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. shadowxz91
    Nov 15, 2019
    3
    They promised that the cut for the pokemon was to increase the quality of the graphics and animations, but the animations and models are reused, and althought the towns look good, the new wild area looks like it came straight from the n64 or the gamecube.
  2. CallMeSenpai
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    Easily the worst game of the series. Game Freak announced the cutting of Pokémon to improve graphics and animations; but the characters and Pokémon of more lifeless than ever. The mons are not scaled properly and move very poorly in the open world. EXP Share is always on, and there is no difficulty setting, making the game laughably easy. All caves/forests/puzzle zones were removed. TheEasily the worst game of the series. Game Freak announced the cutting of Pokémon to improve graphics and animations; but the characters and Pokémon of more lifeless than ever. The mons are not scaled properly and move very poorly in the open world. EXP Share is always on, and there is no difficulty setting, making the game laughably easy. All caves/forests/puzzle zones were removed. The open world aspect of the game is hardly true. Most characters and Pokémon do not render properly at all, and as stated earli, they tend to slide on the ground rather than walk ir fly normally. This game was a rushed mess. At $60 (normally $40) this is a true slap in the face. The Switch was supposed to bring more power than ever. Comparing this game to Breath of the Wild or even Super Mario Odyssey is frustrating. GameFreak had all the tools needed to make Sword and Shield a truly new, incredible game. Instead, they gave us what seems to be a 3DS Port. The graphics look the same as ever and lots of key features were cut for cute new garbage.

    #BoycottGameFreak #BuySecondhand    … Expand
  3. Zeriel000
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    Wow it's so funny that the media doesn't DARE give this game a bad review. This reminds me of Bethesda when nobody dared touch them, but we have to be honest here. This game is a 3DS port with HALF the content and DOUBLE the price.

    I want to know why EVERYONE keeps buying the same game Over and Over and Over again and it's like I'm the only one that notices??? So I'm feeling like I'm    Wow it's so funny that the media doesn't DARE give this game a bad review. This reminds me of Bethesda when nobody dared touch them, but we have to be honest here. This game is a 3DS port with HALF the content and DOUBLE the price.

    I want to know why EVERYONE keeps buying the same game Over and Over and Over again and it's like I'm the only one that notices??? So I'm feeling like I'm going insane!
    This is the most valuable franchise in history, this is a BILLION dollar company and this has been going since 1995! so stop making excuses!

    This game has No graphics, No Story, Half the Pokedex GONE, Mega Evolutions thrown in the garbage, WORST STARTERS SINCE GEN 2! I don't care what anyone says! I'm so DONE!

    Don't waste money on this, if you have a 3DS you're not missing ANYTHING! buy Luigi's Mansion instead!    … Expand
  4. AshBlack
    Nov 18, 2019
    0
    As a fan who's been around since day 1 it pains me to write this review but the glaring problem here hurts so much. The graphics and animations are inferior as a wild example take a look at the grass once you run into it it feels flat and made with inferior game dev knowledge. A recent example for a good looking game would be LM3 compare the two side by side and anyone praising SwSh shouldAs a fan who's been around since day 1 it pains me to write this review but the glaring problem here hurts so much. The graphics and animations are inferior as a wild example take a look at the grass once you run into it it feels flat and made with inferior game dev knowledge. A recent example for a good looking game would be LM3 compare the two side by side and anyone praising SwSh should drop their act. LM3 is a fantastic example for animation, graphic, ambience and fluid performance without framedropping issues. The switch is a powerful system nintendo has proven that, gamefreak wasn't able to optimize this game properly despite it being a rather timid game regarding the things that happen on the screen at once. which shows already how poorly this game was made. The nature zone looks the worst in that regard. Aside from petting pokemon and the battle tower in the postgame you'll find yourself unentertained unless you're seeking to be in the competitive department.
    Dynamaxing and Gigantamaxing is limited to certain fights so you'll never find it usefull in pvp where you previously could chuck a mega evolution and have that as a surprise.
    EXP share can't be turned off which ruins the experience for people who wanna hunt for specific pokemon in the wild cause if they use the time at the hunt to defeat the unneeded pokemon they will overlevel without being able to prevent it.
    Customizing your trainer isn't exactly new either.
    In the older pokemon games there was more to do but past pokemon black the number of features and activity declined ever so drastically. The next entries should be called cookie and cutter so gamefreak can pack a cookie in a package and leave the other empty with the note "we couldn't be bothered to make this game so we cut it, it's just gotten too much work" I mean they release the same game 2 times just to make more money for as little effort as possible. so yea... I recommend to not buy this game it's a cookie cutter play any entry prior to lets go if you desperately need a fix. Gamefreak is just milking kids and overly loyal fans for many people this is gonna be a novelty that will soon collect dust on a shelf and for some it'll even be double the amount because they grabbed the game twice just for 5-10 pokemon that differ on a couple of roads. that's $120 for games you can very well call unfinished. of course the game appeals to many at first but what' to be expected from a generation that enjoys pokemon go?
    Once the people who bought the game get past the champ they'll move onto something else. If gamefreak doesn't fix this game or does better in the next then I won't even care about pokemon any longer and I'm sure many people will do the same and at some point pokemon main series titles will die as a whole. I hope that'll make the people happy who blindly rate pokemon 76 higher than it deserves to be.    … Expand
  5. TMR
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    Too much stripped content to justify any score. Dexit aside, the game suffers from poor graphics and framerate issues, dumbed-down gameplay which is far too easy, poor animations and horrible designs of the new Pokémon.

    The game has strayed far from its roots and is a shell of its former self.
  6. rayshooter
    Nov 16, 2019
    4
    Game with good potential but left in unpolished I was able to get around national dex missing only to find I didn't need to put any effort into battles and the move animations suck.... Hoping the game gets tougher later on.... also didn't notice a night/day cycle yet.... I would say game is worth around 30 bucks
  7. Chickynator
    Nov 16, 2019
    4
    This game goes below average.
    It's utterly disappointing that this is all we get as the first title in the new gen. Finally on more powerful hardware yet barely any of that is felt in the game.
    Some areas are very aesthetically pleasing. Certain buildings and forests have great presentation. But gods above the textures and pop-in are horrid in the towns and especially the Wild Area.    This game goes below average.
    It's utterly disappointing that this is all we get as the first title in the new gen. Finally on more powerful hardware yet barely any of that is felt in the game.
    Some areas are very aesthetically pleasing. Certain buildings and forests have great presentation. But gods above the textures and pop-in are horrid in the towns and especially the Wild Area.
    Routes are abysmal, barely any better than SuMo, which is not saying much.
    No dungeons, the fights are braindead easy. No Pokemon has not always been this easy. Play gen 3 games and try to have a full team. You need to put in effort to make it work.
    Here it's just such a short and uninspired 'adventure' constantly being interrupted every few minutes with more forced npc interactions than ever.
    Forget all the external issues with the game. It's pretty goddamn bad on it's own two feet without the context of the other games in the series.    … Expand
  8. Yallmae
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    Gamefreak so most laziest company in the World.

    Pokemon Sword/Shield look like early gen 3DS Games and play like Gameboy Games. The Game was outdated two decades ago and despite making billions with a **** mobile game gamefreak cant be bother to invest something in the maingames or hire some talented programmers/Designers. Animations and Pokemon Models are straight ripped out of the 3ds    Gamefreak so most laziest company in the World.

    Pokemon Sword/Shield look like early gen 3DS Games and play like Gameboy Games. The Game was outdated two decades ago and despite making billions with a **** mobile game gamefreak cant be bother to invest something in the maingames or hire some talented programmers/Designers. Animations and Pokemon Models are straight ripped out of the 3ds games. How Lazy can you be ? Gamefreak should be ashamed of themself. The Story is laughable and with 12 Hours way to short. And lets not forget the game is 20% more expensive than sun and moon.

    The Game is a disgrace and not worth the money Pokemon Sword and Shield is a Scam.    … Expand
  9. pucho
    Nov 16, 2019
    4
    Lamentablemente este debe ser sin lugar a dudas, el peor lanzamiento de gamefreak en su historia. Se esperaba mas del primer juego en sobremesa de la saga. Se nota claramente que han rehusado modelos del 3DS sin embargo han reducido la mitad de pokedex. Se siente que han apresurado la salida del juego para este año.

    Las texturas sobre todo en la zona salvaje son pésimas.

    Bajones de FPS
  10. Orangefizz
    Nov 17, 2019
    1
    Theres honestly a lot of things the game did right. It feels like a small progression. But honestly, it just feels that they failed to innovate and it's a missed opportunity. I feel gamefreak and nintendo fail to understand that the pokemon average fan's age is growing. They cannot continue to playcate to adolescents and expect that generating a new game every year with mild updates isTheres honestly a lot of things the game did right. It feels like a small progression. But honestly, it just feels that they failed to innovate and it's a missed opportunity. I feel gamefreak and nintendo fail to understand that the pokemon average fan's age is growing. They cannot continue to playcate to adolescents and expect that generating a new game every year with mild updates is going to be acceptable on a next generation console.… Expand
  11. fishforbrains
    Nov 15, 2019
    4
    Seems like a huge money grab. Reused pokemon models, fixed camera (in 2019?!?!) Terrible terrible graphics, like n64/ps1 bad. WAY too easy and no way to change hardness. If this is what the pokemon series is now I'm over it. Plenty of amazing games out there that deserve a purchase over this garbage. Huge fail gamefreak.
  12. Trip02
    Nov 16, 2019
    1
    The game is fun but:
    - 3Ds graphic's
    - bad framerate
    - more than half the dex gone
    - easy af
    - reused bad animations from old games
    - poor post-game content
    - Game Freak lied
  13. Brodecai
    Nov 16, 2019
    4
    Presentation: Despite not looking as robust as other first party AAA games on Switch, Sw/Sh are the best looking game in its series. I don't think the whole game looks terrible; it's just bad in some places than others. For example, some places are nicely designed and have great attention to detail. Others have very muddy looking textures and models-like in caves (some rocks/walls lookPresentation: Despite not looking as robust as other first party AAA games on Switch, Sw/Sh are the best looking game in its series. I don't think the whole game looks terrible; it's just bad in some places than others. For example, some places are nicely designed and have great attention to detail. Others have very muddy looking textures and models-like in caves (some rocks/walls look straight out of a PS2 game) and of course, the infamous "Nintendo 64 trees" of the wild area. Next, we have the user interface. To be frank, I love it. It's simple and effective. Not much more to say. Lastly, let's rip on the animations/models for the 1000th time. Nah, but seriously a lot of character/Pokemon models look like they came straight from the 3DS. Plus, they all have this shiny, plastic-y look to them. Kind of reminds me how they did Wind Waker HD's character models on Wii U. There are character animations that are re-used, as well. I'll just use Hop for the sake of time. He literally uses numerous animations from Hau. I even compared them. It's funny because they're pretty much the same character. There's a lot more cutscenes this time around. Better than the games on 3DS, but clearly dated. For example, a lot of movements look still look stiff. The render distance is pretty bad, also. Sometimes, NPCs don't pop up until you're almost near them.

    Gameplay: This game plays how you'd expect if you're a veteran. The basic formula is still catch, battle, train, whip your rival's ass, take on the bad group, beat the gym leader, and catch the legendary because you're the "chosen one" BUT with the addition of Dynamax battles (battling but with a bigger,stronger version of your 'mon) and little side features such as camping and jobs. Basically, camping lets you play with your 'mon (A la Pokemon amie in X/Y) and use ingredients to make curry (of all foods??). And jobs are basically like daycare, but your 'mon can earn much more EXP doing work. You look at job listings (which are easily accessible in the Pokemon center) and send 'mon that meet the qualifications. Later, you come back and collect your 'mon and you may even get an item that they recieved (or stole) from their job. I actually like the concept, but wish it was like the Pokeathlon in X/Y. Actually doing the little work mini-games and getting EXP or stats based on your score would be a nice break from the main adventure. Gym battles work similar to how they did in every other game besides Sun/Moon (thank Arceus). There's a little "mission" you do before taking on the gym leader. Some of which are pretty nice. Others are eh. Now, I'd like to talk about gameplay changes. I'm running out of characters, so I'll highlight the best ones. Certain NPCs like the name rater/move deleter/relearner are now conveniently placed in the Pokemon centers. Also, you can buy TMs very early on by using "Watts": A new type of currency found by investigating energy spots in wild areas. You also get a small explanation of a new item whenever you pick it up from the overworld and lastly, you don't have to step inside a daycare to deposit 'mon.

    Difficulty: If you thought Sun/Moon were easy, boy you're in for it, now. Game Freak thought it was a swell idea make EXP share a feature that you can't turn off. You know what I liked about Pokemon games early on? Switching out 'mon and giving each a turn to fight. And even when my weak ass pidgey was going against an Onix, we toughed it out, just so he could level up. It made the victory very savory, ya know? Now, that's gone. Also, you're given a PC Box link, which allows you to access your PC box from anywhere (except Gym challenges), which means fully healed 'mon are just a click away. And speaking of gym battles, you have the option to dynamax at any point in the battle. The effect wears off after 3 turns, but its still possible to sweep the gym leader's team if you D-max at the beginning. Lastly, there's a LOT of hand-holding. Hop is there to make sure you always know what to do and it's rather annoying.

    Conclusion: My final thoughts are that this game is extremely safe for Pokemon's debut on home console.No spoilers, but the story is what you'd expect from a pokemon game, with a few small shake-ups in the formula. Plus, you have the removal of over half the amount of 'mon and 100+ moves, which essentially halfs the amount of content the prior games in the series had. I knew we'd get to a point where not every 'mon would be available, but Game Freak outright said we'd be getting higher quality animations AND that models would be made from scratch in exchange for the national dex. Needless to say, what a load of Tauros crap. What bugs me is that Genius Sonority, the developers of Pokemon Battle revolution on Wii, managed to make unique animations for 450+ 'mon with a dev team of    … Expand
  14. IICapN
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    Absolutely sad excuse for a game, this is quite possible the worst game from any top developer in the past decade (not just GameFreak). Nintendo should be ashamed to be associated with this garbage. A very short list of issues:
    - Graphics are OBJECTIVELY worse than Let's Go Pikachu and I would argue they're worse than Pokemon USUM. This terrible excuse for graphics is why we lost over    Absolutely sad excuse for a game, this is quite possible the worst game from any top developer in the past decade (not just GameFreak). Nintendo should be ashamed to be associated with this garbage. A very short list of issues:
    - Graphics are OBJECTIVELY worse than Let's Go Pikachu and I would argue they're worse than Pokemon USUM. This terrible excuse for graphics is why we lost over half of all Pokemon in the game? What a load of garbage.
    - We lost over half of all Pokemon in the game. Not just uncatchable, but they're not even in the game, you can't transfer into the games because they excluded excluded metadata for them and decided to exclude EXISTING Pokemon models from the game, which is what they did for other Pokemon.
    - Only 80 new Pokemon overall. They didn't even try.
    - Their new Pokemon battle concept is essentially: "Look, the Pokemon is now bigger! See how big it is? Pretty cool, huh?" No creativity, it sounds like a throwaway idea someone said jokingly during a meeting that they took as a serious comment and went with it. It's the stupidest thing I've ever heard of.
    - You'd think that Pokemon becoming bigger versions of themselves would mean Pokemon size would be an important thing to scale. Nope. They have Wailord shown as being slightly smaller as the 4'10" trainer (~150 cm). Wailord is supposed to be a 50 ft (~15m) long behemoth. But nope, huge (literally) details are no longer important.
    - Finally, the straw that broker the camel's back: the game froze when I was battling in the Ice-gym. I had auto-save on, but also kept manually saving anyway because I couldn't trust anything in the game at that point. When I restarted the game after it froze, the save point there was in Route 6, basically half the game ago.

    At that point I juts gave up on the game. I lost half the progress because this terrible-developed game couldn't bother to QA their garbage product. I'm going to try to return the game, but doubt I'll be able to. This left a bad taste in my mouth and I may never buy another Pokemon game again unless management changes and they start making respectable games again.    … Expand
  15. DaltonMata
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Unfortunately Game Freak don't listen to the fans and buyers, they insert mechanics and then remove like the Mega Evolutions that the community and I loved, I loved the Megas and is so sad that GF take from us and inserted a generic Growth repetitive mechanic instead. I bet The pkm company buyed the reviews because this game don't deserve even a a 5 is after all a Pokemon Sun and Moon HD, the cameras are free only in the desert of content that they call "wild area". And the nd the elephant in the room, in fact they had cuted half Pokemon base in this game and liead to the fans . This is a EA tatic, ththey betrayed their own fan base and consumers.… Expand
  16. Liamvida
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    In short, this game is awful for advanced players, mediocre for casual player and it's desirable that this is nobody's first Pokémon game, least they get the wrong impression. It is the worst Pokémon main duo ever released and the only positive aspects are derived from the standard Pokémon formula. Being understaffed isn't even remotely enough to explain the unacceptable low quality ofIn short, this game is awful for advanced players, mediocre for casual player and it's desirable that this is nobody's first Pokémon game, least they get the wrong impression. It is the worst Pokémon main duo ever released and the only positive aspects are derived from the standard Pokémon formula. Being understaffed isn't even remotely enough to explain the unacceptable low quality of these games; GameFreak has serious leadership issues.

    This trash heap is the result of complacency, and a lack of effort and dedication. If it had been developed with care and the consumer's satisfaction in mind, it would have been a polished title with a lot of content complementing the new features. Sadly, this is not the case.

    Bugs, no endgame, half pokedex, mediocre graphics, less features than previous games...should I keep talking? Save your money and don't but this dumpster fire of a game    … Expand
  17. lucs28
    Nov 15, 2019
    4
    To put simply, I'm disappointed. I've played Pokemon my entire life, I've played all generations, all remakes, and to put it simple, this is the first time I feel a new gen is walking backwards. The cut pokemon, the claimed new animations and models being the same, the linearity, the lack of post game content, everything feels so lazy, so rushed, so soulless... The polemon concepts and theTo put simply, I'm disappointed. I've played Pokemon my entire life, I've played all generations, all remakes, and to put it simple, this is the first time I feel a new gen is walking backwards. The cut pokemon, the claimed new animations and models being the same, the linearity, the lack of post game content, everything feels so lazy, so rushed, so soulless... The polemon concepts and the region concept are still great, but it just isn't enough anymore. Up your game gamefrak, its effing 2019… Expand
  18. funkmclovin
    Nov 15, 2019
    1
    TL;DR: "Been there, done that." This game offers nothing new for Pokemon fans nor RPG fans.

    As a long-time Pokemon fan, I'm disappointed that GameFreak has chosen to strip away so many features that have been beloved by fans. Many players, myself included, play Pokemon games for a specific experience that Sword and Shield simply does not offer. If you are a collector, this game does not    TL;DR: "Been there, done that." This game offers nothing new for Pokemon fans nor RPG fans.

    As a long-time Pokemon fan, I'm disappointed that GameFreak has chosen to strip away so many features that have been beloved by fans. Many players, myself included, play Pokemon games for a specific experience that Sword and Shield simply does not offer. If you are a collector, this game does not feature every Pokemon. If you are a competitive player, this game reduces the amount of Pokemon and moves available to use. If you like a story-based RPG, this is lukewarm at best. If you've played any Pokemon game that has come before this, you've played a better Pokemon game. Despite the upgrade in graphics, despite the brand-new region, I feel more at home playing an installment such as Soul Silver for the DS. If you prefer a more story-rich current-gen console experience, play the new Dragon Age. Hell, if you want a console Pokemon game, buy XD Gale Of Darkness, whose graphics are on par with this, a game released 14 years later.

    This game is good only for new Pokemon fans or those fans who are just desperate to play a new Pokemon game on the Switch console, and even to those people, there exists the Let's Go series.

    I, for one, hope that GameFreak's next foray into Pokemon is not nearly as clumsy or poorly thought out.    … Expand
  19. Fox-the-dog
    Nov 15, 2019
    6
    Mal trabajo de parte de GameFreak...
    Pokémon ha sido una franquicia que he seguido desde pequeño y me he jugado todos sus títulos de la franquicia.
    Puntos Buenos: -Historia decente -Banda Sonora muy buena -Rejugabilidad Puntos Malos: -Reciclaje de animaciones de títulos de 3DS -No incluye a todos los Pokémon (siendo algo irónico ya que el slogan de la franquicia es “Atrapalos a todos”)    Mal trabajo de parte de GameFreak...
    Pokémon ha sido una franquicia que he seguido desde pequeño y me he jugado todos sus títulos de la franquicia.
    Puntos Buenos:
    -Historia decente
    -Banda Sonora muy buena
    -Rejugabilidad
    Puntos Malos:
    -Reciclaje de animaciones de títulos de 3DS
    -No incluye a todos los Pokémon (siendo algo irónico ya que el slogan de la franquicia es “Atrapalos a todos”)
    -Falta de gráficos siendo una consola más potente que una portátil como la Nintendo 3DS.
    Conclusión: Un trabajo flojo y hecho solamente para sacar otra entrega anual de Pokémon como es habituado.
    Sí es que eres Casual o un nuevo jugador de Pokémon está entrega será un juego para pasar el rato.
    Pero como seguidor y fan de la saga es una patada en el trasero.    … Expand
  20. Jesus107
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    The game is underwhelming for Nintendo Switch. It seems like it has not been through Quality Assurance. The quality of the game various if you have played it. One give away is that in some area you can find gorgeous sceneries, high definition background, but in some area it’s like a student project, character floating, Pokémon running on the spot without moving, Pokémon model disappearedThe game is underwhelming for Nintendo Switch. It seems like it has not been through Quality Assurance. The quality of the game various if you have played it. One give away is that in some area you can find gorgeous sceneries, high definition background, but in some area it’s like a student project, character floating, Pokémon running on the spot without moving, Pokémon model disappeared randomly. The wild area is supposedly the selling point of the game, but it is just boring. Lack of color compared to Pokémon Let’s go series. System lagged enough to annoyed me. Gameplay is like a slide show, I go from point A to B, have a unskipable dialogues, then move to point C. Story is nonexistent. I’ve heard that there’s a crucial bug that crushes your game and deletes your game files. It has not yet happened to me but the game do crush a lot.

    It is impossible to think that this is a main title Pokémon game. Any price would be too much for it if they don’t fix the bugs. I give 1 point only for the curry mini game.    … Expand
  21. patjakker
    Nov 15, 2019
    3
    Worst pokemon game to date
    reused models, awful story, every new pokemon looks like a pile of garbage, half the pokedex is gone
  22. Hueonaldo10
    Nov 15, 2019
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Este juego es una basura, que manera de vernos la cara Game freak. Parece juego de 3ds… Expand
  23. lucasnguyen
    Nov 15, 2019
    4
    Let's go with the good: 1) The game looks decent, there are some beautiful area in the game
    2) QoL changes are amazing in this game
    3) The songs are good (I like gym leaders' and Toby Fox's one) Next up the bad (they are a lot): 1) The wild area is empty and shallow with thicker fog than foggy routes in gen 4 2) The story is like the combination between Sun and Moon and XY and work    Let's go with the good: 1) The game looks decent, there are some beautiful area in the game
    2) QoL changes are amazing in this game
    3) The songs are good (I like gym leaders' and Toby Fox's one)

    Next up the bad (they are a lot):
    1) The wild area is empty and shallow with thicker fog than foggy routes in gen 4 2) The story is like the combination between Sun and Moon and XY and work terribly: a) Hop is Hau 2.0 and Leon is Kukui 2.0 b) Marnie is like Lillie in the last island and being overhyped by Team Yell like the fans to Lillie c) Team Yell is basically Team Skull losing its charm, they both fight for recognition d) Secret bad guy is obvious like Lusamine and he has so many similarity to Lysandra, wanting to make the region a better place in their own twisted way e) The plot is rushed and makes zero sense
    3) All the new mon (to me) are bad with the exception of Wooloo's line and Corviknight's line and Yamper (just Yamper, not including its evolution)
    4) Nothing in this game justifies the national cut, moves cut
    5) Dynamaxing and Gigatanmaxing is the worst battle gimmick in these 3 gens
    6) Forced exp share (not because it makes the game easier but the removal of choice is always bad)
    7) Way too many glitches, lag and hell, people in Japan lost save files not only in SwSh but also other games

    With all of that, I give this game a 4/10, very average, nothing to write home about, especially for a game on switch and it's a step backwards from SM AND BW/B2W2 (the last good game in the series)    … Expand
  24. anstrbt
    Nov 16, 2019
    2
    TL;DR: Don't waste your money on an unfinished 3DS game.

    This game reeks of bad development and greed. I used to be able to bring my original Pokemon with me regardless of how weird or quirky they were, now it is a roulette spin to see if your Pokemon is included. If that wasn't bad, the animations in this game are unfinished. Instead of Eevee taking each paw and individually moving like    TL;DR: Don't waste your money on an unfinished 3DS game.

    This game reeks of bad development and greed. I used to be able to bring my original Pokemon with me regardless of how weird or quirky they were, now it is a roulette spin to see if your Pokemon is included. If that wasn't bad, the animations in this game are unfinished. Instead of Eevee taking each paw and individually moving like a normal four-legged in being would, It instead just literally turns around on a dime. But it isn't all bad, this game also has a couple redeeming properties. Those being the amount of detail and the textures and land environments. This has one of the best looking visuals of any 3DS Game. That's the thing though, the level and detail seem on par with a 3DS port, but nothing beyond that. It never really seems to take advantage of the Switch's hardware. Who is this game for, then? People who either care nothing about Pokemon, or people who are super fanboys.    … Expand
  25. WillfulFirefly
    Nov 17, 2019
    4
    After having finished "Pokemon: Shield" (by that, "Pokemon: Sword") in around 25 hours, I felt immediately compelled to type a review as this is the most disappointing entry into the Pokemon video game line-up that I had ever experienced. This is tragic for me - to say the least - because I went in with decent expectations and with hopes that this would succeed prior Pokemon video gamesAfter having finished "Pokemon: Shield" (by that, "Pokemon: Sword") in around 25 hours, I felt immediately compelled to type a review as this is the most disappointing entry into the Pokemon video game line-up that I had ever experienced. This is tragic for me - to say the least - because I went in with decent expectations and with hopes that this would succeed prior Pokemon video games well. Sadly, it feels more like a huge step back with some promising features that I hope future entries consider keeping and improving.

    Positives:
    (+) The new Galarian Pokemons and the Galarian Variants of past-generation Pokemons
    (+) Pokemon Camp and Curry-making: Both more charming than I thought!
    (+) In-depth Trainer Customisation
    (+) A lot of quality of life improvements in comparison to past Pokemon video games: This is going to make it more accessible for a lot of players while making it more focused for long-time players. Things like mints to change Pokemon nature type to exp share being always on making the entire game less grindy and monotonous. All very much appreciated!

    Negatives:
    (-) Inconsistent Graphic Quality: Some good textures, some REALLY out-dated textures. Some battle backgrounds look pretty cool; others, not so much and repeatedly used. Towns like Circhester look breathtaking, but then there are the open world sections that look flat and ugly. Textures may pop in-and-out at times. Stiff models.
    (-) Inconsistent Animation Quality (and Missing Animations?): Some elaborate and well-done, but - for the most part - low effort. Also, Pokemons don't have a turning animation, and NPCs seem to be are missing a couple as well? NPCs look soulless at times with barely any expressions. Pokemons headbutting with their legs look weird. Some Pokemons even use the same bad animations to attack (when using different moves).
    (-) Empty-feeling Open World sections: For today's standard of video games, even some open world indie games look more livelier than this game's open world sections. The AI for roaming Pokemons is pretty dumb and non-interactive as well and is easy to maneuver and play around. Moreover, the open world sections are relatively small in comparison to a lot of other games: even those of low-budget.
    (-) Incompetent Story: Most of the important things in the story are described by NPCs rather than shown (or - you know - involving you like a game). Also, most of it is the typical Pokemon video game story (i.e. be the very best, have a rival, meet someone with an emotional complexity, etc.). Also, Hop is more annoying than easy-to-hate.
    (-) Unpolished and Unoptimised Game: This game has glitches and oddities and even some weird exploitables. Pokemon AI in camp can be a little buggy, and the game got stuck at one point when I was playing with my Pokemons. Sometimes, my frame rate would drop below in certain areas much more in comparison to other Switch games.
    (-) My Switch crashed twice: This is the first (and second) time that my Switch had ever crashed, so - to me - this is a huge deal.
    (-) No Post-game: Other than completing your Pokemon collection and , there's nothing else. Honestly, this comes as such a shock as I never not had a post-game in a Pokemon video game.
    (-) Too much hand-holding: Every NPC treats you like an idiot even past the tutorial and reminds you constantly that you can do this and that. They make it a big deal for doing minor things like walking from point A to B. It is very annoying to be blasted by so many text boxes when you just want to play the game.

    Mediocres:
    (?) Relatively Short Game: In comparison to the other Pokemon video games, this is the shortest and I really took my time exploring everywhere. I was honestly shocked that I finished this game so fast.
    (?) Easiest Pokemon video game: With all the quality of life features, I barely needed to think while playing or battling. Personally, it's a negative for me, but - for others - this might be a saving grace.
    (?) Dynamax is a gym/raid gimmick.
    (?) Raids: I was expecting much more but it's just a longer Pokemon battle - not much strategy needed. This may vary from player to player though.

    Conclusion: My recommendation is to wait for a sale - around $40; it's not worth the full price of $60 if you're a long-time Pokemon gamer. By Pokemon video game standards, "Pokemon: Shield" is the weakest entry to the franchise. However, that's not to say that it's a bad game: it's passable and this is the problem because past Pokemon video games are not "passable". I think that - for a casual gamer - this is good to waste time in and have some fun. It was fun for me sometimes and even charming. For this case, I would give "Pokemon: Shield" a 5/10, but my current rating is to reflect actual Pokemon gamers (the ones who love battling and forming teams and staying engaged and whatnot) and - personally - this was a below average experience for me. Overall, I think that this game needed more time in the oven    … Expand
  26. Sercho
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    Pokémon main line of game finally came to a home console and we couldn't be more disappointed.
    In a technical level, this game is basically still a portable console game. It doesn't take advantage of the power the switch has, I mean, we have breath of the wild and its beautiful environment and graphics. We have Mario Odyssey and its gorgeous style, we have a Master quest game rich in    Pokémon main line of game finally came to a home console and we couldn't be more disappointed.
    In a technical level, this game is basically still a portable console game. It doesn't take advantage of the power the switch has, I mean, we have breath of the wild and its beautiful environment and graphics. We have Mario Odyssey and its gorgeous style, we have a Master quest game rich in content and so many examples of good use of the hardware.
    However this game has trouble with drawn distances, the animations are so basic like in the DS games, the backgrounds are terrible being so basic in some gyms that almost feel like they come from the GBA era. The models just rotate in an artificial way and the wild area is so empty and bland. Back in the day we use to have amazing post-game content, but sword and shield fails to deliver in this area too.
    Additional to this disappointments the new Pokemon are (in most cases) horrible and bad designed. Bug heads, horrible eyes and anticlimactic final stages for the starters. So basically this is a portable Pokemon game with some HD textures glued over . Gamefreak created such a disappointment and lied about it so bad that makes me consider if the Pokemon main line needs a new developer more capable and less lazy to work on more powerful hardware.
    Finally after all the Pokemon they left out of the game they included Wailord even though they can't get its size right, are they really thinking or just making random stupid decisions?.    … Expand
  27. Mario94M
    Nov 16, 2019
    3
    Se su 3DS ci si poteva accontentare del solito gioco di Pokemon che ogni tanto introduceva qualche piccola rivoluzione su Switch hanno fallito su tutti i fronti. La storia è la solita solfa per bambini scemi, si poteva sperimentare con nuovi metodi narrativi e invece Gamefreak ha ritenuto giusto riproporre il solito teatrino con personaggi senza carisma e assolutamente dimenticabili. IlSe su 3DS ci si poteva accontentare del solito gioco di Pokemon che ogni tanto introduceva qualche piccola rivoluzione su Switch hanno fallito su tutti i fronti. La storia è la solita solfa per bambini scemi, si poteva sperimentare con nuovi metodi narrativi e invece Gamefreak ha ritenuto giusto riproporre il solito teatrino con personaggi senza carisma e assolutamente dimenticabili. Il gameplay subisce la stessa sorte, una ridondante esplorazione lineare e guidata come non mai da punto A a punto B, fatta eccezione per le terre selvagge che non sono altro che enormi distese di vuoto e desolazione utili a farmare in modo da rendere il gioco ancora più semplice e superficiale. Il lato tecnico è... assente! Gli sviluppatori dal braccino evidentemente troppo corto hanno riutilizzato gli stessi asset risalenti al 3DS, la grafica è paragonabile a quella del peggior MMORPG presente su PSP, le animazioni legnose se non assenti. L'unica gioia che il gioco ci regala è quella di poterlo finire (volendo) in meno di 20 ore, in modo di poterlo rivendere il prima possibile e rientrare nel furto dei 60€.… Expand
  28. Noobie123
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    Terrible game. I have never seen animation that bad since my last roblox session and that was 4 years ago.
  29. mariioow
    Nov 17, 2019
    4
    I was extremely hyped up for this game before release, the thought of having a console Pokemon main game meant that we'd finally get a huge region and a ton of new Pokemon to play along with. Sadly I wasn't expecting that this region didn't even bring as many Pokemon compared to the fifth generation, and neither did bring a huge region like heart gold / soul silver. While taking out megasI was extremely hyped up for this game before release, the thought of having a console Pokemon main game meant that we'd finally get a huge region and a ton of new Pokemon to play along with. Sadly I wasn't expecting that this region didn't even bring as many Pokemon compared to the fifth generation, and neither did bring a huge region like heart gold / soul silver. While taking out megas and z-moves weren't the last straw that made me really disappointed in this release and just made me want to watch walkthroughs of the full game, the whole fact that the game admitted that they weren't going to include every Pokemon broke my expectations. I still gave it a chance hoping that the numbers would be close to 800 or something but sadly not even half of the pokedex made it in, not to mention that through data mining it has been found that 35 more Pokemon are getting added I don't understand what's going inside GF's head, they said that they were cutting the Pokemon because they wanted to focus on other features, the models, and animations. The only new things here are the textures that usually change with every generation and some new features that don't really add up anything new.

    I wanted to give this a fair review, I know this will be the first Pokemon to many and it's a good entrance to the franchise, after all if you didn't play the games before you don't really know the many Pokemon you're missing, but for me, someone who has caught every Pokemon multiple times to have every single one of them in my Pokemon bank, this game really doesn't make it justice at all. The whole route the game is going for disappoints me, and remembering how Iwata helped out during gen 2 while they couldn't fit every Pokemon back then reminds me of how much he was needed in there, I wonder if he was still around this would've happened, or if he would've said that since the slogan is gotta catch 'em all, you're supposed to be able to have them all together too. I don't have any hopes up anymore for Pokemon home, I don't really know what to do anymore other than voting with my wallet so hopefully someone over at Gamefreak's reads this and knows that I just want my friends to be all together, nothing else.    … Expand
  30. dooplissmagic
    Nov 18, 2019
    0
    This game is a disaster. A major disappointment in literally every regard. GameFreak clearly doesn't have any love for the franchise what so ever, and should not be allowed to make anymore of these games. Complete waste of 60$ for my part...
  31. notadinosaur
    Nov 20, 2019
    0
    Gamefreak should be stripped of their rights being the sole developer of pokemon and give way to younger devs such as those who worked on BOTW and Xenoblade.

    Pokemon has TONS of potential but **** devs don't have the skill to make a full realization of pokemon as it should be.
  32. A-Kratonos
    May 3, 2021
    10
    Un juego sumamente infravalorado y cuyas virtudes han sido invisibilizadas por un fandom furioso, únicamente por razones externas al juego, así como completamente ajenas a su calidad.
    Galar es una región simplemente hermosa que representa una cara idealizada del Reino Unido, los personajes son carismáticos, la historia es bastante decente, y el combate es divino en cada sentido.
    El    Un juego sumamente infravalorado y cuyas virtudes han sido invisibilizadas por un fandom furioso, únicamente por razones externas al juego, así como completamente ajenas a su calidad.
    Galar es una región simplemente hermosa que representa una cara idealizada del Reino Unido, los personajes son carismáticos, la historia es bastante decente, y el combate es divino en cada sentido.

    El Gigamax es la mecánica estrella del juego y donde se cimenta todo combate importante, y la forma de representar las batallas de liga como estadios de futbol es un gran acierto.
    Musicalmente es precioso, artísticamente ni se diga. Y explorar las llanuras de Galar para atrapar pokémon es de las mejores experiencias que he tenido con un juego de la saga principal.    … Expand
  33. Shatohin
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    Lazy re-skin and upscale of the 3ds version. These companies just love your money and don’t give a **** what they making for the fans.
  34. Stuvok
    Nov 27, 2019
    3
    an embarrassment to modern video games. This series is so outclassed in every way by nearly every series I can think of. The fact that such a insanely profitable series could be so far behind in story, combat, graphics, atmosphere, technical performance, cinematography, animation, imagination, effort, choice of font, titles of the games... just name it and this game will show you how toan embarrassment to modern video games. This series is so outclassed in every way by nearly every series I can think of. The fact that such a insanely profitable series could be so far behind in story, combat, graphics, atmosphere, technical performance, cinematography, animation, imagination, effort, choice of font, titles of the games... just name it and this game will show you how to be uninspired or unskilled when designing it.… Expand
  35. Renzokuken
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    How did we go from the graphical zenith that was Xenoblade Chronicles 2, to this?

    Pokemon Sword and Shield are not worth your money, here's why: - The game is poorly optimized and features some of the most obvious texture popping I've ever seen. - The game is buggy, digital versions have been reported to corrupt your SD card, online functionality has been reported to interfere with    How did we go from the graphical zenith that was Xenoblade Chronicles 2, to this?

    Pokemon Sword and Shield are not worth your money, here's why:

    - The game is poorly optimized and features some of the most obvious texture popping I've ever seen.
    - The game is buggy, digital versions have been reported to corrupt your SD card, online functionality has been reported to interfere with other home Wi-Fi devices
    - Numerous new mechanics are never explained, for example there's now a huge penalty to capture rates if your highest level pokemon is a lower level than the pokemon you're trying to capture.
    - Your ability to capture at all, is tied to gym badges, if you see a pokemon you could capture but you lack the badge for that level range, tough luck.
    - Trading is now gone, with the exception of random trades and trades with a friend code, no more GTS.
    - All online functionality is locked behind Nintendo's online service which offers very poor value for money.
    - The music is really bad.
    - The new pokemon are alright, but they're few and far between.
    - While some of the animations have been improved, some of them are really, really bad.
    - The game is super short, and incredibly easy even by pokemon standards.
    - There is no real enemy until right at the end of the game, and their entire section consists of 5 battles.
    - The endgame is completely bereft of content.

    tl;dr - This version sucks, but I'm sure nintendo will be along in a few months time to sell us a new and improved "ultra" version of the same thing we already paid for.    … Expand
  36. MrJPGames
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    Terrible thing to dare call this a game. While it is clear this could become a game with a lot more development it simply isn't there yet. Do not buy something that is not even a game yet. Wait until GameFreak decides they want to finish their work before making people pay for it.
  37. cvp1
    Nov 18, 2019
    0
    Es un juego divertido pero corto, no veo late game aparte del competitivo, los modelos son rehusados de juegos anteriores y no existe la pokedex nacional, para ser una consola de sobre mesa los gráficos no son los mejores pero artísticamente esta muy bien y las formas gigamax me parecen una buena introducción, pero lo peor de todo es que eliminaron la pokedex nacional.
  38. themugen
    Nov 26, 2019
    1
    Wanted to like this, but it just feels old and stagnant. Didn't get very far in it. Very boring. Game Freak needs to evolve and bring this franchise into the modern times. Bake it some more please.
  39. hvestgren
    Nov 17, 2019
    1
    The series has just been worse with each installment after black/white. I think the great Pokémon-games decade is officially over..
  40. TimoP1NL
    Apr 5, 2020
    5
    Did buy this for my son 6 year old.
    Only text and no voice means he can not follow the story or know what to do. This is realy bad game design. If u want to have option not to have voice that is ok bud make it an option. The target players for this game start at 5-6 bud the can not read. The like to have the game because hype only to be unable to enjoy it.
    This would be a great game in    Did buy this for my son 6 year old.
    Only text and no voice means he can not follow the story or know what to do. This is realy bad game design. If u want to have option not to have voice that is ok bud make it an option. The target players for this game start at 5-6 bud the can not read. The like to have the game because hype only to be unable to enjoy it.

    This would be a great game in year 2000
    Request to gamefreak please care about your own product enuf to make it the best it can be.
    Yes voice cost lots of money and time bud it is a vital aspect of any good game.

    As is this game = market to kids to want it
    Make parents pay for it
    Let children down that the can not understand it because lack of voice acting
    Make parents frustrated of wasting money on this product.

    @Nintendo please promote voice options in all your games to delight our children with the option to understand what is going on before the can read.    … Expand
  41. RandomAnon
    Nov 18, 2019
    1
    I've been playing this game since Gen 1. I love pokemon, and own every single game excluding Pearl, because I gave it away to people who never got the chance to play pokemon.

    My biggest gripe: The game is super, super, super short. It's like... probably less than 9 hours. You can watch a streamer beat it in one sitting, and I beat mine in one too. The Pros: There are new    I've been playing this game since Gen 1. I love pokemon, and own every single game excluding Pearl, because I gave it away to people who never got the chance to play pokemon.

    My biggest gripe:
    The game is super, super, super short. It's like... probably less than 9 hours. You can watch a streamer beat it in one sitting, and I beat mine in one too.

    The Pros:
    There are new animations. All pokemon 'roar' when they appear, this is because Dynamaxing makes them make another cry.

    Competitive battling was made way easier! I love this! I can now do all my work so quickly, and have a competitive perfect pokemon in just an hour.

    Dynamax raids are super fun. I spent 8 hours just running around doing them.

    Your rival actually is a jerk. I actually appreciate a mean rival sometimes, and one of the ones in this one is.

    And that's all!

    The cons:
    The game is *short*. Pathetic! Absolutely pathetically short. On a blind playthrough, it can be beaten in one sitting. For a 60 USD game this is ridiculous! I beat this game in a really short amount of time, and only have a reasonable play time due to Dynamax raids.

    The pokedex removal. This was a stupid excuse. If all the pokemon were given new models, I'd accept it, but they still literally walk animation to turn around, they still don't even following you, they are exactly the same models, just smoothed and updated to fit on the Switch! Still unnacceptable.

    The lack of difficulty.
    The laziness involved with creation - it feels extremely unfinished.
    There's no real character development.
    This game feels *super* unfinished! Horrendously so.
    It takes longer for me to beat Pokemon Let's Go!, and probably even Pokemon Red, which only takes me about 5 hours and 40 minutes to beat. This game is a shameful display of what Pokemon is doing, and as a long time fan, who buys multiple copies of each game that comes out for competitive reasons, I put my foot down.

    You get no more money from me, Game Freak. Pokemon Sword and Shield is by far the biggest disappointment ever created for it's time, and is unreasonably priced.

    Continue to play Pokemon Sun, and Moon, or Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon. It is a much better game.    … Expand
  42. Simoncino
    Nov 17, 2019
    1
    We all know the truth. Use your brain. Vote with your wallet.
    Don't settle for less.
    Fight for more.
  43. lorvha
    Feb 6, 2020
    0
    The price increase of "Pokemon Sword and Shield" and their passage on a more powerful Console must necessarily lead to an overall technical and graphic improvement.
    Pokemon Sword and Shield have a technical / graphic shortage. Now this is no longer admissible
  44. JonTRL
    May 21, 2021
    2
    Too easy, linear, short and boring only serves to remind me how good Gen 2,3,4 were in comparison to this ****
  45. Tmato
    Nov 18, 2019
    1
    Game look well But i miss some kind of graphics improvements. Graphics suck to be a game of 2019. More things... Online subcription to trade pokemons, 0/10 trade should be FREE ALWAYS, like balloons were free in Mario Odyssey. Not national dex too.
    New mecanics are great But all this send game to 1/10
  46. TidyWire
    Aug 20, 2021
    3
    Now this game isn't the absolute worst game of all time. It's mostly serviceable and functional at a bare basic level. But as somebody that has been with the franchise since it's conception, this is absolutely not worth your money and we should expect better from developers with this much experience.

    The game's main issue is the lack of player agency and freedom. Pokemon is a franchise    Now this game isn't the absolute worst game of all time. It's mostly serviceable and functional at a bare basic level. But as somebody that has been with the franchise since it's conception, this is absolutely not worth your money and we should expect better from developers with this much experience.

    The game's main issue is the lack of player agency and freedom. Pokemon is a franchise that has resonated from it's customizability, but time and time again this game restricts your movement and progression and locks you behind things. Your decisions are rarely your own, and it makes for a very shallow run of the mill Pokemon experience with a lot of half baked ideas.
    The game is riddled with rushjob scars like terrible dated graphics and outright missing story sequences. In addition Game Freak continue to time and time again remove beloved features from games so they can receive artificial praise when they're reintroduced later on. No better example than following pokemon returning in the DLC. (Which they also messed up somehow. Pokemon constantly teleporting because they're too slow to keep up pace with you.)

    The story is massively uninspired and lazy; although some of the characters are pretty decent. But the game does absolutely nothing to give you a closer bond with your Pokemon. They feel more like 1s and 0s now than they ever have before and it's all down to the broken progression system. It doesn't feel like an adventure anymore but moreso a checklist.

    I'm afraid if Pokemon keeps down this path the franchise will writhe in it's mediocrity forever.    … Expand
  47. ryudoshi
    Nov 6, 2021
    0
    I swear I used to have a review here a week after release, guess some bad reviews got deleted.

    Anyway, screw this absolute trash game. Screw the handholding, the dumbing down of mechanics, the forced exp share, the annoying ass rival, bland writing, horrible graphics.

    Please someone take the pokemon franchise from game freak, masuda and ohmori are not good leads.
  48. PC_Master_Race
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    Reused models, poor graphics and textures, this Pokemon release every year has to end to have quality games like Mario oddysey
  49. MokaAkay
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    Absolutely underwhelming, animations are trash and we lost so many pokemon for them to make these "animations" so many more things wrong with this game
  50. volkoff
    Nov 18, 2019
    1
    Longtime pokemon fan, started with pokemon red back in the day. Played every gen. last vew years gamefreak really made worse and worse pokemon games, They're not capable of making a good game anymore. The game is incredibly easy, i can't describe how easy it is. Its mind numbingly boring. Alot of pokemon are also gone. It just remind me of an RPG-esque pokemon go. But then costing 60Longtime pokemon fan, started with pokemon red back in the day. Played every gen. last vew years gamefreak really made worse and worse pokemon games, They're not capable of making a good game anymore. The game is incredibly easy, i can't describe how easy it is. Its mind numbingly boring. Alot of pokemon are also gone. It just remind me of an RPG-esque pokemon go. But then costing 60 euros.. I do have to admit that the music is good and the pokemon camling is a fun feature. But to conclude, this game should never have been released. I regret my purchase. I'm done with pokemon until either gamefreak improves their games alot OR preferably an other game dev is leading the development.… Expand
  51. VultureMovie
    Nov 17, 2019
    1
    Pretty terrible gameplay tbh. If you’re a fan of the classic Pokémon formula, I suggest buying something like Platinum or Omega Ruby. They won’t cost 60 bucks and are actually made with love and care
  52. Avery5283
    Nov 17, 2019
    7
    Pokemon Sword and Shield is a decent RPG, although slightly lack luster. The gameplay is as fun as it's always been and the new dynamax forms are just as charming as the mega forms and z moves of old. The graphics and animations are where the game is very rough around the edges. The textures can be muddy, and the battle animations can be very stiff. However, if you are going in to battlePokemon Sword and Shield is a decent RPG, although slightly lack luster. The gameplay is as fun as it's always been and the new dynamax forms are just as charming as the mega forms and z moves of old. The graphics and animations are where the game is very rough around the edges. The textures can be muddy, and the battle animations can be very stiff. However, if you are going in to battle pokemon and catch pokemon, you're going to have a decent time.… Expand
  53. gamerhero
    Nov 16, 2019
    1
    Creo que no se merece mas de 1 por el poco trabajo y respeto a los usuarios de la serie... teniendo en el año juegos como gears5, death stranding, sekir y resident evil 2, nintendo nos viene a vender este juego de hace dos o mas generaciones a precio de los anteriores. Un timo por cualquier lado que lo vean y sobre todo que te lo vende doble a precio full. Cuando no inova en ni un solo aspecto
  54. Volsyden
    Nov 17, 2019
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The pokemon games have been really cool when growing up, but i gotta say the plot was just.... meh, (Spoilers) the end is where the villian comes in. so it was a basic game play all the way till the end.. the end where you fight the champ was really annoying too... i kept thinking i was going to finally challenge the champ and it kept making me do something else. i know this is a kids game but jesus this was targeted to 5 year olds and the dialog was REALLY CHEESY. they didnt even put in voice acting but i can see why, its because the dialog was so cheesy no one wanted to do it. everyone is just so fkin happy and i hated it, they can say "sorry you mom died" and they would be like "its OKAY because she wanted me to become a great trainer" or something fkin stupid like that. only thing i liked about this game was the actual pokemon could have left everything else out including the story. and btw GOOD luck getting 100 percent, because you have to buy this stupid ball to get a mew for 50 bucks and they cut the dex in half anyways so that kinda killed the game in that aspect too.. i mean wtf i want my money back for this crap game
    Also, if you want to catch them all... well you cant because unless you buy a retarded pokeball plus you cant get a mew a long with other pokemon that are not in the game because you will probably have to buy those too, not worth buying wait till it comes on sale for like 10 bucks    … Expand
  55. Killuah
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    Ridiculous.
    I won't support the death of the biggest franchise in the world. Gamefreak had always justified themselves for not being able to create the game that fans want because of the capabilities of the 3DS, what do they do with the much powerful switch? Recycle every 3DS model and animation, remove more than half of the national pokedex. Sword and shield is also poorly optimized and    Ridiculous.
    I won't support the death of the biggest franchise in the world. Gamefreak had always justified themselves for not being able to create the game that fans want because of the capabilities of the 3DS, what do they do with the much powerful switch? Recycle every 3DS model and animation, remove more than half of the national pokedex. Sword and shield is also poorly optimized and graphically mediocre.    … Expand
  56. Johnnybravo8125
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    The game feels lazy. Gamefreak needs to step up their developing skills, this isnt the weak 3ds era anymore...
  57. TactlessCloud
    Nov 17, 2019
    3
    It's just feels like a lazy pokemon game that lost it's way during development. My favorite part in the game is that I can use ZA WARUDO everytime I go on a ladder. Besides that, everything just feels super lazy. The environments are boring, pokemon appearing/disappearing, technical issues like framerate, poor pokemon animations, etc. the list of problems can go for awhile Comparing it toIt's just feels like a lazy pokemon game that lost it's way during development. My favorite part in the game is that I can use ZA WARUDO everytime I go on a ladder. Besides that, everything just feels super lazy. The environments are boring, pokemon appearing/disappearing, technical issues like framerate, poor pokemon animations, etc. the list of problems can go for awhile Comparing it to the 3ds pokemon games also just shows how much is missing. Although they did recycle the normal pokemon formula, the game actually worked most of the time along with them adding new things like mega evolutions and changing things up with sun and moon with the island challenges. Sword/Shield just did the lowest amount of effort possible and hit submit.… Expand
  58. Herowill
    Sep 18, 2020
    1
    Pokemon were used to sell DLC. the Pokedex is not complete. The game is very short.
  59. Nesz
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    Diseños pobres, muchos espacios vacíos, personajes olvidables, juego no acabado no vale la pena
  60. kankanbow
    Nov 16, 2019
    4
    -GF cut 500 pokemons, you can only use pokemon from the regional dex. you can't use any pokemon in PvP anymore (specifically the ones you've taken hours to breed and train for online) and you can't create autistically curated teams for other story runs and such.

    -They cut moves (which is frankly worse then the dex cut), they did cut some old gen 1/2 moves that have been powercrept to    -GF cut 500 pokemons, you can only use pokemon from the regional dex. you can't use any pokemon in PvP anymore (specifically the ones you've taken hours to breed and train for online) and you can't create autistically curated teams for other story runs and such.

    -They cut moves (which is frankly worse then the dex cut), they did cut some old gen 1/2 moves that have been powercrept to pointlessness but they also cut actually good moves seemingly at random.

    -They cut features such a riding pokemon, having pokemon follow you, petting pokemon

    -The game looks like **** and worse then pokemon lets go E/P despite being on the same console this being a mainline game and the former being a quick and dirty rehash/cash in to suck money out of lets go casuals.

    -charge $20 more then a 3ds game when it's objectivly a lesser product.

    -Bugs that cause freeze and other issues    … Expand
  61. Sorites
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    The whole catch phrase is "gatta catch em all". So f*$k this game. Also, they lied about the reason. They re-used the old models. They could've added them all.
  62. Sakux
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    Disappointed in everything what happened to the Pokémon we love it's now this mess
  63. Zasfe
    Nov 16, 2019
    1
    Tiene gráficos muy malos, muchos bugs, sin pokédex completa, fallos con el autoguardado, sin Megas, sin Movimientos Z, mucho curry que no se pidio, una historia muy mala y aburrida, no explican el lore de eternatus.
  64. Takajapa
    Nov 15, 2019
    7
    É um jogo bom.. porem deveriam ter se esforçado mais. Gráficos ok, jogabilidade ok, quantidade de pokémons ok... Pra um jogo pokémon, ok n é algo bom!
  65. halotroop2288
    Nov 15, 2019
    5
    The game's campaign is hand-holdy just like its predecessor (Sun/Moon), but that doesn't make it bad, I actually prefer to see a bit of story. Plus, it has a movie-skip feature to make the story go by quicker if you're not into it.
    The graphics are not nearly as bad as people make it out to be. It's 720p in docked mode (which is the only mode that matters) and may reuse assets from    The game's campaign is hand-holdy just like its predecessor (Sun/Moon), but that doesn't make it bad, I actually prefer to see a bit of story. Plus, it has a movie-skip feature to make the story go by quicker if you're not into it.
    The graphics are not nearly as bad as people make it out to be. It's 720p in docked mode (which is the only mode that matters) and may reuse assets from previous games, but they don't necessarily look bad here.
    Removing a lot of the Pokémon from the previous games probably makes it incompatible with them, which is a huge disappointment. One of the best features of this whole series in my opinion is being able to transfer your Pokémon from older games, so you can fill your Pokédex quicker (to Catch 'em All, of course).
    I have always wanted to do a "Catch 'em All" run, but I couldn't bring myself to stare out a low-res, tiny screen like the GameBoy or DS line had. I was looking forward to its first HD home console release in the main-line. This truly is a sore disappointment for that reason alone.
    This is going to be a game I finish, and maybe even play the post-game a little, but not one that I complete, or can even consider complete without the entire National Dex.    … Expand
  66. dimitrelos300
    Nov 15, 2019
    5
    Not only this is a rushed pokemon game made to satisfy the (pokemon is my life)fan's need for a typical new generation of pocket masters, but it even fails to ACHIEVE THAT.The only game since diamond and pearl that i didnt even buy, only play it for some days in my friend's switch.This generation is so much the same as gen 7 than you want to give up the franchise and question if gamefreakNot only this is a rushed pokemon game made to satisfy the (pokemon is my life)fan's need for a typical new generation of pocket masters, but it even fails to ACHIEVE THAT.The only game since diamond and pearl that i didnt even buy, only play it for some days in my friend's switch.This generation is so much the same as gen 7 than you want to give up the franchise and question if gamefreak is trolling.The animations are the same in a degree too extremelly disgusting for not to notice.Everything just feels like a different skin sun and moon Not to mention the huge pokemon cut which is just very very bad.The moves have no upgrade , the game is unoptimised and doesnt run smooth and the dynamax is just a marketing trick.It is there only because for gamefreak to say that they have added something new.It is just ridiculus.Mega evolutions were much much better and of cource are alsu being cutThe story is so short that it will make you question your decision to play pokemon games.The only reason i didnt gave it a 4 or 3 is that for a first time pokemon user we can say that this game has vibrant graphics with attractive art style and if sb find it for 20 euros he can buy it and be ok eith it.For a pokemon game it is just garbage.I have so much thing to say about why this game went erong thst i will not even do because i am losing my time.Just watch the previous elite fours from x and y that were gorgeous and pokemon league in this game
    Years ago i was surprised at the huge revolutionary gap from blaxk and white graphics to x and y with new pokemon models 3d cities amazing story just all great.After you realize it you will just see pokemon sword and shield as a resking version of sun and moon which is a shame.I hope gamfreak really change cause i am dissapointed.If i have some grammatical and vocabulary errors is only from the rush of writting this.Why only gamefreak should things    … Expand
  67. Glue_eater69
    Nov 15, 2019
    5
    Lo que ya hemos escuchado hasta la saciedad, este juego es mediocre, estancado gráficamente en comparación con compañeros de consola, animaciones y modelos reciclados y, aún podiendo simplemente copiar y pegar todos los pokémon como hicieron con los que sí están, se niegan a hacerlo bajo la excusa de querer pulir otros aspectos (que no están pulidos igualmente). La saga y el Fandom seLo que ya hemos escuchado hasta la saciedad, este juego es mediocre, estancado gráficamente en comparación con compañeros de consola, animaciones y modelos reciclados y, aún podiendo simplemente copiar y pegar todos los pokémon como hicieron con los que sí están, se niegan a hacerlo bajo la excusa de querer pulir otros aspectos (que no están pulidos igualmente). La saga y el Fandom se merece algo mucho mejor.… Expand
  68. avtrs
    Nov 16, 2019
    5
    I've split my main impressions into 4 sections (great/good/bad/awful), then included my final thoughts at the end.

    The great stuff: - The moves they bothered to animate look great and really are what most long term series fans hoped a console mainline game would look like. Moves like pyro ball, extrasensory, no retreat. - The wild area and the new concept of overworld pokemon (taken    I've split my main impressions into 4 sections (great/good/bad/awful), then included my final thoughts at the end.

    The great stuff:
    - The moves they bothered to animate look great and really are what most long term series fans hoped a console mainline game would look like. Moves like pyro ball, extrasensory, no retreat.
    - The wild area and the new concept of overworld pokemon (taken from LGPE with a few changes) is fantastic. This really captures the imagionation of what fans have always wanted.
    - The Regional dex and variety of pokemon available even from a very early stage is great.
    - The "magic" of the games is still there when played.

    The good stuff:
    - Gym battles and the champion are well done. I think the stadium dynamic, background, music and overall impression of these fights is awesome. Could it be harder? Yes. Does the spectacle make up for that? Yes.
    - The new pokemon and Galar forms definitely get an overall thumbs up for me. Some are great, some are... less great. Overall I think the design team has done a great job.
    - The music also gets a thumbs up. Some tracks are awesome, some are slightly subpar, but the overall OST is a great compliment to the game.
    - Some (mostly new pokemon) models and animations are great. Scorbunny has a great idle animation, and Falinks has some great variety of animations, including when its first sent out. These animations are so important to give the pokemon some life and personality.
    - Various quality of life upgrades are great. GF has done a number of small things to help players.
    - I like the cast of characters for the game. Hop is annoying because of cutscenes, but I think his character is great. I like Leon, the Gym Leaders, the chairman and the various other cast.

    The bad stuff:
    - Too many move animations just basically do not exist. Double kick is the infamous one, basically the pokemon's model moves up and down, then a big foot appears on the opponent. This is not an animation and honestly pre-gen 5 animations provided better immersion in the game.
    - Too many pokemon animations suck. A lot of these are older models, but some of the new ones also just lack life and personality. This is a mainline switch game which we KNOW can animate models well (because some are animated well!) and yet so many models just remain still, like a statue almost.
    - Lack of voice acting (VA). Personally I think VA would really enchance the experience. It's 2019 and this is a big RPG release, so I'm a bit disappointed to not see it as an option you can toggle on/off.
    - Lack of a national dex, with no alternative. There should be a separate pokemon-stadium like game for all pokemon which is connected to the pokemon Home app, so that old pokemon aren't useless/forgotten.
    - The wild area really is much smaller than it initially appears. Although you can run around it, there isn't really much else to do apart from interact with pokemon and do raid battles.
    - The routes are really boring. There is almost nothing to go and explore/discover. Most of them are pretty much linear A to Z with some grass for wild pokemon.
    - The story is really bland, not much to say.

    The awful stuff:
    - Complete lack of good postgame content. This is really at an almost embarrassing level. There is almost nothing and the battle tower somehow has even less content than in gen 7. I remember when the best part of the games was the postgame, and this is really disappointing to me.
    - Removal of the GTS with no good and simple alternative.
    - Way too many cutscenes. I constantly would get into a boring conversation with a character, then run 10m, then they would stop me again to talk. This may be ok if the talking was actually relevant or provided some backstory, but most of it is just useless chatter to make sure the player goes in a certain direction.
    - (Because of the above) the game is extremely linear, especially for an RPG. You are basically on traintracks in a straight line, with no real challenges or problems to solve about how to move forward. In this sense I do feel that the game is really insulting the intelligence and passion of its playerbase.
    - The animations of characters is really awful in the overworld. Honestly this is 3DS tier or worse. I can compare the game to any modern (or even old) console game and it comes off worse.
    - Not having free camera control, even in a game that partially has it in the wild area. There are RPGs which are almost 20 years old that support good 3d models with a moveable camera. Embarrassing.
    - The complete lack of any traditional pokemon (heck, even traditional RPG) style dungeons or long, arduous routes that are challenging to get through. There is no E4 in this game, there is no victory road, there is no real dungeon at all.

    Don't get this game unless you are already a fan.    … Expand
  69. cdlavilla
    Nov 18, 2019
    1
    Bad animations, bad argument, no nacional dex, bad endgame.
    This game its not finished and gamefreak did a bad work. Bad game quality in general.
  70. Sukikyo
    Nov 16, 2019
    6
    The only things holding this game back are the lack of the national dex and a higher difficulty, aside from those points it's a fun and cute game with many cool new features and pokemon. If the lack of national dex get's revised this game is easily an 8 or 9
  71. UMP45
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    It was fun for 2 hours and I got bored the graphics looks bad and the game does feel like a 3ds game but charged you for more money. I just traded my copy of pokemon sword for Dragon Quest XI
  72. ThunderLunch
    Nov 16, 2019
    1
    En si el juego cumple su cometido en términos simples, no es mal juego pero tampoco es el nuevo que se esperaba desde hace mucho, animaciones si cambian algunas y otras se mantienen, y en pocas palabras se perdió más de lo que se ganó con las supuesta mejoras que hicieron al juego, se siente como que debió desarrollarse mayor tiempo este juego.

    #gamefreaklied
  73. Tkm7
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    Not a proper mainline Pokemon game. So much stripped out, so little given back. One step forwards, two back
  74. PedroMC
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    Años de transferencias consecutivas para no poder ver mis queridos Pokémon capturados desde gameboy en mi switch.
  75. KrawzerOn
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    Primero que nada es una traición al concepto de la saga al no tener todos los Pokémon disponibles en el juego para atrapar o transferir de anteriores entregas, el desgano y prisa de los desarrolladores está patente en el pésimo apartado técnico, una lástima que teniendo tan buena música, dirección artística y diseños de nuevos Pokémo no hayan logrado una buena sinergía entre todos estosPrimero que nada es una traición al concepto de la saga al no tener todos los Pokémon disponibles en el juego para atrapar o transferir de anteriores entregas, el desgano y prisa de los desarrolladores está patente en el pésimo apartado técnico, una lástima que teniendo tan buena música, dirección artística y diseños de nuevos Pokémo no hayan logrado una buena sinergía entre todos estos elementos, el área silvestre tiene el peor apartado técnico visto en un juego de Switch, de lejos el peor juego de la saga principal.… Expand
  76. betobeto95
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    Un retroceso en la saga quitando pokemones, cristales z, mega evoluciones, gráficas que dan mucho que desear para lo que ofrece la consola.
  77. zzzelkova
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    I ignored the controversy and gave this game the benefit of the doubt and boy did I pay for that blind ignorance this game bricked our Roku because it is so poorly optimized, I have to put my switch on airplane mode while playing Pokemon specifically so my family can watch TV. Nintendo should pass this game to a different developer in the future
  78. pipetboy
    Nov 16, 2019
    1
    "Un juego atrasado eventualmente puede ser bueno, un mal juego es malo por siempre"
    - Shigeru Miyamoto
    Una filosofía que muchos en Game Freak jamás tendrán "Yo comence a jugar Pokemon en 1998, cuando la versión Red y Blue llego a Estados Unidos para el Game Boy. He jugado cada generacion y muchos de los spin off y puedo sentirme seguro en decir que este es uno de los mejores juegos de    "Un juego atrasado eventualmente puede ser bueno, un mal juego es malo por siempre"
    - Shigeru Miyamoto
    Una filosofía que muchos en Game Freak jamás tendrán

    "Yo comence a jugar Pokemon en 1998, cuando la versión Red y Blue llego a Estados Unidos para el Game Boy. He jugado cada generacion y muchos de los spin off y puedo sentirme seguro en decir que este es uno de los mejores juegos de Pokemon que he jugado. El que no juegue el juego por quejarse y llorar, no sabe lo que se esta perdiendo. Para mi, el juego es un 100." sientan el sarcasmo    … Expand
  79. rokubato
    Nov 16, 2019
    1
    Boring plot. Weird and old looking animations. Bad graphics at some parts. Immersion is highly disrupted by pokemon popping in and out of existence for no good reason. The Switch should be able to handle rendering a couple of models from further away.
    To sum this all up we have been lied to. We where told that content was cut in order to make room for better animation and new models. We    Boring plot. Weird and old looking animations. Bad graphics at some parts. Immersion is highly disrupted by pokemon popping in and out of existence for no good reason. The Switch should be able to handle rendering a couple of models from further away.
    To sum this all up we have been lied to. We where told that content was cut in order to make room for better animation and new models. We got none of that. Just less content for more money.    … Expand
  80. Seekerp
    Nov 16, 2019
    4
    It really is just an okay game for what it is. Nothing innovative nor is there any significant changes in regards to gameplay or animation. Some new features, but the battle system is largely unchanged from previous generation's titles, leaving me disappointed and wanting for more. Overall, a "meh" game, but when considering the broken promises and quality of other recent switch titles,It really is just an okay game for what it is. Nothing innovative nor is there any significant changes in regards to gameplay or animation. Some new features, but the battle system is largely unchanged from previous generation's titles, leaving me disappointed and wanting for more. Overall, a "meh" game, but when considering the broken promises and quality of other recent switch titles, pokemon sword is an incredible let down.… Expand
  81. Gamerking376
    Nov 16, 2019
    4
    The game is honestly worth about $40. The reason I give this a 4 is the frame rate drops randomly for no reason especially in the wild area at times even freezing for a second and the graphics are very similar to mobile graphics their so bad even being pixelated all the time except in battles. After you finish the game/defeat the champion it’s boring the only other thing to do besidesThe game is honestly worth about $40. The reason I give this a 4 is the frame rate drops randomly for no reason especially in the wild area at times even freezing for a second and the graphics are very similar to mobile graphics their so bad even being pixelated all the time except in battles. After you finish the game/defeat the champion it’s boring the only other thing to do besides looking around is to play online which also gets boring with the new system. I beat this game in a day it wasn’t short but anyway I finished in a day and immediately got bored plays a link battle it was boring and then I tried link trade which doesn’t even let you see the pokémon the other person put in unless you click the trade button which then will give you a chance to accept. I know this game gets this a lot but there’s not enough pokémon, activities are boring like fishing, and the game is actually pretty hard at times like some gym leaders or the champion if you have the types that are effective against them you will lose. And finally the trainers are also annoying after like every 3 trainers you will have to go back to the pokémon center thank god they have a fast traveling type of system. This is my opinion but I wouldn’t say I regret buying it but it’s definitely not worth $60 it’s too unfinished and buggy I literally got it 2 days ago and i’m already bored of it and want to move on.



    boring    … Expand
  82. FierceFuzzz
    Nov 16, 2019
    4
    I've played a good portion of sword and my fiance has played a portion of shield. The nastalgia hits good but after a while you encounter the same Pokemon more and more often unlike something like b2w2 where all the unova, sinho, jhoto, kanto, hoenn. National Dex is the butter while the main story is the bread, how we feel about swsh is that it's toast. It lacks the butta that it once hadI've played a good portion of sword and my fiance has played a portion of shield. The nastalgia hits good but after a while you encounter the same Pokemon more and more often unlike something like b2w2 where all the unova, sinho, jhoto, kanto, hoenn. National Dex is the butter while the main story is the bread, how we feel about swsh is that it's toast. It lacks the butta that it once had and nastalgia can only go so far.… Expand
  83. 8jscsgh
    Nov 17, 2019
    1
    when they started to develop Pokemon go...and then Pokemon let's go...you can predict the future of Pokemon games...too profit driven... Just played the Pokemon Firered again on GBA...it was so amazing that they could achieve such in that era. Seeing all the improvement of gaming development in game industry from other companies in the past two decades, and look at what has gf becomewhen they started to develop Pokemon go...and then Pokemon let's go...you can predict the future of Pokemon games...too profit driven... Just played the Pokemon Firered again on GBA...it was so amazing that they could achieve such in that era. Seeing all the improvement of gaming development in game industry from other companies in the past two decades, and look at what has gf become today...not quite into the mega revolution...they discarded mega revolution and now gigantamax!!!??? couldn't find a lazier way to declare a new feature???..feel sorry for the company...and feel sorry for all the fans...… Expand
  84. LarsCramer
    Nov 17, 2019
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. CONS:
    The dex cut. You can't transfer non-Galar mons outside of a small handful. Pokemon Home is not a solution, I like my mons on a physical cartridge I own and not on a server who knows where. Pokemon Bank won't last forever, eventually it won't be possible to transfer from older games at all.
    Reused models. It would be obvious even if I wasn't actively thinking about it because of you guys. It looks bad.
    The opening drags. Before you can challenge the gyms, you have to talk to like three other people.
    The game crashed. It only happened once, but I still prefer my AAA games to not crash.
    Characters disappear when you're far away. The only reason I didn't realize this was a problem at first was because I'm nearsighted IRL.
    The entire plot with the chairman. You go break into his building because the plot says so, then there's a weird non-animated cutscene, and finally an anticlimactic boss fight where the version mascots do most of the work.
    I'm about to fight the champion, and I don't feel anything.
    Postgame consists of a series of battles against Dynamax pokemon at gyms and a couple of rematches. Battle Tower is as barebones as they come.

    PERSONAL GRIPES:
    Hop is an idiot

    PROS:
    Random encounters were changed to be less annoying, and there are plenty of overworld encounters
    Most of the gym leaders have good designs and fun personalities (grass dude still looks weird tho)
    Bede and Marnie are alright rivals    … Expand
  85. Giammy96
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Il gioco è brutto, non mi piace è noioso e alcuni Pokémon non mi piacciono.… Expand
  86. elchicarcas
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    TERRIBLE. Recycled graphics, recycled moves from XY, S/M US/UM, graphics looks like a N64 games, NO national dex, you can't catch shinies like past gens, several locked shiny pokemon like the starters, the same animations like S/M, several bugs, the game is so short, animations like 1996 games, the game is a total scam.
  87. ny00
    Nov 17, 2019
    3
    To start with the positives, this is a pokemon game. As such, it still has the same, fairly entertaining gameplay of exploring a new region, finding and catching new pokemon and making them fight in a surprisingly deep yet easy to learn battle system. That being said, this is quite possibly one of the weakest entries in the series, sporting a much smaller cast of pokemon than before, aTo start with the positives, this is a pokemon game. As such, it still has the same, fairly entertaining gameplay of exploring a new region, finding and catching new pokemon and making them fight in a surprisingly deep yet easy to learn battle system. That being said, this is quite possibly one of the weakest entries in the series, sporting a much smaller cast of pokemon than before, a region that isn't terribly rich in unique locations to explore as well as having far less interesting and more cliched writing than in just the previous entries in the series. If you've played a pokemon game before, you'll know exactly what this game's story will be like.

    One of the biggest negatives, however, is the incredibly subpar presentation. Considering that the main selling point of the franchise are the unique pokemon, each fitted with their own, fun personality, the pokemon in this game are surprisingly lifeless in their movements past the very beginning of the game. Each individual pokemon only has a few different animations it can do to move, which often look incredibly jarring on a big screen. The whole region also suffers from an extreme lack of polish: Many areas contain noticeable low-quality textures, water doesn't make ripples when pokemon swim (Despite the fact that ripples form when the player traverses through water...) and many places in the world feel very empty. Furthermore, the game itself often struggles to keep it's measly 30 fps stable, with noticeable framerate drops happening throughout the game. The new wild area, where the player spends a hefty amount of their time catching pokemon, is by far the biggest offender of every problem listed thus far, featuring large, empty areas that lack particular points of interest, having horrendous textures for anything that isn't a pokemon or human character, and also not having as many different pokemon as one might expect. The wild area also has a very small draw distance, so pokemon appearing out of thin air is a common phenomenon here. I also found the pokemon's movements within the wild area to be very disappointing. While idling, all pokemon simply pace around a small spot, and they will only ever interact with the player character by either chasing or running away from him/her. The pokemon never interact with each other or the environment, and they don't even seem to have any unique animations that they can do on their own. For example, a flying bird pokemon will always keep flying without ever landing to rest, a canine pokemon will never bark, and so on. The whole world kind of falls apart when the pokemon themselves don't ever come off as actual living creatures, and that's a major problem when the game has little substance beyond the pokemon themselves.

    As for the gameplay, it's the usual pokemon package: You pick an elemental animal to start with and you beat up enemies with it to level up in a turn-based battle system. This game does try to mix things up with the brand-new Dynamax feature, but considering that it only lasts for 3 turns and is only available for a select few battles throughout the game, it isn't enough to make things feel fresh. Despite the fact that pokemon has a surprisingly intricate battle system, the single-player game never makes use of it, with most battles being easily completed with just attacking the foe with an elemental attack it's weak to without any further need for strategy. This makes raising a powerful team of pokemon feel meaningless, as you'll never have any truly difficult battles ahead. Artificially increasing the difficulty by limiting your own EXP gain is also made quite inconvenient, as in this game every pokemon in your party gains experience, even if they don't participate in battle and there is no way to disable this feature, unlike in the previous entries in the series.

    Overall, this is a very bland RPG that suffers from a severe lack of attention to detail, polish and content in general. This game is unlikely to entertain for more than a few afternoons (the main singleplayer campaign can be reasonably completed in well under 20 hours), which quite pathetic considering the price tag. The gameplay gets very stale very quickly due to the game never giving big challenges for the player to overcome. Pokemon Sword and Shield are some of the weakest entries in the series, and are definitely not worth their price.    … Expand
  88. GarmaSword
    Nov 17, 2019
    1
    The slogan of the franchise is "Gotta catch 'em all", but they removed the possibility to do so, they removed mega evolutions, they removed some fantastic moves, they..... I' m done
  89. sotimach12
    Nov 17, 2019
    1
    Really expensive and not what I expected for the new pokemon games in a console like the switch, not that good graphics, missing pokemons and stupid features like dynamax etc, developers of the game weren't listening.
  90. Elysiansky
    Nov 17, 2019
    4
    I’m not usually one to make an account and write a review, however I feel it is necessary so that gamefreak listen to their fans (the same way they changed sonics design) 1. The game is too easy, even if it is made for kids, children are not dumb and require and love challenges, to remove the challenge from a game that’s known to be challenging is is stupid 2. The story is average at best,I’m not usually one to make an account and write a review, however I feel it is necessary so that gamefreak listen to their fans (the same way they changed sonics design) 1. The game is too easy, even if it is made for kids, children are not dumb and require and love challenges, to remove the challenge from a game that’s known to be challenging is is stupid 2. The story is average at best, I want to play the game, have some banter within the rivalry and have an interesting story that doesn’t feel forced 3. While there are some good aspects to the game, unfortunately it seems as if gamefreak took two steps forward, and 10 steps back Also review bombing is not a thing… Expand
  91. angarpe
    Nov 17, 2019
    1
    Me encanta pokemon pero me parece fatal que nos quieran vender que el juego que han hecho esta a la altura, no tiene la pokedex nacional, esta lleno de bugs, hay zonas que se ven bien pero luego otras que se ven horrendas, que dentro de la ciudad los combates tengan de fondo el campo... En fin, espero que para la siguiente entrega decidan hacer un juego en condiciones...
  92. JackMax
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    Bad graphics, low quality, Less Pokemon, less moves, short and bad history, Small "open world",
  93. VampireHunterTK
    Nov 17, 2019
    1
    Not really catches my interest, the story is just pointless, many of the characters are forgettable, and the graphics are crap and it has the worst designed Pokémon I’ve ever seen in my life, it has little to no Post Game Content, and Game Freak lied to us that they’re doing this game from Scratch, they copied the Sun and Moon graphics, and they cut content for no reason at all, if SatoshiNot really catches my interest, the story is just pointless, many of the characters are forgettable, and the graphics are crap and it has the worst designed Pokémon I’ve ever seen in my life, it has little to no Post Game Content, and Game Freak lied to us that they’re doing this game from Scratch, they copied the Sun and Moon graphics, and they cut content for no reason at all, if Satoshi Tajiri was still around he’d be really disappointed with how his masterpiece is turning out, and put an end to the franchise, and fire Masuda and Ohmori.… Expand
  94. paulitomm
    Nov 17, 2019
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. below average graphics, few pokemons little innovation pokemons do not accompany the player… Expand
  95. Falk22
    Nov 17, 2019
    1
    Withdrawing more than half of the pokemons to improve performance and make the game more polished, gamefreak lied.
  96. Kawaii_Tanker
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    The performance in the wild area is unaccaptable. If any other not big game was released with such technical flaws it would be shredded to bits.
    The game just lacks in terms of Content you can literally beat it within 20 hours without trying to go fast on your very first playthrough.
    Pop in is horrible and textures for non player/npc models look very low res.
  97. Dozenthmink
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    Gamefreak didn't care one bit about the piece of garbage they were selling to Pokemon fans. They were lazy and lied about why they were doing what they were.
  98. Bruhboi
    Nov 17, 2019
    1
    This game is a huge mess. Its cut out 50% of all Pokemon, while adding like only 82. Devs promised us better graphics and animations. None of that here. The game is full of bugs and framerate drops that never occurred on any of the 3ds games. Its stupid. The graphics are imported from 3ds onto swith and the entire Gen 4 has been removed with very few exceptions . Most dark types have beenThis game is a huge mess. Its cut out 50% of all Pokemon, while adding like only 82. Devs promised us better graphics and animations. None of that here. The game is full of bugs and framerate drops that never occurred on any of the 3ds games. Its stupid. The graphics are imported from 3ds onto swith and the entire Gen 4 has been removed with very few exceptions . Most dark types have been removed. NOT WORTH 60$. Dont support the d3vs A BUY. Dont trust the positive reviews an… Expand
  99. IAMNOBODY
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    Heavily disapppointed with this game. Considering how much GAMEFREAK hyped this entry as the title meant for long-time fans, it's quite shocking to see how many corners were cut and how half baked some ideas are. For example:

    -Graphics haven't improved that much outside having a bigger poly count and better resolution compared to the 3DS games. -Dungeons and routes are still (for the    Heavily disapppointed with this game. Considering how much GAMEFREAK hyped this entry as the title meant for long-time fans, it's quite shocking to see how many corners were cut and how half baked some ideas are. For example:

    -Graphics haven't improved that much outside having a bigger poly count and better resolution compared to the 3DS games.
    -Dungeons and routes are still (for the most part) a straight line. While weaker hardware could excuse such scenario with Sun and Moon, on stronger hardware it's inexcusable.
    -The quality of towns and cities are all over the place. Some have quite a bit to discover while others are just a glorified hallway.
    -The game is very laggy in the wild area while connected online.
    -Speaking about said area, there isn't much secrets to be found there. It's just simply huge.
    -Pokemon are still not rendered on-scale during battle (despite Pokemon Let's Go having fixed that).
    -There's no longer the GTS, which was a fairly useful feature in past games to complete the pokedex.
    -Speaking about the pokedex, the game somehow has a smaller pokemon roster than the DS games.
    -Just like in Let's Go, the EXP share is always on and can't be removed. This means anyone looking for a challenge in the game (like me) is out of luck.
    -Sound settings for the game have to be unlocked via talking to a very specific NPC that's easily missable.
    -Compared to Sun/Moon and previous games, the plot barely exist. The bad guy executes their master plan at the very end of the game and much of it's consequences happen offscreen.
    -There's little to no postgame compared to the 3DS games, which is quite a feat considering how little those games had to begin with. Once you've finished the game, catched all 400 pokemon and beaten 5 battles at the batte tower, you will have done everything the game offers to you.

    What happened to this game man? I really wanted to enjoy it, but there are so many questionable design choices here that I just can't bring myself to pretend otherwise.

    Please don't let your kid have these games as their first pokemon experience. It says a lot there's far more enjoyment to be had with the older titles like Ultra Sun/Moon, Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, Black 2 and White 2, Heart Gold/Soul Silver and, hell, even Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee for a more old-school-modern hybrid experience.    … Expand
  100. Lukasheg
    Nov 17, 2019
    1
    The game is the pinnacle of Pokémon games that feel just unfinished since X and Y. I stayed open minded during the Dex controversy and wanted to try the games and make my own opinion. Unfortunately it has been just disappointing. Wether you care about the Dex or not is up to you. Gamewise specially for being the first main console game it just doesn’t live up to nowadays standard. In myThe game is the pinnacle of Pokémon games that feel just unfinished since X and Y. I stayed open minded during the Dex controversy and wanted to try the games and make my own opinion. Unfortunately it has been just disappointing. Wether you care about the Dex or not is up to you. Gamewise specially for being the first main console game it just doesn’t live up to nowadays standard. In my opinion it is clear that Game Freak will continue to half a** games and push them out as soon as possible.… Expand
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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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