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. Sqeewee
    Nov 17, 2019
    9
    Honestly, this is a very good game. The graphics are very good and charming, the world around is fun just to walk around, and the controls are satisfying. The new Pokemon are actually pretty well designed. The national Dex cut isn't actually too noticeable and I didn't mind having less Pokemon. The wild areas are fun to explore, and it is so cool to be able to see Pokemon roaming theHonestly, this is a very good game. The graphics are very good and charming, the world around is fun just to walk around, and the controls are satisfying. The new Pokemon are actually pretty well designed. The national Dex cut isn't actually too noticeable and I didn't mind having less Pokemon. The wild areas are fun to explore, and it is so cool to be able to see Pokemon roaming the world. The gyms are very unique, and very fun. I could honestly go on and on. My only real complaint is a few characters are a bit annoying. This game is getting a lot of unnecessary hate, so I urge you to try the game out for yourself, and have an open mind. Thank you.… Expand
  2. SOUNDWAVEMAN
    Nov 17, 2019
    7
    I have played Pokémon Sword for about 6 hours now and I would describe my self as a causal fan of the franchise including the games, TCG, Figures etc I particularly enjoy the games though. Now unfortunately this game has some major issues and I very much understand the frustrations of the Pokémon Fan Community who dislike this game(s). I personally feel this game was rushed, it isn’tI have played Pokémon Sword for about 6 hours now and I would describe my self as a causal fan of the franchise including the games, TCG, Figures etc I particularly enjoy the games though. Now unfortunately this game has some major issues and I very much understand the frustrations of the Pokémon Fan Community who dislike this game(s). I personally feel this game was rushed, it isn’t pushing the switch and ultimately feel that it’s like a game for the a 3DS successor console if such a thing were to exist which it doesn’t and I doubt it ever will. The graphics are a bit better than 3DS games. But should be much better than they are considering they are on the Switch. I’ve given a score of 7 because I feel that is a fair score. The game plays and you can catch Pokémon, Battle and have some fun with it. It’s not a bad game it’s just a bit of a disappointing one. To be honest personally I prefer Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee as they are supposed to be different and be their own thing and have a unique experience. But yes ultimately Sword and Shield are a bit of a let down. My advice is to find as much information about these games as possible and if you don’t like what you see then don’t buy it. Hope this review helps and thank you for reading.… Expand
  3. rob778899
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Game Freak needs to get their act together. The sheer lack of effort that was inputted into these games is absurdly palpable. Pokemon Sword and Shield in no way amount to the quality expected of a true home console Pokemon game. Us Pokemon fans deserve better than this. I sincerely hope Pokemon Sword and Shield flop, and that Game Freak learns their lesson from this whole debacle. The Pokemon community will not tolerate laziness on behalf of Game Freak. We demand quality. Otherwise, Pokemon may as well have no future.… Expand
  4. Swordt
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    Very disappointing game for a home console. Pokemon have so much potential, but Gamefreak is overwhelmed. Thats it for me. X and Y were not bad, but then the games are getting worse and worse. For me its only a RIP Off. :(
  5. Speedwagon55
    Nov 17, 2019
    3
    Playing Pokemon Sword and Shield was a refreshing experience tbh. I liked the region, the new pokemon, the refreshing arena challenge system, the idea behind the wild area and the new characters. And u also dont even notice the dex being cut. Nonetheless, this doesnt change the fact that this game is a technical MESS. I won't complain about the underwhelming graphics, but running throughPlaying Pokemon Sword and Shield was a refreshing experience tbh. I liked the region, the new pokemon, the refreshing arena challenge system, the idea behind the wild area and the new characters. And u also dont even notice the dex being cut. Nonetheless, this doesnt change the fact that this game is a technical MESS. I won't complain about the underwhelming graphics, but running through the wild areas with stormy or snowy weather feels like watching a power point presentation, thanks to permanent lags and short freezes. Its so bad, that it literally HURTS MY EYES after a while. Permanent input lags and bugs make the controlls really annoying, exspecially after leaving the loading screen or fights. (i tried it out with multiple controllers) Those thing will be exspecially annoying after you finished the game. I really try to keep having fun completing the pokedex, but those technical issues make it impossible. I simply have no motivation to keep searching for the left pokemon, because running through the wild areas for hours is simply a simply unbearable experience. And completing the dex by trading pokemons online is NOT an option. The online functionalitys are partially unuseable, exspecially the like trading funtion. You'll just get matched with a random stranger and have no way of communicating with each other. You cant even express which pokemon you would like to have. You'll simply randomly offer pokemon that aren't even equal in rarity or strenght until someone quits the process. And if you are lucky enough to find someone who is actually willing to trade pokemon that are beyond lvl 5, you'll never be able to trade od fight with him ever again. Simply because you cant add strangers as a friend. There is no option to add friends ingame or to your nintendo account.

    I don't like the hate this game is getting, because its mostly directed towards the #dexit or the graphics and not towards the ACTUAL problems the game has.
    Nonetheless, this game is trash, a disgrace for the whole franchise and an insult towards the fanbase. That's simply my unbiased opinion.    … Expand
  6. Gary1408
    Nov 17, 2019
    1
    Conheço essa serie há mais de 20 anos, minha infância foi marcada por ela, deixei muitas vezes de sair com amigos pra ficar no sofá anoite com o Game Boy nas mãos, mas infelizmente depois de todos esses anos eu não posso dizer que a franquia está tomando bons rumos, tirar Mega Evolução que foi um acerto muito preciso em XY pra colocar essa mecânica Gigantamax bizarra que foge totalmente doConheço essa serie há mais de 20 anos, minha infância foi marcada por ela, deixei muitas vezes de sair com amigos pra ficar no sofá anoite com o Game Boy nas mãos, mas infelizmente depois de todos esses anos eu não posso dizer que a franquia está tomando bons rumos, tirar Mega Evolução que foi um acerto muito preciso em XY pra colocar essa mecânica Gigantamax bizarra que foge totalmente do aceitável, da minima coerência do que se conheceu do universo até hoje é piada, design dos Pokemons totalmente relaxado, absurdo e genérico plagiando personagens de animações infantis, My Little Poney, Scooby Doo, gráficos que são uma mistura de Android, Nintendo 64 e 3DS com texturas borradas e opacas, sem o minimo de qualidade do que se espera de um console seja ele qual for em pleno 2019, ainda mais na maior franquia do mundo, não recomendo esse jogo de forma alguma e acho que chegou a hora da serie sair das mãos da Game Freak e ser entregue para um estudio terceirizado que saiba fazer jogos para consoles de mesa, por que claramente a Game Freak não tem essa capacidade...… Expand
  7. Zycron
    Nov 17, 2019
    9
    Awesome game, some lag in wild area online but still pretty difficult. Would recommend to returning fans as you can blaze through or even skip some tutorials
  8. Phillyundead
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    Absolutely insulting. Extremely half assed. I could have gotten over it if they hadn't ouyright lied to us. Just disrespectful of Gamefreak. Nintendo has been pulling **** like this for over a decade now and no one cares. Imagine if EA, Bethesda or Activision locked game content behind the purchase of an action figure. Amiibos are what I'm talking about. Don't be surprised if they startAbsolutely insulting. Extremely half assed. I could have gotten over it if they hadn't ouyright lied to us. Just disrespectful of Gamefreak. Nintendo has been pulling **** like this for over a decade now and no one cares. Imagine if EA, Bethesda or Activision locked game content behind the purchase of an action figure. Amiibos are what I'm talking about. Don't be surprised if they start selling pokeballs with better catch rates as MTX.… Expand
  9. LycanLiam
    Nov 17, 2019
    10
    Pokemon Sword and Shield are the best Pokemon games in the series! I play the game every day! They are fun, exciting, and easy to play. I hope to see more Pokemon games that focus on story, character development, and gameplay! I recommend these games to everyone! I have played every Pokemon game in the series so far. This game is the best one so far. It is also really easy to learn and getPokemon Sword and Shield are the best Pokemon games in the series! I play the game every day! They are fun, exciting, and easy to play. I hope to see more Pokemon games that focus on story, character development, and gameplay! I recommend these games to everyone! I have played every Pokemon game in the series so far. This game is the best one so far. It is also really easy to learn and get the hang of. The graphics are great and the storyline is fun and engaging. I like how you can customize your character, and what types of new Pokemon are available, and it adds an additional depth to the gameplay. It is my favorite game in the Pokemon series. The storyline is very well thought out and is always interesting.… Expand
  10. BaconPancakes
    Nov 17, 2019
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Shield has an advantage with tyranitar, but trading is super easy. I hope they continue this direction and fix the small problems (They are small). I would like another difficulty.… Expand
  11. Lahvos
    Nov 16, 2019
    10
    Best game in series, beautiful visuals, great soundtrack, some much needed quality of life improvements, have everything Pokemon game should have!
  12. feschiquetti
    Nov 17, 2019
    4
    For a 2019 game, this joke should be 19.99. very disappointed with this buy.. Their player base are adults, its time for them to recognize that! Kids don't care about pokemon, they want cod and Minecraft. So stop with this dumb story and hand holding please! And I will not talk about technical stuff, enough people already proved that a student can do in 30 minutes a better job than theyFor a 2019 game, this joke should be 19.99. very disappointed with this buy.. Their player base are adults, its time for them to recognize that! Kids don't care about pokemon, they want cod and Minecraft. So stop with this dumb story and hand holding please! And I will not talk about technical stuff, enough people already proved that a student can do in 30 minutes a better job than they did.. oh, and the user interface is also slow and lazy... I wonder if they actually play it... Last pokemon game for me.. they really need to fail to learn. I just wish another big company could give a spin on monster catching… Expand
  13. Asger
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    The dynamax mechanics are a little dumb because they get free shields and each of the trainers can only damage the shield once unless their dynamaxed which hits for 2 so the 'boss pokemon' can just keep hitting you for a lot of damage and once you've finally broken the shield it spawns a new won and you run out of rounds and you need to start again and lose again in an endless loop whichThe dynamax mechanics are a little dumb because they get free shields and each of the trainers can only damage the shield once unless their dynamaxed which hits for 2 so the 'boss pokemon' can just keep hitting you for a lot of damage and once you've finally broken the shield it spawns a new won and you run out of rounds and you need to start again and lose again in an endless loop which makes leveling up really hard and time consuming… Expand
  14. Plansh
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    O jogo é o pior da franquia pelo simples fato da pokémon Company ter tido preguiça em colocar a National dex, removendo mais de quatrocentos pokémon e mais de 100 golpes
  15. KingArthur7
    Nov 17, 2019
    9
    Pokémon Espada & Escudo es un juego al que le cuesta la nueva generación. Presenta problemas gráficos aquí y allá, pero en el núcleo sigue siendo el juego divertido y encantador que sienpre nos conquista entrega a entrega.
  16. ShadowMderp
    Nov 17, 2019
    10
    Loooooved this game so far, while it certaintly has some minor issues, it makes uo for it with fun characters and interesting new pokemon. This game has the best graphics in the series
  17. Aman144
    Nov 17, 2019
    9
    After playing this game for over 25 hours beating the main story and postgame story, I can easily say this is my favorite Pokémon game and it’s hard to go back to older ones with all the improvements sword and shield has to offer. Animations are amazing especially Dynamax moves and starter signature moves. The art style goes so well with this region that in some areas it just looksAfter playing this game for over 25 hours beating the main story and postgame story, I can easily say this is my favorite Pokémon game and it’s hard to go back to older ones with all the improvements sword and shield has to offer. Animations are amazing especially Dynamax moves and starter signature moves. The art style goes so well with this region that in some areas it just looks gorgeous. Depending on how you build your team the game can be very difficult as some trainers have really good AI. The league battles were incredible being in the stadium knowing everyone is watching you and hearing them cheer for you truly is a great feeling. The cities are big and there were many secrets to find. The game just felt ambitious and with some more time I know this game would have been even better but still I’m happy with what we got. The hate on this game is overblown more people need to play it and most importantly play it with an open mind or you’ll never like it. Definitely a 9/10 game for me and the most fun I’ve had ever playing Pokémon

    Also to address the National dex controversy I believe that is overblown as well, when you are playing the game and seeing all the new Pokémon you forget all about the Pokémon that aren’t there. If a game is bad to you because of frame rate drops and pop ins which in a technical sense in the wild area keeps the game from being unplayable then I don’t know what to tell you. It’s barely noticeable and if it bothers you that much I don’t know how you play many other games. Lastly I just want to talk about how great the music in this game is my lord definitely my new favorite Pokémon soundtrack you got to listen to it with headphones it’s so incredible    … Expand
  18. UMP45
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    It was fun for 2 hours and I got bored the graphics looks bad and the game does feel like a 3ds game but charged you for more money. I just traded my copy of pokemon sword for Dragon Quest XI
  19. newgamessuck
    Nov 17, 2019
    4
    As a father who's seen many people make bad life choices based on pop culture advice, I take away one point for the old guy on Route 3 telling kids to "live how you want" I have known a lot of people who would still be here or would be much happier if they hadn't listened to bad advice like that. As a gamer I take away one point for Hop, the most obnoxious game character since Cait Sith.As a father who's seen many people make bad life choices based on pop culture advice, I take away one point for the old guy on Route 3 telling kids to "live how you want" I have known a lot of people who would still be here or would be much happier if they hadn't listened to bad advice like that. As a gamer I take away one point for Hop, the most obnoxious game character since Cait Sith. Minus one point for atrocious and clunky pacing and all around bad storytelling. Minus one point for hideous art-design choices, in particular, the weird, solid yet bouncy gelatin hair. I have to take one more point for hiding the earbuds on a random N.P.C. in Motostoke rather than being allowed to turn off Pokemon voices in options from the beginning. I would like to take a point for choosing the skip movies option not skipping completely unnecessary in game exposition sequences that tell people thing even younger kids could tell through inference but I won't because I don't know if skipping in-game sequences was possible.
    I do like the max raid battles in the wild area, even though I would have liked to have seen another wild area in a different sort of environment I can understand technical limitations preventing that from happening, considering how bad the draw distances are and and how confusing the layout of just one area is(minus another point). While I don't particularly like or even remember any of it after playing(other than one riff from Hop's theme which reminds me strongly of "Kaze Wo Tsukinukete" and Michael Jackson's famous "Black or White") it isn't bad enough to lose any points from me.
    On the good side; in addition to having a nice local co-op endgame, in the form of Max Raid Battles that I can enjoy with my whole family, I do also appreciate the option to change clothes and hairstyles to make our character appearances more tolerable than they could have been.
    I also like the camping and curry making.
    In conclusion (T.L.D.R:):
    The game is too bad to recommend buying or opening, if still unopened, but not so bad that, having opened it, I would trade it in for what little I would get for it versus doing the max raid battles whenever a new Pokemon shows up on the schedule.    … Expand
  20. Kdavis8234
    Nov 17, 2019
    10
    Made an account just to be able to review this game! I understand people are upset about the cut in Pokémon, but giving this game an overall of 4 is ridiculous! This game is amazing! As far as the cut in Pokémon, quality of quantity! Not everything always works out as planned, but if you skip either Pokémon title, you’re missing out!
  21. Georgemuller052
    Nov 17, 2019
    10
    Es el mejor Pokémon que jamás se haya creado, un excelente juego adictivo, los que le ponen mala nota son piperos.
  22. Pio3d
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    Corners were cut, pokèmons were removed, dumb gimmicks were added... seriously, go replay sum and moon, they are awkwardly better, don’t waste your money on that corner cutter trash
  23. PC_Master_Race
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    Reused models, poor graphics and textures, this Pokemon release every year has to end to have quality games like Mario oddysey
  24. Lukasheg
    Nov 17, 2019
    1
    The game is the pinnacle of Pokémon games that feel just unfinished since X and Y. I stayed open minded during the Dex controversy and wanted to try the games and make my own opinion. Unfortunately it has been just disappointing. Wether you care about the Dex or not is up to you. Gamewise specially for being the first main console game it just doesn’t live up to nowadays standard. In myThe game is the pinnacle of Pokémon games that feel just unfinished since X and Y. I stayed open minded during the Dex controversy and wanted to try the games and make my own opinion. Unfortunately it has been just disappointing. Wether you care about the Dex or not is up to you. Gamewise specially for being the first main console game it just doesn’t live up to nowadays standard. In my opinion it is clear that Game Freak will continue to half a** games and push them out as soon as possible.… Expand
  25. IAMNOBODY
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    Heavily disapppointed with this game. Considering how much GAMEFREAK hyped this entry as the title meant for long-time fans, it's quite shocking to see how many corners were cut and how half baked some ideas are. For example:

    -Graphics haven't improved that much outside having a bigger poly count and better resolution compared to the 3DS games. -Dungeons and routes are still (for the    Heavily disapppointed with this game. Considering how much GAMEFREAK hyped this entry as the title meant for long-time fans, it's quite shocking to see how many corners were cut and how half baked some ideas are. For example:

    -Graphics haven't improved that much outside having a bigger poly count and better resolution compared to the 3DS games.
    -Dungeons and routes are still (for the most part) a straight line. While weaker hardware could excuse such scenario with Sun and Moon, on stronger hardware it's inexcusable.
    -The quality of towns and cities are all over the place. Some have quite a bit to discover while others are just a glorified hallway.
    -The game is very laggy in the wild area while connected online.
    -Speaking about said area, there isn't much secrets to be found there. It's just simply huge.
    -Pokemon are still not rendered on-scale during battle (despite Pokemon Let's Go having fixed that).
    -There's no longer the GTS, which was a fairly useful feature in past games to complete the pokedex.
    -Speaking about the pokedex, the game somehow has a smaller pokemon roster than the DS games.
    -Just like in Let's Go, the EXP share is always on and can't be removed. This means anyone looking for a challenge in the game (like me) is out of luck.
    -Sound settings for the game have to be unlocked via talking to a very specific NPC that's easily missable.
    -Compared to Sun/Moon and previous games, the plot barely exist. The bad guy executes their master plan at the very end of the game and much of it's consequences happen offscreen.
    -There's little to no postgame compared to the 3DS games, which is quite a feat considering how little those games had to begin with. Once you've finished the game, catched all 400 pokemon and beaten 5 battles at the batte tower, you will have done everything the game offers to you.

    What happened to this game man? I really wanted to enjoy it, but there are so many questionable design choices here that I just can't bring myself to pretend otherwise.

    Please don't let your kid have these games as their first pokemon experience. It says a lot there's far more enjoyment to be had with the older titles like Ultra Sun/Moon, Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, Black 2 and White 2, Heart Gold/Soul Silver and, hell, even Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee for a more old-school-modern hybrid experience.    … Expand
  26. foolishdog7
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    Gamefreak should be ashamed. This game is a joke and is a slap in the face to all pokemon fans,
  27. GutiCR
    Nov 17, 2019
    6
    Es buen juego de Pokemon, pero no hay avance en la saga, la verdad siguen siendo las mismas animaciones, graficamente no explota la capacidad de la consola, en ciertas zonas hay demasiado popping y texturas pobres, la verdad siento que no valio la pena sacrificar la mitad de la pokedex por un juego que no se siente terminado mas con los pretextos que dieron, la verdad no hay cambios en lasEs buen juego de Pokemon, pero no hay avance en la saga, la verdad siguen siendo las mismas animaciones, graficamente no explota la capacidad de la consola, en ciertas zonas hay demasiado popping y texturas pobres, la verdad siento que no valio la pena sacrificar la mitad de la pokedex por un juego que no se siente terminado mas con los pretextos que dieron, la verdad no hay cambios en las animaciones de combates. Pero en fin un juego entretenido en lo que cabe.… Expand
  28. FrancisDrake610
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    Fan de Pokémon desde muy pequeño, de la misma manera que Let's Go me pareció un juego muy bueno, este a su diferencia se nota que fue echo con prisas, sin ganas y con el único objetivo de recaudar dinero con el mínimo esfuerzo.
  29. 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
  30. palhum
    Nov 17, 2019
    3
    This is a 3DS game up-scaled, yet it has less content than the 3DS games. It offers way less content than its predecessors, and it's generally a downgrade to everything this franchise ever contained. The game has a short length, a minimum amount of content to do, a dumbed down nonadjustable difficulty, and poor graphics for what the console can do. It cuts off mechanics to dumb down theThis is a 3DS game up-scaled, yet it has less content than the 3DS games. It offers way less content than its predecessors, and it's generally a downgrade to everything this franchise ever contained. The game has a short length, a minimum amount of content to do, a dumbed down nonadjustable difficulty, and poor graphics for what the console can do. It cuts off mechanics to dumb down the already simple game play, offering little to no variety in competitive play.… Expand
  31. Bruhboi
    Nov 17, 2019
    1
    This game is a huge mess. Its cut out 50% of all Pokemon, while adding like only 82. Devs promised us better graphics and animations. None of that here. The game is full of bugs and framerate drops that never occurred on any of the 3ds games. Its stupid. The graphics are imported from 3ds onto swith and the entire Gen 4 has been removed with very few exceptions . Most dark types have beenThis game is a huge mess. Its cut out 50% of all Pokemon, while adding like only 82. Devs promised us better graphics and animations. None of that here. The game is full of bugs and framerate drops that never occurred on any of the 3ds games. Its stupid. The graphics are imported from 3ds onto swith and the entire Gen 4 has been removed with very few exceptions . Most dark types have been removed. NOT WORTH 60$. Dont support the d3vs A BUY. Dont trust the positive reviews an… Expand
  32. Shatohin
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    Lazy re-skin and upscale of the 3ds version. These companies just love your money and don’t give a **** what they making for the fans.
  33. Dozenthmink
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    Gamefreak didn't care one bit about the piece of garbage they were selling to Pokemon fans. They were lazy and lied about why they were doing what they were.
  34. deepfriednuhhh
    Nov 17, 2019
    10
    This is the first Pokemon game I've played since Red (and in turn, Let's Go essentially a remake of R/B/Y). I LOVE IT! There are so many cool mechanics in the game such as League Card trading, surprise trading, raids, the bike has returned, you can fish! :D The wildlands will kick your butt and force you to 'gitgud'. The gyms are actually stadiums now with large crowds and cheery musicThis is the first Pokemon game I've played since Red (and in turn, Let's Go essentially a remake of R/B/Y). I LOVE IT! There are so many cool mechanics in the game such as League Card trading, surprise trading, raids, the bike has returned, you can fish! :D The wildlands will kick your butt and force you to 'gitgud'. The gyms are actually stadiums now with large crowds and cheery music like a soccer (futbal for my international friends) match! You can change the appearance of your character however you like, the new pokemon are pretty awesome, the towns are bustling, you can send your pokemon on jobs to gain xp, there's a light rail (tram for my international friends), that gets you from point a to point b fairly quickly and even pokemon you can ride like mounts in wow. There is just so much to do and explore I have gotten lost in the world for the past 25 or so hours and only have my 3rd badge! I think this is the best entry in the series by far! They even brought back the battle system from before rather than just throwing balls in let's go. If you grew up watching yu-gi-oh the gigamaxing feature reminds me of those duals with the giant hologram monsters as well! I am looking forward to updates and future entries in the series now that its on home console :D… Expand
  35. qwerty99
    Nov 17, 2019
    2
    I was very disappointed with the game. I expected my but playing a pokemon game I don't know why i ever had my hopes up
  36. TornadoPR
    Nov 17, 2019
    10
    The best game of the series, the starters in my opinion are the best one ever.
  37. 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.
  38. Killuah
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    Ridiculous.
    I won't support the death of the biggest franchise in the world. Gamefreak had always justified themselves for not being able to create the game that fans want because of the capabilities of the 3DS, what do they do with the much powerful switch? Recycle every 3DS model and animation, remove more than half of the national pokedex. Sword and shield is also poorly optimized and    Ridiculous.
    I won't support the death of the biggest franchise in the world. Gamefreak had always justified themselves for not being able to create the game that fans want because of the capabilities of the 3DS, what do they do with the much powerful switch? Recycle every 3DS model and animation, remove more than half of the national pokedex. Sword and shield is also poorly optimized and graphically mediocre.    … Expand
  39. Apenita
    Nov 17, 2019
    10
    No os fieis de estos subnormales, muy bueno el juego, a quien le importan los gráficos jugando Pokémon?
  40. Marrathanss
    Nov 17, 2019
    7
    Pokémon Sword e Shield vieram com grandes expectativas por parte dos fãs. Com sua receita/fórmula padrão usados desde os primórdios com o gameboy, fica realmente difícil um jogo de Pokémon ser ruim. Mas dada circunstância que estamos em 2019 a tecnologia e os conceitos de RPG evoluíram muito. Não há mal algum em atualizar e implementar elementos de RPG mais modernos isso só expandiria aPokémon Sword e Shield vieram com grandes expectativas por parte dos fãs. Com sua receita/fórmula padrão usados desde os primórdios com o gameboy, fica realmente difícil um jogo de Pokémon ser ruim. Mas dada circunstância que estamos em 2019 a tecnologia e os conceitos de RPG evoluíram muito. Não há mal algum em atualizar e implementar elementos de RPG mais modernos isso só expandiria a franquia. Falando do jogo, "S&$" conta com texturas de cenários preguiçosas em várias partes do jogo. As cidades são bem construídas mas as texturas de chão e rochas/montanhas deixam a desejar. O corte da dex não "faz falta" na campanha principal mas sem dúvidas seria um desafio pegar os 800+ Pokémon e com certeza se mostrará fazer falta no competitivo daqui a alguns meses. A Team Yell foi a pior equipe e eu achava que ninguém superaria a Transferência Skull. Os Pokémon nativos de falar junto as galarian forms fazem de falar uma região com a dex mais promissoras dos últimos anos, sem dúvidas. Os NPC falando sem sair som incomoda, passou daora de rever isso sem falar na repetição de alguns NPC que nem ao menos se esforçaram pra mudar algum detalhe. O universo de Pokémon chegou a um ponto de necessitar de um mundo aberto com cenários mais detalhados (não necessariamente realista), com NPC e Pokémon com uma inteligência artificial natural e não simplesmente programados para ficar no mesmo lugar faça chuva faça sol.… Expand
  41. Igorpalmieri
    Nov 17, 2019
    10
    The game is very good but the game have a litle problems with graphics and resolutions
  42. Kawaii_Tanker
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    The performance in the wild area is unaccaptable. If any other not big game was released with such technical flaws it would be shredded to bits.
    The game just lacks in terms of Content you can literally beat it within 20 hours without trying to go fast on your very first playthrough.
    Pop in is horrible and textures for non player/npc models look very low res.
  43. PokeSantiTW
    Nov 17, 2019
    9
    One of the most epic games in the Pokémon saga. The Gym Battles are perfect. The Limited Dex and the graphics, in my opinion, it doesn't matter.
  44. Coloy
    Nov 17, 2019
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Now I know that is a A lot of controversy around in the national dex and whatever but if you look past that the game is amazing with it’s beautiful visuals and Pokemon designs, the story is great cause I am 18 hours in and I only three gym badges, oh and the battles and great too with some of the Pokemon having brand new attack animation which are so cool. So in the end the game is so worth getting and is so worth the $60 so if you were planning on getting it, do and don’t listens to those who say the game is bad just because they didn’t get there favorite Pokémon in because they probably are still going to enjoy it :)… Expand
  45. Raohh
    Nov 17, 2019
    3
    No me gusta ver los estadios a cada rato y la pelea contra el campeón es un chiste y la liga un estadio?
  46. FrostyPirate
    Nov 17, 2019
    9
    While sometimes i wish the game were more challenging and that game freak took a few more innovative risks, Pokemon Sword is consistently fun, immersive and sparks all the nostalgic joy a pokemon game always should.
  47. dr0nzer
    Nov 17, 2019
    6
    I haven't played Pokemon since yellow and I had fond memories of the title and so was looking forward to jumping back in, the game is interesting and i can see some vast improvements, good story, progression, and the battle mechanics are improving. Customization is king and there is some freedom/openworld to the title which is great.

    I hated the inventory management, no sort by name??!    I haven't played Pokemon since yellow and I had fond memories of the title and so was looking forward to jumping back in, the game is interesting and i can see some vast improvements, good story, progression, and the battle mechanics are improving. Customization is king and there is some freedom/openworld to the title which is great.

    I hated the inventory management, no sort by name??! some of the battles take too long even with the animations turned off, it's not as fluid.. very laggy in the wild when you're "online". The trading system is weird and the "surprise trade" is junk as you often get low lvl stuff in return so it's pointless to use, too many button clicks to get where you need and no fast key to the world button is a pain in the ass.    … Expand
  48. Falk22
    Nov 17, 2019
    1
    Withdrawing more than half of the pokemons to improve performance and make the game more polished, gamefreak lied.
  49. paulitomm
    Nov 17, 2019
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. below average graphics, few pokemons little innovation pokemons do not accompany the player… Expand
  50. Romaniaisoc12
    Nov 17, 2019
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game is good it's not as bad as some people say after all you can't review a game based on what you want it to be ,you only can based on what it is… Expand
  51. VampireHunterTK
    Nov 17, 2019
    1
    Not really catches my interest, the story is just pointless, many of the characters are forgettable, and the graphics are crap and it has the worst designed Pokémon I’ve ever seen in my life, it has little to no Post Game Content, and Game Freak lied to us that they’re doing this game from Scratch, they copied the Sun and Moon graphics, and they cut content for no reason at all, if SatoshiNot really catches my interest, the story is just pointless, many of the characters are forgettable, and the graphics are crap and it has the worst designed Pokémon I’ve ever seen in my life, it has little to no Post Game Content, and Game Freak lied to us that they’re doing this game from Scratch, they copied the Sun and Moon graphics, and they cut content for no reason at all, if Satoshi Tajiri was still around he’d be really disappointed with how his masterpiece is turning out, and put an end to the franchise, and fire Masuda and Ohmori.… Expand
  52. Sakux
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    Disappointed in everything what happened to the Pokémon we love it's now this mess
  53. JackMax
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    Bad graphics, low quality, Less Pokemon, less moves, short and bad history, Small "open world",
  54. DimasC21
    Nov 17, 2019
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. honest opinion, this game was great if you playing it as an innocent child who love pokemon, but as a fan from red and blue, and i go trough every main line pokemon games
    this game is really disappointing...

    positive about this game

    - Character Design: Although the character developments was shallow, but i really love this game character design, they just feels like came out of the fairytale, and the detail in the design is so good, they look hilarious and Great

    -Customization: okay, you can custom your main character from the early town you reach, with bunch of selections that you can use
    and dont forget now our character have an expressions lol

    Music: the music was badass man, i can play it over an over, and keep feels the excitement


    Now the Negative

    Dynamax & Gigantmax: they feels off, maybe some people will like it, but not me, the design was so-so (except toxitricity, and garbodor) they feels ridiculous, better than a z-move but worse than a mega evolution

    Gameplay: its was too easy, the game give so much confidence to the player, and that bad for me, we got no difficulties in beating this game, and the mintz? exp share? cmon i need more challenge

    pokemon: not about the dexit, but 60% of the pokemon dont feels like a pokemon, okay when i said this, lets talk about what should pokemon look like "pokemon can be cute, or can be scary, or cool but they must look like a monster that you can befriends with" i hear it from some interview, and look at the design, who want to befriend with eternatus?? or orbettle?? or the five ball thing??
    they didnt looj friendly to me...

    Story: Meh, i dont feels like playing pokemon

    4/10
    Great games yet very disappointing

    i hope they can make a greater pokemon games next time    … Expand
  55. The_Pixu
    Nov 17, 2019
    3
    Bad graphics, bad animations, no voice acting (c'mon, it's about time) reused models and 60% of Pokémon cut.
  56. angarpe
    Nov 17, 2019
    1
    Me encanta pokemon pero me parece fatal que nos quieran vender que el juego que han hecho esta a la altura, no tiene la pokedex nacional, esta lleno de bugs, hay zonas que se ven bien pero luego otras que se ven horrendas, que dentro de la ciudad los combates tengan de fondo el campo... En fin, espero que para la siguiente entrega decidan hacer un juego en condiciones...
  57. moskitto2411
    Nov 17, 2019
    10
    By far the best Pokemon Game ever. Must play. 400 Pokemon is more then enough. Raid battles are addictive.
  58. Silvally1
    Nov 17, 2019
    3
    These games have their faults, a lot of them. The wild area is a mess in almost all categories, new mons look goofy, region is extremely linear, story makes zero since, more hand holdy than the last Gen, level scaling is atrocious.

    But it's not all bad, Camping is cute, max raid battles are a fun way to waste your time, some gym battles can be fun, some interesting characters too. Is    These games have their faults, a lot of them. The wild area is a mess in almost all categories, new mons look goofy, region is extremely linear, story makes zero since, more hand holdy than the last Gen, level scaling is atrocious.

    But it's not all bad, Camping is cute, max raid battles are a fun way to waste your time, some gym battles can be fun, some interesting characters too.

    Is the game an unplayable mess like they claim? No. But is it any good? Eh, for a jump to home console it's pretty lackluster and if you want to go there... unpolished. If you liked the last games you might enjoy it but that's a HUGE might.

    Overall, 4/10    … Expand
  59. Charlinhos
    Nov 17, 2019
    10
    The wild area add hours and hours of funny! The game and historia are very good!
  60. Sorites
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    The whole catch phrase is "gatta catch em all". So f*$k this game. Also, they lied about the reason. They re-used the old models. They could've added them all.
  61. Elysiansky
    Nov 17, 2019
    4
    I’m not usually one to make an account and write a review, however I feel it is necessary so that gamefreak listen to their fans (the same way they changed sonics design) 1. The game is too easy, even if it is made for kids, children are not dumb and require and love challenges, to remove the challenge from a game that’s known to be challenging is is stupid 2. The story is average at best,I’m not usually one to make an account and write a review, however I feel it is necessary so that gamefreak listen to their fans (the same way they changed sonics design) 1. The game is too easy, even if it is made for kids, children are not dumb and require and love challenges, to remove the challenge from a game that’s known to be challenging is is stupid 2. The story is average at best, I want to play the game, have some banter within the rivalry and have an interesting story that doesn’t feel forced 3. While there are some good aspects to the game, unfortunately it seems as if gamefreak took two steps forward, and 10 steps back Also review bombing is not a thing… Expand
  62. sotimach12
    Nov 17, 2019
    1
    Really expensive and not what I expected for the new pokemon games in a console like the switch, not that good graphics, missing pokemons and stupid features like dynamax etc, developers of the game weren't listening.
  63. Azoputamadrelol
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    Que onda con este juego? Parece hecho con el culo .-. Mediocridad al 100% no vale lo que cuesta
  64. Pizzawolf
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    No difficulty, no dungeons, no post-game, just linear corridor's into unskippable cutscenes into more linear corridor's into more unskippable cutscenes. Game looks incredibly rushed and underwhelming for a billion dollar franchise. Animations are horrid. Wild area is full of random weather every 5 feet, sandstorms over ponds for no reason, Etc. Game is uninspired, unfinished, and unfun.No difficulty, no dungeons, no post-game, just linear corridor's into unskippable cutscenes into more linear corridor's into more unskippable cutscenes. Game looks incredibly rushed and underwhelming for a billion dollar franchise. Animations are horrid. Wild area is full of random weather every 5 feet, sandstorms over ponds for no reason, Etc. Game is uninspired, unfinished, and unfun. Over 500 Pokemon cut and to never again be accessible in current gen for no apparent reason. First Pokemon game to not be have access to your Pokemon from hardware/games of every prior entry as well as the official cloud storage system that was hyped up years prior. First game to cost $20 more when it barely has the quality/content above it's 3ds releases. A pathetic shadow of what this seriess once was. Incredibly disappointing to long time fans of the series.… Expand
  65. GarmaSword
    Nov 17, 2019
    1
    The slogan of the franchise is "Gotta catch 'em all", but they removed the possibility to do so, they removed mega evolutions, they removed some fantastic moves, they..... I' m done
  66. MisoSoup
    Nov 17, 2019
    10
    I haven't played this game for long, but tbh this game is amazing.
    They might have cut the pokedex in half, but that shouldn't stop you from enjoying the game.
    The graphics aren't that bad like older games, and the Wild Area is a nice touch to the game. And yea, its a really great game ^°^
  67. Tabh88
    Nov 17, 2019
    7
    Just beat 2nd gym leader in the game and overall I’m enjoying it. But the game is far too easy for my liking and has been simplified and dumbed down to the point where it takes away from my enjoyment! Some of the pros are 1) less hand holding, the game gives you more independence compared to previous gens 2) great new selection of new Pokemon available from the start of the game and reallyJust beat 2nd gym leader in the game and overall I’m enjoying it. But the game is far too easy for my liking and has been simplified and dumbed down to the point where it takes away from my enjoyment! Some of the pros are 1) less hand holding, the game gives you more independence compared to previous gens 2) great new selection of new Pokemon available from the start of the game and really enjoying training them 3) the design and themes of the game are great - sleek at times but also familiar and with improvements 4) tried the wild area once and liked the variety of pokemon available. The cons are 1) this game is waaay to easy with too much handholding and not enough room for a challenge 2) I hate having the experience share set as permanently on - what an odd decision! I get you can switch out via link box to train other pokemon but the exp share levels up your team way too fast and you end being overleveled with no trainer battle challenges! 3) the trainers AI seems to have been reduced and there is no fight here 4) the gym battles are a breeze and lack gumption 5) the game lacks a good cohesive story line compared to previous gems e.g thought Alolan theme created a culture and fairly in depth plot line but this game is shallow in comparison with less character and depth. Very disappointed with experience share being permanently on. It seems the games are being geared towards younger new comers at the sacrifice of other elements. GM could have easily balanced these challenges out with some tweaks and seems they have missed a trick in places. But still several pros to the game as above. 7/10.… Expand
  68. Weeber
    Nov 17, 2019
    10
    Best game in years. Rolled credits after 22 hours and am excited for post game raiding!
  69. slrrp
    Nov 15, 2019
    2
    Pros
    -Better UI
    -New Pokemon

    Cons
    -$60 for a $30 effort
    -Poor graphics for a switch title
    -Poor animations for a modern game
    -Limited Pokémon included
    -Uninspired environments
    -Short playthrough
    -Lack of post-game options
    -Excessive handholding
  70. ny00
    Nov 17, 2019
    3
    To start with the positives, this is a pokemon game. As such, it still has the same, fairly entertaining gameplay of exploring a new region, finding and catching new pokemon and making them fight in a surprisingly deep yet easy to learn battle system. That being said, this is quite possibly one of the weakest entries in the series, sporting a much smaller cast of pokemon than before, aTo start with the positives, this is a pokemon game. As such, it still has the same, fairly entertaining gameplay of exploring a new region, finding and catching new pokemon and making them fight in a surprisingly deep yet easy to learn battle system. That being said, this is quite possibly one of the weakest entries in the series, sporting a much smaller cast of pokemon than before, a region that isn't terribly rich in unique locations to explore as well as having far less interesting and more cliched writing than in just the previous entries in the series. If you've played a pokemon game before, you'll know exactly what this game's story will be like.

    One of the biggest negatives, however, is the incredibly subpar presentation. Considering that the main selling point of the franchise are the unique pokemon, each fitted with their own, fun personality, the pokemon in this game are surprisingly lifeless in their movements past the very beginning of the game. Each individual pokemon only has a few different animations it can do to move, which often look incredibly jarring on a big screen. The whole region also suffers from an extreme lack of polish: Many areas contain noticeable low-quality textures, water doesn't make ripples when pokemon swim (Despite the fact that ripples form when the player traverses through water...) and many places in the world feel very empty. Furthermore, the game itself often struggles to keep it's measly 30 fps stable, with noticeable framerate drops happening throughout the game. The new wild area, where the player spends a hefty amount of their time catching pokemon, is by far the biggest offender of every problem listed thus far, featuring large, empty areas that lack particular points of interest, having horrendous textures for anything that isn't a pokemon or human character, and also not having as many different pokemon as one might expect. The wild area also has a very small draw distance, so pokemon appearing out of thin air is a common phenomenon here. I also found the pokemon's movements within the wild area to be very disappointing. While idling, all pokemon simply pace around a small spot, and they will only ever interact with the player character by either chasing or running away from him/her. The pokemon never interact with each other or the environment, and they don't even seem to have any unique animations that they can do on their own. For example, a flying bird pokemon will always keep flying without ever landing to rest, a canine pokemon will never bark, and so on. The whole world kind of falls apart when the pokemon themselves don't ever come off as actual living creatures, and that's a major problem when the game has little substance beyond the pokemon themselves.

    As for the gameplay, it's the usual pokemon package: You pick an elemental animal to start with and you beat up enemies with it to level up in a turn-based battle system. This game does try to mix things up with the brand-new Dynamax feature, but considering that it only lasts for 3 turns and is only available for a select few battles throughout the game, it isn't enough to make things feel fresh. Despite the fact that pokemon has a surprisingly intricate battle system, the single-player game never makes use of it, with most battles being easily completed with just attacking the foe with an elemental attack it's weak to without any further need for strategy. This makes raising a powerful team of pokemon feel meaningless, as you'll never have any truly difficult battles ahead. Artificially increasing the difficulty by limiting your own EXP gain is also made quite inconvenient, as in this game every pokemon in your party gains experience, even if they don't participate in battle and there is no way to disable this feature, unlike in the previous entries in the series.

    Overall, this is a very bland RPG that suffers from a severe lack of attention to detail, polish and content in general. This game is unlikely to entertain for more than a few afternoons (the main singleplayer campaign can be reasonably completed in well under 20 hours), which quite pathetic considering the price tag. The gameplay gets very stale very quickly due to the game never giving big challenges for the player to overcome. Pokemon Sword and Shield are some of the weakest entries in the series, and are definitely not worth their price.    … Expand
  71. NightFallenWolf
    Nov 17, 2019
    1
    This game is basically like every other pokemon game, except it's not on a handheld console like the others and yet fails to be better. They could've just ported the 3ds games to the Switch and the experience would be the same. In fact, it would've been even better because the 3ds games at least had a full dex behind them. The people working at Game Freak should be embarrassed to sell aThis game is basically like every other pokemon game, except it's not on a handheld console like the others and yet fails to be better. They could've just ported the 3ds games to the Switch and the experience would be the same. In fact, it would've been even better because the 3ds games at least had a full dex behind them. The people working at Game Freak should be embarrassed to sell a game like this.… Expand
  72. Ryodraco
    Nov 17, 2019
    9
    The way I see it you can break down the issues as follows: Did Gamefreak do awful at their PR and (intentionally or not) mislead fans regarding why Sword and Shield did certain things? Yes. Is Sword and Shield as great as a Pokemon game can potentially be? No. Are the games still a graphical and quality of life improvement on previous entries? Yes. Am I finding the game a joy to play andThe way I see it you can break down the issues as follows: Did Gamefreak do awful at their PR and (intentionally or not) mislead fans regarding why Sword and Shield did certain things? Yes. Is Sword and Shield as great as a Pokemon game can potentially be? No. Are the games still a graphical and quality of life improvement on previous entries? Yes. Am I finding the game a joy to play and beautiful to look at regardless of all the controversies? Yes. I feared that with all the flaws people have talked about the game would feel soulless, but I am still experiencing the love that was put into previous games, and I am still having a ton of fun. That's what's most important to me.

    No game should be exempt from criticism, but I also think some fans expectations for graphical improvements and such were unreasonable, and that the criticisms don't detract from it still being a good game. Pokemon is a series of frequent games with various small improvements/changes in each game. I never expected that to change much simply because the games moved to a home console. I do hope that Gamefreak will learn from Sword and Shield though and make the next games better, just as they clearly learned many things from Sun and Moon's criticisms and implemented them in Sword and Shield to great effect.    … Expand
  73. Johnnybravo8125
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    The game feels lazy. Gamefreak needs to step up their developing skills, this isnt the weak 3ds era anymore...
  74. GoldenJeans37
    Nov 17, 2019
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Well I gotta say, Gamefreak truly made an amazingly well done game. I personally love how every pokemon is actually good and even though the game was relatively easy, I think it likes to focus more on the pvp and raids. Sure a ton of moves have been removed, along with pokemon, but they were unbalanced or useless moves. Hell they even buffed Metronome and gave it to more pokemon. Frames only really drop when online, ot feels very much like Xenoblade Chronicles 2. I understand people hating this game but in my opinion, this is the best main series game to ever exist and I hope that if they continue down this route that they keep the same viability and not have pvp filled with tons of legends. My only nitpick is that the raids are easily cheesed out up to the point I have to spam earthquake to make even a bit challenging and essentially troll. Hopefully Raids get drastically nerfed in a patch.… Expand
  75. CruiserS
    Nov 17, 2019
    10
    I gave 10 jusg to compensate all those haters, normally I would give it a 9. Graphic is good. Music is perfect. Good story length and healthy progress with rewards.
  76. hvestgren
    Nov 17, 2019
    1
    The series has just been worse with each installment after black/white. I think the great Pokémon-games decade is officially over..
  77. ririechan
    Nov 17, 2019
    2
    the games are really disappointing
    as for the first main line game (excluding let's go pikachu and eevee, which are perceived as spin off by the fans) we would expect something incredible and yet it didn't come.
    In favour of a new mechanic completely unbalanced, the game removed mega evolution, z moves half of the pokedex and moves. The pokecamp, feature that replace pokeamie, does not    the games are really disappointing
    as for the first main line game (excluding let's go pikachu and eevee, which are perceived as spin off by the fans) we would expect something incredible and yet it didn't come.
    In favour of a new mechanic completely unbalanced, the game removed mega evolution, z moves half of the pokedex and moves.
    The pokecamp, feature that replace pokeamie, does not work as good as it predecessor, making hard playing with a specific pokemon and lacks the capacity to let you pet it, unlikely pokemon sun and moon and the let's go games.
    the wild areas, strong point of this game, are a not so big place were pokemon suddenly pop ups from the ground.
    the 10 routes present in this game are just long corridors.
    the main story is extremely short and bad, even for pokemon standards.
    graphic are yes better than the one for the 3ds, but for a switch game are just underwhelming.
    exp share is now impossible to turn off and the game is for that reason extremely easy.
    post game is a one hour episode with nerfed sun and moon battle tower.
    you can still have fun from this game, since the core mechanic of pokemon is still there, but that's it
    the game does not implement anything to distinguish itself from previous games if not setting good points for next gen games. But this is happening too frequently in pokemon games, that continue to cut good steps to set new good mechanics, which result unpolished, unfinished and will be removed in the next gen games    … Expand
  78. Zerockman
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    What a terrible pokemon game, probably the worst one ever. They didn't introduce anything meaningful, instead they removed many of the elements that made fans love the series. There is less than half of the Pokedex, GTS is non existent, Mega evolutions and Z Moves are gone, no multi battles in battle tower and the list goes on and on. The graphic issues are everywhere, frame rateWhat a terrible pokemon game, probably the worst one ever. They didn't introduce anything meaningful, instead they removed many of the elements that made fans love the series. There is less than half of the Pokedex, GTS is non existent, Mega evolutions and Z Moves are gone, no multi battles in battle tower and the list goes on and on. The graphic issues are everywhere, frame rate problems... to top this all off Game Freak continually lies and excuses themselves saying that they cut the pokedex in order to improve models and animations, the truth is that the models are the same and the animations are still **** as always, were looking at a home console 2019 game that looks and feels worse than a PS2 2001 game. I hope Game Freak is bought by a competent company that starts making meaningful games because I swear I will stop buying pokemon core series games if this goes on. Unfortunately, the pokemon games always sell a lot even if they are garbage, but that has to change fast so that GF can learn that they are terrible game developers… Expand
  79. ZaydelJmz
    Nov 17, 2019
    4
    Low effort on this year Pokemon Game. We can get the most awesome RPG game of this gen and we get a 3DS game on a bigger screen, Game Freak lied...
  80. Igdebubwe
    Nov 17, 2019
    8
    I saw the negative reviews on this game and although i do agree that this game is worse than some previous instalments it is not deserving of reviews in the red.
    Before Reading my review keep in mind that i have only played the game for 10 hours and have only defeated 3 gym leaders.
    The game is fun and addicting exactly what you would expect from a Pokemon game.On handheld, the game    I saw the negative reviews on this game and although i do agree that this game is worse than some previous instalments it is not deserving of reviews in the red.
    Before Reading my review keep in mind that i have only played the game for 10 hours and have only defeated 3 gym leaders.
    The game is fun and addicting exactly what you would expect from a Pokemon game.On handheld, the game looks great.
    The main problem i have with the game is how fast your Pokemon level up.After the 2nd gym i had a level 47 flygon and was battling against level 24 Pokemon.It was too easy.
    All i can say is if you buy this game and don't want to destroy every Pokemon you see.Don't use dynamax crystals as they level up your Pokemon incredibly quickly
    Overall a great entry in the series    … Expand
  81. elchicarcas
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    TERRIBLE. Recycled graphics, recycled moves from XY, S/M US/UM, graphics looks like a N64 games, NO national dex, you can't catch shinies like past gens, several locked shiny pokemon like the starters, the same animations like S/M, several bugs, the game is so short, animations like 1996 games, the game is a total scam.
  82. Burgosgts
    Nov 17, 2019
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Ya he terminado el juego, en 26h que llevo he conseguido la mitad de la pokedex (demasiado corta), cuando te lo pasas el area salvaje pasa a convertirse en un supermecado, te aparecen todos los bichos a nivel 60 y casi todos los que te faltan en la pokedex. Despues las incursiones dinamax, salen muy pocas, cuando las juegas en solitario por que la conexion es pesima y no se puede jugar online, los bot que te ponen sacan pokemon malisimos, los matan 4 veces a los bot y a ti te sacan de la incursion. Los efectos de algunos graficos son de risa. Juego descuidadisimo la verdad… Expand
  83. pcburakq
    Nov 17, 2019
    10
    The game fulfills everything you expect a mainline pokemon game and adds a lot more on top of it.

    Dense parts of Wild area lags a bit, dynamic resolution would've been nice. Gamefreak was indeed lazy with this, but the game delivers a full pokemon experience.

    Could it've been better? LOL Obviously and absolutely. But this isn't as bad as people make it to be.
  84. Melkorock
    Nov 17, 2019
    3
    Es increible como Nintendo permitio que salga un juego como este. Por un lado la cantidad de pokémons jugables se ha recortado. El juego se puede pasar en unas 13/14 horas, tiene terribles tirones de fps, animaciones que no se corresponden con un juego del 2019. Hay juegos independientes de menor presuesto pero con mucho mejor aspecto, tiene modelos 3D reciclados de entregas anteriores, yEs increible como Nintendo permitio que salga un juego como este. Por un lado la cantidad de pokémons jugables se ha recortado. El juego se puede pasar en unas 13/14 horas, tiene terribles tirones de fps, animaciones que no se corresponden con un juego del 2019. Hay juegos independientes de menor presuesto pero con mucho mejor aspecto, tiene modelos 3D reciclados de entregas anteriores, y bugs a saco.… Expand
  85. Muscmrk
    Nov 17, 2019
    8
    I can understand how people are upset with game freak, but I think the game itself is really good. Game freak may have completely lied but if you just look at the game on it’s own, It’s a really fun game that doesn’t deserve the hate it’s been getting. Most of the complaints I’ve been saying has been related to what game freak promised not being delivered, and even cutting some content forI can understand how people are upset with game freak, but I think the game itself is really good. Game freak may have completely lied but if you just look at the game on it’s own, It’s a really fun game that doesn’t deserve the hate it’s been getting. Most of the complaints I’ve been saying has been related to what game freak promised not being delivered, and even cutting some content for no other reason than laziness, which I can understand is really upsetting but as someone who wasn’t following that whole mess and didn’t even know about it until I started playing, I had a great time.… Expand
  86. Morty123
    Nov 17, 2019
    10
    I know the game has had huge negativity after the announcement that they would remove the national dex and the developers where accused of being lazy but if you just try the game you could see the hard work and dedication the developers had put in the game I have actually played every single mainline Pokémon game and sword and shield has improved by leaps and bounds from its predecessorI know the game has had huge negativity after the announcement that they would remove the national dex and the developers where accused of being lazy but if you just try the game you could see the hard work and dedication the developers had put in the game I have actually played every single mainline Pokémon game and sword and shield has improved by leaps and bounds from its predecessor sun and moon.… Expand
  87. Squish
    Nov 17, 2019
    9
    Really people... you guys are this salty to the point you rate it this low. If you’re a true fan of Pokémon you’ll enjoy the content they give. Half of you guys probably didn’t even buy the copy if anything just based it off the gameplay/videos online... The graphics are actually pretty decent, yes it’s recycled animation but if you think about it. They’re is a boat load amount of PokémonReally people... you guys are this salty to the point you rate it this low. If you’re a true fan of Pokémon you’ll enjoy the content they give. Half of you guys probably didn’t even buy the copy if anything just based it off the gameplay/videos online... The graphics are actually pretty decent, yes it’s recycled animation but if you think about it. They’re is a boat load amount of Pokémon they had to animate from the different evolve forms to different moves etc, just even the interacting animations as well. The game itself is also geared for the younger coming generations.. not just you mid age people lol it’s not supposed to be over complicated and if anything they probably made it simple for the younger kids that only have switches who never played Pokémon before. The story is mainstream but it’s supposed to be a kids storyline.. I’m 20. I played Pokémon on the game boy, ds, and 3ds growing up. My sister is 5 years older so she showed me the classics early on. I still love it to this day. It’s distressing and relaxing. I find it a leisure play through. Just enjoy finding Pokémon to catch and battle friends or strangers online.

    People get over it.. and enjoy the game ^.^    … Expand
  88. Rox_Versus
    Nov 17, 2019
    8
    Pokemon S&S isn’t the game that we wanted. Pokemon and moves are cut out. But this a system reboot, kinda like when we when from Gameboy to SP and then to 3DS, it happens. I will not grade it on the stuff that we won’t have but what the game is that they released to us.

    Graphics – 4/5 Story 4/5 Sound 4/5 Gameplay 5/5 TOTAL; 17/20 = .85 The game in itself is great, the Galar    Pokemon S&S isn’t the game that we wanted. Pokemon and moves are cut out. But this a system reboot, kinda like when we when from Gameboy to SP and then to 3DS, it happens. I will not grade it on the stuff that we won’t have but what the game is that they released to us.

    Graphics – 4/5
    Story 4/5
    Sound 4/5
    Gameplay 5/5
    TOTAL; 17/20 = .85

    The game in itself is great, the Galar region portrays a long history and respect to pokemon battles; IE ceremonies and uniforms for gym battles. If you liked X and Y, you will like this game. Seeing new pokemon is always fun and refreshing. The fighting is done well seeing you and the opponent and the pokemon in a nice resolution while the camera rotates and cuts like a sports game on tv. The moves still don’t connect like the show and that would be great but it feels like a more fluid, faster, and all-around better game than it game boy counterparts.
    The Wild area involves a whole slew of pokemon varying in all types. It’s a pleasant concept and original take on the pokemon world and helps open the Pokedex early on…just watch out for the levels. I found myself wanting to revisit the wild areas due to weather and NPC changes that happen daily. The negative side is this is where you will meet your frame rate drops due to the online features and the raid battles. So when you traverse throughout the area; people, NPC, and even pokemon pop up due to the slow load time. It is not game-breaking though.
    The Dynamax form is exactly as it says it is like a mixture of Z- moves from sun and moon and Mega evolves from x and y, except bigger. They do help when it comes when you want massive damage and type advantage but that’s all. For example, I took down a LVL 20 Dynamaxed Eldegross with a level 18 Normal Corvisquire one time. So it's not the end all be all like Mega evolution felt but it is still fun.

    If you love pokemon I would buy it. If this your first time in the series buy it. If you are sore about Gamefreak lying then go back to sun and moon because the pokemon community doesn’t need negativity    … Expand
  89. DoubleF15
    Nov 17, 2019
    10
    Great game, don't listen to the haters. I haven't been able to stop playing since I picked it up.
  90. TwinFami
    Nov 17, 2019
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I have long waited for Pokémon to become a true console experience (sorry, Colosseum and XD don’t count). So I was stoked for this even WITH all the controversies out there and believe me, I think it was blown up too much.

    Here’s what you REALLY need to know about Pokémon Sword from someone who actually is a fan and who actually beat the game:

    -It will throw you off as a lot of the Pokémon who you remember has new types to go along with their redesigns. For example, Meowth is a Steel Type, Ponyta is a Psychic-Fairy, Mr. Mime is an Ice type, etc. So, you will be confused for a bit when facing old favorites, but you’ll get used to it. A type checker is a must.

    -You can get a good team early on. If choosing the fire type Scorbunny as I did, you can get early on water, electric, fighting, ground, and flying types all before the first gym. Train them well and grind and you can easily breeze through the game. -The experience is more restrictive. I get that they want to make things easier for new players or returning players. But how they’ve done it is downright aggravating. In other games, they’ve restricted the level of traded Pokémon, but now they’ve gone one step further and restricted the level of Pokémon you can CATCH as well. For a long time player, especially when I can get well past the required level easily, this is really frustrating, especially when say my limit is level 25 and I run into a level 26 Onix while my team is at level 30 (which actually happened BTW). This should’ve been an option that could’ve been turned on and off. If I want to attempt to catch a higher level Pokémon, at least give me the chance to do so. Don’t restrict my gameplay for other people.

    -Gym “Missions” are a nuisance. What have we learned about Pokémon gyms? We level up our Pokémon, especially ones with type advantages, battle trainers, and defeat the leader. But if I were to tell you that to even GET to the gym leader, you had to herd a bunch of cattle or answer a narcissistic quiz, would you believe me? Of course not because it doesn’t belong! It is what I would expect from a Zelda game, NOT POKÉMON! Why these were added, I have no idea.....

    -The League is....actually a league.....It’s presented as a sport. You beat the gyms, enter a single elimination tournament with the other gym leaders, and then after a long quest, battle the champion. This is one change I actually like and should’ve been done a long time ago. The Elite Four seemed out dated especially for something that is treated as a sport for years in the anime AND they heal you after every match. A welcome addition.

    -About those graphics.....yeah, it’s a mixed bag. While it’s nice to finally see a proper 3D Pokémon game and the cel shaded graphics does help make the transition from portable to console, there’s issues. Jaggy lines, lots of pop in especially for Pokémon and environments. It looks and feels rushed and it’s a real shame.

    -YES VIRGINIA, THERE ARE MISSING POKÉMON....LOTS OF THEM....but let’s be honest here folks. In this real world, do all the world’s creatures live in one region? No and neither does Pokémon. The regional variants and the regional exclusives add more realism to the games and while yes, my little Rowlet is nowhere to be found, I completely understand the concept. It makes having a complete Pokédex a realistic goal. There are over a thousand Pokémon now.....a....thousand.....do you really think it is truly possible to “Catch ‘em All” at this point? No way at all. So while you complain about “Dexit”, think of it in realistic terms rather than in our own wishes. I’d LOVE to see a game with all regions and Pokémon but at this point, it would take a lot more than what the Switch is currently capable of. It would take a PS4 or Xbox One type of RPG that takes up about a hundred gigs to do that. All in all, while my experience was a positive one, it was not without its frustrations and its challenges. I liked the fresh perspective of making it a true regional experience while also making it a legitimate sports title in a sense, but I hated the restrictions put in place as a longtime player as it insults me to be put up against a proverbial wall so to speak a lot of times. It felt like driving a souped up Ford Mustang but being limited to only driving 30mph by the manufacturer and only allowed to increase the limit the more you drive it. The graphics while a step up were also a let down. I don’t play for graphics as I still dust off my SNES and my Atari from time to time with my OSSC, but for a true first console version, it falls way short. Another year for polish and removal of these unnecessary restrictions and handholding would have gone far to help this title succeed. But hey, there’s always the eventual “definitive third game” which at this point is probably going to be named Pokémon Helmet or Pokémon Armor.....    … Expand
  91. Karantal
    Nov 17, 2019
    9
    When playing through Pokemon Sword, I went into the experience expecting a lot of negative elements, especially after reading a lot of the reviews here. However, the game itself almost completely subverted my expectations. While, yes, the story is a tad short, and there are some low res graphics in places of the wild area, the game itself is a blast to play overall. The thing that I trulyWhen playing through Pokemon Sword, I went into the experience expecting a lot of negative elements, especially after reading a lot of the reviews here. However, the game itself almost completely subverted my expectations. While, yes, the story is a tad short, and there are some low res graphics in places of the wild area, the game itself is a blast to play overall. The thing that I truly loved about this game is how much it gets down to the point. If you're a player who loves to grind in your games though, this game definitely isn't for you. The addition of forced exp sharing makes compliments the pace of the game: fast, to the point, and not much fuffing around. The routes are short, which goes well with the exp gain. However, this is hardly a bad thing. There's a constant sense of progression throughout the whole experience, with your Pokemon leveling up at a consistent rate throughout the whole story. Your team constantly gets stronger as you progress, and this thorough feeling of progression makes using any Pokemon at any time feel rewarding.

    The story is very weak, that's an unavoidable fact. The evil team is rarely present, and the resolution to their story arc, if it can even be called that, is very one dimensional. The overarching story is quite basic as well, with the whole story revolving around the gym challenge. While the character development for the three rivals, save Marnie, is quite good, the main story is quite dull. Bede sticks out of the bunch, having a really interesting character progression and sub arc. Hop, while most of his character development occurs late in the playthrough, I had a lot of enjoyment watching him change over the course of the story.

    The main source of enjoyment of this game, however, is how amazing it feels to dynamax Pokemon, and have intense battles with your team. While the difficulty is easier in this game than usual, unless you go out of your way to grind for exp, your Pokemon will be fairly on-par with the gym leaders. The game also begins to ramp in difficulty during the later part of the story, but it's nothing a seasoned player can't get over.

    In terms of graphical issues, some of the objects in the wild area are a lower texture than one might like. It can be a bit jarring at first, since the player's eyes go towards it when observing a new area, but eventually it blends into the scenery. Another fault, however, is that the game's frames do drop in the wild area when either a lot of pokemon are being loaded, or a lot of player characters. Because the speed of the game is tied to the frames, it is also jarring when it happens. I, personally, don't notice it as much after playing the game for a significant time, but it's an issue nonetheless. The frame drops, I hope, can be solved by a later update, if Gamefreak decides the problem is big enough.

    Overall, if I could, I would rate the game about 8.6, but since I can't do decimals, a 9 is the closest I can choose. I think the graphics to present a fair problem, which is why I docked .8 from the score, and the lack of a significant story, as well as postgame content, is the reason for the other .6 loss. I've played every single Pokemon game in the past, except a few twin versions, of course, and Sword is definitely one of my favorites, probably number 2 or 3. I absolutely had a blast while playing this game, from start to finish. I love the new Pokemon designs, and some of the designs I wasn't extremely fond of grew on me quickly. I think this game is definitely worth playing for any Pokemon fan, as long as they're willing to take the fun gameplay over graphics. While there is still a lot of room for improvement, Pokemon sword is still an amazing entry to the series, with a number of fantastic music tracks to boot.    … Expand
  92. Giammy96
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Il gioco è brutto, non mi piace è noioso e alcuni Pokémon non mi piacciono.… Expand
  93. Napolethanos
    Nov 17, 2019
    8
    Il gioco è bello e godibile , anche se ha dei problemi come per esempio le animazioni riciclate il pokedex nazionale limitato senza aver in cambio un miglioramento grafico.
  94. Silvallymadeit
    Nov 17, 2019
    3
    My copy of Sword and Shield came in the mail a bit early yesterday, and while Sword and Shield are pretty cute games, I have to admit there are some glaring problems that make this game feels like it was needed to bake in the oven a tad bit longer. For starters, I just want to say I never cared for the controversy surrounding these games about not being able to transfer all of yourMy copy of Sword and Shield came in the mail a bit early yesterday, and while Sword and Shield are pretty cute games, I have to admit there are some glaring problems that make this game feels like it was needed to bake in the oven a tad bit longer. For starters, I just want to say I never cared for the controversy surrounding these games about not being able to transfer all of your pokemon, so this review is in no way biased towards that. There are, however, other issues that did drag down the experience for me. I often ran into performance issues. Frame drops, trees or objects randomly popping up in view; and while at times the game does seem beautiful and comfy, at other points the game almost seemed sloppily put together.
    The games are far too easy to the point of boredom, even for a Pokemon game. I felt myself being overleveled very quickly. I was often taking down opponents only in one singular attack, despite not going out of my way to fight many monsters. The new EXP share, which spreads experience across your whole party, seems to amplify this problem. It seems as if the game was not balanced with this feature in mind, as my entire team were several levels ahead of our opponents for most of- if not, the entire game. The adventure lasted roughly about 12 hours for me to complete, which is awfully short for an RPG, and there isn't much you can do after the journey is over. Might I add this game only has 10 routes, previous entries having about 30ish.    … Expand
  95. Nomorehashtags
    Nov 17, 2019
    4
    It has a lot of little improvements over previous games and makes some interesting premises with some of the ideas it implements but massively cuts back on features in past games which were actually good, plus the overall game comes off as incredibly short plot wise and underwhelming in terms of girth of traditional content (route and dungeon variety). It also doesn't help that the gameIt has a lot of little improvements over previous games and makes some interesting premises with some of the ideas it implements but massively cuts back on features in past games which were actually good, plus the overall game comes off as incredibly short plot wise and underwhelming in terms of girth of traditional content (route and dungeon variety). It also doesn't help that the game more or less encourages you to just play solely with your starter since your other 'mon will get exp from battles anyhow so there's no point in swapping out since everyone will be kept at similar levels unless you pick up an exceptionally low leveled late game Pokemon which even then you can now boost with exp. candies which is a nice feature addition although makes more sense as a post-game item and should be a crutch on which the game can lean on due to a poor level curve.… Expand
  96. aloeislands
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    It's a bad game. Don't buy it. Honest to god just go play pokemon platinum. It isn't worth $80. I wanted this game to be good SO BAD. I didn't read any of the reviews before buying it and jumped in blind. I've been playing pokemon since Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald and the games just get worse and worse as the years go on. The switch to 3D really marked the decline, but the jump to the Switch putIt's a bad game. Don't buy it. Honest to god just go play pokemon platinum. It isn't worth $80. I wanted this game to be good SO BAD. I didn't read any of the reviews before buying it and jumped in blind. I've been playing pokemon since Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald and the games just get worse and worse as the years go on. The switch to 3D really marked the decline, but the jump to the Switch put the final nail in the coffin. In short: The graphics are subpar AT BEST, there's a crazy amount of lag for a very low maintenance game, the main selling point (the wild zone) is extremely underwhelming, The story is short and boring, there is no post game, the fixed camera still dominates the game, 1/2 the pokemon have been cut. The critics must be getting paid by nintendo because there is no way in hell this game is an 81. Please please please save your money for something worthwhile, because this isn't it.… Expand
  97. HankSco
    Nov 17, 2019
    10
    Grandisimo juego de pokemon, llevo jugadas 10h y me lo estoy pasando genial. El diseño de los nuevos pokemon esta trabajado y la zona salvaje es una gran idea. Además de mejoras que eliminan perder el tiempo con tonterias, por ejemplo los taxis voladores para poder ir a cualquier ciudad visitada antes sin tener que esperarte a conseguir la MO Vuelo, o los combates de la hierba que soloGrandisimo juego de pokemon, llevo jugadas 10h y me lo estoy pasando genial. El diseño de los nuevos pokemon esta trabajado y la zona salvaje es una gran idea. Además de mejoras que eliminan perder el tiempo con tonterias, por ejemplo los taxis voladores para poder ir a cualquier ciudad visitada antes sin tener que esperarte a conseguir la MO Vuelo, o los combates de la hierba que solo combates si tu quieres. Los escenarios de las ciudades e interiores son preciosos y muy currados. La historia es simple pero resulta entretenida. Solo necesitaría pulir un poco graficamente la zona salvaje y poco más. Un juego de 10.… Expand
  98. Ekkonick
    Nov 17, 2019
    4
    Bad animations,bad modeling,bad starter evolution,bad legendery pokemon,bad textures and lier gamefreak
  99. LarsCramer
    Nov 17, 2019
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. CONS:
    The dex cut. You can't transfer non-Galar mons outside of a small handful. Pokemon Home is not a solution, I like my mons on a physical cartridge I own and not on a server who knows where. Pokemon Bank won't last forever, eventually it won't be possible to transfer from older games at all.
    Reused models. It would be obvious even if I wasn't actively thinking about it because of you guys. It looks bad.
    The opening drags. Before you can challenge the gyms, you have to talk to like three other people.
    The game crashed. It only happened once, but I still prefer my AAA games to not crash.
    Characters disappear when you're far away. The only reason I didn't realize this was a problem at first was because I'm nearsighted IRL.
    The entire plot with the chairman. You go break into his building because the plot says so, then there's a weird non-animated cutscene, and finally an anticlimactic boss fight where the version mascots do most of the work.
    I'm about to fight the champion, and I don't feel anything.
    Postgame consists of a series of battles against Dynamax pokemon at gyms and a couple of rematches. Battle Tower is as barebones as they come.

    PERSONAL GRIPES:
    Hop is an idiot

    PROS:
    Random encounters were changed to be less annoying, and there are plenty of overworld encounters
    Most of the gym leaders have good designs and fun personalities (grass dude still looks weird tho)
    Bede and Marnie are alright rivals    … Expand
  100. Janguru
    Nov 17, 2019
    1
    Classe 1988. Pokemon mania presa in pieno. Gamefreak ha sempre dimostrato involuzione nei suoi giochi al contrario delle sue creature. Il brand più redditizio al mondo che sfida la fiducia cieca di tanti appassionati. Forse questo gioco andava bene se fosse uscito per GameCube e sottolineo il forse. Assolutamente sconsigliabile finanziare questo tipo di strada intrapreso da gamefreakClasse 1988. Pokemon mania presa in pieno. Gamefreak ha sempre dimostrato involuzione nei suoi giochi al contrario delle sue creature. Il brand più redditizio al mondo che sfida la fiducia cieca di tanti appassionati. Forse questo gioco andava bene se fosse uscito per GameCube e sottolineo il forse. Assolutamente sconsigliabile finanziare questo tipo di strada intrapreso da gamefreak praticamente da pokemon cristallo in poi… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
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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