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. rpacoc
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    En serio nintendo nos querían ve con cara de idiotas con este juego de mala calidad a puertas del 2020? esto no tiene nombre.
  2. fab100
    Nov 15, 2019
    2
    Oh dear. There's some fun to be had, but there's some fun to be had in playing about in Microsoft Excel or with a bit of string. Not a whole lot of interactivity, the entire game has it's own plan to get you from to A to B to C and roll credits. If you buckle in, you can probably beat this game in around 16-17 hours. Which is pretty shocking in the day and age of Red Dead 2, Breath of theOh dear. There's some fun to be had, but there's some fun to be had in playing about in Microsoft Excel or with a bit of string. Not a whole lot of interactivity, the entire game has it's own plan to get you from to A to B to C and roll credits. If you buckle in, you can probably beat this game in around 16-17 hours. Which is pretty shocking in the day and age of Red Dead 2, Breath of the Wild, or basically any other big-budget, big-name game.

    The lack of effort, the lack of polish and shine leads em to believe that this game is just not worth your money. It's an extended tech demo at very best.

    + Some great Pokemon designs.
    + Music is always quite good.
    - Very short main game, very little post-game
    - the actual world feels tiny. Somehow, the gameboy games's caves felt infinitely large, compared to Sword/Shield's empty patches of grass

    Overall - 2/10

    Avoid.    … Expand
  3. bibleblackkk
    Nov 15, 2019
    3
    As I expected in my review for the pokemon let's go eevee, this game is bad. Game freak does not have the technical skills to develop games on home console. Even if the GF did not use those ridiculous excuses, and added the dropped pokedex back, this is still not a good game. The highest grossing media franchise in this world should never make a game in this quality. GF has lost their loveAs I expected in my review for the pokemon let's go eevee, this game is bad. Game freak does not have the technical skills to develop games on home console. Even if the GF did not use those ridiculous excuses, and added the dropped pokedex back, this is still not a good game. The highest grossing media franchise in this world should never make a game in this quality. GF has lost their love to the game development, and is focusing only on the money. And unfortunately, a lot of pokemon funs are still buying this game, which gives them confidence to continually do such things, and make this franchise go even worse. Please stop buying this game if you love the pokemon games.

    I'm also wondering why Nintendo, as part of the pokemon company, does not have any control on this game. This is a very important game on switch, they should pay more attention to it instead of letting these GF guys do whatever they want.    … Expand
  4. Pedrosky
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    una real porqueria en verdad no se esforzaron nada es un juego de 3ds en hd las animaciones mal echas recortes en items, tm-hm, pokemon etc etc y como si fuera poco un pooping horroroso y ellos mismos destacaron que era para pulir la calidad y es mentira
  5. Capcom_X
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    no hay nada que destacar es un juego muy inferior a sus entregas anteriores es malisismo y con ese pooping es todavia mas malo el juego parece un juego de ps2
  6. Jeremiahgottwal
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    Have loved this series my entire life but just cannot bring myself to keep playing this one. Dex cut was bad enough but everything else is lackluster at best
  7. Khan2308
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    una real mierda pero claro los CONFORMISTAS y CASUALS diran lo contrario, 3 años segun ellos desarrollando estos titulos para que? para ver ese asqueroso popping? para ver las animaciones y modelados reciclados? para ver los fallos con los npc? todo mal. gamefreak a caido en la mediocridad.
    quiero un pokemon de calidad y no en estas condiciones, se merece todas las criticas negativas por    una real mierda pero claro los CONFORMISTAS y CASUALS diran lo contrario, 3 años segun ellos desarrollando estos titulos para que? para ver ese asqueroso popping? para ver las animaciones y modelados reciclados? para ver los fallos con los npc? todo mal. gamefreak a caido en la mediocridad.
    quiero un pokemon de calidad y no en estas condiciones, se merece todas las criticas negativas por lo mal echo que esta el juego.    … Expand
  8. RockLeeAce
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    Cut 400 pokemon and gave the excuse of making the graphics and animations better. All the models and animations are reused from the 3ds games.
  9. Mike2303
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    El peor Pokemon de toda la saga, Game freak son muy vagos , mismas animaciones de juegos anteriores y muchos menos pokemons, juego repetitivo hasta la saciedad, ir del punto A al punto B y cazar pokemons, menudo bodrio de juego, está saga ya está muy prostituida y se hace cansina si tienes más de 10 años.
  10. MichalisRbw
    Nov 15, 2019
    6
    A mediocre transition into a more powerful console for the pokemon franchise, giving a taste of potential but never quite going there
  11. montyb
    Nov 15, 2019
    2
    Mediocre. That's the only word that comes to mind. This was not the step forward we'd hoped for, and Pokemon has been completely left behind by it's Switch peers. The Wild feels like a beta feature. It's flat, too small to be considered "open world". Difficulty is non-existent as I had to self-impose challenges on a blind run just to remain engaged enough to keep playing. Your rival andMediocre. That's the only word that comes to mind. This was not the step forward we'd hoped for, and Pokemon has been completely left behind by it's Switch peers. The Wild feels like a beta feature. It's flat, too small to be considered "open world". Difficulty is non-existent as I had to self-impose challenges on a blind run just to remain engaged enough to keep playing. Your rival and the champion are basically cut and pasted from Sun and Moon. There is nothing to explore outside of that very small wild area, as the rest of the game is basically on-rails. There are interesting looking places in the background, but you never get to go there. The best way I've heard it put is, it's like a trip to Disney. You can look at the castle, but it's a set piece, there's nothing more to it. Add to that all the cut corners, graphical glitches, the save problem, and the outright removal of staple features (National Dex, moves, Megas, GTS, etc.) This is the first time I've come away from a mainline pokemon game, outright regretting having played it.… Expand
  12. Cool_Fella
    Nov 15, 2019
    4
    These games had great potential but for reasons unknown to me Game Freak has continued taking this series deeper into this downward spiral in quality, aiming to achieve nothing more than mediocrity and failing to even achieve that. The move to the switch making it all the more obvious where these games fall short.

    Keeping this in mind, do I think these games are inherently unenjoyable?    These games had great potential but for reasons unknown to me Game Freak has continued taking this series deeper into this downward spiral in quality, aiming to achieve nothing more than mediocrity and failing to even achieve that. The move to the switch making it all the more obvious where these games fall short.

    Keeping this in mind, do I think these games are inherently unenjoyable? No, I think someone, especially children could have fun with these titles, the classic Pokémon formula of catching, training and battling is still there, though encumbered by bad game design choices, subpar presentation and without much evolution from previous titles, I'd even argue they're a step backwards with the removal of many of the Pokémon that made this series and it is today and the removal of mechanics such as mega evolution.

    Taking a step back from the gameplay, the design of the Galar region and many other elements of the game show a lot of potential, playing through this game there were times when I honestly found myself getting pretty into and immersed in it, before being taken right back out of it by some jarring lack of quality, be it a pivotal moment in the story entirely lacking any music for no real reason, some embarrassingly bad animations or one of many other glaring issues in these games.

    The Galar region itself has some really nice elements and environmental design, of course, some parts of these environments look a little outdated such as the trees which I'm sure nobody who's been keeping up with Pokémon news online hasn't seen by now, but there were a couple of other instances where I noticed poor quality models and textures in the overworld and it took me out of my immersion a bit, though other than these issues the region has a pretty nice art direction, the main issue for me is the lack of NPCs in the region leading to even a lot of the smaller areas (which is a lot of the areas unfortunately) feeling very empty, not just out and about on routes but even in a lot of the game's towns and cities.

    Finally the story, without spoiling anything, I found the story to be pretty lackluster and sure, it IS a Pokémon game, they're not renowned for their stories, though there have been some good ones in the series' past. Throughout the game the story didn't seem too interesting, but it's not too in your face either which is an improvement from Sun and Moon, though it felt to me as though it was almost too uninvolved with so much character progression happening off screen it made it kind of hard to feel invested in the story and characters and made me care even less about the story when they tried to turn the cutscenes up to 11 late into the game, finding myself rather bored as I skimmed through a lot of mediocre dialogue from characters I hardly knew or cared about.

    My final thoughts; these games are probably the easiest the series has ever been with the exception of the Let's Go! games. If you're looking for a challenge it's not here. If you're looking to collect a whole bunch of Pokémon most of them are not here either. If you're looking for a simple, easy Pokémon game and don't care too much about substance then you might enjoy this game if you don't get bored of it too quickly, but ultimately with the amount of content cut and reused, with hardly anything added in return I don't think it's worth the money, you can find a lot of better games on the Switch for the same price or less.    … Expand
  13. Bst011
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    Bad graphics, a lying developer, poor working conditions for devs, massive amounts of cut features, game breaking bugs, SD card corrupting bugs, console bricking bugs, and general poor performance have mad this the worst pokemon game in the franchise. Do yourself a favor and get Sun and Moon
  14. Frooshlime
    Nov 15, 2019
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I think that the fun that comes from this particular game is supposed to come from the player, not the game. What's frustrating is that there's not much fun to derive from this game on its own because of how little content there is. What really hurts this game is that you could easily find more fun out of a ROM of Ruby and Sapphire.… Expand
  15. Pretzels
    Nov 15, 2019
    3
    Oh boy where to begin with this one..

    Pros -Some of the new Pokémon designs look fantastic -Gyms are back and they’re just as great as they were in prior games -Character designs are phenomenal, we’ve come a long way from generic sprites in Pokémon centers, now every generic npc looks unique and is cute too boot Unfortunately is is where the pros end. Cons -The game is too short, the    Oh boy where to begin with this one..

    Pros
    -Some of the new Pokémon designs look fantastic -Gyms are back and they’re just as great as they were in prior games -Character designs are phenomenal, we’ve come a long way from generic sprites in Pokémon centers, now every generic npc looks unique and is cute too boot Unfortunately is is where the pros end. Cons
    -The game is too short, the entire story can be beaten in around 8-10 hours just like UsUm
    -No post game. Long gone are the days of the battle frontier which added an extra 9 or so facilities, now all we get is a generic battle tower from ruby and sapphire which can be beaten in around 3 hours give or take
    -No national dex. The biggest problem with the lack of post game is made more apparent with the lack of a national dex that added the additional content of trying to catch them all. You can be more than 80% done with the galar dex once you’ve cleared the main story. -No elite 4. Yep, no elite 4 or victory road. The final challenge before the champion is to re-battle the gym leaders you’ve already beaten before, and their number of Pokémon don’t increase nor does the challenge. -Lack of challenge. This is the next major point, there is just virtually no challenge in the game. B/W2 offered a hard and normal difficulty, but every game that followed it did away with that feature and unfortunately SwSh does the same. Couple this with the xp share function always on and no option to turn it off you are always going to be overleveled for trainer battles and gym battles. -10 routes. There are only 10 routes in the entire game, some of those routes are as short as 5 second walks such as route 7-8.
    -Wild area feels dead. You’re the only person in the wild area and it feels absolutely dead. BoTW managed to place enemies all over the map and wandering NPCs, but SwSh doesn’t do that. Pokémon pop up randomly, but there is absolutely no one in the wild area apart from you.
    -You can’t catch higher level Pokémon without the requisite gym badge, this means that if you encountered a level 28 shiny you won’t be able to catch it until you get your third gym badge in the wild area. Good luck getting that shiny to spawn again.

    All in all I don’t recommend the game. It costs $60 but has less content than a DS game that came out in 2010. For $50 you can get Dragon Quest XI:S for the switch, it has 100+ hours of the main game and another 30+ hours for the post game.    … Expand
  16. loldave87
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    This game is a true wake up call how low the bar actually is for Pokemon games. Even if GF released this game is this sorry state and included all Pokemon there would be very little amount of complaints. This only proves the entire series is just being carried by the Pokemon that are available. Aside from 65% of the Pokemon from previous generations being cut and also some very popularThis game is a true wake up call how low the bar actually is for Pokemon games. Even if GF released this game is this sorry state and included all Pokemon there would be very little amount of complaints. This only proves the entire series is just being carried by the Pokemon that are available. Aside from 65% of the Pokemon from previous generations being cut and also some very popular Pokemon being excluded this game falls flat in a lot of aspects. This game didn't meet some of the very basic expectations. This game is very short, almost no content for post game, no GTS. This game proves how incredibly lazy GF has been.

    Content cut: They have removed 65% of the Pokemon in this game including some very popular and liked ones. They have removed 144 Pokemon moves and excluded 99 moves. Reused models, reused animation etc. GF has been caught lying to their fan base they couldn't put all Pokemon in their game because they couldn't reanimate and remodel all Pokemon while they have never remodeled or reanimated any of the Pokemon in this game. All of them were reused work.

    Performance: Constant graphics issues. Game looks extremely mediocre at times. Game is being constantly downscaled making the game look extremely bad at times.

    Content: Game is extremely short. First streamer beat the champion around the 14 hour mark, while he did skip a fair amount of trainer battles. Other streamers are clocking around 16-20 hours. Post game is almost non-existent. Almost no extra content. This game from a gameplay/post-game stand point is inferior in almost every way to the previous Pokemon games. There's also no GTS. 20 dollar increase for less constant than their 3DS or DS games with subpar graphics and removal of features.    … Expand
  17. darla
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    Galar is charming, new pokemon designs are on point. QOL features are abundant and welcome. Dexit, though, omg so bad. It restricts the avenues of play tremendously. For example: I play to hunt shinies so I can play new regions with my shiny favorite mons that I spent days catching/breeding. Some play to catch them all. No longer possible. Some just want to play with even one or two ofGalar is charming, new pokemon designs are on point. QOL features are abundant and welcome. Dexit, though, omg so bad. It restricts the avenues of play tremendously. For example: I play to hunt shinies so I can play new regions with my shiny favorite mons that I spent days catching/breeding. Some play to catch them all. No longer possible. Some just want to play with even one or two of their favorites regardless of whether or not they invested time into raising them. Not possible if your favorite mon didn't make the cut. THEY ALSO GOT RID OF THE MOVE PURSUIT. Where is the logic in that? One of my most competitively relevant moves is now rendered nonexistent. WHY? Literally why. These review channels and critics online say it is very competitively friendly, but how is removing hundreds of mons and a handful of very meta relevant moves comptetive friendly? The QOL changes they added to nature changing are amazing, the restriction removal of vitamins is amazing, but if I can't do it on my shiny Latias, what the heck is the point? I just want to bring my favorite pals into the new region and GameFreak has come out and said that isn't how I'm supposed to play the game anymore. I'm beyond offended that they are trying to tell me that how I play the game is wrong after fostering such an inclusive gameplay experience for decades. How does this "policy change" make sense? Even with all the good in the game, the general laziness of the development and the cutting of so many features paramount to what Pokemon meant to me for my entire life leaves me with a bitter taste in my mouth. This is not the Pokemon I have played in the past. Might as well change the name to something else with how different it is even from the last few generation which were also fairly developmentally lazy. Also what the heck why are Mega Evolutions cut too? I'm rambling at this point but holy crap that is so much cut content, how can you justify this for the first mainline console Pokemon game, something that has been hyped for years? Answer me that batman.… Expand
  18. Kiohara
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    jogo pokemon desde o game boy, essa minha nota não tem nada ver com natinal dex, é apenas uma critica pela preguiça de uma desenvolvedora gigantesca como a GF de fazer o jogo nas coxas e vender pelo olho da cara, zelda Breath of the wild é um exemplo do que se pode fazer no switch se tiver vontade, pokemon teve muita coisa reaproveitada das versões anteriores como movimento dos personagen,jogo pokemon desde o game boy, essa minha nota não tem nada ver com natinal dex, é apenas uma critica pela preguiça de uma desenvolvedora gigantesca como a GF de fazer o jogo nas coxas e vender pelo olho da cara, zelda Breath of the wild é um exemplo do que se pode fazer no switch se tiver vontade, pokemon teve muita coisa reaproveitada das versões anteriores como movimento dos personagen, pokemons e a câmera fixa da rotas do jogo ( apenas a wild área é mundo aberto), o que não é o problema, e deveria ter dado tempo de sobra pra melhorar outras questões do jogo, como, ataque dos pokemons, e polimento gráfico, um exemplo é o double kick, o sprite do pokemon simplesmente da dois pulinho sem movimentação alguma, parece um papelão a versão digital do jogo é leve, cerca de 9gb e pouco e o switch ja demonstrou que aguenta o tranco, então sem desculpas, pokemon let`s go tem um gráfico MUITO melhor que o sword and shield… Expand
  19. docrad
    Nov 15, 2019
    2
    Some of the biggest and longest pokemon fans are critical of the game. Many newbies or barely played pokemon games are giving positive reviews. I LOVE POKEMON and this is the worst absolute worst pokemon paid. They did 1 thing right you can use the pro controller that's it. Everything else is a bust. It would be bad on a 3ds!
  20. luskaner
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    The worst pokemon game (unless they somehow manage to make the next even worse), have not played it and will NOT do unless I'm feeling nostalgic of 2000's graphics and animations (my bad, the animations back then were better).
  21. Nadim
    Nov 15, 2019
    2
    Absolutely disappointing from mainline Pokemon. Battle animations look like something a fan made rather than the largest grossing media of all time's studio. 90 billion dollars this is what they put up for sale. Buggy, unfinished, lack of real post-game, the list goes on. Embarrassing that this is for the same system that Breath of the Wild is on. Box legendary cut scene is absolutelyAbsolutely disappointing from mainline Pokemon. Battle animations look like something a fan made rather than the largest grossing media of all time's studio. 90 billion dollars this is what they put up for sale. Buggy, unfinished, lack of real post-game, the list goes on. Embarrassing that this is for the same system that Breath of the Wild is on. Box legendary cut scene is absolutely disgusting when it comes to animations, something that looks like it was on the PS1. Still a Pokemon game (game is a breeze with no challenge), but not worth your time, better rpg's exist. Corners seemed cut throughout the game. Designs seem uninspired. Game will still sell because the world does not care about this stuff, we'll see when Nintendo releases the numbers at the end of January. #GameFreakLied… Expand
  22. ImAnnoyed247
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    Gamefreak needs to put more effort into these games. I've been losing faith since the introduction of fairy types which was a weird move and the mega evolutions which was just another way to pimp out Gen 1 Pokemon that already get too much play. Then last gen was just a cluster. Super Size me pokemon and forced extreme hold handing is too far. Get better or give up the rights to a companyGamefreak needs to put more effort into these games. I've been losing faith since the introduction of fairy types which was a weird move and the mega evolutions which was just another way to pimp out Gen 1 Pokemon that already get too much play. Then last gen was just a cluster. Super Size me pokemon and forced extreme hold handing is too far. Get better or give up the rights to a company who will put in more love. I would kill for another shadow Pokemon saga like Colosseum or XD Gale of Darkness. Those games had passion and thought put into them. They could really learn from that.… Expand
  23. kryeus
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    This game is a slap in the face to dedicated fans of the franchise. I personally looked past the amateur hour of Let's Go as I understood the reasoning behind testing the new engine on the Switch and garnering feedback. Exp Share from the start, easy EV visibility, and all these "QOL" changes just remove the enjoyment for me personally. They went from having some hidden features that onlyThis game is a slap in the face to dedicated fans of the franchise. I personally looked past the amateur hour of Let's Go as I understood the reasoning behind testing the new engine on the Switch and garnering feedback. Exp Share from the start, easy EV visibility, and all these "QOL" changes just remove the enjoyment for me personally. They went from having some hidden features that only those invested enough would research to being available to a child. The Pokemon being taken out of the game at launch is the least of my reason for the rating, however the refusal to adjust course after a major outcry for change by TPC is absurdly anti-consumer and I cannot stand for.… Expand
  24. zarkoHazd
    Nov 15, 2019
    2
    Where is my alakazam and my swampert and my garchomp? Where is my magnezone?
  25. SpaceSausage
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    Gamefreak lied. Ugly graphics, reused animations, short af story, not worth 60$, stop buying crap it'll just make GF lazier
  26. Ragnar916
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    Too much removed the pokemon didn't bug me but the 100+ moves removed definitely did. The reused pokemon models just everything feels janky.
  27. GGojin
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    Dex cut doesn't bother me, but the game is still **** If you are going to cut the dex at least fill the game with lots of new Pokemon, but it does not. This is the first real console Pokemon game yet it is so lackluster. At it's core it's just another Pokemon game with a non existent plot, dumb dynamax mechanic, linear go town a to town b game play, and copy and paste characters. I don'tDex cut doesn't bother me, but the game is still **** If you are going to cut the dex at least fill the game with lots of new Pokemon, but it does not. This is the first real console Pokemon game yet it is so lackluster. At it's core it's just another Pokemon game with a non existent plot, dumb dynamax mechanic, linear go town a to town b game play, and copy and paste characters. I don't mind the graphics, I don't mind the dex cut, but the fact that Pokemon never evolved beyond Pokemon red and blue is a huge problem for me. The difficulty level of the game is beyond easy. You can actually beat gyms with only one Pokemon without grinding and without dynamaxing. Disappointment of the year.… Expand
  28. Erisxc
    Nov 15, 2019
    2
    Pesimo, aburrido, carencias de novedades utiles y esoectaculares.... demasido aburrido, carece de todos sus comentarios en la web del blog y no me he hecho de la otra web que no me gusta y no tengo nada de lo de la casa y no tengo que ir en la misma web de mi madre pero no tengo nada de lo de mi novio pero ya me aparece el momento y me lo he dicho antes de la boda y me he hecho un sueñoPesimo, aburrido, carencias de novedades utiles y esoectaculares.... demasido aburrido, carece de todos sus comentarios en la web del blog y no me he hecho de la otra web que no me gusta y no tengo nada de lo de la casa y no tengo que ir en la misma web de mi madre pero no tengo nada de lo de mi novio pero ya me aparece el momento y me lo he dicho antes de la boda y me he hecho un sueño con mi novio pero me parece muy bueno y me siento con una mujer y me lo he pasado en mi vida pero ya me lo siento pero ya no tengo que hacer lo q sea para ir al trabajo de los demás pero con una amiga y con el que no ya no se lo he pasado y que me lo siento pero… Expand
  29. Ashkvtchem
    Nov 15, 2019
    1
    Gamefreak could’ve held off on this game to make it better. It’s just so subpar and so hand holdy
  30. Gakson
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    So much has been sacrificed, and not really replaced by anything exciting. Over half the pokemon have been cut, along with over 100 moves. Mega evolutions and Z moves no longer exist, and dynamaxing feels plain cheesy. Gamefreak has really put minimal effort into these games and it shows.
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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.
    Read full review
  3. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Jan 14, 2020
    78
    Pokemon Sword/Shield is uncharacteristically user-friendly: now there’s no need to backtrack half across the world to heal your entire team of pokemon or to get to a particular city, for example. [Issue#242, p.66]
See all critic reviews »