Pokémon Sword (2019)

Just got my first two badges - yay. This game is fairly chill and while it’s not too hard that’s okay. I got to the breeding section and I know breeding can be super complicated so I’ll have to figure that out.

I’ve already put 6 hours in. It’s a good game to multi-task with. I’ve been catching up on some Masterclasses before my subscription expires.

Played this a little more today! It’s not super complicated. Although I have to admit I’ve gotten to the wild area and there are super high level Pokemon and they are no joke. Unfortunately you can’t catch them which is a bummer. But sometimes you can’t run away either which is annoying. I guess based on earlier reviews I was expecting all Pokemon to be easy?

There’s also the option now for Dynamaxing which I guess is just a fancy way of making more temporarily powerful Pokemon. And also an opportunity to catch high level Pokemon in the beginning?

I learned some more about my Pokeball dilemma. I guess when the Pokemon is lower in level you can throw a pokeball at it without weakening. But if it’s higher level not so much. There was one Pokemon that was giving me all sorts of issues and I wasted like 10 pokeballs on it, so who really knows. That’s what I get for trying to catch them all.

I had to give this a try even though I've heard mediocre things. I'm only an hour in and the game is very handhold-y, but the graphics are stunning. I brielfy had the pokemon animations turned off but I put them back on because they add to the magic. I'm sure I'll get sick of them eventually.

I was a little surprised though that the game encourages you to catch a pokemon without weakening it first. Isn't that part of the game? I mean it certainly makes it easier if you can just throw from the beginning. I do like how it'll tell me which pokemon/attacks are effective or not effective, which I'm sure the purists hate LOL.

TLDR: Quality of life takes a huge leap forward. This is a great game to start or get back into the series.

Pokemon is my favorite series. I have played every generation, and any time I do not know what to play, I typically find myself playing one of the games. While there may be controversy over not being able to catch them all in this game, I think the quality of life improvements introduced in sword and shield are one of the biggest leaps forward the series has seen. While each distinct activity in the game might seem a bit watered down, I feel that the game is designed in a way that allows any activity to be a more fulfilling way of completing the main story. In the past, things like contests were boxed off in their own (albeit complex) sections. Camping & cooking (and the fact that they give exp) provide a more viable way to progress for those more interested in bonding than battling/collecting than ever before. It is easy to play and train with a wide variety of pokemon now due to the exp share and access to boxes anywhere. And finally, you can make a significant chunk in creating a living dex much more easily in this generation than any prior. Although I had every generation of games, I never tried to collect them all until these games. And while I could not catch everything, I was able to catch a lot more for a lot less effort. Any other sacrifices for me are overcome by the ability to play on a big screen and on the go. The game no longer feels like an archaic RPG (although I wish I could skip more story scenes) and I have recommended (with success) to multiple friends who were interested in the series but never actually played.

Finally decided to pick up the expansion packs and I'm having a blast once again. Since I've beaten the game everything is up scaled to around level 60 so I've swapped out my maxed out heavy hitters for a team more aligned and with Pokemon I hadn't really used. Don't wanna steam roll through!

This is probably my favourite Pokemon title at this point, loving it!

So I made up the team that I wanted to use on my Shield playthrough. (Picture below of what the main team will be when fully-evolved, plus at least three that I'm going to swap in occasionally because I've never used them and it's so easy to change your team at any time in this gen.)

I wanted to make a whole team with colors that I really like together (light blues, pastel pinks/purples--the yellow that several of them have just kinda worked out to tie them together even more). It was pretty much impossible to find a Fire type that fit this and wasn't Chandelure, which I was trying not to use again even though it's my favorite Pokémon. Didn't feel right not using an actual Fire type and just relying on a Pokémon on my team having a Fire move, so I ended up deciding against Polteageist in my main team, again. Really wanted to finally use Mareanie, but I picked Sobble and couldn't bring myself to Box it. I've noted who can learn Steel and Poison moves from TMs/TRs so that I have some moves for handling Fairy types. I'll probably add in a Fighting to swap in as well, if I can, but for now it'll be covered with Double Kick and such.

I bred the Pokémon that I wanted for my team on Sword, had to trade the eggs over to my boyfriend's game, and then from his game over to my Shield. My friend who has Shield traded me a Goomy to breed as well. Thankfully trading is much, much faster than it used to be, so trading 9 eggs twice didn't take all that long. It's just kind of frustrating having to do it that way. I've always been able to trade with myself with multiple GameBoys or DS systems, so the move of the series to Switch made that more of a process with the fact that Switch games don't save to the cartridge. (Also, you can't put eggs onto Home, so I couldn't just do that.)

I'm not done with all of the DLC in Sword yet, but I want to play through the main game again at this point and not get burnt out on Legendary-catching. I spent like 35 minutes trying to catch Regirock last weekend, with it Paralyzed and with barely any HP, only for it to Struggle and KO itself. I've always hated how frustrating Legendary-catching can be for no reason, so I know if I just keep doing that for days I'll drop the games again.

Soooo anyway, has anyone else done something like this--trying to keep to a color scheme in their Pokémon team, or something similar? I'd say "my aesthetic(s)" is/are space/galaxy colors or the equivalent of an Arizona green tea can. Favorite color is teal/turquoise/other light blues, but I really like it in tandem with warm pastels.

Picked Sword back up again this past weekend, after over a year of leaving it untouched. I bought the expansions in like December with the intention of maybe putting some more time into it, but never did. Some friends were playing and I decided to do a few raids with them (and then got into the Milcery event), and now I'm baaaack in iiiiit.

I had my complaints about this latest installment in the franchise after finishing the main storyline in 2019, but overall, it's not all that bad. (Diamond and Pearl are still the worst, sorry.) I still think the story was basically non-existent, even for a Pokemon game. Team Yell can't even be considered a team. There's really no established antagonist until the end of the game. Hop is the most pathetic, useless rival yet. All of that aside, though... I am a sucker for customization, so I've loved the addition of clothing in the last few gens. The environments in this game are beautiful. I found myself just kind of in awe while walking in a cave and going down a slope, and comparing that to the three little horizontal lines indicating a ramp in the early games. There are a lot of elements that make things way easier than they need to be (move tutor in every Pokemon Center, for free; camping to heal up basically anywhere; EXP share; etc.) but I don't really find it detrimental to the experience.

I haven't gotten to The Crown Tundra yet, but there's definitely some fun stuff to do on Isle of Armor. There are the challenges to complete for the Dojo to get Kubfu, the tower to battle through to evolve it, finding 151 Diglett around the various areas of the Isle, and lots of new Pokemon to snag. There are also new hair styles and additions to all of clothing stores, as well as some new bike styles.

I'm having a good time. I've been reluctant to pick the game back up but I'm glad I did. I bought both games at release, so once I've done all of the DLC, I'll eventually start up Shield as well.

100 hours on Route 1 to start the game with a shiny Skwovet. Named the red bugger Eleanor. Seeing her rubbing the cheeks when cooking curry was totally worth the effort. The lockdown is doing things to people.

(My mum actually found it as she’s shiny hunting while watching television. Best Christmas present ever. She wants to go for Vanillite next)