Pokemon Sword

 Switch
User Score
4.7

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 5909 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,997 out of 5909
  2. Mixed: 852 out of 5909
  3. Negative: 3,060 out of 5909
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  1. Agentep99
    Sep 9, 2023
    3
    While a game's graphics being hyper realistic may not make it necessarily a better game, looking like sh*t DOES make it a worse game, with the smooth models contrasting with the terrible looking geometry, which constantly takes you out of what should be an exciting world of adventure; the game is way too easy, and lets you level up way too easily, which discourages intelligent play, sinceWhile a game's graphics being hyper realistic may not make it necessarily a better game, looking like sh*t DOES make it a worse game, with the smooth models contrasting with the terrible looking geometry, which constantly takes you out of what should be an exciting world of adventure; the game is way too easy, and lets you level up way too easily, which discourages intelligent play, since the result will always be the same (victory), something that could have saved this would have been giving the player huge amounts of liberty so that every playthrough has the potential to be different, however, progression is EXTREMELY railroaded, and only lets the story play out in one specific way, not only that, but certain mons can only be obtained later on, which makes it so most players will have a similar selection of monsters throughout the game, even though the appeal of pokemon is all about making your own unique team. As it is, there really isn't much of a reason to do replays (aside of player imposed challenges, but that is besides the actual game), so in my perspective I don't really see a way to call this game anything other than "bad" or "dull" much less "good"
    Dull and uninspired 3.5/10    … Expand
  2. TreasureOrTrash
    Sep 8, 2023
    0
    Trash!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  3. Kirbo1777
    Aug 23, 2023
    3
    The game is pretty easy, not requiring any skill to beat it. The skip cutscenes option doesn't even skip the entirety of the cutscenes.
  4. Ihtayt
    Aug 16, 2023
    4
    Summing up some bulletpoints on my thoughts of the game below, for reference this is after beating both ScVi 3 times and going back to SwSh after. I did not get / play the DLC as the base game offered so little there was no incentive to prolong this.

    Game is always on local wireless, this massively hinders connecting to wifi as it will frequently bug out and fail to connect to network    Summing up some bulletpoints on my thoughts of the game below, for reference this is after beating both ScVi 3 times and going back to SwSh after. I did not get / play the DLC as the base game offered so little there was no incentive to prolong this.

    Game is always on local wireless, this massively hinders connecting to wifi as it will frequently bug out and fail to connect to network after the game is open. This feels like a massive oversight for something that the developers forced on the game.

    Gameplay is very linear, moreso than Gen 2 and possibly even more linear than Gen 1 which is a very sad downgrade. The main story only took me roughly 20-24 hours to beat and the postgame did not offer much more; at what I feel was a moderate play pace.

    Postgame- After beating the game, gameplay massively falls off and feels very unmotivating. Farming the battle tower may appeal to some, but its gatekept behind needing to clear the BT for the currency (BP) to get the items that you need to clear the BT; which feels very outdated and counter-intuitive. You can clear all / most of the tower with provided rental teams which further detracts from the experience as by time you can make your own team with your own mons, you already beat everything. You can aim to complete the pokedex, breed, and shiny hunt; but this is nothing new or exciting from previous games really; and aside from team building for the BT it feels pretty pointless to build up mons. The game introduced raid dens, but they didn't feel at all appealing personally.

    Performance - I've encountered more performance issues with SwSh (~40hrs) than I ever did with ScVi (>1000hrs).    … Expand
  5. Eyean
    Aug 5, 2023
    4
    This is what you get when you prioritize game sales over making an actual good game. Cutting the National Dex in exchange for "Improved graphics and animations" was the most egregious lie this company's ever told.
  6. Napior
    May 19, 2023
    0
    The pokemon designs of the new generation are anything but cute, and the villains in this story can only be described as idiots, if not retarded.

    Also, people are saying the open world makes this game great, but where is the fun when you are lv 20 and enter an area full of lv 50 pokemons? In earlier pokemon games, some areas are not open when you first pass by, which just makes you keep    The pokemon designs of the new generation are anything but cute, and the villains in this story can only be described as idiots, if not retarded.

    Also, people are saying the open world makes this game great, but where is the fun when you are lv 20 and enter an area full of lv 50 pokemons? In earlier pokemon games, some areas are not open when you first pass by, which just makes you keep playing the game while wondering what could possibly be inside that cave (or forest).    … Expand
  7. NylonYT
    May 12, 2023
    4
    yikes, graphics usually dont matter to me but that's if it looks at the very least acceptable. The wild area looks like an n64 game, but at least the towns and indoor areas look very nice. there's not that many new additions which makes this feel like every other pokemon game there is, a stagnating series that cannot innovate and move on.
  8. WohaoGaster
    May 11, 2023
    2
    I got this game at launch and only finished it recently, which shows the amount of boredom that this game causes. It's not broken like Pokemon Scarlet/Violet, it just genuinely isn't fun. There's a mild amount of fun to be had in online battles once you beat the game, but considering how boring the story was and the fact that most of my Pokemon were level 97-ish after beating the 8th gym,I got this game at launch and only finished it recently, which shows the amount of boredom that this game causes. It's not broken like Pokemon Scarlet/Violet, it just genuinely isn't fun. There's a mild amount of fun to be had in online battles once you beat the game, but considering how boring the story was and the fact that most of my Pokemon were level 97-ish after beating the 8th gym, I had very little motivation to actually beat the game. The online battles are the only reason I didn't give it a 0 or a 1. There's also the #BringBackTheNationalDex movement, but it isn't that major, as most people would only like to use a couple of Pokemon that weren't in the game and primarily just their favorites(mine are Snivy and Serperior, who aren't in the game) so it isn't that major for most people to see every Pokemon. They also did a good job preventing pedophilia which is something I shouldn't have to praise Game Freak for but considering the fact that Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl had a pretty easy up-skirt of Dawn in the Overworld who has fully modeled panties even though this was apparently an "Error", I have to praise them for the fact that Gloria has SHORTS(Probably because they're visible in the walk cycle but still). These are the only good points in the game. The game also looks very pixelated, which is a thing that also seemed to happen in the 3DS games but it's more excusable considering the 3DS has a 400px and 800px mode, and it's very hard to use the 800px mode without the 3DS crashing, and the only games that I have seen using 800px mode were 2D games and the Zelda remakes which were 30fps. On the switch it's inexcusable. If DOOM Eternal can run on the switch perfectly with no pixelated rendering and at a consistent 60fps, then why can't this Pokemon game do the same. It looks like a 400px 3ds game. Considering Scarlet/Violet it's entirely possible that Game Freak doesn't know how to handle the Switch, is what I WOULD say if they didn't port Pokken Tournament 2 years earlier, I don't care that it was developed by Bandai Namco Entertainment, if you need a different company to handle your game's graphics, that's totally acceptable and happens all the time. My point might seem invalid to some because I can't even make a simple 3d model of a potted plant, but these are big companies that I'm talking about, and I feel like Creatures should handle Pokemon a lot more closely than just modelling and animation, I feel like they should be the primary graphical team at TPCI.… Expand
  9. LikeFahrenheit
    Apr 30, 2023
    4
    The idea of developing a home console game when you usually developed games for handhelds, is to make the most of the hardware given to you. to push boundaries and explore new avenues for gameplay and content. If there's one glaring fault with this game, it's that it does not look or play like a game for the Switch. It really feels like Sword was meant to be played on the 3DS, and evenThe idea of developing a home console game when you usually developed games for handhelds, is to make the most of the hardware given to you. to push boundaries and explore new avenues for gameplay and content. If there's one glaring fault with this game, it's that it does not look or play like a game for the Switch. It really feels like Sword was meant to be played on the 3DS, and even then, it would be the worst Pokemon game on that system. That's how disappointing and pedestrian this game is. It screams "safe", which is not what a game from Pokemon should be when starting a new generation on the most powerful hardware the developer has ever worked with.

    The Galar region is the worst designed region in Pokemon. no hidden pathways, no height in routes to give new perspectives, no dungeons, no puzzles, no reason to go back to an area other than filling the pokedex. all routes are linear to the point of boredom. The region is bereft of any sense of adventure or mystery. What adds to this novice level of design is that the angle of the camera isn't in top-down like in previous games. they lowered the angle, which means we see more of the region and routes, which means they look smaller than they are. Which begs the question, why did they lower the camera? if the routes are designed in a very similar style to past regions on the game boy and ds games, why not keep the angle as high as possible? because it's now 3D? it's just poor design.

    The Wild Area (the game's selling point) is grossly stale. Going through it once or twice, you'll get bored there too. The only reason to go there is to catch Pokemon, which can be done in every other area in the game. The only incentive to go there is for the raid battles and interact with other players. There is nothing there that is evident of creativity or uniqueness. There's no hidden areas either, no caves, no grottoes, no secret events or surprises. it's basic, it's nothing. it's a waste of potential. which is a lot of this game.    … Expand
  10. Amcek
    Mar 23, 2023
    3
    Aburridísimo, lo pase todo sin una sola emoción, 0 dificultad. Si tenés entre 2-6 años y nunca jugaste un Pokémon te lo recomiendo
  11. AbsoPoy
    Feb 21, 2023
    2
    An absolute embarrassment. Mediocre storyline, characters, gameplay etc. The only redeeming qualities are the soundtrack and the Pokémon themselves (coalossal and corviknight, mainly). A bore from start to finish.
  12. warcraftrefund2
    Jan 26, 2023
    0
    It's 2020, so it is sad how little Pokemon has advanced. The animations are terrible for a game of this budget, and it is even worse that they cut Pokemon for these terrible animations. And it is even worse that the developers would lie about it. They got caught lying saying they were not using old models, when they in fact were. It is a shame what has happened to this series.
  13. Black_Mullet
    Dec 27, 2022
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Game is ok in general. Max raids are cool, many quality of life things are there, shiny hunting and breeding is cool, some encounters are pretty cool too (milotic for example) BUT the main story and the post game is atrocious. No attachment to anyone, some parts of the game are just missing or cheaped out (leon and rose talk, last gym being literally empty, idiotic tasks like going after the macrocosmos npc and fighting them one on one on a freaking elevator. Generally the story is bad, not even decent but the overall gameplay kinda makes up for it.....luckily there are DLCs so yeah..… Expand
  14. Crimson9
    Dec 21, 2022
    1
    1990s game design by the laziest developer ever + 2020 Nintendo mandating that all content must be easy enough for a 3 year old to play = this complete monstrosity of a game.

    Dont really have much more to say. This is a braindead game with nothing positive about it.
  15. Alebernard
    Dec 8, 2022
    0
    Movement stuck for a game on a console that is the Nintendo Switch. I expected more quality as it is the same console generation as PS4, PS5, xboxone, xbox x and s. I expected movement of attacks within battles. A silly mechanic. Shameful, I regret the purchase too much, too bad it is digital media.
  16. Epicmonster5600
    Dec 6, 2022
    2
    Pokemon fans to this day confuse me, they will pay full price for the most lazily made game ever. It makes no sense to me, like wouldn't you rather boycott the game so they realise they need to put more effort in. Yes these games are fun but their quality is awful and gamefreaks should be ashamed.
  17. ZangBang
    Dec 3, 2022
    3
    38/100
    Pokémon Sword tries to breathe new life into the series' level design, with huge open areas populated by Pokémon roaming around in the overworld for the very first time, even preying the player at times. These areas are conceptually greatly immersive and visually captivating, but they lack meaningful content to experience as they are overwhelmingly barren and lifeless, with Pokémon    38/100
    Pokémon Sword tries to breathe new life into the series' level design, with huge open areas populated by Pokémon roaming around in the overworld for the very first time, even preying the player at times. These areas are conceptually greatly immersive and visually captivating, but they lack meaningful content to experience as they are overwhelmingly barren and lifeless, with Pokémon mindlessly wandering with no environmental interaction. Most of the maps actually present the traditional linear structure, but devoid of any creative map layout or interesting progression, as the player is constantly confined to what are essentially corridors from point A to B. The Level Design drastically improves in the Crown Thundra DLC with great emphasis on freedom of exploration and fairly engaging multiplayer challenges, but that certainly can't salvage the whole package. The Galar region isn't even particularly interesting thematically, with many concepts being overly derivative from previous generations, but thankfully the musical score remains excellent with glorious, aventurous tunes efficiently capturing the wild, triumphant glory of the region's landscapes. The game's challenge is ridiculous, mainly due to the extremely broken Dynamax gimmick which easily allows the player to trivialize almost all battles. The story might be the worst of the franchise yet, with plotpoints being either painfully unoriginal or introduced without the proper buildup extremely late in the story, all of this aggravated by a cast of painfully bland or disappointingly underdeveloped characters.    … Expand
  18. HungryRamona
    Dec 2, 2022
    4
    This game was a complete disappointment across the board. I really didn't had fun playing this game. The graphics were really a joke even for the switch, especially in the wild areas. After Lets Go Pikachu/Evoli I really had expectations for the next generation because the games looked so nice. Unfortunately you don't see any of that anymore in Sword/Shield. There were only a few placesThis game was a complete disappointment across the board. I really didn't had fun playing this game. The graphics were really a joke even for the switch, especially in the wild areas. After Lets Go Pikachu/Evoli I really had expectations for the next generation because the games looked so nice. Unfortunately you don't see any of that anymore in Sword/Shield. There were only a few places where the game looked "nice". The frame rate also left a lot to be desired. The story was relatively boring and from start to finish you were treated like it was your very first Pokémon game. And it's an absolute no-go that the rival in the FINAL BATTLE is still surprised that I'm familiar with different Pokémon types. Leveling up isn't really difficult thanks to the activated Exp. Share and the Max Raid Battles (but I'm personally grateful for that because leveling up in past Pokémon games was just too slow for me).… Expand
  19. Cloud_cipher
    Nov 29, 2022
    3
    "I've played 110 hours of sword. I wish I could get back atleast 90 of those hours back"

    Complaints 1v1 battles are the most boring way to engage in this series and the fights were just soulless and boring I had to fight sleep with this game Animations are lazy Dlc is stupidly high priced but fun Story was unoriginal and boring and alot of handholding making it just a rush to the finish    "I've played 110 hours of sword. I wish I could get back atleast 90 of those hours back"

    Complaints 1v1 battles are the most boring way to engage in this series and the fights were just soulless and boring I had to fight sleep with this game
    Animations are lazy Dlc is stupidly high priced but fun Story was unoriginal and boring and alot of handholding making it just a rush to the finish so I could just do whatever I wanted
    Dynamax was cool at first but quickly wore off
    Raids were fun at first until you realize that you need online support aka random people online to help you beat a raid and we all know how reliable random online players are. You could get nocs to help you fight a raid but I rather have a random noob who doesn't know what there doing than a npc    … Expand
  20. Lucifer45
    Nov 25, 2022
    3
    I played through this game like every other in the series. As a hardcore and longtime fan I am disappointed by the lack of charm in this game. Game Freak, factually, lied. There were some aspects I enjoyed about this game however, which stops me from giving it a 0
  21. EvanatorB
    Nov 23, 2022
    3
    Pokémon is the number one highest grossing media franchise on earth. This does NOT feel like a game from the number one best selling franchise ever. Let me start with the good. One. I love the music. It definitely lives up to the quality of previous Pokémon soundtracks. Two. The Pokémon designs of Gen 8 are wonderful, especially the starter trio. That’s where my praise ends. Now for thePokémon is the number one highest grossing media franchise on earth. This does NOT feel like a game from the number one best selling franchise ever. Let me start with the good. One. I love the music. It definitely lives up to the quality of previous Pokémon soundtracks. Two. The Pokémon designs of Gen 8 are wonderful, especially the starter trio. That’s where my praise ends. Now for the flaws. This game looks like a Nintendo 64 game. The textures are in 2D, the environment looks very low poly, I noticed some frame rate issues, and characters appear lifeless and stiff with really bad animations. Which is a shame as certain NPCs look really good design wise. The story is almost non existent and what is there is so boring it doesn’t even meet the expectations of a Pokémon game. Worst of all the game is WAY too easy. I breezed through it in a single day. I know the game is targeted towards young children but jeez, even as a six year old I wouldn’t have had much trouble. On top of that Game Freak did little to enhance the Pokémon gameplay loop and the main gimmicks of the game, the Wild Area and “Dynamaxing”, Yeah. One is a single small lifeless semi-open world area and the other is a glorified win button. Going beyond that the online multiplayer is a joke. Even battling other players takes forever as you can read a novel with the amount of time the game takes to process moves in between turns. Maybe this is more of a Nintendo Switch Online problem, but it still impacts the game. Overall, this was probably the most disappointing Nintendo Switch release considering it was the first mainline console game in the series. Game Freak screwed up. And you shouldn’t screw up either by saving your $60.… Expand
  22. SlowbroLin
    Nov 22, 2022
    1
    It is meaningless when I can not get my old Pokemons back! And I think that Mega Evolution is the most beautiful thing since Pokemon XY! And it is gone in this generation!
  23. Shamp058
    Nov 21, 2022
    2
    This game has a semi-interesting mechanic, but is just super boring and repetitive. The visuals also suck, even for the switch. This game is boring and just bad, don't buy
  24. NeffVEVO
    Nov 20, 2022
    4
    It was the second pokemon game I have ever played, after Let's go Eevee, and honestly, this is a bad game. Graphics are horrible, story is boring, no voice acting, overall just a really bad expirience. The only reason I'm giving it a 4 is because a concept idea itself is good, well, because pokemon games always have a good core gameplay, but everything else build around it in this game isIt was the second pokemon game I have ever played, after Let's go Eevee, and honestly, this is a bad game. Graphics are horrible, story is boring, no voice acting, overall just a really bad expirience. The only reason I'm giving it a 4 is because a concept idea itself is good, well, because pokemon games always have a good core gameplay, but everything else build around it in this game is horrible.… Expand
  25. camoz
    Nov 19, 2022
    4
    A bare bones experience that strips out all of the story beats from the experience. A shocking lack of animations, and overall an experience stuck in the 1980s
  26. Darkyurem
    Nov 19, 2022
    0
    The wort history of all games from pokemon, pathetyc villain, bad line of game, no much pokemon, in overall, a disaster
  27. Kristyjnh
    Nov 10, 2022
    3
    Second pokemon game I haven't finished, after AlphaSapphire. Despite the wild area, there's nothing revolutionary here. No difficulty, and the plot didn't grab me. Luckily I borrowed a friend's copy but playing this after Arceus only made the flaws more acute. Mega evolutions should be brought back, they were the best thing to happen to pokemon in a long time
  28. Gethin
    Nov 21, 2019
    2
    So far all i’ve done is press A for 11hours. Easiest game i’ve ever played. Disappointing
  29. katiekat1389
    Oct 2, 2022
    0
    They cut out my favorite pokemon and slapped him behind a pay wall months later.

    The backgrounds in the battles never matched where you were in the overworld, Pokemon phasing in and out of existence depending on if you're close enough for them to render in, the "wild area" was just disappointing, and some of the routes/cities just look bad (textures, rendering, animation, etc)    They cut out my favorite pokemon and slapped him behind a pay wall months later.

    The backgrounds in the battles never matched where you were in the overworld, Pokemon phasing in and out of existence depending on if you're close enough for them to render in, the "wild area" was just disappointing, and some of the routes/cities just look bad (textures, rendering, animation, etc)

    GameFreak really dropped the ball with this one    … Expand
  30. Alfonso933
    Sep 5, 2022
    2
    terribles gráficos, limitado número de pokedex, mundo abierto poco interesante, innecesario dlc y una vez más, título que separó a varios fans de la franquicia.
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Awards & Rankings

79
#79 Best Switch Game of 2019
1
#1 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 87 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 66 out of 87
  2. Mixed: 21 out of 87
  3. Negative: 0 out of 87
  1. Nintendo Force Magazine
    Apr 30, 2020
    80
    Sword & Shield stumble in a few areas and history may not be kind to them, but they're setting up a future that I'm excited to see. [Issue #44 – January/February 2020, p. 73]
  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 »