Some of this review might be contextualised by the fact that this is my first Pokemon game (unless you count a brief foray into DS spin-off Blue Rescue Team when I was too young to really comprehend what I was doing) - as a result, I might not always know which complaints or compliments are SWSH-specific or apply to the series in general. On top of that, I ended up shelving this game once I hit the Dark gym because it just wasn't keeping my attention much anymore and I was getting distracted by other games, so all of my thoughts are based on the game up to that point.

I probably did like this more than most, likely as a result of it being my first, but even I grew tired of the extreme hand-holding at the beginning. Now, I personally don't like being dropped in a game with no indication of what to do - I'm autistic, so I like clear instructions - but this was pretty stifling. You'd get a dialogue telling you to go to X place down Y road, walk ten steps down said road, get interrupted by another dialogue telling you X place is up ahead, walk another ten steps, get interrupted by another dialogue telling you you've reached X place and how exciting that is, etc.

I enjoyed the Wild Area, though it quickly lost its novelty to me as it still contains the same general kinds of Pokemon and after you've caught those it's very rare to find a new kind you don't already have there.

The characters weren't very gripping; the most interesting ones to me were probably Bede, Nessa, and Kabu, but even then the latter two mostly stood out to me for their designs rather than their actual characterisation or actions.

There were some genuinely beautiful locations, such as Ballonlea, and I don't fully understand the criticism of graphics, but again that might be down to this being my only experience with Pokemon thus far.

I liked the Dynamax/Gigantamax thing well enough, mostly for the sake of playing around with different Pokemon and seeing what they looked like with it, but as a gimmick in itself it's just okay.

The game did motivate me to get more into Pokemon and go back to some of the older games, and I did discover a genuine love for catching and collecting Pokemon and filling out my Dex (which makes the Dex cut a little disappointing even for me as a newcomer), so I'll be doing that sometime for sure.

Maybe I'll get back to this someday, though it's not a super appealing thought as of right now. I'd restart and begin fresh, but the concept of trudging through all the hand-holding at the beginning again is putting me off.

I don’t know why so many people shit on this game. In my personal experience, this game, while definitely not being able to win a game of the year award, is definitely a must buy for anyone. In my honest opinion, this is also a really good game to start off with if you want to get into the Pokémon franchise. Pokémon sword/shield is such a massive improvement over the previous Pokémon game(s), Pokémon Sun & moon and Pokémon ultra sun & ultra moon. These games were an absolute joke. I would rather other be able to play the original no color Pokémon games than these (reasoning for this under their own respective review)

PROS

1. Graphics are so great. After moving from the pixelly look of the 3ds screen to the beautiful, non pixelly, smooth LED (or OLED) screen of the Nintendo switch, you can’t help but already love this game. (Small issue, most areas of the game are capped to around 30 fps and it’s kinda noticeable.)

2. Hop and Leon are so great compared to previous rivals. Sun and moon rival was childish and annoying and the same with X and Y ( not to mention to many of them (didn’t work out in my opinion)). Hop also is more human. He gets depressed when he got beaten by that snob, bede who he really wanted to prove wrong. He got depressed when he wasn’t the one to beat his brother out of his champion position. He’s very..human. Leon is upbeat but not annoying and is morally straight.

3. Good Pokédex variety to start off with. Now this may seem weird to people because this was a very hot topic in the beginning, but once you really look at the Pokédex size for previous games, you realize how large it really is. Now, they probably could have made the Pokédex larger with the switch being such a large upgrade from the 3DS, but why think about what could’ve been rather than what is.

4. Really made chairman rose and Oleana fantastic. They are the definition of people with a good, but misguided heart. Oleana’s macro cosmos team is a significantly better antagonist team than team yell.

5. Dynamax and battle moves look so fucking good compared to sun and moon. Look up sun and moon z crystal moves. It’s like something from the early 2000s. Not what you would expect from a game made in 2016.

6. General game mechanics are good, flying taxi is handy and bicycles are really useful (especially with the wild area.

7. Ok, people really shit on this game for this part, but I think the concept of the wild area was brilliant.People shit on this aspect because they approach this with the mindset that it was a failed attempt at an open world game. For me, I see it as a twist they implemented to make it different than other Pokémon games. Kinda like the twist they added into sun and moon, removing gym leaders and putting in trial captains (though that twist was complete and utter trash). The wild area lets you camp, catch a variety of Pokémon, even some that you can only trade to get. It lets you join raids to catch Pokémon (alone or online) And it’s a great way to level up and earn some pokedollars when playing the game.

8. People who really complained about the Pokédex size and lack of aftergame content, they added in a dlc. The dlc was, in my opinion, fantastic. They added in so many more Pokémon, even some with regional variety, they added a lot more lore and after game content, and more online features. Very well worth the price tags. The wait? Maybe not.

CONS

1. Team yell is absolutely trash. It’s the primary antagonist team you battle with the entire game. Team yell is arguably worse than team flare as it’s entire premise is them cheering and trying to get in the way of other trainers. That’s it. No nefarious leader with an evil plot, no black market involvement, just really, passionate, bothersome people. Really stupid.

2. Pokédex could’ve been larger, the switch is capable of amazing things. 30 fps cap? Come on, even Tetris 99 can do better.

3. DLC? Just add it into the main game. For Christ sakes the main game already has a 60$ price tag And the wait for the DLC? And they’re not even released together? Step up your game gamefreak

• Year played: 2019
• Playtime: 60-70 hours
• Completion level: completed main story and pokedex (no DLC)

Not sure where to begin with this one. There were things I loved and things I hated in this game, but overall I still had fun. Starting with some things I didn't like: there were a lot of rough edges in this game, from the lack of simple functionality (why allow me to buy new gym uniforms and then not allow me to wear them when I challenge a gym??), to the abysmal online experience, which barely functions as expected (many times I was unable to connect with other players entirely). And good luck trying to do any of the higher levelled raid battles without using the online mode, because they'll drop you in there with NPC trainers who have never heard of an offensive attack in their lives, sending out useless pokemon only to get one-shot because they're at a type disadvantage.

The storyline and cutscenes were tedious and uninteresting, most cutscenes started off with a painfully slow sequence of all the relevant characters walking onscreen. The characters themselves weren't all too interesting either - only Hop had much of a character arc to speak of - and I came close to throwing my switch at the wall with how many times I was reminded that Champion Leo is bad at directions and gets lost a lot. Even worse was all of the story content after the gym challenge, with endless uninteresting padding and the introduction of two absurd and one-dimensional villians who weren't ever seen or mentioned until after the credits rolled, who then force you to do a loop around the entire map for no real reason.

HOWEVER, with all that being said, I still thoroughly enjoyed this game enough to not just finish the story but also to "catch em all" and complete my pokedex. The core experience of battling and catching is where this game really shines. Before the game came out, I was of the opinion that reducing the pokedex size is good for the game, and having played it now, my position on that is solidified 100%. I have not actually attempted to complete the dex in a pokemon game since gen I and II days, because they had just gotten too big for their own good and required all kinds of workarounds and jumping through hoops to get all of them (remember having to put a GBA game in one slot and a DS game in the other on the 3DS pokemon games to catch certain 'mons?). But Sword and Shield made the collecting varied and enjoyable. The wild area is a great innovation, I loved going back in between gyms to see that the weather had changed and seeing new pokemon pop up, or going back to previous areas to catch strong wild pokemon that I couldn't get before.

I also really enjoyed the hybrid of classic wild encounters and the new overworld encounter style that they introduced in the Let's Go games. It managed to keep the surprise and fun elements, but removed the annoyance and tedium of traveling and getting interrupted. I don't think I used a single Repel over my entire playthrough of this game, which is a first for me in pokemon. Raid battles were also loads of fun when you got a decent trainer set, or managed to get in an online battle, and made it a breeze to level up pokemon for dex completion using the exp candies. I also thoroughly enjoyed the Dynamax mechanic and loved the spectacle of big stadium-style pokemon gyms with roaring crowds.

Speaking of the gyms, some of the songs in the game were absolute bangers, especially the gym challenge song. Going through and hunting, catching, breeding, and leveling up all the pokemon was a truly enjoyable experience with one exception, that being the need to start an entirely new file on my husband's switch just to get the remaining 3rd starter that neither of us picked (sorry Grookey), and then being forced to replay through the tedium of the storyline for two hours just to get to the point where I unlocked the Y-comm and could finally do a link trade.

Anyway, despite some of the low points in the game, I enjoyed the experience overall. It's just a shame they have to ruin such a good core gameplay loop with the bland and uninteresting story.

This is easily the most I've enjoyed a Pokemon game since the original. The magic had been missing from this series for a long time for me, even as recently as Sun and Moon. There were entire generations I completely skipped because it just didn't seem like there wasn't really anything exciting or fresh about it. This is the first time I can definitively say that the formula has been successfully updated in some compelling ways. And while some might say it doesn't go far enough, I think it's a firm step in the right direction.

Pros:

• Being able to see Pokemon walking around in the world is a massive deal.
• Automatic EXP share THANK GOD.
• Wild Area is a great idea that can be updated and iterated down the line.
• Graphics are colorful, vibrant and detailed. Pokemon has never looked better.
• Pokemon roster is giant featuring great old designs and compelling new one.
• Dynamaxing is a neat mechanic that allows for even more wild Pokemon designs.

Cons:

• Story is still really basic and not particularly compelling, No voice acting.
• It's still arguably a somewhat boring game. You have to be into this kind of thing.
• The final evolutions of the starters are underwhelming.
• No Bulbasaur and Squirtle! (For now)

The good thing about this game is that it is Pokemon. The bad thing about this game is that it is Pokemon.

While other franchises like Mario or The Legend of Zelda all became something bigger, something better with the Nintendo Switch, Pokemon feels like it shouldn't even have left the Nintendo 3DS. Not only does Sword/Shield fail to evolve (ironic, considering how this game is all about evolution). It is an even worse title than most of what he have seen of this series.

Everything about this game stinks of low quality and feels rushed. There is no content whatsoever in the postgame, the main "story" is so boring, at one point I just wanted it to be over, I was begging the Poke Gods to relieve me from this pain. Hop is the most annoying piece of Trubbish ever, I can't remember ever having a worse rival. The cities and routes are as boring and lifeless as they have ever been. There aren't even many new and notable Pokemon that could have helped. Dexit certainly doesn't help there.

The presentation is just...let's just say that Pokemon Go is fifty times more appealing presentation-wise. The graphics are vomit-inducing, the music at a certain point feels like rape to my ears and one thing bugged me out so hard. What the hell were they thinking, when they left out any voice acting? It felt so weird, I felt so uncomfortable; every time a character in a cutscene opened their mouths, I just wanted to look away. Also, sure, it's a Pokemon Game, but I feel like there would be better dialogue in a Tetris game, it was so bad. Did the localization team not get paid or something?

Of course, as a Pokemon game, it has to be fun, and sure, it was fun...until it wasn't. The new gameplay mechanics seem really interesting at first, the Wild Area, the Dyna- and Gigantamaxing, but you'll soon find out how boring these features become after some time. Weirdly, the Pokemon battles felt so off this time around. It felt really slow, and I didn't even really know why. And we know that Game Freak wanted to work on some "high quality animations" and we know that they didn't; or they tried, at least they tried.

Pokemon Sword and Shield feel more like a devolution in the end and are definitely not worth your 60 bucks, that can get you games like Breath of the Wild, or Mario Odyssey, and now if you'll excuse me, I think I'm going back to Pokemon SoulSilver.

Leading up to this game I had extremely and I mean EXTREMELY low expectations for this game. The graphics looked like shit, all the new Pokemon didn't look good at all and the fact that 75% of the Pokedex is missing left me believing this game was going to suck.

To an extent it was still pretty underwhelming. Definitely one of the shortest mainline Pokemon games of all time and a very VERY light story. There is barely any conflict until the end of the game and there is barely anything to do after you complete the story. After I beat the game I felt very unsatisfied, like something was missing. Something felt missing throughout this whole game. That being time to explore this world. The Galar region sucks. It's not an interesting region at all. There is nothing to do aside from go from route to route and town to town to get all seven badges (because for some reason they couldn't add in 8 like usual).

The few things I enjoyed about the game honestly is all the fun I have had playing this game with my friends. Seeing my friends love the game made me appreciate it a bit more than I'd expect. Some of the flaws rubbed off me but ever since I beat the game in the span of 2 days in less than 20 hours I have been desperate for new stuff to do in the game aside from train all my Pokemon to level 100, surprise trades that take years to work and online battles.

It's a fun game but soooo not worth the 60 dollars.

I beat the game a few months ago but I wanted to (for once) complete the Pokédex, the DLCs, deep my toes into competitive battles ... Basically explore the game in full. In the past I would beat the Elite 4 and the post-game quests and call it a day, but Sword and Shield brought changes to make collecting and competitive battles more accessible than ever.

Pokémon Sword & Shield is your usual Pokémon game: teenager goes on an adventure to be the very best (like no one ever was), become the region's champion, catch'em all and beat the bad guys in the process. I like to keep my reviews spoiler-free, but I'll say there's no team of baddies for a change. This time you'll be exploring the Galar, inspired in Great Britain and with very recognisable landmarks.

As always there's some post-game quests and, if you're up for more, the two DLCs can stretch your gameplay fairly longer and gear you up for competitive battles.

The majority of the changes have to do with the mechanics of the game, and many are a further development of other small changes introduced in previous games. To list a few:

• There is no National Dex. Moreover, not all Pokémon are available or can be transferred to the game (the infamous "Dexit").
• More regional variants introduced.
• Pokémon are visible in the over world (like in Let's go), whilst some can only be found in random battles in the tall grass.
• Wild area with free camera controls and Dynamax Raids, where one can find stronger Pokémon and obtain other items as a reward.
• You can camp outside of the cities to play with your Pokémon and cook curry, which heal HP and any status, similarly to the "refresh" feature in Sun & Moon.
• Gym battles are preluded by some missions or puzzles, which have a feel to the trials in Sun & Moon. I reckon this was better than the traditional maze with trainers in older games.
• Dynamax (and Gigantamax) is the battle trick this time, which double the Pokémon HP and unlocks some powerful moves.
• Exp. Share is enabled from the beginning and can't be turned off.
• The PC can be accessed (virtually) at any time to swap party members.
• Like in Sun/Moon, TMs can be use infinite times but the newly introduced TR (Technical Records) are single use.
• Synchronize ability works 100% of the time in wild Pokémon instead of 50%.
• Free and unlimited tutor to remember / forget moves.
• On top of hyper training, players can also change the nature of their Pokémon with mints.
• Ability capsules are back after being absent in Sun/Moon, and the new Ability patches now change regular abilities into hidden ones.
• Move eggs can be passed down without breeding in the nursery.

All in all, there is a strong argument that all changes go towards making the game easier and less overwhelming for new players, and I know a lot of people have complained about making a traditionally easy game series, even easier. In my opinion, except for the Exp. Share, I think the player ultimately still have a choice; do you want to only use the PC at the Pokémon centers and ignore in-route camping? Go for it. On the other hand, Exp. Share encouraged me to use some mons I would've ignored in the past because I could not be bothered to level them up, and I find that positive.

But above all, I feel the entry barrier for competitive play (VGC) is lower than ever. With the new mechanics it is possible to make any Pokémon competitive-ready. Weirdly enough, VGC is restricted to 2 vs 2 battles, and these are anecdotic in the game. There are surely others reasons, but it should not surprise anybody that the esports scene is insignificant compared to other games, despite Pokémon being such a huge franchise.

When it comes to the technical side of the game, to me it is the weakest point by far. I'd choose gameplay over graphics any day, but with Game Freak's budget, the presentation of these games are just inexcusable; ugly textures, lack of voice acting, massive pop-up, messed up handling of transparencies, horrible stutter in the wild area when playing online, frame drops here and there even when the graphics are anything but impressive. It just feels rushed and unpolished.

Transparency? Naaah, too hard. Let's go for some horrible-looking dithering.

And what to say about the online capabilities? Matchmaking for VGC works fine, but outside of that any online interaction is very limited and constrained to the wild area. For how full of players your screen can be at times, the world feels quite lifeless. In this day and age, I believe there was room for much more in the online department.

Wrap up

I think Sword and Shield are good games, better than any previous instalment, and continue the series of small improvements in the past years, but it seems the pace at which changes are introduced will never be enough to catch up with the players' demands at this stage, unless Game Freak is braver the next time.

For the avoidance of doubt, at the time of writing this review, Pokémon Legends: Arceus is already out and Pokémon Scarlet & Violet have recently been announced, and I personally don't think any of these fulfil -or will likely fulfil- the fan base expectations at this point.