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
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. Rbubios
    Dec 9, 2019
    3
    Simple game and little worked. Some good idea but the game needs a real evolution.
  2. izumi
    Dec 9, 2019
    6
    Pokemon Sword and Shield are difficult games to discuss. There is an established orthodoxy that these games are not worth the time, mostly rooted in recent controversy which require no introduction. I wish to distance myself from the politics of these games, and study them from a neutral viewpoint.

    I've been a fan of the Pokemon franchise since 2007 with the release of Diamond and    Pokemon Sword and Shield are difficult games to discuss. There is an established orthodoxy that these games are not worth the time, mostly rooted in recent controversy which require no introduction. I wish to distance myself from the politics of these games, and study them from a neutral viewpoint.

    I've been a fan of the Pokemon franchise since 2007 with the release of Diamond and Pearl. Since then I have fallen in and out of love with the franchise. Perhaps my low point was Sun and Moon, before falling in love with the franchise again by playing Ultra Sun and Lets Go Pikachu last year. Needless to say, I came into Sword and Shield with perhaps a naive optimism.

    The strongest aspect of these games should come as no surprise, the battles. The Battling System in Sword and Shield feels as refined and polished as it ever has. As someone who was heavily invested in Competitive Battling in the Sixth Generation, I feel as though Sword and Shield continue to make this aspect of the franchise feeling engaging and fun. I particularly enjoyed grinding out Max Raid battles of varying difficulties. Having the chance to score big rewards and powerful Pokemon made grinding feel much more interesting than any other generation of Pokemon. On a more general note, Dynamaxing is quite a fun mechanic. It adds a new layer of strategy to battles different to that of previous Pokemon gimmicks. Yet, I still found myself missing Mega Evolution even though I found Dynamaxing to be a fun replacement.

    Sword and Shield are also particularly strong when it comes to their character designs. There was not a single character who stood out to me as having a poor design. All of the character models were well made, with good art direction to follow. The same can be said for the new Pokemon of this generation. There are a few misses (*cough* fossil Pokemon), but more times than not I found myself really enjoying using the new Pokemon of Galar. I especially enjoyed the new evolutions to Galar forms. I do hope that this is something they look into more in the future, as my only complaint with these evolutions is that there are not a great many of them.

    However, Sword and Shield are far from perfect games. The story is particularly lacking in my opinion. Sword and Shield seem to act as though they are telling a story on the level of Generation 5, Generation 7, or the Delta Episode. Flashy cutscenes and the such makes it seem as though Sword and Shield want you to believe it is telling a meaningful story. Yet, I found this to be its most lacking area. I failed to connect with most of the events taking place. Sometimes I was left confused, both wondering why certain events had happened or why certain events were even in the game to begin with. This is not Pokemon story telling at its peak. In fact, I'd argue that this is one of the worst story telling Pokemon games since the 3D transition 6 years ago. For 3D Pokemon games, it feels as though we should have been given more. And yet, I must also acknowledge that story telling has never truly been the focus of any past Pokemon game, at least from my perspective.

    It is hard for me to put into words my next criticism, but perhaps it links to the lacking nature of the story. Sword and Shield have a feeling of barebonesness (if that's a word?). The world feels small, the story is small, characters are not developed to an extent they deserve to be. It almost feels as though Game Freak were on the verge of something special, but they simply weren't able to flesh it out enough to make it feel whole. There are towns and cities which feel smaller in scope than Sun and Moon, almost similar to the scope given in Generation 4 games. I don't know why this is the case, but it takes away from the special feeling often found in Pokemon games.

    My feelings on these games are mixed. I found myself truly enjoying my 37 hour play-through of Sword (along side an incomplete 20 hour play-through on Shield). But something felt missing from these games. I do hope that these issues are addressed in a sequel or definitive version game. Galar is a region I enjoyed exploring, the Pokemon were great and I wanted to know more about the game's cast. But ultimately Sword and Shield left me wanting more in perhaps the most unfulfilling way possible. I will watch the future of Pokemon with caution, and optimism.

    EDIT 09/12/19 - After reflecting on my review and the games more generally, along with some added playtime, I have decided to amend my original score (from 7 to 6 for those who are wondering). I feel as though this more accurately reflects how I feel about these games after putting more thought into them.    … Expand
  3. HakiSaki3
    Dec 9, 2019
    4
    This game has good ideas, but is lacking in execution. Let's start with the good.
    Good:
    Character designs and music are top-notch as always. The quality of life changes make it easier and less frustrating to get into competitive battling The wild area, while lacking in execution, was a fun idea that I hope they expand upon in the future. The bad: The most hand-holding game thus far. Now    This game has good ideas, but is lacking in execution. Let's start with the good.
    Good:
    Character designs and music are top-notch as always.
    The quality of life changes make it easier and less frustrating to get into competitive battling
    The wild area, while lacking in execution, was a fun idea that I hope they expand upon in the future.
    The bad: The most hand-holding game thus far. Now your badges determine what level you're allowed to catch
    Speaking of hand-holding, your rival Hop interrupts your adventure every five minutes or so, and there's no way to skip his dialogue. He even takes it a step further and congratulates you on getting a super effective hit, EVERY SINGLE TIME, EVEN WHEN YOU'RE BATTLING AT THE ELITE FOUR.
    The game overall feels rushed. There's a nice, steady buildup for the first four badges, but once you get the fifth badge it's basically a gauntlet to get the last 3. Routes are smaller and more linear than ever. Instead of a dungeon at the end of the game we literally get an elevator ride and three battles against the evil team. One of the town's is literally just a Pokemon center and a gym with a straight line of NOTHING in between.
    The same goes for the postgame. It's just a boss rush at every gym against dynamax pokemon you can't even catch Perhaps most egregious of all is the offscreen dynamax crisis. In an effort to either save resources or make Leon look cool (which he isn't, stop trying game freak) he has an entire adventure where he goes around the city beating the dynamax pokemon and saving everyone. Wouldnt that have been, I don't know, COOL TO HAVE ACTUALLY PLAYED? instead of reading the newspaper the next day and having everyone all over Leon's dick for saving them?
    Marnie, and ESPECIALLY Bede are criminally underused in favor of giving Hop even more screentime. But the absolute worst thing in this game is the removal of the GTS. Why take it out and replace it with a broken system where people can potentially hijack your trade? Why get rid of the PSS? It was the perfect friend list where with w few presses ofna button we could battlenorntrade at will. Why make it so that we need to enter a code that will get hijacked half of the time? This score reflects that while the QoL changes are genuinely a great addition, all these other gripes were so bothersome that I will not give this a second playthrough. Thankfully I can shiny hunt in peace now.    … Expand
  4. Aromdar
    Dec 8, 2019
    10
    Buen juego de pokemon, largo y entretenido , se nota la evolución en todos los aspectos , aunque no podamos usar todos los pokemon.
  5. Spiritombed
    Dec 8, 2019
    0
    Spiritomb isn't in this game, therefore it's a terrible game. I am absolutely livid, I am full for agony. My wife left me, my son no longer loves me, due to how broken I have become. The Day of Reckoning is upon Gamefreak. You will all suffer the consequences.
  6. Zool098
    Dec 8, 2019
    0
    Stop giving this game a 10/10 rating. All you're doing is making it worse and damaging the franchise. Do not encourage Gamefreak to stay lazy, we need to keep the score low so gamefreak sees we are not happy and actually put effort in their next game. You can enjoy this game all you want, but you can't ignore the objective flaws it has, such as the poor performance, poor graphics, poorStop giving this game a 10/10 rating. All you're doing is making it worse and damaging the franchise. Do not encourage Gamefreak to stay lazy, we need to keep the score low so gamefreak sees we are not happy and actually put effort in their next game. You can enjoy this game all you want, but you can't ignore the objective flaws it has, such as the poor performance, poor graphics, poor animation, cut Pokemon, no voice acting, lack of story, pop ins, poor textures, and many more problems. This game is a 6/10 at best, so let's keep the score and hope it sends the message to Gamefreak!… Expand
  7. kenshingensai
    Dec 8, 2019
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. postgame is lacking, there is no Elite Four, you fight the same trainers all over again instead, wild area don't care for, raid battles don't care for, towns are empty, lifeless animations, feels more like a port from 3DS, improvements come at way too high a price, the game suffers from many graphical issues. Pokemon, trainers, and objects will just pop into and out of the overworld for seemingly no reason. I can go on and on its trash.… Expand
  8. Crispycheese08
    Dec 8, 2019
    9
    This installment of the pokemon franchise is not bad, on the contrary of what every other pokemon fans say. The lack of a national dex does not really take away from the game in a casual perspective and will itch that need for a pokemon game. The animation aren't perfect, but the graphics are good for this game, it fits. An HD triple A graphics does not fit with the game and so the artThis installment of the pokemon franchise is not bad, on the contrary of what every other pokemon fans say. The lack of a national dex does not really take away from the game in a casual perspective and will itch that need for a pokemon game. The animation aren't perfect, but the graphics are good for this game, it fits. An HD triple A graphics does not fit with the game and so the art direction is good for the game.… Expand
  9. Angel_Maimou
    Nov 16, 2019
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It's totally better than some of the previous games. You can see the pokemon at tall grass and it's fantastic. You can counter pokemons that are far beyond your level. My biggest disappointment so far is that the game is so easy, especially if you are an old trainer like me (my first one pokemon red at the age of 5)… Expand
  10. pseudo_gamer
    Dec 8, 2019
    4
    Its so obvious they rushed the game for the release date. There is nothing really new, its all the same! Its ok i guess, but mostly is just boring. I feel like they could have done SO much more with the Switch its hardly any better than a DS game.
  11. SteviLsGaminG
    Dec 8, 2019
    2
    The Game Seems really Rusht and Unfinisht, Old Pokemon are Reused.

    Pokedex uncomplete

    Game Laggs when online.

    Store only told not played -_-

    New Pokemon almost Ugly
  12. Daitya
    Dec 8, 2019
    10
    Como todo juego de la saga Pokémon es un buen juego. Nuevas criaturas, batallas, la magia de empezar de nuevo en una nueva región, una nueva cultura regional y personajes, una banda sonora impresionante... Pero también nos encontraremos con numerosos fallos como... Ciudades un poco monótonas, el recorte de Pokémon(que espero que metan un DLC para compensar), la falta de libertad delComo todo juego de la saga Pokémon es un buen juego. Nuevas criaturas, batallas, la magia de empezar de nuevo en una nueva región, una nueva cultura regional y personajes, una banda sonora impresionante... Pero también nos encontraremos con numerosos fallos como... Ciudades un poco monótonas, el recorte de Pokémon(que espero que metan un DLC para compensar), la falta de libertad del principio o la escasez de postgame.

    Lionel, el campeón de Galar se ve más humano y actúa como tal, además de ser querido y conocido por todos los habitantes. Me gusta su expresión al perder(aunque me da un poco de pena combatir contra él XD). Eso sí, este personaje fue el único que me derrotó y me superaba en nivel.

    Para terminar me gustaría destacar la toxicidad de la comunidad de Pokémon. Una comunidad tan tóxica que no puede disfrutar de un juego de su saga favorita y prefieren insultar y amenazar de muerte a Game Freak porque no se sienten satisfechos con el juego(o al menos es lo que dicen). También deberíamos apreciar la otra posición donde se ponen como locos cuando hacen una crítica a su juego favorito.

    Conclusión para ambas opiniones de ardidos y amargados: Disfrutad del juego y pasad de vuestro "Orgullo Pokémon" parecéis una secta. Es un juego y ya está, no han matado a vuestros padres. Como cada juego tiene sus puntos fuertes y sus puntos débiles. Eso sí, estáis en vuestro derecho a decir que el juego está "incompleto" o que podrían haber hecho algo mejor... Pero hacedlo sin insultar y con un punto de vista neutral, que hay cada crítica destructiva que no tiene sentido.    … Expand
  13. PepeProGamer
    Dec 7, 2019
    9
    I've actually yah know, played the game, unlike most of the poo poo brain reviews on this game review and I would like to say. THIS GAME IS EPIC
    The story revolves around the epic battles of Galar and not the chosen one hosh posh of previous titles. And as a result the battles are epic. The pokedex cut has resulted in a vastly more interesting competitive scene.
    Almost all complaints    I've actually yah know, played the game, unlike most of the poo poo brain reviews on this game review and I would like to say. THIS GAME IS EPIC
    The story revolves around the epic battles of Galar and not the chosen one hosh posh of previous titles. And as a result the battles are epic. The pokedex cut has resulted in a vastly more interesting competitive scene.
    Almost all complaints about this are unfounded. Graphics are pretty then they ever been for Pokémon (I have no idea what you morons expected it's a switch game of course it's not hyper realism)
    To new and old fans it's truly a must buy.
    No its not perfect or everything we've wanted. But it's a big step in the right direction for Pokémon.    … Expand
  14. bertusaurio
    Dec 7, 2019
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. es innovador y necesita pulir determinados aspectos relacionados con los gráficos, en general me encanta y me divierte mucho jugar… Expand
  15. Pellissa
    Dec 7, 2019
    4
    Este juego lo compré con muchas expectativas, pero a medida que avanzaba el juego no me convencía en lo absoluto, le di mucho tiempo, pero mi perspectiva no cambió, este Pokémon tiene el peor final de su saga, eso me desmotivó lo suficiente para no seguir jugando.
    mejoró solo un poco de la anterior entrega (pokemon picachu e eevee) he seguido jugando la torre y he tratado de encontrar a    Este juego lo compré con muchas expectativas, pero a medida que avanzaba el juego no me convencía en lo absoluto, le di mucho tiempo, pero mi perspectiva no cambió, este Pokémon tiene el peor final de su saga, eso me desmotivó lo suficiente para no seguir jugando.
    mejoró solo un poco de la anterior entrega (pokemon picachu e eevee) he seguido jugando la torre y he tratado de encontrar a todos los pokemons pero sigue sin convencerme.    … Expand
  16. Gravedigga13
    Nov 15, 2019
    3
    the game is plagued by pop-in, bad textures and sloppy animations. the story is mediocre at best. post-game is almost non-existent. The pokemon designs are decent tho. Finished the main campaign +post game in less than 20 hours. If the game would have been 30€, i would have rated this game higher, but at 60€ I simply can’t recommend this game, it’s a scam
  17. SilexEco
    Dec 7, 2019
    9
    Bueno, lo primero un enorme saludo a los piperos de 3dMaletines que tan enamorados andan de mi trasero, en especial al admin "yasif-nator", chico a ver si dejas de atragantarte con tanto maletín de PlayStation España, que es que no se puede ni leer cada noticia que publicas, perdón, quería decir publicitas, con tanta baba, menos mal que poco a poco van despertando las neuronas de la genteBueno, lo primero un enorme saludo a los piperos de 3dMaletines que tan enamorados andan de mi trasero, en especial al admin "yasif-nator", chico a ver si dejas de atragantarte con tanto maletín de PlayStation España, que es que no se puede ni leer cada noticia que publicas, perdón, quería decir publicitas, con tanta baba, menos mal que poco a poco van despertando las neuronas de la gente y os van mandando a donde os corresponde.

    Dicho esto y vamos al meollo de la cuestión, Pokémon Espada, un salto tecnológico muy grande desde las últimas ediciones pero con algún pero, lo mejor, el área silvestre y su conectividad con otros jugadores, le da un aire fresco y una vida increíble al videojuego, sólo por esto es imposible que algunos medios de prensa "especializados" de videojuegos (propaganda cutre de alcantarilla) le den un triste 8. Sinceramente, espero que la próxima gen, la novena, sea 100% área silvestre.

    Lo peor del juego para mí puede ser por ejemplo, la historia, no termina de enganchar y casi hasta el final del juego no ves realmente un gran avance, que casi parece sacado con prisas y debajo de la manga, en anteriores ediciones te mantenía enganchado desde el inicio, otro punto negativo es que al juego le falta esa pizca de oscuridad/mezquinidad que ofrecían otras entregas, por ejemplo, el team Yell me parece una broma de mal gusto, y el rival Paul / Hop, que es casi tan irritante como un pipero.

    Y hasta aquí todo, sin más, un juego redondo que merece la pena hasta el último céntimo, hay cosas sin mayor impotancia en los que se enfrascan los piperomasones y los pokéllorones como los gráficos o que no hay pokédex nacional para tirarle mierda al juego, creedme que a los jugadores de bien son cosas que ni las vais a notar porque el juego divierte y es adictivo, que es lo importante.

    Bueno haters, ya podéis seguir "jugando" con vuestro simulador de repartidor del cual hasta elrbiusomg ha hecho una parodia, porque esa cosa soporífera no la soporta ni Dios.

    P.D.: El cero al GOW muy bien merecido, ya que lo puse justo cuando lo arruinaron con aquella actualización que calló toda la prensa piperomasónica.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    ENGLISH:

    Pokémon Sword and Shield, represent a very great technological jump since the last editions, the best, the wild area and it's connectivity with other players, it gives a fresh air and an incredible life to the game, just because of this it is impossible that some media "specialized" video games (sewer propaganda) give him a sad 8. Sincerely, I hope that the next gene, the ninth, could it be 100% wild area.

    The worst part of the game for me may be, for example, the story, it does not finish hooking and almost until the end of the game you do not really see a breakthrough, which almost seems taken out in a hurry and under the sleeve, in previous editions it kept you hooked From the beginning, another negative point is that the game is missing that bit of darkness / meanness that other deliveries offered, for example, the Yell team seems like a joke in bad taste and the rival Hop is nasty.    … Expand
  18. Pomosanto
    Dec 6, 2019
    7
    Good but too similar to old games. Game Freak should find a way to get more people on working on these titles in order to use the Switch at its full potential.
  19. Bertolinha
    Dec 6, 2019
    0
    This game is just disrespectful. Gamefreak really showed us that they can do anything and still sell the game
  20. memesleyv3
    Dec 6, 2019
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. While I was playing Pokemon Sword, I was honestly a bit conflicted on what type of score it deserved. In the end this score is probably a little higher than it actually deserves, but I didn't completely hate it.

    Starting with the pros, I love the gym concept this time around; A decent fusion of the Sun and Moon Trials and the gyms of old.

    Character designs are top notch as usual, definite highlights being Sonia and Chairman Rose.

    The soundtrack, while a little lacking, genuinely has some fantastic tracks.

    Now onto the negatives, of which there are MANY.

    The story in this game, if you can even call it a story, never takes the time to actually develop in a satisfying way; the game feels like a theme park ride, trying to ferry me through as fast as possible. There isn't a single well written character, and most were downright annoying to interact with to the point where I was debating skipping dialogue. Throw in a worse version of the bad guy team from last games, recycle that game's plot points without putting effort into copying it well, and overall you have a messy plot that isn't fun in the slightest to get through.

    The Pokemon selection this time around is atrociously bad, considering the amount of monsters catchable has been divided in half for no discernable reason. The new mons they have added this time around range for pretty good to downright terrible, most falling in the latter category.

    The graphics and animations are easily some of the worst aspects of this game. Almost every single model being completely reused from the previous games with minimal edits on a very small amount of pokemon. The animations, while a few standouts exist, still look as awful as they did in past games.

    The Wild Area looks absolutely horrendous, and the game starts lagging the second online is enabled. Max Raid battles are a desperate attempt to pad playtime and only serve to gain you TR's, single use TMs, reimplementing a problem that has been fixed since Black and White 9 years ago. The monsters, while on the field, are lazily animated and break extremely often, spinning in circles for several seconds, completely killing any immersion the game attempts to build.

    Returning from XY and Sun and Moon, Trainer Customization manages to be even worse than it was in Sun and Moon. Very little variety, and it took a step back in terms of color choices from Ultra Sun and Moon's dyeing function to perfect the exact shade you wanted. I walked into the first boutique of the game, grabbed a few decent looking items expecting to replace them as i found better ones, and that ended up being my endgame set except for one dress found later.

    The game's difficulty is completely nonexistant, and no effort went into attempting to balance the game around the now forced on at all times EXP share, removing player choice for absolutely no good reason. I skipped every possible battle and didn't catch a single pokemon after finalizing my endgame team, and I was still on par with the champion, and completely decimated him.

    In terms of length, these are probably the shortest games in the series once you realize the Wild Area is a barren wasteland with nothing interesting to do in it. 15 hours and I was done.

    For every one step this game takes forward, it jumps off a cliff backwards. About as balanced and functional as the first set of games on the gameboy all those years ago. If you physically cannot stop yourself from consuming a new pokemon game then there's nothing anyone can do to stop you, but this game would have been barely worth the 40 dollars it should have been priced at from the beginning, much less the actual MSRP of 60 dollars USD.

    If you're looking for a game that actually has effort put into it, pick up Dragon Quest 11 S. If you want a game more akin to monster catching, go Yokai-Watch or Digimon Cyber Sleuth. Stay as far away from this low quality garbage as possible, people will stop talking about it by february of next year.    … Expand
  21. MistakenHero
    Dec 6, 2019
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Here is my honest review of the game. First, I'll be starting with the positives. Pokémon Sword and Shield have updated graphics (compared to other entries), it has in my opinion, probably the best soundtrack in the entire franchise, amazing characters such as Bede, Marnie, and Sonia. I also enjoyed the Hop's arc. I understand and agree with everyone who has said that Hop gets too much screentime compared to others like the aforementioned Bede and Marnie but I loved how Hop had to struggle to find a unique style that fit him as well as the post-game where he was unsure of what he wanted to do in the future. I truly found that to be a fantastic arc. Also, a new concept I liked was the way you faced the champion and how you have to go through a tournament-style setting like the PWT back in Black and White 2 and I hope they continue to do this style. I also enjoyed how everyone had a happy ending something we haven't seen in Pokémon since Black & White where Bede and Marnie become Gym Leaders, Sonia becomes the Pokémon professor, and Hop becomes her assistant. Finally, although it was brief, I enjoyed the premise of the Wild Area, where you were able to go anywhere in that area and fight Pokémon that were way beyond your capabilities. Now, time for the negatives. As previously stated, I feel like the Wild Area was very short. I felt that the Wild Area should've in the entire game where you would fight Pokémon that were at a ludicrously high level. I was surprised at how short the game was, I only clocked in 20 hours which was a huge letdown because the game was on the Nintendo Switch and not the 3DS line where those limitations would have been acceptable. Another big letdown was the post-game, by this I mean the length. Although I did enjoy the story of the post-game, it was way too short, clocking for me at only 1 and a half hours. Furthermore, I am not a huge fan of getting rid of the GTS system. In my opinion, the GTS system was by far one of the easiest ways to complete the Pokédex and with this out of the way you would either hope you get the desired Pokémon by Suprise Trading or get the Pokémon through Link Trading. In addition, the game was far too easy because of the fact that you were not able to turn off the EXP Share which replaces the aspect of the game being challenging. Lastly, I just want to point out that there is a massive lag issue in the Wild Area. This only occurs if you are connected to the Internet and it is at times that lag spike can be unbearable. All in all, while with all those negatives hindering my experience of the game by a decent amount, I still found the game to be like most newer Pokémon entries which would be described as ok but could be better.… Expand
  22. Alex214
    Dec 6, 2019
    1
    Nice Nintendo DS game, reused 3ds animations, gamefreak lied, Pokemon is the New Fifa, it will always sell well because of its brand, just like Fifa or COD
  23. DrMaskWolf
    Dec 6, 2019
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I'll be completely honest with you guys. I did have fun with this game until the ending. It also feels more and more like they are using the older Pokemon as a crutch since I barely found any new and interesting Poke. On for the longest time. Also the Gigamaxing is kinda **** when it is really only something that you can get from the raids, which hardly every work do to Nintendo's poor internet structure and they made trading almost impossible.

    The last part of the game honestly felt like they forgot that they needed a villain for the series. And the villain isn't even somebody who you can really consider a villain since he's actually trying to save the entire region from destroying itself due to low energy resources although his plan makes no sense and it's never actually explained. The lore is crap and makes no sense especially with the post game content.

    The last good Pokemon games I played were Gen 7 and the last time I had fun and was challenged was Gen 3. You could say these games aren't meant for me any more but I assure you kids will get super bored eventually.    … Expand
  24. TheTrueFacts
    Nov 29, 2019
    10
    Honestly I feel like most of the bad ratings are from all of the Controversy around this game and, while I must admit I’m a little upset about dexit once I started playing Pokémon Sword I realized I didn’t care that there wasn’t the full 900 Pokémon. Pokemon Sword/Shield has an amazing story and honestly the story and action in the game is made even better by all of the little details thatHonestly I feel like most of the bad ratings are from all of the Controversy around this game and, while I must admit I’m a little upset about dexit once I started playing Pokémon Sword I realized I didn’t care that there wasn’t the full 900 Pokémon. Pokemon Sword/Shield has an amazing story and honestly the story and action in the game is made even better by all of the little details that you and Sonia have to find together. If I’m being honest this game easily has the best story out of any Pokémon game so far including Black and White. This game also has some great Pokémon designs and I think the new designs make up for the loss of Pokémon. However my favorite part of the game is the characters. The characters in this game actually feel like real people and they make you feel emotions. For example Hop has such a sweet and motivated personality that it makes you feel bad every time you crush him. The characters in this game also have character development which is something Pokémon to has never had. For example Hop,Bede, and Sonia all go through changes and all of the character development they go through is beautiful and honestly realistic. For my final note I will say something quite controversial. I like Pokémon Sword’s graphics. Honestly I think Pokémon Sword’s graphics are the best graphics in any Pokémon game. The reason I love Pokémon Sword’s graphics so much is because the graphics are the perfect mixture of Cartoon fun graphics and realistic graphics and because the graphics can support fun and happy parts of the game while also supporting the more serious parts of the game. For example if you were to fight a giant end game boss in X and Y then it would look like a cartoon and feel ridiculous be a of how cartoony the graphics are. However, in Pokémon Sword the graphics are such a perfect blend of Cartoon and realistic that you could fight a giant boss and actually feel how terrified the protagonists are. So for all of those reasons Pokemon Sword in my opinion is easily the best Pokémon game and is definitely a highlight for gaming this year.… Expand
  25. Batty99
    Nov 16, 2019
    7
    Yeah, the game is very flawed and I criticised the hell outta game before playing it but once I gave it to a chance... It was actually pretty enjoyable. People who criticise the game are right but my advice is... Just give it a chance, you'd might end enjoy it just like I did. So in the end I think the game deserves just a solid 7
  26. tcpjunkie44
    Dec 6, 2019
    9
    Pro's:
    Great pokemon designs
    Fun world to explore
    Pokemon can be found in the overworld
    Improved shiny animation from sun/moon

    Cons:
    The online is a mess right now making the new raid battles a hassle
  27. moretrashgames
    Dec 6, 2019
    0
    this game is vary bad its not even funny i cancelled my pre order when i was told they removed pokemon then when it came out i saw others play and it looked bad and i even got a friend to let me play there pokemon sword its way to easy there is no challenge it game holds your hand way to much its really dumb that you cant even turn of exp share making you 60steps steps a head of every onethis game is vary bad its not even funny i cancelled my pre order when i was told they removed pokemon then when it came out i saw others play and it looked bad and i even got a friend to let me play there pokemon sword its way to easy there is no challenge it game holds your hand way to much its really dumb that you cant even turn of exp share making you 60steps steps a head of every one else and on top of it every thing being vary limited even team building this also leads to people using the same pokemon and when people hivemind then you can go online and battle 30 people and about 25 have the samebuild you really cant explore like the old games ontop of that there is not much to do in end game you beat it and your like then what removing wild pokemon just took the fun out of pokemon there is nothing more i hate then dynamaxing this is the worst idea they ever had just stick with megas going back to them holding your hand were is the true test of knowledge of these games any more they tell you what is super effective or not effective just take this out we dont need it they need to step back and bring the difficulty back like how emerald and make a good story like black and white and black and white2 team yell good god there bad they dont even do anything unlike some teams who try to kill you like team plasma or do anything like team rocket the only bad thing team yell dose is taking up game files what they could of used for the missing pokemon oh wait thats right they are lazy i just wanted to point out how lazy they were i want you to take a look at what pokemon there missing from lets go eevee and pikachu remember they said they did not have the time to remake the pokemon but if i remember lets go was out before sword and shield hmm this is odd… Expand
  28. Wingmanwesty
    Dec 5, 2019
    1
    Overall
    - boring routes
    - no exploration - broken online - Pokemon scaled wrong - Shallow characters - stupid AI - Limited fashion choices - Hollow cities - Missing pokemon - Missing adventure - lackluster postgame - Uninteractive shiny hunting This game had huge potential, but ultimately put half effort into each and every aspect of this game. The Raids were the biggest    Overall
    - boring routes
    - no exploration
    - broken online
    - Pokemon scaled wrong
    - Shallow characters
    - stupid AI
    - Limited fashion choices
    - Hollow cities
    - Missing pokemon
    - Missing adventure
    - lackluster postgame
    - Uninteractive shiny hunting

    This game had huge potential, but ultimately put half effort into each and every aspect of this game. The Raids were the biggest dissapointment to me. Such a cool idea. Teaming up online with friends to fight a giant pokemon you'd been hunting for. Wild. Yet actually broken online matchmaking completely ruin that experience. You can join an online raid that the game tries to matchmake you into maybe 10% of the time. Otherwise you've timed out, its no longer available, lost connection. This game may as well use link cables again. There is no friend system so its much harder to link up with my friends in game then should be for anyonline game made after 2010. There is no GTS so trading for specific pokemon isn't an option unless I go on reddit to match with someone and hopefully the 4 digit code actually works. Sometimes it just doesn't. This isn't a bad idea, your online just isn't usable. This game is not finished, this part doesn't work. Shoddy. For a game about giant pokemon it is super jarring that scaling is completely gone from the game. All pokemon are now 4 feet tall. That's so jarring. Routes are essentially boring hallways. No discovery or adventure here. One route is literally a hallway made of ice. Remember the first time you went through the whirl islands? Finding rare mons, discovering how to navigate with boulders, trying to remember the layout. In swsh you get an infinite use escape rope. i haven't had to use it yet cause galar mine 1, and galar mine 2 (super epic names fit for adventure btw) are straight lines. Just hold up to get through it. No routes reward or require exploration. The story was super bland and felt detached from gameplay. I loved the part of the story where they told me to ignore the cool action, and mystery and let an npc deal with it offscreen. What idiot put that on a storyboard. I liked the story of really pushing the gym challenge. Too bad that's really only 3 hours of story there. Leon is a terrible champion. His only character trait is that he's undefeated, spoiler alert, he gets defeated. Such a shallow charcter, with a lame signature pokemon for him and this generation, and such a poorly designed character. Seriously looks like an 8 year old picked out all the cool clothes they could think of to put on him. Hop as well was shallow, his only character trait is that he'll kiss your butt, and he's sad that you outshawn him. Actually a cool trait if only it wasn't said just as much as was leons undefeated status. Shiny hunting is just a grind now, kill 500 mons, no chains, no combos, no dexnav hunting. Just start killing everything you see. NPC's in raids actually negatively impact you as the AI are apparently missing the I part of AI. Sure bring your jolteon against the Runerigus, spam quick attack, and thunderbolt to no effect and die every other turn. Designing my own character is severely limited. why can NPC's have clothes, and hairstyles I can't, and No one on earth would ever go on a cross country adventure wearing that travesty of a bag, who backpacks with a suitcase. Get a backpack, or an over the shoulder bag, or better yet. Give players a choice. The bag isn't meant to be worn like this, yet here I am with a roller-suitcase on my back. The cities were huge to look at but ultimately empty, easily explorable in under 5 minutes, not very rewarding, and only two cities have more than 5 buildings in them. This is the worst battle tower in generations, lack of super-battles, and multi battles make it boring, and the absolutely trash reward system make it a chore to do. 2BP per win, forever, and when you reach the highest rank you get less rewards cause you can't go up a tier. Such a grind. And you need to grind because you want mints for gigantimaxers, cause only caught ones can do it. Not the Drednaw I've used for my whole playthrough. Cool guess I'll just bin him and swap him out for a new one that can do cooler tricks. This game is also missing several features that'd drastically improve the game: National Dex, Mega Evolution, All mons in the overworld, following pokemon, any sense of exploration, and overworld shinies. How did they go back on features. Why would they remove something people loved from previous games. What felt great: Stadium style gym battles, text speeds, accessible box's, Accessible tm relearners, Bede was a cool character in the main story, less so in the post game. What should just be removed: NPC AI in raids, Hop, Leon, RPG style text options that don't have any impact on the game.    … Expand
  29. DracoToon
    Dec 5, 2019
    1
    Juego horrible, va a -30 fps en modo online, la camara va de culo y @Aprexdator no me quiere transferir sus legendarios de Shield, no seeas mamon y prestamelo >:v
  30. Advy87
    Dec 5, 2019
    3
    Simply, this is the worst pokemon game in history. Very, very few mechanics are worthy in this game, the rest is just an insult to the world of gaming. Let's talk about the idiotic difficulty and AI, mostly in solo raids, let's talk about the framerate, graphics,, questionable pokemon design, a horrible catch rate which sometime seems totally random, pokedex cut, etc.. . Not even theSimply, this is the worst pokemon game in history. Very, very few mechanics are worthy in this game, the rest is just an insult to the world of gaming. Let's talk about the idiotic difficulty and AI, mostly in solo raids, let's talk about the framerate, graphics,, questionable pokemon design, a horrible catch rate which sometime seems totally random, pokedex cut, etc.. . Not even the story is savable, what in the world they had in mind? even a kid would find it really stupid and annoying. And they raised the price with less content, in a Switch game.… Expand
  31. MadBert91
    Dec 5, 2019
    8
    Estamos en mi opinión, ante la mejor saga de Pokemon de la historia. Independientemente de si faltan Pokemon en la Pokédex o no, el planteamiento de este videojuego es fantástico dentro del contexto de un Pokemon muy clásico, por supuesto que tiene márgenes de innovación sobre todo de innovación y de mejora, mejora de texturas, mejora de rendimiento y de innovación, de hacerlo un poquitoEstamos en mi opinión, ante la mejor saga de Pokemon de la historia. Independientemente de si faltan Pokemon en la Pokédex o no, el planteamiento de este videojuego es fantástico dentro del contexto de un Pokemon muy clásico, por supuesto que tiene márgenes de innovación sobre todo de innovación y de mejora, mejora de texturas, mejora de rendimiento y de innovación, de hacerlo un poquito más mundo abierto con control de cámara por parte del usuario y menos concepto clásico Pokemon, simplemente innovar más. Pero ateniéndonos a lo que es en sí el videojuego, a lo que ofrece, a cómo está desarrollado, a las horas que brinda, y a la historia del videojuego, el Pokemon espada y escudo son el mejor video juego de Pokemon hasta la fecha, le otorgo un ocho porque no me convence del todo por esa falta de innovación aunque ya deja entreverse que tal vez en próximas entregas esta situación mejore mucho.… Expand
  32. TaylorMaid
    Dec 5, 2019
    4
    This game is a mess. Look at it in scale next to something like breath of the wild you can tell that it is tiny in scale. It took me 2 days to beat the story and another 2 days to get every single pokemon in the game. That's it. It was mostly spent waiting for the game to stop babying me. The game is easy too. The final champion doesn't even bother to run with a full roster! Finally onceThis game is a mess. Look at it in scale next to something like breath of the wild you can tell that it is tiny in scale. It took me 2 days to beat the story and another 2 days to get every single pokemon in the game. That's it. It was mostly spent waiting for the game to stop babying me. The game is easy too. The final champion doesn't even bother to run with a full roster! Finally once you win and complete the "story", your left feeling like the story just isn't complete. It's unfulfilling, incomplete and small. The only challenge you'll ever have is playing online battles, which I'll admit are fun, but it's not enough to make up for all the shortcomings.… Expand
  33. Lordchiguire
    Dec 5, 2019
    5
    Normalmente menos es más, en éste caso, menos es peor.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Ojalá GamFreak haga algo realmente bueno con todo el dinero que han hecho vendiendo éstas mediocridades y contraten más personal...si es que ese es el problema.    … Expand
  34. Gohax
    Dec 5, 2019
    6
    Pokemon sword is the new installment of the Pokemon games made by game freak and all i have to say about this long awaited new generation game is its a good 3ds game here's why

    the story is your typical i wanna be the very best gonna catch them all and get all the gym badges kind of thing all over again pros: the new approach they did with the gyms which are now stadiums and you    Pokemon sword is the new installment of the Pokemon games made by game freak and all i have to say about this long awaited new generation game is its a good 3ds game here's why

    the story is your typical i wanna be the very best gonna catch them all and get all the gym badges kind of thing all over again

    pros:
    the new approach they did with the gyms which are now stadiums and you fight in front of a huge crowd is awesome and i really dig it

    also the addition of gym challenges is a good way to build up to the final fight

    the open area and the addition of raids really adds more content to game and really drives you to want to play with your friends more

    the new generation Pokemon although few they are really cool and i caught all of them just because of how cool they are and the awesome ways you can evolve them

    they evolution sequence was cut by half and now the Pokemon takes less time to evolve THANK YOU FOR THAT

    the games music is cute and a little melodic and really represents some moments very well

    cons:

    animation is total trash compared to what game freak promised

    the game is really short i finished the game including endgame after 21 hours which is nothing compared to the previous games that took me 30 hours at least including endgame and if not more

    the fact that there are some Pokemon missing is just totally absurd

    the game really feels like its not finished and it had more to offer

    the end boss which is not the legendary Pokemon you are supposed to catch is disappointing and even more horrible is the fact that only after the endgame you can catch the legendary Pokemon

    i know the games story is weak but some how in this one they managed to make the story even worse and your rival friend is so annoying and really cant do anything by himself making him kind of useless

    the game felt really easy as if they made it that way so it'll be easier for kids although they do know that most of the Pokemon fan base are grown ups but yea whatever

    the new dynamax mode which makes your Pokemon big and gives him ultimate moves depending on the elements is just awful and it gets old and boring really fast not counting the fact that you cant always use it and you can only do it when the game allows you to

    in conclusion although i had some fun with the game it felt as if I am playing a little better looking 3ds Pokemon game i am really disappointed with game freak because they kind of slacked off with this game which leads me to the final score which is a 6.5 out of 10    … Expand
  35. bluemagekrye
    Dec 5, 2019
    5
    So, having finally finished sword, as well as what ever that post game was, I can finally honestly review this game.

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

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

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

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

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

    If this is what pokemon is going to be like moving forward, I am officially done, after playing every main line entry since Red and Blue.    … Expand
  36. Unitprice249
    Dec 4, 2019
    10
    I love these games, may not be my favorite out of them, but damn they are high up on the list and an improvement from the past two gens in my opinion. Some many are out there getting their panties in a twist over things like having the national dex or revolutionary graphics. You'll live with the few hundred pkmn you get, it's not the end of the world. (Also the character designs are reallyI love these games, may not be my favorite out of them, but damn they are high up on the list and an improvement from the past two gens in my opinion. Some many are out there getting their panties in a twist over things like having the national dex or revolutionary graphics. You'll live with the few hundred pkmn you get, it's not the end of the world. (Also the character designs are really cute this gen)… Expand
  37. CrazySeanDX
    Dec 4, 2019
    9
    Pay no mind to the negative reviews, it's just a bunch of trolls with nothing better to do with their miserable lives.

    Honestly, the game's amazing. The graphics are beautiful(don't judge it based on a single tree, for Pete's sake), the gameplay is enjoyable, and, tbh, my only real criticism is that Dynamax/Gigantimax is rather limited. Though, you'll likely be doing so many Max Raid    Pay no mind to the negative reviews, it's just a bunch of trolls with nothing better to do with their miserable lives.

    Honestly, the game's amazing. The graphics are beautiful(don't judge it based on a single tree, for Pete's sake), the gameplay is enjoyable, and, tbh, my only real criticism is that Dynamax/Gigantimax is rather limited. Though, you'll likely be doing so many Max Raid Battles that you'll barely notice how limited it actually is in Story Mode, in that you can only do it in certain locations such as Gym Battles and specific story battles.

    I'm just under 40 hours in, and kinda don't wanna stop, which is only an issue cause I've still got a ton of other games I wanna play.

    The trolls are in the minority, no matter how many bots accounts spam hate. Happy catching ^^    … Expand
  38. dash383535
    Dec 4, 2019
    5
    #DashReviews

    The Pokémon series has finally come to home consoles after two decades of handheld mainline games. With expectations high for what the series can do with this new powerful hardware, will it be able to live up to these expectations or will fall flat on its face compared to the less powerful 3DS versions of the game? The story in Pokémon Sword and Shield is pretty generic    #DashReviews

    The Pokémon series has finally come to home consoles after two decades of handheld mainline games. With expectations high for what the series can do with this new powerful hardware, will it be able to live up to these expectations or will fall flat on its face compared to the less powerful 3DS versions of the game?

    The story in Pokémon Sword and Shield is pretty generic when it comes to the standard Pokémon adventure. Nothing really deviates you from going to the gyms, getting the badge, rinse and repeat. The story has a villain and a bit more going on besides the standard of trying to become the ultimate Pokémon trainer but it strangely set up near the end of the game. This makes for a story with super-fast pacing that has almost nothing interesting happening through most of its run time. The pacing is so fast and rushed, that the box art legendary plot is saved for the post-game. The story is easily one of the most boring aspects of this game which is a shame since titles like Pokémon Black and White had more going on and those are $30 DS games.

    Gameplay-wise, this is a Pokémon game through and through. It’s the standard turn-based RPG everyone has been playing for years. There a few new gimmicks like Dynamaxing, a way for your Pokémon to turn into kaiju monsters. There one open area in the game with a free-roaming camera. The game treats this as a big deal but consoles games have had free moving cameras since the N64 days. The best new mode in the game is Co-Op raid battles since you will be working with your friend to catch powerful Pokémon. These few new modes and gimmicks are also at the expense of half of the Pokémon roster being cut. Even with the fun of raid battles, it not enough to make these games stand out as next-gen titles. They are painfully average games in the series that are super easy to boot. If you love Pokémon games, there passable but I feel like these games need more innovation for being console games in 2019.

    This is the least polished Nintendo I have ever played. Framerates dropping drastically every time you go into the open area, models pop in constantly, and it graphically looks like Pokémon Sun and Moon unscaled to HD. Animations are so stilled to the point that everyone moves like a robot and no one blinks. The soundtrack is my personal favorite of the series but the amazing songs don’t make up for this game's wealth of technical problems.

    Pokémon Sword and Shield are passable games in the franchise that will either please fans that want more of the same or anger others that wanted these games to have a new life on a home console. They don’t do enough to innovate this stale franchise and don’t even bother to give this generic game the polish it should have. I would wait for a discount or skip these games entirely. Hopefully, the next installments in this franchise give fans what they truly deserve.

    Pros:
    +It’s the Same Old Pokémon
    +Great Soundtrack

    Cons:
    -Boring Story
    -No Innovation in the Gameplay
    -Technical Mess
    -Cut Roster for Little Change    … Expand
  39. ShiraPKM7899
    Dec 4, 2019
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The game was ok, but there a not much depth to the gameplay, the same good old boring style with minimal "graphic upgrade". I was ok with the dex cut if they could put more effort in making the game.

    As for the new gimmick.... i mean "mechanics" that wont last for as least 2 generations, it was ok at first, but then it get to the point of annoying... and wasting game time just to keep seeing the same transformation over again. Knowing GF, they forced this "mechanic" into our throat and forced us to use it, otherwise the game is almost completely unplayable.

    The wild area with Max Raid battle were nice at first (before 6th gym), after that it got to the point of frustration, almost impossible to do 5 Stars Raids with those stupid NPC and those stupid rules:

    - 4 fainted pokemons -> lose the battle .... the NPC is so stupid, keep getting killed all the time, RNG Max Raid NPCs is too frustrated especially when their pokemon type is not even mean to be in the battle

    - Cannot finished the raid in 10 turns lose------ what happened to the fun strategy where we could set up a Wall and finish the match with cheap damage?? I thought we were meant to play the game what ever style we want.... but these Max Raid failed to deliver it.

    Overall, these 5 Stars Max Raid were mean to play online?? expecting people to wait for hr just to get someone to join in their raid?? with these buggy and "Paywall" Switch Online???? what the heck is happening to the fun online experience we used to enjoy on the 3DS???

    I can just talk more about this game but tbh, it is just a waste of my time. These games are not even worth spending 50+ hrs for these frustrated decisions from a lazy team.    … Expand
  40. JacobH23
    Dec 4, 2019
    5
    The world feels flushed and the pokemon in them realer than ever. Seeing actual wild pokemon fly and move in the grass/caves felt like a brand new pokemon experience. The characters were actually interesting and not just carbon copies or stereotypes
  41. DetPikachu
    Dec 3, 2019
    4
    I'm going to keep this to bullet points but before I do I have to say this is coming from a person who's first game was pokemon red.

    This game is a massive disappointed, I fear for the series and I'm moving to temtem until I see massive changes. -Can't change outfit on bike and in stadium -No following pokemon -No rideable pokemon -Can't catch high level pokemon until you have the badges    I'm going to keep this to bullet points but before I do I have to say this is coming from a person who's first game was pokemon red.

    This game is a massive disappointed, I fear for the series and I'm moving to temtem until I see massive changes.

    -Can't change outfit on bike and in stadium
    -No following pokemon
    -No rideable pokemon
    -Can't catch high level pokemon until you have the badges even though you couldn't control them anyways
    -Story is lacking, very liniar, blan and almost non existent with the main villian doing something at the very end and only focusing on the tournament battles throughout the rest of the game not feeling like an adventure but rather just a competition.
    -Rival is annoying
    -beggining takes too long
    -Hidden abilities can only be found through gigantimax pokemon
    -Selective Egg moves can't actually be transferred meaning they lied again. i.e volt tackle
    -Animations and frame rate are garbage with constant drops in fps, and texture pop ins
    -Money is hard to get in a timely fashion in the end game unless you know a work around with meowth and selling pokeball bought with wats
    -Huge lack of past starters
    -Battle tower is not put together well and offers decreased rewards after completion
    -Choice of dialogue means nothing
    -Online play needs to be reworked
    -Only difficulty of raids is being pair with NPCs that bring pokemon that the raid Mon is super effective against
    -No plans to bring updates with new content giving it a poor shelf life
    -Sounds are still being re used including models
    -Dynamaxing loses its touch and flare after a while and feels less and less special in a short time also the amount of gigantimax pokemon is miniscule compared to megas
    -Shiny pokemon do not appear in overworld unless you start a battle to see if it is. Taking a step down from let's go -Humans in the world feel lifeless and don't move what so ever unless talked to
    So    … Expand
  42. Onichan_69
    Dec 3, 2019
    0
    Baja calidad de animaciones, no tiene todos los pokemon, historia corta y mala. Simplemente no vale la pena el juego es un ultrasol o ultraluna recortado.
  43. tasd00dles
    Dec 3, 2019
    0
    Sword and Shield... Where to even start? These games, while recognizable as Pokemon games, get rid of much of what made the series great. It's pretty well known that Gamefreak cut most of the dex. At first, they claimed it was to give every Pokemon a unique animation and improve the graphics but that's demonstrably false. These are the worst graphics on any first party switch game. To addSword and Shield... Where to even start? These games, while recognizable as Pokemon games, get rid of much of what made the series great. It's pretty well known that Gamefreak cut most of the dex. At first, they claimed it was to give every Pokemon a unique animation and improve the graphics but that's demonstrably false. These are the worst graphics on any first party switch game. To add insult to injury, they claimed that the Switch cannot handle every single Pokemon model. Yeah... Okay. The 3DS, which is a much weaker system, could handle 800+ Pokemon and the Switch can't handle that and some? As if. And why is Dynamax even a thing? We had Megas and we had Z Moves. We didn't need a ridiculous new gimmick. And Galarian forms? Really? We had Alolan forms because Alola was based on a combination of Hawaii and the Galapagos. They were a reference to Darwin's finches! Why the heck do we have Galarian forms. I happily returned my copy after buying it from Walmart for $10 off. I hope this game flops so game freak realizes they can't keep giving us trash.… Expand
  44. Syze25
    Dec 3, 2019
    2
    I regret buying this game. Its just gyms with small patches of land around no real map. No good story , no good riVals, who wants an ice crem pokemon when so many cooler pokemon went cut from the dex? Really bad delivered. They fked up unfortunely.
  45. WizardChamp
    Dec 3, 2019
    10
    First to adress the elephant in the room, the visuals contain a lot of reused 3DS assets and unoptimized loading for the Switch. This game isn't overly visually stunning but it's if you approach it as a handheld game built for a home console by people who have little experience with optimizing the hardware, it's alright. Second, no not all the Pokémon are in the game but technically youFirst to adress the elephant in the room, the visuals contain a lot of reused 3DS assets and unoptimized loading for the Switch. This game isn't overly visually stunning but it's if you approach it as a handheld game built for a home console by people who have little experience with optimizing the hardware, it's alright. Second, no not all the Pokémon are in the game but technically you couldn't obtain them all in previous games either without transferring them from older games, it's fine, we still have about 400 Pokémon. The story echoes the traditional Pokémon plot structure 8 gyms, beat your rival(s), beat the team of miscreants that get in your way, and make your way to the Pokémon league. There's been 8 versions of this story prior with a few changes and adjustments (not counting retellings), it's just how Pokémon is. That being said the minor adjustments in Sword and Shield really echo some of the best past versions of it with some really neat and interesting twists, don't expect Shakespeare but if you liked past Pokémon stories you will like this one. The region the game is set in, Galar, is based on England and is probably going to be one of my favorite regions looking back. Most of the game takes place in one large connected segment of the region which honestly brings me back to games before the 6th and 7th generation of Pokémon on 3DS, and the Wild Area just adds to this connected feel (of course don't expect to have access to everything all at once, blocked off areas do open up as you go as in any other Pokémon game, and the beginning and ending segments have their own areas you won't be spending as much time in). As for the Pokémon themselves the game has a fine Pokémon selection including a bunch of new Pokémon and Galarian forms of old ones I absolutely love. The gameplay keeps the soul of the series while also offering some great stream lining and plenty of improvements, including some brought over from last years' Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee. I love the dynamax concept as a whole especially how it gives the feeling of unique and special Pokémon battles to wild non-story based encounters and just adds plenty of room to create new kinds of encounters as a whole. I finished the main story very over leveled but a post game encounter showed me that I could still improve so it's never too easy, just more accessible to everyone. In short despite the shortcomings Sword and Shield has improved where I think it matters most and offers excellent gameplay and story (for a Pokémon game's story) and has easily become one of my favorites in the series. I give Pokémon Sword and Shield a 10 out of 10.… Expand
  46. LUCIID
    Dec 3, 2019
    2
    The game has a few good things but its quality is nowhere near past games.

    10-hour game, 20 if you take your time No postgame Generic backgrounds during battles 2019 one saving slot? The same storyline for the past 20 years Recycled animations 400 pokemon only Pokemon has little to no personality during battles Frame drops 0 difficulty 2019 and no voice acting? Pros:    The game has a few good things but its quality is nowhere near past games.

    10-hour game, 20 if you take your time
    No postgame
    Generic backgrounds during battles
    2019 one saving slot?
    The same storyline for the past 20 years
    Recycled animations
    400 pokemon only
    Pokemon has little to no personality during battles
    Frame drops
    0 difficulty
    2019 and no voice acting?

    Pros:
    Minimalistic UI
    No HM moves
    Camping
    Few good pokemon designs

    Overall this game is in no 2019 game. Standard things are treated as innovations. Pretty similar to 3ds entries. The only pokemon game I played was XD of darkness/coliseum on the Gamecube and honestly... it's not even close to that level. Gamefreak really rushed this project and you can definitely tell    … Expand
  47. herguitar
    Dec 3, 2019
    6
    Pokemon Sword did some things right. The landscapes are beautifully designed, the new pokemon look amazing, character customisation is so much fun, and the core addictive thrill of collecting and battling pokemon still holds up. But the game is far from perfect. There are many, many things that I would have loved if they'd just been developed further.

    One example is the battle tower,    Pokemon Sword did some things right. The landscapes are beautifully designed, the new pokemon look amazing, character customisation is so much fun, and the core addictive thrill of collecting and battling pokemon still holds up. But the game is far from perfect. There are many, many things that I would have loved if they'd just been developed further.

    One example is the battle tower, which promises a tough challenge for competitive players but is actually far too short and not at all difficult. I reached the highest rank without losing a single battle, at which point there is nothing to do except repeat.

    Another example is raid battles: the concept of taking down a super-powerful pokemon with 3 friends is great, but the way that the battles are designed means that the single viable strategy is to spam your most powerful super-effective move until the end. They are tedious and all very much alike. The background during these battles is also rather uninspired, something like a hazy red cave? It's not obvious and it doesn't look good.

    A third example is transportation around the region, in the form of the train, corviknight taxis, and the bike. I only took the train twice in my entire play through, not because I don't like it (I love the idea) but because it was almost never necessary. The taxis seem cool until you realise that you don't get to actually ride in them, it's just a loading screen. And the bike is a staple and I'm glad it's in the game but why must my character wear that awful lycra suit while cycling? I had a lot of fun customising my character's look and was frustrated by having to choose between wearing it and getting anywhere fast. This in particular is a small thing but indicative of the way that the game as whole fails to live up to its promised potential.

    There are also parts of the game that it's hard to defend at all, even in concept. I still find dynamaxing as idiotic as the first time I saw it, and the in-game reasoning for it is extremely thin. The region of Galar is small, with no real dungeons and an insultingly linear story, and many of the gorgeous locations give you no reason to be there for more than a minute or two. There is no exploration. Everything can be taken at face value. And the fact that only half of all pokemon made it into the game really is a shame. I didn't think much of it until I got the master ball (which for fun I usually use on one of my favourite pokemon) and realised that none of my favourites are available.

    I truly love pokemon, and wanted to love Pokemon Sword, but it has been a disappointment and I'll think twice before buying the next game. There is a lot more I could say but I think this gives a good idea of my thoughts.    … Expand
  48. Pinzonerone
    Dec 3, 2019
    0
    The game is made for childrens. Short story, not challenging contrincants. Easy battles. No interesting story. No much pokemons to choose. It is a waste of money
  49. Quillstone
    Dec 3, 2019
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I honestly don't think the game is that bad, but it's not amazing either. I really like the pokemon camp feature; it's kind of fun, and I like that you can get friendly with your pokemon a lot faster now. There are some new and interesting pokemon, like the Hatenna line that stood out nicely. And then the really weird one like Duraludon (skyscraper pokemon. Really?). The spin on getting Gym Badges is new and different. I really enjoyed a lot of the puzzles and the missions, and there was more focus on the gym leaders than before.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    (Not sure if my review is considered spoiler-y, but I'll check it anyways. :D )    … Expand
  50. Kataklash
    Dec 3, 2019
    10
    Very good game! Characters are very good and the news pokémons are interesting!
  51. Cubsie
    Dec 2, 2019
    2
    This is a short game, a very short game.The game is not only short, but easy, and limits your exploration. The thing i personally was excited about most, was the wilds, and at early game, you were limited to where you could go, not only because you couldn't catch every pokemon you can see, but you would certainly be wiped out if you go too far. This limits the exploration that theseThis is a short game, a very short game.The game is not only short, but easy, and limits your exploration. The thing i personally was excited about most, was the wilds, and at early game, you were limited to where you could go, not only because you couldn't catch every pokemon you can see, but you would certainly be wiped out if you go too far. This limits the exploration that these marketers boasted about while hyping this game up. It is too linear, even more so than any other pokemon game. The new dynamax feature...love it, or hate it, going to the spots where the dynamax pokemon appears grants you items that makes sure you're whole team is wildly overpowered and stays overpowered. This game holds your hand for you every step of the way, there is no challenge, nothing, and this is all without the postgame in mind. There really is nothing to do in the post game, it's lackluster and far from polished and with very little to do. In a modest 20 hours, you can become the pokemon champion of a short over priced lackluster game from a blockbuster series. If you want to spend $60 on a game, you want more than 20 quality hours of it. Only look at this game if there is a sale, or they updated it to give it some new features, or brought some really good free quality dlc, but for now, leave it alone.… Expand
  52. JuaniAndres
    Dec 2, 2019
    10
    The game is not that bad as a lot of people are saying just read blogs ratings that are by far more real that what you can read here
    I had already beaten the game and finish the dex but still have a lot of things to do I would give a 8/10 because I miss some pokemons and more routes but the music was great and I had fun playing
  53. saulmaza
    Dec 2, 2019
    3
    The game is the same as any other Pokemon game but disappoints on many of the promises that the higher end hardware a switch runs can deliver. The game is barely 'open-world' with dated if not completely missing animations for Pokemon. The new Pokemon are unimaginative and uninspired and could be easily named things like electric dog and sheep. The crit hit system makes the game way tooThe game is the same as any other Pokemon game but disappoints on many of the promises that the higher end hardware a switch runs can deliver. The game is barely 'open-world' with dated if not completely missing animations for Pokemon. The new Pokemon are unimaginative and uninspired and could be easily named things like electric dog and sheep. The crit hit system makes the game way too easy and thoughtless, button-mashing 'A' hoping that the fight can end sooner. The characters are uninspired and boring, showing 0 emotion.
    3/10 for nostalgia.    … Expand
  54. TheSalamiJam
    Dec 2, 2019
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Frick you haters. Don't make me stop buying the game. I rated it 10. I just love it and I understand the lies and controversy but that won't stop me.… Expand
  55. OldOpossum59251
    Dec 2, 2019
    0
    Let me play the game. I bought it to play and not sit through hours worth of forced text and scenes. Plus the render distance for Pokemon and npc's doesn't make sense -.- They screwed up such a good franchise with this one
  56. GongHawkeye
    Dec 2, 2019
    2
    Mediocre as far as you can see: except for the bso, everything else feels not polished/finished such as endgame, graphics,list of pokemons,etc. There's no excuse for Game Freak/ The Pokémon Company
  57. ShapeOfGaming
    Dec 2, 2019
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The new Pokémon look so different to the previous generations, so that this game doesnt feel like a pokemon game to me. I am SO disappointed of Gamefreak prefering the development of "Town" instead of Pokémon?!?!?!?! The animations have been copied and so the models of the Pokémon, and here GameFreak even lied to the community. The by far biggest reason for me not to buy these games is the missing NationalDex #bringbacknationaldex and the fact that GameFreak lied to the community here. Also the choice of the Pokémon that exist seems so random. I just can highly recommend you the videos of m00sician or Sambzockt, if you are German, or DistantKingdom if you want a proof that the animations were just copied, they explain really great what I mean.
    I also hate the "pop-up" effect of the NPCs.
    Nevertheless I like the design of the new Galar-Region as well as some decisions they made referring to online battle and breeding.    … Expand
  58. Ness128
    Dec 2, 2019
    10
    Excelente juego de pies a cabeza aún con Pokédex recortado pesele a quien le pese
  59. Odme
    Dec 2, 2019
    8
    The 8th Generation of Pokemon games are the best in the series since Pokemon Black and White 2 way back in 2012. The expansive Galar Region has so much to do and, while linear for the sake of the story, opens up a lot more opportunities in the post game. The huge Wild Area makes completing the Pokedex a breeze compared to previous games, with most if not all available Pokemon showing up inThe 8th Generation of Pokemon games are the best in the series since Pokemon Black and White 2 way back in 2012. The expansive Galar Region has so much to do and, while linear for the sake of the story, opens up a lot more opportunities in the post game. The huge Wild Area makes completing the Pokedex a breeze compared to previous games, with most if not all available Pokemon showing up in some part of the Wild Area. Max Raid Battles are a joy to take part in, especially when you find a rare Gigantamax Pokemon to take on with your friends. Some gripes I have with the game: Obviously, the absence of the National Dex. This ended up not being too big a deal to me as I love all the available Pokemon in Sword and Shield. However, it would have been nice to let us transfer our Pokemon at all. This did not stop me from enjoying the game, however. My all time favorite Pokemon, Absol, is not in this game. Does that hinder my experience? No! There are 400 Pokemon in this game. I will find someone to take Absol's place on my team, and that was relatively easy. The characters in this game are very fleshed out, especially Hop, Sonia, Marnie, and Bede. Overall, Pokemon Sword and Shield offer a Pokemon experience we haven't had in a long time.… Expand
  60. CrimKat
    Dec 1, 2019
    10
    Best Pokémon. Best graphics, best game play, best story, best characters
  61. Jman2182
    Dec 1, 2019
    7
    I finished playing the game and the post game like a couple of days ago and now im here to give my thought out review.
    Pros
    I genuinely liked the characters in the game. Hop was no carbon copy of hay and actually got development, Bede is the rival I have wanted for a long time, you can't hate on Marnie, the gym leaders actually matter in the grand scheme of things, and the champion was    I finished playing the game and the post game like a couple of days ago and now im here to give my thought out review.
    Pros
    I genuinely liked the characters in the game. Hop was no carbon copy of hay and actually got development, Bede is the rival I have wanted for a long time, you can't hate on Marnie, the gym leaders actually matter in the grand scheme of things, and the champion was very likable as well.
    The Wild area is a great addition and you can get lost for hours.
    Some of the cutscenes are just godlike.
    Also I liked the idea of version exclusive gym leaders, it helps give the player a different experience other than just the legendary you get.

    Cons
    The game is pretty easy. Personally the best way to play this game is to do a nuzlocke, which is what I did. EXP candies should have never been added into the game because they over level your Pokemon way to much. Not to mention you can't turn exp share off, you have it at the beginning of the game.

    Post game is a little lacking. After you beat the game, all you really have is the battle tower, wild area, and gym leader re challenges.

    Horrible online. I cannot tell you how many times I have done raid battles with friends and have been disconnected mid match and booted out of the fight.

    The fact that they cut half of the Pokemon. The reason this is a critique is because it made a whole spark in the community attacking game freak because the reason they cut half the Pokemon was because they had to make models from scratch and it was time consuming, which was false and any company should be held accountable when outright lying to their community.

    That's all I have to say about the game. It is a really fun game but I don't think it really deserved the $60 price tag when all the other games were $40.    … Expand
  62. FlamingWaffels
    Dec 1, 2019
    8
    Pokemon Sword and Shield are a step in the right direction in some ways, and a step back in others. The game is the most fun I have had with Pokemon since Heartgold and Soulsilver. The hands-off approach to the story makes for a refreshing change after Sun and Moon, although I find the story to not be as good as say, Black and White's or X and Y's- and the Usual 60-80hr playthroughs ofPokemon Sword and Shield are a step in the right direction in some ways, and a step back in others. The game is the most fun I have had with Pokemon since Heartgold and Soulsilver. The hands-off approach to the story makes for a refreshing change after Sun and Moon, although I find the story to not be as good as say, Black and White's or X and Y's- and the Usual 60-80hr playthroughs of Pokemon I was accustomed to had been cut to about 39hrs for me. However, the balancing adjustments, combined with the brilliant map design and lovable characters- and especially the Wild Area, makes the games feel polished and like a lot of genuine creativity went into them. I played the game much slower than many others did, beating the Champion at around 39 hours- but there is a decent post-game and much to do in a both competitive and casual manner! Of course there is a little less content here than some of the other games, (Namely the cut Pokemon and shorter story), but I feel as if there was much less filler content and jammed full of enjoyable areas, bosses, and gimmicks. While old games had entire sections of the map I dreaded going through, I felt excited to explore every inch of the Galar Region and loved Catching as many Pokemon as I could! I hope that Game Freak will add back more of the Pokemon and increase the length of the Story in the next entry while keeping up their great pacing and balance.

    Time logged into the game at the time of this review: 55 hrs.    … Expand
  63. PipeRomero
    Dec 1, 2019
    0
    Malo técnicamente, malo gráficamente, carente de contenido y bueno en diseño de Pokemon y ambientación musical.
  64. kaelmato
    Dec 1, 2019
    7
    First off, I really wanted to give the game a 7,5 but since that isn't an option I leaned more heavily on the 7 side.

    So lets get the good things out of the way first. The gameplay is fun. The new raid system is suprisingly fun (when it actually works). The wild area is actually a neat idea. The entry for competitive battling has been streamlined a great deal, which is great for people    First off, I really wanted to give the game a 7,5 but since that isn't an option I leaned more heavily on the 7 side.

    So lets get the good things out of the way first. The gameplay is fun. The new raid system is suprisingly fun (when it actually works). The wild area is actually a neat idea. The entry for competitive battling has been streamlined a great deal, which is great for people like me who don't have all day to breed and ev train those perfect pokemon. The music is really good and I absolutely love most of the new designs.

    So why a 7? This game has... Issues. a lot of them.

    I'm not going to touch on the graphics issues as this game in my opinion has passable graphics for a switch game. They're not great, but they're not horrible, it's a switch game.

    So lets start actually with missing features: Over half of the entire national dex have been cut from the game, and while I can live with this decision, I know a lot of others cant.
    The GTS has also been cut, this allowed people to easily trade pokemon around the world without the hassle of going to online forums looking for trades. In fact the online features of the game have been turned to an absolute nightmare. You go online, and you see bunch of people... doing stuff, but there's absolutely no way to interact with any of them in any way. Jacob is searching for a double battle? Well too bad, I can't join him. Nessie wants to trade? Well good luck with that. The only relevant information that shows up is people seeking for raids and even those rarely show up, and when they do show up, the joining window has most likely passed already.

    Moving on,

    The story in this game is actually so bad it would've been better if there wasn't one. Now pokemon games have never had that good stories going on (With the exception of black and white), but this one was especially bad. The lack of any kind of decent post game (with the exception of copy-paste battle tower and version legendary catch) doesn't really help either.

    This game is also incredibly easy, but this has been a trend for years so I cant really pin it on this games faults.

    And last but not least, the fps in wild area when connected to the internet tanks hard. I'm not just talking about few frames here, for instance when you're breeding in the wild area, sometimes it's lagging so bad that when your egg starts to hatch, your character stops in their tracks a few SECONDS before the text box "oh" pops up.

    In conclusion, the game is OK, not great, but it's not bad either. It is actually super fun to play and battling online still feels mostly the same, however the game is plagued with crippling issues that may or may not hinder your enjoyment of the game.    … Expand
  65. flametorrent
    Dec 1, 2019
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game is god damn fantastic and anyone that says otherwise hasn't played it and doesn't understand why Gamefreak did what they did.

    I'm facing the chairman, and that moment he looked down at the pokeball in his hand like he HAD to do what he's doing... I could feel that emotion. That guilt. That duty. And the music for this battle is epic.    … Expand
  66. Penfort
    Dec 1, 2019
    9
    As someone who has played the game, I can give an honest review on it. I will start with the negative aspects of the game, which is mainly the graphical side of the Wild Area. The concept is great and it's fun to travel around and explore, however, some graphical polishing is needed. There is some minor lag in there as well, but this seems to have been reduced after some serverAs someone who has played the game, I can give an honest review on it. I will start with the negative aspects of the game, which is mainly the graphical side of the Wild Area. The concept is great and it's fun to travel around and explore, however, some graphical polishing is needed. There is some minor lag in there as well, but this seems to have been reduced after some server maintenance.

    The story isn't the best there is, but the characters are nicely designed and written. It's not something as large scale as Gen 7, but the game offers more freedom to roam around as well.

    The game isn't challenging, which is nothing new to Pokemon. Some battles such as Nessa's gym can be tough if you're not prepared, but the rival still not having a full team at all times makes little sense

    I hope there isn't going to be a third version or sequel style games to this next year. Actually, I hope the next games aren't next year (if they're solid remakes, it might work), but the release of annual games is a bit harmful

    However, the positives outweigh the negatives here. Yes, the national dex isn't here and megas and the (mostly unpopular) Z-moves are cut. But Dynamax is more than just Pokemon enlarged; it gives a chance to most Pokemon and its rules and levels can be used strategically. Gigantamax adds to that as well

    Pokemon Sword and Shield seem to focus on the world and culture of Pokemon. The Gym Challenge, the popularity of leaders, the trainer cards, engaging with your Pokemon through camping. You're no longer a lone kid on a journey with few people caring about your gym challenge; the whole region is out there cheering for the likes of you. This is a really nice touch that I hope will be continued.

    The game features a lot of quality of life improvements, from ev training to leveling up and box management, it's easier and sleek. Even breeding seems to have become more accessible (plus 2 daycare centers). Moreover, a form of fast travel is available, and HMs are still out which is very refreshing

    The new Pokemon designs for the majority are really charming and wonderful! This is an objective point of course, but the variety and types available are excellent. The game's dex is around 400 Pokemon, but the way they're spread out across the wild area and routes are balanced enough

    Camping is a great way to engage with your Pokemon, it's so cute! Cooking curry is also fun and has its uses as well. Not only the animations in it are charming and give the Pokemon personality, several animations across the game have been improved (yes, including battle animations. Some rarely used ones are still the same however)

    Trainer costumization has been vastly improved and I love the variety of options offered! The music is amazing as well, and it's good to see that the exp share is more balanced than before
    Finally, the y-comm could be better. I liked having surprise trades in the background, but making a BETTER version of GTS would have been nice. However, Y-comm isn't terrible. Definitely a step up from Festival Plaza

    There are a few things to address regarding the spread of misinformation about the game:
    -The moves removed are mostly Z-Moves and obsolete ones such as rage. New ones have been added, as well as TRs which are one-use TMs. This means there is close to 200 moves you can teach your Pokemon through TMs and TRs
    -The glitch that deletes the save game isn't the game's fault, it's the formatting of the SD card and it's a very uncommon issue
    -The glitches that some people talked about were due to emulators and rigging said emulators purposefully

    In general, the game is charming and falls right into the same engaging and features of previous Pokemon games (main story, side features such as camping, wild area, curry dex, pokedex, trainer cards..etc, post-game, post-game battle facility).
    The expectations of both a botw style game and full roster of Pokemon are unrealistic, the game is fun and has a lot to offer and is not only an improvement from gen 7 in many ways, but in many ways a step in the right direction, even if it's a small step in some areas    … Expand
  67. bubblehead333
    Dec 1, 2019
    5
    Pokemon Sword and Shield are good games, but when compared with other titles on the Switch can come up short. It seems this generation is riding heavily on the fantastic new Pokemon available, and not so much on graphics, technical achievements or other game play mechanics. This generation is very much 'rinse and repeat'. Though the new region of Galar is charming, post-game you rarely seePokemon Sword and Shield are good games, but when compared with other titles on the Switch can come up short. It seems this generation is riding heavily on the fantastic new Pokemon available, and not so much on graphics, technical achievements or other game play mechanics. This generation is very much 'rinse and repeat'. Though the new region of Galar is charming, post-game you rarely see it as you're grinding raid battles in the quite sparsely populated, bland wild area. While I don't think the shortened Pokemon roster is a problem (in fact I think it's a positive!) it is a shame that their animations can look a little robotic.
    Gyms are done really well, though it would have been nice to have more back story to the gym leaders like in Sun and Moon.
    The story is just...well confusing. Some parts seem rushed, some parts ignored. There is one scene where two main characters are talking on a huge tower (with subtitles no voice acting) over still images of a poorly rendered environment. You think something big is going to go down.....it doesn't...he just walks off. It's also the only time these still images are used in the game. Was this to save time rendering additional animations? Even when the majority of important dialogue in game is just a model flapping their mouth with a bit with text? There are many peculiar instances like this, doesn't fit with the rest of the game and nothing...happens.

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

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

    All in all Pokemon Sword and Shield are just...average, being supported by an incredible roster of well designed and interesting Pokemon. It feels Game Freak were a bit out of their depth on the Switch with all the new technology as the game really struggles technically, with the poor graphics being further evidence. Die hard fans will leave the game thinking what if, for a title perhaps more geared towards the casual players of Let's Go and Go.    … Expand
  68. Noreak
    Dec 1, 2019
    2
    I am disappointed. -No nationaldex (you get 400 out of 807 Pokémon! 52% are missing. This includes the Starters, exept of charizard)
    -animations that get stomped by a game from the Wii (Pokémon Battle Revolution)
    -they cut megaevulutions
  69. Guardiangroove
    Dec 1, 2019
    8
    This is pokemon people. Nobody goes to pokemon for a deep story, or good animations. Yes, gamefreak did not deliver in what they said. What they did do is deliver a game for die hard pokemon fans. Not for casuals who play the story and then put the game down.

    Simply put, if you're a die hard pokemon fan and love collecting, and battling competitively (for 20 minutes LMAO) this is the    This is pokemon people. Nobody goes to pokemon for a deep story, or good animations. Yes, gamefreak did not deliver in what they said. What they did do is deliver a game for die hard pokemon fans. Not for casuals who play the story and then put the game down.

    Simply put, if you're a die hard pokemon fan and love collecting, and battling competitively (for 20 minutes LMAO) this is the game for you. If you're a casual who is just going to play the game for story, you would have fun for about 10-15 hours, and that's it. So the choice is yours.    … Expand
  70. terryangx
    Dec 1, 2019
    1
    Been a hardcore fan of this franchise for over 2 decades. Very meh at best.
  71. Jimminy89
    Dec 1, 2019
    10
    Over 100 hours I’ve put into it and it’s first and foremost: fun. Addictively fun. The national dex really doesn’t matter. It’s a step in the right direction and I’m gonna probably play it for another 100 hours yet.
  72. sewerbaby
    Nov 30, 2019
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game is incredibly lacking in comparison to older games. Dexit is a minor factor. Textures in the Wild Area are awful and on the level of an N64 game. Pokemon battle animations and models are direct copies of their 3DS counterparts, and are visually dated. Story is written quite poorly, with plot elements that had not previously been established appearing out of nowhere in an uninteresting fashion. Online play has been smooth however, and the tournament styled elite four replacement battles are welcome.… Expand
  73. Goodra2
    Nov 30, 2019
    3
    I would say extremely mediocre.
    - the story is basically not there
    - the characters are uninteresting (except for Hop after he gets **** on buy Bede) - most of the animations are outdated - the graphics arent that good - the wild area is much like ocarina of time’s hyrule field, empty and boring - There were barley any new pokemon introduced - dynimax was a mistake - the battle tower is    I would say extremely mediocre.
    - the story is basically not there
    - the characters are uninteresting (except for Hop after he gets **** on buy Bede)
    - most of the animations are outdated - the graphics arent that good
    - the wild area is much like ocarina of time’s hyrule field, empty and boring
    - There were barley any new pokemon introduced - dynimax was a mistake
    - the battle tower is more boring than sun and moon’s
    - gts was removed (why?)
    - the ladder half of the game felt rushed - when you are online in the wild area there is horrendous lag
    - pokemon arent properly scaled - half the pokemon are gone - you cant turn of exp share
    - the game holds the players hand
    - the game is way to easy - the routes are literally a glorified hallways
    - megas are gone
    - the game is overpriced (in terms of how much content there is and the quality)

    The game felt overall rushed and unfinished.

    If you’re a die hard pokemon fan and you wanna keep getting the same mediocre trash every year than this is the game for you. If you’re someone who's looking to get a switch for yourself or someone else and you’re consider this to be the first game you get, then dont. There are way better games on the switch (Breath of the Wild, Mario Odyssey, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, The Witcher 3, Fire Emblem: Three Houses).
    Those games are infinitely better than Sword and Shield, and are worth all 60 of your hard earned dollars.    … Expand
  74. solarhorse
    Nov 30, 2019
    4
    Are you looking to get back into Pokemon after losing interest several years ago, eager to see how the franchise has changed? This game isn't for you.

    Are you a die-hard Poke-fan excited to see what a mainline Pokemon game looks like on a home console? This game still isn't for you. Pokemon Sword and Shield, the latest installment in the Pokemon franchise, marking the start of the    Are you looking to get back into Pokemon after losing interest several years ago, eager to see how the franchise has changed? This game isn't for you.

    Are you a die-hard Poke-fan excited to see what a mainline Pokemon game looks like on a home console? This game still isn't for you.

    Pokemon Sword and Shield, the latest installment in the Pokemon franchise, marking the start of the 8th generation of core game titles, is tacky, uninspired and offers little of the wonder and adventure that the franchise used to be celebrated for.

    Like previous entries, the game sees you, a young aspiring Pokemon trainer from a quiet town, setting off on an adventure with a starter Pokemon of your choosing through a large region as you catch, train and battle Pokemon to earn all 8 gym badges and defeat the regions champion. Nothing much is new here, except that now the region is based on England, very loosely.

    But the lack of originality could be forgiven if the game could at least excel in what it had to offer, and for a while the tried-and-true cycle of discovering, catching and raising brand new Pokemon was enough to keep me hooked for a while. There's nothing quite like the excitement of discovering a new Pokemon for the first time, hence why I always go into these games blind.

    But the excitement stops when you realize that there are only 80 new Pokemon, not that much considering previous installments typically add over a hundred of them for the first pair of games. And when the excitement stops, the disappointment sets in. But what's so disappointing about this game? Is it all just a lot of non-issues cherry-picked by fans who got too caught up in the "Dexit" controversy leading up to release? I'll let you decide if the following complaints are "cherry-picked".

    My first complaint, the game feels lifeless. The design of the towns and cities lack any depth or character, populated only with small groups of NPCs standing around doing nothing, (and the numbers seem even smaller when you factor in the pop-in issues). Buildings, walls, rivers and roads look like they're built out of cardboard. You never feel like you’re exploring a living, breathing world as much as you’re watching a stage play with cheap props.

    The lifelessness doesn't end with towns or people, it also extends to the Pokemon themselves. If the animations in battle seem frigid, wait until you try out "Pokemon Camp", a feature which allows for all six party members to interact with one another. What could have been a great device for building character turns out to be a complete mess, with Pokemon sliding all over the place like bumper cars as animations fail to sync with motions and AI fails to find appropriate paths around other characters.

    Second complaint, the story. Pokemon has never been known for daring stories, but they're at least functional. There's an evil team with an agenda, a legendary Pokemon gets involved, the world ends, there's stakes, there's urgency, etc. Sword and Shield has this, technically speaking, but decides to cram it all at the very end of the game, leaving the majority of the campaign with no antagonists, no tension and any hint of danger washed over as other characters deal with issues that in any other game you would need to deal with yourself.

    My third complaint, the formula is stale, particularly the combat. There's nothing wrong with turn based combat per se, and anyone who says it's outdated clearly hasn't tried out the Shin Megami Tensei games, but it has to be done right. The combat here, however, plays exactly like every other Pokemon game has played since Red/Blue. What worked fine for a Game Boy feels out of place on a modern console, particularly when played on the big screen. It's slow, it's cumbersome and it needs to change.

    My fourth complaint, the purging of Pokemon, the source of the infamous "Dexit" controversy. I'm less bothered by not having access to all Pokemon from previous titles and more bothered by what the design philosophy behind this game is. The game isn't a "fresh start", as discussed above. It isn't reinventing the wheel, it's building on the established foundation. But it also removes from the foundation by not having all Pokemon available. If a lack of technical expertise or manpower are the reason for this, then it would've been a better idea to give Pokemon a hard reboot and "re-invent" the franchise instead. At least that vision of the game would've been achievable.

    It's not all gloom and doom though. For example, the gym battles are easily the best in the franchise, with giant "Dynamaxed" Pokemon, music that escalates as battles progress and gym leaders that ooze personality. It's as though the gym battles and the Dynamax gimmick were what Game Freak started with before adding in a half-hearted game afterwards. It's a shame they couldn't start by imagining how to recapture what made Pokemon such a wondrous experience to begin with.    … Expand
  75. Elpazto
    Nov 30, 2019
    4
    Bad game
    Game freak lied
    Recycled models, horrible dynamax mechanic, no mega, no Z move
  76. vincentvizcaya
    Nov 30, 2019
    0
    No están los pokemon de la pokedex entera. No hay mega evoluciones. No hay nueva evolución de eevee. Muy mal para competitivo.
  77. Sherlockueu
    Nov 30, 2019
    9
    Melhor na minha opinião, jogo do pokémon uma coisa que não gostei foi o Bede
  78. cdiazre
    Nov 30, 2019
    8
    Pokémon Shield yet again delivers the fantasy of becoming a trainer on the Switch, though it feels rough around the edges, like it was rushed. Very unlike a Nintendo game.
  79. ZeroGemini
    Nov 29, 2019
    6
    Pokemon Sword/Shield was a journey through mediocrity for me. I grew up with pokemon and haven't played one since Ruby/Sapphire and hearing it was coming to the switch excited me. I saw they had a wild area and I thought my dreams of a non-linear pokemon game were going to become a reality. Given the advancements all other first party Nintendo games have gone through (Zelda, Mario, FirePokemon Sword/Shield was a journey through mediocrity for me. I grew up with pokemon and haven't played one since Ruby/Sapphire and hearing it was coming to the switch excited me. I saw they had a wild area and I thought my dreams of a non-linear pokemon game were going to become a reality. Given the advancements all other first party Nintendo games have gone through (Zelda, Mario, Fire Emblem, Luigi's Mansion, Xenoblade 2, Smash, and so on) I had no reason to believe this game wouldn't be any different. Boy, was I wrong. I completed the game and the entire pokedex in about 30 hours and was left wanting something more, something better to do. The wild area was small and generally unnecessary for a majority of the game. It felt like an upgraded safari zone, both in size and usefulness. Most pokemon could be caught within the routes, which were devoid of branching paths like previous games - they were literally 2 circles with 4 gyms on each path. A majority of the pokemon battle animations were hops and twists, they could have at least copied the animations from the gamecube games. The particle effects were pretty to look at, but the lack of animations used to initiate the attack was disappointing. Dynamax and Gigantamax forms are not all that interesting and the raid battles got extremely repetitive and boring after a few battles. I thought they'd have move past this rock-paper-scissors mechanic of super effective attacks by now. The gym challenges were fun to do, but type-based gym leaders shouldn't exist anymore. I solo swept every gym with a single pokemon. The game could stand to have a normal and hard mode where the gym leaders all had between 4-6 pokemon all either scaled to your level +5 or a much higher starting point with team composition in mind to create a more challenging experience for the older player base, which is probably the majority anyways. It really bothered me that characters had moving mouth flaps during cutscenes and zero voice acting took place. It's kind of insulting that pokemon cries are still screeches when we have the pokemon cartoon to pull from.

    Overall, it was the same game I remembered playing back in the late 90s early 2000s and had no problem pushing through the game. 8 gyms, a good amount of monsters to find, and an elite 4 challenge. However, I'm not reviewing every pokemon game entry as a whole I'm reviewing Sword/Shield specifically and this one was bad. It may have followed the general formula of a pokemon game, but that is not enough to be a great game. Compared to what Nintendo has done recently, this was a poor entry to add to Nintendo Switch's stellar lineup. I probably won't buy the next game unless they have significantly improved their product, and even then I may wait for YouTuber reviews because gaming sites like IGN and Polygon really oversold the experience.    … Expand
  80. AngryShark92
    Nov 29, 2019
    4
    It absolutely sucks to have to write this review, but the community has this spot on. 4 or 5 out of 10 is where I landed for this game as well. I have played since Pokemon Red, and I have stuck with the mainline series, picking up every game up to now, as well as TCG back on colour. I do not care about or like Pokémon GO or Let's Go because I do not believe they are truly part of theIt absolutely sucks to have to write this review, but the community has this spot on. 4 or 5 out of 10 is where I landed for this game as well. I have played since Pokemon Red, and I have stuck with the mainline series, picking up every game up to now, as well as TCG back on colour. I do not care about or like Pokémon GO or Let's Go because I do not believe they are truly part of the mainline series.

    Pokémon Sword and shield is a bit of a catastrophe, it seems as though Gamefreak has decided that people like me exist in droves and will buy every game they release regardless of innovation or consistency. They are obviously correct as shown by the sales figures, but there really is no excuse for releasing such a poorly made entry.

    This game is incredibly easy, not even remotely challenging, my team was over-powered for the entire game up to the absolute final battle with the champion where one of my six team members finally fainted. The balance between tough battles and the rewards you get from the wild area are nowhere near fair. While I did enjoy raid battles, it honestly seemed like a lazy extra mechanic to grind with.

    While we are in the area of lazy mechanics and/or gimmicks... Dynamaxing and Gigantamaxing is utterly pointless. It is the same battle, but you're Pokémon are taller and have all their type-moves narrowed down to one type of "special" move that does more damage than normal... To me, this is no different from Mega Evolution, and basically functions the same way... Didn't like it then, don't like it now.

    The plot is one probably one of the worst of the series and is barely "evil", especially if you compare to what Ghetsis & Cyrus were trying to do. I had no interest in the narrative or the lore of the legendaries which is a huge disappointment. Speaking of Ghetsis, this game may very well rival Gen 5 for the ugliest new Pokémon award... at least Black/White had a great narrative.

    Also, I don't really know who my rival was, really there was nobody because the game was too easy, but in the game there was 3 of them, and they were all awful. Hop is annoying version of Barry from Platinum who has no personality and blocks your path with annoying dialogue at every turn, Marnie is an emo who runs around with an antifa fan club screaming and ree-ing with no personality, and Bede, who I really thought was an old lady for 80% of the game is actually a boy who seemed to be the only one trying to block your progress and fight you at every turn. My true rival was my will to continue playing the game.

    Difficulty-wise, this game simply has way too much hand-holding, if I want to run off an explore in a certain direction, I can't the game points you towards the current objective by blocking off pathways with Pokémon or your annoying rival Hop. It also tells you which Pokémon are weak to what if you have battled them and type information during battles, gone are the days of experimenting against new Pokémon to discover their types.

    I don't want to go on a long rant, but there are so many things that made this game a chore to complete, which I have only felt with Sun/Moon (Not ultra, I enjoyed those two) & Let's Go. As for the national dex not having every single Pokémon available, I don't really think that is a bad thing, as there would be so many similarly typed Pokémon which would just be a waste. Having said that, if their excuse for not doing so was to improve animations and details, that was a complete lie. This game could have been played on DS with the amount of graphical detail that is lacking, not to mention shameful pop-in and fps drops. Yikes.

    + City design is exceptional
    + Soundtrack is great
    + Some (emphasis on some) new Pokémon look great [Corviknight]
    + Big fan of Zacian & Zazamenta, and the starters are very cute.

    - Way too easy
    - Too much hand-holding
    - Annoying characters
    - Lazy game mechanics (Dynamax & raid battles)
    - Wild area is a barren wasteland
    - Lazy animation design
    - Awful pop-ins
    - Graphics overall are bad
    - Most of the new Pokémon are ugly (Rivals Gen 5 imo)
    - No post game content after champion and legendaries

    This is the 3rd time I have been disappointed with Pokémon in the last 4 entries, which tells me that this series is becoming stagnant and being aimed at newer players from the GO & Let's Go group. I will not be rushing out to buy the next one for sure. They even said it was aimed at the hardcore/seasoned fans, and it really isn't. This game is barely a 4/10 for me. I am afraid this series will lose its seasoned fans after these recent entries.    … Expand
  81. bluziken
    Nov 29, 2019
    9
    If you are a Pokemon fan, you need this game. Everyone can complain all they want but, this game is really good. Obviously, not all the Pokemon are in this game, and yes, Gamefreak was pretty lazy working on a lot of the things in the game. This game has pretty decent story, or above average Pokemon story, but this game is very addicting to me at least. I am a huge Pokemon fan, and weIf you are a Pokemon fan, you need this game. Everyone can complain all they want but, this game is really good. Obviously, not all the Pokemon are in this game, and yes, Gamefreak was pretty lazy working on a lot of the things in the game. This game has pretty decent story, or above average Pokemon story, but this game is very addicting to me at least. I am a huge Pokemon fan, and we haven't gotten our own original Pokemon game since the original Sun and Moon games, so this game really gives me that Pokemon game I have been wanting since I played ORAS and XY. There is some tutorials skips you can do, (not a whole bunch) but its still is a quality of life improvement, and there is some convenient tweaks in the menus. Also at the beginning of the game its a little mysterious, and interesting to hear the "legends" of Zacian and Zamazenta. And you have multiple rivals, a friendly one, a rude one, (like Gary) and a weird one. But I think my favorite part about this game is the new Pokemon, they are awesome! There is so many different type combos, for example, a lightning and poison type Pokemon. Also the designs are just so good, you notice them right away from the beginning of the game. They are probably the best Pokemon we've got since Hoenn. (In my opinion) Even though Gamefreak is struggling to move their new games to a more home console sense, I think they did just enough right to satisfy me with this awesome new game. Hopefully they start realizing the massive disappointment from fans, and start to work just a little bit harder on the next game.… Expand
  82. Giuseppe98PG
    Nov 29, 2019
    0
    Motivazioni dello 0:
    - Il gioco dura pochissimo
    - La storia è frivola - I nuovi pokemon sono pochi (ho faticato tantissimo a costruire una squadra di 8 generazione) - La regione è minuscola - Le aree selvagge sono noiose, tutte uguali e non hanno uno scopo - la GTS è stata rimossa - Primo gioco pokemon nel quale puoi catturare solo 3 leggendari - Primo gioco pokemon con un endgame    Motivazioni dello 0:
    - Il gioco dura pochissimo
    - La storia è frivola
    - I nuovi pokemon sono pochi (ho faticato tantissimo a costruire una squadra di 8 generazione)
    - La regione è minuscola
    - Le aree selvagge sono noiose, tutte uguali e non hanno uno scopo
    - la GTS è stata rimossa
    - Primo gioco pokemon nel quale puoi catturare solo 3 leggendari
    - Primo gioco pokemon con un endgame noioso e frivolo
    - Primo gioco pokemon senza un vero team cattivo
    - Non ci sono attività side al di là del parco lotta

    Non trovo neanche interesse nel finire il pokedex come nei titoli precedenti. Non importa la mancanza del pokedex nazionale, io volevo giocare un gioco pokemon completo, non uno spinoff pagato anche di più    … Expand
  83. aaw510
    Nov 29, 2019
    3
    Way too short and annoying at times. I beat every gym and had a solid team after about 20 hours, which is way too short for a $60 game. In addition, I seem to be the only one experiencing a problem with watts (a form of in-game currency) and some pokemon not respawning. None of the dens i visited over 24 hours ago respawned watts, leaving me with little to no way to collect them withoutWay too short and annoying at times. I beat every gym and had a solid team after about 20 hours, which is way too short for a $60 game. In addition, I seem to be the only one experiencing a problem with watts (a form of in-game currency) and some pokemon not respawning. None of the dens i visited over 24 hours ago respawned watts, leaving me with little to no way to collect them without having to fight pokemon. I’ve also been trying to catch all Eeveelutions, but after catching two, they no longer spawn in the known location where they can be found (again even after 24 hours). I think this might actually be my last Pokemon game, just not worth the price tag.… Expand
  84. RetroMatero
    Nov 29, 2019
    1
    Con todo lo que tenían para hacer un nuevo juego de la saga, vinieron con esto.
    Mi primo, luego de 12 horas de juego, no aguantó más, y lo iba a devolver. Yo le di una chance, porque no me parecía tan malo...
    2 horas después... Uffff... -Gráficos que no van a la altura ni de las otras franquicias que gráficamente son excepcionales, para esa consola, se ve como un port en HD de la 3DS.    Con todo lo que tenían para hacer un nuevo juego de la saga, vinieron con esto.
    Mi primo, luego de 12 horas de juego, no aguantó más, y lo iba a devolver. Yo le di una chance, porque no me parecía tan malo...
    2 horas después... Uffff...
    -Gráficos que no van a la altura ni de las otras franquicias que gráficamente son excepcionales, para esa consola, se ve como un port en HD de la 3DS.
    -Jugabilidad muy aburrida, y es poco para esta consola. Nos castigan con el mismo sistema de hace 20 años, sin mucha variedad.
    -Lo que era un RPG en el pasado, se redujo al ir de punto A a punto B, sin siquiera dar la sensación de volver al punto anterior.
    -He sabido de usuarios que en 5 horas ya eran los más fuertes, cuando en entregas de la GB me tomó casi 70 horas llegar a tener pokemons del nivel de Zapdos, Moltres, y Articuno.
    -Parece hecho para niños de 5 años, y encima con un estilo de jugabilidad muy anticuado.
    -El lore es completamente absurdo, y los personajes muy mal aprovechados. Qué se meten los guionistas para tirarnos personajes que lucen interesantes y terminan siendo más planos que una tabla, a la par de acartonados? Agárrate, Final Fantasy XIII...

    En resumen, no puedo recomendar esta entrega a alguien que quiera iniciarse en la saga, recomendaría los de GB del clásico al Advance, y los Black and White, que al menos se sienten (más o menos) como juegos frescos...

    Nintendo y Game Freak... Les duele sacarse unos millones de dólares para hacer algo de verdad, no?    … Expand
  85. Dinglebat299
    Nov 29, 2019
    1
    This game feels cheap. The story is absolutely garbage & pretty much non existent. The areas are bland and boring. The characters are so annoying and the gameplay itself feels like this is a demo of a fan game. Easily the worst pokemon game. Gamefreak have really dropped the ball with this and shown their true colours, rush out some garbage and sell it to stupid kids.

    Pokémon has been    This game feels cheap. The story is absolutely garbage & pretty much non existent. The areas are bland and boring. The characters are so annoying and the gameplay itself feels like this is a demo of a fan game. Easily the worst pokemon game. Gamefreak have really dropped the ball with this and shown their true colours, rush out some garbage and sell it to stupid kids.

    Pokémon has been around for around 20years or so, most of its fans are between 20-30, why not make a game for an older demographic??    … Expand
  86. fiTy
    Nov 29, 2019
    2
    An RPG game with competitive online system with more exploits than its 20+ years ago predecessors.
  87. EthanML
    Nov 29, 2019
    8
    A very well made, fun entry in the series that's difficult to put down and full of great moments.
  88. Egetrip
    Nov 29, 2019
    10
    Best pokemon game this decade. I enjoyed every minute of it, 10/10 would play again! There is plenty of pokemon, i didn't feel the need for a nat.dex, more pokemon could ofc be nice, but not a necessity to be able to enjoy it.
  89. Ryier
    Nov 29, 2019
    6
    A generous rating would be 6/10.
    Imagine I cut the score in half so that I could bring you a more cohesive reading experience which is in no way copied from previous reviews and is definitely not me just being lazy.
  90. Sydannus
    Nov 29, 2019
    2
    I love Pokemon, but this was just lazy and boring. Gen 5 was my favourite because of all the Team Plasma stuff, I really enjoyed X and Y too. This just had nothing going for it. It wasn't fun, every time you think you're finally going to get involved with the story Leon runs off, announcing that he will handle it and Hop (the most annoying and weak rival yet) yells at you to come with himI love Pokemon, but this was just lazy and boring. Gen 5 was my favourite because of all the Team Plasma stuff, I really enjoyed X and Y too. This just had nothing going for it. It wasn't fun, every time you think you're finally going to get involved with the story Leon runs off, announcing that he will handle it and Hop (the most annoying and weak rival yet) yells at you to come with him and train... because you're his 'rival'.

    I'm not about to sit here and complain about the National Dex being gone either, it's not the biggest problem this game has. I'm not happy they removed them but I was expecting it at some point down the line. This game simply isn't well made and feels like an absolute regression in storytelling, pacing and difficulty from all previous generations. The most clear example of this regression is, at least to me, the selection of available outfits within Sword and Shield. There's no end game item store and there's really only 2 or 3 'different' styles of tops/dresses (not counting recolours). It's incredibly lazy and the excitement of creating your own trainer who goes through the world in their own way is one that has been huge in distracting me from the series' flaws in recent releases. Similarly, the post-game is something that typically makes me excited to continue playing. In Sword and Shield, I felt that I largely got dumped off the deep end and the writing remained as uninteresting as before, even if it was still my favourite part. I would once again reference X and Y and it's Lumiose City quest chain (as well as the reputation for the upper-class fashion shop) as a good Pokemon end game - this one fell flat.
    I'm not going to sit here and say Pokemon should be difficult but it would be nice if the NPCs could learn to switch their pokemon, as it could potentially create more than a slow-paced medieval slug match with unimpressive animations.

    On the positives: The fairy town was really well designed and looked amazing. The place where you meet the legendary Pokemon also looks good visually. The first 10 minutes of the game where you enter the Slumbering Weald had me legitimately excited for where the story could go. Pokemon still has a competitive scene, even if gigantimax is incredibly unhealthy for it.    … Expand
  91. whenry
    Nov 28, 2019
    9
    I thought it was a good game overall, with some minor bugs that I have yet to experience since release.
  92. NixAlvarito
    Nov 28, 2019
    9
    un buen juego de pokemon con algunos fallos que tiene como la pokedex y los tiempos de carga y sprites sigue siendo un pokemon muy bueno dejando de lado eso , es un buen juego
  93. Shane88
    Nov 28, 2019
    8
    El juego es entretenido, esperaba muchísimo menos de esta entrega pero al adquirirlo me dejó sorprendida de lo entretenido que es.
    Loa gráficos sí son un salto de la 3ds para mejor ya que en algunas ciudades se ve bastante bien, mas sin embargo para una Switch quedaron cortos.
    La historia pues, Pokémon no suele tener una gran historia nunca, pero la dinámica de las incursiones y al área    El juego es entretenido, esperaba muchísimo menos de esta entrega pero al adquirirlo me dejó sorprendida de lo entretenido que es.
    Loa gráficos sí son un salto de la 3ds para mejor ya que en algunas ciudades se ve bastante bien, mas sin embargo para una Switch quedaron cortos.
    La historia pues, Pokémon no suele tener una gran historia nunca, pero la dinámica de las incursiones y al área salvaje es bastante entretenida.

    Me gustó lejos de lo que oensaba que sería un pésimo juego.    … Expand
  94. henriwb
    Nov 28, 2019
    0
    For the first time in my life will be skipping a pokemon game gen.
    Sun/Moon left a bitter taste and that proves how Game Freak/Pokemon Company only cares about money.
    Even if I had no money when X/Y was released I bought a 3DS to play it. Now, I'm not helping this mess of a game anymore. This is a 3DS game that was ported and rushed to sell. No excuses can be made.
  95. Zimzor
    Nov 28, 2019
    0
    Dexit Dexit Dexit Dexit Dexit Dexit Dexit Dexit Dexit Dexit Dexit Dexit Dexit Dexit Dexit Dexit Dexit Dexit Dexit Dexit Dexit Dexit Dexit Dexit
  96. Blue89Lion
    Nov 28, 2019
    7
    Un gran juego de Pokémon pero con dos puntos que flaquean:
    1) El aspecto gráfico. No está a la altura de una Nintendo Switch en determinados puntos
    2) La escasa dificultad. Como viene siendo habitual en los últimos juegos de PoKéMoN, es excesivamente fácil. Puedes acabar el juego sin necesidad de pararte a farmear como si que era necesarios en los PoKéMoN previos a Nintendo 3DS. Una pena,    Un gran juego de Pokémon pero con dos puntos que flaquean:
    1) El aspecto gráfico. No está a la altura de una Nintendo Switch en determinados puntos
    2) La escasa dificultad. Como viene siendo habitual en los últimos juegos de PoKéMoN, es excesivamente fácil. Puedes acabar el juego sin necesidad de pararte a farmear como si que era necesarios en los PoKéMoN previos a Nintendo 3DS. Una pena, la verdad. Por lo demás. Un buen juego que cumple las expectativas mínimas. Bonitos escenarios, aunque bastante vacios. Bonitos diseños de nuevos Pokémon. Música espectacular como suele ser habitual. Es el tipico juego de Pokémon que "Cuando haces Pop, ya no hay Stop" y no puedes parar hasta que te lo acabas. 25 horas de diversión aseguradas, pese a los dos puntos mencionados anteriores. Recomendado a cualquier aficionado de Pokémon. Se mea bastante en Sol y Luna ;-)    … Expand
  97. califfo93
    Nov 28, 2019
    4
    Tagliare il pokedex del 50% mantenendo una grafica datata e animazioni da ps2: mission complete!
  98. Mateorock
    Nov 28, 2019
    3
    Just more of the same. Entretaining but not exciting. Sadly it feels rush, they should add some things to the pokemon saga in adition to keep old stuff like mega evolutions.
  99. BIGDATALOVE
    Nov 28, 2019
    0
    unfinished. After the main story which is done very quickly the only thing left is the boring postgame. Not worth the buy. Let Game-freak burn so they finally stop releasing uncompleted trash and stop scamming their community.
  100. OnlyGoken
    Nov 27, 2019
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. On one hand, Pokémon Sword and Shield has many quality of life changes and other great things that make these games feel fun. The gyms are the best we've had since the fifth generation, Galarian forms look excellent, many of the new Pokémon are brilliant, and the Wild Area is a good first step to a more open Pokémon experience. On the other hand...

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

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

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

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

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

    Sword and Shield arent the worst, at least there's stuff to talk about. But this far below BW2, Emerald or Platinum. 5/10 for being half good/half bad.    … Expand
Page:

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.
    Read full review
  3. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Jan 14, 2020
    78
    Pokemon Sword/Shield is uncharacteristically user-friendly: now there’s no need to backtrack half across the world to heal your entire team of pokemon or to get to a particular city, for example. [Issue#242, p.66]
See all critic reviews »