15.2.2020

I have rated this game quite highly because i really have had a lot of fun playing it, which is what is important when playing a game. There are some nice new additions to gameplay, game gimmicks and controls. There is however not a lot of innovation when it has come to this Pokemon title, it being the first main line Pokemon on a home console I was expecting a lot more.Pros:-The game difficulty is a lot more challenging than any recent Pokemon title, which was a welcome change.-The tutorial is a LOT shorter than titles like Sun and Moon. It asks occasionally if you know something and if you say yes then it accepts this. This is great for people who are accustomed to Pokemon games.-The game is a lot of fun!I have enjoyed the main story, battling, navigating the world and catching Pokemon. I highly enjoyed gym battles.-The world is semi open world. The Wild area allows for camera control, dynamax/ gigantamax battles (online or just with npcs) and for battling Pokemon which are extremely high levels. It is a vast area which is fun to explore.-The graphics are nice when it come to CHARACTERS.-The story is enough to keep you interested but doesn't overwhelm the main point of the game; collecting Pokemon, battling Pokemon and becoming the champion.-The music is really good, especially in gym battles. It is catchy, energetic and nice to listen to.-Gym battles have been revamped to have a challenge before hand, are very dramatic and are a lot of fun.-The game is a good length, with after game material.-Pokemon are seen over world and hidden in grass. A nice mix between traditional games and Lets Go.Camping with your Pokemon allows for extra benefits throughout the game when battling. It is easy, fun and positive to build bonds with your Pokemon.Cons:-The graphics of the back ground world are simply not good. The scenery is clearly supposed to be awed at... but I am not sure why, as it looks like Wii graphics, which is often distracting.-The animations are poor, Pokemon slide when walking, battle animations haven't been upgraded (or noticeably upgraded) unless the Pokemon are new (a few new animations are pretty cool to watch) and shadows are too dark (cloud shadows for example make the ground black). Battle animations are very stiff, Pokemon do not physically touch and mostly just move up and down or backwards and forwards.-The beginning of the game has a lot of different scenes, this is fine, however the music is changed dramatically and randomly through these. This is a shame as it make the music initially seem clunky and lazy when in fact it is very good.-Online. This is a whole massive issue. It is not explained of how to use at all. When clicking on a Pokemon Den to initiate a wild Dynamax battle it asks to connect to people online. It never connects. This is because before you do this you have to go into settings ant turn online on. Not explained. Then people will be added to your battle... however they are not. You then must close the Dynamax battle again and reopen it. People will then eventually be linked to you, although usually not the full amount. It is convoluted for 2019/20.-When online the game lags and stutters in the open area. The reason for this is because other players can be seen cycling or running around with you. Other games manage dozens of people online, with much more going on (like fast battles and massive open worlds), in a much smoother manner.-Once a Dynamax battle is started you cannot leave, even if you are not online. This makes a mistaken battle slow and frustrating.-Trading is done by linking stamp sequences rather than Switch online codes. A very bizarre choice as you can be linked to someone random easily.Overall, it would seem the game has more cons than pros, however they are outweighed by how fun it is and by how much time you can spend with it. Going forward I feel I would be less forgiving if the series doesn't adapt to a more next gen game play experience. However, i had a good time and continue to play it.The series needs to adapt by the next instalment. Online needs improving dramatically and animations and graphics need upgrading. The main Pokemon staples, on how you battle and catch Pokemon really doesn't need to change, this is why we love the games, but the fluff around this needs changing asap.

19.11.2019

So I had to sit down and write a review for this game after reading a few others and seeing that they have clearly missed the whole point of this game! One review here states they completed it in 20 hours and so one starred it...well I am 15 hours into the game and am just on my way to 4th gym. The reason is is that this is not a game you are meant to grab a team of 6 and blast through everything.Like most people I was turned off by some of the features that were to be included, Dynamax, lack of National Dex, etc. But I picked it up anyway and instantly found myself immersed as I emerged from my house and saw Wooloos (sheep pokemon) grazing and Butterfrees flying overhead.It felt like I truly was stepping into the world of Pokemon. As someone who has played since Gen 1, I was impressed. I also enjoyed how they set you up for the gym challenge with you having to be endorsed/sponsored.After watching a brief animation of the starters mucking around I picked up my Grooky and was ready to begin my adventure...but first a narrative forced route through The Slumbering Weald, a dense forest thick with fog that began to cloud my vision with haunting music playing through the background. There a strange pokemon emerged before me, a chilling cry spreading fog further into my path, I attacked but to no avail, then blacked out and awoke to find it gone. Not going to lie...I was intrigued. For the first time in a long time I wanted to know more!!Following the usual shtick, i.e. fight rival, be the best blah blah blah I found myself in the heart of the game, the Wild Area, and this place is awesome! Think a smaller scale Breath of the Wild. Unlike most games there are not just a handful of pokemon, as the weather and time changes you can find more than 30-40 pokemon around here, this gives you huge team opportunities and will allow for future playthroughs to be different each time. I wandered to the right and picked up a Tyrogue and a handful of new pokemon. I then encountered the first issue in game, that people moan about...not being able to turn off EXP Share. I arrived at the first city and headed around towards the gym where I trounced the first gym with absolute ease and my pokemon were a good 4 levels over despite me being careful and avoiding trainers and wild battles so as not to overlevel. I returned to the Wild Area and decided I wanted to spend some time exploring and just enjoying the game, so I boxed my main team and pulled out a fresh new team of 6 of randoms that I didn't care if I levelled up, and this is where I found the real joy and heart of this game. Wandering around and exploring the lush scenery and finding all the hidden gems and pokemon, camping out and searching for rare, exotic items and pokemon, switching my team around every so often to raise some of the new critters I had found. This is NOT a game to run around with 6 pokemon, but a game that allows you to swap and change your team and raise them quickly so you don't have to worry if a new pokemon comes along that you want to try. My main team of 6 quickly began changing as I tried out every new pokemon I could find. My Tyrogue became Hitmonlee and I picked up a Toxel from the nursery...one of the COOLEST evolutions I have ever seen! I even picked up the Apple pokemon which again evolved into a surprisingly awesome dragon! Well done Gamefreak! The designs for this game are some of the best in a long time!In short I will spend hours more on this game just exploring and raising all the new pokemon. I'm currently swapping between around 20 pokemon (you have a portable pokemon box so can switch on the go). You set your own challenge. I keep my main team for the story and am finding they are even slightly underlevelled now which is great as the wild pokemon end up being really strong and gym trainers and challengers actually put up more of a fight! But if I so wish I can power them up with a few random battles against the stronger Wild Area pokemon. So don't rush and overpower yourself, just take your time and enjoy exploring everything! There's plenty of side quests and hidden gems to find

18.11.2019

Honestly, all this idiotic blabbering about "This game is bad, don't buy." Is really childish, no this game isn't some breakthrough in the Pokemon franchise, however when it comes to Diamond and Perl, some of the most beloved games in the franchise, they're literally just polished Gameboy games, trust me I played a lot of diamond and I adored that game but I'd be lying if I said it was a phenomenon in gaming.This game is Pokemon at it's finest in my opinion, it's more expansive than ever due to the Wild Area giving you a whole world to free roam in, it's got better character development than alot of other Pokemon games what with your friendly rival getting bullied by a jerk rival causing yourfriendly rival to become depressed and have to work through things and that's just to name one of the several characters arcs, the gym missions are kind of a polished combination of the old gyms and the trails from Sun and Moon, the legendaries while seemingly simple are more than what meets the eye... *no spoilers*, the new Pokemon designs are awesome with my personal favorite being Frosmoth and there are loads of smaller improvements such as remaking some of the older animations so they look better and loads of little quality of life improvements that help to stop you from getting irritated at little things like having to go all the way to a pokecenter just to access all the Pokemon in your box, now you can access your box from anywhere, another quality of life improvement is also one of my favorite things in the whole game and this is the combination of the random encounters and overworld Pokemon roaming around, this let's it so you can walk past any Pokemon in the overworld and to enter a random encounters you need to actually run over to the shaking grass so you don't get ambushed every two seconds.This game has very few notible flaws but I'm not gonna hide them from you because that'd just be wrong, the biggest reason for the hate is because of the National Dex's removal, if you're a new player or a casual non-competitive player with has no effect on you, however if you've played multiple Pokemon games and you always transfer your Pokemon along to your next game, this is hard news. The second controversy is the graphics not being on par with other games on current gen systems, this argument makes sense and the graphics could be far better but I'll always think that gameplay is the most important part of any game and it's also why Pokemon always does so well, it's formula is perfection, so while the graphics could be better it's never been the selling point of a Pokemon game for me, I mean Diamond and Perl are upscaled GameBoy games and yet those where some of the best received Pokemon games to date.This game has it's flaws, but beyond said flaws is a beautiful, expansive, charming region with some of the best environments, Pokemon and characters to date. This game revived my hope if having a dream Pokemon game which Pokemon Let's Go made me worry about since it seemed they'd taken a step backwards, now it's clear to me that Pokemon Let's Go was a step backwards because they needed to help older players return for what is one of the best Pokemon games out there, if you loved the older Pokemon then you'll love this game and if you love the more recent Pokemon games you'll also love this game.All in all this is one of the best Pokemon experiences and since I've played everything every Pokemon game from yellow that's really saying something, this game has revived my faith in the future of the Pokemon franchise and I hope people don't let the childish controversies stop them from trying this amazing experience.

4.12.2019

Ahhh Pokemon, ever since my primary school days and Pokemon Yellow I have been doomed to buy every core game in the series. Despite my age there is a pure form of escapism and game play in Pokemon, a universal, inclusive approach, a lack of modern gaming trends (loot boxes) and a new vibrant world to explore and capture Pokemon, lets look at what it did well, and badly.The Good+ Galar - the new region (inspired off the UK in case you don't already know) is a lovely region that provides wonderful escapism from the UK's current real-life miseries. The towns are large and vibrant and coupled with the weather and changing time of day, it makes for a joy to explore.+ Wild Area - I'm not going to harp on about this too much as its not that impressive really,but it is a step in the right direction, a massive open area to be explored without distraction with hundreds of Pokemon to be caught.+ Quality of Life improvements - Little things add up, no more random battles (Pokemon moving around freely to engage at will), quick commands in battle, berries, EXP share and a host of other minor things make this a streamlined, approachable game (but not a Pokemon Lets Go thankfully)+ Graphics - its not amazing, but the world, Pokemon and so forth look great, hard to believe we finally have that big screen Pokemon game we dreamed of, 15 odd years ago...+ Raids - another interesting addition, these gigantic Pokemon can be taken on with three other trainers or AI companions - they make for a refreshing, exciting addition (perhaps not as interesting as Ultra Beasts but i digress)+ Story - its not as good as some in the previous series (Ruby, X & Y) but its still enjoyable enough with some interesting characters, a core narrative and serves as a strong direction going forwards.Whats Not Good?- Music - the series has never really had a great soundtrack, some of the early tunes are iconic but Ruby was probably the last with a 'good' soundtrack. Sword is particularly weak in this regard with grating battle/rival music in particular. A few (like the gym battles) are more novel and interesting.- Team Yell - lamest baddie team around, despite there being a good overall story they have an annoying battle theme, annoying character models, annoying way of talking and so forth.- Lack of innovation - A lot of additions are window-dressing here, dynamax and the wild area are interesting but not enough to really push this series forwards, it will do here for the first game on Switch, but the developer either needs more time or resources to really take things forward.- National Dex' - I couldn't give a monkeys but you might at the lack of certain Pokemon- Hop - lamest rival ever, that said, I love curb-stomping him with a super-effective move for the fourth battle in a row while he congratulates me on knowing my super-effective moves - I got it dude, water beats fire, we've done this four times already.Look you know what to expect with a Pokemon game, and despite my niggles, this has been another great, 30hr adventure which can be recommended for all ages. I do hope the series can advance further but I will take this over a 'Lets Go' experience. Grade B+

18.11.2019

TD;LR for people tempted to buy the game: Just buy it if you like pokemon and want to play pokemon on the switch.Good game, lots of hypocrites giving it bad reviews.Honestly the people who instantly bash it more often than not give views that are hypocritical if they've played any other switch game.Let's cover a few things though:Nat dex cut - Literally does not matter until pokemon home is released, shouldn't stop you from playing this game now. Until Pokemon Home is released, there would be no legitimate way to obtain the pokemon anyway, only through hacking. Though I admit, after pokemon home is released I'll accept the criticism.Pop in - Dragon Quest XIS has the same, if not worse pop in than pokemon.The pop in is bad but it helps limit the entities on screen reducing slow down. I agree they could teak the method a bit for some area's.I will give merits to complains about npc's and pokemon "freezing" when fishing or climbing, I understand why this has done, as it's likely to prevent encounters / npc battles while fishing / climbing, but there could have been better ways to circumvent this issue. (Note: Some games can be really buggy when it comes to stuff like this causing fairly interesting glitches)Too Easy / EXP Share - I'm currently playing the game limiting myself to 3 pokemon in a team with no items in battles, trust me the game isn't that easy if you do stuff like this. YES they could add a harder difficulty for veteran players but they can't make the default difficulty too difficult, after all the game isn't designed to be a super difficult RPG like the stuff Atlus pumps out. If you don't get greedy and take all that they give you for granted this game can be difficulty (I can easily get one shot by gym leaders). I will admit though it would be nice to disable it.Lack of post game - Sure it would be nice for post game core content, but I'm sorry. Shiny hunting, team building, online battles with other people. This is ALL post game content. For most people any "post game" content they implement no matter how large will still be small. At this point the only way to satisfy people wanting good post game is to have another region which I'm sorry they will never do. Why make a second region in post game when they could sell that post game at full price next year? NO COMPANY would do that for free. YES they could increase the quantity by having maybe some post game story flow out, but not the additional region like everyone wants.I will give merit to complaints about lack of GTS though, sure most of the stuff in there was crap like x generic pokemon for y legendary, but you occasionally got good trades. HOWEVER there are options to have trading rooms through a code, so reddit, gamefaqs, pretty much any pokemon discord server, already act as GTS and far more legitimate ones at that.

19.11.2019

Overall this game is very good in terms of graphics and general storyline. It plays similar to previous editions of pokemon on the 3ds and ds. Without spoiling the game too much, I can honestly say I enjoyed the game because of how much I love pokemon.BUT there is a lot of things that made me feel like this isn't the five star pokemon game I was hoping for;To start with I was pretty disappointed with the starter pokemon final evolutions, especially Inteleon and Cinderace, both of which look too human like in their stances and overall look. I prefer them looking more pokemon/animal like. So for me as someone who has played since pokemon red/blue,

16.11.2019

What can we all say about a game that has been running the same formula for the past 25 years? Well it's taken some leaps here and there but still not many bounds.I feel game freak should have taken this series to the next level a long long time ago and I'm sure you can all agree.Anyway this review is from a casual point of view, anyone looking for a new Pokémon game will obviously enjoy this game as I have been stuck to the screen for the past 2 days figuring out all of the new features added to this new entry.This is a very solid and fun experience for any Pokémon fan and I can safely say that yes you will have alot of fun with this new title.

18.11.2019

This game was extremely good, i completed the entire thing already and got zacian, About to do the battle tower.A lot of people are review bombing this game because they are too easily convinced by twitter, But really, this game is fantastic, The story was great, the characters, the new pokémon, the wild area, all the new items and mechanics, It's really improved since ultra sun and moon and i feel sad for all the people boycotting this incredible game, they are the ones missing out.What i loved most about this game the most was the wild zone, it is so much fun to go there and catch a load of pokémon in a huge open area and do the dens, You can collect W (watts)

17.11.2019

This is my first Pokémon game since Pokémon Yellow many moons ago.Graphics are pretty good and are cartoony like previous titles - maybe not as impressive as Breath of the Wild but still quite decent. The region of Galar is bright and colourful. Like old titles, you can find items out in the world like Poke Balls and potions, and talking to NPCs can land you some nice goodies.The Pokémon themselves are quite good, maybe not quite the classics as previous Generations. They seem to level up quite quickly, in just slightly over 3 hours most of my team are over level 10, and my Scorbunny (my starter Pokémon) has just evolved.Not all previous Pokémon are in the game which has caused quite a bit of controversy as you can't now (to my understanding)

27.11.2019

I am 130 hours into pokémon sword at the moment and believe that although this game is floored, some enjoyment is still to be had.Advantages:-Enjoyable story. (Although somewhat predictable the story has many enjoyable moments.)-Great Setting. ( The scenic British setting and amusing dialogue adds a lot of character to these games)-Great New Pokémon. (Sword and Shield add many new interesting and unique pokémon in the Galar region)-Music. ( As per usual the music is just so damn enjoyable)-Many useful and interesting new mechanics. ( The ability to access your pokémon box from almost anywhere in the Galar region is so damn helpful.)-Pokémon.

24.4.2020

I have played a lot of the old school Pokemon games; Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver, Crystal, Diamond, Pearl and Platinum - the games after that I don't have much experience with. I decided to get back into them and purchased Pokemon Sword - most of the basic gameplay is the same as I remember, but there are somethings which are different and not necessarily for the best. (Found the water bike and air taxi's weird and sort of takes the fun out of using your pokemon for that stuff) Personally I have found it to be not as indepth as the ones i have previously played - I have had it a week and have finished the gym and championship challenges.

15.12.2019

This game is quite controversial but it's really not that bad!I found it rather enjoyable. The graphics are better then people make it out to be but it might lag for a few secs in some parts (not often tho) The region is really beautiful, from the buildings to misty forests. The characters look really cool and colorful, really happy with their design .It's kinda a disappointing that there is not that many new pokemons but majority of them look really cool or cute. Tho it feels sometimes like they are missing some animations when they attack.Compared to the old games this one is really and I mean REALLY easy. The gym battles are nothing, I beat majority of them with my starter pokemon and without switching.

25.6.2020

The game is great fun, but not the same as the games I grew up loving. The quality of the packaging is great as per usual from switch games and there was no issues here. The game itself is, at its core, no different from most Pokemon games. It’s just a bit empty. There’s much better animation and very fun 3D graphics, but there’s a sore hole missing in difficulty and content. Thankfully, as it’s the most recent game there’s constant online features and DLC being added to keep the game alive, so the lack of content is less of an issue now. The game is too easy however. Because all of your Pokemon gain EXP after a battle now, not just those involved,

17.7.2020

There are good and bad bits about this game (as there would be for any other). The good things are, that Its a new adventure, new pokemon, graphics are incredible, the wild area’s an adventure, its cool to fight the giant pokemon. But the bad stuff are that the game feels too arcadey, it’s too fast. Before you know it you’re at level 30 and not even faced the first gym.Myself, I’ve played every gen of pokemon games and I prefer the older ones. The reason why is because I enjoy the feeling of the older buildings and world. This game feels too much like a iOS game... where you have stages and complete stages before going to the next one. It feels too fast and a lack of direction in the game.But there are really fantastic stuff about the game,

22.2.2020

I love this game great graphics and some amazing animations, this is the first game in the franchise other than my first pokemon game ( emerald) that made me cry at the intro ( getting you starter) with excitement at how good it felt, I especially love dynamaxing my pokemon. As for the new pokemon I like them thought there doesn't seem to be as many as in some other games, including galar forms which I love and I am glad regional variants stayed. The things I don't like about this game are, some of the animations feel lazy, like double kick the pokemon literally just moves up and down still in its idle animation not even its attack animation plays.

Pokémon: Sword (Switch) - Reviews

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