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. 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
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Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 87 Critic Reviews

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