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. PipeRomero
    Dec 1, 2019
    0
    Malo técnicamente, malo gráficamente, carente de contenido y bueno en diseño de Pokemon y ambientación musical.
  2. Cubsie
    Dec 2, 2019
    2
    This is a short game, a very short game.The game is not only short, but easy, and limits your exploration. The thing i personally was excited about most, was the wilds, and at early game, you were limited to where you could go, not only because you couldn't catch every pokemon you can see, but you would certainly be wiped out if you go too far. This limits the exploration that theseThis is a short game, a very short game.The game is not only short, but easy, and limits your exploration. The thing i personally was excited about most, was the wilds, and at early game, you were limited to where you could go, not only because you couldn't catch every pokemon you can see, but you would certainly be wiped out if you go too far. This limits the exploration that these marketers boasted about while hyping this game up. It is too linear, even more so than any other pokemon game. The new dynamax feature...love it, or hate it, going to the spots where the dynamax pokemon appears grants you items that makes sure you're whole team is wildly overpowered and stays overpowered. This game holds your hand for you every step of the way, there is no challenge, nothing, and this is all without the postgame in mind. There really is nothing to do in the post game, it's lackluster and far from polished and with very little to do. In a modest 20 hours, you can become the pokemon champion of a short over priced lackluster game from a blockbuster series. If you want to spend $60 on a game, you want more than 20 quality hours of it. Only look at this game if there is a sale, or they updated it to give it some new features, or brought some really good free quality dlc, but for now, leave it alone.… Expand
  3. Pinzonerone
    Dec 3, 2019
    0
    The game is made for childrens. Short story, not challenging contrincants. Easy battles. No interesting story. No much pokemons to choose. It is a waste of money
  4. LUCIID
    Dec 3, 2019
    2
    The game has a few good things but its quality is nowhere near past games.

    10-hour game, 20 if you take your time No postgame Generic backgrounds during battles 2019 one saving slot? The same storyline for the past 20 years Recycled animations 400 pokemon only Pokemon has little to no personality during battles Frame drops 0 difficulty 2019 and no voice acting? Pros:    The game has a few good things but its quality is nowhere near past games.

    10-hour game, 20 if you take your time
    No postgame
    Generic backgrounds during battles
    2019 one saving slot?
    The same storyline for the past 20 years
    Recycled animations
    400 pokemon only
    Pokemon has little to no personality during battles
    Frame drops
    0 difficulty
    2019 and no voice acting?

    Pros:
    Minimalistic UI
    No HM moves
    Camping
    Few good pokemon designs

    Overall this game is in no 2019 game. Standard things are treated as innovations. Pretty similar to 3ds entries. The only pokemon game I played was XD of darkness/coliseum on the Gamecube and honestly... it's not even close to that level. Gamefreak really rushed this project and you can definitely tell    … Expand
  5. Onichan_69
    Dec 3, 2019
    0
    Baja calidad de animaciones, no tiene todos los pokemon, historia corta y mala. Simplemente no vale la pena el juego es un ultrasol o ultraluna recortado.
  6. DetPikachu
    Dec 3, 2019
    4
    I'm going to keep this to bullet points but before I do I have to say this is coming from a person who's first game was pokemon red.

    This game is a massive disappointed, I fear for the series and I'm moving to temtem until I see massive changes. -Can't change outfit on bike and in stadium -No following pokemon -No rideable pokemon -Can't catch high level pokemon until you have the badges    I'm going to keep this to bullet points but before I do I have to say this is coming from a person who's first game was pokemon red.

    This game is a massive disappointed, I fear for the series and I'm moving to temtem until I see massive changes.

    -Can't change outfit on bike and in stadium
    -No following pokemon
    -No rideable pokemon
    -Can't catch high level pokemon until you have the badges even though you couldn't control them anyways
    -Story is lacking, very liniar, blan and almost non existent with the main villian doing something at the very end and only focusing on the tournament battles throughout the rest of the game not feeling like an adventure but rather just a competition.
    -Rival is annoying
    -beggining takes too long
    -Hidden abilities can only be found through gigantimax pokemon
    -Selective Egg moves can't actually be transferred meaning they lied again. i.e volt tackle
    -Animations and frame rate are garbage with constant drops in fps, and texture pop ins
    -Money is hard to get in a timely fashion in the end game unless you know a work around with meowth and selling pokeball bought with wats
    -Huge lack of past starters
    -Battle tower is not put together well and offers decreased rewards after completion
    -Choice of dialogue means nothing
    -Online play needs to be reworked
    -Only difficulty of raids is being pair with NPCs that bring pokemon that the raid Mon is super effective against
    -No plans to bring updates with new content giving it a poor shelf life
    -Sounds are still being re used including models
    -Dynamaxing loses its touch and flare after a while and feels less and less special in a short time also the amount of gigantimax pokemon is miniscule compared to megas
    -Shiny pokemon do not appear in overworld unless you start a battle to see if it is. Taking a step down from let's go -Humans in the world feel lifeless and don't move what so ever unless talked to
    So    … Expand
  7. JamesS00
    May 22, 2020
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The game was too short for me and I still can't play with people in raids.One of the worst pokemon game.… Expand
  8. SteviLsGaminG
    Dec 8, 2019
    2
    The Game Seems really Rusht and Unfinisht, Old Pokemon are Reused.

    Pokedex uncomplete

    Game Laggs when online.

    Store only told not played -_-

    New Pokemon almost Ugly
  9. kenshingensai
    Dec 8, 2019
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. postgame is lacking, there is no Elite Four, you fight the same trainers all over again instead, wild area don't care for, raid battles don't care for, towns are empty, lifeless animations, feels more like a port from 3DS, improvements come at way too high a price, the game suffers from many graphical issues. Pokemon, trainers, and objects will just pop into and out of the overworld for seemingly no reason. I can go on and on its trash.… Expand
  10. kaimaru
    Dec 16, 2019
    2
    Animações lamentáveis reaproveitados dos jogos passados, gráficos da Wild Área ridículos, Atraso de aparição de objetos, não contem a NationalDex o que é um absurdo, Sistema Online precário, Pokemons não dublados em pleno 2019 com um dos consoles mais forte da Nintendo, o que é decepcionantemente não sei por qual motivo não da para trocar de uniforme nas batalhas de ginasio, vende noAnimações lamentáveis reaproveitados dos jogos passados, gráficos da Wild Área ridículos, Atraso de aparição de objetos, não contem a NationalDex o que é um absurdo, Sistema Online precário, Pokemons não dublados em pleno 2019 com um dos consoles mais forte da Nintendo, o que é decepcionantemente não sei por qual motivo não da para trocar de uniforme nas batalhas de ginasio, vende no ginasio mas você sò pode usar normalmente mas nas batalhas de ginasio ele usa o que ganha no começo, se não da pra trocar pra que colocar essa m**** sò pra você comprar de trouxa achando que da pra usar, pra finalizar novamente não tiveram o trabalho de traduzir para português sendo vários outros jogos estão com legenda, não á desculpa para isso!… Expand
  11. Stallodesu
    Dec 9, 2019
    2
    Removed pokemon. Removed features. Low FPS. Reused assets and models. Reused animations. Terrible draw distance. Terrible textures. Terrible story. **** lackluster handheld experience sold at a console price for a console. Do not recommend.
  12. Sergiovolker
    Dec 10, 2019
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Si bien es cierto que plantea una forma de liga Pokémon que más se asemeja al manga o al anime me parece una falta de respeto que te curen después de cada combate, vale así sería justo en la vida real, pero venimos de una considerable reducción de dificultad respecto a anteriores entregas a excepción de X e Y que literalmente podías salir a curarte en medio de la liga. .
    A que viene que Berto interrumpa la liga y todo el mundo aplauda, si se ha convertido en el líder tipo hada tiene derecho a participar en la liga, no tiene que andar montando numeritos y el postgame, los hermanos hacen bastante el ridículo.

    Puedo resumir todo el juego en sube, baja, atraviesa, círculo, atraviesa, izquierda subir y bajar, vuelta derecha, sube y repite

    Entiendo que según la entrega aparezcan unos u otros Pokémon pero que digan que es por la animación cuando reciclan las de 3ds. Además porque crean un banco nuevo de almacenaje de todos los Pokémon con acceso a espada y escudo sino se puede pasarlo todo? Dos opciones, DLC de pago para completar Pokedex o en uno segunda versión de la saga con todos incluidos a precio de juego nuevo    … Expand
  13. Drago-S132
    Dec 14, 2019
    4
    -> (The review is also in English to the bottom ;)
    El juego, aunque cumple con entretener, lamento decirlo, es simplemente malo, pues al final sus defectos sobrepasan por mucho a sus virtudes:
    -No están todas las MT's (como es el caso de Tóxico, movimiento clave en muchas estrategias). - No están todos los pokémon (si pensabas que aquel reclamo de traer toda la pokédex de vuelta era    -> (The review is also in English to the bottom ;)
    El juego, aunque cumple con entretener, lamento decirlo, es simplemente malo, pues al final sus defectos sobrepasan por mucho a sus virtudes:

    -No están todas las MT's (como es el caso de Tóxico, movimiento clave en muchas estrategias).

    - No están todos los pokémon (si pensabas que aquel reclamo de traer toda la pokédex de vuelta era un tanto exagerado permiteme decirte que vas a extrañar a más de un pokémon en este juego, ya sea solo porque te gustaba, o porque realmente era parte importante de algún set o estrategia).

    -El juego es Demasiado fácil (El repartir experiencia es obligatorio, lo que causa un sobreleveo espantoso, rompiendo la experiencia de los combates de gimnasio y del juego en general).

    -No hay interacción entre pokémon salvajes (con el tiempo comienzan a parecer animatronicos sin alma caminando sin sentido)

    -Graficamente pobre y deficiente. (No hace falta explicar este punto, hay juegos de Gamecube que le dan mil vueltas a sus gráficos, especialmente en la zona del área silvestre)

    -El juego marca error y te saca de la partida (Ya me pasó, y muchos han reportado que tal error puede dañar o formatear tu memoria SD en tu switch, así que cuidado).

    -Animaciones muy mal hechas, o incluso inexistentes. (muchas de las animaciones en combate son muy pobres, poco creíbles, o fuera del juego inexistentes, por ejemplo, a usar un corvinight para ir a otro pueblo o zona uno esperaría ver alguna animación, pero no existe tal cosa).

    -Faltan mecánicas, como megaevoluciones y movimientos z, y más que faltar, las dejaron fuera por completo, como si nunca hubiesen existido.

    En cuanto a virtudes, el área silvestre es de lo poco disfrutable del juego, y aunque me gustaría decir que es su mayor virtud, lamentablemente se siente incompleta, sin exploración real, sin secretos, vacía, corta, limitada y muy pobre gráficamente.

    Lamento decirlo, pero al final el juego me decepcionó mucho, a pesar de que amo pokémon y fue mi regalo de cumpleaños.

    _________________________________________________________

    The game is simply bad, unfortunately its defects exceed its virtues:

    -Not all MT's (as in the case of Toxic, a key movement in many strategies)

    - They are not all Pokémon (many of the favorites are not even for strategies)

    -The game is too easy (experience share causes over-level breaking the experience of the gym fight and gamen in general)

    -No interaction between wild Pokémon (they seem animatronic without soul)

    -Graphically poor and deficient

    -The game marks error and takes you out of the game.

    -Very badly done, or even nonexistent animations.

    - Mechanics are missing, such as megaevolutions and z movements

    The wild area is the unpleasantness of the game, and I would like to say that it is its greatest virtue, but unfortunately it feels incomplete, without exploration, without secrets, empty, short and very poor graphically.    … Expand
  14. Matthewbraith
    Dec 15, 2019
    0
    Pokemon Sword and Shield is a massive piece of f*cking S*it. Also it has multiplayer.
  15. ExistDragon29
    Dec 16, 2019
    0
    OMG I am so sad that my favorite pokemon Cryogonal was not in this game. Why in the world would they take out sooooooooooo many pokemon like wtf its not like they make 100+ new desines every game or anything. And there is a tree in the game that looks bad so the graffics are horribel. And omg the rival picked Grookey which is the worst pokemon even and all starters suck and bad pokemonOMG I am so sad that my favorite pokemon Cryogonal was not in this game. Why in the world would they take out sooooooooooo many pokemon like wtf its not like they make 100+ new desines every game or anything. And there is a tree in the game that looks bad so the graffics are horribel. And omg the rival picked Grookey which is the worst pokemon even and all starters suck and bad pokemon designs look like fake fan made pokemon oh wait fans can do better. And the water looks too much like oil. Shame on you Gamefreek you guys can do better. I am now boicotting pokemon bye… Expand
  16. DavidLFen
    Dec 25, 2019
    0
    Objetivamente, el juego parece un port cutre de un juego de 3ds y ni siquiera de uno que explote al máximo de la 3ds, las animaciones son cutres, la exploración es nula y el balanceo está roto, el juego entero está ROTO, cada elemento mínimamente interesante de la narrativa es desaprovechando, y el postgame es casi inexistente, quita mecánicas a las que nos acostumbramos hace mucho como laObjetivamente, el juego parece un port cutre de un juego de 3ds y ni siquiera de uno que explote al máximo de la 3ds, las animaciones son cutres, la exploración es nula y el balanceo está roto, el juego entero está ROTO, cada elemento mínimamente interesante de la narrativa es desaprovechando, y el postgame es casi inexistente, quita mecánicas a las que nos acostumbramos hace mucho como la GTS y encima añaden cosas molestas como las MT de un solo uso, la ausencia de más de la mitad de los pokemon se nota mucho, es un insulto a los fans de toda la vida, si alguno de tus pokemon favoritos no estabprogramado por que a los de GAME FREAK, les apetecía rascarse las pelotas, jodete, y para colmo esta cosa cuesta 60€, no gracias… Expand
  17. LeonSan
    Dec 20, 2019
    1
    How arduous Pokémon player I can not pass up the disaster that these games mean, it seems that a mobile game (pokego) consumed the whole soul and brain of the company I love. From game mechanics to the worst story, in addition to a poorly optimized game, simple and painfully disappointing
  18. bringbacknatdex
    Dec 26, 2019
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I have been playing this series since Pokemon R/B/Y came out for the GB, and have played every single Generation since. I have truly enjoyed this series, as it is part of my childhood, but I still played Pokemon Sw/Sh despite all the controversy surrounding it in hopes of Gamefreak sticking to their word of having "higher quality animations".

    Nope.

    To start off, I hate that the National Dex has been cut and GF has not really stuck to their word as much as I'd like it to. I do love some of the new mons like Dragapult, Frosmoth, Galar Darmanitan, Alcremie, to name a few, the graphics are pretty good in terms of the 3D stuff. I love the idea of Wild Areas and the new UI, customisation.

    But there are other errors (which may just be me being picky but idc) - such as when Hop throws the pokeball to catch Zacian / Zamazenta in the post-game where it is nonexistent, random overworld pokemon in the WA that just pop up out of nowhere and I am forced to do an encounter, Piers's cutscene, Sordward and Shielbert in general (especially that clapping sequence near the end of postgame lolol), ending credits mouse cursor lol.

    I just feel like none of the characters in Sw/Sh have been memorable except for maybe Hop and Bede, who probably has a bit of development that I can appreciate. But I miss the times in games like S/M where we could capture all the legendaries from games past, battle former champions like Red, Blue, Cynthia, when characters were really memorable (still waiting for N and Gladion to make a reappearance).

    I'm not saying that Sw/Sh is not fun, I did enjoy certain moments of it such as the Eternatus battle and the arrival of the legendary wolves, but I feel as if GF did a really lazy job on it and just threw a half-assed product at us. And as a hardcore fan since Gen 1, I think that it's unfair to receive this product that has such a shallow plot, an even shallower postgame imo, characters that are not memorable to an extent, wack move animations (seriously, Cinderace kicks to punch). I miss the old mechanics like ride mons and soaring (literally just soared around Hoenn for 3 hours at one point), but now, flying taxis don't even have a cutscene or anything. The music in general is meh, it's fine but previous titles have been better. I mean, just ask Zinnia. Or Wally, or N, or Hau, or the protagonists from S/M where we actually had our own champion theme. I was literally crying by then because I loved it so much.

    Seriously, the whole game just felt like I was just supposed to become the champion and nothing else. Rose? Nah, I have the championship to worry about. Like come on, give me a side quest at least? Or have more interactions with characters like Bede. I was such a big fan of him by the end, I wish I had more interactions and more development with him. Or Marnie. idk.

    I also found it harder to trade pokemon with friends, even with the link code that never seemed to work. Either it would take way too long, or I'd get matched up with someone other than my friend. EV yields for competitive battling are harder to discern because they no longer show what EV spread your mons have. F in chat for the GTS, you will be missed.

    You can disagree, you can defend this game until the end, but my opinion on this is that it is an unfinished game that just lacks a lot of aspects that could have been fixed had GF just been not lazy with this. A mouse cursor can get into the credits scene, but not pokemon like Metagross, Garchomp, Salamence? Pokemon who I loved and constantly spent so much time with on my 3DS and had so many memories battling with both online and off.

    Also GF, why the hell would you cut Mega Evolutions from the game? If it's not broken, don't fix it. Still don't know what to feel about Dynamax. It's just too broken imho - like I get that if you're locked into a move with a choice item or something, you can Dynamax to get out of that and so can your opponent, but I seriously loved Mega Evolution with all the new forms and abilities and...god I miss the old pokemon.

    Yeah. I don't have high hopes for the next games. GF, get your act together. Also, still waiting on those Sinnoh remakes (please don't nerf Cynthia).    … Expand
  19. SirBadger
    Dec 27, 2019
    2
    Biggest dissapointing of this year. Cuted Pokedex, pathetic small wild area and animstions of attack will leave without comment...
  20. Ghuze
    Dec 28, 2019
    1
    Absolute garbage. Boring, ugly, sloppy, don't even bother with this game, it's not worth it.
  21. hewientrucko
    Dec 30, 2019
    0
    What a amazing game! POOR STORY POOR SYSTEM POOR NETWORK AND IT BROKEN MY SWITCH DOWN! Even it's not a part of Pokemon's game......still terrible. Don't buy it unless you don't want your son play too much switch.
  22. Seanna1998
    Jan 6, 2020
    1
    This game is technically so outdated to be embarrassing. There is no postgame, no dungeon, no evil team and most importantly, no details nor passion into this game at all. It is impossible to raid in multiplayer due to this sticker system which doesn’t update. Overall the writing of dialogues is not for children, is just childish, it’s frustrating not only for grown up players but also forThis game is technically so outdated to be embarrassing. There is no postgame, no dungeon, no evil team and most importantly, no details nor passion into this game at all. It is impossible to raid in multiplayer due to this sticker system which doesn’t update. Overall the writing of dialogues is not for children, is just childish, it’s frustrating not only for grown up players but also for kids. Not worth 60€, I’m deeply disappointed Game Freak. Looking at Pokémon’s income those games shouldn’t be like this.… Expand
  23. Crobi
    Jan 18, 2020
    4
    Missing Pokémon aside, the game has outdated graphics, blurry textures, little to no story, and a laggy wild area. The game feels empty and uninspired at best. Some towns are barely more than a Pokémon centre and a street. If this was made by an indie studio I'd be more understanding, but for a mainline Pokémon game in 2019, this game is disappointing at best.
  24. Catachoys
    Jan 16, 2020
    1
    Los graficos nunca han sido algo importante en la saga de Pokémon pero creo que graficos de Nintedo 3DS o incluso de 64 en una Switch ya es muy poca calidad Pasando a la historia, es corta, muy poco inovadora y demasiado simple para nada comparada a la de las anteriores generaciones y ni hablar de lo basico que es la zona salvaje En este juego hay varios personajes interesantes de los queLos graficos nunca han sido algo importante en la saga de Pokémon pero creo que graficos de Nintedo 3DS o incluso de 64 en una Switch ya es muy poca calidad Pasando a la historia, es corta, muy poco inovadora y demasiado simple para nada comparada a la de las anteriores generaciones y ni hablar de lo basico que es la zona salvaje En este juego hay varios personajes interesantes de los que se podria haber sacado más partido pero como en todas las ultimas entregas de pokémon el rival ya no es mas que un amigo y el juego es bastante facil haciendo que un niño de hasta 5 años no tenga ninguna complicacion en terminarlo ya que el juego te guia de un punto a otro haciendo una historia lineal en la que para nada se toma en serio la exploracion Este sera mi ultimo juego de pokemon porque ya no se que esperar de Gamefreak… Expand
  25. Exxenoz
    Jan 18, 2020
    0
    It feels more like an unfinished, overpriced and boring Indie-Game than a video game from a billion dollar franchise. Definitely one of (if not) the worst Pokemon Game ever.
  26. missile
    Jan 31, 2020
    1
    The game would be good if it was a 30 box game, but no instead you pay the full price (60 box). I still don't understand why you should have 2 versions of the game, you pay the full price but you got half of the game. Personally, I finished the game in less than 9 hours. I expect more from this full-price game and don't speak about this **** system of den which is a painful way to longerThe game would be good if it was a 30 box game, but no instead you pay the full price (60 box). I still don't understand why you should have 2 versions of the game, you pay the full price but you got half of the game. Personally, I finished the game in less than 9 hours. I expect more from this full-price game and don't speak about this **** system of den which is a painful way to longer the life of this game. Now they ask 30 box more to get what should have been in the game from the start and right now,16 box for Pokémon home. No I got enough of it. I don't support this, they are doing to us a BO3. It's time that they understand that we are not cows. It will be the last Pokémon game that I buy. And for everyone that things that there is still hope see you again at the next game.… Expand
  27. Entalpi
    May 4, 2020
    3
    Honestly it is a shell of a game. The earlier games in the series were far more fleshed out and exciting than this empty husk of a Pokemon(TM) game.
  28. urzu_se7en
    Jun 4, 2020
    3
    If you think this game worth 10 points you never played a Pokémon game before.
  29. TheSoyIsStrong
    Feb 4, 2020
    4
    This is by far the least ambitious Pokemon game of all time and manages to have less content than past games. The Dex cut, while embarrassing on his own due to the fact that nothing in the game would justify it, is sadly just one of the many issues.

    Whereas other franchises like Mario and Zelda keep improving and evolving, the Pokemon games just stay stagnant and get worse in certain    This is by far the least ambitious Pokemon game of all time and manages to have less content than past games. The Dex cut, while embarrassing on his own due to the fact that nothing in the game would justify it, is sadly just one of the many issues.

    Whereas other franchises like Mario and Zelda keep improving and evolving, the Pokemon games just stay stagnant and get worse in certain aspects, with Sword and Shield being a massive decline in every shape and form compared to Gen 7.    … Expand
  30. taffyandtora
    Mar 24, 2020
    0
    People will **** on games like star wars battlefront 2 and fallout 76 for their awful business practices but I would argue that Pokémon sword and shield are just as bad as these games. To access all of the content you will need to buy 2 separate games 2 £30 dlc packs and pay for 2 subscription services one of which costs more than Nintendo switch online. I would excuse all of this if thePeople will **** on games like star wars battlefront 2 and fallout 76 for their awful business practices but I would argue that Pokémon sword and shield are just as bad as these games. To access all of the content you will need to buy 2 separate games 2 £30 dlc packs and pay for 2 subscription services one of which costs more than Nintendo switch online. I would excuse all of this if the actual game was good but it just isn't. There is almost no strategy to the combat, the xp candy system is so broken I had a level 100 Pokémon by the third gym, they cut out half of the pokemon, the graphics and animation look like they have came straight out of a PS2 game and you are just stopped by all these characters who constantly tell you about the the boring backstory so much making the entire experience miserable. I fell dirty that I bought these games and I am never buying a Pokémon game again unless they drastically improve.… Expand
  31. Devilboy
    Feb 10, 2020
    3
    Pokemon sword and shield is an amazing game. However, game freak did not think about user's feelings. Firstly, they made expansion pass. This choice was so bad. Pokemon is not a cheap game already. Therefore users should spend too much money on playing this game. Switch console+swich online+pokemon game chip+expansion pass needs too much money. The most disappointing point is that gamePokemon sword and shield is an amazing game. However, game freak did not think about user's feelings. Firstly, they made expansion pass. This choice was so bad. Pokemon is not a cheap game already. Therefore users should spend too much money on playing this game. Switch console+swich online+pokemon game chip+expansion pass needs too much money. The most disappointing point is that game freak used their pokemon as a tool to make users to pay more. For example, you cannot meet some pokemons. However, if you buy expansion pass, you can meet those pokemon. At first, I thought the game freak did not put some pokemons because it is too hard for them to make. But it was because of money...If you clear the story, you have nothing to do unless you buy online or expansion pass. I think this was worse than Sun and Moon.… Expand
  32. CyberSurge
    Feb 12, 2020
    3
    While on the surface this seems to be the best pokemon game in years, once you step into it you will find one of the most shallow pokemon games ever made. The tutorial of the game is extremely long and drawn out, despite the fact that you only travel in a straight line. The game will ask if you need help sometimes, giving you the option to skip the tutorial, but it is very inconsistent.While on the surface this seems to be the best pokemon game in years, once you step into it you will find one of the most shallow pokemon games ever made. The tutorial of the game is extremely long and drawn out, despite the fact that you only travel in a straight line. The game will ask if you need help sometimes, giving you the option to skip the tutorial, but it is very inconsistent. Once you are done with the tutorial, you are brought to the wild area, the game's main selling point, which is a shame since it is so lackluster and dull. The only things you can do in the wild area is catch pokemon, participant in raids, and camp, none of which feel particularly fun after you repeatedly do them over and over again in quick succession. If you play online, the wild area will be inhabited by NPCs that use the attributes of real player accounts to make it appear like there are real people playing with you, but the game doesn't do a good job of convincing you of this. All NPCs (not just the wild area ones, either) move extremely rigidly as if they were still mapped to a grind like in past games. Their animations are so stale and lifeless you could practically see the code running on screen. Most characters only have a few animations as well, with most of the main characters (especially Hop, who even had his animations ripped straight from US/UM) will end up repeating the same 3 poses throughout the entire game. This bleeds into the completely flat story, which the game doesn't even let you see, much less play through. There is almost no storyline in this game other than a few moments in the game where the NPCs act panicked because of some unnamed threat that gets resolved before you even get to the location the threat is at. The only time that you actually get to play through a story conflict happens literally at the very end of game, which only involves you backtracking through the tutorial areas and fighting an unbeatable boss fight. After the game is over, there's no postgame content other than doing more raid battles and grinding pokemon for competitive play, neither of which are engaging or fun. Raid battles are extremely sluggish and slow and boil down to you pressing the at button 5 times over a 10 minute period, as the boss can deploy a shield that completely negates all damage for several turns, with no way to strategize around it. Overall, the game seems extremely rushed with only the bare minimum effort put into it. This game is not worth $40, much less $60. You are better off playing any other pokemon game, or even another more fleshed out and enjoyable RPG that provides much more fun than this game could ever dream of… Expand
  33. fanmadeendings
    Feb 4, 2022
    4
    It's about as entertaining as any cookie cutter pokemon game, but never more than that. By far the most disappointing entry in the series, made by technically incompetent developers, and devoid of any meaningful content.
  34. Dragonify
    Mar 8, 2020
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. As a person who barely play any Pokemon games (other than Emerald), this game still feels "meh" to me. Here's my reviews about the game in details:

    1. Story: The story feel rushed. Throughout the game, the player is investigating the history of Galar, that's alright, slowly building the plot, I can go with that. But then all of the sudden this evil man come out of nowhere and wants to "save the world" and can't wait literally more than a day, so he awakes Eternatus, the evil legendary. The player then defeat it with the help of the cover art legendaries. All of this only happens at the end of the game. I don't know, I might not make any sense here, but what I know is that the story is not built well.

    2. Pokedex Issues: Personally I'm okay with this, if anything I appreciate them cutting them out so I won't take years trying to catch 'em all. But the amount of the cut Pokemon does feel a bit much. Thankfully 200+ more Pokemon is added in through DLC, and isn't entirely locked behind a paywall.

    3. Animation: Game Freak claims that they have to sacrifice some Pokemon to make effort on their animation. And my thought seeing the final result is "eh, you can do better, I'll let you off tho". I like the animation they give to the Pokemon when camping (walking, running, playing, even racing etc), there's a lot of detail they put in there. But come on, make them turn around normally in cutscene please instead of just rotating the models (Legendaries in cutscenes for example).

    4. Graphics: There's a lot more they can do here. The overall graphic only feels a little bit better than 3DS. Just look at BoTW and then look at this. It's honestly sucked that they didn't put in efforts on this part, as this is mostly how people look at games nowadays. However I do appreciate the colorful look on the game.

    5. Gameplay: There's not much to say here, it's the Pokemon that we know and love/hate. It's nice to see Pokemon roaming around the world too, but the spawning of the Pokemon makes it annoying as they can spawn right in front of you. The Dynamax mechanic is alright, it's kinda like Mega Evos and Z-Move mix together but definitely not in the best way. I especially don't like how we can't just let our Pokemon have the Gigantamax ability but have to find a new one to replace them. Max Raid Battles are alright as well, but can we have better NPCs for those that don't have friends to play with?

    6. Online Features: Online Features are the most "ughhhhh" thing in this game. Trading feels a bit hard to connect with (especially when there are other people you don't know that are using the same code), and I can't even join online raids (tho that's probably only my Internet issue, but I can trade Pokemon fine, so not sure what that is about).

    Conclusion: Overall, 6/10. Camping feels great (Curry Dex not so much tho), music still feels like Pokemon music that I adore, animation is mostly fine, but others just feel "meh". Game Freak can definitely do better than this.    … Expand
  35. DoomGuy64
    Mar 24, 2020
    3
    Cutting Pokemon from the roster just to make a season pass... It’s just slimy. It’s an absolutely atrocious way of treating your fan base.
  36. Nexusphantom
    Apr 4, 2020
    4
    I waited several month before adding my rate. For more objectivity, and it's still a bad rate.

    Pokémon rpg games don't evolve and worst they regress. I m not talking about the fight mechanic because it's why I love Pokémon Pokémon. game freak should stop cutting mechanic which are good or USEFUL!! And game freak should stop being the developers of the pokémon rpg. For 60 euro you have a    I waited several month before adding my rate. For more objectivity, and it's still a bad rate.

    Pokémon rpg games don't evolve and worst they regress.

    I m not talking about the fight mechanic because it's why I love Pokémon Pokémon. game freak should stop cutting mechanic which are good or USEFUL!! And game freak should stop being the developers of the pokémon rpg.

    For 60 euro you have a game with less features than any other Pokémon, i don't count 1 and 2 generations because they had a lot technical limitation. But in 2019 and 2020 they are no more excuse. The menu for the online look like something made by amateur and still I think amateur will try to improve their interface but not here, it's like they are doing it wrong intentionally (you have to connect and disconnect repeatedly for refreshing the raid) They broke their own game so people have to glitch in order to play with correctly. And Pokémon game are too expensive for what they offers, if you want all the pokémon (legendary) you have to buy the 2 games so 120 euro, for playing online you need nitendo online, 20 euro, if you want to trade by the gts( who was free before) correctly you have to pay 15 euro, and with the upcoming dlc ( with specific legendary in each of them) you will have to pay 30 euro for each so 60 euro again. Total for the complete Pokémon experience 215 euro in 1 year. I preferred an third version of the game like before (45+45+45) 135 euro. The graphics are bad butt he artistic direction is good, it's look like Pokémon lol. Playing online is really laggy in game. The story is the most pitiful story I have ever read in an video game, really I m not joking, even an 5 years child will say "meh" The map if full of emptiness... And is 90% of the time it's an straight line.

    But you realise that after finishing the game.

    For the most prolific company, this game is a scam because they Know they will still sell it even if the game are bad.

    If you want a good game take Skyrim on switch and you will have a better game, even if the game is 9 years old    … Expand
  37. FunkyVonFresh
    Dec 2, 2020
    1
    An utter embarrassment of a game, and a complete waste of your money and time. The game lacks content, largely thanks to intentional corner cutting on GameFreak's part. This entire game feels dull, uninspired and overall cheap. Despite the promise of a more open world, Pokemon feels more linear than ever. This game is easy in the most boring way, and feels more like it was made forAn utter embarrassment of a game, and a complete waste of your money and time. The game lacks content, largely thanks to intentional corner cutting on GameFreak's part. This entire game feels dull, uninspired and overall cheap. Despite the promise of a more open world, Pokemon feels more linear than ever. This game is easy in the most boring way, and feels more like it was made for toddlers than an audience with any semblance of a brain. The region of this game feels smaller than ever with large empty wastelands and uncreative routes in-between the tiny feeling towns and cities. The story is plain and forgettable. I used to love this series. Gamefreak, get your **** together.… Expand
  38. ShakiraShakira
    Apr 10, 2020
    2
    the mouse cursor in ending credits ruined everything. two points for pokemon and music.
  39. RedahTheD00D
    Apr 11, 2020
    3
    Pokemon Sword and Shield prove that a game doesn't have to be good to be amusing. I had a meh experience with this game but after i started analyzing the game, it all fell apart. The game's art direction is beautiful, but the absolutely horrendous graphics ruined it. The trees look like they have come from a N64 game and the rest of the character models are lackluster in comparison toPokemon Sword and Shield prove that a game doesn't have to be good to be amusing. I had a meh experience with this game but after i started analyzing the game, it all fell apart. The game's art direction is beautiful, but the absolutely horrendous graphics ruined it. The trees look like they have come from a N64 game and the rest of the character models are lackluster in comparison to other switch titles. The Pokemon models are copy and pasted from the 3ds games which is fine as they were made with long term usage in mind, but the animation is horrible. It is worse than the animation in Pokemon stadium which came out in 1998! I know that stadium was a battle oriented game, but it came out when the hardware was infinitely worse also Pokemon is the highest grossing media franchise so Game Freak should have a lot of budget but they couldn't animate the moves despite the fact that they have created models that can be used to make the animation far more high quality. All in all Pokemon sword and shield are glorified 3ds games put on the switch, made only to appease competitive battlers without caring about the people who just want to have an immersive, fun experience that isn't too easy. Also the games are too pricey and now they are asking us to pay them money (Which makes the total price $90) To have as much content as X and Y Or Sun, Moon and the ultra games (Which are $45) while still pulling off the two games stunt.… Expand
  40. Karnib
    Apr 15, 2020
    4
    The game was fun and the graphics were good but that was pretty much it. I was disappointed from the small map that was limited to one small region, the small variety of pokemon, and the low difficulty of the game. The game ended pretty quickly and i felt like the game was half as long as I expected it to be and way too expensive compared to game quality. I am a lover of the series andThe game was fun and the graphics were good but that was pretty much it. I was disappointed from the small map that was limited to one small region, the small variety of pokemon, and the low difficulty of the game. The game ended pretty quickly and i felt like the game was half as long as I expected it to be and way too expensive compared to game quality. I am a lover of the series and have played all the games ever since I was a child, I hope that the next game would be more similar to the older games.… Expand
  41. Leb
    Apr 17, 2020
    5
    The game is fun. I wish the series was more mature, but for what it is, it is fun.
  42. Ochoxygen
    Apr 21, 2020
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. There are so many things fundamentally wrong with this game. The storyline, for starters, is incredibly shallow and forced. It drags you around to each different gym with no real purpose other than to complete this “gym challenge” they told you about in the beginning, with absolutely no other plot lines to supplement this like other Pokémon games. In fact, the only time the plot deviates whatsoever is at the very end, when you’re literally about to fight the champion - absolutely no buildup to that point, mind you - and it just feels out of place and pointless. It’s so forced. The game is forced. 1/10… Expand
  43. Rafft
    Apr 24, 2020
    4
    I dont need a National dex to Like Pokemon Sword and i have no lags or bucks and i must say if you run thrug the game you could be underlevelt for the 4 arena.
  44. Dave300
    Jun 6, 2020
    2
    As a big Nintendo fan and a Pokemon fan as well. I'm so dissapointed with this game. It's not the first time. Last few Pokemon games have been losing quality but this one is the most dissapointing one. Gen 6 was dissapointing. 7 was worst, Let's go games were bad. I was super excited for this game espacially after the Pokemon direct but that E3 gameplay killed all mine and a lot of fan'sAs a big Nintendo fan and a Pokemon fan as well. I'm so dissapointed with this game. It's not the first time. Last few Pokemon games have been losing quality but this one is the most dissapointing one. Gen 6 was dissapointing. 7 was worst, Let's go games were bad. I was super excited for this game espacially after the Pokemon direct but that E3 gameplay killed all mine and a lot of fan's hype. There were no national dex. Gamefreak said they did it so it would have better graphics and animations. And the graphics looked even worst than N64 games. Animations are all reused and low quality. This game is on the same system as Botw and Mario Odyssey. I wouldn't care about graphics if they didn't lied. The worst part is they are bringing a lot of old Pokemons with new DLC. They are literally selling the rest of the game. I thought they said that switch could not run every pokemon while DS and 3DS did? The base game is not even worth 60 dolars. We also have to pay money every month to bring our old Pokemons which is so expensive. So much more than the old one. We also have to pay for switch online. İt's ridicilous. The story is rushed and the gameplay adds nothing new. There are giant pokemon fights. How amazing! The strange part is graphics looks great when you are in a town but the wild area looks worst than the N64. They probally rushed the wild area. İf you have already played a Pokemon game before than just don't buy this cash grab. But the fact that this game sold 16 million in 3 months shows that fans just doesn't care at all. But buying this game will make next Pokemon games worst. Pokemon is no longer a good franchise for me. I'm done with it. This game only sells because it is a Pokemon game. That's it. The only reason why I gave this 2 stars is because I love Pokemon's gameplay. But the game is just not worth it. Just replay old Pokemon games and you will be better. Don't waste 60 dolars and don't support this.… Expand
  45. ChesterField
    Apr 27, 2020
    4
    Another pokemon game similar to the previous ones, for some reason they refuse to add mechanics of the previous ones like megaevolutions. It is inconceivable that in 2019 a pokemon game will come out in which there are only half to catch and more when your main motto is to 'catch them all'. How is it possible that they didn't even add voices to the game when 15 years ago games like PokemonAnother pokemon game similar to the previous ones, for some reason they refuse to add mechanics of the previous ones like megaevolutions. It is inconceivable that in 2019 a pokemon game will come out in which there are only half to catch and more when your main motto is to 'catch them all'. How is it possible that they didn't even add voices to the game when 15 years ago games like Pokemon Stadium did. Even these games had more difficulty than this. It is a pity that in 20 years of saga there has not been a single progress in the pokemon or mechanical battles. graphically the game has improved but not even close to the level of great titles of Nintendo, again a shame. In short, more of the same but easier and a little more beautiful. a purchase only mandatory for the most fanatics of the saga (among which I include myself) but in turn very disappointing.… Expand
  46. DanPlasmius
    Apr 27, 2020
    1
    The main story is too easy, you always get type advantage over Hop, after beating the main story there's really not to much to do. Graphic are mediocre, models are re used through all the game even if they are different characters, for example in the Team Yell there are only 3 different characters that repeat over and over again, at some moment you even see a Team Yell crowd that it's justThe main story is too easy, you always get type advantage over Hop, after beating the main story there's really not to much to do. Graphic are mediocre, models are re used through all the game even if they are different characters, for example in the Team Yell there are only 3 different characters that repeat over and over again, at some moment you even see a Team Yell crowd that it's just 2 models repeated all over the place, making it look low effort. That may have worked in past games because of lower resolution, less powerful hardware, but not on switch, where the hardware is more powerful and also the game costs more without a real justification. Also the lack of voice actors make some scenes look really awkward. Wild Area concept is nice but execution is poor, there are some serious frame drops when entering, or when pokémon appear, love the fact that you can freely move the camera. I love the new pokémon from Galar, they have nice typings and cool type combinations, sadly I can't say the same about the game, looks rushed, unfinished, low effort or uninspired, let's see what the expansion pack brings to this game but don't expect too much.… Expand
  47. ONYX137
    May 18, 2020
    3
    I have mixed feelings about this game. I do really enjoy the game but I'm not a huge fan of some of the newer generation Pokemon , and there are very few old generation Pokemon. The game gives you gym uniforms as prizes for beating gym leaders , and allows you to buy them, but yet you cannot wear them in battle. What is the point?? Also in 2020 I would expect a heck of a lot betterI have mixed feelings about this game. I do really enjoy the game but I'm not a huge fan of some of the newer generation Pokemon , and there are very few old generation Pokemon. The game gives you gym uniforms as prizes for beating gym leaders , and allows you to buy them, but yet you cannot wear them in battle. What is the point?? Also in 2020 I would expect a heck of a lot better graphics and design than this. Seems lazy and like little effort was given in creating this game. So basically a money grab. That being said, since I haven't played a Pokemon game since the Gameboy, I am enjoying this game.… Expand
  48. nookcrook
    Apr 29, 2020
    1
    I've been a fan of Pokemon games since 3rd gen and grew up with this series and it's absolutely shameful how bad of a game this is. It's the same Pokemon formula we've had for the last twenty something years but more restricted than it has been in years. There's no innovation or motivation to play it.

    First of all, the graphics are ugly. A Pokemon game for a home console in the year    I've been a fan of Pokemon games since 3rd gen and grew up with this series and it's absolutely shameful how bad of a game this is. It's the same Pokemon formula we've had for the last twenty something years but more restricted than it has been in years. There's no innovation or motivation to play it.

    First of all, the graphics are ugly. A Pokemon game for a home console in the year 2020 should not be nearly as ugly as this game turned out to be. The trees are disgusting. The render distance is horrible and completely breaks immersion. The towns are boring and all the routes are one dimensional, linear, and incredibly short. These graphics are on par or worse to the first 3D Pokemon games, X and Y, which came out in 2013. The animations and models are minimal and I believe many are reused from the 3DS games. Customization is similar to X and Y. Nothing is improved.

    Gameplay is OK for a Pokemon game, if said game was a demo. The battles are the same except shorter and easier. Most grunts use the same weak mons and you fight the same handful of character models over and over again. Every route is the same with nothing meaningful to find. There's less to do in this game than any other Pokemon game I've played. Cooking curry is boring and pointless. The campsite gets old when you've seen it once because it doesn't do anything besides aesthetics. The wild area is a chore to get through and the game doesn't even let you catch most mons if you haven't progressed far enough. There are half as many pokemon as there actually are, so have fun seeing the same mons you don't live everywhere. Competitive is broken because of the time limit, so most people play a flash game for competitive instead of this.

    The story is boring, the few characters who stalk you talk too much but they don't say anything interesting.

    Want to change the sound? Talk to a rando you probably skipped to unlock it. Choices.

    And because Pokemon knows people will buy this game because it's a mainline Pokemon game on the most successful Nintendo console, their customers are paying an absurd amount to play this game. The base game is 60 dollars, the most expensive main line Pokemon game ever. DLC is 30 dollars for barely any additional gameplay and a couple hundred mon's you have to pay for. Want to transfer mons? Pay 3 dollars a month for one service and then 5 dollars a year for the other and also online for however much if you want to do anything online at all.

    I could go on.

    If you aren't a child, hard pass.    … Expand
  49. BoseMiau
    Apr 30, 2020
    2
    Very dissapointing game. The game has zero value for long time fans. Regret buying.
  50. SOl0mon
    May 2, 2020
    1
    Compared to previous titles, this is a far cry from the series that I’ve come to love. Exploration is minimal with the removal of dungeons/caves, the scaled down dex, lack of a post game, removal of moves.. etc. I could go on and on but honestly this is a poor entry in the series. On a positive note the wild area was enjoyable for the time but other than that this game is not worth the 60Compared to previous titles, this is a far cry from the series that I’ve come to love. Exploration is minimal with the removal of dungeons/caves, the scaled down dex, lack of a post game, removal of moves.. etc. I could go on and on but honestly this is a poor entry in the series. On a positive note the wild area was enjoyable for the time but other than that this game is not worth the 60 dollars.… Expand
  51. illigian
    May 14, 2020
    3
    This game is really short, fast and too easy for the standards.
    - during the "championship" between each fight your team is auto-healed and you can also change party members (just as an example of how easy it is).
    - There isn't a "bad" team in all the game; the "team" here is composed just of fans of a rival of yours, they haven't an agenda or something, they just want their favourite    This game is really short, fast and too easy for the standards.
    - during the "championship" between each fight your team is auto-healed and you can also change party members (just as an example of how easy it is).
    - There isn't a "bad" team in all the game; the "team" here is composed just of fans of a rival of yours, they haven't an agenda or something, they just want their favourite trainer to win.
    - The real bad guy have a story arc of 5/10 minutes (i'm not joking here) and his motivation is really stupid; he is not evil, just "clumsy" and in a "rush" (i'm saying that in this way in order to avoid eccessive spoilers); in 3 minutes of his narrative arc he is sorry and ask for forgivness, the fastest change of mind in history.
    - There is just one single quest in the end game, i presume the others are in the dlcs...
    - This is the first pokemon game that i finish in 16,5H of play with the main team at level 65 and above (top one is at 77)... and i didn't even took pokemons from poke home in order to feel the real difficulty here (so none)...
    - only 10 routes
    - no strategy needed, you can brutforce every opponent
    - Game freak didn't improve animations for the mons; all the old gen ones are plain rip off from X, Y, Alpha and Omega; not a bad thing per se but they lied on this point.
    - camping minigame is somehow funny but with few options
    - lack of costumization for some little things that could be there (as the pose in battle and winning pose that was there in previous gens)
    - gts function is now with a subscription (or with nintendo subscription or with pokemon home and the android app) but is broken becouse you can offer your pokemon and ask something in return that could not exist (strange low lvl as 5-10 for legendaries for example, they just don't exist and gts refuse the trade because they are not legit) and the script don't block you from asking but it is impossible for anyone to confirm the trade; the gts is full of this cases and it is really difficult to trade something because every visual slot is taken by those offers... I have putted some legit shinys for trade 4 days ago and no one traded them even knowing they are requested pokemon and i do not asking for anything strange

    overrall game freak done good job on coding in almost every aspect of the game even if sometimes you can experience some frame drops and strange object beheviours but they wrote the worst and most boring story ever for one of the most easy and umbalanced game...

    BTW i finished the game in 16h and half with even the end game quest but i have procrastinated a lot with raids and the camping function and i have talked to every character and catched every pokemon that was not registered in my dex; i'm sure that this game could be finished even in less time...

    conclusions:
    - PRO: smooth game with some improved function that make your life easier in pkm games (as the possibility to access your boxes from everywhere)
    - CONS: bad story, short game, bad written characters, boring mini games, too easy, lack of some previous features, no bad guys, lack of good endgame, gts is broken, etc...    … Expand
  52. llamaboy
    Feb 3, 2022
    4
    The game is not good. Poor story, poor graphics, poor gameplay. The only reason I don’t rate it lower is because there is still fun to be had in competitive.
  53. CrispCicada
    May 27, 2020
    5
    Pokémon Sword and Shield are very controversial titles. Gameplay-wise, this is Pokémon at it's core. You catch Pokémon, grind them a bit, fill up your Pokedex. You use your Pokémon to challenge other trainers. After travelling a good distance, you'll reach a gym, in which you complete a small challenge and fight other trainers along the way. Gym leaders are basically the bosses in thisPokémon Sword and Shield are very controversial titles. Gameplay-wise, this is Pokémon at it's core. You catch Pokémon, grind them a bit, fill up your Pokedex. You use your Pokémon to challenge other trainers. After travelling a good distance, you'll reach a gym, in which you complete a small challenge and fight other trainers along the way. Gym leaders are basically the bosses in this game. They have the ability to dynamax their Pokémon and are generally harder than your average trainer. Every now and then, you'll fight one of your rivals, which are also decently more challenging than a regular trainer. Whilst travelling, you'll find Pokémon centers and nurseries. Nurseries are where you'll drop off a pokemon and they'll automatically level up over time. Pokestops are a place where you can heal your Pokémon and shop a little. Dynamaxing is this game's gimmick where your Pokémon will grow massively in size and their stats are improved for a little while. Graphically, this game is consistently inconsistent. There are a good amount of lovely looking areas such as the cities or the forest in this game. Then there is the Wild Area. Throughout the entire game, there is the feeling of laziness. In the Wild Area, all of the trees are copy and pasted and have the same ugly, stretched texture. The robotic movements of the characters in this game and the shoddy animations really disturb me. To be fair though, this game has some amazing new Pokémon designs. Also, the new gimmicks are actually sorta fun. In conclusion, this game is pretty mediocre and I wouldn't recommend it. I'd personally wait for more emulation on the Switch so you can play games like Pokémon Black and White. Have a lovely day/night, folks.… Expand
  54. Vadu1337
    May 27, 2020
    3
    Worst Mainline Pokemon Game yet! The New Pokemon are uninteresting. The Open World is done really really poor. Story line is boring. Even though I was a former Pokemon Fan I'm definitely gonna skip the Pokemon Games from now on unless many many things change.
  55. Winnd
    Jun 3, 2020
    1
    Not have all pokemons
    This game is a mix of the legend of Zelda ocarina of time with pokémon snap
    Ps2 Graphics
    3d models taken from Nintendo 3ds
  56. Nebbyy
    Jun 15, 2020
    6
    It’s really generic in my opinion, fun but still hella generic. I really enjoy all Pokemon games but this was not a standout. It just doesn’t give me the excitement that platinum or black and white 2 gave me. Also why did you cut out soo many Pokemon :((
  57. pipechile
    Jun 21, 2020
    0
    nintendo masssss de lo mismoooo... necesita aires nuevos... ya me tienen hasta la recha¿¿ con sus pokemin
  58. sabiogamer
    Jun 19, 2020
    0
    Un juego Recortado, eh incompleto, muy mal, le falta mucho por delante, y recortaron el juego solo para cobrar mas. las gráficas son las peores
  59. Lindagamer
    Jun 20, 2020
    0
    El juego esta incompleto, y te lo venden a trozos , las versiones anteriores tienen mas contenido que este.
  60. Alfonso933
    Sep 5, 2022
    2
    terribles gráficos, limitado número de pokedex, mundo abierto poco interesante, innecesario dlc y una vez más, título que separó a varios fans de la franquicia.
  61. Diego271094
    Jun 21, 2020
    0
    Una basura completa juego lineal sin historia sin sorpresas aburrido una basura completa la peor generacion de todas pokemon escupo y estafa
  62. TestingTest123
    Aug 2, 2020
    2
    Lazy and rushed game for $60

    - National Dex was cut due to spending more time on "High Quality Animations". Turns out that animations were severely neutered as we have NPCs and the legendary pokemon walking and turning around on the spot in cut-scenes, battle animations were supremely lacking in anything special and quite alot of them were recycled from previous games, no backgrounds    Lazy and rushed game for $60

    - National Dex was cut due to spending more time on "High Quality Animations". Turns out that animations were severely neutered as we have NPCs and the legendary pokemon walking and turning around on the spot in cut-scenes, battle animations were supremely lacking in anything special and quite alot of them were recycled from previous games, no backgrounds for battles (and the fact the backgrounds look so bad that people actually thought they were terrain effects). In the end, only some of the cut dex was then later slowly drip-fed into the game by the form of its 30$ DLCs on top of a $60 game.

    -Graphics look like a PS2 game. You have already seen the screenshots, I don't need to say more.

    -Pokemon designs are honestly subjective, although I did like some of the new designs.

    - Pokemon isn't known for its story so I don't really have much to say, other than that the characters were presented as quite emotionless due to having no voice acting or anything and the actual plot itself was very predictable.

    -The dynamax gimmick was essentially a more lackluster mega-evolution and z-moves combined, which had very little innovation. Now, less strategy is needed for online play as dynamaxing essentially gives your Pokemon more HP and free stat boosts when using some very high base damage moves (max moves).

    -The game is a corridor walking simulator (not counting the wild area) as you literally just walk forward with the occasional battles in-between. Spikemuth literally has only one pokemon center and one gym.

    -Wild area is a big desolate piece of land to roam around in with nothing to do but catch pokemon, battle some trainers, search for items and raids. Pokemon will literally pop in from nowhere for you to catch. The animations for wild pokemon roaming are just bad or overly simple with examples like wingull and steelix that just float around which seriously ruins the experience.

    -Difficulty is just piss easy when you have an exp share that cannot be turned off. I had to try to avoid some battles just so i can make my time just a little bit more challenging. Overall the most difficult part of pokemon battles is mashing A non stop and trying not to fall asleep from boredom.

    -For $60 there really isn't really much postgame content to dive into other than raids, online battling, another battle tower clone and the legendaries. Fans have been asking for years to bring back the battle frontier or literally anything that is not just a battle tower clone but Gamefreak again is either not listening or too lazy to implement more content for postgame, instead charging 30$ for DLC.

    As someone who had been playing Pokemon games since Crystal, I can say that the series is quickly going downhill when Gamefreak realizes that they can ship out a half finished game and then try to justify that with poor excuses and casuals/consoomers will just blindly buy anything Gamefreak throws out.    … Expand
  63. MrZendom
    Jun 24, 2020
    4
    Well the game is playable, but gamefreak gave a **** about the community and cut a lot of content, just to release in a paid DLC, and no one expectet all 800 pokemon to be obtainable in the base game, but the fact, that they reused EVERY character model and all the animations from sun and moon paired with the fact, that you cant even trade to pokemon up like you could the last 15+ yearsWell the game is playable, but gamefreak gave a **** about the community and cut a lot of content, just to release in a paid DLC, and no one expectet all 800 pokemon to be obtainable in the base game, but the fact, that they reused EVERY character model and all the animations from sun and moon paired with the fact, that you cant even trade to pokemon up like you could the last 15+ years makes it much worse.… Expand
  64. Swampie2
    Jun 24, 2020
    1
    This game is a travesty. If you like Pokemon games, don’t play this one. This game feels like it was slapped together in a week.
  65. 64152110
    Jun 24, 2020
    2
    Many people say they are good games despite all of their many flaws and the dex cut (among various other different cuts), but for me, all of that just ruined the entire Pokémon experience...

    Generally, I don't usually get mad at people when they have an opinion that differs from mine. However, when their opinion affects my lifestyle in a negative way, it's hard not to get mad. I am a    Many people say they are good games despite all of their many flaws and the dex cut (among various other different cuts), but for me, all of that just ruined the entire Pokémon experience...

    Generally, I don't usually get mad at people when they have an opinion that differs from mine. However, when their opinion affects my lifestyle in a negative way, it's hard not to get mad. I am a huge Pokémon fan, and I want the new games to have the quality Pokémon games use to have before... but if fans *do not mind having little innovation in the new games alongside less and less of the legacy content*, Game Freak won't want to put it there; instead, GF will just find this to be an excellent opportunity to explore their consumers.

    But I don't want that, I hate what they are doing, I hate the Sword and Shield cuts, but
    I still love Pokémon.

    Observe, Game Freak has basically already told us that this new "We are cutting random content that was always in the pasts game in this new game. Worry not... maybe (just maybe) we'll include part of it behind a paywall. Also, prepare yourself, because there are probably going to be other cuts in the next new games. What features are we cutting? We can't say" design filosophy is going to be their standard business model from now on.

    Some people apparently do not care for the cuts in gen 8 whatsover, but I do - to the point I refuse to buy new Pokémon games until all the Pokémon species plus the Megas are back. If not enough fans boycott/backlash the games enough, GF won't change a thing. By buying SwSh and making it the fastest selling Nintendo Switch game of all time, people just make the goal to convince Game Freak to put everything back in a single Pokémon game even harder than it already was.

    If things stay like this, people like me will never get what we love - another great Pokémon games, one tat lets us have a great time with all of our favorite Pokémon Friends.    … Expand
  66. adicer01
    Nov 3, 2020
    3
    Animation, Story and Performance a complete disaster. But the music and character models (expcect for hope) are very good. To sum a very disappointed game.
  67. publicitystunt
    Jul 8, 2020
    0
    I’ve played every single Pokémon game and I can inform you that this is the worst game in the franchise. Gamefreak decided to cut more than 55% of all Pokémon to take more of your money with dlc. Second if they were gonna do that at least make the game good, this game is complete trash, when it comes to story and difficulty. I could give this game to a 5 year old and they would be able toI’ve played every single Pokémon game and I can inform you that this is the worst game in the franchise. Gamefreak decided to cut more than 55% of all Pokémon to take more of your money with dlc. Second if they were gonna do that at least make the game good, this game is complete trash, when it comes to story and difficulty. I could give this game to a 5 year old and they would be able to beat it. In Gen 6 to Gen 7 (excluding the Let’s Go games) the exp share was OP but at least you could turn it off, but in these games you don’t have an option. This makes every battle easy as hell. Also the friendly rival is trash, his Pokémon will always be 2-5 levels below yours. Also the lack of post game hurts. It’s like they took X and Y’s lack of difficulty and lack of post game and called it Pokémon Sword and Shield. Lastly they took away not only mega evolutions but also z moves, making the gameplay predictable. It’s safe to say that gamefreak doesn’t care about their fans, they only care about money… Expand
  68. Igortxu
    Aug 6, 2020
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. LA PRIMERA PARTE DE ESTA RESEÑA NO CONTIENE SPOILERS, EN CUANTO HAYA UN MÍNIMO DETALLE SOBRE LA TRAMA HABRÁ UN TEXTO INDICANDO QUE CONTIENE SPOILERS

    Para empezar, me parece una vergüenza que este juego sea el TERCER juego más vendido de la historia de Pokémon, superando casi a POKÉMON ORO Y PLATA. Me da igual que no estén todos los Pokémon y no le deseo el mal a ningún trabajador de Gamefreak pero es que la calidad de este juego respecto a entregas anteriores es pésima.

    -Es un juego de Switch, una consola muy potente la cual ha podido soportar The Witcher 3 y tiene juegos con muy buenos gráficos como Mario Oddyssey o Zelda Breath Of The Wild, sin embargo la segunda entrega de Pokémon en Switch y comienzo de la octava generación visualmente es horrible. No me quiero extenderme mucho aquí pero las texturas son de muy baja calidad, los arboles parecen un chiste, tiene graves problemas de distancia de renderizado en humanos, objetos y sobre todo en Pokémon del área silvestre, esto te corta un montón la experiencia. Los modelos tienen una calidad decente pero los humanos al moverse parecen robots y no solo humanos si no también muchos Pokémon y animaciones de combate. Hay algunas animaciones muy buenas pero en general son o recicladas de 3DS o vagas, por ejemplo que un Pokémon haga cabezazo y su animación sea dar una patada o que un Pokémon haga doble patada y su animación sea un saltito. Esto era justificable debido a las limitaciones de la 3DS y que era una portátil pequeña pero en una consola como la Switch esto es lamentable.

    -Sin duda lo peor de este juego es la narrativa, Pokémon en las últimas generaciones como en la quinta o en la séptima nos había entregado narrativas excelentes, cuyas historias paralelas tenían una cohesión excelente y un desarrollo de personajes excelente como con N en Blanco y Negro o Lyllia en Pokémon Sol y Luna, aquí, como decirlo, la narrativa es una p*** m*****.

    A PARTIR DE AQUÍ HAY SPOILERS

    -El comienzo de la aventura es genial, se siente fresco y algo nuevo que ahora el desafío de los gimnasios se torne deportivo y anual en vez de algo que cualquier entrenador cuando alcanzase la edad de 10 años pudiera hacer, se siente en una región nueva y fresca donde no estamos solos si no que hay más entrenadores que aspiran a ser campeones. Aquí tenemos 3 rivales (Sin contar DLCs) Paul, nuestro amigo de toda la vida que podría haber sido un rival excelente pero su equipo al principio es un chiste (Cuando atrapa al Pokémon legendario tiene un equipo bastante compacto), que le costaba escoger al inicial fuerte al nuestro? No pido que nuestro amigo sea un rival que se crea el p*** amo y que nos insulte etc, solo pido que si lo derrotamos al menos que sea justo y no que en cuanto le ganes te sientas mal por que el pobre es un entrenador pésimo. Su arco es sencillo, su hermano es el campeón, quiere ser igual de fuerte que él, es muy malo, venimos nosotros y otros rivales los cuales le revientan y algunos lo humillan e insultan haciéndole dudar de su sueño y tiene una crisis de identidad en la que decide cambiar su equipo por completo incluido su Pokémon de toda la vida Wooloo al cual lo deja en el PC. Finalmente su hermano se da cuenta de lo que le han hecho y le motiva a seguir con su sueño, le ganamos en la liga, queda fuera del torneo, SE PONE A LLORAR y que es lo primero que hace su Lionel cuando ve que su hermano ha sido descalificado y que su sueño se ha derrumbado? Invitarlo a una cena para celebrar NUESTRA victoria, ole tú. Los otros dos rivales simplemente están desaprovechados, Roxy podría haber sido un buen personaje pero aparece 3 veces en la aventura y no muestran nada más allá de su relación con su hermano o el Team Yell y Berto era un rival muy interesante pero su equipo es un monotype, sencillo y encima cuando parece que íbamos a ver como le pasaba lo mismo que a Paul la líder de gimnasio se lo lleva y la próxima vez que lo vemos ala, ya es el nuevo líder, ha cambiado de equipo y se cuela en la liga en donde nadie le hecha a pesar de estar calificado. Pero sin duda ahora que estamos hablando de la liga me toca hablar de Rose. Rose no es un villano pero si el antagonista y bueno, como decirlo, su motivación es absurda, literalmente quiere destruir Galar solo por que en 1000 años va a haber una crisis que será inevitable, en 1000 años eh, no dice nada de que si no la detienen ya es imparable, simplemente dice que es en 1000 años y como él quiere mucho a Galar por que no desatar un caos en la región en vez de avisarle a las futuras generaciones de lo que se viene y que la tecnología del futuro se encargue de solucionar la crisis? Que va, mejor como este juego no tiene un equipo villano vamos a ser nosotros los que desatemos a Eternatus, el Pokémon más fuerte y destructivo de la historia y vamos a capturarlo para usar su energía a pesar de que pueda destruir la región entera, claro que sí.    … Expand
  69. doproyee
    Nov 15, 2020
    0
    i was so disappointed about Game Freak. they don't deserve such fame for this game.
  70. rssslll
    Dec 19, 2020
    0
    I figured out a way to weaken an over-leveled Onix at the beginning of the game which was pretty exciting but when I tried to catch it the game just said, "No. You're not allowed to do that." Wtf. That's literally the point of Pokemon.
  71. Tinker123
    Aug 6, 2020
    5
    I was able to play the game for the first time recently, and the only feeling the game invoked was one of indifference. While the base Pokemon experience is there, and exactly what the average player would want, there is little more than that.

    Aside from a few new mechanics such as the wild area, or the new bracelet gimmick, the game is another pokemon game. The story is barebones,    I was able to play the game for the first time recently, and the only feeling the game invoked was one of indifference. While the base Pokemon experience is there, and exactly what the average player would want, there is little more than that.

    Aside from a few new mechanics such as the wild area, or the new bracelet gimmick, the game is another pokemon game. The story is barebones, characters (despite the attempt at depth, which is appreciated) feel like one dimensional cutouts who occasionally tell you where to go.

    The new designs however, are wonderful, and I would argue they are up there with generation 4. Characters are also well designed and any animations made from the ground up are wonderful. There is clear skill and talent from Game Freak, but ultimately it is squashed under the fact this game is rushed. There's no two ways around it. Even super fans of the game I have spoken to admit the game does not feel like it had the right amount of development time.

    This rush manifests itself in many minor graphical hiccups, as well as a very shoddy online (which apparently has improved since launch), as well as other minor bugs. These do detract from the experience, but do not ruin it.

    The nostalgia pandering is present, as always, and just as annoying. From Charizard becoming an almost god-like pokemon because "hey, remember gen 1". And the sound design suffers from the insistence to include old sound effects (including the ugly thud sound when you walk into a wall).

    If you want a pokemon game to play, enjoy, and then leave, this game is perfect for you. If you crave that pokemon game you've been imagining since you were six, better luck next time.

    Therefore    … Expand
  72. DaniyalIslam
    Oct 23, 2020
    5
    I’ve been a longtime fan of the series forever. I’ve grown up with Pokémon, and it saddens me to say that this game is not the direction I hope the series takes. With antiquated designs and stuck in the last graphics and gameplay, this game desperately needs a breath of fresh air from Game Freak’s clutches.
  73. S3go_F
    Nov 5, 2020
    1
    Odio este juego, tiene cosas buenas como la música y ya. Todo lo demás es una decepción enorme, gráficos malisimos incluso para nintendo switch, historia penosa y sin sentido, bugs y muchísimo más. Este juego deberia valer 5€ y no 60€.
  74. FungusPhil
    Nov 27, 2020
    1
    I am very disappointed that Game Freak added paid DLC to an unfinished game. Hopefully they'll try harder for the next games, but as long as Pokemon continues to be the world's highest-grossing franchise, the chance of that happening is very low.
  75. Goblinking5
    Nov 12, 2020
    0
    I can never get past the first GYM out of boredom and I had to push myself to get that far. Too easy, annoying charaters (not all but they keep popping up). Honestly I really wanted it to be good and to like it but I was just very disapointed. Due to the constant exp share I can't do battles without very easily becoming overpowered. Its not good when I have to spend most of my timeI can never get past the first GYM out of boredom and I had to push myself to get that far. Too easy, annoying charaters (not all but they keep popping up). Honestly I really wanted it to be good and to like it but I was just very disapointed. Due to the constant exp share I can't do battles without very easily becoming overpowered. Its not good when I have to spend most of my time avoiding the main gameplay (batttles and catching). While catching pokemon giving you exp is very welcome the ease of becoming overpowered makes it more an issue than a comfort.… Expand
  76. sera1
    Nov 17, 2020
    0
    Pretty small step from the 3DS version, a game for a console that is capable of a game like Zelda BOTW shouldn't just be stamped off with a 3DS-Feeling game. The big cut in the Pokedex is my opinion a big mistake, compared to all the reused skins it just feels lazy. I wouldn't mind the cut if we got some new and awesome sprites for the new Pokemon, but everything here seems pretty reused.Pretty small step from the 3DS version, a game for a console that is capable of a game like Zelda BOTW shouldn't just be stamped off with a 3DS-Feeling game. The big cut in the Pokedex is my opinion a big mistake, compared to all the reused skins it just feels lazy. I wouldn't mind the cut if we got some new and awesome sprites for the new Pokemon, but everything here seems pretty reused. Another big nope from me is the lame world, the potential of the nature zone isn't used fully and the lack of content on the routes is just a disaster, boring walks and some couple of fights aren't what i call a "long time adventure". This feels also approved by the fact that EP sharing is always on, there no need to grind before gym fights. Overall its not a bad game but it has its own fight with many missing content, like who thought its a good idea to cut the GTS and put it on a phone app?? Pokemon Sword just gives me the feeling of "laziness" and "filling the market with a new entry". Gamefreak could and can do better. Also i would prefer a open world game like Borderlands, big free explorable areas. after playing this game, ike i read it in many other reviews i don't think Gamefreak is ready for a open world game like BOTW.… Expand
  77. Animal34all
    Nov 20, 2020
    4
    I loved the older titles in the Pokémon franchise, and I even loved Sun and Moon, but this game takes away the wonder and enjoyment I had with other games. This is Pokémon at its worst, and it is only going downhill at the moment. While other games such as Breath of the Wild has flaws, it makes up for it with its outstanding gameplay. In Sword however, it just feels slow, painfully boring,I loved the older titles in the Pokémon franchise, and I even loved Sun and Moon, but this game takes away the wonder and enjoyment I had with other games. This is Pokémon at its worst, and it is only going downhill at the moment. While other games such as Breath of the Wild has flaws, it makes up for it with its outstanding gameplay. In Sword however, it just feels slow, painfully boring, and the only reason it is a 4 is because of the Crown Tundra, otherwise it is a pretty stale game.… Expand
  78. DergKuzunoha
    Nov 22, 2020
    0
    I played the whole game, DLC and all. Definitely wasn't worth the money. Its a good.. 3DS game. The anims reused despite promises of better anims. The musics still good but the wild area is bland as hell. It tries to do a dq 11 and fails horribly. The 3ds can handle the wild area ngl. Its okay.. but not a good switch game
  79. ThaBiscuit
    Nov 27, 2020
    3
    My first pokemon game was emerald and it was awesome to me that it captured me into the pokemon game, since that I always played the main line games from pokemon and can't help to imagine what would it be like if pokemon game goes to console. Here we are with the new revolutionary example of transition of other major nintendo franchise like mario oddysey, zelda botw, animal crossing newMy first pokemon game was emerald and it was awesome to me that it captured me into the pokemon game, since that I always played the main line games from pokemon and can't help to imagine what would it be like if pokemon game goes to console. Here we are with the new revolutionary example of transition of other major nintendo franchise like mario oddysey, zelda botw, animal crossing new horizon and I can't help to see pokemon sword and shield and be dissapointed. Recycled animation, rushed game, popping npc and pokemon, bad quality of texture and animation, lazy writting, not enough cintent for 60 usd game, cutting corners everywhere, if this is what pokemon main line games future looks like, I think I am done with this franchise for a foreseeable future. Pokemon has the resources to do it right if they wnated to and it was clear that they decided to not focus on the main line games and direct their resources elsewhere, maybe, waht do I know but in my opinion this game is not worth the title of a main line pokemon game and sadly I regretted buying it.… Expand
  80. Logsdond4
    Dec 7, 2020
    1
    I have been a fan of Pokemon since I popped that red cartridge into my neon green gameboy color decades ago. Pokemon Gold and Silver were a revelation; even Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire were alright. But year after year, the formula has become more and more stale. Pokemon Sun and Moon were the first Pokemon games I just couldn't finish. I was hoping for something unique with the first consoleI have been a fan of Pokemon since I popped that red cartridge into my neon green gameboy color decades ago. Pokemon Gold and Silver were a revelation; even Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire were alright. But year after year, the formula has become more and more stale. Pokemon Sun and Moon were the first Pokemon games I just couldn't finish. I was hoping for something unique with the first console games. I was sorely disappointed. I spent a few days playing and have not picked it up since. Nintendo, please revitalize this franchise. Not worth your time, use your 60 dollars to buy Breath of the Wild.… Expand
  81. Nyx108
    Dec 17, 2020
    0
    Terrible game. I was so disappointing. Longtime fan of the series and finally a home console release and it looks, plays and feels like **** It’s boring repetitive and not creative. 0 effort for the game and it breaks my heart to see this
  82. maxreviews
    Dec 21, 2020
    0
    Dynamaxing is a horrible gimmick in which the whole game revolves around so I hope you like it, so much focus on the story when it is lacking and more full of holes than a cheese grater. The animations were better on the DS version and the game is clearly unfinished in multiple ways. If you are a super hardcore fan, own a Nintendo switch, and have 60$ that you really don't like staring atDynamaxing is a horrible gimmick in which the whole game revolves around so I hope you like it, so much focus on the story when it is lacking and more full of holes than a cheese grater. The animations were better on the DS version and the game is clearly unfinished in multiple ways. If you are a super hardcore fan, own a Nintendo switch, and have 60$ that you really don't like staring at I guess I would recommend this but even then I would highly advise against it.

    TL;DR Wait for the next pokemon game, play lets go if you haven't, pick up a handheld or emulate some of the older more complete titles, or just find a different game to invest you're time into.    … Expand
  83. Badgaime
    Dec 23, 2020
    0
    Absolutely no passion for the game worst main game of them all rushed no endgame to easy dont have more to tell just a bad game
  84. SwShDie
    Dec 28, 2020
    0
    When will this game be succeeded?? GameFreak cut corners in order to make the 2019 release date as it seems they release a mainline Pokemon game every year. But lo and behold, this steaming, half ***-ed pile of a game is still the current main game as 2020 is ending. We want a new main Pokemon game in order to leave this one to rot away (and to get the bad taste out of our mouths if GameWhen will this game be succeeded?? GameFreak cut corners in order to make the 2019 release date as it seems they release a mainline Pokemon game every year. But lo and behold, this steaming, half ***-ed pile of a game is still the current main game as 2020 is ending. We want a new main Pokemon game in order to leave this one to rot away (and to get the bad taste out of our mouths if Game Freak doesn't mess up that one too). Even a month with Sword/Shield is far too long.… Expand
  85. makdizzle
    Dec 29, 2020
    3
    What a let down. This game has so much potential but is such a watered down, thoughtless version of what makes Pokemon great. I hope you enjoy nothing but easy gym battles where you match Pokemon weaknesses, because there's virtually nothing else this game has to offer. There are routes you travel and catch Pokemon, the wide open area, but no side quests, few to no interesting rare PokemonWhat a let down. This game has so much potential but is such a watered down, thoughtless version of what makes Pokemon great. I hope you enjoy nothing but easy gym battles where you match Pokemon weaknesses, because there's virtually nothing else this game has to offer. There are routes you travel and catch Pokemon, the wide open area, but no side quests, few to no interesting rare Pokemon to pursue... I'm so bored of it after fighting the 8 gym battles I don't plan on finishing it...and I got this game for free. DO NOT buy this game, use your money elsewhere.… Expand
  86. JohnnyBanana99
    Dec 31, 2020
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Before starting my review, I want to say that I had good expectations for this game before playing it, as these are the first main pokemon games on a home console I was expecting a huge revolution for the saga. Addressing some issues, I think the pokedex cut was necessary, there are now too many pokemon and this was going to happen sooner or later (that doesn't mean GF can lie though). Reusing models is not that big of a deal they are well made... What I’m saying is I don't hate this game because of controversies, I just want to review this game as any other game... and I must say it's a disaster, it doesn't hold up in any department.

    *EXPLORATION: My biggest issue with this game. For me pokemon was always a game about exploring the world around you but in this game and just like in pokemon sun&moon routes feel like corridors except this time it feels more accentuated without any hidden paths nor mistery. Routes' only purpose in this game is to connect point A to point B unlike any other pokemon game where you could find other sub-areas like the power plant in gen 1 or shoal cave in RSE for instances.
    As for the Wild Area, it's completely empty and spreading some pokeballs over the place with useless items doesn't solve the problem, everything mildly interesting in this area is just decoration like the watchtower ruins or the lake of outrage. The wild area is just a flat terrain with the layout of an "old times route" (you can't just call it “route” since now it means corridors) and with the false impression of "open world" they give you by letting the player handle the camera.
    Lastly, towns and cities are full of inaccessible buildings and there’s nothing to do other than buying items or clothes and beating the gyms.

    *COMBAT: So as everyone says the game is easy you already know what I’m going to say: exp share bad, rival gets the weaker starter to yours, Sonia gives you a ton of revives, etc. But i want to focus mainly on dinamax and gigantamax.
    They should have sticked to megaevolution, I already thought that Z moves were a "nuke button" but now with dina/gigantamax you get 3 turns of that. Megaevolutions at least were more circumstantial in the sense that it changed the pokemon's typings, abilities and stats in a way that sometimes it could play against you (for ex: pokemon losing speed, gaining weaknesses due to the typing changing, etc), on the other hand dina/gigantamax is just a power boost that makes you win instantaneously without any negative consequences

    *PLOT: Almost non-existent, and the story is told almost entirely in speech bubbles by Sonia. The plot is driven by a boring villain with stupid motivations.

    *CHARACTERS: I'm unable to care for any of the 3 rivals, Leon doesn't have a personality, Sonia doesn't let me go anywhere without talking for over 3h, Rose is stupid, Oleana's personality is that she's Rose's assistant, the Gym leaders are OK, just OK, and don't get me started on the royalty brothers from the postgame, they are unbearable.

    *ANIMATIONS: I won’t say much but there are only 2 combat animations for each pokemon which doesn't look good for a good part of the moves. Outside of battle you will see a lot of moments where the screen fades to black to avoid animating the characters, there are moments where the screen doesn’t even fade to black and the characters are still not animated.

    *MUSIC: Probably the best thing of this game but still (and this is to my liking), the music sounds cheap, as in it is mainly made by computer and not instruments, in previous games you could already hear orchestrated themes, in Sw&Sh you get very generic rpg library themes.

    *POSTGAME: Lacking, the episode of the royal brothers is poorly written, boring, and even frustrating at some point, once you finish it the only thing left is the battle tower.

    *CONCLUSION: It’s a boring and rushed game without any incentive to ply it other than "it's pokemon", and it's a terrible game, nobody should defend this; it fails as an RPG, as an open world, as a game by home console standards, but as a pokemon game apparently not because people would buy anything that says “pokemon” in the title. This game would still be a bad game even it had come out for the Gamecube, it makes some mistakes that are unforgivable for any game. I could keep highlighting bad aspects of this game all day: performance issues, graphics, character customization, pokemon camp, the curry mechanic which CONTRIBUTES NOTHING TO THE GAME, immersion, etc. There are a lot of issues I haven’t talked about that I despise in this game, but I think these are the most important aspects to highlight.
    I won’t talk about the DLCs because I haven’t played them, but since it must be built from the base this game has established, I doubt making 2 new areas and introducing some pokemon is going to change this game’s problems.
    I give this game 1/10 (and not 0/10) because it has Yamper and I love corgis.    … Expand
  87. Tacobel
    Jan 10, 2021
    0
    So gamefreak where to start.. the game was just not good to start at the graphics Mario Odessey BOTW Animal Crossing did look better the wild area was empty did lagg if you played online and it did look like a Ps1/2 game. The story wasnt much better it just didnt make much sense the ''Evil" team was just garbage and the handholding from your rival is just not what people want. The game hadSo gamefreak where to start.. the game was just not good to start at the graphics Mario Odessey BOTW Animal Crossing did look better the wild area was empty did lagg if you played online and it did look like a Ps1/2 game. The story wasnt much better it just didnt make much sense the ''Evil" team was just garbage and the handholding from your rival is just not what people want. The game had just to less to explore everything was liniare and cave were the most boring ever. Postgame was not wat it needed to be the DLC didnt even got any trainers and is just not worth it. You need to pay for Pokebank Pokemon HOME dlcs and the games. Dynamax is broken not fun raids are super super slow. This were the worst games. There is no difficult even if the game is for kids, kids like game with more difficulty exploring replayability but it just wasnt worth more than playing 1 time. There are much more things that i want to say but i hope they will improve the game into a great game like dragon quest or square enix i dont want to call gamefreak lazy but the game speaks for themselve. I think if they rework raids and the wild area ( More like randomize the world and make some encounters super super rare ) then it would be more fun. Raids en Y-comm need a full rework Y-comm is just worse than gen 7 and 6 it dont work really well. Raids need a maybe more dynamic fast fun to do not a slow pace maybe raids where 30 people join fast paced. There just need more replayabilty in the game Battle Tower wasnt enough more multiplayer battle frontier like or challenge battles. Maybe some puzzle battles. Trainers with strats that are more difficult swapping Pokemons. Trainers with even Legendary Pokemon. Make Bosses and evil team worth fighting it also the rivals. I just want the games to be good it comes from the heart. I just want to be the next games be good and fans are afraid that the games could be worse and worse. Maybe some good events with exclusive events of pokemon forms Spikey ear Pichu for example maybe pokemon with exclusive moves pokemon with hats like pokemon go armored mewtwo. Dynamic events or quest to have more interaction with trainers rivals professor like other RPG. I hope gamefreak improve the games in the next year the is so much potential in the games but i want them to make the best Pokemon game in years… Expand
  88. Mccheese
    Jan 13, 2021
    0
    Another year passes, and so another pokemon game releases; and with every year, it gets more and more shallow. Game Freak starts to realize that their games will make infinite amounts of money even if they put little to no heart into them
    SW/SH was a lie, the 3DS models, the horrible mechanics, and the concept of the wild area the game revolves around were badly executed in the games;    Another year passes, and so another pokemon game releases; and with every year, it gets more and more shallow. Game Freak starts to realize that their games will make infinite amounts of money even if they put little to no heart into them
    SW/SH was a lie, the 3DS models, the horrible mechanics, and the concept of the wild area the game revolves around were badly executed in the games; leaving me with a barren, soulless field of ocarina of time trees and pokemon appearing only when I am very close to them.

    Another massive problem this game has is the garbage online experience.
    The removal of the GTS, is in itself, proof of GFreak's laziness when trying to improve the game experience; but the lack of polishing with the game's main online experience (wild area's small, bland fields) was tangible. The immense frame rate drop whenever I connected to the internet made playing online to "camp" with a friend unbearable (one of the few mechanics that the SWSH team actually tried to polish).

    Game-wise SW/SH is bland, unimaginative, and outright insulting:
    the constant handholding, the low difficulty, and the unremovable XP share made these games, in particular, the easiest of the franchise.
    Dynamax is probably the worst mechanic ever written:
    competitively it has been banned from SWSH's own online competitions at a certain point, and the removal of other mechanics and other pokemon (which I'll get to in a bit) made the competitive landscape barren and filled with power creep, making it extremely boring.

    Apart from the low difficulty and unimaginative mechanics, SW/SH were the first games to date that removed the national dex, cutting it in half and locking it behind a paywall.
    Not only that, they removed other various features like mega evolutions, Z moves and some moves, all to "improve animations" (which, of course, did not happen in the end).

    I won't expand on how much hatred I feel for these games, as I'd probably surpass the character limit, but I'll end this review with a question:

    would you spend the equivalent of 1 copy of Zelda Breath of The wild for this pretentious, insulting, untruthful 3DS garbage?
    make the right choice and don't give money to the ones that don't deserve it.    … Expand
  89. JaidenReviews
    Jan 13, 2021
    2
    For literally the highest grossing media franchise in the world, this game is absolutely a shallow disappoint of a product. The Pokémon franchise is something that is dear to me, so it is disheartening to see them continue to churn out annual/biannual releases that are clearly rushed and uninspired. They have the potential, the resources, and the ability to make a fantastic game, and yetFor literally the highest grossing media franchise in the world, this game is absolutely a shallow disappoint of a product. The Pokémon franchise is something that is dear to me, so it is disheartening to see them continue to churn out annual/biannual releases that are clearly rushed and uninspired. They have the potential, the resources, and the ability to make a fantastic game, and yet this is what they produce? They need to hire more devs, give the games more time in the oven, and release something on the scale that Pokemon should be at, instead of these cash grab nightmares.

    Art and graphics: There are a handful of stunning locations that don't even look that great in actual gameplay. The rest of the game either looks generic/uninspired or downright unappealing (i.e. the entire wild area). There are a few great looking cinematic cutscenes and that's as close as the game gets to looking good. The towns/cities are scaled weirdly and have little to explore, making them and the world feel fake and unengaging (which has generally been a problem in the games ever since they went 3D). The battle animations range from fantastic to laughably terrible. Most are reused from past games, which doesn't help their case. Additionally, despite being on a more powerful console, the Pokemon still don't scale properly in battle (despite them being able to accomplish that in Pokemon Stadium over 20 years ago), so it again looks fake and unengaging. Any cutscene that isn't pre-rendered looks terrible, especially when the NPCs turn in place, which they didn't bother to animate properly at all. Overworld animations, especially for a lot of roaming Pokemon, aren't great, and sometimes they just straight up cut to black to avoid animating a scene. There's so much more I could say here but I feel like I'm rambling.

    Story: It was just so bad and dull and uninspired. A lot of people say Pokemon games don't need a good story, but I disagree. I like to be engaged with a storyline, and I feel like the Pokemon world has SO many stories to tell. But this game doesn't do that. It sidelines you into pointless cutscenes at every turn (especially early in the game where you can't go ten seconds without Hop interrupting you), while barely using cutscenes to develop the plot. And the plot that's there is just so basic and unenjoyable. There's no plot twists (that aren't completely obvious), all of the characters aren't compelling and/or are underutilized, and it generally just feels like a story written for a 2 year old. Even in the few instances when cool things are supposed to happen in the story, they literally don't let you see it or engage with it and only tell you about it afterward. Even compared to past Pokemon stories (which have mostly been fairly simple, with a few exceptions), this story is just SO noticeably worse. And that's not even touching on the absolute disaster that is the post-game story.

    Design: Linear. This game is so linear. Like, there are no off-the-beaten path areas, there's no choice in where to go, the entire map is a STRAIGHT LINE. They literally arbitrarily block you from going to the next area until you clear the gym/necessary story segment at EVERY city. Like, arbitrary boundaries are justifiable sometimes, but this game has reduced exploration to nothingness, which is the OPPOSITE of what the franchise should be going towards. It makes the world feel tiny and fake and ruins any charm that it may have had. Pokemon is not a franchise that can still be compelling in a small linear world with little to explore, especially considering the lackluster story. The "World of Pokemon" is kind of the whole concept behind the franchise. It has always relied on the scope and potential of the world to stay compelling. But this game does not feel like the "World of Pokemon," there is no wonder or wow factor, the world just feels empty and tiny.

    Wild Area: This area is basically supposed to address the critique I made above. It's a huge, completely free roam area with tons of Pokemon and locales and it is the worst part of the game. The Wild Area, first of all, has no significance to the story or the rest of the game. You can ignore it completely and just run through it in 5 minutes to the next location and it won't effect the rest of the experience at all. Second of all, it's generic and ugly. There's nothing visually interesting about the wild area, and it's noticeably uglier than the rest of the game. The different weather areas just hard cut into one another and it lags a lot. But worst of all, it's just empty. There's nothing interesting to explore nor secrets to find. There's nothing of value in the wild area. This are was meant to capitalize on the "World of Pokemon," and yet even the Pokemon often feel out of place in the environments and only sparsely populate the area.

    There's more I can talk about, like how the EXP share can't be turned off, but I've hit the character limit. This game is SHALLOW    … Expand
  90. moonlightbef
    Jan 31, 2021
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I personally enjoyed sword and shield. But that does not mean I can't say that these games are objectively bad. Because they are. The problem is that I and a lot of others have become addicted to this franchise and can not escape it. Leading into every fan buying every new game over and over, despite the game decreasing in quality. First, Sword and Shield are very rushed games and there are a lot of examples to illustrate this. For example, despite how gorgeous all the towns look, they are lacking content wise. There is not really anything else to do in the towns besides battling the gym leader, earning your badge and move on to the next town. Part of the reasons why I like pokemon so much, immersing myself in each different region and learning how a pokemon world would look like with human elements, is gone with this. Another example is how lacking the story is, if you even can call it a story at all. In previous games, besides becoming the champion, you had the quest of saving the world from a evil team that is up to no good. In sword and shield this part of the story is completely disregarded. Team Yell does not play a part in how the story progresses. Every time you encounter team yell all you do is battle the same two grunts, with the same two pokemon in the same empty background as always.
    The worst thing of all they mushed the evil team hideout/evil team leader in a gym challenge. So instead of getting a proper story with an evil team hideout that you have to clear all the way up to the boss, we just get a gym challenge. How the game serves its story becomes even more insulting to the player when they literally don't let you experience events that happen, but simply tell you it happend, by showing pictures or dialogue. So what happens in the end? They mash all the story in the last section of the game. The only bit of real storytelling begins at the moment you battle the champion. Chairman Rose reveals himself as the 'bad guy' by spouting some gibberish about how the world is going to end in 1000 years if we don't gather dynamax energy or something. Then you progress in what is maybe the worst couple of minutes of pokemon 'gameplay' that the franchise has ever seen.
    You have to battle the same grunt and his TWO POKEMON 4 times in order to get access to the hideout of chairman Rose, because every time you beat him he runs away to another spot on the square. After reaching rose tower you step into an elevator. there you battle the same two grunts, with two pokemon, over and over and over, and during all this, in what is suppose to be a moment of tension , as youre breaking in the chairmans hideout, the most upbeat silly tune plays during all the battles. you can't make this sh*t up: (its called "storming rose tower" look it up on youtube). So after this 'exciting' elevator ride you finally reach the top of the tower where Rose is hiding. You battle her crazy assistant and then all the plot of the game is explained to you with, yes you guessed it: PICTURES! 10/10 well done game freak. I went to all that mindless padding just for the story to be explained through some pictures! Youre immediately teleported back to the city after this btw. The thing is guys, i have legit a hundred more bad things to say about this game, but i realized this site won't let me type more than 5000 characters, so ill have to end it on this note. I also think other people have already talked about other flaws of the game.    … Expand
  91. nemnel
    Feb 11, 2021
    10
    Ignore the haters this game was one of the best pokemon games. Every single character was realistic and wonderful. Hop was the best rival since Blue. I had more fun playing this game than almost any of the others. I know why people didn't love it, but I think the criticisms are overblown and boring.
  92. Rocket7800
    Jun 10, 2021
    5
    bueno, la historia esta desaprovechada y los gráficos no están pulidos se nota que lo sacaron antes de tiempo y para remate la dex nacional, pero los personajes y el soundtrack son excelentes, no creo que sea un 0 y no es para nada un numero verde, es un juego decepcionante pero no alcanza a ser de lo peor
  93. danishdhanshe2
    Jan 8, 2022
    1
    It's been a year since the release. I just remembered how I rushed through the game to know what happens canonicaly in the game and never replayed it again like previous versions. Because the base game of sword and shield was so bad I was not motivated towards purchasing the dlc's of it as well. A game I wouldn't recommend to a friend.
  94. katiekat1389
    Oct 2, 2022
    0
    They cut out my favorite pokemon and slapped him behind a pay wall months later.

    The backgrounds in the battles never matched where you were in the overworld, Pokemon phasing in and out of existence depending on if you're close enough for them to render in, the "wild area" was just disappointing, and some of the routes/cities just look bad (textures, rendering, animation, etc)    They cut out my favorite pokemon and slapped him behind a pay wall months later.

    The backgrounds in the battles never matched where you were in the overworld, Pokemon phasing in and out of existence depending on if you're close enough for them to render in, the "wild area" was just disappointing, and some of the routes/cities just look bad (textures, rendering, animation, etc)

    GameFreak really dropped the ball with this one    … Expand
  95. reneatseyes
    Feb 13, 2022
    3
    The game is alright. Fundamentally it’s a pokémon game, however the new pokémon feep like re-textured old ones, and the wild area makes it horrendously easy to find and catch previously rare and over-powered pokemon very early. Good enough i suppose, but easy battles, uninteresting characters and pokemon make a somewhat boring game. Battle animation is also horrendous. It’s a shame.
  96. Whoopin
    Feb 27, 2022
    1
    Shameless cash grab from a billion-dollar franchise.
    Game is a one and done within 3-4 hours. Nothing really feels fleshed out, neither fights nor the amount of Pokemon added to the game, nor does the story which to be fair nobody cares for in Pokemon games. The character optimization this game delivers is poor at best with very limited choices to optimization, again we are talking about    Shameless cash grab from a billion-dollar franchise.
    Game is a one and done within 3-4 hours. Nothing really feels fleshed out, neither fights nor the amount of Pokemon added to the game, nor does the story which to be fair nobody cares for in Pokemon games. The character optimization this game delivers is poor at best with very limited choices to optimization, again we are talking about a billion-dollar franchise. The "open world" is a straight line the new feature gigantamax was a boring oversize with very limited special pokemon models. Low effort and even the shiny remain a simple switch of color pallets that you are supposed to grind for hours. Not my kinda game and really disappointed that game freak is shamelessly reselling the same boring concept for over 20 years now.
    To top it all off, they added paid dlc to this, though I can't report about the dl's contentc because I refuse to spend a single cent until they stop producing these shameless cash grabs.    … Expand
  97. Shhana
    Mar 25, 2022
    10
    This game is so fun!! The Dynamax features were smartly implemented. It has a lot of replay value. I have played it for more than 300 hours! Would recommend
  98. Darkred401
    Mar 31, 2022
    4
    Gamefreak cant decide if they want pokemon to be a high end or casual experience and this is the ultimate result, it isnt bad as a casual budget experience however they expect you to pay a full $60 and pressure you to double dip with shield for a complete experience. Reusing the old Pokémon models isn't necessarily bad however gamefreak lied about them not reusing models and didn't includeGamefreak cant decide if they want pokemon to be a high end or casual experience and this is the ultimate result, it isnt bad as a casual budget experience however they expect you to pay a full $60 and pressure you to double dip with shield for a complete experience. Reusing the old Pokémon models isn't necessarily bad however gamefreak lied about them not reusing models and didn't include all of them to pressure you to buy other games, the dlc, and the premium plan for home. If they used new models the lack of a national dex would be completely acceptable… Expand
  99. Colyn97X
    Apr 18, 2022
    0
    This is by far, the most underwhelming Pokemon game ever made. From lack of content, bugs, laziness, performance, immersion, lies from the devs reused content, I did not have any fun or any intrest in the game, in over 60 hours of gameplay. The worst part has to be the fact that all Pokemons are not even here, even tho the one in the game are… direct rips from the USUM game ??? To sell DLCThis is by far, the most underwhelming Pokemon game ever made. From lack of content, bugs, laziness, performance, immersion, lies from the devs reused content, I did not have any fun or any intrest in the game, in over 60 hours of gameplay. The worst part has to be the fact that all Pokemons are not even here, even tho the one in the game are… direct rips from the USUM game ??? To sell DLC where all Pokemons are not there ???… Expand
  100. Jofe
    Apr 30, 2022
    1
    The worst entry in the Pokemon series. The scenario does not exist, the characters are all mediocre. The roads are just straight lines without any level-design. The game is immeasurably ugly, though being pretty wouldn't change much at this point. Galar is the most insipid region in the series.
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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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