Pokemon Sword

 Switch
User Score
4.7

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 5909 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,997 out of 5909
  2. Mixed: 852 out of 5909
  3. Negative: 3,060 out of 5909
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  1. 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
  2. IndyGameFan
    Nov 17, 2019
    5
    I felt really let down by this game. This is a really expensive (and highly anticipated) title, and I'm left wondering if I should just trade it in.
    Not sure where exactly pokemon started to go off the rails, but this one is not worth the money. Maybe buy it used or something.
  3. madku321
    Dec 14, 2019
    6
    It's not a bad game. It's just not a good game.
    The good stuff was always good—designs, look, feel—but it's the move to console that's glaring.
    First of all, the game is terribly easy. So much so that when my pokémon die it's not because of skill, it's just because of luck. The exp. share makes it so no grinding necessary, which isn't bad, but at the same time removes all thinking. Why    It's not a bad game. It's just not a good game.
    The good stuff was always good—designs, look, feel—but it's the move to console that's glaring.
    First of all, the game is terribly easy. So much so that when my pokémon die it's not because of skill, it's just because of luck. The exp. share makes it so no grinding necessary, which isn't bad, but at the same time removes all thinking. Why switch out to train (a skill to help) when you can simply leave your OP pokemon to deal all the damage, and have the harder pokemon to train simply sit there? The AI is stupid also: making dumb moves makes what would've been a hard battle easy.
    What makes a pokemon game? Towns? The pocket monsters themselves? The routes? In this game, it can't be the routes. Most of them are very linear, and I find myself, for the first time in any pokemon game, ignoring the trainers just so I can get to the god-damned next town or gym. I don't believe the pokemon make up this game either. Over half of them are from previous games, which isn't necessarily bad, but one of the coolest things is finding a new, rare pokemon or finally getting to see your carkol evolve (what will it turn into???). The towns I can happily give credit to: they look great and are meant to feel large. But after exploring towns, you find yourself wondering why they felt so small to you.
    The linear aspect goes beyond routes. I never get the chance to decide where to go. At most, I can go left or right at a route (but, one will end or maybe the two tracks will meet up again). And, though the world is large, the main game stops you at every minute just to give you the next item, let you continue the game, or just have an annoying cutscene about Galar's history that YOU JUST DON'T CARE ABOUT. Without choice, the game almost feels... empty, boring.
    The wild area, the most lauded thing of this game, is not even that good. I find myself returning there just to find one single pokemon I want instead of exploring it to look for new things.
    The game, overall, just makes me think about the older games and how they were (are?) really good. The move to full 3-D for the first time hurt the franchise greatly, only opening it's flaws more and making me miss the older games, instead of thinking of the new ones.
    6/10, because it's fine, I guess.    … Expand
  4. PhantomThief95
    Nov 17, 2019
    5
    These games could've been so much more as Pokémon's official new generation debut on a home console, but instead it ends up being an underwhelming, incremental upgrade over the 3DS games. There are some neat QoL changes and the Wild Area is a very good idea that I hope to see more of in future games, but the rest falls very short of what is expected of a home console game.
  5. Burgosgts
    Nov 17, 2019
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Ya he terminado el juego, en 26h que llevo he conseguido la mitad de la pokedex (demasiado corta), cuando te lo pasas el area salvaje pasa a convertirse en un supermecado, te aparecen todos los bichos a nivel 60 y casi todos los que te faltan en la pokedex. Despues las incursiones dinamax, salen muy pocas, cuando las juegas en solitario por que la conexion es pesima y no se puede jugar online, los bot que te ponen sacan pokemon malisimos, los matan 4 veces a los bot y a ti te sacan de la incursion. Los efectos de algunos graficos son de risa. Juego descuidadisimo la verdad… Expand
  6. Opportunist
    Nov 20, 2019
    1
    For the sake of brevity, I'll group this game's many flaws into three overarching categories. You've already heard most of the criticisms, so I'll keep it quick.
    1) The lack of content typical of every first Pokemon game in a generation.
    2) Removal of content in previous games being played to an almost funny extreme - morw than half the Pokemon have been removed from the game's code, you    For the sake of brevity, I'll group this game's many flaws into three overarching categories. You've already heard most of the criticisms, so I'll keep it quick.
    1) The lack of content typical of every first Pokemon game in a generation.
    2) Removal of content in previous games being played to an almost funny extreme - morw than half the Pokemon have been removed from the game's code, you can't actually catch em all.
    3) Very, very poor graphics and optimization in conjunction with a slew of gamebreaking bugs.

    Do not buy this game. This series has many better titles to offer that would provide you with a much better experience.    … Expand
  7. BrownKnight
    Nov 15, 2019
    5
    This game is just a disappointment, I'm genuinely sad this is the direction Pokémon is going. This game had so much potential on a much more powerful consolle but it's all wasted. The cause can be summed up just with one concept: laziness. Most of the things they put in was rushed, half-finished, it looks like they don't even care anymore. This game should cost 30 $ AT BEST, it's surelyThis game is just a disappointment, I'm genuinely sad this is the direction Pokémon is going. This game had so much potential on a much more powerful consolle but it's all wasted. The cause can be summed up just with one concept: laziness. Most of the things they put in was rushed, half-finished, it looks like they don't even care anymore. This game should cost 30 $ AT BEST, it's surely not worth 60. Too bad, if they go on like this the franchise is doomed.… Expand
  8. JorrisBohnson
    Nov 19, 2019
    1
    The game is an unifnished mess that has no business of being released. Everyone has talked about Dexit or the culling of 60% of the Pokedex but more than that the game has horrible graphics, unfinished animations, empty maps, barely any content with most people finishing the game in 10 hours plus no postgame to speak off. If you are an JRPG fan there are better games on the Switch likeThe game is an unifnished mess that has no business of being released. Everyone has talked about Dexit or the culling of 60% of the Pokedex but more than that the game has horrible graphics, unfinished animations, empty maps, barely any content with most people finishing the game in 10 hours plus no postgame to speak off. If you are an JRPG fan there are better games on the Switch like Dragon Quest XI S or Xenoblade 2. If you are a Pokemon fan then I feel bad but if you want the franchise to improve you should not support this game. Vote with your wallet and let Game Freak know that this type of cashgrab is not accepted. Also there have been reports of the game corrupting save and game data on the Switch, showing how unfinished this game is.

    tl;dr Do not buy, get DQ XI S instead.    … Expand
  9. 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.
  10. KuwaitiJakey
    Nov 16, 2019
    5
    I think this game is average. First the things I liked, I thought the fact that you run into almost entirely new Pokémon on route 1 & 2 that weren’t spoiled by marketing is fantastic. The beginning of a Pokémon game is always magical. I also really liked the concept of the wild area. It’s something Game Freak has to build on in the future - when I first went there I spent hours justI think this game is average. First the things I liked, I thought the fact that you run into almost entirely new Pokémon on route 1 & 2 that weren’t spoiled by marketing is fantastic. The beginning of a Pokémon game is always magical. I also really liked the concept of the wild area. It’s something Game Freak has to build on in the future - when I first went there I spent hours just wondering around. The problem with the wild area is that it needs more to do, I think there should be dungeons or buildings to find and explore. Hunting for Pokémon is great but imagine if the whole game was wilderness and you had to find your next gym hidden in a forest or behind a mountain. The worst part of the game is the graphics. Frankly the animations and graphics are unacceptable for a switch game. It feels unfinished. The battle animations haven’t changed since X & Y. Pokémon models seem stiff and sometimes only their waiting animation just hops up and down. I didn’t care about this as much back on the 3ds, but it looks just plain bad on the switch. I wish Gamefreak would have spent more time in development on this game, update the animations and better communicate why they made the decisions they did. It seems jarring that Fire Emblem made the jump from 3ds to Switch in such a huge and significant way, but Pokémon only slightly improved their formula. Hopping Nintendo recognizes the criticism isn’t all just hate and comes from a place of love for their series and spends the time, money, and care to improve the next game. This game is enjoyable, but not the significant jump I thought it should’ve been for the first console Pokémon game.… Expand
  11. shawtz
    Nov 20, 2019
    3
    Overall a very lackluster game, especially in comparison to other games in the series, like Pokemon Platinum or Black/White 2. Even against some of the weaker titles, like Pokemon X and Y those games are smash hits in comparison to this game. The game just doesn't run well, even though it looks like a n64 game and is locked at 30fps. I will not be picking up another title in the seriesOverall a very lackluster game, especially in comparison to other games in the series, like Pokemon Platinum or Black/White 2. Even against some of the weaker titles, like Pokemon X and Y those games are smash hits in comparison to this game. The game just doesn't run well, even though it looks like a n64 game and is locked at 30fps. I will not be picking up another title in the series until Game Freak makes a game that is up to quality to the older gems.… Expand
  12. 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
  13. Kuniokun
    Nov 21, 2019
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Es aburrido, la innovación es poca y falta actuación de voz, una historia olvidarle y personajes sosos… Expand
  14. SlowbroLin
    Nov 22, 2022
    1
    It is meaningless when I can not get my old Pokemons back! And I think that Mega Evolution is the most beautiful thing since Pokemon XY! And it is gone in this generation!
  15. necrotick
    Nov 17, 2019
    6
    The game is good, but the dex court killed the game. There are some bugs and bugs in the scenario that bother you.
  16. Striderblack01
    Nov 17, 2019
    5
    This game proves that the Pokemon basics, the tried-and-true mechanics of the franchise, still works. It makes it easy to get excited and play for hours while overlooking it's flaws. That is, at first.

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Overall, this is a good game - just incomplete. It feels uneven and rushed. It's also a bit pricey for the amount of content. With a little more time and care, it could've been the very best.    … Expand
  17. Detben
    Nov 17, 2019
    6
    This is not a bad game, but by no means is this a great game. Here are a few of my thoughts:
    1) the graphics and animations are disappointing. The switch has shown that games can look quite beautiful on this platform.I didn’t expect Botw, but the glitchiness, flatness, and laziness are a let down.
    2) not a compete Pokédex? Thank you next 3) multiplayer was practically nonexistent and    This is not a bad game, but by no means is this a great game. Here are a few of my thoughts:
    1) the graphics and animations are disappointing. The switch has shown that games can look quite beautiful on this platform.I didn’t expect Botw, but the glitchiness, flatness, and laziness are a let down.
    2) not a compete Pokédex? Thank you next
    3) multiplayer was practically nonexistent and glitchy
    4) it was not at all challenging. Ever generation they make it easier and easier. What’s the point of a game if it’s a cake walk?    … Expand
  18. guyquest
    Nov 19, 2019
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A disappoint entry into an otherwise stellar series. The first entry on the Switch cut so much content that games from 20 years ago are more robust. It wasn't just Pokemon that were cut either. No elite four, no mega evoluations, no z-moves, no GTS; not to mention series favorites like following pokemon still aren't back. The game itself is also somewhat buggy, but I assume that will get patched at least. I do not recommend this game.… Expand
  19. TerranceBogard
    Nov 17, 2019
    6
    These games have admittedly garnered quite a bit of controversy, and due to some of the questionable decisions made in these games, it's understandable why. That said, these are not the worst games ever made. Far from it, in fact; I've had a good time playing my copy of Pokémon Shield. There are missteps here & there, but it's overall enjoyable. The TL;DR version of my review is that theseThese games have admittedly garnered quite a bit of controversy, and due to some of the questionable decisions made in these games, it's understandable why. That said, these are not the worst games ever made. Far from it, in fact; I've had a good time playing my copy of Pokémon Shield. There are missteps here & there, but it's overall enjoyable. The TL;DR version of my review is that these are fun games—about on par with X&Y in my opinion, but not as good as Sun & Moon for a reference point—that do miss the mark in terms of potential. Good games, but could've been a lot better. In an objective sense, these games are probably a 7/10. However, I'm reviewing it as a 6/10 here, simply because of the missed potential as for what these games *could* have been. As the highest grossing media franchise EVER and Pokémon's first mainline console game, these should've been a huge step forward for the franchise, the same way that Breath of the Wild was for Zelda and Odyssey was for Mario. Still, if you're on the fence about buying these games (and aren't boycotting it), I think you'll have a good time. Whether or not it's worth $60, however, is a different question—maybe wait until you can buy a used copy.… Expand
  20. JaxTorn
    Nov 17, 2019
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I admit Going into the game I was 100% biased and only reason I bought it to give it a chance was due to GameStops 48hr Guarantee. Another thing to note is I’ve been not a fan of recent Pokémon games going as far as back as X and Y . I think sun and moon was the one that maybe really hesitant to buy this. I’ve played through the story which is easy to accomplish in 48 hours. One of my gripes of the story Besides the game holding your hand throughout the whole game is there’s missed opportunities with the storyline . For example with the Dynamaxing outbreak I feel like that would’ve been used in previous games to get you involved with the region. I do feel like the region design especially when it comes to the towns and cities feels like cardboard cut outs I wish there was more stuff to interact with and hidden goodies. As far as the difficulty of the game this is the easiest Pokémon ever in my opinion it’s easier than Pokémon let’s go. The game hands you out revives like they grow on trees and it hands out money like crazy I’ve never had that much money that quickly in a Pokémon game before. The new Pokémon do you I think it was worth the controversy of the national dex making cuts just so they can add more Pokémon I don’t think so. My final thoughts without getting into the graphics which could be better is it’s a PR nightmare and it feels like a botched entry to the switch and no offense to game freak here but it doesn’t feel like the quality of other first party games that have been on the Nintendo switc.h… Expand
  21. TNL12
    Nov 19, 2019
    3
    Although there is some long overdue streamlining and quality of life changes to some important features like breeding and raising pokemon and the wild area is at first, an exciting sight for fans, there is a distinct hollowness to these games that just doesn't quite feel like Pokemon at its best, in fact I'd argue this is mainline pokemon at its worst.

    The wild area with its dynamic    Although there is some long overdue streamlining and quality of life changes to some important features like breeding and raising pokemon and the wild area is at first, an exciting sight for fans, there is a distinct hollowness to these games that just doesn't quite feel like Pokemon at its best, in fact I'd argue this is mainline pokemon at its worst.

    The wild area with its dynamic weather and over world encounters is like something straight out of fan wish lists, in theory. In practice it's a flat, rather eerie expanse of literal pop-in-and-pop-out mons because of the abysmal draw distance. The environments look... okay, to be polite. The lack of experience in developing 3D environments is somehow more egregious than it was in gen 6 and 7, because now there is an unwarranted sense of scale, that makes things seem emptier, colder and sparser; this sense of emptiness is especially pronounced with the Wild Area. There are some nice touches and some degree of effort with having overworld pokemon appear in somewhat unique or unexpected ways (e.g. dandelion-like Eldegoss gracefully drifts down from above), but most of the time its *poof', pokemon appears out of thin air in uncomfortable proximity.

    There are some incredibly questionable textures and geographical features but some (fewer) areas are actually quite beautifully created, on the surface. What is incredibly frustrating is how small and hallway-like many routes and areas are and just how much is only scenery. The amount of times I felt penned in to an obnoxiously small amount of space with inaccessible hills and trees in the distance, was frustating. There are now hardly any dungeon-type areas and the ones there are have no real sense of exploration, just A-B in pretty much straight or gently curved lines.

    The massive inconsistency is ultimately distracting and really makes you long for a game where the care and craft in some of the art direction was the same across the board. Compared to the highly saturated and over-vivid colours of Alola, Galar is for the most part, a drab, washed out and hazy looking region almost *too* faithful to the UK in that respect (I live here), but I really don't think this was the intention. The story and cutscenes, in all honesty really hurt the game experience overall. There is a rigid, dead-eyedness to the way some models move and interact in the game a lot of the time and the storytelling (read: far too many voiceless cutscenes) is weak. You feel like you're waiting for a climax in the story that kind of doesn't happen. The same handful of bland but somehow still irritating characters weave in and out of your adventure at various points which I think some would find frustating. I did. In terms of difficulty, I have to say this campaign feels like probably the very easiest I have personally played. It feels like a chore to find ways to challenge yourself (I chose not to evolve my mons if I could avoid it) because the game effectively poses none itself. Leveling happens at an almost frustratingly prodigious rate. I even ended up avoiding some trainer battles and basically didn't need to battle wild pokemon either at all for fear of over levelling. The battling and battle animations are very disappointing, especially given the sort of words we were hearing from Gamefreak in interviews. Aside from the odd instance of (sometimes too long) unique and characterful animations for some brand new moves, the animations just simply feel outdated and wooden overall. Not really the high quality animations we were promised. Compare this to Camp, where you really see a lot of mons come to life in expression and personality. However camping itself becomes a repetitive and bland experience with not much to actually do aside from wanting to see and interact with different mons briefly. ... what else to say? To say the game lacks polish would be a gross understatement, it feels utterly unfinished in some aspects because of the massive inconsistency of quality across the board, mostly for the worst. This is not the game fans were promised and its simply sad how rushed and half baked it feels, especially with this being on hardware as potentially powerful as the Switch, it's just so outclassed by many other games on the console. It also really pales in comparison to any other mainline pokemon game, in my opinion. Oh, did I mention Dynamax/Gigantamax? Yeah, they're in the game. That's about as much as I care to think about them.    … Expand
  22. yukidalemania
    Nov 17, 2019
    5
    Impresionante. Gráficos y diseños preciosos. Una evolución a la altura que como fan de la saga te llena de emoción.
  23. Gaymerbear
    Nov 18, 2019
    6
    First a few things out of the way then the good and the bad stuff.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    I know people are upset, but this game isn't a 1 or a 2 or even a 3, I really do think 5 is a fitting number to give it. Let's hope the Ladies and Gentlemen at Game Freak hear our calls and give us some answers.    … Expand
  27. darsparx
    Nov 18, 2019
    6
    I'm going with this rating because it's objectively not a terrible game. Sure it's largely meh because I feel they rushed it out to hit that holiday season deadline which doesn't work and from experience in past titles never worked. They need to stop with this and go back to a slower release pattern. Not to mention just give us a patch to further refine the stuff they obviously didn't haveI'm going with this rating because it's objectively not a terrible game. Sure it's largely meh because I feel they rushed it out to hit that holiday season deadline which doesn't work and from experience in past titles never worked. They need to stop with this and go back to a slower release pattern. Not to mention just give us a patch to further refine the stuff they obviously didn't have the time to finish before release that could've been fleshed out better and more refined graphically. I feel like others are just review bombing the game for no reason other than to jump on the bandwagon, it's not a "terrible" game. Not fully great but somewhere between great and meh.… Expand
  28. dandan791
    Nov 20, 2019
    4
    Copying my review from the Shield version as they are the exact same game;

    I have been a long time Pokemon fan, and I totally feel the disappointment in the negative reviews. I originally gave this a rating of 2 simply because I’m horrified by some of the choices that were made in creating this, but I decided to change my rating to a 4 because even though it’s a “bad“ game compared to    Copying my review from the Shield version as they are the exact same game;

    I have been a long time Pokemon fan, and I totally feel the disappointment in the negative reviews. I originally gave this a rating of 2 simply because I’m horrified by some of the choices that were made in creating this, but I decided to change my rating to a 4 because even though it’s a “bad“ game compared to other pokemon games it’s still a Pokemon game. I wish they had simply focused on really showcasing what they could do with a Pokemon game on the Switch, but rather they chose to cut corners where they IMO really shouldn’t have (especially considering the promises that were made during the creation of the games). I don’t know why, but Let’s Go seemed more polished than this.

    You have 8 preset character designs to choose from, all of which are really really boring, and I wish a more thorough character customization tool (besides hair, eyebrows, and eye color) were in place. They cut a ton of my favorite Pokemon (all in all they cut 400 pokemon out of the games completely). The graphics are bad compared to other switch titles (but obviously good compared to the 3DS versions of Pokemon, but that should go without saying). The story is flat, the characters are uninspiring, and the conversations are dry. “Dynamaxing” and “Gigantamaxing” seem gimmicky. The latter was slightly more intriguing, but I cannot understand the big difference between this and the Mega X&Y forms, so to release it as a “new” feature seemed a bit odd to me. Also, why spend time on that and not time on including all the Pokemon and polishing the game? I managed to ignore other annoyances like the occasional stuttering, lifeless 3DS style animation in trees and greenery, and the odd bug here and there. However, my disappointment peaked towards the end of the main story (no spoilers) when they chose to suddenly change the typical 3D movie scene of people talking to a few still images of blatantly obvious concept art with subtitles running below. It felt random, out of place, lazy, and like a total break from the general art style in the rest of the game. It literally only happened once in the entire game, but during a pretty important conversation. The concept art images were pretty ambitious, so I assume they just didn’t have time to finish the actual scenes. It made me see just how rushed this game was, and it also made me critically look at just how many corners they cut (and promises they broke) in making this game – it’s a lot.

    If they release updates and DLCs in the future I am more than willing to change my review, as I feel like there is a solid skeleton in place here. It just feels hollow compared to other titles. So... as a Pokemon fan I’m incredibly disappointed with these two games, but it seems obvious to me that this is not a proposal to the core fan base. This is to all the parents that want an easy holiday present for their kid and it will sell like hot cakes regardless of the reviews. Kids will gobble this up and be happy, as is the case with every single Pokemon game.    … Expand
  29. Juan19892020
    Nov 18, 2019
    5
    Game freak jumped from handles to home console just to deliver a 3ds game.
    Gameplay over graphics right? But we have the same gameplay as always! All we ask is for better graphics! Game freak focus on kids but honestly no kid plays pokemon .
  30. Rainelz
    Nov 18, 2019
    6
    Still a fun game... So is the raids but the animation and the dexit along with lack of good post game still warrants the game a negative points for me... Would have scored it higher
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Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 87 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 66 out of 87
  2. Mixed: 21 out of 87
  3. Negative: 0 out of 87
  1. Nintendo Force Magazine
    Apr 30, 2020
    80
    Sword & Shield stumble in a few areas and history may not be kind to them, but they're setting up a future that I'm excited to see. [Issue #44 – January/February 2020, p. 73]
  2. GameCritics
    Feb 6, 2020
    75
    I enjoyed my time with Pokemon Sword and Shield, but I ended feeling conflicted. I appreciate many of the changes and felt that it generally respected my time, but I almost felt like a passive participant. The more complex gym challenges had a meatier role, but the narrative shouldn’t have been shoved to the side. Overall, I would recommend it to players who want to have a Pokemon experience, but this one won’t stick with me the way the older ones have.
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  3. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Jan 14, 2020
    78
    Pokemon Sword/Shield is uncharacteristically user-friendly: now there’s no need to backtrack half across the world to heal your entire team of pokemon or to get to a particular city, for example. [Issue#242, p.66]
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