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. luskaner
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    The worst pokemon game (unless they somehow manage to make the next even worse), have not played it and will NOT do unless I'm feeling nostalgic of 2000's graphics and animations (my bad, the animations back then were better).
  2. docrad
    Nov 15, 2019
    2
    Some of the biggest and longest pokemon fans are critical of the game. Many newbies or barely played pokemon games are giving positive reviews. I LOVE POKEMON and this is the worst absolute worst pokemon paid. They did 1 thing right you can use the pro controller that's it. Everything else is a bust. It would be bad on a 3ds!
  3. AgustinColina
    Nov 15, 2019
    10
    The best pokemon game of the story and good game but the pokedex are inconplet they are very god games
  4. frkmark
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I can't believe Game Freak can develope this type of garbage. The vast of adult public that was waiting for this game can't be more frustrated. Poor story, poor graphics, bad animations, and the worst draw distance I've seen in a long time.… Expand
  5. PedroLucas755
    Nov 15, 2019
    10
    I loved it! My only problem is that they could have done more attack animations.
  6. PewPewMcP
    Nov 15, 2019
    3
    The theme of Pokémon Sword and Shield is: limit.
    They limit your selection of Pokémon to catch
    They limit the pool of moves Pokémon can learn from, including some moves signature to Pokémon, like Heal Order to Vespiquen They limit where and when you can catch Pokémon in the open area They limit when you can use Dynamax and Gigantamax, the games signature battle mechanic. They limit    The theme of Pokémon Sword and Shield is: limit.
    They limit your selection of Pokémon to catch
    They limit the pool of moves Pokémon can learn from, including some moves signature to Pokémon, like Heal Order to Vespiquen
    They limit where and when you can catch Pokémon in the open area
    They limit when you can use Dynamax and Gigantamax, the games signature battle mechanic.
    They limit your ability to explore a world with the series's now signature heavily railroaded storytelling techniques
    They limit the difficulty setting of the game by forcing Exp Share to always be on
    They limit your ability to change the sound settings by forcing you to first find and interact with the right NPC.
    Pokémon Sword and Shield takes two steps back for every step it takes forward. If you're okay with a subpar experience that irritates at every corner, and don't mind being limited in your ability to play the game, then I'm sure Sword and Shield will be as enjoyable as a summer popcorn flick.    … Expand
  7. ragnawind
    Nov 15, 2019
    9
    The game is great. It could use some work, but this was nice as a first attempt at a mainline Pokemon game on the Switch. It has quite a few new interesting features, as well. For example, you can now change natures and make any Pokemon competitive without grinding or hacking. They may have cut a lot of Pokemon, but that was bound to happen sooner or later. The Pokedex is just getting tooThe game is great. It could use some work, but this was nice as a first attempt at a mainline Pokemon game on the Switch. It has quite a few new interesting features, as well. For example, you can now change natures and make any Pokemon competitive without grinding or hacking. They may have cut a lot of Pokemon, but that was bound to happen sooner or later. The Pokedex is just getting too big. Even Digimon games don't have all of the Digimon in them and they never did. It is a miracle Pokemon lasted with all of them for 7 generations of mainline titles. They even add some new forms for old Pokemon as well as giving some Gen 1 Pokemon new evolutions, such as Farfetch'd… Expand
  8. BikiniBodhi
    Nov 15, 2019
    2
    It's a Pokémon game, absolutely 0 special things about it.

    What was supposed to be the first main game on console is nothing special, that is not good.
    It should've been something amazing, but it lacks tonnes of features multiple past 3DS GAMES had.

    It just falls short and is disappointing.
  9. Marper
    Nov 15, 2019
    4
    As the first main entry to be developed for a house console, I expected a game that rivaled Odyssey or BOTW, a revolution of the series.
    If that wasn't gonna happen, then at the very least I would like a quality game.
    I'm afraid I got none. I decided to not pay much attention to the criticism and buy the game to form an opinion through my own gameplay. I played the game for about 15    As the first main entry to be developed for a house console, I expected a game that rivaled Odyssey or BOTW, a revolution of the series.
    If that wasn't gonna happen, then at the very least I would like a quality game.
    I'm afraid I got none.

    I decided to not pay much attention to the criticism and buy the game to form an opinion through my own gameplay.
    I played the game for about 15 hours, until I finished it.
    Within an hour of gameplay, it crashed and took some data that I had to redownload.
    Aside that, the first moments were somewhat fun, but then you start seeing the issues, the graphics are often barely tolerable, and often they dip into unacceptable territory, mostly in the wild area.
    The routes are basically hallways, they're extremely short.
    The interruptions are worse than ever, constant forced character interactions for the smallest thing (I don't need to be congratulated for moving 10 steps)
    The game is egregiously easy, and you can't turn exp share off to make it harder.
    Constant graphical issues on top of the already bad graphics
    The wild area (yes there's only one wild area) is a huge disappointment, it's basically just an empty route with impossible weather that makes it feel even worse.
    And to top it off, there's basically no post game whatsoever.
    And I can't have fun in the post game when I can't bring my older, favorite pokemon in.

    Overall, an extremely weak and boring entry by pokemon standards, by normal game standards it is much worse.
    It's a rushed, low effort mess, and I cannot recommend this game to anyone, I'll stop buying pokemon games for the foreseeable future.    … Expand
  10. ilikechikin
    Nov 15, 2019
    5
    IGN is trippin, pokemon sword & shield are easily the 2nd worst games in the series after sun/moon. As someone who has played every game since red in 1999, the mainline games have become somewhat stale over the past few iterations. Sword/shield are literally just HD 3ds games that Nintendo is selling for $60 and that's kind of disappointing to me. I still give it a 5 because well, it'sIGN is trippin, pokemon sword & shield are easily the 2nd worst games in the series after sun/moon. As someone who has played every game since red in 1999, the mainline games have become somewhat stale over the past few iterations. Sword/shield are literally just HD 3ds games that Nintendo is selling for $60 and that's kind of disappointing to me. I still give it a 5 because well, it's Pokemon and it's still decent for a Pokemon game but it is super underwhelming for being the first mainline game on the switch console. Super short story too btw, completed in 12 hours even with a couple hours of messing around in the wild area. Oh, and #GameFreakLied.… Expand
  11. Naemesi
    Nov 15, 2019
    10
    Awesome music, SOME bad textures but the upmost are pretty cute. New Pokémons are freaking cool af.
    Support the game
  12. bibleblackkk
    Nov 15, 2019
    3
    As I expected in my review for the pokemon let's go eevee, this game is bad. Game freak does not have the technical skills to develop games on home console. Even if the GF did not use those ridiculous excuses, and added the dropped pokedex back, this is still not a good game. The highest grossing media franchise in this world should never make a game in this quality. GF has lost their loveAs I expected in my review for the pokemon let's go eevee, this game is bad. Game freak does not have the technical skills to develop games on home console. Even if the GF did not use those ridiculous excuses, and added the dropped pokedex back, this is still not a good game. The highest grossing media franchise in this world should never make a game in this quality. GF has lost their love to the game development, and is focusing only on the money. And unfortunately, a lot of pokemon funs are still buying this game, which gives them confidence to continually do such things, and make this franchise go even worse. Please stop buying this game if you love the pokemon games.

    I'm also wondering why Nintendo, as part of the pokemon company, does not have any control on this game. This is a very important game on switch, they should pay more attention to it instead of letting these GF guys do whatever they want.    … Expand
  13. Dayrunner24
    Nov 15, 2019
    1
    This is a bad excuse for a Pokemon game. I have played every generation, and this one takes 3 steps back for every 1 step forward. Here are the complaints summed up: 50% price increase, 500 Pokemon cut, over 100 moves cut, lazy and old animations (after this was the excuse for cutting 'Mon), no post game, Pop-in, hallway routes, game can be beaten in about 20 hours on average. Even if itThis is a bad excuse for a Pokemon game. I have played every generation, and this one takes 3 steps back for every 1 step forward. Here are the complaints summed up: 50% price increase, 500 Pokemon cut, over 100 moves cut, lazy and old animations (after this was the excuse for cutting 'Mon), no post game, Pop-in, hallway routes, game can be beaten in about 20 hours on average. Even if it takes someone 40 hours, that's too short for what we were promised. This game was supposed to redefine Pokemon, but it took too many steps back. We 'crybabies' that positive reviewers speak of should have a voice as well.… Expand
  14. EUDASH92
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    Simply disappointed in the company many have grown to cherish and respect only for them to betray and backstab the fans with excuses, rushed content, broken content..and cut content. Thank you game freak for showing your true colors by showing the world that you're not any better than Bethesda, EA, Activision, etc
  15. onday700
    Nov 15, 2019
    3
    Less features than the 3DS games that came before it. 60% of the Pokémon roster was cut in order to have "better quality models" according to Gamefreak, but the models are the exact same ones used in previous games.
    The soundtrack is a low point for the series. Animations are lackluster aside from some rarely used trainer animations and the few signature moves of the starter Pokémon.    Less features than the 3DS games that came before it. 60% of the Pokémon roster was cut in order to have "better quality models" according to Gamefreak, but the models are the exact same ones used in previous games.
    The soundtrack is a low point for the series. Animations are lackluster aside from some rarely used trainer animations and the few signature moves of the starter Pokémon. Features that should be immediately available, such as being able to control different volume channels separately, are locked behind in-game items for seemingly no reason. There are many reports of the game's autosave function wiping their Switch's NAND, effectively erasing all save data of all games on the system.
    And despite all these issues, the game is $20 more than previous mainline titles.
    The simple gameplay loop of catching and battling is as addictive as ever, meaning fans who don't care about any of the above issues will likely enjoy it. If you have higher standards though, save your money. Do not encourage anti-consumer behavior like this.    … Expand
  16. SirDingus
    Nov 15, 2019
    4
    It’s disappointing it’s come to this stage for Pokémon and Game Freak. Where they join the ranks of formerly great, ambitious companies that turned lazy and greedy. The moment Masuda announced they would flat out cut Pokémon marked that. Sure, they say they’ll use the extra resources to enhance the graphics and animations, yet they’ll just reuse the future proofed 3DS models and animationsIt’s disappointing it’s come to this stage for Pokémon and Game Freak. Where they join the ranks of formerly great, ambitious companies that turned lazy and greedy. The moment Masuda announced they would flat out cut Pokémon marked that. Sure, they say they’ll use the extra resources to enhance the graphics and animations, yet they’ll just reuse the future proofed 3DS models and animations rather than make brand new animations. Pokémon Stadiums 1 & 2, Pokemon Colosseum & XD, and Battle Revolution still have the superior animations and models despite the age of those games. Shadow problems, frame rate issues, and low quality environmental models exist to along with the surprisingly barren open world. Even climbing up stairs stops nearby trainer animations as if climbing up stairs stops the fabric of time. Difficulty is practically nonexistent thanks to forced EXP share, constant heals thanks to NPCs, and lacklustre gym leader teams. Dynamaxing feels like a pointless gimmick due to the fact they only exist for gym battles. R.I.P mega evolutions and Z moves. Pokémon claim to be for all ages yet they seem to neglect more hardcore trainers with the removal of various meta TMs, such as hidden power and pursuit. Perhaps most importantly, the Global Trade System, which ushered in online trading in generation 4, was canned for, again, no abrupt reason. I could go on and on but I feel like a drone at this point. Game freak have lost their passion and this game (or in the fact the past few years) proves it. Will Game Freak learn from this, especially with the well deserved criticism on Twitter? I don’t know man, a Pokémon fan can only hope.… Expand
  17. besf0rt
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    I never really cared too much about the Pokedex controversy, but I could always understand why others did. However:

    Let us assume that all Pokemon were included. THIS GAME IS STILL A HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT. Seriously: Pokemon is probably the biggest Nintendo franchise in the world now. How come all other Switch titles have better graphics and overall higher visual/technical standards?    I never really cared too much about the Pokedex controversy, but I could always understand why others did. However:

    Let us assume that all Pokemon were included. THIS GAME IS STILL A HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT.

    Seriously: Pokemon is probably the biggest Nintendo franchise in the world now. How come all other Switch titles have better graphics and overall higher visual/technical standards?

    Game Design students in the future will look at this game to draw lessons on listening to users and how to prevent doing sloppy work not in their service.

    Guys, XXL Pokemon? (Why not include new Mega Evolutions instead?)

    Come back to earth GameFreak. It's not that difficult to please most Pokemon fans, here is one little tip:

    LISTEN. TO. US.    … Expand
  18. Martin48
    Nov 15, 2019
    4
    Junichi Masuda, a lead director of the Pokemon games, has stated that "when we tried to think about how kids these days generally play games, what came to mind was mobile games... games which you play for a short time." If Game Freak is so impressed and concerned with mobile games, then take my advice: develop mobile games. Those who purchase a console game at console prices expect aJunichi Masuda, a lead director of the Pokemon games, has stated that "when we tried to think about how kids these days generally play games, what came to mind was mobile games... games which you play for a short time." If Game Freak is so impressed and concerned with mobile games, then take my advice: develop mobile games. Those who purchase a console game at console prices expect a console game experience. Pokemon Sword and Shield are not games of console calibre.

    I will begin with the positives: Sword and Shield look better than their predecessors. The new Pokemon designs are overall well done, and there are also nice quality of life improvements which streamline the process of creating a competitive team so players can get to battling faster. The Wild Area is was a neat addition that opens up the early availability of many rare Pokemon, and the inclusion of overworld encounters makes the environment feel more alive.

    Unfortunately, the game is lacking in the remaining aspects. The game is extremely short for a console RPG, offering about a 12-14 hours campaign for those familiar with the mechanics of the series. There are only 10 routes total, many of which are short and barren, and there are no dungeons to explore in the entirety of the game. The player is on rails for the entire story: those that complained about handholding in Sun/Moon will find that Game Freak did not listen to feedback and instead doubled down on handholding using the main cast of characters. The postgame consists of tying up the loose ends of the story and one battle facility. The battle tower is a downgrade from the battle facilities of the 3DS games, not having any tower bosses, and rates the player at "Max" skill ability after winning only 30 battles in a row. It is simply embarrassing for a console title to offer such less postgame than a 3DS or even DS Pokemon game. The graphics, while better than previous entries on the 3DS, are unpolished and often do not compare to other titles on the Switch that have come out years ago.

    Rating this game as a "small step forward" for the series or "good for the first mainline [insert Nintendo console here] entry" is simply not excusable anymore. Game Freak has been developing this series for 8 generations of games now for over two decades, and as the world's leading franchise they ought to have a handle on game development by now. It is evident that the money of players who support the franchise does not go towards the development of better games. As someone who loves the franchise, Game Freak has truly disappointed with these titles and it is sad that I hope they do not develop the next entries.    … Expand
  19. thejeffrey32
    Nov 15, 2019
    3
    This game does not follow the trend of every major Switch release before it. Pokemon Sword and Shield does not revolutionize or innovate its core experience on the level of Mario Odyssey or Breath of the Wild. While the Wild Area is a good idea, it's filled with embarrassing graphics and pop ins with every few steps. This is a game that sticks to the formula of the 3DS games, a product onThis game does not follow the trend of every major Switch release before it. Pokemon Sword and Shield does not revolutionize or innovate its core experience on the level of Mario Odyssey or Breath of the Wild. While the Wild Area is a good idea, it's filled with embarrassing graphics and pop ins with every few steps. This is a game that sticks to the formula of the 3DS games, a product on par with Fifa.… Expand
  20. jakemoxx
    Nov 15, 2019
    10
    Liking the game very much so far. Wild area landscape and assets are minimal because it's for online gaming, pretty much like wow textures in crowded farming areas, nothing strange and feels good anyways. Gameplay has been getting quality of life changes that I'm loving, story is strange and not linear as pokemon was used to. Etc etc
  21. Dar1ism
    Nov 15, 2019
    10
    Could there have been more pokemon? Yes, but that does not make this game anything less than it is. Why would a AAA switch title cost anything less than 60 dollars!?

    The game is great. Amazing to be able to play a main pokemon story on my TV. I played all night long and really noticed some common sense changes put into the game. One such change is making mystery gift available from    Could there have been more pokemon? Yes, but that does not make this game anything less than it is. Why would a AAA switch title cost anything less than 60 dollars!?

    The game is great. Amazing to be able to play a main pokemon story on my TV. I played all night long and really noticed some common sense changes put into the game. One such change is making mystery gift available from inside the game. The soundtrack is fantastic! I am excited to see the adventure through, people should really play the game themselves and develop and informed decision instead of exerting "keyboard courage" to bash something they know nothing about first hand!    … Expand
  22. Sparkray
    Nov 15, 2019
    1
    This game is quite literally unplayable. It has been seen to brick switches, so going into this I was weary. Right at the start the games opening screen was already lagging, so I was prepared for the worst. Upon loading it up, I noticed textures that appeared like they were taken straight from the Nintendo64. I feel ashamed to have spent $60 on this travesty and will refund this game soon.This game is quite literally unplayable. It has been seen to brick switches, so going into this I was weary. Right at the start the games opening screen was already lagging, so I was prepared for the worst. Upon loading it up, I noticed textures that appeared like they were taken straight from the Nintendo64. I feel ashamed to have spent $60 on this travesty and will refund this game soon. Don’t make the same mistake I did. Gamefreak really dropped the ball on this entry in their franchise. The game was insanely easy and took me 15 hours to finish, and I made sure to take my time. I regret playing this!… Expand
  23. Yonkometabiosis
    Nov 15, 2019
    1
    You can take out more than half the dex if you take care of the graphics
    You can take out the good graphics if you take care of the animations
    You can take out the good animations if you take care of the game's content and story You can take out more than half of the content of a normal pokémon game if you give me a balanced game You can take out any amount of difficulty if you give    You can take out more than half the dex if you take care of the graphics
    You can take out the good graphics if you take care of the animations
    You can take out the good animations if you take care of the game's content and story
    You can take out more than half of the content of a normal pokémon game if you give me a balanced game
    You can take out any amount of difficulty if you give me... anything, Gamefreak, seriously.
    But this game is 60$ plus tip for nothing.

    This comes from a desperate fan, I would forgive gamefreak and nintendo for everything they do wrong, as long as they try. But this game screams "let's see how low our effort and quality can go, generating the same amount of money". I love pokémon but I hate being robbed and laughed at.

    Please consider pirating or stealing this game if you wanna play it. If you have hope for a decent future for the franchise, if you love pokémon as much as I do, don't buy this game.    … Expand
  24. WettyTamm
    Nov 15, 2019
    3
    This isn't Pokemon, it's a soulless work by creators who clearly want to move onto something new. The actual game is fine and fun bur it just oozes with "who cares" moments
  25. Edu1717
    Nov 15, 2019
    7
    Es entretenido para jugadores casuales, no presenta dificultad, las animaciones en ciertos puntos son buenas, en algunas le falta pulir la calidad, el juego no debe ser considerado como triple A, no es de la mejor calidad, por su proceso de creación y tiempo que se envierta en pasarlo debe ser un juego que no sobrepase los 40$
  26. sirbarbon
    Nov 15, 2019
    2
    A disgusting cashgrab.
    -Removed 2/3 of Pokémon when catching them is the main appeal of the games.
    -Terrible graphics, at best it looks like an upscaled 3DS game, at worst the textures resemble the N64 era. -Terrible animations, when that was the excuse given to remove Pokémon. -Removes a significant amount of Pokémon moves. -Pokémon aren't properly scaled, when previous games in the    A disgusting cashgrab.
    -Removed 2/3 of Pokémon when catching them is the main appeal of the games.
    -Terrible graphics, at best it looks like an upscaled 3DS game, at worst the textures resemble the N64 era.
    -Terrible animations, when that was the excuse given to remove Pokémon.
    -Removes a significant amount of Pokémon moves.
    -Pokémon aren't properly scaled, when previous games in the franchise already had done it.
    -Inconsistent, bland, lazy backgrounds.
    -Terrible art choices: neon green and neon pink everywhere makes the in-game world look artificial.
    -Terrible pop-in and draw distance.
    -New Pokémon made with ease of 3d modelling in mind abuse basic geometrical shapes and look toy-like and artificial.
    -Lack of exploration. Small amount of routes, little to no dungeons.
    -Forced Exp. Share.
    -Unbearable handholding and frequent cutscenes ruin the pace of the game.
    -Absurd lack of difficulty, moreso than ever before in the franchise. It feels like the game is playing itself.
    -Lack of substantial postgame.
    -Horrible, empty Open Area. Wild Pokémon don't interact meaningfully with the environment.
    -Empty cities, devoid of content.
    -Costs $60 with less content than a $40 game.    … Expand
  27. ScarletSpider
    Nov 15, 2019
    4
    A non review bomb review.

    I beat the game at around 12 hours. Post game is an extra 2 hours and some gimped Battle Tower, otherwise my playtime would be a little over 8 hours. There were a few good things in this game. Characters expressions are more varied than the soulless expressions from Sun/Moon. Interiors looks pretty, although some are cut/paste. Nice QoL changes such as being    A non review bomb review.

    I beat the game at around 12 hours. Post game is an extra 2 hours and some gimped Battle Tower, otherwise my playtime would be a little over 8 hours. There were a few good things in this game. Characters expressions are more varied than the soulless expressions from Sun/Moon. Interiors looks pretty, although some are cut/paste. Nice QoL changes such as being able to change natures for competitive. Some of the new Pokemon look really, REALLY good. Some great designs.

    The story was pretty bland and baffling, even by Pokemon standards. For all that was cut, Gamefreak hasn't provided enough content to justify paying $60. The game is missing 60% of the Pokemon roster, moves have been cut, there is no accurate size scaling despite the gimmick being giant Pokemon, forced EXP share with no toggle means you'll be over leveled and nearly one shotting every opponent. Tons of empty corridors, no dungeons, and TMs are split between TMs and TRs. Most TRs can only be used once and most are necessary for competitive. You'll have to grind raids for it which can be a bit annoying clearly meant to pad out the game's post game. The game is graphically unimpressive in 2019 and some weird overworld bugs are present such as extreme pop ins, the world freezing when you climb ladders/mount your bike, etc. Alas, it's just another Pokemon game I have to regrettably sell for my money back. Very disappointed.

    I truly love this franchise but management at The Pokemon Company International clearly don't know what they're doing with the brand in terms of the mainline games. Trying to keep these games releasing yearly is decreasing the quality of the product. Gamefreak had just gotten past using sprites 7 years ago, and spent even less time in the 3D era, now they're dealing with HD assets are are clearly struggling to adjust. Gamefreak needs help but TPCi is not making it easy for them    … Expand
  28. BTLOTM
    Nov 15, 2019
    1
    Sword and Shield are graphically disappointing, a step back for the franchise, the further simplification of the game mechanics, and the developers lies about why Pokemon were cut are insulting to their fan base. If you buy this game, you are supporting that, and you are being a good German
  29. Bannedalex
    Nov 15, 2019
    9
    Aún con sus fallos, creo que es uno de los mejores juegos que ha habido de Pokémon. Posiblemente no el mejor, pero de la época de los juegos en 3d de Pokemon este ha sufrido un gran cambio a mejor. Obviamente si tuviera la pokedex completa le pondria un 10 y seria mi juego favorito.

    Pero aún asi, los diseños de nuevos pokemon, el cambio a mejor para el competitivo, el gigantamax (que me    Aún con sus fallos, creo que es uno de los mejores juegos que ha habido de Pokémon. Posiblemente no el mejor, pero de la época de los juegos en 3d de Pokemon este ha sufrido un gran cambio a mejor. Obviamente si tuviera la pokedex completa le pondria un 10 y seria mi juego favorito.

    Pero aún asi, los diseños de nuevos pokemon, el cambio a mejor para el competitivo, el gigantamax (que me parece mejor solución que la megaevolucion y los movimientos z) e incluso la historia me están enamorando.    … Expand
  30. Mav68
    Nov 15, 2019
    3
    Pretty bad game,both as a switch game compared to other switch titles,and as a Pokémon game. Lacking polish,content,story,music is simple and effortless, graphics look ,memes aside,actually like a n64 game.
  31. Dr4gonkiller96
    Nov 15, 2019
    9
    Mile better than Pokemon Let's Go, and you can tell gameFreak put a lot of love into this game. pokemon removed aside, the gameplay is great, graphics are great, and the animations are so cute. there is a lot of character customisation as well which i was not expecting. want pink hair? you got it. rainbow coloured eyes? you have it. The story is pretty good as well. the locations are allMile better than Pokemon Let's Go, and you can tell gameFreak put a lot of love into this game. pokemon removed aside, the gameplay is great, graphics are great, and the animations are so cute. there is a lot of character customisation as well which i was not expecting. want pink hair? you got it. rainbow coloured eyes? you have it. The story is pretty good as well. the locations are all good looking. the dialogue is also pretty nice. the actual characters you meet are all adorable and different.… Expand
  32. QuarterLife
    Nov 15, 2019
    1
    Imagine making ~40% of a game, and then charging ~120% for it. That's Pokemon right now. This game is rushed, buggy, and overall an insult to anyone that has enjoyed the series before. You might consider it if it's your first Pokemon game, but if you have others in your library just keep playing them -- they're better.
  33. BlockFort
    Nov 15, 2019
    2
    The release of Pokemon Sword and Shield sadly confirmed all the fears I've had during the build up to it's launch. I've been a huge Pokemon fan since its inception and always dearly loved this series, however the last couple of entries have been getting progressively worse when it came to aspects such as polish, removing features, difficulty, dungeon complexity, post game and many more. MyThe release of Pokemon Sword and Shield sadly confirmed all the fears I've had during the build up to it's launch. I've been a huge Pokemon fan since its inception and always dearly loved this series, however the last couple of entries have been getting progressively worse when it came to aspects such as polish, removing features, difficulty, dungeon complexity, post game and many more. My enthusiasm when it came to Pokemon slowly faded away. But I remained hopeful. Afterall Gamefreak promised us that Generation 8 would be "for the hardcore fans". And it would be the first mainline game on a home console, a huge step for the series!
    Despite my initial optimism for these new home console entries I couldn't ignore all the glaring and obvious problems that were observable in all the pre-release material. Graphical quality not even on par with last gen console games, complete lack of care and polish in regards to animation, reusing as many outdated assets as possible; and these were just the issues that were quickly noticeable from a first glance. But the more time passed the worse things got. The removal of basic features like the national dex and the subsequent cutting of over half of all Pokemon was the straw that broke the camel's back. The following PR disaster of justifying all of this with blatant lies certainly didn't help. I could go on but you get the point.
    And now here we are and Pokemon SwSh is exactly what is looked like it was going to be; a soulless, unpolished and short mess of a game not worthy of belonging to the most successful multimedia franchise in the world. I think the Eurogamer review said it best when it used the new Dynamax mechanic as an analogy to SwSh themselves: "Pokémon Sword and Shield project a sense of scale and ambition far beyond any previous ones in the series, but to take it back to those gargantuan new Dynamax forms, the size is merely a shadow. A shallow projection, in place of the real thing."    … Expand
  34. STactics
    Nov 15, 2019
    3
    Complete disappointment. This is just another Pokemon game. Nothing new. All the "innovations and improvements" by Game Freak not worth the cut Pokemon's.
  35. shale
    Nov 15, 2019
    5
    Gameplay wise pokemon sword is off to a great start. Tutorials are kept to a minimum, there are several areas to explore and plenty new pokemon to catch.
    The wild area is great for new and pro players alike: new players can get overpowered pokemon from dynamax battles while pro ones can challenge themselves by fighting the strong roaming pokemon.
    By the time you make it to the first gym    Gameplay wise pokemon sword is off to a great start. Tutorials are kept to a minimum, there are several areas to explore and plenty new pokemon to catch.
    The wild area is great for new and pro players alike: new players can get overpowered pokemon from dynamax battles while pro ones can challenge themselves by fighting the strong roaming pokemon.
    By the time you make it to the first gym you really feel like a trainer on an adventure, which can't be said of many pokemon games. Sadly the game completely loses this feeling after this point (about 4 hours into the game), and the remaining 16 hours are a below average cookie cutter pokemon experience.

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

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

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

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

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

    The graphics of these games are inexcusable. Not only are they STILL using their lifeless scripting system from the 2013 games pokemon X and Y, the cheap graphics lack any semblance of polish. Routes look like they were texture painted from a top down view and never looked at from a different angle, because all the walls are a complete mess, bloom flickers in and out of existence when walking, some props are so low-poly they're probably straightup reused assets from the 3ds games. It pains me to say it, but I don't think ANYONE on the graphics team had a passion for what they were creating.
    While I don't personally like the UI design it's one of the few things that's actually inoffensive about these games. I wouldn't be complaining at all if the next games in the series had UI of similar quality. I'd like to end things on a positive note so I'll leave it at that.    … Expand
  36. Edgard86
    Nov 15, 2019
    6
    Um jogo de 3ds literalmente, porém sendo vendido como jogo de nova geração e preço cheio.. Gráfico horrível, texturas feias, animações e batalhas sem inovações, mesmice... Um jogo mal feito considerando a potencia do Switch... Feito somente para ganhar dinheiro, não teve carinho nem dedicação na produção. O jogo seria bom, se fosse um game de 3ds.. No Switch é inaceitável.. A mídia maisUm jogo de 3ds literalmente, porém sendo vendido como jogo de nova geração e preço cheio.. Gráfico horrível, texturas feias, animações e batalhas sem inovações, mesmice... Um jogo mal feito considerando a potencia do Switch... Feito somente para ganhar dinheiro, não teve carinho nem dedicação na produção. O jogo seria bom, se fosse um game de 3ds.. No Switch é inaceitável.. A mídia mais uma fazendo um desserviço a comunidade gamer, dando notas altas para jogos ridículos. Midia, vocês sao uma vergonha! Gamefreak, oportunista. Meu ID no Switch: SW5286-6479-2106. Tempo de gameplay até o momento: 10 hrs… Expand
  37. nikospant
    Nov 15, 2019
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. In the beginning I was so excited about the upcoming games and the first couple of trailers seemed entertaining both in designs and the future of the game. As the time passed by, I was feeling less and less excited about the game and I will try to summarize the main points after having already finished the game after only 16 hours of gameplay, as an early copy arrived yesterday.

    Longevity and replay value:
    First of all, compared to previous Pokemon games, only 16 hours of gameplay to beat the whole game seems way underwhelming, especially considering that I caught all the new pokemons that I found, explored the Wild Area and passed through it as many times as deemed possible, as long as there was something interesting to day (Hint: there wasn't much). I feel that except the online component, there isn't much replay value to the games and I don't feel the need to play them again.

    The price tag: $60 compared to a $40 a couple of years back, for less amount of content seems way overpriced in my eyes.

    Characters:
    Most of the in-game characters seem bland, not interesting and especially the rival seems... not like a rival should feel. Even the Champion seems like a naive person the least .

    Plot:
    Easy, predictable, no depth, I really wonder if someone thought through the whole story from the beginning or was creating on the way..

    Difficulty:
    It is a pokemon game, I do not expect to have actual difficulties from a game designed also for children and here is the main point, mario odyssey is also designed for children and everyone can complete the game, but it also have more content, targeted on more mature audience with an actual difficulty to complete 100% of all the game aspects. There is no such option in this pokemon game. Exp.Share gets OP and all my pokemon are overleveled, even after switching all the overleveled ones mid-game.
    On the other hand, handholding and cutscenes in every route does not make me feel and experience the map as it should be and there is always someone telling me where to go, who to speak to and how to handle every aspect of the game without me feeling responsible for the decisions made in game at any level.

    Graphics:
    Graphics don't seem like an upscale compared to previous 3ds games and for being the first mainline game in a console, I would expect something better, for example natural-moving characters or introducing pre-rendered movie scenes in times where the movement seems unnatural (e.g. when the 2 legendaries turn around when they face each other). To get it even a notch further, voice acting in a mainline console gaming doesn't seem far fetched but they didn't even cover the basics so, that is too much to expect from what they have given us.

    Controversy:
    I am not gonna use any buzzwords, I totally understand about large number of designs logistics and that doesn't hinder my ability to play the game, so all the other reasons are why I give such a low score for the game.

    All in all:
    A pokemon game is never gonna be awful, because of the successful formula they have and because of the size of the franchise, but the way the company is going, we are never gonna have a truly great Pokemon game ever again (eg. HG/SS, Platinum, Emerald, B2/W2).

    It is not a 0, but anything above a 2 would be unfair, so my score is gonna be exactly that.    … Expand
  38. Goomenstein
    Nov 15, 2019
    5
    It's a Pokémon game so it's bound to be mildly enjoyable, however, this is the worst entry in the series yet. The difficulty is laughable, the story is simple and the game is relatively short. The lack of features (and Pokemon) from other games is also inexcusable as the quality has not improved as a consequence as they had promised us.
    While the art DIRECTION of this game is pretty, the    It's a Pokémon game so it's bound to be mildly enjoyable, however, this is the worst entry in the series yet. The difficulty is laughable, the story is simple and the game is relatively short. The lack of features (and Pokemon) from other games is also inexcusable as the quality has not improved as a consequence as they had promised us.
    While the art DIRECTION of this game is pretty, the graphics themselves are subpar with muddy textures and less than great animations. (the infamous tree that was picked apart since the E3 treehouse showcase is still in the final game, by the way)

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

    Sadly I believe this is as great as modern Pokemon games will get. Even if you do decide to not buy this game and vote with your wallet, the problem goes beyond Gamefreak having little time to develop and polish these games. The maingames have been a fraction of the total revenue TPCi makes, so they are more likely to be cut completely than to be polished.
    The maingames are ABSOLUTELY ****    … Expand
  39. Takajapa
    Nov 15, 2019
    7
    É um jogo bom.. porem deveriam ter se esforçado mais. Gráficos ok, jogabilidade ok, quantidade de pokémons ok... Pra um jogo pokémon, ok n é algo bom!
  40. ZeroHorugane
    Nov 15, 2019
    2
    Esto no es un juego de Pokémon esto es terrible
    Esto no merece tener Pokémon en el nombre quitaron mecánicas para añadir pasto
    Es inaceptable
  41. HIghlandhunters
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    Poor game design, constantly crashes and freezing when on ladders, animations are worse than DS versions for attacks. Overall this game has had a very poor design and needs to be fixed asap, they basically shipped a broken game. It crashed 7 times on my switch in 6 hours.
  42. Skyblue98
    Nov 15, 2019
    2
    Pokémon Sword and Shield (Sw/Sh) are not bad when it comes to the meta aspect. Many new mechanics were introduced to make team building easier and the new mons are interesting. Design wise that could be argued, but that's not the point. I think the Wild Area, while not nearly perfect, is a good starting point for what there is to come. However, how can we get excited for that when GF andPokémon Sword and Shield (Sw/Sh) are not bad when it comes to the meta aspect. Many new mechanics were introduced to make team building easier and the new mons are interesting. Design wise that could be argued, but that's not the point. I think the Wild Area, while not nearly perfect, is a good starting point for what there is to come. However, how can we get excited for that when GF and TPC have been more and more lazy over the years? From a graphical standpoint the game is inadmissible. Textures are really sub-par and pop-in is a real problem. Animations and models are reused, and they weren't even high quality back in the 3DS Era. Pokémon are not expressive and these animations don't help. Battle backgrounds are are not present in multiple ocassions, which is a huge letdown. This happens more often than I would like to recognize being a massive fan myself. The funny part is that some media related to Nintendo stated that these problems were only present in illegal versions of the game but that has been proven wrong already by the horrendous state of the game. The human models are no better and they are animated like a PS2 game. The scene of the legendaries is tragic when it comes to the animation. The performance of the game is also lacking, which is unexpected due to the huge content cut that we suffered. It's hard to believe that this is the same platform where BoTW and Odyssey were released. Finally, the length of the game does not compensate, being around 12 hours. It is tragic and sad, but we can not let GF go away with it… Expand
  43. Drezziks
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    Game feels 50% incomplete. Horrendous draw distance, pixelated shadows, empty Wild Area, and a practically non-existent post game. This is not a game for veteran players, like GameFreak stayed it was.
  44. Panderbarepando
    Nov 15, 2019
    4
    If I could give them one more qualification, but Game Freak has done a disappointing job for Pokemon.

    I do not intend to elaborate on that theme that is already in the mouth of the fandom but in case they have not given the width in its launch for Switch and it shows that Game Freak has fallen asleep on its laurels .... De ponerles una calificacion mas podria pero en si Game Freak ha    If I could give them one more qualification, but Game Freak has done a disappointing job for Pokemon.

    I do not intend to elaborate on that theme that is already in the mouth of the fandom but in case they have not given the width in its launch for Switch and it shows that Game Freak has fallen asleep on its laurels ....

    De ponerles una calificacion mas podria pero en si Game Freak ha hecho un trabajo decepcionante para Pokemon.

    No pienso explayar sobre ese tema que ya esta en boca del fandom pero en si no han dado el ancho en su lanzamiento para Switch y demuestra que Game Freak se ha dormido en sus laureles....    … Expand
  45. Fenrir_
    Nov 15, 2019
    3
    Extremely disappointing. Considering every other flagship title on the Switch, this is nowhere near their level. A barren wild area as opposed to BoTW's lush open world, the game freezing and crashing, objects popping in compared to seeing practically the whole world from the starting player and music just not being there in some of the most "climactic" moments! This is without evenExtremely disappointing. Considering every other flagship title on the Switch, this is nowhere near their level. A barren wild area as opposed to BoTW's lush open world, the game freezing and crashing, objects popping in compared to seeing practically the whole world from the starting player and music just not being there in some of the most "climactic" moments! This is without even mentioning the majority of Pokemon being cut but the same models and animations being used, the lack of any enjoyable challenge and only straight lines to follow, no complexity at all. I want a refund.

    At least the trainer customisation is nice.    … Expand
  46. Feraligabriel
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    Really bad game, game freak really proved how lazy and uncaring they are. They release a bad game with some new stuff and a pokemon title. If this wasnt linked in any way to the pokemon franchised and released as something else, it would be one of those games that are destined to go in the 5$bin a year after release
  47. joaofernandes
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    "Most valuable IP in the world". Proceeds to create the worst Pokémon game with one of the best consoles Nintendo has ever created.

    #WakeUpGameFreak
  48. Gallego
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    El peor juego de toda la saga de lejos. Antes de empezar a dar razones del por qué es tan pésimo juego, he de decir: Si sois auténticos fans de Pokémon, JAMÁS COMPRÉIS ESTE JUEGO, lo único que hacéis al comprarlo es llevar a la saga a peor, ya que Game Freak se seguirá sintiendo cómoda con su ley de mínimo esfuerzo. Ahora el por qué este juego no merece más de un 0:

    - Mentiras. Game    El peor juego de toda la saga de lejos. Antes de empezar a dar razones del por qué es tan pésimo juego, he de decir: Si sois auténticos fans de Pokémon, JAMÁS COMPRÉIS ESTE JUEGO, lo único que hacéis al comprarlo es llevar a la saga a peor, ya que Game Freak se seguirá sintiendo cómoda con su ley de mínimo esfuerzo. Ahora el por qué este juego no merece más de un 0:

    - Mentiras. Game Freak nos ha llenado de mentiras. Dijeron que el Dexit (falta de pokémon en la pokédex nacional) venía acompañado de mejores animaciones, y no es verdad.
    - Pokémon Lets Go le ha hecho mucho daño al juego, restandole 1 año de tiempo a su desarrollo. Dijeron que no obstaculizaría el desarrollo de SW/SH y sí, lo ha hecho, un juego penoso obstaculizando a un juego que podría ser decente, pero que ha acabado siendo incluso peor.

    Ahora los platos fuertes:
    - Más de la mitad de los pokémon recortados de la pokédex, cuando los modelos están todos importados de 3ds
    - Área silvestre super desaprovechada. Es decente en los 10 primeros minutos, después pasa a ser peor que una ruta pasillera
    - Gráficos lamentables. Son los gráficos de Sol/Luna reescalados. Los comparas con Zelda BotW o Mario Odyssey y te dan ganas de vomitar
    - Apartado técnico terrible. 30 fps máximos e inestables
    - Los objetos popean casi enfrente tuyo
    - Animaciones lamentables. No solo en combate, donde se ven mierdas como un Charizard escupiendo fuego por las alas, sino que outdoor también son terribles. Por twitter podéis ver un video de Zacian girandose, con una animación de andar para alante mientras gira 180 grados sin moverse del sitio. Imperdonable en la franquicia que más dinero genera en el mundo a día de hoy
    - 140 movimientos eliminados
    - Mega evoluciones y movimientos Z eliminados
    - Los objetos del mundo, por alguna razón, se congelan cuando estás subiendo una escalera. Lamentable
    - La distancia de renderizado en general es mínima. Tienes menos visión que un monje en Age of Empires 2
    - La historia es probablemente la peor de toda la saga
    - Los personajes son menos carismáticos que un Metapod, acabas cogiéndoles más asco que cariño
    - Duración pírrica, en 15 horas te has pasado el juego
    - El postgame es inexistente, dura 2 horas y mucho le estoy dando
    - Frenta batalla? JAJAJA. Otra entrega sin frente batalla en condiciones
    - GTS eliminada
    - El juego más fácil de toda la saga. El repartir experiencia no se puede desactivar y está totalmente desbalanceado, hasta el punto que llegas a la liga con +30 niveles y eres capaz de oneshootear a los gigamax de los gimnasios sin transformar a tu pokémon
    - SPOILER: Y hablando de la liga. Recordáis ese antiguo alto mando? Pues ya no existe, han recortado hasta eso, ahora el alto mando está compuesto por los líderes de gimnasio
    - Entrenadores con 1 solo pokémon y a un nivel bajísimo. Lo que pasaba en Sol/Luna, pero más exagerado aún
    - Cada pocos minutos, alguien cura a tu equipo, haciendo que puedas seguir siempre adelante sin necesidad de volver atrás y curar
    - A todo lo anterior, súmale que puedes acceder al PC desde cualquier parte y que los combates son más fáciles que completar el nivel 1-1 de cualquier Mario, y tienes un juego que lo completas sin reto alguno SOLO siguiendo el camino. Camino que, por cierto, te llevan de la manita, no vayas a perderte
    - Hablando de pokémon. Los diseños son horribles, mira que era difícil que fueran más feos que en sexta generación... pues lo son
    - Y sabéis que más comparte con sexta generación? Que solo puedes capturar 2 legendarios... WOW
    - También tiene los peores iniciales de la saga de lejos. Las últimas evoluciones de Scorbunny y Sobble parecen una segunda evolución. Decir que son vomitivos es quedarse corto
    - El tamaño de los pokémon no tiene sentido (mítico ejemplo, Wailord)
    - Muy desbalanceado en cuanto a tipos. Solo hay 2 pokémon tipo tierra, por ejemplo, y son ambos de la misma rama evolutiva
    - LA NOSTALGIA. Parece que Game Freak solo sabe vender mediante el uso de la nostalgia a día de hoy. La región de Kanto, Charizard y Pikachu por todas partes, por lo menos Mewtwo apenas sale.

    Y seguramente haya más puntos que se me olviden, pero he mencionado bastantes como para que el 0 esté más que justificado

    Lo dicho, si eres un fan de verdad y de verdad aprecias y amas la saga, JAMÁS compres estos juegos, lo único que estarás haciendo es apoyar la ley del mínimo esfuerzo que están siguiendo con la saga desde sexta generación. En cambio, si no lo apoyáis, tenemos la posibilidad de que Nintendo meta mano en el asunto y arregle este desastre.

    En resumen, un juego penoso y lamentable. Si llega a ser una empresa indie su desarrolladora, la prensa no le daría más de un 5. No es un juego a la altura de la calidad de las entregas de Switch, tales como los ya mencionados Zelda BotW y Mario Odyssey, u otros ejemplos como Fire Emblem 3H y Xenoblade 2.    … Expand
  49. Mezaki
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    The same game every year and this time they don't gave us all pokemons. They tried to innovate but that was just awful.
  50. sweetbrown
    Nov 15, 2019
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. So, I always saturate myself in spoilers before I get a game. The thrill of surprise is once & done and cheap, at best. A full purchase digital download on launch day is forever.

    The controversy surrounding these games isn’t undue and will be a massive **** for actual consumers and the rabid fan base.

    I’m so glad that I’ve watched all the streams of early leakers. I’m so glad that I’ve gotten the game 2 days early (Tue night in PST America.)

    I’ve been playing Sword (specifically this version) nonstop. And it starts out charming, but becomes increasingly disappointing as the game goes on and the new game luster wears off. It becomes disappointing and empty. But the background animations and many cutscenes are actually done quite well, so I have to give it that.

    The massive dex changes, the loss of GTS, the removal of many other features is absolutely unforgivable, this generation. There is no good excuse for severely limiting a region as part of “policy change,” for any other reason than pure developer laziness AND / OR parent company pressure & greed.

    Story completed as of this morning. You can skip this one. The mons are cool, and there’s something found for most people, but with a lack of endgame, dexit cutting out most of the mons from previous generations, there is only one redemption: making a Third Version which DOES allow all previous mons to battle in it, PLUS a discount for anyone who has a cartridge or digital purchase. If they simply add back all the features they removed, their rabid fans will sing praise and forget that it happened, at all.

    But until then, GF & TPCI owe their fans — their consumers, a severe apology.    … Expand
  51. DreadPirateGill
    Nov 15, 2019
    5
    I wish I could rate it higher. I bought this game last night and have already beaten it.
  52. pokead
    Nov 15, 2019
    1
    Yeah no gamefreak i’m gonna pass on this one, this game is a shame and i really love Pokémon
  53. Babyturk
    Nov 15, 2019
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I find it quite refreshing and love the fact that all Pokémon are not in the game.… Expand
  54. RJD2
    Nov 15, 2019
    7
    For reference I gave Let's Go Pikachu a generous 2/10. SWSH is a great improvement but lacks polish, graphics and animations are very underwhelming for a home console game. Despite the short comings it feels like any other pokemon game which is good and bad, they have evolved just enough for me to enjoy the game as a new experience but there's so much lost potential, the wild area is aFor reference I gave Let's Go Pikachu a generous 2/10. SWSH is a great improvement but lacks polish, graphics and animations are very underwhelming for a home console game. Despite the short comings it feels like any other pokemon game which is good and bad, they have evolved just enough for me to enjoy the game as a new experience but there's so much lost potential, the wild area is a huge step in the right direction but Gamefreak really needs to step their game up in Gen 9 and take risks. I'm just hoping all this criticism will finally give TPCi and Gamfreak reason to put all the resources they can in the next game.… Expand
  55. Bigdaddyjef
    Nov 15, 2019
    10
    The game look great, plays great and is very fun. This is pokemon.
  56. EmperorSubs
    Nov 15, 2019
    4
    It's just the same old, stale pokemon release. Practically no story other then, "kid fights an evil group and becomes the champion". The characters are super one dimensional, and the gameplay is still the same as before. All they did was add a new useless gimmick.

    Now I'm a firm believer that you can have a great game series with the same gameplay for each game, but it must have a good    It's just the same old, stale pokemon release. Practically no story other then, "kid fights an evil group and becomes the champion". The characters are super one dimensional, and the gameplay is still the same as before. All they did was add a new useless gimmick.

    Now I'm a firm believer that you can have a great game series with the same gameplay for each game, but it must have a good and new story for each game. Pokemon doesn't do this.

    It's sad to see a franchise like pokemon, that has a huge budget, make such a subpar games. Compare this to a similar franchises like digimon that works with a fourth of pokemon's budget and still produces high quality games. Or at least, higher quality then pokemon.    … Expand
  57. tencentk
    Nov 15, 2019
    10
    Great game don't believe all the hate from people who haven't played the game.
  58. Skum
    Nov 15, 2019
    7
    It’s the usual Pokémon experience, something I was greatly looking forward to. Although the graphics aren’t as polished as one would hope for today’s standards, the gameplay holds up. Unfortunately, there’s a large and angry community spreading a combination of false and negative-only reviews. Not to suggest the game is perfect, it could certainly have “more”. More story content, and yes,It’s the usual Pokémon experience, something I was greatly looking forward to. Although the graphics aren’t as polished as one would hope for today’s standards, the gameplay holds up. Unfortunately, there’s a large and angry community spreading a combination of false and negative-only reviews. Not to suggest the game is perfect, it could certainly have “more”. More story content, and yes, the entire Pokedex.
    Fun new characters, cool new Pokémon designs, and a beautiful new region.    … Expand
  59. TehSe7en
    Nov 15, 2019
    1
    While the games aren't bad per say, compared to the previous installments, it's lacking in every direction other than graphically. The number of possible monsters to be caught are less than in previous games, being impossible to even transfer over certain monsters from previous games, the characters are forgettable and annoying to the point that you constantly fight your rival (who keepsWhile the games aren't bad per say, compared to the previous installments, it's lacking in every direction other than graphically. The number of possible monsters to be caught are less than in previous games, being impossible to even transfer over certain monsters from previous games, the characters are forgettable and annoying to the point that you constantly fight your rival (who keeps changing his team) countless times, interrupted story elements where you can't intervene, Leon, the champion, will always say something along these lines "Go finish the gym challenge, I'll deal with the situation!", instead of letting the player deal with the issues and be involved in the story, there's no bad team per say, throughout the game, team Yell aren't a threat, they are just your regular soccer fanboys that keep chasing your rival, they'll even stop your progress because you, the player character, is being mean to a poor snake pokemon, they also have a city of their own (akin to sun and moon's po town), but it's literally a straight corridor to the right where you keep fighting members of team Yell who only have a single pokemon each. They are just exactly what they said in the trailers, fanboys.

    Every bit of the map is strikingly lacking, most routes are very short with some gyms and pokecenters being 2 minutes appart from each other, the last 3 gyms are easily reachable in under 5 minutes, connected by straight line routes. Very uninteresting places and no rewarding hidden spots to find.

    The whole story segments are also piss poor, at the end, Leon gets mysteriously dragged to the chairman's tower right before the final match with the player character, it's now your job to go find Leon, in your way you find Oleana, who sends a single goon, with the tower's key, your way, he's dressed like the regular pokemon league staff, but he wears black glasses, to return the key you have to find him in the central area of the last bit of the game, you have to find him and battle him 4 times, each time he sends out 2 steel type pokemon, it felt like a chore, why not just give him a full pokemon team and battle him once? After that you get to reach the tower, where you have to take the elevator, during your elevator ride, you gotta fight some of Oleana's goons in double battles, like the previous guy you gotta fight them 4 times, and you guessed it, they have 1 pokemon each, it felt like yet another chore, why not give them full pokemon teams and fight them once?
    Then you reach the top and fight Oleana herself, who has a variety of pokemon types, but easily beatable, proceeded by a 3 shot cutscene, felt like a powerpoint presentation, of Leon speaking with the chairman about how in a 1000 years the darkest day will come, which Leon proceeds to say "We can do it some other time, it's like 1000 is tomorrow", it cuts to Leon leaving and the chairman plotting to release the darkest day on Leon's showmatch.
    Before the match with Leon begins, you are interrupted by loud noises coming from the dragon type gym, you and Hop go to the area where you first found Zacian (or Zamazenta in shield), and call for help, then proceed to the gym only to find out that apparently the chairman got crazy and released Eternatus (mind you, we never heard of him before) and we need to catch it to stop the darkest day, you reach the chairman's location and fight him, he has a plethora of steel types, easily beatable as well, and he'll warn you that the champion already caught Eternatus at this point, then cut to you and Hop on top of the gym with Leon trying to catch (and fail miserably) Eternatus, it then turns into Eternamax and you now have to fight it with Hop, for whatever reason, Leon doesn't join you, your attacks phase through it, the box legendaries come to the rescue and fight along side you in a 4v1 battle, they almost instantly knock out Eternatus and you get to capture it, the legendaries flee and you get to fight Leon properly. That's it, the last 2 hours of the game it's when the plot unfolds in a rushed mess with nothing leading up to it, everything is completely fine until your final match, where everything comes down.

    The post game can get easily resumed by "it's where you catch the legendaries" and to do that you have to fight two dudes with hair that resembles a sword and a shield, 3 times, then you get to fight your version's legendary and that's it.

    The rest of the game contains, max raid battles which are insanely repetitive, and the very poorly thought out battle tower (it's literally the same as sun and moon's battle tree but without the trainers from previous games).    … Expand
  60. Doctor7175
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    Apologist side of conflict is worse then haters
    Stop eating **** for once. This is not 60$ game.
    And it's not about game targeting kids. Literally any RPG has difficulty settings. **** Mario Odyssey has assist mode for kids. It doesn't need hand holding and broken exp share. Kids figured out gen 1. Also stop harassing people for disliking something you're as bad as people who sent GF    Apologist side of conflict is worse then haters
    Stop eating **** for once. This is not 60$ game.
    And it's not about game targeting kids. Literally any RPG has difficulty settings. **** Mario Odyssey has assist mode for kids. It doesn't need hand holding and broken exp share. Kids figured out gen 1. Also stop harassing people for disliking something you're as bad as people who sent GF death threats.    … Expand
  61. KinMonteste
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    The main problem with this game is not only the pokemon cut away but the lies of the company, if too expensive to make a pokemon game? litterally there is hundreds if not thousands of pro games developer that would done a better job free, you know why i know that? because every year fans make games from 0, new animations, new pokemon desings, attacks, textures and everything for free, butThe main problem with this game is not only the pokemon cut away but the lies of the company, if too expensive to make a pokemon game? litterally there is hundreds if not thousands of pro games developer that would done a better job free, you know why i know that? because every year fans make games from 0, new animations, new pokemon desings, attacks, textures and everything for free, but of course pokemon and nintendo do not like those people to exist and shut the game down, theres a lot of problems with this game, shiny locks, competitive change, bad meta, unbalanced pokemon, deleted attacks really used on competitive, cut of megas but mawile, sableye and abomasnow that depended on their megas, are still on the game so those pokemon again wont be used at all, mega is a fan favourite, this game was marketed as a "game for fans" ... man, we fans love this game, thats why this game hurt us so much, this is no a 0-10 because i hate this game, is the opposite, i really love this game.… Expand
  62. IICapN
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    Absolutely sad excuse for a game, this is quite possible the worst game from any top developer in the past decade (not just GameFreak). Nintendo should be ashamed to be associated with this garbage. A very short list of issues:
    - Graphics are OBJECTIVELY worse than Let's Go Pikachu and I would argue they're worse than Pokemon USUM. This terrible excuse for graphics is why we lost over    Absolutely sad excuse for a game, this is quite possible the worst game from any top developer in the past decade (not just GameFreak). Nintendo should be ashamed to be associated with this garbage. A very short list of issues:
    - Graphics are OBJECTIVELY worse than Let's Go Pikachu and I would argue they're worse than Pokemon USUM. This terrible excuse for graphics is why we lost over half of all Pokemon in the game? What a load of garbage.
    - We lost over half of all Pokemon in the game. Not just uncatchable, but they're not even in the game, you can't transfer into the games because they excluded excluded metadata for them and decided to exclude EXISTING Pokemon models from the game, which is what they did for other Pokemon.
    - Only 80 new Pokemon overall. They didn't even try.
    - Their new Pokemon battle concept is essentially: "Look, the Pokemon is now bigger! See how big it is? Pretty cool, huh?" No creativity, it sounds like a throwaway idea someone said jokingly during a meeting that they took as a serious comment and went with it. It's the stupidest thing I've ever heard of.
    - You'd think that Pokemon becoming bigger versions of themselves would mean Pokemon size would be an important thing to scale. Nope. They have Wailord shown as being slightly smaller as the 4'10" trainer (~150 cm). Wailord is supposed to be a 50 ft (~15m) long behemoth. But nope, huge (literally) details are no longer important.
    - Finally, the straw that broker the camel's back: the game froze when I was battling in the Ice-gym. I had auto-save on, but also kept manually saving anyway because I couldn't trust anything in the game at that point. When I restarted the game after it froze, the save point there was in Route 6, basically half the game ago.

    At that point I juts gave up on the game. I lost half the progress because this terrible-developed game couldn't bother to QA their garbage product. I'm going to try to return the game, but doubt I'll be able to. This left a bad taste in my mouth and I may never buy another Pokemon game again unless management changes and they start making respectable games again.    … Expand
  63. Tatical
    Nov 15, 2019
    1
    No national Dex, no megas, no GTS.
    Grovyle died for a gigantic plate of curry.
  64. Liamvida
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    In short, this game is awful for advanced players, mediocre for casual player and it's desirable that this is nobody's first Pokémon game, least they get the wrong impression. It is the worst Pokémon main duo ever released and the only positive aspects are derived from the standard Pokémon formula. Being understaffed isn't even remotely enough to explain the unacceptable low quality ofIn short, this game is awful for advanced players, mediocre for casual player and it's desirable that this is nobody's first Pokémon game, least they get the wrong impression. It is the worst Pokémon main duo ever released and the only positive aspects are derived from the standard Pokémon formula. Being understaffed isn't even remotely enough to explain the unacceptable low quality of these games; GameFreak has serious leadership issues.

    This trash heap is the result of complacency, and a lack of effort and dedication. If it had been developed with care and the consumer's satisfaction in mind, it would have been a polished title with a lot of content complementing the new features. Sadly, this is not the case.

    Bugs, no endgame, half pokedex, mediocre graphics, less features than previous games...should I keep talking? Save your money and don't but this dumpster fire of a game    … Expand
  65. sharpfodxxxxxxx
    Nov 15, 2019
    2
    Animations are useless, models are in the game. Billion dollar franchise and a game theyve been working on for so long. Replace gamefreak.
  66. DaltonMata
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Unfortunately Game Freak don't listen to the fans and buyers, they insert mechanics and then remove like the Mega Evolutions that the community and I loved, I loved the Megas and is so sad that GF take from us and inserted a generic Growth repetitive mechanic instead. I bet The pkm company buyed the reviews because this game don't deserve even a a 5 is after all a Pokemon Sun and Moon HD, the cameras are free only in the desert of content that they call "wild area". And the nd the elephant in the room, in fact they had cuted half Pokemon base in this game and liead to the fans . This is a EA tatic, ththey betrayed their own fan base and consumers.… Expand
  67. PenalTea
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    Jeu nul...
    Premier Pokemon depuis X/Y et bordel qu’est-ce que ça a régressé...
  68. supaharmrun
    Nov 15, 2019
    3
    Dex cut is unacceptable especially when they didn't add anything to make up for it.
  69. Captainkaeru
    Nov 15, 2019
    2
    Too many cut features and cut corners. A substantial amount of Pokemon and moves we're cut from this game, for the sake of apparent improved animations. A lot of the animations are identical to the 3ds animations or worse. Brave bird for example pales in comparison to it's 3ds animation.

    The new Pokemon designs are good_ but that remains to be the only good experience I had in this game.    Too many cut features and cut corners. A substantial amount of Pokemon and moves we're cut from this game, for the sake of apparent improved animations. A lot of the animations are identical to the 3ds animations or worse. Brave bird for example pales in comparison to it's 3ds animation.

    The new Pokemon designs are good_ but that remains to be the only good experience I had in this game. Its much much easier than previous games, Exp share is forced on so you become horribly overlevelled by the second gym. Routes are extremely easy to traverse with a healing trainer every 2 or 3 battles. Its disappointing that Pokemon has fallen this far. I wish I had saved my money and we if they fix enough of the bugs or tune the game before releasing the inevitable full price 3rd version next year.becooverleveleeprevious    … Expand
  70. Cfgk24
    Nov 15, 2019
    10
    OMG! Best Damn Pokemon game I've ever played! Loving the fluidity of the gameplay.
    Without hesitation - you should get Pokemon Sword/shield. :)
  71. PhantomMimikyu
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    Not worth any cents, needs a lot of fixing, its destroying people's sd cards now, seriously who would want a game with horrible graphics, a company that lied to their fans about why they did stuff and that has taken away features and player choices?
  72. Atsuma
    Nov 15, 2019
    3
    Perhaps this is the last part of the Pokemon that I will buy. A bunch of bugs and cut content. The new part of the Pokemon is not like the game of 2019. The game is worthy of the title "Disappointment of the Year."
  73. Daby101
    Nov 15, 2019
    3
    I’ve been big fan of Pokémon ever since I was a kid. It was always one of my favorite franchises for its use of creativity, fun and heart to both the games and the anime. Sword and Shield try to recreate those same feelings with a false veil that even the brain dead audience will clap to and enjoy but I’m not one of them, I actually have standards. Before the negatives (which are many) II’ve been big fan of Pokémon ever since I was a kid. It was always one of my favorite franchises for its use of creativity, fun and heart to both the games and the anime. Sword and Shield try to recreate those same feelings with a false veil that even the brain dead audience will clap to and enjoy but I’m not one of them, I actually have standards. Before the negatives (which are many) I will talk a little about the positives.
    To start off, the best part of the game is actually in the name, the Pokémon. Most of the designs I find creative and fun with a variety of ideas and colors. I feel like it’s a small step over the Pokémon of Sun and Moon as most Pokémon have some sort of evolution while in Sun and Moon, there were a ton of Pokémon who should have had some sort of 2 stage / 3 stage evolution. Another positive is most of the new animations being well animated and some of the textures of attacks look the best they ever had. The “Maxing” gimmick seems like fun but doesn’t live up to its name as I will explain shortly. The new camp feature could be great and has a lot of potential that Game Freak doesn’t capitalize on. The idea of camp with your little buddies would be wonderful if gamefreak actually took the time develop the concept better. Which this leads me to all the negatives and the best way to describe them is “lost potential and laziness”.
    When playing the game, you’ll notice the lifelessness of the Pokémon, as they move on the map and in battle like they’re on a grid. Unless you’re in a pre-rendered cutscene, everything moves like a robot. Walk in place to face you or the focus. Idle animations that still remain lifeless as the x/y and sun and moon idle animations as they are EXACTLY the same and the attack animations are still very poor as well (look up the double kick attack and Maxed Grookey doing bullet seed to see what I mean). I remember Pokémon Stadium having characters animated with tons of life, moving, jiving, swaying, and spinning. What else is exactly the same is the models funny enough. Recent looks through the games files and code show that all the returning Pokémon that show up still retain those same “future proofed” models that were over developed back in x/y.

    Graphically the colors are vibrant and shiny but texture wise for most things, it looks like that of n64 and ps1 era textures. The ground, rock, trees, etc all look terrible and doesn’t help thats what you’ll be looking at throughout most of the game. The towns look nice but there’s a feeling of voidness as there’s nothing to do and there’s even a portion where they copy paste the same exact room several times, when they could have moved furniture, different paintings, different interior size but nope, copy and paste. Now back to the gimmicks of this generation, dynamaxing and gigantamaxing. It’s a neat idea that is executed horribly. In the case of dynamaxing, the only change to stats is the health rising, everything else remains the same and I don’t remember if the Gigmax version does that as well though I don’t remember any drastic change in stats except health. For a replacement to mega stones (which would change stats that isn’t just health AND possibly the type and ability) and z-moves (which are special powerful moves), the Maxing feels like a waste of a good concept and a excuse for the developers to not actually balance those forms / attack’s. This brings me to my next point, balance. There’s not much to say as the game has NOT been rebalanced at all. It is still the same, no actual work was done to balance out the Pokémon THEMSELVES. There’s still worthless Pokémon, Pokémon with the potential of being good but for some odd reason having bad stats and so on a so forth. These issues were in previous games and they still are here now. Nothing was actually fixed in a major way. The wild area is a great concept that, like the Maxing and camp, is not executed well. After the novelty of playing in it for 30 minutes, you’ll realize how lifeless it is. Sure Pokémon and trainers may pop up or you’ll find the max raid spots, but there’s nothing really there besides that. No dungeons, puzzles, mini games, nothing. It doesn’t help when you ride around that trees and trainers will randomly pop in front of you like some ghost as the render distance in this game is absolute terrible and a game such as BOTW dealt with this issue much better. Not to mention going up ladders freeze time. After all is said and done, Game freak produced a game that cuts out Pokémon / attacks / forms, offers us the same Ps1 turning animations and textures in their previous titles, unbalanced mechanics, a lifeless overworld, reused models, and promised of great things that turn out to be lies. This game isn’t worth $60, it isn’t even worth the original $40 as it has less content than DS Poke game. Save your money and standards.    … Expand
  74. Sikke
    Nov 15, 2019
    1
    Despite all the fuzz about cut features, I decided to give this game a go. After finishing the game in about 15 hours, I regret not buying another game. I've been a pokémon fan for many years, but the sheer lack of quality means this was my last game in the series. A list of problems I have with the game: - lack of content: with a storyline this short and nonexistent aftergame, as well asDespite all the fuzz about cut features, I decided to give this game a go. After finishing the game in about 15 hours, I regret not buying another game. I've been a pokémon fan for many years, but the sheer lack of quality means this was my last game in the series. A list of problems I have with the game: - lack of content: with a storyline this short and nonexistent aftergame, as well as the removal of half of all pokémon, this game offers less for more money. - Subpar graphics: models haven't improved since the last iteration of the game. Open world fiels empty. Some attacks have laughable animations.

    - Interesting mechanics from previous gens have been cut and replaced with a gimmicky Dynamaxing. - Lots of handhelding througout the game. Overall, I was hoping the move to switch hardware would lift the series to a new level, but instead the game fiels like it has a lot of cut corners compared to last gen. Would recommend to buy a used 3ds and a previous gen pokémon game instead. More content and overall better experience for a lower price.    … Expand
  75. Orodur
    Nov 15, 2019
    1
    Easiest game I've ever played. Unnecesary cut of main content from previous games. N64 graphics. Programming issues and bugs. Overall laziness
  76. Mainstone
    Nov 15, 2019
    2
    What can i say? Huge dissapointment would be one thing.

    A Main series console pokemon game is what all Pokemon fans have waited for since forever. Sword and Sheild however, sadly does not live up to it. While some scenes look absolutely amazing, others are completely empy or clearly unfinished. The game is the easiest it has ever been, especially since the EXP share is always on by    What can i say? Huge dissapointment would be one thing.

    A Main series console pokemon game is what all Pokemon fans have waited for since forever. Sword and Sheild however, sadly does not live up to it. While some scenes look absolutely amazing, others are completely empy or clearly unfinished. The game is the easiest it has ever been, especially since the EXP share is always on by default, and I finished the main story in about 11 hours, the fastest I've ever done in a pokemon game. I don't have a problem with most of the new pokemon, but I have to admit, the fact that there isn't an expanded pokedex after the main story kind of breaks my heart. Not since the gap between Pokemon Gold/Silver on the Gameboy Color and the Ruby/Saphire on the Gameboy Advance has there ever been a time where you couldn't bring your pokemon into the newest addition. It reflects on the unfortunate tradition that GameFreak seemingly insinsts to uphold, the best features it has ever made never make it further. Secret bases in Ruby/Saphire, The Battle Frontier in Emerald, the Poketch and the underground in Diamond/Pearl, Pokemon following you in HeartGold/SoulSilver, Triple battles and Rotation battles in Black/White, Megaevolution in X/Y and Z-moves in Sun/Moon are some of just the many excellent additions to pokemon that are NOT in Sword/Shield, and replaced by nothing of note really.

    This results in the most basic, emptiest, shortest, easiest and frankly weakest pokemon game in the main series bar none. As a lifelong pokemon fan, I cannot recommend this game. Hopefully, Nintendo and Gamefreak can learn from this and try to steer the series back in the right direction.    … Expand
  77. PredatoryWasp
    Nov 15, 2019
    8
    This is yet another solid entry into the Pokemon franchise. The game looks better than any previous game, yeah not all textures are perfect, but when you're playing, you barely notice. Some animations are stale, but smooth and expected and the new animations look wonderful. I'm about 20 hours in and it's still really fun and fresh to play.
  78. Faber1996
    Nov 15, 2019
    2
    You can complete the WHOLE game in less than 15 hours (Without speedrunning) which is really not enough for a GDR like Pokémon. There's not even post-game content. The graphics are terrible, It looks like an upscaled 3ds game. Models and animations are trash and they are the same of the previous 3ds games. They cut almost 500 Pokémon a and over 100 moves. The new addictions are bad too:You can complete the WHOLE game in less than 15 hours (Without speedrunning) which is really not enough for a GDR like Pokémon. There's not even post-game content. The graphics are terrible, It looks like an upscaled 3ds game. Models and animations are trash and they are the same of the previous 3ds games. They cut almost 500 Pokémon a and over 100 moves. The new addictions are bad too: Dynamaxing is just annoying, raids are boring and the wild area Is almost empty. Moreover you can't turn off the exp. share, so your pokemons are alwais overleveled and the game Is TOO Easy. This Is not worth 60€...not even 30… Expand
  79. archivesenpai
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    The company lied to it's fanbase. They are giving us less content and expect us to pay more money. This game should be on no one's Nintendo Switch game collection.
  80. greentauros
    Nov 15, 2019
    2
    So my co-worker got this for me as a birthday present, otherwise I would not be playing it right now, nor would I have bought it in the future.

    The graphics are sub-par for a Switch, how come animations from Pokemon Stadium that had a smaller dev team look better than this games? How come Colosseum and Gale of Darkness look better than this game graphically when it came out on a system    So my co-worker got this for me as a birthday present, otherwise I would not be playing it right now, nor would I have bought it in the future.

    The graphics are sub-par for a Switch, how come animations from Pokemon Stadium that had a smaller dev team look better than this games? How come Colosseum and Gale of Darkness look better than this game graphically when it came out on a system that isn't as powerful? Just got to the 2nd badge and while some of the new pokemon are pretty adorable everything else about this game has left a bad taste in my mouth. It feels to me like they just slap a new paint of coat on it and should either hire more people to help make the game better, or instead take a break from the yearly release cycle.

    They also removed many things like TMs, one of which is "return". The attack power is based on how much your Pokemon likes you, and it feels like a slap in your face when a move like this is removed. Wasn't part of the point in pokemon to grow alongside your pokemon and treat them like a pet?

    Don't get me wrong, the game still shows a lot of promise of what could have been, but when you have other titles like BoTW which was originally a Wii U game, and Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and even more impressive ports like The Witcher 3. It's just depressing that this is the best they could come up with. Gamefreak if you're reading this please hire more staff or take a year off. Maybe even get rid of Masuda. Older pokemon titles use to have more adventure, even if they were graphically lacking, maybe some of that was childhood and maybe some of that is the lack of care that they seem to put into these new pokemon titles. It's been downhill since Pokemon X and Y came out, which part of that was them needing new models made in 3D for the 3DS and was understandable.. But after that, it's all felt lacking, especially when Black and White 2 were the pinnacle of pokemon games before then (Talking about mainline games and not remakes like HGSS which were spectacular.)    … Expand
  81. William8
    Nov 15, 2019
    9
    I have truly been in awe playing this Game. Beautiful world, new Pokémon with great animations, everyone/everything has personality. It's not perfect, would love to have it be longer but I hope since this is Gamefreaks first outing on the Switch, they'll add even more in the next game. Loving this though
  82. Gravoid
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    So much wasted potential. I'm really sad about the future of the game. It's worst then the handheld games.
  83. Hahn
    Nov 15, 2019
    10
    Es una nueva generación y un nuevo comienzo para la saga que tanto adoro, y debo decir que no me ha decepcionado para nada, es genial el juego lo recomiendo mucho, te garantiza muchas horas de diversión
  84. VegetableRocket
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    Do not let the professional reviews fool you, they are bought and paid for. Let's talk issues.

    This game is bricking Switches; there's a bug that deletes all your save data for all your games. The fact that this has happened to multiple people on DAY ONE, says, "stay away from this game". Don't buy it for your kids. If this gets patched, maybe consider it, but until then this is way too    Do not let the professional reviews fool you, they are bought and paid for. Let's talk issues.

    This game is bricking Switches; there's a bug that deletes all your save data for all your games. The fact that this has happened to multiple people on DAY ONE, says, "stay away from this game". Don't buy it for your kids. If this gets patched, maybe consider it, but until then this is way too risky to buy.

    Now let's talk controversy. GameFreak lied a lot about this game.

    It performs atrociously despite using the same models and animations as the 3DS (GameFreak lied about updating these), so the game looks awful and janky. The wild area looks like it's from a game released over 10 years ago, and this game does not match up to the quality of other Switch titles.

    The pokemon are in the game's code. The decision to cut them from being able to be caught or used is purely to sell you another game next year with some of the extra Pokemon they've locked away added back in. If you want to get into this gen, honestly wait until next year for a more complete game.

    This game is 50% more expensive than the 3DS games. Despite this it lacks content. 400 pokemon (out of the 881 that could be in with just a couple more copy-pasted lines of code amidst the copy-pasted mess that is this game), nothing to do after beating the crummy story, lack of online functionality, no Global Trade System (something the series has had for years before this). This game is not finished. But it will not be patched or fixed. They'll just move on to selling you the sequels next year.

    This game functions as if GameFreak looked at the utter disaster of Fallout 76 and said "hey let's follow suit!"    … Expand
  85. Maher981
    Nov 15, 2019
    10
    If your like me, and play Pokémon casually you will love this game over 400 Pokémon to catch is tons and you have the shiny variants. Don't forget in the first games there were 151 and that felt long trying to catch. The step up from 3ds graphics wise is amazing love love love it. Most of the neg reviews are people who haven't even bought the game. Pokémon has never been a story rich gameIf your like me, and play Pokémon casually you will love this game over 400 Pokémon to catch is tons and you have the shiny variants. Don't forget in the first games there were 151 and that felt long trying to catch. The step up from 3ds graphics wise is amazing love love love it. Most of the neg reviews are people who haven't even bought the game. Pokémon has never been a story rich game it's a chilling game for me and I'm loving it at the moment. Best one yet!!… Expand
  86. Cabruncso
    Nov 15, 2019
    5
    A marca mais cara do mundo não pode entregar um jogo medíocre. Corte de mais da metade da dex, gráficos que ficam muuuito atrás de jogos de 2017 lançados pro mesmo console, inovações bastante questionáveis nesse jogo, animações dos personagens e dos pokemons importadas e recicladas dos jogos do 3ds.. Esse jogo é um desrespeito da Game Freak para com seus fãs e consumidores! Merece todoA marca mais cara do mundo não pode entregar um jogo medíocre. Corte de mais da metade da dex, gráficos que ficam muuuito atrás de jogos de 2017 lançados pro mesmo console, inovações bastante questionáveis nesse jogo, animações dos personagens e dos pokemons importadas e recicladas dos jogos do 3ds.. Esse jogo é um desrespeito da Game Freak para com seus fãs e consumidores! Merece todo insucesso do mundo.… Expand
  87. carloscoffanni
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    Um jogo que tinha tudo para ser um sucesso mas foi destruído pela própria Game Freak, Gráficos abaixo da média para um switch, diversos bugs, Pokémon mal feitos , além da falta de National Dex com a desculpa de animações de alta qualidade , oq não é uma verdade além das animações serem recicladas de outros jogos. Resumindo esse jogo é uma vergonha! Esse jogo é um grande retrocesso e abusaUm jogo que tinha tudo para ser um sucesso mas foi destruído pela própria Game Freak, Gráficos abaixo da média para um switch, diversos bugs, Pokémon mal feitos , além da falta de National Dex com a desculpa de animações de alta qualidade , oq não é uma verdade além das animações serem recicladas de outros jogos. Resumindo esse jogo é uma vergonha! Esse jogo é um grande retrocesso e abusa da boa vontade dos fãs de pokemon… Expand
  88. QuantumRads
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    One of the lazyest games ever made from game freak. Not even half the Dex is in the game.
  89. ToryXF
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    It’s incredibly short. No endgame. Took about 8/9 hours. Don’t waste your money.
  90. watusi6969
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    My average score was 6 as it best but it went all the way down when the SD card corruption and lots of lag in the Wild Area and plus I couldnt find any group to raid a pokemon for some reason. I dont know if its a bug or something since this game is already riddle with bugs.
  91. jonathan-a
    Nov 15, 2019
    5
    The game is fun because the pokemon formula is inherently fun. That being said the games lacks any improvements and in some departments is worst than older installments of the series. That plus the fact its 50% more expensive makes for a very mediocre experience.
  92. MadViolinist
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    I bought it and I thought it was a good game but it was the opposite. There is no innovation and it is more of the same.
  93. BUBA94
    Nov 15, 2019
    4
    The worst Pokemon game ever. it's a drawback from the previou game and the few new things introduced don't make up for all the missing things. Just buy any other game of the franchise
  94. Mike2303
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    El peor Pokemon de toda la saga, Game freak son muy vagos , mismas animaciones de juegos anteriores y muchos menos pokemons, juego repetitivo hasta la saciedad, ir del punto A al punto B y cazar pokemons, menudo bodrio de juego, está saga ya está muy prostituida y se hace cansina si tienes más de 10 años.
  95. Holymacaronni
    Nov 15, 2019
    10
    An amazing game that captures the essence of Pokemon as a whole, I'm so happy I got to play this great game
  96. Dna5511
    Nov 15, 2019
    2
    Is a bad n3ds scale game, this is not a AAA game not a 60ndollar game.
    Not all Pokémon, super short and easy, no challenge and no story
  97. gramefreaklied
    Nov 15, 2019
    1
    This game, bruh is a scam, the new director of the game for game freak should be fired, such a liar man, this game was not even a bruh moment
  98. Magnetictooth
    Nov 15, 2019
    1
    Total failure of a console pokemon game, gf cut way too many features. Dont be a consoomer, skip this game and wait for the 3rd version.
  99. NicholasPayet
    Nov 15, 2019
    7
    It's a good, fun game. But part of that is because it's a Pokemon game and the pokemon formula will always be fun. It feels rushed, I feel like it could have been one of the best games ever if it was just less rushed. There's a whole town with only two openable doors being the gym and the pokemon centre, which is frankly unacceptable. That said I still enjoyed it and reccomend it toIt's a good, fun game. But part of that is because it's a Pokemon game and the pokemon formula will always be fun. It feels rushed, I feel like it could have been one of the best games ever if it was just less rushed. There's a whole town with only two openable doors being the gym and the pokemon centre, which is frankly unacceptable. That said I still enjoyed it and reccomend it to Pokemon fans, but is it on the same level as emerald, hgss, platinum or BW2? Hell no.… Expand
  100. niko112
    Nov 15, 2019
    10
    i have been playing pokemon since gen 3 and these games are amazing. At its roots, this game is just downright fun.
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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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