at the 5th gym and I bought it yesterday, I hope that somehow the last 3 gyms take triple the time of the first 5, but from what my friend tells me, this isn't the case. Also my friend tells me that the post game is just the battle tree from sun and moon but with no bosses. The story is extrememly basic too, it is just a carbon copy of the story from one of the other games in the series (of which I'm not going to mention as I don't want to spoil anything). If you thought they were taking a step in the right derection with Sun and Moon's story, then Sword and Shield takes two steps back. As you might expect, the game is really easy, but I don't mean as easy as some of the other games in the series, Sword and Shield is probably the easiest Pokemon game to date. Easy games aren't in themselves a bad thing, but in a strategy game like Sword and Shield, you need at least a basic level of difficulty to make it interesting. Alas, due to the forced (always active) exp share on your whole team, my entire team was so overleveled for each gym. I would just end up dyanamaxing and sweeping the entire trainer's team for each of them with no problem. I really wish you could just turn the exp share off, the game would benefit so much from this. Speaking of the gyms, the challenges for each gym are completely ridiculous. Most of them are boring and had very little effect on the gym battle itself, for example there is one where the gym leader asks you bizzare questions like what you had for breakfast, not impressed with the gyms at all. The game in general is riddled with bizzare decisions like extra volume controls being locked behind an item for some reason and not being able to pet your Pokemon anymore. I would not reccomend picking this game up.

    Now lets address the donphan in the room, the dex cut. Around 60% of the Pokemon were removed from this game along with a handful of moves for the reason of "improving the animations an models". The dex cut wouldn't be much of an issue for your average player, but the animations and models weren't improved at all. The models are just ported from Sun and Moon, scaled up for the Switch and there are less new animations in this game than Sun and Moon due to the lack of Z-Moves. So in short the dex was cut down for absolutely no reason. The smaller dex also limits people's options in online matches and competative, but I haven't played online yet and don't know anything about it so it wouldn't be fair for me to judge it.

    Now that I've finally gotten through the bad things I should list the good. Some of the designs of the new Pokemon are amazing. In typical James Turner (the man who designed many of the Pokemon in this game) style, they're very hit or miss. But the ones that hit, hit hard. The final evolutions of the starters in particular ooze personality, I love them all. The wild area is a great concept, though it's fairly poorly executed it is still fun to explore. The addition of overworld encounters from the Lets Go games is a great idea and makes the world feel way more alive. Sadly though, the good is outweighed by the bad in this game.

    In conclusion, I would not reccomend these games. They are definately the worst in the series and do not justify the Switch price tag. Avoid these at all costs, there are many, far better games on the switch this year, get one of those instead.    … Expand
  29. GFLied
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    From cut Pokemon and moves to cheap graphics, this game does not feel like it was made in 2019. It feels like a budget title as well.
  30. MrJohns
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    Another rushed, disappointing mess for longtime fans of the series. Its a short, buggy and way to easy Game. They cutted and removed a lot (Dexit, Mega Evolutions, Z-Moves). Graphics are bad, and there are several Technical Issues. And then they Reused a lot and added boring Gimmicks like Dynamaxing. Don't support this kind of Greedy Garbage!
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Awards & Rankings

73
#73 Best Switch Game of 2019
15
#15 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 86 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 66 out of 86
  2. Mixed: 20 out of 86
  3. Negative: 0 out of 86
  1. Nintendo Insider
    Mar 1, 2021
    80
    Pokémon Shield is a warm and familiar experience with some interesting twists and ideas thrown into the mix. The presentation left me disappointed – the game still showing its handheld roots – but, the hook of capturing and training Pokémon is as addictive as it has ever been, while the Wild Area teases an exciting new direction for the series.
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  2. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Feb 28, 2020
    100
    Another great game in the Pokémon series. It holds back when it comes to technical design and it doesn´t offer the opportunity to catch the old familiar faces, but fortunately most of the new additions are more than satisfactory for many hours of gameplay. [Issue#300]
  3. 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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