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. madku321
    Dec 14, 2019
    6
    It's not a bad game. It's just not a good game.
    The good stuff was always good—designs, look, feel—but it's the move to console that's glaring.
    First of all, the game is terribly easy. So much so that when my pokémon die it's not because of skill, it's just because of luck. The exp. share makes it so no grinding necessary, which isn't bad, but at the same time removes all thinking. Why    It's not a bad game. It's just not a good game.
    The good stuff was always good—designs, look, feel—but it's the move to console that's glaring.
    First of all, the game is terribly easy. So much so that when my pokémon die it's not because of skill, it's just because of luck. The exp. share makes it so no grinding necessary, which isn't bad, but at the same time removes all thinking. Why switch out to train (a skill to help) when you can simply leave your OP pokemon to deal all the damage, and have the harder pokemon to train simply sit there? The AI is stupid also: making dumb moves makes what would've been a hard battle easy.
    What makes a pokemon game? Towns? The pocket monsters themselves? The routes? In this game, it can't be the routes. Most of them are very linear, and I find myself, for the first time in any pokemon game, ignoring the trainers just so I can get to the god-damned next town or gym. I don't believe the pokemon make up this game either. Over half of them are from previous games, which isn't necessarily bad, but one of the coolest things is finding a new, rare pokemon or finally getting to see your carkol evolve (what will it turn into???). The towns I can happily give credit to: they look great and are meant to feel large. But after exploring towns, you find yourself wondering why they felt so small to you.
    The linear aspect goes beyond routes. I never get the chance to decide where to go. At most, I can go left or right at a route (but, one will end or maybe the two tracks will meet up again). And, though the world is large, the main game stops you at every minute just to give you the next item, let you continue the game, or just have an annoying cutscene about Galar's history that YOU JUST DON'T CARE ABOUT. Without choice, the game almost feels... empty, boring.
    The wild area, the most lauded thing of this game, is not even that good. I find myself returning there just to find one single pokemon I want instead of exploring it to look for new things.
    The game, overall, just makes me think about the older games and how they were (are?) really good. The move to full 3-D for the first time hurt the franchise greatly, only opening it's flaws more and making me miss the older games, instead of thinking of the new ones.
    6/10, because it's fine, I guess.    … Expand
  2. PhantomThief95
    Nov 17, 2019
    5
    These games could've been so much more as Pokémon's official new generation debut on a home console, but instead it ends up being an underwhelming, incremental upgrade over the 3DS games. There are some neat QoL changes and the Wild Area is a very good idea that I hope to see more of in future games, but the rest falls very short of what is expected of a home console game.
  3. BrownKnight
    Nov 15, 2019
    5
    This game is just a disappointment, I'm genuinely sad this is the direction Pokémon is going. This game had so much potential on a much more powerful consolle but it's all wasted. The cause can be summed up just with one concept: laziness. Most of the things they put in was rushed, half-finished, it looks like they don't even care anymore. This game should cost 30 $ AT BEST, it's surelyThis game is just a disappointment, I'm genuinely sad this is the direction Pokémon is going. This game had so much potential on a much more powerful consolle but it's all wasted. The cause can be summed up just with one concept: laziness. Most of the things they put in was rushed, half-finished, it looks like they don't even care anymore. This game should cost 30 $ AT BEST, it's surely not worth 60. Too bad, if they go on like this the franchise is doomed.… Expand
  4. KuwaitiJakey
    Nov 16, 2019
    5
    I think this game is average. First the things I liked, I thought the fact that you run into almost entirely new Pokémon on route 1 & 2 that weren’t spoiled by marketing is fantastic. The beginning of a Pokémon game is always magical. I also really liked the concept of the wild area. It’s something Game Freak has to build on in the future - when I first went there I spent hours justI think this game is average. First the things I liked, I thought the fact that you run into almost entirely new Pokémon on route 1 & 2 that weren’t spoiled by marketing is fantastic. The beginning of a Pokémon game is always magical. I also really liked the concept of the wild area. It’s something Game Freak has to build on in the future - when I first went there I spent hours just wondering around. The problem with the wild area is that it needs more to do, I think there should be dungeons or buildings to find and explore. Hunting for Pokémon is great but imagine if the whole game was wilderness and you had to find your next gym hidden in a forest or behind a mountain. The worst part of the game is the graphics. Frankly the animations and graphics are unacceptable for a switch game. It feels unfinished. The battle animations haven’t changed since X & Y. Pokémon models seem stiff and sometimes only their waiting animation just hops up and down. I didn’t care about this as much back on the 3ds, but it looks just plain bad on the switch. I wish Gamefreak would have spent more time in development on this game, update the animations and better communicate why they made the decisions they did. It seems jarring that Fire Emblem made the jump from 3ds to Switch in such a huge and significant way, but Pokémon only slightly improved their formula. Hopping Nintendo recognizes the criticism isn’t all just hate and comes from a place of love for their series and spends the time, money, and care to improve the next game. This game is enjoyable, but not the significant jump I thought it should’ve been for the first console Pokémon game.… Expand
  5. bluemagekrye
    Dec 5, 2019
    5
    So, having finally finished sword, as well as what ever that post game was, I can finally honestly review this game.

    The game isn't terrible, not nearly as bad as many people will make it out to be. This game has some of the best quality of life changes for the series, but that is all irrelevant when it comes down to horrible roster of pokemon at your disposal to use the changes on. The    So, having finally finished sword, as well as what ever that post game was, I can finally honestly review this game.

    The game isn't terrible, not nearly as bad as many people will make it out to be. This game has some of the best quality of life changes for the series, but that is all irrelevant when it comes down to horrible roster of pokemon at your disposal to use the changes on. The story is also some of the most lazy and convoluted writing in the main line series thus far, and while I understand its a pokemon game... but if Black and white can have an interesting story, or even red and blue, then this game can as well.

    What ever the real reason that gamefreak decided to cut half of the pokedex out of a game that's slogan has always been "gota catch em all", I feel that it is unnecessary and honestly an unfair move to a large portion of this Series's fans. And speaking of cut content... what we got to replace to the GTS is a joke. You cant even trade with people in the same room as you without jumping through hoops and hoping that it will work, you cant make direct "this for that" trades anymore... all you can do is surprise(wonder) trade, and fumble around trying trade something you want with the RANDOM person you get paired with in the link trade.

    To wrap this up, I feel that a lot of the issues that this game brings up with all of its cut content could have been fixed by simply reducing the allowable pokemon in competitive. The game already bans legendary pokemon from being used in competitive, so why not just implement a larger ban list? If balance is the reason for all the content cuts, and not time or effort reasons, then this would have been a better way to appease both sides.

    tl'dr; cut content doesn't excuse or out weigh what was gained, but the game is still fun to play.

    If this is what pokemon is going to be like moving forward, I am officially done, after playing every main line entry since Red and Blue.    … Expand
  6. necrotick
    Nov 17, 2019
    6
    The game is good, but the dex court killed the game. There are some bugs and bugs in the scenario that bother you.
  7. Striderblack01
    Nov 17, 2019
    5
    This game proves that the Pokemon basics, the tried-and-true mechanics of the franchise, still works. It makes it easy to get excited and play for hours while overlooking it's flaws. That is, at first.

    Pokemon Raids are fantastic, and the wild area is a ton of fun! I also enjoy the new crop of Pokemon. Very appealing with lots of personality. (Scorbunny rules!) Dynamax is ok. I    This game proves that the Pokemon basics, the tried-and-true mechanics of the franchise, still works. It makes it easy to get excited and play for hours while overlooking it's flaws. That is, at first.

    Pokemon Raids are fantastic, and the wild area is a ton of fun! I also enjoy the new crop of Pokemon. Very appealing with lots of personality. (Scorbunny rules!)

    Dynamax is ok. I couldn't help feeling like it would just be another gimmick to be cut in the next game. So I didn't get too attached the way that I did with Megas and Z-moves.

    Graphics and Animation are a mixed bag. The effect animations are fantastic! Truly. But the character & Pokemon animations are a bit dated and lackluster.

    And then, there's the National Dex. Hoo-boy.
    I'm a long-time fan of the franchise. I spent hours studying the underlying mechanics of the games, hours strategizing to build the best teams that I could using my favorites, hours breeding and training them in previous games, and more hours still battling and having fun. And now, I can't use them.

    And that makes me legitimately sad.
    (which is weird thing for an old man to admit)

    Overall, this is a good game - just incomplete. It feels uneven and rushed. It's also a bit pricey for the amount of content. With a little more time and care, it could've been the very best.    … Expand
  8. Detben
    Nov 17, 2019
    6
    This is not a bad game, but by no means is this a great game. Here are a few of my thoughts:
    1) the graphics and animations are disappointing. The switch has shown that games can look quite beautiful on this platform.I didn’t expect Botw, but the glitchiness, flatness, and laziness are a let down.
    2) not a compete Pokédex? Thank you next 3) multiplayer was practically nonexistent and    This is not a bad game, but by no means is this a great game. Here are a few of my thoughts:
    1) the graphics and animations are disappointing. The switch has shown that games can look quite beautiful on this platform.I didn’t expect Botw, but the glitchiness, flatness, and laziness are a let down.
    2) not a compete Pokédex? Thank you next
    3) multiplayer was practically nonexistent and glitchy
    4) it was not at all challenging. Ever generation they make it easier and easier. What’s the point of a game if it’s a cake walk?    … Expand
  9. TerranceBogard
    Nov 17, 2019
    6
    These games have admittedly garnered quite a bit of controversy, and due to some of the questionable decisions made in these games, it's understandable why. That said, these are not the worst games ever made. Far from it, in fact; I've had a good time playing my copy of Pokémon Shield. There are missteps here & there, but it's overall enjoyable. The TL;DR version of my review is that theseThese games have admittedly garnered quite a bit of controversy, and due to some of the questionable decisions made in these games, it's understandable why. That said, these are not the worst games ever made. Far from it, in fact; I've had a good time playing my copy of Pokémon Shield. There are missteps here & there, but it's overall enjoyable. The TL;DR version of my review is that these are fun games—about on par with X&Y in my opinion, but not as good as Sun & Moon for a reference point—that do miss the mark in terms of potential. Good games, but could've been a lot better. In an objective sense, these games are probably a 7/10. However, I'm reviewing it as a 6/10 here, simply because of the missed potential as for what these games *could* have been. As the highest grossing media franchise EVER and Pokémon's first mainline console game, these should've been a huge step forward for the franchise, the same way that Breath of the Wild was for Zelda and Odyssey was for Mario. Still, if you're on the fence about buying these games (and aren't boycotting it), I think you'll have a good time. Whether or not it's worth $60, however, is a different question—maybe wait until you can buy a used copy.… Expand
  10. JaxTorn
    Nov 17, 2019
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I admit Going into the game I was 100% biased and only reason I bought it to give it a chance was due to GameStops 48hr Guarantee. Another thing to note is I’ve been not a fan of recent Pokémon games going as far as back as X and Y . I think sun and moon was the one that maybe really hesitant to buy this. I’ve played through the story which is easy to accomplish in 48 hours. One of my gripes of the story Besides the game holding your hand throughout the whole game is there’s missed opportunities with the storyline . For example with the Dynamaxing outbreak I feel like that would’ve been used in previous games to get you involved with the region. I do feel like the region design especially when it comes to the towns and cities feels like cardboard cut outs I wish there was more stuff to interact with and hidden goodies. As far as the difficulty of the game this is the easiest Pokémon ever in my opinion it’s easier than Pokémon let’s go. The game hands you out revives like they grow on trees and it hands out money like crazy I’ve never had that much money that quickly in a Pokémon game before. The new Pokémon do you I think it was worth the controversy of the national dex making cuts just so they can add more Pokémon I don’t think so. My final thoughts without getting into the graphics which could be better is it’s a PR nightmare and it feels like a botched entry to the switch and no offense to game freak here but it doesn’t feel like the quality of other first party games that have been on the Nintendo switc.h… Expand
  11. yukidalemania
    Nov 17, 2019
    5
    Impresionante. Gráficos y diseños preciosos. Una evolución a la altura que como fan de la saga te llena de emoción.
  12. Gaymerbear
    Nov 18, 2019
    6
    First a few things out of the way then the good and the bad stuff.

    I love Pokémon and been playing since Red/Blue. The "Dexit" bothered me but not that much, I always want to play through a new Gen with new Pokémon. So this review and criticism is written with love, admiration and hope for the next games. First a few things out of the way then the good and the bad stuff. It was    First a few things out of the way then the good and the bad stuff.

    I love Pokémon and been playing since Red/Blue.
    The "Dexit" bothered me but not that much, I always want to play through a new Gen with new Pokémon.
    So this review and criticism is written with love, admiration and hope for the next games.
    First a few things out of the way then the good and the bad stuff.

    It was fun to play.
    Max-Raid battles are fun and rewarding though GameFreak still doesn't know how to implement online gameplay.
    The backstories of the other characters through the cards is a very nice touch.
    The Wild Area, though minor issues, is amazing and I hope the next games will be ALL Wild Area with the Cities sprinkled around and within it.

    The jump from 3DS to Switch didn't work out so well.
    The graphics are amazing though not that big of a jump from Sun/Moon.
    The Pokémon lack of detail (i.e. "hair" from Pokémon that should be leaves is just a green blob instead of minimal detailed leaves) and have a shine to them that makes them look like plastic.
    The story is predictable and lacking, the stories of Team Rocket or X/Y were miles better and more fleshed out.
    Plus a raise of 20€/$/£ (or whatever) left me confused because I don't see a big improvement of quality.

    All in all it feels like the game was rushed to release.
    The graphics and story could have benefited from a few more months development.    … Expand
  13. SpartanYoshi
    Nov 17, 2019
    5
    -Historia: Malo.(4)
    -Graficos: Bueno.(7)
    -Aspecto Tecnico: Muy malo.(1)
    -Jugabilidad: Bueno.(7)
    -Diseño de Personajes:Bueno.(7)
  14. Lentor
    Nov 18, 2019
    6
    I was quite honestly disappointed with Pokemon Sword. While the game had some good in it, it still left a lot to be desired.

    First, let's start with what I liked about the game. This time around, I actually liked the new Galorian Pokemon. Their designs are mostly either really cute (I mean you just can't say no to Yamper) or really cool looking. I feel like this is genuinely the first    I was quite honestly disappointed with Pokemon Sword. While the game had some good in it, it still left a lot to be desired.

    First, let's start with what I liked about the game. This time around, I actually liked the new Galorian Pokemon. Their designs are mostly either really cute (I mean you just can't say no to Yamper) or really cool looking. I feel like this is genuinely the first Pokemon game in a long time where I wasn't at a lost for which Pokemon I wanted on my team (Generally speaking I try to use only the new Pokemon for my adventure).

    The next thing I liked, was more a concept than the actual feature itself and I felt that it still had a lot to be desired: The Wild Area. I think Gamefreak really needs to double down on the Open World concept for the mainline entries going forward for Pokemon, and quite frankly that should have been the case for this generation. So what I liked about the Wild Area was the open world Idea, and also that You could actually see Pokemon pop up out of the tall grass as well as from within it. It made the world of Pokemon feel a bit more alive. What I really liked most though was that this feature was not limited to just the wild area, in fact, you could see the Pokemon you'd encounter even on the different routes you take in between cities. I've even had one encounter with a Pokemon at a bridge just outside the city! All this made me feel like I was actually in the world of Pokemon and that was fun to me.

    Now on to the bad...So I think I should start with the whole DexIt controversy. Let me preface this by saying that I'm among the players who didn't actually care too much about the Pokedex cut for this new generation, however, over half of the Pokemon being completely removed from the game seemed a bit much to me even as someone who never cared to move my Pokemon to each new release of the franchise. When I first heard about the Dexit controversy, I thought that Gamefreak had cut the Pokemon in an effort to improve something else in the game; unfortunately, this doesn't seem to be the case.

    Gamefreak claimed that their goal in this was to improve Pokemon animations with the "extra time" they'd have from essentially cutting the pokedex in half. I have to say, I didn't actually see any great improvements in animation and some of them did seem pretty generic (Instead of having turn animations, Pokemon instead simply rotated). But personally I don't actually care too much about animation improvements. What I really hoped to see them allocate more time to was the story and overall world of the Galar region. I'll start with the world and this kinda goes back to what I didn't like about the Wild Area. The Wild Area was just a more open area that allowed you to control your camera and participate in dynamax raids. That's all that really comes down to it. The wild area just seemed really empty to me; sure there were obviously a lot of Pokemon there, but I didn't get the sense that there was anything to discover. The Dynamax Raids were easy to find, as they had beams of light shooting up at the sky for anyone to see, and there weren't really any hidden areas. My hope was that the wild area would also have some caves or dungeons with powerful Dynamax Raids at the end of them. Instead Wild Area was just a big open space with nothing but Pokemon in it, and that was disappointing.

    Now for the story...This was an aspect of the game that I really was hoping Gamefreak would have put a lot more of their time on. for a $60 product I got just over 17 hours of gameplay before finishing the "story" which is quite an abysmal amount of time for the price. Firstly you aren't introduced to any sort of conflict or antagonist until near the end of the game, which means there actually really isn't even a story to begin with until you've reached the endgame. And when you do finally get introduced to the antagonist, he just wasn't a believable character. Without giving spoilers, his motives were stupid and his actions were way too extreme for his reasoning. Most worst of all, and this was something I really thought Gamefreak would address with this generation given the backlash on the topic from last generation, was the handholding and the rival you had. I feel like there were cutscenes/interruptions every 20-30 minutes. Hop was kind of an over-zealous kid who had aspirations to beat the champion (his brother), which is all great, but his overly energetic nature made him feel a lot less of a worthy rival like how I remembered Blue was in the first generation.

    Overall the Gamefreak really needed to step it up for this new generation. This was the first mainline entry of the franchise to be released on a console and it's clear that they didn't utilize the full potential of the Switch. The whole Dexit and graphics controversy aside, I don't feel like this was a worthy title for being the first ever mainline Pokemon game on a console. I hope that Gamefreak can deliver next Gen.    … Expand
  15. Giggleschits
    Nov 18, 2019
    5
    Being a huge Pokemon fan since I was a little kid (now being 28) I have to say this game impressed me about as much as Sun and Moon did, which is to say that it really doesn't. Sun and Moon was the first game I truly disliked and now that I've experienced quite a bit of Shield I'm in the same boat.

    Graphics: Let's be honest, they're 3ds graphics tidied up just enough to put them on a TV    Being a huge Pokemon fan since I was a little kid (now being 28) I have to say this game impressed me about as much as Sun and Moon did, which is to say that it really doesn't. Sun and Moon was the first game I truly disliked and now that I've experienced quite a bit of Shield I'm in the same boat.

    Graphics: Let's be honest, they're 3ds graphics tidied up just enough to put them on a TV without looking abysmal. I haven't experienced the "pop in" that I've seen commented here quite a bit but what I have experienced is an unplayable amount of frame rate drops anytime I'm connected to the Internet. So I find myself playing Locally for the most part because I actually can't play it when it's connected to the internet.

    Gameplay: There are some features that I LOVE (being able to disable the "Do you want to nickname this pokemon") and some I hate (Extreme hand holding and the EXP Share). There is a part of me that hates not knowing what level some of the Overworld Pokemon are, and there is another part of me that loves the challenge of defeating them. I dislike the fact that before you get to the first gym if you just sat around and did the grind you can be so over leveled it's unbearably easy. I'm nearing level 60 on my team currently and I'm just past the 5th gym and in my opinion that's a bit too easy to get to. My other gripe is your damn Rival. Holy crap is his animation extremely annoying, I find myself skipping EVERY dialog with him just so I don't have to see him.

    I am upset about the fact that Game Freak put Thanos in charge of the Pokedex this time around as I find a large number of my favorite Pokemon have been lost to the almighty snap. We will see what Pokemon Home brings us in the future and if Game Freak ends up reading 95% of these reviews what kind of updates will come. I really do think there is a decent game in here somewhere, just not one worth $60.00. I would have rather spent $60.00 on Divinity Original Sin 2 purely for the sheer amount of content.

    I know people are upset, but this game isn't a 1 or a 2 or even a 3, I really do think 5 is a fitting number to give it. Let's hope the Ladies and Gentlemen at Game Freak hear our calls and give us some answers.    … Expand
  16. darsparx
    Nov 18, 2019
    6
    I'm going with this rating because it's objectively not a terrible game. Sure it's largely meh because I feel they rushed it out to hit that holiday season deadline which doesn't work and from experience in past titles never worked. They need to stop with this and go back to a slower release pattern. Not to mention just give us a patch to further refine the stuff they obviously didn't haveI'm going with this rating because it's objectively not a terrible game. Sure it's largely meh because I feel they rushed it out to hit that holiday season deadline which doesn't work and from experience in past titles never worked. They need to stop with this and go back to a slower release pattern. Not to mention just give us a patch to further refine the stuff they obviously didn't have the time to finish before release that could've been fleshed out better and more refined graphically. I feel like others are just review bombing the game for no reason other than to jump on the bandwagon, it's not a "terrible" game. Not fully great but somewhere between great and meh.… Expand
  17. Juan19892020
    Nov 18, 2019
    5
    Game freak jumped from handles to home console just to deliver a 3ds game.
    Gameplay over graphics right? But we have the same gameplay as always! All we ask is for better graphics! Game freak focus on kids but honestly no kid plays pokemon .
  18. Rainelz
    Nov 18, 2019
    6
    Still a fun game... So is the raids but the animation and the dexit along with lack of good post game still warrants the game a negative points for me... Would have scored it higher
  19. thoughts
    Nov 18, 2019
    5
    Pokémon Sword sadly did not live up to my hopes for the franchise or the 60 euro price tag. I feel bad giving this game such a low score, due to the review bombing, but I cannot recommend this game in the slightest. The controversy surrounding the games largely passed me by, because I didn't really care about the national dex. I still don't. What I do care about however is the main story,Pokémon Sword sadly did not live up to my hopes for the franchise or the 60 euro price tag. I feel bad giving this game such a low score, due to the review bombing, but I cannot recommend this game in the slightest. The controversy surrounding the games largely passed me by, because I didn't really care about the national dex. I still don't. What I do care about however is the main story, the visual appeal of the games and the post-game content/replayability. Sadly I find Pokemon Sword to be lacking in every single one of these aspects.

    The games have never been known for their story, but since generation 3 stories have gradually gotten more and more ambitious and while not always successful there have been some engaging campaigns in past entries like Generations 4, 5, and 7. The story is almost non-existent, many character plot-lines go nowhere, and in the second half of the game you are carried from cutscene to cutscene with literally no ability to explore, none of the cities are as large as they appear and there are no secrets to discover anywhere, not even the wild area. The visual appeal of the games is also lacking.

    Certain areas are absolutely stunning and the art direction for the games is strong overall. However, most of the game feels empty and lifeless, especially the wild area. The HD graphics have also made some of the more clunky animations even more jarring to look at, something I didn't notice in the games on the 3DS. This is especially disappointing since animations were given as a reason to cut the dex, yet aside from the upgraded textures these games don't really show any improvement in that regard.

    Lastly, the replayability of the games is limited in my experience. I beat the game the day it came out (the story + postgame totalling about 16 hours for me) and I have had no desire to pick the game up since. You can complete the dex and the postgame contains a battle tower you can try your luck at, online battles are available as well, but aside from that there's not much there. With every other Pokemon entry up until this point I would spend several additional hours in the post game exploring the region, but these games are so linear and give you so little to explore that this really isn't an option. I also don't have the desire to restart the game and play through it once more. Sadly, this game offers less to do than previous entries (even compared to the barebones X and Y or some of the earliest entries in the series gold/silver)

    There are other issues with the game, SD card corruption, sound settings being locked behind an item given to you by an NPC, glitches, frame-drops and the list goes on. I personally have not had an issue with any of these other than the NPC playing these games, but it is something to be aware of when looking to buy these games. As sad as it is, I'd say save your money, buy them when they're on sale or wait until the hopefully improved third instalment will probably be released next year.    … Expand
  20. Malvion
    Nov 19, 2019
    6
    Story:
    Pretty common Pokèmon story, but less invasive. Not too deep and not too easygoing. Maybe some things were similar to the Sun and Moon plot...
    Graphic: Still needs a lot of work, but it's not totally bad sometimes. Features and Post-Game: too few.. except for Shiny Hunting and Competitive Breeding you have literally nothing to do. So for the ones who can't play competitive the    Story:
    Pretty common Pokèmon story, but less invasive. Not too deep and not too easygoing. Maybe some things were similar to the Sun and Moon plot...

    Graphic: Still needs a lot of work, but it's not totally bad sometimes.

    Features and Post-Game: too few.. except for Shiny Hunting and Competitive Breeding you have literally nothing to do. So for the ones who can't play competitive the game become boring really fast.    … Expand
  21. NovaAkasha
    Nov 19, 2019
    5
    It is not a bad game, but it really shows that it is incomplete. It needs at least 6-12 months more of development. The story is very simple and short. You can pass the game in less than 20 hours, and the content is generally poor. In addition to having several failures that a game of this generation, made by one of the multi-million dollar companies, cannot be allowed. How to lack suchIt is not a bad game, but it really shows that it is incomplete. It needs at least 6-12 months more of development. The story is very simple and short. You can pass the game in less than 20 hours, and the content is generally poor. In addition to having several failures that a game of this generation, made by one of the multi-million dollar companies, cannot be allowed. How to lack such basic things that other previous games had with no problem. (Specific funds for each zone, as an example).

    The biggest problem was the expectations they created with the excuse of cutting the pokedex for more quality. A lie.

    It's a step back, Pokemon SM / USUM, in generational and console comparison, is much better, which speaks very badly about this game. It is not worth 60 dollars.
    I do not recommend, if not, that you over money and just want to live the experience of pokemon, once again, in HD without expecting anything new or better than before.
    I hope that the next release takes advantage of all the failures that it has, to be a better game, and to meet expectations.

    Summary:
    A game with great potential wasted, for the preference of releasing games annually, instead of giving its consumers quality products. It has several errors and shortcomings that can ruin the experience. Even so, you can enjoy it, but leave much to be desired.    … Expand
  22. MrWriter
    Nov 19, 2019
    6
    The graphics don't bother me, the animations do a little after being told they had been improved.

    The story is boring as **** this is my biggest gripe. I had the same issue with Sun and Moon. The games have more cutscenes and stop and start gameplay than a Kojima game! I don't care about Hop (stupid name) or Leon, or Bea (again stupid name) just give me my Pokemon and let me go on my    The graphics don't bother me, the animations do a little after being told they had been improved.

    The story is boring as **** this is my biggest gripe. I had the same issue with Sun and Moon.

    The games have more cutscenes and stop and start gameplay than a Kojima game! I don't care about Hop (stupid name) or Leon, or Bea (again stupid name) just give me my Pokemon and let me go on my adventure!

    Speaking of which, the story needs to change in two ways. One, add voice actors to talk through the scenes which are important.

    Secondly can we not have a new type of story? Or just have a minimal story and let us focus on catching and training Pokemon and getting badges?

    Dynamax is just another pointless gimmick, they should of stuck to mega evos. I don't mind the game being easy, but I understand others do, so a hardcore mode, or even version might of been a good idea. Make Sword the easy game, and Shield the harder one. Now the good things. The open areas with wild Pokemon? Brilliant, I feel like I have reason to revisit areas.

    I like the gym challenges, breaks up the game.

    And I like the new Pokemon.

    I'm struggling to play this, since Friday I've only played 6 hours and have 2 badges. The stop, start story with its snoozefest text is what's putting me off most.

    Again I had the same struggle with Sun, and even Ultra Sun. However I'm a huge fan of completing the nat dex. So I battled through the story, and then got close to 90 hours, filling the nat dex (and breeding and trading). I just don't see that happening with Sword.

    I hope something hooks soon, but right now, I'm kinda regretting my purchase.

    6/10    … Expand
  23. LBrize
    Nov 20, 2019
    5
    I was a bit older when Pokémon first came out and so I missed the whole craze through the 90’s and early 2000’s. I like RPGs, so I have e always wanted to get into Pokémon at some point. I took this opportunity to do just that, and I must say I have barely put the game down since I started playing! It is more fun than I ever imagined, Some are complaining about the graphics or otherI was a bit older when Pokémon first came out and so I missed the whole craze through the 90’s and early 2000’s. I like RPGs, so I have e always wanted to get into Pokémon at some point. I took this opportunity to do just that, and I must say I have barely put the game down since I started playing! It is more fun than I ever imagined, Some are complaining about the graphics or other technical issues, but honestly the game looks just fine. It looks very much like the cartoon, and to me it’s not supposed to look like Red Dead Redemption 2; the game purposely has a cel-shaded, cartoon-look to and I think it’s quite beautiful!
    Finally, the gameplay. It’s varied, responds well, feels intuitive, and most importantly, it’s an absolute blast to play! Best game on Switch since Breath of the Wild!    … Expand
  24. mittens2077
    Nov 20, 2019
    6
    A pretty underwhelming introduction of mainline Pokémon games to the home console, something I have been excited for ever since I was a little kid. I definitely enjoyed some of the higher quality animations in a few of the cutscenes, however the visuals are unpolished in a lot of aspects. Some animations are just embarrassing. The story is generic and the game is awfully hand-holdy, evenA pretty underwhelming introduction of mainline Pokémon games to the home console, something I have been excited for ever since I was a little kid. I definitely enjoyed some of the higher quality animations in a few of the cutscenes, however the visuals are unpolished in a lot of aspects. Some animations are just embarrassing. The story is generic and the game is awfully hand-holdy, even for a children’s RPG. You are constantly lead by a trail of breadcrumbs to your next destination to the point where it’s just stupid. Many familiar Pokémon features have been “streamlined” such as receiving forced exp.share from the get go and your Pokémon are healed after just about every battle. Pokémon seem way too easy to level up also. If they were going to remove all the “tedious” mechanics of Pokémon games, why not just start me out with level 100 Pokémon? I’ve always found individually levelling up my Pokémon gave me a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction, but that’s just me I suppose. I like most of the new mon designs, but was disappointed to see only 400 or so Pokémon actually made it into the game. Overall, Pokémon Sword and Shield are definitely not worth their retail price of 70-80 aud. If you’re really keen to pick the games up , Get them second hand. Hopefully Gamefreak delivers something special next time. -_-… Expand
  25. AWARK
    Nov 23, 2019
    5
    I suspect that in 6 months time we are going to get a Pokémon Sword (ultra) version of this game released, with the full national dex and probably an extended wild zone maybe some more story. I enjoy the game but my concern was this game was way to quick.

    it seems to have fallen into the same pit that MMO's did a few years back, "hey everyone hates grinding lets speed it up" So now    I suspect that in 6 months time we are going to get a Pokémon Sword (ultra) version of this game released, with the full national dex and probably an extended wild zone maybe some more story. I enjoy the game but my concern was this game was way to quick.

    it seems to have fallen into the same pit that MMO's did a few years back,
    "hey everyone hates grinding lets speed it up"
    So now all your pokemon in your group earn exp you don't have to swap them out or find an Exp Share or grind on chancies (yes I did that) But in some respects its made your pokemon totally disposable. it used to be you would end up at the end game and I would say normally your starter pokemon would be in your team. Now why bother run a few raids get the exp candies boost up any pokemon that's better in a few minutes.

    The graphics are not a deal breaker for me and I sort of understand why they didn't do the full national dex. They wanted to make it easier for maybe people or newer gamers who may not have played the previous games to have an easier job instead of trawling through 900+ pokemon. However I always feel they should at least have kept all starters from all previous games.

    The trading system is broke, they should have either committed to put in a GTS system to allow trading. OR put in a chat system to allow you to find another trader willing to trade specific pokemon. as its stands the "random trade" feature is just trash pokemon.

    The grouping mechanic is a good idea it just feels like it was unfinished you try and join 10+ games to get "communication close" messages.

    The story I think is the weakest part of the game I actually didn't care for what was going on it didn't even make sense at the end. It was another unfinished aspect to the game. The second story after you finish the main one was even more stupid.

    So to sum up the game feels "unfinished" in that elements feel like they were rushed out the door they may have been tested but it just felt mediocre compared to the prior games they have done.

    The "wild" zone isn't that big its a good attempt at making it multiplayer but it feels smaller than the safari zones in some of the earlier gba games. additionally the group play element is just broken you wait 2.5mins for someone to join your game and if you just rush it you get 3 garbage trainers with trash pokemon that proceed to chain die thus throwing you out. there is no lobby system OR facility to group up with 4 people and stay grouped after you beat a boss and move around.

    So to sum up, its an OK game but a Poor Pokémon game, will be fine for a new player just getting into pokemon but will frustrate anyone who has played the previous games or has invested time. I would wait till either the next iteration is released in 5 years time or if they can patch sword to fix some of the obvious faults such as trading and the national dex.    … Expand
  26. Cinderaceee
    Nov 22, 2019
    6
    Here's my honest review from a player who played since gen 1 and got into competetive over the years. The story of the game is really bad. It was uneeded and pokemon needs to stop trying to have story in their games. We didnt need a story 15 years ago and we dont need one now. The game holds your hand throughout the entire game also stopping you every few seconds to explain something, mostHere's my honest review from a player who played since gen 1 and got into competetive over the years. The story of the game is really bad. It was uneeded and pokemon needs to stop trying to have story in their games. We didnt need a story 15 years ago and we dont need one now. The game holds your hand throughout the entire game also stopping you every few seconds to explain something, most of the time its Hop trying to battle you or talk to you. I dont know what the devs were thinking with this dialog heavy mess since fans have complained since sun and moon we dont like inturuptions that stop gameplay. They really think people want all these different characters and explanations for stuff, we dont. Take it out, and no more annoying rivals. Let's go back to the hoenn days where we see our rival maybe 3 times. That's it. Sonia is hot too but she unfortunetly adds on too this games dialog and inturuption problem.

    Anyway the reason I'm even giving this a decent score is because I liked everything that had to do with gameplay. The new pokemon are exciting and a few or more appear on every route. There dozens of customization options for your character making each one look unique online. Gym battles are revampted and gives you an awe feel as your giant pokemon clashes with theirs. The new mechanic dynamax was weird at first but is really balanced and makes battles more intense then even megas. The saving grace of the game however is raid battles which simply is the pokemon online we all wanted. Fighting raid battles is insanity and very fun. The sheer amount of pokemon living in the wild area is incredible and saves the game from its backlash. The wild area needs to be implanted in every future game no exceptions. To sum up everything when the good clashes with the bad the good prevails. Yes they took out many pokemon which I hope will be added in later, although unforgivable theres alot to play with here and we can only be patient. I believe despite what gf says nintendo will force these lazy devs to make dlc. They have too. So if your ok slogging through constant dialog and inturuptions then you'll rewarded through your efforts with a game rich with new mechanics and gameplay. Enjoy    … Expand
  27. DarkGio
    Nov 22, 2019
    6
    Look,this game isn't as bad as some people say.
    However,it could be much better.
    The music,the character design and the trainer customization are great,but I just can't look past the cuts and the absurd excuses they used to justify them. The wild area is a step in the fight direction,but on the other hand many of its textures look unpolished and It also lags at times,especially    Look,this game isn't as bad as some people say.
    However,it could be much better.
    The music,the character design and the trainer customization are great,but I just can't look past the cuts and the absurd excuses they used to justify them.
    The wild area is a step in the fight direction,but on the other hand many of its textures look unpolished and It also lags at times,especially online,where frame drops are very noticeable.
    The animations are mostly reused and Pokémon and people pop in and out of existence depending on how far you are from them.
    The story is...lackluster,It had some potential,but ultimately It wasn't enjoyable.
    The game can be challenging at times (provided you don't overlevel your Pokémon with XP candies) but it's still a pretty easy game overall.
    To conclude,it's a fun experience,but once you stop and look at its flaws you can't help but wonder why Game Freak didn't use all the resources they had in order to make this a better game.    … Expand
  28. IHaveManyWaifus
    Nov 22, 2019
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Thing is about Pokemon is that its slowly becoming easier and easier with each new generation. I felt like my hand was held for a good portion of the game and it didn't feel right at all. It was the longest tutorial I ever had essentially. Starting it off with Hop, your rival, is by far the worst rival Pokemon has had. People can talk about the X&Y friend group all they want but Hop is just annoying. Your rival has always been the guy or gal that goes off and experience things on their own only to randomly approach you with a battle. Hop...doesn't do that. I feel like every 5 minutes the dude appears with some dialogue that isn't even that interesting and challenge you after almost no progress into game was made. He also chooses YOUR type advantage. Which is....boring. They kinda make it up a teensy tiny bit with the Champion picking your type disadvantage but it was still whatever.

    No Pokemon League. I thought the tourney would lead into the the Elite Four but it just lead into another bracket against...gym leaders. You know, the same people you beat before. I was super disappointed because the Elite Four is always pretty cool. Different type of Pokemon, may contain Pokemon you rarely see, and no rest time in-between. But in Sword your Pokemon, are healed in-between, which ruins this part of the game for me.

    Some may nor agree. But I missed stopping the evildoers. It was actually pretty cool. Where you worked with the Champion to take them down and in some games it was pretty difficult. And when you solved this huge problem you went on and completed the rest of the gyms and did the Elite Four. And when you encounter the Champion there was a sense of familiarity and respect. But in this there was none of that. The Champion just knows you because you are Hop's friend. That is his relationship with you. That is all. Which is just bland.

    No challenge whatsoever. I didn't grind at all really as its easy to level. I sometimes didn't heal Pokemon cause I really didn't have to. And i didn't even feel as accomplished when I beat the game like the other games. It was more like...yay?

    Good things about this game. Its Pokemon...I really enjoyed battles even though they were easy. Doing raids are pretty fun, I know a lot of people enjoy them a lot but I don't actively seek them but they are fun none the less. I do like some of the gym leaders more in this game than in previous ones. I like the character customization. The Wild Area was pretty fun. Some of the towns are neatly designed.

    I will try and complete the pokedex however. Cause the game was too short for me and I want to keep playing. Shiny hunting is always something I want to do at least once per game.    … Expand
  29. 1Eliash1
    Nov 23, 2019
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Hi everyone, I want to share feedback on this game. The game of course, on the one hand, the game is well made (there are new Pokémon, new items added, and so on), and on the other hand, the yoke is made very poorly for several reasons. Pokedex was limited to almost half of the Pokémon, the game was lagged in places of large concentrations of Pokémon, the game was done very poorly (After defeating the champion, the credits went right away, and at least they would reward them for defeating the champion), because in previous games on 3ds consoles there was a normal end to the game. And so I give a rating of 5.… Expand
  30. EpiKuro
    Nov 23, 2019
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I just beat Shield and it was... bare bones?

    There are only 10 routes and no real landmarks between them, it's mostly just route -> town -> route -> town.
    The routes are extremely short and rail-roady (a problem SuMo had as well) with very few NPC trainers on them.

    This was by far the easiest Pokemon game I've ever played, I was done with the main story in about 20 hours and my Pokemon were, for most of the journey, 15-20 levels above the NPCs I faced at any time.
    This was thanks to an overabundance of EXP Candy, which I got in about one hour or so, once I reached the Wild Area.

    This is the first Pokemon Game in which my team NEVER wiped, and I can count the number of times, one of my Pokemon ever reached 0 HP, on one hand.

    The wild area is small and has no real differences between its internal areas, there's a small, non-enterable ghost tower, a lake, a sandbox with some stones... and that's it I think?

    Raids get old fast, since it's damage move after damage move, without any reason to use anything else.
    Also, you feel somewhat irrelevant if you aren't the one dynamaxing, your only job is pretty much to take out one or two shield brackets and not add to the 4 deaths count.
    At the same time some 5 stars raids are impossible to do with 2-3 NPCs, since they seem to die on purpose.

    Any "evil" team will have trouble following up on Team Skull, but with Team Yell it feels like they didn't even try, for most of the time they only function as human roadblocks and nothing else.

    It was interesting to see a rival hit a slump, but they didn't follow through with that and he "got better" before anything meaningful could occur.
    Marnie wasn't even relevant for most of the time and had a lackluster finish to her story.
    Almost every side character in SuMo was more memorable than the ones in Sword and Shield.
    The story follows the same tropes a Pokemon story always does.

    The got rid of multiplayer in the Battle Tower, something that has been in the series since Gen 3, so my entire favorite post game content (co-op multiplayer with a friend in Battle Whatever) has been cut from the game.

    The online functions are jarring and unwieldy, which is especially sad because we now have to pay for them.
    You can't do multi battles with one friend against online opponents, since the code system doesn't work if only two people are using it for multi.
    There's no lobby or anything and a 4 digits code is too easy to random match with people other than your intended friend.
    If you don't use the code, friends don't get preferential treatment, you both just get matched with 3 randos in different battles, if you don't find the sticker fast enough.
    There is no GTS anymore.

    There are of course things I like: I love the designs of most of the G-Max Pokemon, I love the region/flavor, I love the cooking, I love Piers, the towns and the area with the legendaries look amazing, the fast travel is awesome (and fast!) and we can FINALLY see Pokemon before we encounter them (even on routes!).

    I accepted the dex cuts (though I do miss Mega Evolution) and I don't care about models or graphics, but, even with all the things I like, the stuff above is what makes this an below average Pokemon game for me, especially following (Ultra) Sun and (Ultra) Moon.

    The creativity was there, the design was there, the gameplay and the story weren't.
    From here on out, it's only raid after raid after raid, which makes this feel more like an MMORPG, instead of an J-RPG.
    It's all side dish with no meat.

    Bonus: Why in the world would they take out the touch organization in boxes, battles and menus? That made them so much faster and easier to use.    … Expand
  31. EpicGamerScout
    Nov 23, 2019
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Pokemon Sword is a surprisingly solid entry into the Pokemon franchise if you can overlook the flaws. While it has subpar visuals and less than half the Pokemon in the previous games, as well as an absurdly easy story, the story itself is pretty good and it has a climax that made me feel as if I'm literally saving the world. The new Pokemon are mostly great, and the post game is full of things like shiny hunting, a (dumbed down) battle tree, and a fun mission that can take you a few hours, etc.… Expand
  32. Lovio
    Nov 24, 2019
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I wish to start out by saying that I have 100% the game and clocked 111 hours. I have completed the Pokedex, I have the shiny charm, catch charm, and oval charms. I did the post-game and I have done a bit of online play as well.
    I'm going to split this review into a few parts, these are just my thoughts and might be a bit unorganized.

    Part 1: Story
    The story for the games is very par for the course for Pokemon- its enough to keep you playing. A few arcs are very interesting- like hop feeling subpar to his brother. I often found myself wishing I could interact (optionally) to get more of that from him. I also adored Marnie and Bede's arcs- while they could have used more development as well, they wrapped up nicely. Overall Team Yell opted to take a more "team skull" approach while the actual evil team was Marco Cosmos. This really confused me as the only part of the game I'd even be able to see mentions of them was in Pokejobs. I wish there was a more active role by these people and perhaps even an optional side quest about learning more. Catching Eternatus at the end was a very epic moment- but it was badly placed. I don't see why it messed up the champion match. Instead of building tension, it ruined it for me. I found myself wanting to go and beat Leon the entire time I was fighting Eternatus. The post game was also very light, running around past gyms defeating dynamax Pokemon but not being able to catch them? I get it, but it was a bit boring for me. The rare league cards were a very nice touch though, I loved the system with them where you could learn more about characters from them.

    Part 2: Pokemon/Variety
    Every review has probably touched on this, but there isn't a lot of variety in terms of Pokemon. I can count the amount of fire lines on two hands! But somehow I was able to fill a box and a half of water Pokemon. It was a very frustrating moment for me to realize how little variety there is in terms of Pokemon. Many of the 400 included are just Pokemon lines or ones of similar typing. I was disappointed by it.
    However, the new Pokemon where phenomenal! Their new animations were beautiful and they were super fun to collect! I also loved the weird, niche ways to evolve some of them (like Yamask for instance!) it was very refreshing and super fun! It reminded me of why I love Pokemon so much.

    Part 3: Graphics
    Many, many people love to gripe on the graphics. For the majority of the game (not in the wild area) they're actually completely fine. There is a lot of detail and the new shading system is beautiful! I love just how colorful everything is, the ambient light, etc.
    However the wild area has very low graphic fidelity, the trees have bad textures, the grass has apparent tiling, etc. Though these are easy to ignore due to the wild area being beautiful. Eventually it fades into the background after a while. This is NOT a deal breaker for me.

    Part 4: Mechanics
    Wild Area.
    Its a beautiful area with free roaming Pokemon and fun challenges. The balance of the wild area is perfect- you level as you move forward. Its terrifying and fun and game freak needs to add more of this! However, staying in the wild area too long makes you overpowered, as the rest of the game is not balanced for it.
    Camping.
    Extremely fun! I loved playing with my Pokemon and feeling bonded with them. I loved cooking and unlocking the balls via the curry dex. The cooking system is also very fun when you get the hang of it. I can safely say this is much more fun and interactive than amiee. I do wish I could actively play games with my Pokemon, clean them, and pet them though.
    EXP share
    I usually play with this setting on, but I dislike that the option for it to not be turned on/off was sad. I wish it was maybe hidden with an NPC in Wedgehurst, like how the earbuds are hidden.
    Earbuds
    I ADORE this feature. Turning off the background music and strolling through the wild area makes the game a nature documentary. It is beautiful and relaxing. It was a very refreshing change to the game.

    Part 5: Balance
    The game has a few balance issues- mainly late game. There are several people who grind levels and they will always be over powered- but the extent in this game was awful. Trainers on routes had Pokemon that were lower level than the wild Pokemon! There is no reason to grind- and the wild area on top of that makes for a nasty combo. I constantly found myself pushing the level cap until I hit 60.
    However, the start of the game (Milo, Nessa, and Kabu's gyms) were perfectly balanced. Their Pokemon were at the current level cap and it felt like a challenge! But near the endgame I found myself 10-20 levels above everything. It became very boring.
    This should all be scaled to the wild area, with more of that and less traditional routes.

    Part 6: Final thoughts
    I love the game, but there are some things that aren't justifiable. These games deserve so much better than what we got. Its also not fun without online.    … Expand
  33. Ganvyr
    Nov 24, 2019
    5
    I have always been a fan of Pokemon games, and this one is no exception. Pokemon Sword and Shield seemed like a breath of fresh air for the series, with an expansive game world, updated graphics, and a new European take on the series. However, even though I set my bar for the game very low, I still felt disappointed.

    I also played Let's Go Eevee and Pikachu, and I felt the experience    I have always been a fan of Pokemon games, and this one is no exception. Pokemon Sword and Shield seemed like a breath of fresh air for the series, with an expansive game world, updated graphics, and a new European take on the series. However, even though I set my bar for the game very low, I still felt disappointed.

    I also played Let's Go Eevee and Pikachu, and I felt the experience was more casual than the average Pokemon game, but I wasn't expecting Sword to be the same kind of casual game. Pokemon Sword is shockingly easy, and I was able to beat almost every trainer that came my way with my starter. EXP Candies dull out the experience, and Hop, your rival, is trivial and never is a challenge. I didn't feel difficulty playing the game whatsoever.

    The casual nature did disappoint me, but I was hopeful other aspects of Sword would impress me. I got let down again. The graphics are subpar, and is some places, just look like a 3DS port. Also, when entering a Pokemon Battle in some places, the developers just didn't bother to put in a background, and either just transported you to the wilderness, or to a room with a white background. There are many reused assets, and the framerate is never consistent, especially in the Wild Area. The textures for the ground look awful, and background renders look like they came straight from the N64. Even the animations for the Pokemon feel astoundingly lazy. The move "Double Hit," for example, is just the Pokemon hopping slightly twice. However, one thing I can say about the graphics is that all the models in the game are very sharp, with every Pokemon and person looking clean. This creates an awkward contrast between the ugly world and the nice-looking characters. There are only a few places in the world where the game looks really nice: the places where they couldn't reuse any models, animations, and textures from the 3DS.

    I won't spend much time on the next topic, but the pacing is awful. The tutorial drags on for way too long, and the world is too linear. The most common excuse for why I can't go somewhere is, "Team Yell blocks your path!" or "Traveling by air just isn't the same as traveling by foot." There is also no conflict in the story, no antagonist, which makes it more difficult for me to continue the journey because I have no motivation.

    However, if you're waiting to hear something good about the game, there are a few things that I really enjoyed about this new entry in the Pokemon games:
    The Wild Area, while looking ugly, is extremely fun, and I constantly find myself returning there to catch new Pokemon, or do a Raid Battle.
    The music is also very enjoyable, bring the constant Pokemon vibe that mostly everyone knows. (There is just a little bit of weird music clipping)
    Pokemon Camp is very enjoyable, and the animations there feel very clean and polished.
    All the towns also have very interesting designs, every one distinct from one another.

    But that's it. The cons of this game are blatant, and they grab and pull me out of this immersive game world. This game feels rushed or lazy, I can't tell. But this game is not a good representation of Pokemon - The Largest Media Franchise on the world. Even bigger than Star Wars, or Mickey Mouse. Pokemon is bigger than Disney, and they can't make a game that is as immersive, thoughtful, thorough, and likable as Ring Fit Adventure. Yes, Ring Fit Adventure feels more thorough and well thought out than Pokemon.

    And remember this game is $60.    … Expand
  34. GarrMoose
    Nov 25, 2019
    5
    The move onto the Switch brought forth much for this series and while it has delivered a totally new Pokemon experience the many lackluster aspects of the game hold it back from being the truly excellent game it easily could have been. I guess I will go and break down the good and then the bad points of the game. *=Key Points

    Pros: -The game looks better than it ever has graphically. -The    The move onto the Switch brought forth much for this series and while it has delivered a totally new Pokemon experience the many lackluster aspects of the game hold it back from being the truly excellent game it easily could have been. I guess I will go and break down the good and then the bad points of the game. *=Key Points

    Pros:
    -The game looks better than it ever has graphically. -The gym system overhaul brought a breath of fresh air to the series and played well into the main story.*

    -The new Pokemon designs for the most part felt very inspired and I overall enjoyed them.

    -Seeing Pokemon in the overworld really changed up the Pokemon experience and having them also appear in random encounters kept part of the classic feel. The large, open explorable Wild area is the best example of this.

    -Handholding was slightly reduced in the sense of forced tutorials.

    -A great deal of things were made more convenient like the introduction of nature changing mints, easier ev training, egg move transferring and using your pc almost anywhere. This makes things like preparing Pokemon for competitive play far less time consuming.*

    -Dynamax raids offer a fun new way to catch special Pokemon.

    -3D character designs themselves look better than ever.

    Cons:
    -More than 50% of Pokemon models were excluded from this game. You are limited to a regional dex of 400 and around 30 more models are within the code.**

    -Mega evolutions and z moves were cut and replaced with the lackluster dynamax feature, essentially a 3 turn long combo of both concepts but far less enjoyable and meta shifting in a way I and many others find unideal.*

    -While graphically the best of the series the game still lacks polish in many areas. Models still bear a good amount of pixelation which I expected a departure from moving onto the Switch and many even lack detailed textures to a great extent. You would expect after having had to cut back on so much Pokemon content that the studio would have been able to at least deliver the level of smooth clean looking textures one would expect from a 2019 AAA Switch title.*

    -Story playthrough difficulty was immensely lowered, partially due to an exp share system that you are no longer able to turn off and then due to opponents having weak team builds and/or movesets or just a lower number of Pokemon on their team to take on your full team. Veteran players or even those who want some more difficulty out of their playthrough will not find it in this game.*

    -Lacking postgame content compared to most Pokemon titles.

    -Routes were very linear and uninspired, wild area while fairly vast was also somewhat bland and lacking graphical polish most of all.

    -Unideal online interface. Better than Sun and Moons but still lacking in how easy it makes it to connect with others.

    -Lacking game functionality with online. The wild area is supposed to turn into a big open world experience with others when online but with online functions enabled it turns into an absolute mess of different players frozen and appearing all over different parts of the wild area everywhere you go. I also struggle to be able to connect with others for raids/etc oftentimes and have had similar troubles with local play. You often have to try several times to get it to work even in local play.

    -Forced 20 min time limit on 6v6 rule formats. The one thing I love to do most is 6v6 singles battles online and now I will have to have most of my battles cut short due to a short time limit. (most singles battles I have done take around 24 or more minutes) This almost makes the ease of preparing competitive Pokemon all for naught for players like me and 6v6 online battling is what gives many players reason to keep playing months and months after release.**

    There are probably other more minor issues and pros I have with the game but these basically sum up why I give it the rating I do. This game had everything set up for it to be a 9-10 and possibly even the best in a long running series of good games jumping off of the very limited and antiquated 3DS system but yet squandered so much of its potential with the controversial and even bizarre decisions made by its studio, Gamefreak and overall lack of polish.Despite introducing some truly great aspects to the series this game continues the trend of Pokemon’s last two generations of taking one step forward for the series and one larger step back, this time in possibly the most detrimental ways the series has ever seen.    … Expand
  35. AudaciousApple
    Nov 25, 2019
    6
    I really enjoyed the parts of the game that were there, but the entire game feels unfinished. I feel like the game could've been so much more if they just pushed it back a few months to flesh it out. More than any other Pokemon game thus far, this game feels rushed and unfinished. At least they chose to polish the parts of the game that did make the cut instead of pushing in a bunch ofI really enjoyed the parts of the game that were there, but the entire game feels unfinished. I feel like the game could've been so much more if they just pushed it back a few months to flesh it out. More than any other Pokemon game thus far, this game feels rushed and unfinished. At least they chose to polish the parts of the game that did make the cut instead of pushing in a bunch of broken, half-finished features like a lot of other AAA games these days. I would give it a 7, but the online functionality is really bad, and the removal of the GTS (Global Trading System) makes it almost impossible to complete the Pokédex without having both copies of the game.… Expand
  36. OnlyGoken
    Nov 27, 2019
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. On one hand, Pokémon Sword and Shield has many quality of life changes and other great things that make these games feel fun. The gyms are the best we've had since the fifth generation, Galarian forms look excellent, many of the new Pokémon are brilliant, and the Wild Area is a good first step to a more open Pokémon experience. On the other hand...

    To say this game goes below my expectations for a 2019 Nintendo Switch game from the highest grossing media franchise of all time would be understatement of the millenium. This game has atrocious pop in, a lack of options, a lack of fan favorites (despite how many great Pokémon are in the game, a few of not just my favorites but literal hundreds of people's favorites and iconic Pokémon were cut), a poor sense of balancing and a plethora of other issues.

    To start with a big gripe, this story is a blatant rehash of previous plots. The innocent looking person running a facility actually wants to use a powerful and mysterious Pokémon for their own reason, like Lusamine. Your rival is an energetic and peppy darker skinned male who's hyperactive and is overshadowed by their relative who is of a higher rank, and thus has high expectations thrusted on them, like Hau. The evil team are essentially social rejects that just cause a lot of trouble but arent threats, like Team Skull. Another rival is a jerk who has parential/family issues and eventually learns to be less of a jerk, like Silver (and Paul if you include the anime). Your character is chosen by the guardian of the area you live in, like Tapu Koko and Mespirit. The problem isnt reusing tropes from the series but how blatantly they're reused with little variation. Piers isnt a copy of Roxie because, while they're both gym leaders with a musical motif, Piers' character is about him disliking Dynamaxing and wanting the best for his sister, while Roxie just likes music. It doesnt help that Leon's only personality is just "I'm the UNBEATABLE champion with my EPIC Charizard" because Rock-Type trainers don't exist in Galar.

    The lack of an optional EXP Share meant I had to avoid raid battles, optional trainers, Pokémon jobs, and Pokémon camp because i'd be far too overleveled. Even with the limiting of my choices I still was only 3 levels below the limit which is a bit uncomfortably close. I'll admit the EXP Share is better balanced than I anticipated but that doesnt mean a whole lot when your expectations were rock bottom. The AI too also seems awful, like Hop using normal moves on a Ghost-Type at one point and him wasting turns when a tackle would've taken out an opposing Pokémon. The AI also seems to lack recovery, since many AI struggled against a Runegrigas I had on my team. The only exception is Leon who had a hard counter for every member of my team. The animations on returning Pokémon is laughably poor. I expect better animation from a game that cut Pokémon specifically for balancing, not 3DS quality animations that are blatantly reused it isnt funny. The new animations like the signature moves of course look excellent, as does Scorbunny's animations in general, but I specifically am referring to new animations for old Pokémon that weren't just in Sun and Moon's code.

    Pokémon were also cut for balance but this meta is atrocious. Wow, way to buff Rapid Spin. Because it TOTALLY needed a buff. Nonono, the fact that it removes hazards from only your side of the field wasnt enough, no siree. Now let's give it 50 power, 40 PP and it buffs your speed. Now Excadrill is pretty much broken. Oh, and Jolteon? RIP its viability without HP Ice and Signal Beam. Lando-T was an excellent counter for Aegislash so have fun with it roaming around being neigh unstoppable. Gengar has Nasty Plot now, and no worries of Pursuit trapping, so it gets to set up for free. Return is gone so RIP a powerful Normal move for a lot of Pokémon. Weather wars may have been bad and Gen 1's meta was limited but Weather Wars had more variety AND Gen 1 has the excuse of being Gen 1. This gen removed a lot of counters and buffed already excellent Pokémon, so yeah, great balancing job guys.

    The route design of this game is extremely poor. In fact, the game itself feels like a 3DS game. 10 routes and 11 cities? C'mon guys, and the routes are literal hallways with Sonic Forces inspired design of "alternate pathways" being a small corridor that branches off for a small goodie then goes back on the main path or is a dead end. The lack of nonlinearity makes exploring old routes pointless. The Wild Area seemed to try to capture all of that, but it's so baren and boring. Raid battles are kinda fun, but that's all it offers. Exploring it in your ugly clown outfit is ten times worse and the popin and frame dips online are pathetic for an AAA game.

    Sword and Shield arent the worst, at least there's stuff to talk about. But this far below BW2, Emerald or Platinum. 5/10 for being half good/half bad.    … Expand
  37. sewerbaby
    Nov 30, 2019
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game is incredibly lacking in comparison to older games. Dexit is a minor factor. Textures in the Wild Area are awful and on the level of an N64 game. Pokemon battle animations and models are direct copies of their 3DS counterparts, and are visually dated. Story is written quite poorly, with plot elements that had not previously been established appearing out of nowhere in an uninteresting fashion. Online play has been smooth however, and the tournament styled elite four replacement battles are welcome.… Expand
  38. bubblehead333
    Dec 1, 2019
    5
    Pokemon Sword and Shield are good games, but when compared with other titles on the Switch can come up short. It seems this generation is riding heavily on the fantastic new Pokemon available, and not so much on graphics, technical achievements or other game play mechanics. This generation is very much 'rinse and repeat'. Though the new region of Galar is charming, post-game you rarely seePokemon Sword and Shield are good games, but when compared with other titles on the Switch can come up short. It seems this generation is riding heavily on the fantastic new Pokemon available, and not so much on graphics, technical achievements or other game play mechanics. This generation is very much 'rinse and repeat'. Though the new region of Galar is charming, post-game you rarely see it as you're grinding raid battles in the quite sparsely populated, bland wild area. While I don't think the shortened Pokemon roster is a problem (in fact I think it's a positive!) it is a shame that their animations can look a little robotic.
    Gyms are done really well, though it would have been nice to have more back story to the gym leaders like in Sun and Moon.
    The story is just...well confusing. Some parts seem rushed, some parts ignored. There is one scene where two main characters are talking on a huge tower (with subtitles no voice acting) over still images of a poorly rendered environment. You think something big is going to go down.....it doesn't...he just walks off. It's also the only time these still images are used in the game. Was this to save time rendering additional animations? Even when the majority of important dialogue in game is just a model flapping their mouth with a bit with text? There are many peculiar instances like this, doesn't fit with the rest of the game and nothing...happens.

    Pros:
    -New Pokemon are amazing, would go to say they are my favourite generation wise
    -Starter Pokemon are cool
    -Galar has lots of charm and plenty of quirks
    -Gyms are really cool, based on football stadiums, and celebrity status associated is fun
    -Battles are fun, and seem well balanced
    -UI is spot on, Pokemon Box handling is done very well
    -Breeding mechanics are now easier and more accessible
    -Pokemon Camp is a cool mechanic, makes you feel that you are on some adventure
    -Refreshing to see a well done, diverse cast of characters

    Cons
    -Graphics are just average at best, poor low-poly back drops and foreground meshes
    -Pokemon animations can leave a lot to be desired
    -Horrendous frame rate problems when adventuring in the wild area whilst connected to the internet
    -Shameful model pop-in at close range
    -Technically just really struggles
    -Empty audio-wise, with little going on apart from soundtrack in most areas
    -Can feel as though the Champion gets all the fun stuff (that you would normally get in previous titles: Team Rocket etc)
    -Story at the end is just....confusing?
    -No optional extra areas, linear
    -Difficulty is too easy (all it took was an difficulty level for veterans!)

    All in all Pokemon Sword and Shield are just...average, being supported by an incredible roster of well designed and interesting Pokemon. It feels Game Freak were a bit out of their depth on the Switch with all the new technology as the game really struggles technically, with the poor graphics being further evidence. Die hard fans will leave the game thinking what if, for a title perhaps more geared towards the casual players of Let's Go and Go.    … Expand
  39. Lordchiguire
    Dec 5, 2019
    5
    Normalmente menos es más, en éste caso, menos es peor.

    Es un juego divertido que es arrastrado por mediocridad detrás de su desarrollo, no me extenderé demasiado en el tema, así que lo resumiré en 4 puntos principales: Jugabilidad, Gráficas, Dirección artística y Trama. Empezaré por lo que considero que es lo mejor, la dirección artística me parece correcta, mucho de los diseños de    Normalmente menos es más, en éste caso, menos es peor.

    Es un juego divertido que es arrastrado por mediocridad detrás de su desarrollo, no me extenderé demasiado en el tema, así que lo resumiré en 4 puntos principales: Jugabilidad, Gráficas, Dirección artística y Trama.

    Empezaré por lo que considero que es lo mejor, la dirección artística me parece correcta, mucho de los diseños de los nuevos Pokémon son muy buenos, de los mejores de toda la saga, por mencionar algunos: Dragapult, Rillaboom, Hatterene, etc; sin embargo, hay otros que no, pero ya eso es una cuestión de gustos, en líneas generales siento que GameFreak igual debe desviarse un poco de los diseños más antropomorfos que han establecido con las últimas generaciones y volver un poco a las raíces animalisticas que era el estándar de la saga. En cuánto a la música, ni una sola queja, excelente, los temas de batalla dan bastantes ganas de eso, batallar. Probablemente uno de mis temas favoritos es el de la segunda mitad de la Wild Area con las gaitas y todo ese sabor bien europeo. Mi único deseo es que las rutas tuviesen más música propia, creo que todas reproducen los dos temas de la Wild Area, pero eso ya va con un punto de como abordaron las rutas en éste juego en general.

    La Trama es básicamente inexistente, no hay nada interesante que realmente te presione a seguir jugando más allá de hacer los gimnasios que en ésta entrega me parece que la hicieron fantástico, esa sensación de tener espectadores y que sea un deporte nacional las batallas Pokémon le da un color a todo el tema que nunca habían explorado, me gustaría que se mantuviera, con sus cambios respectivos. Pokémon nunca ha destacado por tener tramas super complicadas, pero ya estaba teniendo, en mi opinión una buena racha, siendo Black & White y Black & White 2 el pináculo de éste aspecto. Una lástima, no hay mucho por que recordar el juego, no hay momentos como Rayquaza bajando del cielo a calmar a sus hermanos menores peleones, no hay plan de eliminar el universo para crear uno nuevo. A pesar que as estructuras argumentales ya se han agotado, siempre hay maneras de combinarlas y hacer algo más interesante que lo que fue la campaña de éste juego.

    La jugabilidad es la misma de siempre, batallas por turnos, sólo que se han eliminado varias cosas que son queridas por la comunidad, como el Pokédex Nacional, Mega evoluciones, Movimientos Z, etc. Ya debes estar al tanto de toda la polémica al rededor de esto, pero solo emitiré ésta opinión: No siempre menos es más. Más allá de eso UI/UX del juego es muy bueno, limpio, fácil de navegar, un rediseño muy agradecido. Otro juego donde la dificultad sigue siendo casi inexistente creando casi ningún tipo de reto para el fan que vuelve a la saga, ya en Black & White (1 o 2 no estoy seguro) pusieron diferentes dificultades, no sería mal que volvieran, daría un mejor sabor que de verdad tengas que pensar como armar tu equipo, los movesets y todo ese cuento, pero nuevamente, se dejó atrás.

    Ahora vamos a la parte realmente fea, los gráficos. Es inexcusable lo que hizo GF para ésta entrega de juegos, no ahondaré en polémicas, pero debe tomarse en cuenta que éste juego es como una versión mal re-escalada de los de 3Ds, con todo el poder que tienen en sus manos con la Swicth decidieron hacer las cosas más mediocres para lo que es la primera entrega de un juego de Pokémon en consola de sobremesa, eso, además de malas texturas, animaciones flojas, no hay voice acting, ni siquiera exclamaciones vocales como en Zelda, nada, ya pues, estamos en el 2019 y ésta es la franquicia que más dinero hace en el mundo, le pueden poner un poco más de esfuerzo, no?

    En fin, se me pasaron cosas como lo casi imposible que es intercambiar Pokémon con un amigo o hacer batallas o hacer cualquier cosa online, las bajadas de fps en la Wild Area, etc.

    Ojalá GamFreak haga algo realmente bueno con todo el dinero que han hecho vendiendo éstas mediocridades y contraten más personal...si es que ese es el problema.    … Expand
  40. LeMagiMagikarp
    Jun 5, 2020
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I felt compelled to write a review so I could do justice to the game. Being clear, it isn't the worst game ever. Where it shines, shines. But the shinning spots coexist in a multitude of problems, some of them old dear "friends" of the Pokémon franchise.
    In first place, let's talk about the Dexit. Being a player since 1999, when I first started Pokémon Red, all games always felt unbalanced. And the great expansion of the Pokédex along the years hasn't done anything to really fix that. Rayquaza needed its own tier. Meta in last generation was vastly dominated by Tapu and Ultra Beasts. Protean Greninja was a thing in Gen 6, when the use of Megas was almost required. Game Freak does a poor job recognizing these problems. Rebalancing a game around 400-ish creatures, well-selected, with new monsters, abilities, movepool alterations would be a welcome project, stimulating experimentation and giving some overlooked Pokémon the opportunity to shine. Switching from Megas and Z-moves and other obvious gimmicks to a single, less buffed, mechanic would also dynamize battles.
    Sadly, none of this actually happened the way it should. Dynamaxing became pretty centerfold of combat, and we got still another Charizard power-up. Few to none Pokémon was reworked to make it viable, with the exception being few Galarian forms. And, after Alolan Meowth, I don't know anyone who honestly thought that was a Pokémon in need of another recharacterization. Now, was partly undone in a scammy DLC-exclusive route, which doesn't seem - again - to fix our problem. So, what was broke, just remained.
    That said, the cartoony atmosphere of the game was very well-done and cohesive. The game is cohesive. The UI is clean and the best in the series so far. New Pokémon are creative and well-designed. The trainer customization has evolved a lot. QoL improvements very needed came to light in this instance. Be it the accessible boxes, the easily-manageable exp, EVs, IVs and Natures (making competitive much more approachable in a time-scarce world) or the HMs fully begone. The most notable one though, is the Pokémon being visible on field. The humour is also top-notch comparing to previous entries, the Fairy Gym sub-arc and the train line blockade being among my favorites.
    On the artsy side still, the soundtrack is ok with a few highlights, such as the gym leader battle theme, but it sounds like composed without its setting in mind. It's still definitely a Pokémon soundtrack, but a subpar one. Toby Fox's presence.
    And it ends here. Sword (& Shield) suffers then problems the series has struggled with its newfound identity since Kalos. The post-game, once the most anticipated and challenging part of the game is quasi-gone. In its place, we have a pretty short (and dull) narrative about the continent's lore, which doesn't even expand the lore at all. No more dungeons, or anything resembling explorable areas. The map is the most linear since Kanto (which, even then, gave you some freedom to the order you would traverse it). Caverns, mountains and volcanos with any backtracking or silly puzzles? No, none of it. And what appears at first time to be a colorful and extensive land becomes fully seen in no more than 20 hours. For comparison, the fixed camera angle and successive corridors feel more a limitation than a creative choice. The Gym challenge helps to break the tedium. Challenges are, for most, fun, solving the old problem of making gyms less repetitive (and enjoyable again). But the leaders mostly come out of nowhere. There isn't a clear and compelling reason to keep going on the campaign and it's also too short. The new format for the league, on the other hand, is a breath of fresh air. It makes the gym leaders and their scalling a little more believable. The "championship" format is well-done enough to feel alive, and your title as champion as something earned, in opposition to the soft-rebooted status it has amid previous iterations' postgame content.
    In my earlier remarks it's clear much of the problems within the game come from its linearity. Some people as I may had hopes the massive Wild Area would solve this. It's not the case. Raids are a new fun element and all, but the difficult to connect to other partners and repetitiveness of the task undermine it. And there's little more to the Wild Area than this. The lack of explorable environments and constant popping up of Pokémon and field elements only make it worse. Many times I felt bored, obligated to do this to get any Gigantamaxes.
    At last, the subplot is among the weakest. It's not about being simple or childish. JRPGs with simple plot can be meaningful (ex: DQ). It's not the case. Much is reused from Alola: the characterization, the villain plot twist. Team Yell is just tiresome, and the Chairman's machinations aren't that coherent. I could congratulate the build-up to Eternatus fight, which is careful. The fight is itself underwhelming. As is, as exposed, the whole game.    … Expand
  41. Quillstone
    Dec 3, 2019
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I honestly don't think the game is that bad, but it's not amazing either. I really like the pokemon camp feature; it's kind of fun, and I like that you can get friendly with your pokemon a lot faster now. There are some new and interesting pokemon, like the Hatenna line that stood out nicely. And then the really weird one like Duraludon (skyscraper pokemon. Really?). The spin on getting Gym Badges is new and different. I really enjoyed a lot of the puzzles and the missions, and there was more focus on the gym leaders than before.

    I don't really like the TR feature all that much. Especially since the TR is locked behind either the Watts, or you have to hope that the pokemon you're max raiding has what you want. The fact that the strong TM, like Flamethrower and Thunderbolt and Psychic, are TR only just makes it a lot worse. I mean, we got rid of one use TM for a reason, and now we're taking a step right back with this feature. I know you guys wanna push the whole max raid and watts thing, but it's really tedious and grindy when you have to ride your bike around the Wild Area to collect enough Watts. Especially since most of those poke dens give 50watts, and they don't respawn until the next day. Not everyone is into Max Raids either. Especially since you get trash npc helping you if you don't have online subscription.

    I'm kind of neutral on the Dynamaxing deal. It's like Mega evolutions and Z-power. It lasts for three turns max, and you can breeze through it if you Max Guard twice and attack once, then get back into a regular pokebattle. It's not really all that fun when you have only access to aAx "whatever element name" and Max Guard. It gets boring very fast when I have to spam Max Overgrowth for three turns.

    Pokemon being out in the wild is interesting. On one hand, I like that I can pick and choose which pokemon I want, but on the other hand, it gets tiring very fast when you're being chased by five Growlithes and two Maractus.

    The Wild Area is okay, I guess. You can get interesting pokemon there, but God save your soul if you want to be there online. Just....god speed, buddy. I can honestly see the potential in the Wild Area, but the execution was a meh in my book. Could have been done better.

    I kind of miss that the villain team was the main villain. In Pokemon Sword and Shield, they're not a huge nuisance like other teams are, but they're easily forgettable. At least, I kept forgetting they existed until they popped up out of nowhere. I don't even know what their reason is other than "help Marnie out". I wasn't a fan of Team Skull, but I found them to have a better, more solid motive than Team Yell. I kind of liked the complexity that was Team Galactic and Team Plasma, and just how absolutely evil they were. Then again, I was scarred by Purugly and Skuntank in Pokemon DPP. :(

    As for your rival, Hop. Let's just say he's a cut and paste job of Hau. I kept fixing myself when I called him Hau. Doesn't help the fact that his personality is similar to Hau, and has the exact same animation movements like Hau. Even the fact that he doesn't have much going for him outside of "I have to be better than so and so family member". At least Hau grew near the end of Sun and Moon. Hop was just annoying from beginning to end. I know rivals are overdone at this point, but this is a bit too lazy.

    This sounds weird, but I kind of hate that you're just handed revives like candy. I currently have 10 revives, and none of them were bought by me. They were either given to me, or I found a bunch in the Wild Area. Revives are expensive in the game for a reason. I don't mind a game being hard, and I don't mind a game helping out here and there, but it's kind of insulting when the game is too easy.

    I love that the tutorial is short though. And I don't have to sit there and listen to the npcs babbling about how to catch pokemon and stuff. I have the option to skip through all that. :')

    The game's ending was okay. It was kind of....anticlimactic. The bad guy wasn't really all that memorable. I kind of forgot about him during the duration of me playing the game. So, when he suddenly popped up and was the bad guy, my reaction was more of "Oh. I forgot you existed." I wish the villain was more memorable, like Ghetsis and Cyrus. They're memorable because they were just evil. You knew they were, and they definitely left a mark. The villain in Sword and Shield was just very underwhelming. Even his belief and motive was just a "meh."

    I'm also kind of iffy about the GTS behind locked behind the Nintendo Online AND Pokemon Home online subs. Why? Link Trades are locked behind Nintendo Online sub as well. :|

    Is the game bad? Not really. Is it great? No. I mean, I'll play it when I need to fill some time, if I feel like it, but between Witcher 3 and FFVII being on the Switch, I just have better games to default to than SWSH.

    (Not sure if my review is considered spoiler-y, but I'll check it anyways. :D )    … Expand
  42. Hemoh54
    Dec 9, 2019
    6
    Not satisfied because the story too short and less event also character not interesting
  43. Filmanwalt
    Jan 14, 2020
    7
    Trying to rate this more objectivly. For me the Game as it stands is good and enjoyable. The Game isnt without its flaws.

    Presentation Really loved the anime style of presentation. You can see a lot of cutscenes and the graphics are okay, but could be a little bit better. Gameplay Dynamaxing, Raids, double fights and more. You have some sort of content in this game and it    Trying to rate this more objectivly. For me the Game as it stands is good and enjoyable. The Game isnt without its flaws.

    Presentation

    Really loved the anime style of presentation. You can see a lot of cutscenes and the graphics are okay, but could be a little bit better.

    Gameplay

    Dynamaxing, Raids, double fights and more. You have some sort of content in this game and it doesnt get boring. Therefore some of the activities are very lame, like the cooking or the pokejobs. I really didnt do them and dont felt like missing sth.

    The Fights are eazy for the most part, especially the arena leaders, but I liked the challenges and the league like system.

    Story

    Its nothing special, but for me the connections to some real problems (clima change e.g.) are good to see. The Story is good presented but not really suprising, you can see the outcome by a mile.

    Soooo....big problem for me is that a lot of the new pokemon arent interesting and that they cut so much pokemon out and now will bring a lot back with DLC. That is a bad taste on their product, but its an good pokemon for the switch, it just needed more Pokemon.    … Expand
  44. lelbro
    Jan 14, 2020
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Controversy aside, examining this game on its own merit, Pokemon Sword is pretty good. The new pokemon are extremely unique and creative, fitting into their environments perfectly. It was really clever how some of the Pokemon were able to be seen and encountered in the overworld, while others would chase you in the grass, thus expanding upon how pokemon fit into their environments. By the end of the adventure, I fell in love with a lot of characters like Marnie, Bede, Sonia, Piers, Team Yell, and many, if not all, gym leaders. I even loved Hop who I was indifferent towards in the beginning of the game. The wild area is a great, intuitive addition that could have been so much more. Routes and towns/cities use both expected landscapes and new ones to spice up the formula. The battles themselves look great and are a joy to watch.

    In terms of the downsides, the story is intriguing and simple enough to follow, but there is a lot that doesn't make sense or isn't explained well enough. The pacing is inconsistent, especially in the beginning and towards the ending. At times you could be flying through gyms, while at other times it takes hours to get to another gym battle. Speaking of battles, there are too many battles with Hop, however that could be argued as a positive because the player is able to witness the evolution of his team. The game is a little too easy as well. During the entire play through, I don't think I lost a single battle, but then again, this is coming from someone who has played pokemon for over a decade. The online system for finding raid battles and activities in the wild area is just plain bad. The stamps do not refresh quick enough, causing many of the activities to be expired by the time you see them. The wild area lags a bunch as well. Cutscenes can be slow and hand-holding sometimes. The entire currydex system is cute, but a waste of time in my opinion. Gigantamaxing is cool, however the gimmick is not enough to sell the game for me. Lastly, the graphics are extremely lacking considering what the switch is capable of running.

    Now in terms of what Pokemon Sword represents for the series, it is a huge let down. This game was supposed to be Pokemon's true triumphant jump to HD, but there are times where the graphics and textures look like they are from the PS2 era. The developers ripped out the national dex, which to me was fine because it encourages the usage of pokemon one normally wouldn't use, however, their reasoning for it was not justified. They said they wanted to focus on animation, movement, and expressiveness, when it looks the same as it would have on a 3DS. Gamefreak also obviously reused some of same models from those games in this one. The moves look very similar as well. The post game content is extremely lacking, especially when compared to HGSS. It can be seen as a downgrade from the Let's Go games, since your pokemon can't follow you in the overworld. I can truly understand where all the hate is coming from and why this game currently has a user score of 4.5.

    With all of the negatives I just stated, it might sound surprising that I'm giving this game a 7. There is still a lot to love here; it is still a pokemon game through and through. The initial ending is ok, but the post-game ending was very fulfilling and gave me a feeling that I normally don't get from many games nowadays. I even got a little bit of that surreal feeling in the early game. It might just be the Pokemon magic, but because I ended the game with feelings of genuine happiness and satisfaction inside me, I'm happy I played it. I might even consider buying dlc depending on how much content it withholds.    … Expand
  45. Robertinho123
    Jun 20, 2020
    7
    I really enjoy the base game, but there's very little postgame, raiding is okay, but honestly the online system is so crap that 5 star pokemon are almost impossible to catch.

    When some of the mechanics are so broken, it's hard to give it more than a 7. If they fix the online, I'll bump it to 8, but I doubt that'll happen.
  46. Luccio26
    Jan 27, 2020
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Story 1.5/3
    Let's start by saying who really plays Pokémon for its story content? The generic child who leaves town to take on forces that no 10 year old would ever deal with in the real world to become the best trainer in the region hasn't changed tac since the early 90s with Pokémon Red & Blue. Generation 8 is more of the same. You start as that gleamy eyed kid and your best friends brother who's the champion who has never lost a battle in his life will eventually be taken down by yourself in the end of the story. There is about 5 hours of story content here going from city to city. Maybe 6-7 if you take your time exploring and getting the legendries post game. Where the game shines is its Meta where I have a lot to say. Hop your friend is an interesting character. His plot develops quite nicely as he slowly comes realise he won't ever be better than you and starts to see he can fulfil his goals in other ways. It's a nice side story that most people will miss because of their blatant hatred for Game-Freaks DEXIT. Bede is also another interesting character who's your pseudo rival and eventually ends up taking over as one of the Gym Leaders.
    Gameplay 3/3
    I'm going to come out and say it. I was originally sceptical about the decision to cut the Pokedex down to 400 from its 800+ choices. However those who say you can't 'CATCH EM ALL" need to understand you haven't actually been able to catch them all since Gen 3 where the slogan ended on the box art. That was 5 generations ago. I also want to say that importing pokemon from game to game and your poke-bank is not catching them all. So to pour hate into this game without understanding why I find to be a very weak argument to say this game is bad. Secondly upon reaching the METAGAME I came to like the pokemon cuts. Here's why. I have been playing competitive pokemon since gen 4 in online tournaments and VGC tournaments in Oceanic leagues and Australia. I have partaken in ranked battles for over 10 years. Generally I find myself locked into a rotating team of about 10-15 pokemon that I use and the same types of pokes would appear on a regular basis and the end games felt repetitive and redundant when you see the same cookie cutter builds all the time. In Sword I run with a rotating team of around 25-30 pokemon all Max IV, EV and competitive battle ready. This is because there are more viable options to choose from in the meta as the OU, RU and NU tiers aren't clear. Yes you may see the same types of pokes appear still because of the SMOGON gamers however they can be easily countered with smarter battling. There may be half the amount of pokemon available however I find myself using more than I ever did in my last 4 generations of competitive battling. There seems to be less filler, and a more balanced end game which I like and find it refreshing. Dynamaxing is a quirky and fun game play loop and if used right can be the perfect wall to an opposing Dynamax or a clean sweep when set up right. There have been a lot of QOL fixes too which allow for easier breeding, EV and IV training as well as fast travel options. Instead of breeding the perfect competitive pokemon and training it up taking hours per pokemon. You can now do the same in under an hour. Giving me more opportunity to trial teams in competitive battles rather than using the same ones over and over. The wild area is fun. Smaller than I thought however with more updates coming (Yes its paid DLC but its still better and cheaper than buying a full priced game that was ULTRA SUN & MOON) we get more wild areas and content to sink our teeth into as well as new pokemon and forms.
    Sound/Music 1/2
    Nothing great but still the same fun jingles we have come to love with pokemon games. However this is a switch game. There is no voice acting still, still no pokemon voices from their cries outside of Pikachu and Eevee. When and if there is a next gen switch console and hopefully another pokemon game I expect to see an improvement in this
    Visual Art Design 1.5/2
    Looks more like a polished 3DS game than a Switch game. Zelda BOTW is proof you can have a good looking game in a cartoon looking design. Still a great colour palate, fun new pokemon designs world designs.

    My final verdict for this game is a 7/10. I am enjoying the meta game and it is really why any serious pokemon fans play the games. The rest of the content is a bit lacking which is where it falls down however this is not a sub 5 game than most fans are giving it out of spite for GameFreaks decisions. They have added a lot of QOL as well as bringing out new content. I would also like to point out this new content does not mean you have to buy it to enjoy the new pokemon & forms, you can trade and receive them through other means so don't be fooled by what you read on forums. Give it a go if you are sitting on the fence because as a veteran of pokemon games I can say you shouldn't pass this one up.    … Expand
  47. Shapeshifter69
    Jan 27, 2020
    7
    This is a incredible Pokemon game in my opinion (despite the dex cut) and let me explain my reasoning why. The game is fun and doesn't interrupt you a lot either. My main gripe with sun and moon was the fact that the story was great but it simply stopped the player too much along the way. Sword and shield finally hit that perfect area where it obviously has a story but it doesn't interruptThis is a incredible Pokemon game in my opinion (despite the dex cut) and let me explain my reasoning why. The game is fun and doesn't interrupt you a lot either. My main gripe with sun and moon was the fact that the story was great but it simply stopped the player too much along the way. Sword and shield finally hit that perfect area where it obviously has a story but it doesn't interrupt you (and in some cases you can just skip it if you want to get into the Pokemon fun). The game provides competitive players with easier ways to change natures get stats and more making this game beginner friendly for people that want to get into the competitive. The main campaign is fun but a bit easy (though its Pokemon what do you expect it is a beginner RPG). One of the things I really like are the new designs of the Pokemon. As much as I loved the sun and moon games and x and y Pokemon they felt lackluster compared to the superior gen 5. This game finally provides us with incredible Pokemon designs something that has felt missing for years. Now the online functionality is not the greatest. The removal of the GTS was the saddest part and the fact you can't camp with your friends without pure luck is annoying. I feel like it should've been more like x and y where you could see peoples profile and if they want to trade or battle. Max raid battles as fun as they are are also incredibly annoying. I hate the fact that they only refresh after everyday when in all reality it should run on a hourly system. Also finding any raid online that isnt down or already finished is annoying. Though if I have to give this game a score id give it a 7/10 all it needs is a bit fixing around the corners and it can be the perfect pokemon game… Expand
  48. Namlocs
    Jan 30, 2020
    7
    This game is no where near as good as it could’ve been. Graphically not great, lacking all the Pokemon is certainly a negative, severely lacking in post-game content, and overall being a disappointment for the first home console Pokemon game. But I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the game. The story, although by no means Gen 5 standard, certainly wasn’t terrible, despite itsThis game is no where near as good as it could’ve been. Graphically not great, lacking all the Pokemon is certainly a negative, severely lacking in post-game content, and overall being a disappointment for the first home console Pokemon game. But I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the game. The story, although by no means Gen 5 standard, certainly wasn’t terrible, despite its predictable plot twist. The new Pokemon were very fun to meet and the Wild Area, despite being not quite being the vast open world I hoped for, was fun to explore. The Dynamax and feature was fun to use, as was Gigantamax, despite it no where near being the same standard as mega evolution. The towns were fun to explore, despite being far smaller then they should be, and the Gym Challenges and Leaders were highlights for me. Conclusion: Although these entries far from return the Pokemon series to the high level of quality last seen in Gen 5, they’re certainly not bad by any means. Although a casual player will probably enjoy this game, it will perhaps not satisfy the more hardcore fan base.

    Score: 7/10    … Expand
  49. BlockXI
    Jan 31, 2020
    6
    It's Pokémon, which I like and I do enjoy these games. But it's the worst games in the series (except for VGC). No graphical upgrade worth the name, no evolution on gameplay but a new price tag for being on console. I like it, and it's a total cash grab
  50. Arfon
    Nov 30, 2020
    6
    If you're looking for a revolutionary Pokémon game that will take the franchise to its limits, look elsewhere. By buying this $60 game you'll meet with a lot of restrictions that we didn't had in previous games, if you want the complete experience you'll need to pay $90 and the NSO. Is a NO from me. But if you're looking to just play another Pokémon game and that's it, this is your game.If you're looking for a revolutionary Pokémon game that will take the franchise to its limits, look elsewhere. By buying this $60 game you'll meet with a lot of restrictions that we didn't had in previous games, if you want the complete experience you'll need to pay $90 and the NSO. Is a NO from me. But if you're looking to just play another Pokémon game and that's it, this is your game. Despite its many flaws, it is still pretty enjoyable.… Expand
  51. Cross2killer
    Jun 20, 2020
    6
    It's just okay at best. Nothing really to write home about. I cant help but feel like it is a bit of a step back from the older games. I also am a bit worried about what the DLC model will mean for the future of the franchise.
  52. danelakeforu
    Dec 17, 2020
    5
    Same old boring formula with a different gimmick and lazy cut scenes without voice acting and charging fees for something which was free in previous generations...and charging extra for a dlc which should've been included in the main game...that's it for me, goodbye Pokemon video game series.
  53. A99wxy
    Jun 23, 2020
    5
    This game costs like a triple A therefore, in my opinion, as such it should be evaluated, therefore, it does not deserve a higher rating than this.

    The game is really disappointing, certainly as a fan of the saga I would have expected a better debut on a console with the capabilities of Nintendo Switch, however, this game not only does not even reach the quality of triple A games like    This game costs like a triple A therefore, in my opinion, as such it should be evaluated, therefore, it does not deserve a higher rating than this.

    The game is really disappointing, certainly as a fan of the saga I would have expected a better debut on a console with the capabilities of Nintendo Switch, however, this game not only does not even reach the quality of triple A games like Zelda, Mario Odissey, Dragon Quest 11 etc. but it has some mechanics that just don't work.

    The only reasons I didn't give a minor grade are:
    the design and the values ​​of many new pokemon introduced, really interesting (but after all this is an advantage of the whole brand not of sw / sh), the new dynamax mechanics (which is actually not so original but it works), the new metagame and the new features introduced for some time by competitive players (even if I'm not one of them).

    For the rest, however, the game really has problems everywhere. Among the problems there are:

    - the really low technical and graphic level, not in step with the times and not comparable with what a triple A should offer today (poorly detailed textures, bad animations);

    - a level design that is too linear and flat and which eliminates the exploratory component of the title.

    -a setting and a loore with interesting ideas but often left to chance and treated superficially;

    - a story that is too linear, without feelings and tension and in general told badly. There is an absence of cutscene and dubbing.

    -the total absence of valid secondary and postgame activities and missions, present in every jrpg worthy of the name.

    - an excessively low level of challenge, even lower than the previous chapters of the saga. Leveling up is too easy but not only, even completing the pokedex is now very easy (even the rarest pokemon such as Lucario and Tyranitar can be found walking through the Wild Areas).

    - the bad online system prevents you from enjoying mechanics like raids etc. without problems.

    In general, the lack of attention to detail that the game denotes is evident. It has at its base interesting ideas which, however, are left to themselves and not completed.

    I do not want to express myself about the dlc because they must be evaluated apart in my opinion, however, just because they are products separate from the base games and must be bought separately, it does not make sense to say that they solve the situation of the base games. In other words the dlc will not be able never justify the purchase of sword and shield pokemon.

    From Gamefreack I expect more on Nintendo Switch.    … Expand
  54. RetroThunder
    Mar 30, 2020
    7
    Pokémon Sword and Shield aren't the best games in the series, but they're not "bad" either. It can be seen at first glance that Game Freak has not made a 100% effort to develop them, but in the end they have ended with a good result. I can understand that a section that has bothered me a lot during the game is the graphics, obviously they do not take advantage of the full capacity of thePokémon Sword and Shield aren't the best games in the series, but they're not "bad" either. It can be seen at first glance that Game Freak has not made a 100% effort to develop them, but in the end they have ended with a good result. I can understand that a section that has bothered me a lot during the game is the graphics, obviously they do not take advantage of the full capacity of the Nintendo Switch and there are situations in which they are horrible, but there are also places that look beautiful (especially when they are affected by climates), but would rather have spent more time on visual improvement. Game Freak is supposed to have made a "mistake" when launching these games, and it is the lack of the National Pokédex. Most people have complained about this, but to me it seems like the biggest nonsense in the world. There are almost 1,000 Pokémon in the entire series, and I, with almost 100 hours of play, have not managed to catch the 400 that have left. I don't know if I'm a noob or something, but I'm sure of one thing, and that is that with the amount of content the game has, it lasts for many hours. If Game Freak were to continue the tradition of the National Pokédex, there would be a point where it would be impossible to complete the video game, because there are already too many Pokémon. It is true that they have not made the best selection with the Regional Pokédex and that many people do not have their favorite Pokémon in the game (including me), but you have to understand it. Game Freak would take a long time, increasingly to get a delivery of the franchise, and I'm already happy with the content they have brought to this. In addition, the rest of the section are perfect. The history is one of the best that there has been in the entire franchise, and that is why it has sold so much these games. They are worth playing for a fan of the saga and although they are upgradeable they are still recommended for the console. It may not like everyone and I understand that, but it does not deserve criticism as bad as those that have been given by other users of the platform. This upcoming DLC ​​promises to bring even more content to the game and is now worth more than ever. Thus bringing all the Pokémon of the National Pokédex for those who complained. I hope people know how to value these games as they deserve.… Expand
  55. FloresGamer3010
    Apr 3, 2020
    6
    Pokémon Sword is really disappointing and it doesn’t feel like a Pokémon game. First, the music. It feels so over done and the battle music, just doesn’t sound like battle music at all, more like some theme for a cartoon, I personally liked the way battles felt because of the music, and now they just feel so boring. Second, wild Pokémon aren’t wild encounters anymore, you can just go toPokémon Sword is really disappointing and it doesn’t feel like a Pokémon game. First, the music. It feels so over done and the battle music, just doesn’t sound like battle music at all, more like some theme for a cartoon, I personally liked the way battles felt because of the music, and now they just feel so boring. Second, wild Pokémon aren’t wild encounters anymore, you can just go to the grass and there they are, walking around. After Gen 6 is where it really went down for me, I really dislike how there no gyms in sun and moon, which I’m happy to see brought back. Also the game likes to hold your hand at the beginning of the game, and your rivals comments after any critical hit is unnecessary. I hope that for the next game they stick to their roots and go for a pokemon game that’s not too different from gen 1-6s formulas. I love Pokémon but they way it’s being formed is really disappointing… Expand
  56. brodogger81
    Apr 17, 2020
    6
    Okay game the first run. Looks beautiful during some parts and looks pretty ugly at others. Really inconsistent. Animations are the same way. The "Max Moves" looks really cool alongside a lot of the signature moves that are unique to specific Pokemon. But a lot of the moves (especially moves that're supposed to make physical contact like Double Kick) are really bad. Pokemon almost lookOkay game the first run. Looks beautiful during some parts and looks pretty ugly at others. Really inconsistent. Animations are the same way. The "Max Moves" looks really cool alongside a lot of the signature moves that are unique to specific Pokemon. But a lot of the moves (especially moves that're supposed to make physical contact like Double Kick) are really bad. Pokemon almost look static and feel lifeless during battles too. The GameCube and N64 spinoff games made them feel much more alive.

    There's a lot of cool new ideas like the gym challenges. Game is really linear. Doesn't feel like an adventure and more like a tour. Older games on the Game Boy and DS had more exploration which feels really upsetting. Wild Area is nice at first but once you've explored it all (doesn't take that long) it feels kinda boring. Once you've completed the game there's not much to do except do the boring post game mission, fight through the Battle Tower (pretty underwhelming compared to the Battle Frontier in older games), complete the PokeDex and then shiny hunt if you're into that.

    You can also prepare competitive teams to play on the horrible online system, but considering how easy it is to get hacked Pokemon either through Switch home-brew or especially by generating them on 3DS and then transferring through Pokemon Home, it doesn't make any sense to do the grind when you can just play Pokemon Showdown and get right to the actual fighting (it's free too).

    Tried to play the game again a month after my first play through and I couldn't get myself to go past the 2nd gym. It just wasn't very fun the 2nd time around. Being the first main series Pokemon game on a real console I feel boosted my enjoyment, but if the next Pokemon game on Switch is like this I'm going to be disappointed. If you're not already into Pokemon like me then you might want to skip this one out and maybe play an older (and better) game.    … Expand
  57. ElSmasher
    Apr 20, 2020
    6
    Here, Pokemon Sword / Shield suffers, not from its relatively few flaws, but from the series. The novelty (even if there is the Wilderness), is not really present, RPGs are really too simplistic especially Pokemon, even if in 1996 it could pass, in 2019 it is always repeated. Speaking of the 90s, despite excellent Art Direction, has Zelda Ocarina of Time graphics, just like a weak lifespanHere, Pokemon Sword / Shield suffers, not from its relatively few flaws, but from the series. The novelty (even if there is the Wilderness), is not really present, RPGs are really too simplistic especially Pokemon, even if in 1996 it could pass, in 2019 it is always repeated. Speaking of the 90s, despite excellent Art Direction, has Zelda Ocarina of Time graphics, just like a weak lifespan for a Pokemon. One of the big disappointments for everyone, a little disappointment for me ...… Expand
  58. x2wes
    Apr 24, 2020
    6
    Reasonably fun but missing a lot of the depth and exploration previous Pokemon titles have had. From the starting area to the end of the game, there is one path you do not get a chance to diverge from and routes themselves have limited exploration. In addition, many of the cities are empty, with nothing to do in them. The Wild Area is a good concept with poor execution, and getsReasonably fun but missing a lot of the depth and exploration previous Pokemon titles have had. From the starting area to the end of the game, there is one path you do not get a chance to diverge from and routes themselves have limited exploration. In addition, many of the cities are empty, with nothing to do in them. The Wild Area is a good concept with poor execution, and gets repetitive and boring quickly with the lack of activities to do there. The postgame is almost non-existent and the main game is unusually short. Other than these complaints, the game is mainly fun.… Expand
  59. nightstroller
    Apr 30, 2020
    6
    For what it is, it's okay. I don't think it was worth a full $60, but at least GF went back to the gameplay mechanics of what made pokemon games fun for me growing up. You can actually battle pokemon in the wild, unlike in Let's Go. I'm not judging this game for the things it doesn't have or should have like all of the pokemon, the hide-outs, or any of the other past features. Yes, itFor what it is, it's okay. I don't think it was worth a full $60, but at least GF went back to the gameplay mechanics of what made pokemon games fun for me growing up. You can actually battle pokemon in the wild, unlike in Let's Go. I'm not judging this game for the things it doesn't have or should have like all of the pokemon, the hide-outs, or any of the other past features. Yes, it would be ideal to have all previous bells and whistles with this game, but for what it is, it's mildly enjoyable and imo better than Let's Go.

    For their next foray with the switch, I hope GF can take a good look at what a good majority of their audience wants and actually, simply, do that. It should not be all that hard to make a slam-dunk of a Pokemon game for the switch, but GF has shown us (with the right development team) it can be.    … Expand
  60. Melon_man
    May 7, 2020
    7
    Decent and enjoyable pokemon game, but needs improvement for a switch game.
  61. Zezuca
    Jun 2, 2020
    6
    I've played every single Pokémon release since Red and Blue. While this game is not worse than Sun/Moon or X/Y, it's certainly lackluster and disappointing, all things considered.

    The new "dynamax" mechanic is gimmicky and doesn't change gameplay a lot. As the story progress and the player gets stronger, dynamaxing is unnecessary, since the battles are child-like easy. The story is    I've played every single Pokémon release since Red and Blue. While this game is not worse than Sun/Moon or X/Y, it's certainly lackluster and disappointing, all things considered.

    The new "dynamax" mechanic is gimmicky and doesn't change gameplay a lot. As the story progress and the player gets stronger, dynamaxing is unnecessary, since the battles are child-like easy. The story is nothing to write home about, pretty standard Pokémon plot. The characters are certainly likable and the dialogues can sometimes be interesting or funny, especially Sonia's lines.

    But none of those things were the main selling points of the series. Exploration and monster-collecting are the two pillars that the franchise should never drift away from. Unfortunately, this iteration really disappoints the players who enjoyed travelling through the past game's locations: like Sun and Moon, this has nearly no depth and all the paths are linear, no mazes or challenging locations. If rushed through, this game can be finished in less than 20 hours.

    The gym challenge is as easy as it has never been before. Even considering the dynamax mechanics, I couldn't elongate the battles to enjoy the good music, because one-hitting every single Pokémon is a given. This is a pattern that goes all the way through the champion. Mash A with a right type matchup and the job is done. This is a good welcome for newcomers, but adds absolutely no value for old-timers like me.

    Now, the graphics. They are not beautiful. All houses' interiors are the same. Textures are bad and this game feels like an upscaled 3ds title a lot of times. Surely, there are some stunning places and routes, but you'll not spend more than 30 minutes to pass through those. Overall, the graphics are really lackluster, plenty of recycled animations and assets are not balanced by the nice art style.

    The music is very nice, and keeps up to the series' good standards.
    Pokémon camp and curry aren't really exciting as I expected them to be. Pokémon don't really have unique interactions and the whole Camp thing seems buggy and rushed. The curry gimmick has no depth, and it gets repetitive really fast. It did not make me want to complete the "curry dex", since the whole mechanic is basically combining random ingredients with berries then proceeding to the minigame.

    The one thing this game nearly nailed where the raids: a really cool new way of getting Pokémon and a new breath of fresh air in the franchise, completing the Pokédex was a fun challenge, trying to change the raids and looking for new monsters everyday. The problem lies in the NPCs that fight alongside you in singleplayer: they are absolute thrash. Those bots hinder the player more than helps, as they keep dying, which leads to failure in defeat the raid. It's a problem especially after the 5th badge, and the steep difficult between 4* and 5* battles turn the previously fun (but repetitive) battles in frustrating experiences for those who don't usually play online.

    Now, for the multiplayer features: seems like the developers tried to emulate a MMORPG in the Wild Area, but the game absolutely suffers when connected to the internet, with gross frame drops and severe stuttering. The stamp system is buggy and not a good way to connect to other players, but there are no alternatives. Often, the game'll display outdated stamps of events (raids, battle, trades) that are not up anymore, and delays in updating the invitations are a given.

    The main problem is that the overall quality drops significantly after the 4th badge, and the game starts to feel rushed and unpolished. Up to this point, the experience is actually quite good and entertaining. Then, everything feels rushed and repetitive. Some cities are no more than a single street with a pokémon center.

    This is the weakest Pokémon release since X/Y. Also, for those who actually completed the National Dex, a staple in the franchise's history, the feature is now locked into yet another paywall, alongside Wonder Trade: Pokémon Home.

    It's no better than a 3ds title, even though it costs more and runs on a way stronger device. The problems of this game lies not on what it is, but on what it could have been.    … Expand
  62. priZ_Ex
    Jun 4, 2020
    6
    Pokemon Sword and Shield is the 8th generation of Pokemon games. For me, the game lacked any challenge, the exp. share makes the game easier then it needs to be. The story is okay for the most part, if played in one sitting it can be very short. Post-game there isn't much to do. You have the real short and tedious post story, and that's about it. The wild area is neat with it's camera andPokemon Sword and Shield is the 8th generation of Pokemon games. For me, the game lacked any challenge, the exp. share makes the game easier then it needs to be. The story is okay for the most part, if played in one sitting it can be very short. Post-game there isn't much to do. You have the real short and tedious post story, and that's about it. The wild area is neat with it's camera and the raids that can be held there. The cities and certain other places do have vibrant colors and some places do not. The mechanics are basically the same with new items, and Pokemon. The game doesn't feel like it's worth $60 dollars, more like $40. Hopefully the expansion makes up for the lackluster story.… Expand
  63. FrasierKrane
    Aug 15, 2020
    7
    This game is simply too easy. The first time I played it was almost insane just how easy this game was, so I restarted it and had a playthrough without *any* items except pokeballs and a thunderstone. Even then, it was too easy. This game makes ORAS look like darksouls. However, this game has some great parts about it. The post-game was surprisingly epic, if a bit extra, and theThis game is simply too easy. The first time I played it was almost insane just how easy this game was, so I restarted it and had a playthrough without *any* items except pokeballs and a thunderstone. Even then, it was too easy. This game makes ORAS look like darksouls. However, this game has some great parts about it. The post-game was surprisingly epic, if a bit extra, and the wild-area was a great addition. exploring cities are fun, and everything about Spikemuth I like. Spikemuth is just so unique, it was quite refreshing. It kept the good of the Sun and Moon changes and left the bad, what more could you ask? I also personally like how challenging the Champion changed, that was quite an unexpected bit of fun. Cut-scenes are very boring in the game, I had to switch movies off and I'm very glad I did.… Expand
  64. Ultra-cesar
    Jun 21, 2020
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Realmente la falta de una pokedex nacional, una historia muy corta y villano deplorable me hacen cuestionar si valio la pena comprar el juego, pero no todo es malo, las mecanicas de los dinamax es bastante interesante y le da un sabor dirente tanto a las batallas de gym y las batallas para consegir el titulo.
    Sin embargo tengo que resaltar que pudo ser mejor y tener un mejor desarrollo como juego en todos sus aspectos.    … Expand
  65. FixR
    Jun 22, 2020
    6
    Pokémon Sword (and by extension Shield) make the main series jump from their traditional handhelds to the big screen, though they don't stick the landing as much as many had hoped.

    There's numerous things to complete in the game for players of all fashions and ages, packaged with a creative new setting in the Galar region, a strong showing of new Pokémon designs, a difficulty that leans    Pokémon Sword (and by extension Shield) make the main series jump from their traditional handhelds to the big screen, though they don't stick the landing as much as many had hoped.

    There's numerous things to complete in the game for players of all fashions and ages, packaged with a creative new setting in the Galar region, a strong showing of new Pokémon designs, a difficulty that leans towards easy but isn't laughably so, and plenty of features the series desperately needed like autosaving, specific volume controls, better trainer customization and a movable camera.

    But behind all of the game's good content is an air of infamy, brought forward by a lack of development time, cut features that were well liked, a rolled back story and characters after the better depth of the last three generations of games, lazy programming, graphics and animations the developers essentially lied about, and numerous game design choices that actively undermined the concept of Pokémon itself, enraged even the biggest fans of the series, and were choices that just a few years ago the developers said they'd never even come close to considering.

    For me personally, nothing was a heavy deal breaker, and I was still excited to play and complete these games. They would have been worthy of an eight, or maybe even a nine had more time been given to develop them. But it's too easy to recognize everything that went wrong, and these games are sure to spawn discussions about them for both the right and wrong reasons for a long time to come.    … Expand
  66. JoKeR_AlexS
    Nov 20, 2020
    5
    Este comentário é universal nas minhas reviews. Apenas quero dar nota aos jogos e caso queiram saber mais alguma coisa sobre o jogo, aconselho a ver outras reviews ou até mesmo a experimentar o jogo.
  67. CurryTea
    Jun 23, 2020
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. After more than 400 hours into the game. Its okay but i can say there are many flaws that should have been addressed. [Playing only on handheld]
    Good:
    - Background music is great
    - Wild areas/raid battles/dynamax brought a fresh blend to the Pokemon main series game [although this carries many poor factors - mentioned in bad section].
    - Pokemon Animations are great [battles/moves]. Plus, the design of this gen's Pokemon looks amazing too.
    - Pokemon Camp was fun with the idea of cooking curry, although would be better if we can actually interact more closely with our Pokemon such as the case of Pokemon amie in gen 6.

    Neutral:
    - The game is pretty straight forward compared to other generations as the path is straight forward with even the objective listed on the menu. Some new mechanism such as; nature mints (u can change natures of Pokemon), max a Pokemon IV by using bottle caps, EXP candies, Exp-share cannot be turned off makes training a Pokemon much easier. I do not mind this factor, you can simply choose not to use bottle caps/mints but rely heavily on breeding for good IVs.
    - Storyline is mediocre to average at the end as well as the post-game story. Stronger emphasis should have been to the script such as explaining the history behind galar.

    Bad:
    - Lack of my favorite Pokemon from the national dex.
    - Frame rate drops noticeable when connected to the internet while in the wild area.
    - The Y-comm list displaying max raid battles/trades do not refresh often, can be irritating when you're intending to join others in raid battles.
    - The wild area looks slightly blend or looks like it was filled with "empty space". More terrains can be added to look something like the Pokemon Isle of armor DLC.
    - Raid exploits are available such as the time date exploit, making watts so easy to farm for poke-dollars $ by selling 999x luxury balls.

    Conclusion:
    The issues with the lags and exploits at the wild areas should have been addressed by June 2020 now, but I am not seeing any improvements. However, do not let these factors disappoint you as there are still many ways to get the most fun from this game.    … Expand
  68. ReeceH
    Jun 29, 2020
    7
    This game really didn’t stick with me if I’m being honest. The starter Pokemon were alright at first but everything went wrong for their evolution. It also annoys me when this game came out Charmander was the only GEN 1 starter you could get and now you have to whether trade online for one of the other two starters or pay for DLC, This just shows how overrated Charizard is.
  69. Chababa
    Jul 1, 2020
    7
    Cute little Pokemon game...but I just want more in the roster. I kind of expected more.
  70. ShiroGSI
    Jul 3, 2020
    6
    La propuesta de Galar es buena y muchos de sus visuales también lo son. (Si no se ven muy de cerca)
    Pero este juego me ha hecho sentir que pudo dar mucho mas. La historia es extremadamente simple, con un camino lineal y con muchas cosas que claramente quedaron fuera para ahorrar presupuesto. Algunos de los lideres de gimnasio no tienen un lugar establecido como en entregas pasadas, solo    La propuesta de Galar es buena y muchos de sus visuales también lo son. (Si no se ven muy de cerca)
    Pero este juego me ha hecho sentir que pudo dar mucho mas. La historia es extremadamente simple, con un camino lineal y con muchas cosas que claramente quedaron fuera para ahorrar presupuesto. Algunos de los lideres de gimnasio no tienen un lugar establecido como en entregas pasadas, solo te hacen ir a una ciudad por donde ya pasaste y combatiste, para desafiar a este nuevo líder.
    Claramente los 60 dolares que cuesta el juego no los valen, de todas maneras, tuve que jugarlo por que siempre es mejor tener un criterio propio a estar repitiendo lo que dijo algún "Youtuber"    … Expand
  71. LiirThropp
    Jan 4, 2021
    5
    I don't know if it is me getting older or the developers becoming lazier, but I didn't enjoy it as much. It did have some positive points, though.
    What I liked:
    -Removing the cap on EV medicine. -Variety of Pokemon in relatively early game. -Better movesets for some past gen Pokemon -Egg moves can now be added to already hatched Pokemon What I didn't like: -The dex cut, especially    I don't know if it is me getting older or the developers becoming lazier, but I didn't enjoy it as much. It did have some positive points, though.
    What I liked:
    -Removing the cap on EV medicine.
    -Variety of Pokemon in relatively early game.
    -Better movesets for some past gen Pokemon
    -Egg moves can now be added to already hatched Pokemon
    What I didn't like:
    -The dex cut, especially because the reason provided for it was to do better animations and I just didn't see that.
    -Excessive hand-holding throughout the game story.
    -Post-game is ridiculously short.
    -No way to change to a Hidden Ability
    -Removal of several moves and the Dynamax mechanic simplified the PvP aspect to a point where it's just boring.
    All in all, it feels like an unfinished game. I would rate it higher if the DLC content was available from the start or added as free updates, since it fixes some of the issues the game had.    … Expand
  72. kirnale
    Jul 5, 2020
    6
    As a classic pokemon gamer that haven't touched anything past ds I would give this one a six out of ten. No DLC have been applied, since I don't like paying 30€ just for some extras that should have been in the main game. I also don't support the DLC concept, as many time it's overpriced and on top of that, they cannot be shared with a friend (you can share the base game with the cardridgeAs a classic pokemon gamer that haven't touched anything past ds I would give this one a six out of ten. No DLC have been applied, since I don't like paying 30€ just for some extras that should have been in the main game. I also don't support the DLC concept, as many time it's overpriced and on top of that, they cannot be shared with a friend (you can share the base game with the cardridge but there will be no DLC on it).

    Pros:
    + Battle is as good as always
    + Dynamax creates extra challenge and brings a dynnamic change to the old school plays
    + Graphics are top tier
    + Some music pieces are good, others have some classic feels to it which is also nice
    + Actual character development for some characters
    + Gyms that finally makes sense (design-wise)
    + Final Touney was a fun experience
    + No need for pokemon just to use some services (Flying, surfing, chopping, rock breaking etc.)

    Neutral:
    1. Game is short
    2. Leveling is very fast since all pokemons receive exp

    Cons:
    - Some music pieces are very far away from the typical pokemon music, and sometimes not fitting
    - Lack of high end ground, or rather it was put into the DLC which is a disappointment
    - Some character lack depth, especially the villains
    - Lacks secrets or strange dungeons that older games have (which usually leads to legendary pokemon like the Distortion World which was a fantastic experience)
    - level design is way more linear than anything in the older gens
    - lacks a giant mall and maybe a casino, some sort of tower dungeon like the ghost tower (I understand that a casino is bad for kids)

    Just an honest review. Can't say I have a bad experience. This game is "good" but it doesn't go past that since it lacks in level design, character development, additional game elements and secrets, which absolutely hurts the gaming experience. It feels very "basic", older games usually provide some cool stuff you can do besides continuing your path (base buiding+character and pokemon share with friend which can be battled daily, beauty contest). In other words, each pokemon game had a unique gameplay element that might or might not be carried over to the next gen. This game in particular lacks that feature, and a big map isn't changing anything.    … Expand
  73. bomes678
    Jul 12, 2020
    6
    Overall, Pokemon Sword is just so average. It has a pretty lackluster story that only seems to really pick up at the end. Game difficulty is painfully easy, making playing through the game a breeze. It got to a point where i one shot practically every gym leader's pokemon up until maybe the 6th or 7th gym. The starter pokemon are alright, i wouldn't exactly call them the worst, but nothingOverall, Pokemon Sword is just so average. It has a pretty lackluster story that only seems to really pick up at the end. Game difficulty is painfully easy, making playing through the game a breeze. It got to a point where i one shot practically every gym leader's pokemon up until maybe the 6th or 7th gym. The starter pokemon are alright, i wouldn't exactly call them the worst, but nothing too cool. Dynamax and gigantimax being 2 new huge features in these games also just felt so average. Compared to mega evolutions in previous games, this is simply so much worse. It's sort of a combination of mega evolution and z-moves, but it just fails in comparison. What makes it especially annoying is that you can only use this power in specific battles like raid dens, gym battles, or the "pokemon league" type tournament at the end of the game. The wild area and world itself were actually pretty cool and there was a lot of character customization that made it enjoyable. However, other than the fact that the game felt like a slight breath of fresh air simply because it was on the switch, it was just so average overall and not even close to many other title in this series.… Expand
  74. xabier_ml
    Jul 17, 2020
    6
    Si los juegos de pokemon tienen que volver a ser 2D para que sean alucinantes los prefiero
  75. JonathanNavarro
    Jul 19, 2020
    7
    Pokemon: Sword, NO es un juego perfecto, esta mas bien lejos de serlo. Pero es un buen juego con el que pasar el tiempo aunque la historia sea corta, y no hay mucho mas que hacer que solo ir a nidos, capturar a los 400!!! Pokemones que ahi (que es demasiados pokemones en mi opinion) y batallar con otros entrenadores en competiciones o batallar amistosamente con entrenadores en online.Pokemon: Sword, NO es un juego perfecto, esta mas bien lejos de serlo. Pero es un buen juego con el que pasar el tiempo aunque la historia sea corta, y no hay mucho mas que hacer que solo ir a nidos, capturar a los 400!!! Pokemones que ahi (que es demasiados pokemones en mi opinion) y batallar con otros entrenadores en competiciones o batallar amistosamente con entrenadores en online. Tambien el curridex y la torre de batalla. Pero al final no me siento satisfecho con el pocontenido de este juego.… Expand
  76. ArisManimal
    Aug 5, 2020
    7
    this game feels more like a demo of ideas for where the series could go in the future, rather than an actual complete game.
    wild area is a very cool idea but the graphics and animations are totally ridiculous, they look like a ps2 game
    battles looks great when the moves are animated and poor when the moves are not animated. story is ok but not great this game deserves a 6 but i will    this game feels more like a demo of ideas for where the series could go in the future, rather than an actual complete game.
    wild area is a very cool idea but the graphics and animations are totally ridiculous, they look like a ps2 game
    battles looks great when the moves are animated and poor when the moves are not animated.
    story is ok but not great
    this game deserves a 6 but i will give it an 7 because it is the first time i played a core pokemon game in an 55 inch TV rather than an despicable/unacceptable/outrageous 3.53 inch screen of the 2ds/3ds    … Expand
  77. 2joJotaro
    Jul 20, 2020
    6
    Pretty Mediocre Game, I dont Care About the National Dex, But there Is very limited content and the story Is way too Predictable, I have a lot Of Other reasons to dislike the game too, But those Are more selfish So im not including them, I hope No One Is Offended By My Review and I hope The story Is at least better In Crown Tundra
  78. FelipeGarou
    Jul 21, 2020
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Esperava muito mais desse jogo,vendo que ele viria pra Switch, uma dex capada,a.mecanica super dispensável,usei dynamax 3 vezes apenas no jogo,jogo fácil de doer personagens rasos, até pokémon Sun tem.mais profundidade… Expand
  79. Glacebrous_
    Jul 21, 2020
    7
    en mi esperiencia pokemon espada estuvo entretenido no es la octava maravilla pero tampoco un videojuego mediocre ,se hizo a las prisas y esto es lo mejor que tienen, si hace otro como este pero com mas tiempo de desarrollo seria considerado un juego de calidad pero hay otro factor que deben mejorar y es que la comunidad harcore lo esta matando lentamente pokemon company debe tomar unaen mi esperiencia pokemon espada estuvo entretenido no es la octava maravilla pero tampoco un videojuego mediocre ,se hizo a las prisas y esto es lo mejor que tienen, si hace otro como este pero com mas tiempo de desarrollo seria considerado un juego de calidad pero hay otro factor que deben mejorar y es que la comunidad harcore lo esta matando lentamente pokemon company debe tomar una decicion o la comunidad veterana o la nueva generacion de jugadores no puede dejarlo a la mitad, que los pokemon salvajes aparescan en el en la hierba la zona silvestre fue un acierto pero los pokemon salvaje aleatorio de la hierba debe desaparecer, los pokemon acompañantes eso se debe explotar como paso con lets go asi debe aplicar en los demas juegos de pokemon y que los graficos a lo mucho debe asercarse a los graficos de dragon quest 11 los graficos realistas nunca debe llegar a pokemon porque su lugar es el estilo anime de ahi nunca se debe salirse, y lo mas inportante deben hacer la novena generacion dentro de 5 años solo asi la calidad sera garantizada si sale antes puede que se arriesgen a cometer el mismo error, pero si quieren recortar la pokedex para luego volverlo a implemetar en actualizaciones haganlo pero que no sea por medio de dlc eso esta mal simpre debio estar pero como cada vez son mas y mas si hay que hacer recorte para luego meterlo en una actualizacion gratuita simpre sera muy bien recibido.… Expand
  80. AdamDerMann
    Aug 2, 2020
    5
    This game is so disappointing and it feels very rushed. Most new Pokemon have great designs but that's pretty much all the positives i can come up with. The main new feature of the game is Dynamax which makes your Pokemon larger stronger for a short period of time. This feature is extremely lame and unimaginative when compared to Mega-Evolutions. With Mega-Evolutions, many Pokemon got newThis game is so disappointing and it feels very rushed. Most new Pokemon have great designs but that's pretty much all the positives i can come up with. The main new feature of the game is Dynamax which makes your Pokemon larger stronger for a short period of time. This feature is extremely lame and unimaginative when compared to Mega-Evolutions. With Mega-Evolutions, many Pokemon got new and creative designs which made them more interesting. Their stats were changed in various ways which made them interesting to use in battles. Dynamaxed Pokemon however, are just enlarged versions of the original Pokemon and they don't feel any different aside from being stronger than their original selves. The game is painfully easy, i'd say this is the easiest Pokemon game so far. How hard would it be to have multiple difficulties? The graphics re obviously better than the previous games but when compared to other games on the Switch, this game's graphics are quite awful. The music is okay but not nearly as good as it was in all previous games. These are some examples of what makes this game feel very rushed.… Expand
  81. AleJi0
    Sep 9, 2020
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Pokemon espada y escudo son buenos juegos, pero las cosas malas destacan MUCHISIMO MAS NOTABLES que las buenas

    Malas

    - La dificultad es NULA, el juego es un paseo en ningun momento te pone una dificultad, el juego perfectamente te lo podrias pasar con los ojos cerrados y aun asi ganarias todos los combates y eso aburre

    - La mediocridad de las animaciones, pokemon sol y luna han demostrado tener una mayor calidad de animaciones que pokemon espada y escudo, esto no seria un problema SI NO FUERA por que masuda dijo en una entrevista que se centraran mas en el apartado tecnico que en poner los 900 y pic0 pokemons, cosa que fue una mentira

    - la historia es un caso perdido, la historia no hay quien la salve, al menos en sol y luna contaban una historia minimamente entretenida, mientras que aqui se resume en:

    vas a un pueblo, ganas la medalla y pasas al siguiente pueblo

    - Los dlc, en que mundo pokemon tiene dlc?, pokemon no es una franquicia apta para contenido extra y no solo eso, los dlc estaban siendo desarrollados a la par del juego habian hecho los dlc a proposito para sacar mas dinero

    Buenas:

    - Si algo se le puede rescatar a este juego son las texturas, a simple vista parecen un copy y paste de la 3ds, pero si te fijas bien notaras una mejora MUCHISIMO MAYOR que las de sol y luna y diran "aY peR0 eZ z0l0 un reEzkalado" no, si juegas en citra a 4x notaras que las texturas de la 3ds son muy inferiores a las de espada y escudo y el salto grafico que dieron estos juegos FUE TREMENDO (sin contar los arboles JASHGGSD)

    - Los rivales (roxy no cuenta)

    Empezemos por paul, paul es.... EL MEJOR RIVAL DE TODOS la historia que se va desarrollando en secreto sobre paul es una maravilla, paul siempre esta intentando alcanzarte mientras que por dentro se va quebrando por sentirse inferior al pensar que no cumple con las expectativas y mancha el nombre de lionen y todo eso termina de explotar en la final, donde se ve a un paul furioso y a la vez triste por que tu le destruiste sus sueños y en el postgame se ve a paul teniendo su ultima batalla contigo y buscando una nueva aspiracion

    Berto, berto crecio en un orfanato adoptado por el presidente rose, el lo crio, berto haria todo por el para traicionar su confianza eso se muestra cuando berto estaba reuniendo estrellas deseo, se le veia muy confiado por que sabia que tenia el respaldo del presidente de la region, imaginate que el presidente te adopta y te cria como su propio hijo para en el futuro confiarte la invitacion al desafio de los gimnasios, que harias tu si eso pasa? y no solo eso, le encargo reunir las estrellas deseo cosa que mas adelante en la historia se demuestra que rose solo engañaba a berto, tratandolo como un titere para conseguir su objetivo, imaginate lo que sentirias tu y despues es adoptado (otra vez) por la lider de gimnasio de tipo hada y de paso berto sanar la herida que rose le provoco para que al final tenga su enfrentamiento contra ti y asi terminar su historia

    - Los arboles, ok no xD

    - El diseño de los pokemon, estamos frente a unos diseños TREMENDOS

    Empezemos por alcremie, quien no quiere a alcremie? una tarta que depende de como la cocines para que tenga una forma u otra, es una delicia (no literalmente)

    Wooloo.... wooloo es... es... EL MEJOR POKEMON DE TODOS, quien no quiere a wooloo? una ovejita con una cara, lana y orejas tan maravillosas que no te resistes a abrazarlo es uno de los mejores diseños habido y por haber, sin duda un pokemon excelente

    En resumen pokemon espada y escudo son juegos con MUCHO potencial desperdiciado y un juego muy mejorable    … Expand
  82. WeeklyFurball
    Oct 2, 2020
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Sword and Shield were a mediocre addition to a franchise beloved by many. Many of the features loved by longtime fans, like the national dex, were removed for no apparent reason. The cities and towns feel like facades, and are only there to give the illusion of a world outside of the playable area. Whereas other games in the franchise, like Black and White, had cities divided up into different areas, with homes and buildings being able to be interacted with, and NPC’s inside to chat with. This is still present in Sword and Shield, but to a much lesser degree, where the only buildings you can enter are shops, Pokémon Centers, and gyms.

    Moving onto the next subject, gyms. In previous games, gyms provided some degree of challenge that needed to be completed before one could compete with the gym leader, such as puzzles, or battles with NPC trainers. This is absent in Sword and Shield, with the gyms being no more than a single battle. These leader battles are, for the most part, underwhelming. The only real challenge is when a leader activates dynamic, lasts for 3 turns, then it’s back to normal battle gameplay. Despite their shortcomings, Sword and Shield do shine in some aspects, one of these, for me at least, are the designs of the Pokémon. The creativity behind the Galarian forms and the Galarian Pokémon are nothing to scoff at. The designers did a great job with designs and concepts. For example, they were able to turn an apple into a dragon.

    Pokémon Sword and Shield are, for the most part, mediocre additions to the Pokémon family, but despite their shortcomings, do shine in some aspects. This review does not include all the aspects I wanted to cover, simply because I don’t want to drag this review on for too long. If you are considering buying Sword and Shield, I can’t say for sure if you will like the game. It all depends on how you go into the game, and your knowledge of it going in.    … Expand
  83. mla88
    Nov 17, 2020
    6
    (Note: I don't have the DLC, so this review is for the base game only)

    It's okay, but there isn't much content for the price and it's surprisingly unpolished. The story is very poorly paced. Much of the NPC dialogue isn't interesting, which is a shame because I'd like to know more about the gym leader characters through their dialogue (though, we do get some backstories for them on    (Note: I don't have the DLC, so this review is for the base game only)

    It's okay, but there isn't much content for the price and it's surprisingly unpolished.

    The story is very poorly paced. Much of the NPC dialogue isn't interesting, which is a shame because I'd like to know more about the gym leader characters through their dialogue (though, we do get some backstories for them on the back of their league cards, which is a good addition.)

    The routes are bare bones and feature little exploration. The wild area is a good idea, but it would be better if it had more landmarks and areas to explore (including caves and dungeons).

    The online functions are poorly implemented; it is not possible to simply "refresh" the list of stamps to find active raids, which is a strange omission. The max raid battles themselves feel like a chore, because there is little to no strategy involved. This is due to the boss's shields, and the fact that the boss frequently nullifies any stat changes. So, there is no point in trying to use any interesting strategies, just spam the A button to use a super effective attack over and over, while waiting for all of the lengthy animations and text boxes to play out. It's really tedious and boring.

    I bought the digital version, but I would recommend others to buy the physical version instead, so you can trade it in when you're done with it.

    Positives: It's far better than Let's Go and I did have some fun playing it. Also, many of the Pokemon designs and character designs are quite good.    … Expand
  84. ValkyriaDG
    Nov 7, 2020
    7
    Un Juego muy interesante y entretenido. Peca por Algunos lados como en la historia o en la dificultad, pero si te gusta el universo de Pokemon lo vas a Disfrutar.
  85. GlacebrousFrost
    Nov 16, 2020
    6
    para ser mi primer juego de pokemon dentro de la saga principal tiene una buena jugabilidad que te atraer, en especial si sons de farmear bastante como nosotros, la crianza es simple perfecto para los nuevos, la zona silvestre es una gran idea pero lo deben perfecionar para comvertirlo en un mundo abierto ,apartado grafico es promedio deben mejorarlo , mientras que la historia no es ni muypara ser mi primer juego de pokemon dentro de la saga principal tiene una buena jugabilidad que te atraer, en especial si sons de farmear bastante como nosotros, la crianza es simple perfecto para los nuevos, la zona silvestre es una gran idea pero lo deben perfecionar para comvertirlo en un mundo abierto ,apartado grafico es promedio deben mejorarlo , mientras que la historia no es ni muy buena ni muy mala lo de siempre, si vale la pena comprarlo o no dependera unicamente de tu gustos y si realmente lo quieres jugar, mi nota final es un 6 de 10 .… Expand
  86. tensioly
    Jun 6, 2023
    6
    He sido fan de Pokémon desde Pokémon Blanco y Negro y este juego denota el declive de la saga que ha hido padeciendo los últimos años. No es un mal juego, eso que quede claro. Es más, es bastante disfrutable y te lo vas a pasar bien sin duda con él. El problema es todo el potencial desperdiciado por Game Freak. La historia si se lo hubiese dado otro enfoque más oscuro podría haber quedadoHe sido fan de Pokémon desde Pokémon Blanco y Negro y este juego denota el declive de la saga que ha hido padeciendo los últimos años. No es un mal juego, eso que quede claro. Es más, es bastante disfrutable y te lo vas a pasar bien sin duda con él. El problema es todo el potencial desperdiciado por Game Freak. La historia si se lo hubiese dado otro enfoque más oscuro podría haber quedado mucho mejor y el Área Silvestre si hubiese estado más detallada y decorada habría sido muy buena. Eso sí, el Team de este juego es el peor de la saga sin duda, la dificultad es nula y el diseño de rutas y algunos pueblos es extremadamente pasillero (solo mira Pueblo Crampón que es simplemente una línea recta). Como aspectos positivos destacan los personajes y el principio del juego, además de unas escenas bastante buenas. En el apartado técnico el juego va bastante estable excepto en el Área Silvestre. En definitiva, un juego aceptable que con más trabajo podría haber sido un juegazo. Lo recomiendo para los fans de Pokémon pero para un jugador casual hay opciones mejores. 5,8/10
    (05/2020)    … Expand
  87. mattsinv
    Dec 2, 2020
    7
    Not as bad as others say it is. Wild Area is a very good addition to the series. The story is pretty lackluster and the battles during it are very easy to the point where it gets pretty boring. Even though there are these problems, it is still a pretty enjoyable and fun game.
  88. Dufy
    Dec 13, 2020
    5
    Pudieron hacer algo aún mejor por eso pongo neutro para unos fue bueno y para otros malo mi punto de vista algo simple
  89. BeeSting1
    Jan 1, 2021
    5
    Too easy. Too basic. Too shallow.

    The Good - music is good. Gym battle remix sounds cool. - some good quality of life changes, like being able to access the PC box from anywhere. - the new wild encounter system is better because it makes the Pokemon feel more organic, like if you randomly ran into a squirrel or a bird in real life, which are what Sword and Shield depicts.    Too easy. Too basic. Too shallow.

    The Good

    - music is good. Gym battle remix sounds cool.

    - some good quality of life changes, like being able to access the PC box from anywhere.

    - the new wild encounter system is better because it makes the Pokemon feel more organic, like if you randomly ran into a squirrel or a bird in real life, which are what Sword and Shield depicts.

    The Bad

    - although the graphics are better, all the character models still move very robotically.

    - the game is way too easy. Easier than any of the previous Pokemon games. I hardly caught any Pokemon and only fought battles what's trainers that I came across on route but still every gym battle and major battle was super easy. The only slightly challenging battle was the very last one. Don't the devs understand that fans who have played their main Pokemon games are in their 20s and 30s now? Why have they did they dumb down the experience even more? This is a main title for long time fans. Why would they take steps backwards in terms of gameplay difficulty and depth?

    - The simplicity of the game rendered many of the items, berries, and other buffs you find absolutely useless. You can get through the game using nothing but maybe some potions.

    - There's a huge crowd cheering you on every gym battle, and you are praised as the upcoming Pokemon champion left and right, and by the end of it when you do attain that title, it feels empty and like a bunch of lies. It's like beating Sekiro or Dark Souls 3 with an infinite health hack. You can brag and get all the praise you want from friends, but secretly inside you know you didn't earn it. There was no challenge. It was like taking candy from a baby. That's what I felt after completing Pokemon Sword. There was zero satisfaction. I didn't overcome any obstacle. I simply held W, and walked straight through a park.

    - much of the dialogue is way too cheesy. People simply don't talk like that in real life. After all, these are depictions of humans, so I feel they could have made the dialogue more organic.

    - the dialogue choices that you make in the game do not have any impact on the outcome even in the short term.

    - the game emphasizes on the importance of super effective moves, yet there is no ability or item that scans the opponents stats for weaknesses. How is a new player who doesn't know about the Pokemon in later generations supposed to know what weaknesses Pokemon has. This makes the choice of what Pokemon to use luck based. Sure I can just choose any random pokemon, and throw out their strongest move. But this makes the battles very shallow, and out of my control.

    - hop kisses your ass too much. The way he treats you makes him feel like a little **** It's very unnatural.

    - piers and Marnie constantly calling each other bro and sis is so unnatural. I get it if they said it the first couple times to let the audience know, but every time after that just becomes weird.

    - Dynamaxing doesn't add any depth to the battles. Just a bit more status effects to moves. It's all for show.

    - There is nothing particularly interesting about the plot. No twists. No turns. It was very predictable what was going on and who was going to be the bad guy. Old Pokemon games usually had a spooky ghost region with a slightly creepy atmosphere and back story, but every area in Sword and Shield felt so shallow. Besides looking different, there was no interesting narrative there.

    - Team Yell made no sense. Their only purpose was to cheer on Marnie and Piers. And they randomly block paths for citizens for the stupidest reasons.    … Expand
  90. Flounder
    Mar 29, 2022
    5
    Ehrlich gesagt ist das Schlimmste an diesem Spiel, wie generisch und langweilig es ist. Ich habe Mühe, etwas für dieses Spiel zu empfinden.
  91. ND-Bringer
    Nov 11, 2022
    6
    There are moments where I can sense honest effort was put into this game. With the brand new battle mechanics and the atmosphere of the wild area. It's just a shame that the story has such poor quality around the final act and the overpriced DLC pisses people off. As a game where I just have fun making my own original character and stroll around the majestic region of Galar, it gets theThere are moments where I can sense honest effort was put into this game. With the brand new battle mechanics and the atmosphere of the wild area. It's just a shame that the story has such poor quality around the final act and the overpriced DLC pisses people off. As a game where I just have fun making my own original character and stroll around the majestic region of Galar, it gets the job done. I your a fan of the Pokemon Journeys anime, you'll enjoy it like a mug of milk that was supposed to cocoa.… Expand
  92. WWD2
    Nov 28, 2021
    6
    Of all the Pokémon games I’ve played in my life, starting from Pokémon Diamond, Pokémon Sword and Shield is the fastest and most linear experience in the series, and that very fact just gets on my nerves.

    It’s a bit hard to describe: the game rushes the player from one gym to the next without much room to breathe. It does this in a number of ways, the first of which is generally placing    Of all the Pokémon games I’ve played in my life, starting from Pokémon Diamond, Pokémon Sword and Shield is the fastest and most linear experience in the series, and that very fact just gets on my nerves.

    It’s a bit hard to describe: the game rushes the player from one gym to the next without much room to breathe. It does this in a number of ways, the first of which is generally placing only one short route between towns and gyms. Generally in the series, the routes are long and connecting, and are fraught with random encounters to strengthen your Pokémon. Sword and Shield offers an extremely compressed version of this, going as far as to remove the randomness of random encounters by making the Pokémon visible while walking around in the bushes, and therefore avoidable. A quality of life improvement by some standards, but searching for specific Pokémon and battling through all the ones you had no desire to catch again (Pikipek, anyone?) was a great way to level up your party without going out of your way to grind for Experience Points. Now that the dregs are visible and therefore avoidable, the player ends up with lesser experienced Pokémon going into the gym challenges. Simply put, there’s not much time or space to catch Pokémon.

    To avoid an issue where there are an extremely limited amount of Pokémon available throughout the game, there is a grab-bag of wild Pokémon of all types, sizes, and levels in an area called The Wilds. It’s a relatively large field with tons of tall grass teeming with a seemingly misfit band of Pokémon in each patch. The whole thing takes away the exploration element in catching Pokémon: for example, you can catch a Vulpix within a stones throw of a mob of Wingulls. A problem with this concept, however, is that in other Pokémon games, the progression associated with further exploration prevented players from catching powerful Pokémon too early in the game. But here, the Onyxes and Machamps roam freely alongside the Pidoves and the Oddishes, so to avoid allowing players to catch high level Pokémon too early in the game, there exists a cap on the level of Pokémon the player can catch, which corresponds directly with the highest level gym they’ve beaten. It’s a disappointing, band-aid solution to a problem which deserved more attention.

    Of course, with the exception of a somewhat lackluster plot (especially after Pokémon Sun and Moon’s riveting story), the rest of the game is very well done. After all, it *is* a Pokémon game. However, the whole experience felt like a downgrade from previous versions, and it just seemed as though there was less love put into it than in entries past.    … Expand
  93. ShadowRose
    Dec 31, 2022
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The game is fun but I was expecting a lot more from it I think this could of done better as it is quite pricey for what it is but I still like it and the story is great for a Pokémon game especially when you fight etrnatus (sorry if I spelt it wrong) it is not perfect but it is still fun overall.… Expand
  94. Pembroke_Watts
    Nov 19, 2022
    6
    Although this game took a lot of controversial decisions, at its core, it's still a Pokemon game. if you liked the previous games in this series, you are probably going to enjoy this game.
  95. JacobTheToadMan
    Dec 9, 2021
    5
    Sobble is cool I like it when he grows big Sobble's the best part of the game other than that it's fine I guess
  96. briiiz
    Jan 12, 2023
    7
    说实话这一作宝可梦实在是很难打分，这是我自己第一部入正的宝可梦，所以没法说不能传前代宝可梦而打低分，也没法对很多骂点有强烈共鸣，就我自己的游玩体验而言也是很难下评判，我清楚这一作就是明显的摆烂，无论是直接搬的模型还是烂到炸的地图流程设计，旷野只能说差强人意，虽然音乐和人设有亮点但是完全不能撑起这作的游戏体验。
    但是自己在游玩过程中仍然能感受到十分有趣，就像是被pua了一般，仔细想了很久后得出的理由就是：这东西下限就摆在这了。宝可梦25年来积累的探索抓取培养对战玩法已经十分的成熟，剑盾是我第一次深入接触宝可梦对战，只能说这玩法机制实在是有趣，即使我很清楚这和剑盾这一作基本没有关系，他提供的最多是一个有意思的极巨化。
    剑盾玩下来就是很简单的生气，宝可梦的玩法框架和ip价值还至少可以给gf吃老本吃个七八年，只希望gf能够在下一作别摆了，真的不想这么好一个游戏就烂在这里    说实话这一作宝可梦实在是很难打分，这是我自己第一部入正的宝可梦，所以没法说不能传前代宝可梦而打低分，也没法对很多骂点有强烈共鸣，就我自己的游玩体验而言也是很难下评判，我清楚这一作就是明显的摆烂，无论是直接搬的模型还是烂到炸的地图流程设计，旷野只能说差强人意，虽然音乐和人设有亮点但是完全不能撑起这作的游戏体验。
    但是自己在游玩过程中仍然能感受到十分有趣，就像是被pua了一般，仔细想了很久后得出的理由就是：这东西下限就摆在这了。宝可梦25年来积累的探索抓取培养对战玩法已经十分的成熟，剑盾是我第一次深入接触宝可梦对战，只能说这玩法机制实在是有趣，即使我很清楚这和剑盾这一作基本没有关系，他提供的最多是一个有意思的极巨化。
    剑盾玩下来就是很简单的生气，宝可梦的玩法框架和ip价值还至少可以给gf吃老本吃个七八年，只希望gf能够在下一作别摆了，真的不想这么好一个游戏就烂在这里
  97. Salt_addict
    Feb 14, 2022
    5
    Long term pokemon player: maybe i've out grown pokemon or i'm fatigued with the series but it didn't do it for me.
  98. Toasttt
    Mar 26, 2022
    7
    meh .
  99. Rhex98
    Jul 9, 2023
    5
    El juego salió bastante mal para haber saltado a la Nintendo Switch, no quisieron entregar un producto con una calidad conforme al potencial de la consola, habiendo juegos como Zelda Breath of the Wild es inaceptable que salga un juego tan roto, es completamente lineal, las animaciones son penosas, contenido recortado, historia mediocre. este juego pasa sin pena ni gloria. Eso sí, eh deEl juego salió bastante mal para haber saltado a la Nintendo Switch, no quisieron entregar un producto con una calidad conforme al potencial de la consola, habiendo juegos como Zelda Breath of the Wild es inaceptable que salga un juego tan roto, es completamente lineal, las animaciones son penosas, contenido recortado, historia mediocre. este juego pasa sin pena ni gloria. Eso sí, eh de admitirse que es divertido no deja de ser un Pokémon, como alguien que disfruta mucho de la franquicia me divertí jugándolo, pero me da pena en lo que se ha convertido, sin duda se extraña la época de la Nintendo DS… Expand
  100. Satsoku
    Jan 8, 2023
    7
    I feel like this game gets a lot of criticism for the poor graphics more than anything else. To me personally however, the graphics are not as relevant if I'm being honest. The story was OK. The gameplay is focused around the traditional formula that fans of the series know and love by now. Even though the small issues that I had with it, this game managed to keep me busy for 200+ hours,I feel like this game gets a lot of criticism for the poor graphics more than anything else. To me personally however, the graphics are not as relevant if I'm being honest. The story was OK. The gameplay is focused around the traditional formula that fans of the series know and love by now. Even though the small issues that I had with it, this game managed to keep me busy for 200+ hours, so giving it anything less would be unfair.… 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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