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. RudyGolden
    Jan 9, 2020
    9
    It's a good pokemon game, most bad reviews are just mad they didn't include every pokemon and that it is not perfect graphics. Reminder it is a switch game. If it had any better graphics your switch would catch on fire.
  2. Zedekai
    Jan 9, 2020
    2
    Very unhappy. Feels like half an unpolished game from 10 years ago. S u c k s
  3. UnbornZombie
    Jan 9, 2020
    0
    Huge let down. They are getting so lazy with development it’s a shame. This game is an insult to consumers. Do not waste your time playing this garbage.
  4. Mastery6945
    Jan 9, 2020
    10
    It's an excellent game, the best thing about it, is the dynamaxing system where your Pokemon becomes gigantic, definitely recommend it (EDIT) Now that the upcoming expansions are releasing soon, I can expect to see more potential with 200 more Pokemon coming into the game, including all past legends from Dialga, Xerneas, Kyogre, Lunala. And one last thing, they need to reverse those reviewIt's an excellent game, the best thing about it, is the dynamaxing system where your Pokemon becomes gigantic, definitely recommend it (EDIT) Now that the upcoming expansions are releasing soon, I can expect to see more potential with 200 more Pokemon coming into the game, including all past legends from Dialga, Xerneas, Kyogre, Lunala. And one last thing, they need to reverse those review bombed comments, 'cause they didn't know until the expansions were announced.… Expand
  5. Manuelx890
    Jan 8, 2020
    5
    Juego absolutamente decepcionante, desde el comienzo hasta el final. Al jugarlo esperaba una experiencia nueva y novedosa, algo acorde a la generación, sin embargo, mis expectativas fueron erróneas.
    El argumento de la historia fue totalmente nefasto, personajes poco desarrollados, carisma nula, totalmente predecible, toda la aventura consistió en ir de gimnasio a gimnasio, la historia    Juego absolutamente decepcionante, desde el comienzo hasta el final. Al jugarlo esperaba una experiencia nueva y novedosa, algo acorde a la generación, sin embargo, mis expectativas fueron erróneas.
    El argumento de la historia fue totalmente nefasto, personajes poco desarrollados, carisma nula, totalmente predecible, toda la aventura consistió en ir de gimnasio a gimnasio, la historia mejoró un poco en el post-game.
    Tu rival es un lameculo, no tiene una personalidad propia, parece que es un personaje totalmente plano que está destinado a mejorar solamente tu bienestar y no el de él. Parece que el guionista intentó desarrollarlo con momentos existenciales, pero aún así no se obtuvo un personaje interesante.
    Los gráficos no van acorde a una nintendo switch, me dio la impresión de jugar un videojuego de nintendo 3ds en HD (hay información de que reutilizaron los modelos 3d de los videojuegos de 3ds), el escenario del videojuego era totalmente vacio, hay carencia total de ambientación, principalmente en el área silvestre.
    Me dio pena ver las animaciones de los pokemon y personajes, parecen robots programados para hacer una acción, no hay realismo. También quiero decir que falta un doblaje de personajes, puesto que es muy raro ver cinemáticas con personajes modulando sin emitir un sonido, no parece ser un juego AAA.
    En cuanto a los aspectos positivos, este juego es un pokemon de toda la vida, los combates son excelentes, y puedes viciarte con la pokedex.    … Expand
  6. CJ2020
    Jan 7, 2020
    10
    My son got this game for Christmas, he is 9 and loves pokemon, you could say he is a walking pokedex!
    So this review is from him, after all he is the target audience in my opinion.
    So graphics, he was very pleased with the game and how it played and looked, yes there are some problems as other reviews have suggested but they by no means detract from the enjoyment of the game. He found the    My son got this game for Christmas, he is 9 and loves pokemon, you could say he is a walking pokedex!
    So this review is from him, after all he is the target audience in my opinion.
    So graphics, he was very pleased with the game and how it played and looked, yes there are some problems as other reviews have suggested but they by no means detract from the enjoyment of the game.
    He found the game very easy to play and navigate, in his first play through he just wanted to get the gym badges as quickly as possible so did find some of those a little challenging at times. The second play through has been much easier as time has been taken to level up and evolve his pokemon to make the game easier and he has actually stopped to look for the various collectables dotted around the map, which are numerous.
    There were a couple of things he found a little disappointing, these were the length of the game, 8 days and 10 hours the first time, although the second play through he is up to 10 hours already and only completed 3 gym badges, so to make the game last I would recommend taking your time. The other issue he had was the lack of extra things to do once the game was complete, there are no side missions as such so he has resolved to try and collect all 400 pokemon available in the game.
    He insisted I give it a score of 10 as he loves the game that much but I thought a score of 7 or 8 was more realistic mainly due to the length of the game and the odd graphical glitch that I saw pop up every now and again.
    So if you are expecting an in depth RPG this is probably not for you but if you're 9 and love pokemon then it's a no brainer!    … Expand
  7. JoePapaReviews
    Jan 7, 2020
    5
    My team of 6 magikarps couldn't beat this game I thought magikarp was the best pokemon!!!!
  8. TheFredinator
    Jan 6, 2020
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Imagine being 6 years old. You just got Pokemon Diamond Version. It's your first Pokemon game EVER! You love it and can't wait until the next installment. You buy Platinum, HeartGold, and White version. Still, you cannot wait for when Pokemon finally makes that leap to home console. You know it's going to be a decade before then.

    Fast forward to 2019 and we finally have that home console game. The home console experience that we all dreamed of as a kid while playing on our handheld devices. Pokemon Sword had ridiculously high expectations due to it being the first true home console Pokemon Game. Gamefreak had years to prepare for this, so we were all very excited. So did they deliver?

    No. Not at all.

    Pokemon Sword and Shield is the perfect example of a lazy game and how lazy GAMEFREAK is in general. Every single thing in this game is done to cut corners and development time so that they can work on next years game.

    The first thing I am going to talk about are the animations. WOW DO THESE SUCK! GAMEFREAK actually cut out more then half of the Pokemon because "They wanted to improve animations." And it turns out, most of the animations are just recycled from the 3DS Titles that they made six years ago. They didn't just make up a fake excuse for cutting out half the Pokemon, they also lied about not importing animations! And WOW are these bad. At some points, I swear that I forgot that I was playing a full $60 Switch Game.

    The second thing that I am going to talk about is how this is the most generic Pokemon Game to date. There is absolutely nothing special about this game. 8 gyms, a friendly rival, evil team, champion battle. There are also no side areas to explore unlike in previous titles. Even Let's Go had more exploration to be done then this **** show.

    The final thing that I wanna touch on is the STORY... If that's what you call a story. This has to be the worst story in a Pokemon Game to date. Throughout 75% of the game, you're left wondering if there really is a story or if you're just collecting Gym Badges. Finally, when you get the 7th Badge, you get a "Story." There is NO build up to this story either. It's just there. The saddest part for me is that some of the characters, such as Hop, are actually very well written.

    Now, the two things I'd say that I liked about the game are the Raids and the Competitive aspect of battling. This is the most user friendly game to get into wifi battling in Pokemon. If you want to compete, Sword and Shield makes it nice and Easy. Also, the raids are very fun to do with friends and give lots of rewards to players.

    But these two reasons are NOT enough to buy a $60 cashgrab. They needed to be worked on for at least another year.

    I can go on and on about how this game is ugly and more examples of laziness, but I'd rather go to bed.

    Pokemon Sword & Shield get a solid 2/10.

    Do not go anywhere near this games and let's hope that GAMEFREAK decides to finally put the same passion that they put into Black & White into the next installment in the franchise.    … Expand
  9. edwardolardo
    Jan 6, 2020
    10
    My Background: Played Gen 1 and Gen 2 Pokemon Games

    Pros: -A lot of the things that made Pokemon easier in previous generations are on Sword/Shield. (i.e. TM's aren't lost after 1 use, backpack category sorting, etc.) -Wild Area is almost like playing Pokemon GO raids. Super fun with friends! A lot of different areas and a ton of pokemon in the wild area -Great build-up in the    My Background: Played Gen 1 and Gen 2 Pokemon Games

    Pros: -A lot of the things that made Pokemon easier in previous generations are on Sword/Shield. (i.e. TM's aren't lost after 1 use, backpack category sorting, etc.)
    -Wild Area is almost like playing Pokemon GO raids. Super fun with friends! A lot of different areas and a ton of pokemon in the wild area
    -Great build-up in the beginning, and good ending with a great post-game that ties everything together
    -Lots of new Pokemon (at least for me)
    -Dynamax is not overpowered

    Cons: -Dungeons are not as complex as Gen 1/2.
    -Between Gym #7 and Gym #8, there's really not much going on in terms of battles with other trainers    … Expand
  10. Seanna1998
    Jan 6, 2020
    1
    This game is technically so outdated to be embarrassing. There is no postgame, no dungeon, no evil team and most importantly, no details nor passion into this game at all. It is impossible to raid in multiplayer due to this sticker system which doesn’t update. Overall the writing of dialogues is not for children, is just childish, it’s frustrating not only for grown up players but also forThis game is technically so outdated to be embarrassing. There is no postgame, no dungeon, no evil team and most importantly, no details nor passion into this game at all. It is impossible to raid in multiplayer due to this sticker system which doesn’t update. Overall the writing of dialogues is not for children, is just childish, it’s frustrating not only for grown up players but also for kids. Not worth 60€, I’m deeply disappointed Game Freak. Looking at Pokémon’s income those games shouldn’t be like this.… Expand
  11. keeganm
    Jan 6, 2020
    2
    Hollow, half-baked game. The game spends so much time holding your hand, it’s simply annoying.
  12. miiraii
    Jan 6, 2020
    2
    Right. A lot of people are saying that they do not understand why this game is bad, and they think that it's good. As a player whose first ever game played was Pokemon Red, and a player who has played every generation up until 8, I say that it is ok, not bad but not a great game either.

    Gamefreak's promise of the cut National Dex for better animations (not graphics) is pretty much a BS    Right. A lot of people are saying that they do not understand why this game is bad, and they think that it's good. As a player whose first ever game played was Pokemon Red, and a player who has played every generation up until 8, I say that it is ok, not bad but not a great game either.

    Gamefreak's promise of the cut National Dex for better animations (not graphics) is pretty much a BS on the entire community. Reused models comparing Hop and Hau (SM) together, move animations are also reused and this game just does not live up to anything considering it is now on the Nintendo Switch honestly. Additionally, I have been getting framerate drops, random lag spikes and especially, the pokemon in the Wild Area who just randomly appear and spin around? Like, are these the better animations we are meant to stick to from now on?

    Animations are a big, Celesteela-sized no. Esp. Team Yell animations lol.

    The world was ok, but Gamefreak didn't really go through with it, leaving a lot of wasted potential behind. Wyndon doesn't have a lot of things to explore, just a clothing shop, salon, pokemon centre, hotels and stations. So many things could have been done, like including Big Ben since it is based off the UK and it was clearly shown in visuals but not in the actual game? Wild Area seems very limited - most towns and routes feel lackluster with unmemorable music. But Route 201 from D/P/Pt? Yeah, those were the prime times of Pokemon. Shame that the National Dex had to be cut after so many memories with all of my old buddies.

    Story is vey bland The whole thing just felt like a climb to become champion (which we all know is the ultimate ending) with dumb Team Yell in the way. I know people will say that plot is not the best component of Pokemon games, but seriously? What about Gen 3, 4 and 5? Games which had the best of everything. There were sidequests we could do, characters we could interact more with, actual villains with pasts that made them humanised (cough, N), and it wasn't just race to the top. But in this game, playtime is really short, took me around 20 hours to beat in comparison to the 45 to 50 or so hours I spent in Black, Alpha Sapphire, and Platinum.

    Next point, characters. Hop has ok development, not on the level like N or Gladion has, but still ok. He just gets annoying after a while since he keeps popping up out of nowhere and I can't even play the game properly without him showing up. The rest of the characters in Sword and Shield are meh, they do have some personality and I appreciate that, but most of them are just really unmemorable and easy to just blitz through. I mean, even the champion. I was just so tired of the game at this point, buildup to the fight was really anticlimatic, music was mediocre at best. Not Cynthia level. But Cynthia is memorable solely because of her team, her personality, her difficulty spike and her theme.

    Don't even get me started on the postgame's plot and character designs. There is none and I laughed way too hard at the shallowness of the postgame compared to other postgames like in S/M and ORAS. We didn't even get an opening animation anymore.    … Expand
  13. emanuele0933
    Jan 6, 2020
    3
    I awaited giving to this game a vote because I thought they would gonna patch its issues but no, the game was and it's still a total mess nowadays.
    Technically is an abomination: the animations are the same of the 3DS games (that were already bad) but for an unknown reason they don't work propery
  14. DreamCore
    Jan 6, 2020
    4
    By far the worst pokemon game I've ever played.

    While taking a few steps forward, removing random encounters and adding several quality of life improvements, it doesn't really add anything new. The story is very bland with poor bland writing that I felt like skipping most of the time. About 95% of the story is the standard "beat all gym leaders" that we've seen a hundred times    By far the worst pokemon game I've ever played.

    While taking a few steps forward, removing random encounters and adding several quality of life improvements, it doesn't really add anything new.

    The story is very bland with poor bland writing that I felt like skipping most of the time. About 95% of the story is the standard "beat all gym leaders" that we've seen a hundred times already with the other 5% of the story being a contrived "end of the world" kind of thing.

    The world design is boring and the world is very small and feels very artificial with very small and linear areas. The wild zone is large sure, but it's very bland and unintersting.

    The graphics is below mediocre. Other games like Luigis Mansion 3 shows that good graphics is possible on the Switch, but the visuals in this game is a big letdown.

    A large number of the new pokemons are also very boring visually. It feels like the designers have completely lost their imagination.    … Expand
  15. kuehnau
    Nov 15, 2019
    1
    Pokemon Sword and Shield has been here for a bit now and after playing the game, I ask myself how much of a sequel to the legendary franchise are they?

    People are already well too aware that the National Pokedex has been slashed and a number of people's favorite and iconic Pokemon are now missing. This is a even larger slap to the face once news broke that the reasons GameFreak gave    Pokemon Sword and Shield has been here for a bit now and after playing the game, I ask myself how much of a sequel to the legendary franchise are they?

    People are already well too aware that the National Pokedex has been slashed and a number of people's favorite and iconic Pokemon are now missing.

    This is a even larger slap to the face once news broke that the reasons GameFreak gave weren't truthful. Not only are the in models based off of the 3DS version and the battle animations are lack luster, but hackers are quickly proving that it takes little effort putting back in the Pokemon that have been cut. The game feels sluggish in places with framerates sometimes dipping as low as mid 20s. Which is incredibly obvious when the game is locked in at 30FPS. I don't have any specific issues with games that do this as they still manage to look perfectly fine, in my personal opinion. The larger issue for me is, locking a game in at 30FPS shouldn't also include slow downs as if this were a video game from the early 1990s when this was all too common.

    The world in Pokemon Sword and Shield feels mostly empty and while some would like to argue the newest games are "open world", it's painfully apparent that the game is a mostly on rails experience, with small spots here and there where the developers finally allow a bit of free roaming, but once you pass that area, it's right back to the on rails experience.

    Not only that, but some of the games cities are just completely wasted. While each town could have offered unique clothing options and styles there like three cities that offer anything. Making it even more frustrating, some of the towns are literally nothing more than a direct line to a gym. Hop is really annoying, I think he makes my game experience worse with how he shoe horns players in to situations and makes all sorts of demands they have no right in making. The game is worse because of Hop. I hope future games will allow players to completely forego "rivals" if they so chose so. I get that having a rival is a trope in Anime and Video Game culture, but at the very least provide a better one than Hop if GameFreak is going to press the issue.

    There is now a hard cap on what level pokemon you can capture. And while previous games simply had Pokemon that misbehaved in battle, now the game simply refuses to allow the option to even consider trying to catch them. This is incredibly frustrating to me. I was surprised to see they removed global trading, like really? Wonder Trade is still in, but it's disappointing that they haven't put in any sort of better measurements in place to ensure jerks aren't screwing over other players with low level junk. Add to the fact you need to be subscribed to Nintendo's garbage paid online membership program and it's almost completely worthless in my opinion.

    This may be a incredibly biased complaint but I am also very unhappy with a number of the new Pokemon designs. On top of that, while some of them I absolutely love (Like Yamper), their evolved forms are hot garbage, forcing me to choose between either evolving my Pokemon and then dealing with the vile evolution forms, or keeping their better first forms, but putting my Pokemon at a slight disadvantage.

    Gigantamax as a feature isn't worthwhile in any capacity. I'll be very surprised if they continue to use this with any future games. I would have much more preferred that they had just dumped that feature and spent more time on polishing all of the other problems this game has. Even Mega Evolutions would have been better than Gigantamax.

    Team Yell is just some of the worst antagonists in the game. They look and act stupid. At least Team Rocket was run by what was essentially a Mafia boss. I don't know what GameFreak was thinking with Team Yell, but they are some of the dumbest enemies I have ever seen.

    The character customization options just plain sucks. There's a small handful of hair styles that do not change from city to city. Some cities have clothes shops where the styles change, but not nearly enough to be acceptable. Further, why is GameFreak forcing only skinny pants in the game? There's so many character models and designs of clothing. How hard would it have been to add in varying clothing options? As it is your character always looks like some dang hipster because all of their pants options are almost skin tight. I want baggy pants, just let me have that! Jesus..

    At this point if you are still even reading this review, I am sure you have realized I have a lot of complaints about Sword and Shield. But the fact of the matter is, they are still enjoyable games, it just feels rushed and crapped out instead of taking the time, focus and consideration that this franchise deserves.

    It's important for fans of these games to let GameFreak and Nintendo know that a lot of mistakes were made with this latest release, but I also wouldn't discourage anyone from trying the games.    … Expand
  16. Bentrz
    Jan 5, 2020
    9
    I've been playing Pokémon Sword now for about 3 weeks and cannot agree with the hatred and anger that the game rises in some users, who seem very biased in their opinions because of some minor problems the game has. As a matter of fact - the game sparked joy indeed for me as a player who has played Pokémon from the very beginning. I see the game as a major improvement in the Pokémon familyI've been playing Pokémon Sword now for about 3 weeks and cannot agree with the hatred and anger that the game rises in some users, who seem very biased in their opinions because of some minor problems the game has. As a matter of fact - the game sparked joy indeed for me as a player who has played Pokémon from the very beginning. I see the game as a major improvement in the Pokémon family because of the following reasons:

    (no spoiler)
    - Pokemon run around freely, which adds more colour to the individual characteristics of each Pokémon - for example: It is hilarious how Machoke runs towards you completely on Testosterone as if he would train only biceps and chest in the gym
    - It is far more easy to change your Pokémon team and try out new Pokemon because every Team member gets sufficient exp. That being said, you have a better variety to choose from for each fight
    - Difficulty level in the game -> Same as in every other Pokémon game - as long as you don't mess up the type combinations you don't die
    - Dynamax far less annoying than mega evolutions

    Problems others may see in the game, which were not a problem for me:
    Graphics: How can somebody complain about the graphics in a Pokémon game? for me not understandable at all, since you don't need high end graphics and lots of details to create a unique and cool athmosphere (e.g: Minecraft, Tetris, literally any other Pokemon game)

    Dex: I encountered throughout the game enough different Pokémon and in fact a greater variety from the very beginning as in Gen I to V. I tried a few new ones for my team, which I wouldn't have considered otherwise. Be open minded and do not stick to your one and only 'best' team that you cannot have.

    Story is as lame as in other Pokémon games too, therefore no point for criticism because this is what is to be expected - whoever buys a Pokémon game for a great storyline and expects one is retarded anyway.
    Change my mind    … Expand
  17. Insightonic
    Jan 4, 2020
    2
    Mediocre Pokemon game. Barely 18 hours play time, no open world as promised but 1 **** tiny area where you can slightly control the camera running around in a boring environment for 30 minutes because after that you've seen and done everything there is. The animations are ridiculous sometimes and the areas in general are like tubes. No exploring, no hidden paths or anything like it, itemsMediocre Pokemon game. Barely 18 hours play time, no open world as promised but 1 **** tiny area where you can slightly control the camera running around in a boring environment for 30 minutes because after that you've seen and done everything there is. The animations are ridiculous sometimes and the areas in general are like tubes. No exploring, no hidden paths or anything like it, items are "hidden" in plain sight. This is a game made by 10 year olds for 6 year olds. No effort put into. Charging 60€ feels like a crime.… Expand
  18. PeaTearGryfin
    Jan 4, 2020
    1
    Good
    -The music is ok, I guess
    -Some of the new Pokemon are ok -Sonia is best waifu Bad -National Dex gone -Terrible story -Your rival is literally the worst character ever -The graphics are ugly with N64 era textures on trees, buildings, ground, sky, etc. -Bad battle animations -Pokemon are incorrectly scaled -Overpriced for the lack of polish -Frequent frame rate drops    Good
    -The music is ok, I guess
    -Some of the new Pokemon are ok
    -Sonia is best waifu

    Bad
    -National Dex gone
    -Terrible story
    -Your rival is literally the worst character ever
    -The graphics are ugly with N64 era textures on trees, buildings, ground, sky, etc.
    -Bad battle animations
    -Pokemon are incorrectly scaled
    -Overpriced for the lack of polish
    -Frequent frame rate drops
    -Online play causes the frame rate to drop down into the single digits
    -Max Raid Battles don't work as designed
    -Wild Area is a tiny, lifeless field where wild Pokemon just pop up out of the ground in front of you
    -Catching more powerful Pokemon is tied behind story progression
    -Terrible pacing
    -Gym challenges are boring and Gym Leaders are terrible
    -Dynamaxing is the lamest mechanic ever introduced into a video game
    -Way too many hand holding tutorials    … Expand
  19. Xevius
    Jan 3, 2020
    4
    The worst main Pokemon Game so far.
    Still good Games but not for Hardcore Fans.
  20. Ophenix
    Jan 3, 2020
    4
    I’m not a hater, nor a person who truly cares about the PokeDex, I just like RPGs and Pokémon is at heart an RPG I usually enjoy. The games are never a 10/10 but I usually rate them much higher that 4.

    My main issue with SWSH is that I just feels dated and like it wants to waste my time. I just don’t understand why everything around the combat and the UI is so clunky. The combat text    I’m not a hater, nor a person who truly cares about the PokeDex, I just like RPGs and Pokémon is at heart an RPG I usually enjoy. The games are never a 10/10 but I usually rate them much higher that 4.

    My main issue with SWSH is that I just feels dated and like it wants to waste my time. I just don’t understand why everything around the combat and the UI is so clunky. The combat text takes forever to move and is sometimes just downright idiotic. Do I really need to know “the battle field got weird” after killing the enemy’s last Pokémon?
    I know this might seem petty to people but those texts, and the serialized animations (one animation for drain moves, another for the healing after the first ends) add up and while I have clocked over 20 hours on this game at least two of those were spent on animations and texts that are completely redundant.

    Has no one at game freak played a modern RPG? This isn’t the GBA era, games like SMT solved this issue with fluid animations ages ago.

    The rest of the issues I have with the game are pretty much written elsewhere and better by others. While some animations (trainers, gym leaders, etc.) are amazing, most are trash. Most Pokémon have one or two animations, making them look funny as hell when the kick for the magic move but jump up for “Double Kick”. Wild area is a really fun concept but is rather small and empty in practice, and with the exception of a few battles (love the new gym leaders) most of the combat is piss easy, even by Pokémon standards.

    I don’t hate the game or GameFreak, I just want them to sit down, play some Persona 5 and take notes on how to not waste my time on textual padding.    … Expand
  21. MasterUlysses
    Jan 2, 2020
    4
    You can tell they gave up halfway through development. After the 5th gym, the game hurries you along to the end of the game leaving a trail of trite challenges, underdeveloped and short areas, baffling character motivations and aborted plot arcs in your wake. The Dynamax gimmick is uninspired at best and broken at worst, particularly in regards to Max Raids, which is exacerbated by almostYou can tell they gave up halfway through development. After the 5th gym, the game hurries you along to the end of the game leaving a trail of trite challenges, underdeveloped and short areas, baffling character motivations and aborted plot arcs in your wake. The Dynamax gimmick is uninspired at best and broken at worst, particularly in regards to Max Raids, which is exacerbated by almost nonexistent player matching online. In ever sense of the word, this game is a downgrade; Dynamax is an extremely downgrade from Mega Evolution and Z Moves, Y-Comm is a downgrade from PGL, Galar's mythology is a downgrade from that of every other region, and of course, most infamously, even the amount of available Pokemon is downgraded. This game is of the same franchise-killing caliber as Sonic '06, but unlike Sega, Game Freak refuses to apologize for giving us a subpar product. And that is not an acceptable way to treat the millions of fans who have been loyal for more than 2 decades.… Expand
  22. JohnCapala
    Jan 2, 2020
    6
    Not as bad as haters say, but still a big step back for the franchise. Story is bad, characters are bad (saying this after coming from the Sun & Moon great characters), routes are bland, region is linear, there's almost no postgame compared to previous games... And a big etc

    On the other hand, gyms are amazing, dynamax is not bad and music is amazing.
  23. Tidus88
    Jan 2, 2020
    8
    Game Freak can improve some parts (for example graphics, animations, storytelling) in further games, but I like the first console Pokémon. The world is full of beautiful places and lovely details and I still love the gameplay. I enjoyed my 35-40 hours trip trough Galar and will continue my journey.
  24. pm_goulart
    Jan 2, 2020
    0
    The game was first presented in the begging of 2019 and was very well praised by the fan based community. If good improvements and a new 3D game model, the game raised a lot expectations by public. Also, the developers stated in some interviews that they have learned from previous experiences and they were working hard to give fans the game they wanted. However, things turned out to beThe game was first presented in the begging of 2019 and was very well praised by the fan based community. If good improvements and a new 3D game model, the game raised a lot expectations by public. Also, the developers stated in some interviews that they have learned from previous experiences and they were working hard to give fans the game they wanted. However, things turned out to be completely different from what had being said.
    01 – First, the game lacks graphics improvement. It is the first time that Pokémon hits the tv consoles. For sure it had more power than the previous handheld consoles, but yet, the graphics did not reflect the true power of the Nintendo Switch. We can see that by playing the Legend of Zelda, Mario Odyssey, or Xenoblade Chronicles. The truth is: the graphics improvements were poor and lacks refinement as you can see a lot of pixelate textures throughout the game.
    02 – The cut of National DEX were a very wrong move. The fact that not having all the pokémons in a game is a huge step back in the franchise. They could have worked that part and hired more professionals to do this job. It is not a case of balancing and lack of time. This is a case of misleading in the production and lack of a strong leadership.
    03 – The game does not have any post game adventure. It is the worst ever.
    04 – Along with the Pokémon, the removal of the GTS is another step back as we now have to count on lucky to complete the dex with pokémons we don’t have.
    05 – The game does not stand good frame rates while connect on the internet. There moments of lagging and short freezing if the internet is on.
    06 – Despite all the improvements, the game main story is poorly developed. It grows in the background, which makes the main character be apart of it. This is a shift if you just look back in the other games where the main characters take part of the story and help to build the storyline.
    07 – Mega evolutions, z moves, abilities, deleted items and moves does make a difference. Mega evolutions were a great move. It makes no sense removing it.
    08 – The soundtrack is one greatest things in the game. At least I was not disappointed in this aspect. However, is somehow repetitive as some routes share the same song and some cities have copies of previous ones.
    09 – Differently from Sun and Moon, Pokémon Sword and Shield makes a really [almost absent] referent of other games from the same franchise. They barely mentioned other regions. In consequence, there is not multi plot. The stories do not connect to each other.
    10 – The producers delivered a final product with so much work to be done. And this could be fixed if they either contracted more people or asked for help. They delivered a poorly made game relying on its name to sell millions of copies.    … Expand
  25. Vmac19
    Jan 1, 2020
    6
    It's okay. I just bought it because it's pokemon. The game was kind of lame though however it did have alot of potential to be the best pokemon game so far however it was only okay I guess
  26. AeonQuasar
    Jan 1, 2020
    2
    There are so many issues with this game that I will list up only the top 3 most noticeable and biggest problems. Not even counting Dexit that most people rattles about. 1. It's too easy. You can't turn of the xp share and every battle is so easy you can win it in without any effort. A simple hard mode would have solved that. 2. Way to linear. A game that screams for more open world styleThere are so many issues with this game that I will list up only the top 3 most noticeable and biggest problems. Not even counting Dexit that most people rattles about. 1. It's too easy. You can't turn of the xp share and every battle is so easy you can win it in without any effort. A simple hard mode would have solved that. 2. Way to linear. A game that screams for more open world style and only give you that in very small portions. Imagine pokemon in Breath of the wild world. Why not gamefreak? 3. It's not good enough improvement from the Gameboy design
    It's supposed to be the first "real" console game, but it feels like a slight improved version of the 3ds games. For a price like this it's not even close being worth it.    … Expand
  27. PannacottaFugo
    Dec 31, 2019
    0
    I will be completely and utterly honest. I don't think these are bad games. They're unarguably better than garbage that were both Pokemon X and Y and Pokemon Sun and Moon. However this game is undeniably lacking in so much pass content such as minigames, moves, Pokemon that follow you, MORE THAN HALF OF THE NATIONAL DEX, and so much more! Not to mention that there are tons of unpolishedI will be completely and utterly honest. I don't think these are bad games. They're unarguably better than garbage that were both Pokemon X and Y and Pokemon Sun and Moon. However this game is undeniably lacking in so much pass content such as minigames, moves, Pokemon that follow you, MORE THAN HALF OF THE NATIONAL DEX, and so much more! Not to mention that there are tons of unpolished areas and bad graphics AND bad animations. The game itself other than the removed content is very run of the mill and is what we're kinda used to and have gotten used to for over two decades. The gameplay is slightly better than usually I guess, the story is also slightly better, and the characters this time around are way better than usual. I found most of them to be very well written and lovable characters. On a side note I really love the Wild Area and hope they bring it back for future entries but we all know they won't

    This game isn't that bad and more just an okay game. An easy 6/10...however like I said before this game has bad animations, bad graphics, more than half the National Dex removed, and it has nothing to show for all of these problems and missing content we love. I really have no choice but to give this game a 0/10. Hopefully the enhanced versions of these games that will come in a year or so will fix the problems of Pokemon Sword and Shield.    … Expand
  28. SoupSparrow
    Dec 31, 2019
    10
    Just so everyone knows, the negative ratings were from an image board called **** on a board called /vp/ for Pokémon. They're the ones who raided this ratings page over things like the Pokédex, despite never playing it ever.
  29. jz_paris
    Dec 31, 2019
    1
    Very bad experiences with version sword. A lot of Pokémon is banned and the shield limited Pokémon can not be collected. Very bad YY communication system, you can NOT get the real time info from it and possible to connect to anyone else when your try to exchange Pokémon with your friends. One point for the music, and the others are 0, it is a proper score.
  30. hewientrucko
    Dec 30, 2019
    0
    What a amazing game! POOR STORY POOR SYSTEM POOR NETWORK AND IT BROKEN MY SWITCH DOWN! Even it's not a part of Pokemon's game......still terrible. Don't buy it unless you don't want your son play too much switch.
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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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