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. Spaxe
    Nov 15, 2019
    5
    My copy of Sword and Shield came in the mail a bit early yesterday, and while Sword and Shield are pretty cute games, I have to admit there are some glaring problems that make this game feels like it was needed to bake in the oven a tad bit longer. For starters, I just want to say I never cared for the controversy surrounding these games about not being able to transfer all of yourMy copy of Sword and Shield came in the mail a bit early yesterday, and while Sword and Shield are pretty cute games, I have to admit there are some glaring problems that make this game feels like it was needed to bake in the oven a tad bit longer. For starters, I just want to say I never cared for the controversy surrounding these games about not being able to transfer all of your pokemon, so this review is in no way biased towards that. There are, however, other issues that did drag down the experience for me. I often ran into performance issues. Frame drops, trees or objects randomly popping up in view; and while at times the game does seem beautiful and comfy, at other points the game almost seemed sloppily put together.
    The games are far too easy to the point of boredom, even for a Pokemon game. I felt myself being overleveled very quickly. I was often taking down opponents only in one singular attack, despite not going out of my way to fight many monsters. The new EXP share, which spreads experience across your whole party, seems to amplify this problem. It seems as if the game was not balanced with this feature in mind, as my entire team were several levels ahead of our opponents for most of- if not, the entire game. The adventure lasted roughly about 12 hours for me to complete, which is awfully short for an RPG, and there isn't much you can do after the journey is over. Might I add this game only has 10 routes, previous entries having about 30ish.

    I will not get into story spoilers in this review, but the games are a bit more linear than I was expecting. My main criticism stems from Hop, your happy-go-lucky friend and rival, who always seems to interrupt the flow. There is hardly a moment where you can walk around without being interrupted by dialogue or a cutscene by him or some other character. I audibly groaned whenever Hop appeared on screen. I do like a good story, but I would also like to be able to play through the game without my rival breathing down my neck. Trainer customisation in this game is something I appreciated. Customizing your character is the widest it has ever been in this series, complete with photogenic trainer cards that capture the essence of your character. I find this feature very wholesome and cute, with many expressions and poses to chose from.

    I was looking foward to seeing the wild area being a reimagined safari-zone full of life, but unfortunately: it is large, empty, and barren. Models walk around a bit stiffly, and the textures are a bit dated and lackluster for a console game in 2019. Animations from this game can either be very well done, or extremely lacking. There was one instance where one of the major pokemon in the story mode didn't even have a turn animated for it's walk cycle. The pokemon's entire model was just rotated 180 degrees, which was very noticeable and bizarre. However, speaking of which, I do like the very diverse set of pokemon this generation. There are quite a lot that you are able to catch in the region, old and new; and they are all pretty unique and sometimes goofy in design.

    The newest feature, Pokemon Camp, was very charming. I loved the animations in this mode, they were definitely at their peak here in terms of quality. It was quite entertaining to see my Scorbunny/Raboot play with the Feather Wand Toy I had. Pokemon in camp interact with each other and it feels very lively. Making curry was cute. However, I do have my problems with it. For starters, the AI for the pokemon can seem a bit buggy, where they might get stuck walking in one place. I can't say it's common but it did break the immersion a bit. There was one instance where I had no background in the camp at all, which seemed like a bug. But then I encountered a battle with a background very similar to this, and I can only assume it was intentional? At times, I almost felt there was more time and effort put into this side-activity than the actual battle system.

    At it's core, it is definitely a Pokemon game. The basic formula of Pokemon works in these games. However, I was still disappointed, and I can without a doubt say that this is the least amount of enjoyment I've gotten out of a mainline pokemon game so far. Pokemon Sword and Shield fails to truly innovate despite being the first mainline entry on any type of console, and I cannot say that it is a sixty dollar Pokemon game at all. It feels rushed, poorly optimized, and half-baked. Can I see a child enjoying this game? Yes. Can I see a newcomer to the series enjoying this game? Possibly. Can I see a longtime pokemon fan enjoying this game? Not likely, unfortunately.    … Expand
  2. Zerato
    Nov 15, 2019
    5
    The game is meh not even counting the Pokemon what is taken out doesn't equal to what was gained if you have nothing better to do and find a used copy in a few weeks that'll be the only time is say to get it.
  3. ringomi
    Nov 15, 2019
    6
    Two steps forward, five steps back.
    While this game has quite a few welcome additions in this first outing on a home console. It takes away some beloved and used features, moves and pokemon in a competitive scene. The visuals look barely better than the previous generation on the 3DS, e.g. constant popup, NPC and pokemon are rendered it seems at arms length. Graphical gliches, gameplay    Two steps forward, five steps back.
    While this game has quite a few welcome additions in this first outing on a home console. It takes away some beloved and used features, moves and pokemon in a competitive scene. The visuals look barely better than the previous generation on the 3DS, e.g. constant popup, NPC and pokemon are rendered it seems at arms length. Graphical gliches, gameplay bugs and crashes are inexcusable.    … Expand
  4. UniversalReview
    Nov 15, 2019
    5
    Pokémon Sword/Shield are fun, fresh, new Pokémon experiences. You can catch nearly one-hundred new creatures, explore never before seen towns and cities, and interact with a colourful cast of new characters. However, the same can be said for every new Pokémon generation in the history of the franchise, and for perhaps the first time ever, the cuts and flaws really start to bring thePokémon Sword/Shield are fun, fresh, new Pokémon experiences. You can catch nearly one-hundred new creatures, explore never before seen towns and cities, and interact with a colourful cast of new characters. However, the same can be said for every new Pokémon generation in the history of the franchise, and for perhaps the first time ever, the cuts and flaws really start to bring the experience down.

    Through two decades of handheld releases with the same formula, the question was always there: “what if?” What could Pokémon look like, what could the series achieve, if finally freed from limited handheld hardware and brought onto modern home consoles?

    As it turns out, the answer is more of the same. And that is exactly the problem.

    Sword/Shield are a graphical upgrade from their 3DS predecessors, yet still look mediocre for their hardware. They offer plenty of new features, at the expense of everything new introduced the previous generation. They promise a new experience, yet have less content than DS and Gameboy Advance games released 10-15+ years ago.

    It could be argued that Sword/Shield are a product of Gamefreak’s shifting design philosophy. Since 2013’s X and Y, franchise leaders have made it clear that accessibility is a priority. Case in point, 2014’s ORAS famously removed Pokémon Emerald’s Battle Frontier because “kids would get frustrated with the difficulty”, completely disregarding the millions who grew up with the games regardless.

    This mentality is present in every aspect of Sword/Shield, actively removing player-choice in many situations. They are arguably the most linear games in the franchise: outside the Wild Area, you’ll be moving from A to B, with a noticeable lack of traditional “dungeons”, various inaccessible areas and major plot points happening off screen. Even worse, the EXP-Share is no longer optional. To many, it was a major factor in XY and beyond being far too easy, resulting in the player often being over-levelled for major battles, and its removal limits player choice for no good reason. By focusing on simplicity and linearity, Sword and Shield are easier and shorter experiences that feel less like adventures and more guided tours.

    But now comes the main event: Dexit. You are finally unable to “Catch ‘Em All”, with roughly 500 creatures unable to be transferred into Sword/Shield. Disregarding forcing players to use a (likely paid) service to store Pokémon in the meantime, improved visuals were specifically cited as the reason for this decision. Sadly, that simply isn’t true. Sword/Shield look mediocre for their hardware, in many cases lacking simple details such as battle backgrounds and decent textures. Furthermore, many animations and models are outright reused, and while it isn’t confirmed if Gamefreak lied about “new models”, it’s indisputable that a AAA title in 2019 shouldn’t look this poor, especially if visuals are used to justify shortcomings elsewhere.

    However, perhaps Sword/Shield are expansive enough to justify the cut content? Sadly, this isn’t the case either. Sword/Shield are roughly 15-20 hour games, average for the franchise, and offer significantly less post-game content compared to many previous instalments. Sword/Shield cost $20 more than previous Pokémon experiences: console prices, but nothing about the formula, length or content volume reflects that. New features like the Wild Area are fun, but every new Pokémon game in history has brought new features to the table, and nothing about Sword/Shield particularly screams bigger or better.

    Sword/Shield are undoubtedly fun games. But to many, they’re also indicative of a stagnation that has plagued the franchise over the past five or so years. Sword/Shield are on a home console, but downgrade the graphics and they would be indistinguishable from any 3DS Pokémon release. Sword/Shield are the fourth consecutive yearly Pokemon games, and unfortunately don’t even stand out from the pack, let alone compete with games like Breath of the Wild and Smash Ultimate. In 2019, on the most powerful hardware yet, the bare minimum simply isn’t good enough anymore.

    When your game offers less content than DS releases from 2009, that’s a sign things need to improve.    … Expand
  5. LuckyAbsol
    Nov 15, 2019
    5
    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.

    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
  6. Kylis105
    Nov 15, 2019
    6
    Barebones and buggy but the core is still there. Just wish they would stick with some of the mechanics they have developed in the past rather than scrapping them every new game.
  7. Kace14
    Nov 15, 2019
    5
    Had potentials. Too many cutscenes. The story is very linear. It is also very hand-holdy kind of game. Generally, it is still enjoyable but not the game you’d want to spend hundred hours on.
  8. cmcgee
    Nov 15, 2019
    5
    -Cut over 1/2 the pokemon
    -Linear route/map design
    -Indoor battles are in a boring white void
    -Exp share cannot be turned off
    -Wild area is mostly empty
    -Battle animations are still meh
    +The new Pokemon are cool
    +The upgraded textures are nice
    +Overword encounters
  9. Fish-E
    Nov 15, 2019
    5
    It's a fun game, but it's by no means a good game. The game has clearly been rushed to market at least a year too early. More than half the Pokemon are not in the game, despite the models all being ready. The animations & graphics are clearly unfinished, as the game looks comparable to a Nintendo GameCube game. There are a lot of moves which have not been implemented, the game is buggyIt's a fun game, but it's by no means a good game. The game has clearly been rushed to market at least a year too early. More than half the Pokemon are not in the game, despite the models all being ready. The animations & graphics are clearly unfinished, as the game looks comparable to a Nintendo GameCube game. There are a lot of moves which have not been implemented, the game is buggy (e.g. music sometimes doesn't play, the backgrounds in battles fail to load, when you use ladders the entire game just freezes, the game often slows down). They have also removed fan favourites like Mega Evolutions, in favour of more regional forms (something which nobody has been asking for!), making your Pokemon big (a massive gimmick, which, again, nobody was asking for!) a Pokemon camp and a curry dex which together, will provide you with an additional 5-10 minutes of gameplay.

    It's hardly a reinvention of the series like Breath of the Wild or Super Mario Odyssey. I wouldn't recommend it for the current price of £50, but if you see it for £30 I'd buy it. It's on the Switch, but Game Freak have treated it no different to their 3DS games.    … Expand
  10. shale
    Nov 15, 2019
    5
    Gameplay wise pokemon sword is off to a great start. Tutorials are kept to a minimum, there are several areas to explore and plenty new pokemon to catch.
    The wild area is great for new and pro players alike: new players can get overpowered pokemon from dynamax battles while pro ones can challenge themselves by fighting the strong roaming pokemon.
    By the time you make it to the first gym    Gameplay wise pokemon sword is off to a great start. Tutorials are kept to a minimum, there are several areas to explore and plenty new pokemon to catch.
    The wild area is great for new and pro players alike: new players can get overpowered pokemon from dynamax battles while pro ones can challenge themselves by fighting the strong roaming pokemon.
    By the time you make it to the first gym you really feel like a trainer on an adventure, which can't be said of many pokemon games. Sadly the game completely loses this feeling after this point (about 4 hours into the game), and the remaining 16 hours are a below average cookie cutter pokemon experience.

    Exploration is virtually nonexistent and the experience becomes very predictable with game game following a simple one route->one gym formula. Every other pokemon game at least has an evil team to shake things up, but these games don't. Team yell doesn't evolve beyond being some extra trainer battles you encounter on routes, and the climax to their story is just a gauntlet of battles, no hideout to explore or anything.

    As for side features, character customization is pretty good! It still has the same problem the games have had since X and Y where you can only get outfits in certain colors, so you can't think up an aesthetic and then make your character look like that ingame. There are plenty of options though so you'll probably be satisfied regardless.
    You can also customize your trainer card in these games which is nice. The UI is a bit clunky and I wish you could have a pokemon on the trainer card too, but other than that I don't have any complaints.
    Pokemon camp seemed pretty shallow and wasn't for me, but maybe I just missed something.

    I'll try to keep details to a minimum, but don't buy these games expecting a lot of content either! The game took me 20 hours to complete, with at least 40% of that time spent just messing around with side features like character customization. There is a postgame mission which takes about 2 hours to complete, gym leader rematches, and a battle tree replacement. That's all!

    Pokemon sword and shield are below average pokemon games, but pokemon games nonetheless. If you don't care about the drama and just want a fun pokemon experience you'll probably like this game.
    If you think you'll be angry at the game throughout your entire playthrough please skip this one! For those people I'll also write my thoughts on the games music and graphics below:

    The wild pokemon theme and trainer music is some of the best in the entire series. Gym and league music isn't very listenable outside of the game but works amazingly in context.
    The rival theme is good too, but it's very fun/energetic and gets used regardless of the mood in the current scene.
    The game has several motifs that it reuses constantly throughout the soundtrack, but for some of them there seems to be no reason for their existence. For example, two cities use the same motif while they are completely different aesthetically.
    Despite the game only having 10 routes, lots of routes share the same theme. I only figured this out because I was flying to random routes in search of a specific theme and every route had the exact same music, I think this says something about the memorability of the route music in general.
    The pokecenter theme and heal jingle aren't in the same key, making it sound really jarring instead of soothing.
    When infiltrating the final boss HQ slice of life anime music starts playing for some reason? And it's not just for a little "we can do this!" cutscene, it plays throughout a gauntlet of battles.
    Postgame has some bad guys that just use the regular battle theme, this ruins the mood of the scene.

    The graphics of these games are inexcusable. Not only are they STILL using their lifeless scripting system from the 2013 games pokemon X and Y, the cheap graphics lack any semblance of polish. Routes look like they were texture painted from a top down view and never looked at from a different angle, because all the walls are a complete mess, bloom flickers in and out of existence when walking, some props are so low-poly they're probably straightup reused assets from the 3ds games. It pains me to say it, but I don't think ANYONE on the graphics team had a passion for what they were creating.
    While I don't personally like the UI design it's one of the few things that's actually inoffensive about these games. I wouldn't be complaining at all if the next games in the series had UI of similar quality. I'd like to end things on a positive note so I'll leave it at that.    … Expand
  11. NicRein
    Nov 15, 2019
    5
    Let me preface this by saying, I've been playing this franchise since the first release of the game, back with Red, Blue and Yellow.

    Casting aside bias from leaks and all the negative media and news following the games release, Gamefreaks general handling of this release, etc, when I first booted up the game I was met with none of the emotions I had when I first played X and Y. X/Y were    Let me preface this by saying, I've been playing this franchise since the first release of the game, back with Red, Blue and Yellow.

    Casting aside bias from leaks and all the negative media and news following the games release, Gamefreaks general handling of this release, etc, when I first booted up the game I was met with none of the emotions I had when I first played X and Y. X/Y were the first "3D" Pokemon games we got, being on a much powerful handheld, with a bombastic opening score and a very good looking Professor to invite us to this new world of Pokemon. It instilled a sense of excitement and wonder that, this would be an experience unmatched by previous games. X and Y may not have, by the end, been top-tier Pokemon games, but there is no doubt they set a precedent for getting you excited for what was to come.

    Fast forward to now and, a lackluster opening theme, long pauses in dialogue to let a voiceless NPC get through its lines, and a reminder that Charizard is a special case that got through the picket fence surrounding Galar, helped set an expectation for sure. That this game wasn't going to be another impressive leap. I do not want to draw comparisons to other titles on the Switch, since Gamefreak handles things very differently that Nintendo (evidently, Nintendo at least has the courage to delay titles like Metroid and Animal Crossing.) But there is no denying that every new title that has come to the system has blown us away, showing us just what to expect from a late 2010's Nintendo. Now at the turn of the decade, we get Sword and Shield. A game full of compromises to give us small quality of life improvements that could've been in the games since the DS era, while trying to paint them as revolutionary and "exciting."

    We traded over 50% of the National Dex of Pokemon for skipping short tutorials. We traded global weather and seasons for empty open-world-esque areas that have pop in reminiscent of Playstation 1 titles. We traded expansive routes and towns for a free moving, albeit limited, camera. And yet this are all incredible revolutions that should provide pats on the backs of Gamefreak developers. On top of all of this you get a game that is easy to blow through, allowing you to skip unwanted encounters while easily grinding your team to overleveled territory thanks to an always-on EXP share, and a catching system that allowed me to basically catch 90% of my Pokemon with first-throw Pokeballs with no fail.

    The first gym leader sums up this entire game. On the outside, a flashy, over hyped stadium, claiming the challenge of your life. On the inside, a lackluster "run straight to win" challenge, and then a Gym Leader that carries six balls but only uses two, with the first ever dynamax you encounter dying in two hits.

    With blinders set to maximum, you can enjoy this game. But at the end of the day that enjoyment is nothing more than you giving into the fact that "Well, it's a new Pokemon game, I've already beat the others twice, nuzlocked, randomized and blindfolded, may as well have fun with this one!"    … Expand
  12. BurbleBoy
    Nov 15, 2019
    5
    This entire game has been a meltdown. I was optimistic for the games after their reveal in February of this year. But when E3 rolled around, everything went downhill. More than half of returning Pokémon were cut, supposedly because a) they wanted to make each individual Pokémon more expressive, b) they wanted to balance the competitive meta game, and c) they remade the individual modelsThis entire game has been a meltdown. I was optimistic for the games after their reveal in February of this year. But when E3 rolled around, everything went downhill. More than half of returning Pokémon were cut, supposedly because a) they wanted to make each individual Pokémon more expressive, b) they wanted to balance the competitive meta game, and c) they remade the individual models from scratch and didn’t have the time to include every Pokémon. This supposed “more expressive” is laughable, Wingull hovers around with its wings stuck out, Pokémon just appear out of the ground, water Pokémon swim without moving and don’t create any ripple effects, and other embarrassing examples can be found in games. Data miners have found that the models are the SAME, so they weren’t redone. And any competitive meta game is cut through BALANCING, not removing options. There are other graphical issues, too. Slow down, pop-in, and stiff animation plague the game, and the textures on the environment look like they were made for the GameCube. Previous fan-favorite features such as Mega Evolution and the GTS were cut in exchange for Dynamax and Gigantamax, which have significantly less positive reception, and...nothing to replace the GTS. The shortest adventure in the series, a joke of an evil team, the same plot blockades from the previous generation, and arguably the worst soundtrack across the entire series. On top of all that, a forced EXP share that gets you overleveled compares to every trainer around you, and the game ends up being a cakewalk. The game is the most disappointing and infuriating game I have ever experienced, and I can only hope they learn to better the experience in the future. The only reason I can’t rate it lower than a 5 is because, at the end of the day, it’s Pokémon, and there can never be a time Pokémon battling itself isn’t enjoyable. But this is by far the weakest installment in the series.… Expand
  13. jorgeben292110
    Nov 16, 2019
    5
    Tenían la oportunidad de lanzar el juego definitivo de Pokémon y... , aún así es un "buen" juego si ignoras ciertos apartados (gráficos, etc), en definitiva lo que lo hace ser el peor de todos los Pokémon hasta la fecha es la eliminación masiva de la mayoría de Pokémon.
  14. Jl58
    Dec 22, 2019
    5
    Pokemon sword was massively effected by time constraints. You can see a massive lack of polish graphically. When you compare the quality with Dragon Quest and Xenoblade 2 it’s clear that it was pushed out asap. Lots of animations are below par but the worst thing has to be the game speed. Raid battles are pointlessly slow and trainer battles take far too long with loading for animations,Pokemon sword was massively effected by time constraints. You can see a massive lack of polish graphically. When you compare the quality with Dragon Quest and Xenoblade 2 it’s clear that it was pushed out asap. Lots of animations are below par but the worst thing has to be the game speed. Raid battles are pointlessly slow and trainer battles take far too long with loading for animations, weather effects and multi hit moves. The Nintendo servers make the online in this game next to worthless. It has been rushed by creators who I think genuinely love the series but Game Freak need to learn that quality over quantity will please the fans. I’m hoping the next instalment has a half decent story, updated battle mechanics and they completely revamp most of the overdone tropes of Pokemon such as gyms… Expand
  15. Goomenstein
    Nov 15, 2019
    5
    It's a Pokémon game so it's bound to be mildly enjoyable, however, this is the worst entry in the series yet. The difficulty is laughable, the story is simple and the game is relatively short. The lack of features (and Pokemon) from other games is also inexcusable as the quality has not improved as a consequence as they had promised us.
    While the art DIRECTION of this game is pretty, the    It's a Pokémon game so it's bound to be mildly enjoyable, however, this is the worst entry in the series yet. The difficulty is laughable, the story is simple and the game is relatively short. The lack of features (and Pokemon) from other games is also inexcusable as the quality has not improved as a consequence as they had promised us.
    While the art DIRECTION of this game is pretty, the graphics themselves are subpar with muddy textures and less than great animations. (the infamous tree that was picked apart since the E3 treehouse showcase is still in the final game, by the way)

    The cute/cool creatures and characterdesigns are bound to at least tickle your Pokebone a little, and the roster of 400 Pokemon in total isn't bad, allowing you to perhaps enjoy a second playthrough with a completely different team, as the selection of the regional dex is pretty diverse. The question if you're willing to bother after having experienced it for the first time.

    Sadly I believe this is as great as modern Pokemon games will get. Even if you do decide to not buy this game and vote with your wallet, the problem goes beyond Gamefreak having little time to develop and polish these games. The maingames have been a fraction of the total revenue TPCi makes, so they are more likely to be cut completely than to be polished.
    The maingames are ABSOLUTELY ****    … Expand
  16. maxspin
    Nov 15, 2019
    5
    I bought Shield but I'll repost my review here, since they are basically the same games.

    I have just played this game for 5 hours and all I can say is that the rumors were right. Graphics are lackluster (to not say bad) for a Switch game, animations are not detailed like Nintendo promised, routes are boring and most are just straight lines, national dex is nowhere to be seen (I was    I bought Shield but I'll repost my review here, since they are basically the same games.

    I have just played this game for 5 hours and all I can say is that the rumors were right. Graphics are lackluster (to not say bad) for a Switch game, animations are not detailed like Nintendo promised, routes are boring and most are just straight lines, national dex is nowhere to be seen (I was expecting this but whatever), and tons of other small issues that end up causing a snowball effect. I really did expect it to be a bit better, but as a long time fan, I'm just disappointed.    … Expand
  17. Gibus_Mann
    Nov 18, 2019
    5
    The Good:
    - Some move animations are well done, such as Brave Bird, Boom Burst, and all G-max moves
    - The Wild Area gives a feeling of adventure and challenge - The human models look well done and there is a significant amount of customization for the player model The Meh - The majority of the new Pokemon designs don't seem very 'Pokemon-like' - Most of the music doesn't have the    The Good:
    - Some move animations are well done, such as Brave Bird, Boom Burst, and all G-max moves
    - The Wild Area gives a feeling of adventure and challenge
    - The human models look well done and there is a significant amount of customization for the player model

    The Meh
    - The majority of the new Pokemon designs don't seem very 'Pokemon-like'
    - Most of the music doesn't have the same memorable feel like prior Pokemon games
    - There is little, to no, improvement in Pokemon animations for Gen 1-7 Pokemon

    The Bad
    - There is no National Dex
    - The story, and some parts of the game, seem rushed and incomplete
    - The post-game is weak or non-existent

    Conclusion:
    Despite some improvements, overall, Pokemon Sword and Shield failed to live up to the expectations of a mainline game on the Nintendo Switch. If it were a 3DS game, it would be considered an improvement over the main lines series. But because it is on the Switch, it will be compared with, arguably unfairly, with other Nintendo titles such as Zelda: BOTW and Mario Odyssey. In that comparison, it simply falls flat.    … Expand
  18. sakurai
    Nov 21, 2019
    6
    The game is fairly mediocre in all regards. The music stands out as pretty good and is the only outlier. Besides that, this feels like the most stripped down the series has ever gotten, and that's after the infamously bare bones Let's Go games. Yikes.
  19. Nathanga
    Nov 24, 2019
    5
    Out of all the mainline Pokemon games I've played Sword in particular was a chore to complete. I enjoyed my first 10 or so hours with the game, given that the core pokemon gameplay loop is still fun and intact. However I noticed overtime that the game kept getting more and more boring for a number of reasons, such as the dull story/characters and very easy difficulty. I appreciate theOut of all the mainline Pokemon games I've played Sword in particular was a chore to complete. I enjoyed my first 10 or so hours with the game, given that the core pokemon gameplay loop is still fun and intact. However I noticed overtime that the game kept getting more and more boring for a number of reasons, such as the dull story/characters and very easy difficulty. I appreciate the graphical improvement Gamefreak has given us here but it is negated by the cuts to the National Dex and the simplicity of the game.

    Simply put i expected more from a $80 Pokemon game and am disapointed with my purchase.    … Expand
  20. Martin998
    Nov 26, 2019
    5
    Cut corners and a rushed/unfinished game. It was still somewhat fun but not anywhere near worth $60. Post game is laughable and having only 2 legendarys you could catch with the version you bought is god awful. No dungeons or much of anything to explore in the game. The wild area could've been great and it feels empty even with all the pokemon there. Textures, animation and models are allCut corners and a rushed/unfinished game. It was still somewhat fun but not anywhere near worth $60. Post game is laughable and having only 2 legendarys you could catch with the version you bought is god awful. No dungeons or much of anything to explore in the game. The wild area could've been great and it feels empty even with all the pokemon there. Textures, animation and models are all lazy and terrible.… Expand
  21. aar12567
    Dec 20, 2019
    5
    Gamefreak presents... A Pokemon game in which the annoying rival picks the starter that is weak against whichever of the 3 Pokemon you pick. Annoyingly though, no hedgehog pokemon? that's a British animal that could have been a good idea for a new start, but no, instead we get a monkey -insert video of British toddler saying "F*** off monkey" here-

    If you loved fun stuff like navigating    Gamefreak presents... A Pokemon game in which the annoying rival picks the starter that is weak against whichever of the 3 Pokemon you pick. Annoyingly though, no hedgehog pokemon? that's a British animal that could have been a good idea for a new start, but no, instead we get a monkey -insert video of British toddler saying "F*** off monkey" here-

    If you loved fun stuff like navigating around large oceans on the original pokemon, or exploring mt. Moon and the large dark tunnel, well forget that, because you won't be doing that here. Instead, we have very short linear tunnels with no exploration, a team that turn out to not be so bad, and well... a small 10 minute snowy area of ocean that pokes fun of British Weather, and if you love the 4 seasons, Pokemon has you covered because the field you go out exploring in has 4 seasons that never stop changing, which makes catching pokemon very boring and tedious. As for gyms, you'll really love seeing that Gamefreak (a company that probably has all the money in the world) Gamefreak got really bored towards the end of making this game, or ran out of ideas. You play through 4/5 gyms, and the last few have you play a guessing game on a stage before battling, another one where you walk through a town which you're unable to explore, to reach one of the leaders. And then a final where you stand in a room and fight 3 people (seriously? one of these doesn't even have a gym)

    I feel like Pokemon is a dying franchise, running out of ideas, poor animations that are at EA level (instead of seeing gyarados snaking through the water, he rotates on the same axis to turn around, it looks dumb) I expect better from a developer with so much money, there's really no excuse for it.    … Expand
  22. Vmac19
    Jan 1, 2020
    6
    It's okay. I just bought it because it's pokemon. The game was kind of lame though however it did have alot of potential to be the best pokemon game so far however it was only okay I guess
  23. JoePapaReviews
    Jan 7, 2020
    5
    My team of 6 magikarps couldn't beat this game I thought magikarp was the best pokemon!!!!
  24. BakaShinji
    Oct 5, 2020
    6
    While Sun and Moon generation pushed the boundaries of the 3DS, this game looks lazy. Cool new Pokémon and new mechanics, but it lacks some challenge. It's so easy that it looks like a joke.
    SM had a deep, interesting and capvitating story, this game have no story at all (or it is so bad that it would be better not to have one).
    In the end, it's still fun to play, but it feels like    While Sun and Moon generation pushed the boundaries of the 3DS, this game looks lazy. Cool new Pokémon and new mechanics, but it lacks some challenge. It's so easy that it looks like a joke.
    SM had a deep, interesting and capvitating story, this game have no story at all (or it is so bad that it would be better not to have one).
    In the end, it's still fun to play, but it feels like Gamefreak took a step back.    … Expand
  25. Mandulum
    Mar 14, 2022
    5
    After 5 hours, I'm bored. It has been a good reminder of why I stopped buying Nintendo consoles decades ago. Graphics that indie games put to shame, generic audio, no voice acting, and a boring, bordering on non-existent, story.

    Date Dropped: 2022-03-14
    Playtime: 5h
    Enjoyment: 5/10
    Recommendation: I'm sure the Nintendo fanboys love it. It's far too repetitive for me.
  26. Cosmozerk
    Apr 19, 2020
    6
    As far as the typical Pokémon formula goes, the game doesn't break new ground, after all, Pokémon's formula is one of those things that just works well all on its own, it's fun catching Pokémon, raising them, building your team, taking advantage of type weaknesses, visiting towns, challenging your rival, defeating the evil team, winning gym badges and completing the Pokédex, as it's alwaysAs far as the typical Pokémon formula goes, the game doesn't break new ground, after all, Pokémon's formula is one of those things that just works well all on its own, it's fun catching Pokémon, raising them, building your team, taking advantage of type weaknesses, visiting towns, challenging your rival, defeating the evil team, winning gym badges and completing the Pokédex, as it's always been. It's a tried and true approach that remains as fun as ever so that all checks out. But of course, that's what we take for granted at this point, it's what makes this series what it is. It's everything that surrounds that winning formula that makes these games feel so underwhelming.

    See, I'm not a stickler for visuals, but this game certainly doesn't really take advantage of it being on a home console, this is a running trend as you'll see. The animations are serviceable, some look pretty good, like the Dynamax attacks, some look decent and others look unfinished. I understand that animating every single Pokémon in the way Stadium did it is out of the question, and cutting down the Pokédex is a sensible move from that perspective, but even putting the animations aside, the overall game doesn't feel like it belongs on a home console. Some environments look nice, and other times you're looking at Ocarina of Time trees and low-res textures. For the most part, the game looks just fine, but it's inconsistent and doesn't feel like that big of a step up from what we were shown on the 3DS.

    However, to give credit where it's due, the soundtrack is phenomenal. One of my favorite in series, the gym leader music, specifically, never fails to get my hyped. All of the rival theme's are great, the pieces that play in different areas, and of course, the track done by Toby Fox is a big highlight, it's so Deltarune it hurts, I love it.

    Wish I could say the same about the story tho. Pokémon games have never had an outstanding narrative (except for Gen 5), but most of them still managed to be captivating, with fun characters, a good villain and intriguing plot... for the most part. Unfortunately, this story might just be the worst one yet, it has tons of miss potential, an antagonist with laughable motivations, setups that almost never get good payoffs, a super basic and predictable structure, the list goes on. That's not to say it's all bad, in fact, I like how the journey is set up, with this being like a competition between lots of trainers. Really makes ya feel like... I guess a football player? But with Pokémon. And I think the main rival, Hop, is way more than just Hau 2.0, he actually has a pretty compelling character arc, a nice personality, and a good resolution. The best "friend" rival, without a doubt, and one of the best rivals in the series for me, and that's a hill I'm willing to die on. Outside of those few points tho, nothing in the story is anything to write home about, it's by the numbers, and really undercooked.

    Which also holds true for the gameplay, unfortunately. As I said, Pokémon's formula is fun on its own, but with this being the first mainline game on a home console, you'd figure they'd add something more to really make the experience feel like a logical next step. And it sorta does, the Wild Area is a step in the right direction. It's an open area where you can catch Pokémon, get fruit, set up camps, and join raid battles. But it doesn't amount to anything else beyond that. Eventually, it loses its magic and becomes less of an open world, and more of a bunch of empty space where you try to search for specific Pokémon.

    Pokémon camp is cool the first few times, but there's barely anything to do. You can watch Pokémon interact, give them curry, play with them, and that's basically it. It feels like a worse version of what we had in Gen 7, where we could also clean our Pokémon, pet them and feed em' personally, which really helped me bond with the Pokémon I had. If Camp also had this, it would be great, no doubt, but that just isn't the case.

    And if ya wanna talk about concepts that feel like worse versions of what we had before, just look at Dynamax, which you only use on very specific situations, only really amounts to making the Pokémon bigger, with few getting cool redesigns, and on the whole, it just feels like a less inspired version of the Mega Evolution, only now they've added less impressive looking Z moves for every time you use a move when the Pokémon gets bigger. It's such an underdeveloped gimmick.

    Look, guys, Pokémon Sword and Shield aren't *that* bad, ok? They're enjoyable games, and if all you're looking for is for yet another solid enough Pokémon game, then they fill the quota no problem. But for what was this franchise's big jump into a home console, especially one like the Switch, which has some of the most ambitious titles in Nintendo's history, they just didn't stick the landing. They should've been so much more.    … Expand
  27. 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
  28. JayDarbz
    Nov 27, 2019
    5
    This game isn't actually that bad I kinda liked it! The gyms are fun. My only issue however from being a pokemaniac ever since yellow! These new Pokémon are the ugliest most disgusting looking thing's I've ever seen I wish they just stop creating new ones there is enough! And the post game is non existent and the game is very Short with a pathetic storyline
  29. Eleiyas
    Nov 26, 2019
    5
    Unfortunately, these are the most average Pokémon games to have ever been released (not including mobile titles).

    These are games that are on the Nintendo Switch, the most powerful home console ever produced by Nintendo (Full HD), with other console-specific titles such as Breath Of The Wild, Mario Odyssey and Luigi's Mansion 3. Compared to the games I just mentioned, Sword and Shield    Unfortunately, these are the most average Pokémon games to have ever been released (not including mobile titles).

    These are games that are on the Nintendo Switch, the most powerful home console ever produced by Nintendo (Full HD), with other console-specific titles such as Breath Of The Wild, Mario Odyssey and Luigi's Mansion 3. Compared to the games I just mentioned, Sword and Shield pale in comparison in every single way.

    The story is incredibly lackluster, with Leon and Sonia essentially doing all the cool things while you are simply told to "go do the gym challenges and leave this to the adults"... essentially Leon and Sonia are playing the game while we do the busy work. I understand why as it doesn't make sense for a 10 year old kid to be "saving the world" as was the case in previous titles, but it makes these games seem too linear and it's upsetting to think that Leon/Sonia are having all the fun, while we rush through the gyms one after the other. This is only slightly alleviated in the post game, where we finally get to enjoy some different narrative.

    This leads on to one of numerous controversies that have surrounded these games since pre-launch. The inability to turn off the now infamous EXP-share. If you spend any amount of time in the Wild Area grinding or doing raids before doing the gyms, your core team will be so overleveled by the time the gyms come around that you will one-shot every single Pokémon you come across, making the gyms simple roadblocks to be steamrolled over.

    Myself and many others after having spent an hour or 2 in the Wild Area after its discovery have had some Pokémon (especially the starter) be upwards of 10 levels higher than the gym I was challenging. One attack is one fainted enemy, even including the last Dynamax Pokémon a gym leader will send out.

    This leads on to controversy #2, Dynamaxing. Mega evolution and Z moves were removed for... making your Pokémon big for 3 turns. WOW, what an improvement! What innovation! Yeah, no, it pales in comparison to mega evolution and even z moves.

    Controversy #3: the removal of the national dex (now infamously known as Dexit). It was stated by GameFreak that they removed over 400 Pokémon (53/54% of the nat dex) in order to improve graphical fidelity and the animations. We now know this was a blatant lie. Both the models and animations are imports from the 3DS (thanks dataminers!), with some seriously shoddy ones like ... the now infamous (... a lot of infamy in this game) double-kick animation where the model isn't animated at all, it is simply pushed upwards, then brought downwards again. Really low effort and laziness from GameFreak, seeing as Genius Sorority nailed the animations back in the days of XD: Gale of Darkness, or even Colosseum on the Gamecube!

    Controversy/issue #4: Look at Breath of the Wild or Mario Odyssey, then look at Sword/Shield. The graphics on these new Pokémon titles look like they were meant to be on the 3DS. Muddy textures, shoddy artwork in a lot of places (infamous Wild Area trees); not all the textures are bad and some areas of the game look damn gorgeous, but it's really a mixed bag between shoddy and amazing. For the Switch, capable of 1080p 60FPS, these Pokémon games run at 720p 30FPS a lot of the time, even lower when in the Wild Area and connected to the internet. Myself and others have had 720p 10FPS in this scenario, which is downright mind-blowingly bad, especially when comparing to Breath of the Wild which can run at 1080p 60FPS, while also having much better graphical quality.

    Now, in order to not go over the 5000 character limit, here are other issues in brief:
    #5 - Removed moves for no real reason
    #6 - A lot of unused code left in the game out of laziness (all movesets are in for every single Pokémon, but not the models)
    #7 - Game has revealed a lot of issues with the Switch (bricking/SD card corruption)
    #8 - Changing the date and time to spam raids to get perfect Pokémon and infinite money
    #9 - Each Pokémon form has a different model, not one model with different textures, leading to huge game-bloat.
    #10 - Games now cost £60/$60 without warranting the increase in price
    #11 - #GameFreakLied
    #12 - Beloved features axed for no reason (no Pokémon following you, no rideable Pokémon)
    #13 - Towns feel huge, but a lot of buildings cannot be entered, or are simply copy-pasted
    #14 - Hilariously bad draw-distance which introduces the worst pop-in since Fallout76
    #15 - Some of the worst battle backgrounds from any Pokémon game (white void)

    I could do more, but that's enough crapping on the games.

    These games do introduce a heft of QoL improvements and there is no denying it. EXP candies, Nature Mints, Egg Moves from breeding, fly from anywhere, bike going on water, etc.

    These QoL improvements, topped with the fact that "it's more Pokémon!" and "Pokémon is inherently fun!" is what is making people see these games through rose-tinted glasses.    … Expand
  30. Lizarino
    Jun 13, 2020
    5
    This game is very mixed for me. It is the same formula as the previous Pokemon games with a few nice additions but a lot of flaws with it.
    I would give this game a 6 or 7 / 10 but because of it's price (£40 or more at current) I'm lowering it to 5/10.
    - This is the first and only Pokemon game I've played where I've abandoned my starter at the start of the game. All 3 starters and their    This game is very mixed for me. It is the same formula as the previous Pokemon games with a few nice additions but a lot of flaws with it.
    I would give this game a 6 or 7 / 10 but because of it's price (£40 or more at current) I'm lowering it to 5/10.

    - This is the first and only Pokemon game I've played where I've abandoned my starter at the start of the game. All 3 starters and their evolutions are just ugly, boring and have no interest in them at all.
    In terms of new Pokemon this generation it is also mixed. There are some that have really good designs and moves, and then some which are just really boring and uninspired.
    The new forms for old Pokemon I like and the new legendaries I like.

    - The story and characters are probably one of the worst of the Pokemon games as well. I can't even really remember the story that much after finishing the game a few days ago. The characters are really annoying and bland, namely Leon. This game also lacks a clear "bad guy / team".

    - The graphics and performance at first I thought were pretty good for Pokemon standards. However the further I got into the game the more performance issues I got, mainly frame drops and lots of really bad pop in.

    - The gyms were what you would expect from Pokemon games. They're almost the same as previous games which I like. Only thing I don't like about the gym battles were that they took place in stadiums, where you couldn't hear anything but the loud and annoying crowd. Music and other sound was mostly non-existent.

    - I didn't like dynamaxing at all. It felt like an annoyance that was forced on me instead of mega evolutions which I personally really like.

    Some of the features I liked in this were the Pokemon jobs system, accessing your boxes from anywhere, character customisation and the league card system was okay. The camping system was mixed, although I liked the playing with your Pokemon part, it was very lacking in what you could do. The curry system I didn't really enjoy.    … Expand
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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.
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  3. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Jan 14, 2020
    78
    Pokemon Sword/Shield is uncharacteristically user-friendly: now there’s no need to backtrack half across the world to heal your entire team of pokemon or to get to a particular city, for example. [Issue#242, p.66]
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