Pokemon Sword/Shield Review - A Divided Debut

Disclaimer: I am in no way, shape or form sponsored or partnered with any company at the time being and this piece is purely opinion-based.

Pokemon is one of the biggest earners in the gaming industry as a whole, that much is factually accurate and well-respected. With almost 25 years worth of handheld titles, countless spinoffs, cards, a long-running television series, a highly addicting mobile game, and just last year, its first live-action theatrical release. Today, Pokemon, and its mascot, Pikachu have become household names in most if not all fields of the media, one that is just as recognised as Mickey Mouse. The idea is to catch, train and battle monsters of all shapes and sizes, and even the most bleakest souls probably deep down have a soft spot for at least 1 of the 800+ species out there. Either blitz through the story with your favourites alone, or spend hours catching everything you can, play it however you want, and that’s what makes it fun for all ages.

As of recent times, with the advent of Nintendo’s latest console, the Switch, and the discontinuation of their handheld console, the 3DS, many questions were raised by fans. The biggest of which was “what does this mean for the future of Pokemon?” A question that Game Freak and The Pokemon Company would finally answer with Pokemon Sword and Shield, the 8th generation of the series, and the first titles for a console that isn’t a spin-off. Things were getting excited and it looks like long-time fans and newcomers coming from Pokemon Go were very excited about the release... until the war started. More on that later though. For now, let’s get into the part you opened this article to see. Oh, and if anyone is wondering, I bought and played Sword.

For a start, the fundamentals are near exactly what you’d expect from any Pokemon game. You catch monsters, battle monsters with other monsters, and eventually grow to become the champion, as long-time fans will have come to expect from the franchise. The plot of the game is both a stronger and weaker point for Sword and Shield. On one hand, they make the Galar region feel like a living and breathing world, with interesting characters walking around and a lot of them with more importance than just serving as window dressing, such as trading for exclusive Pokemon and sometimes even small side stories. Coming from the East Midlands of England myself, the characters and towns you can traverse were true to life, from references to landmarks, both famous and obscure, and even the regional slang and spelling of some words was spot on... we do love our letter U here. The wild area was the big game-changer of this generation, and it’s where I spent the most time of my 90+ hours. How different species appear depending on the time of day and the weather, all coming from your console clock, is an amazing and innovative addition to the game, and I’m still finding new things to do in it.

However, on the other hand, for a game that sold itself on being the most open, it turned out to still be linear and stuck on a set path in most other places outside of the wild area. There is a bigger story at play, but as interesting as it can be, along with some great characters, it is mostly in the background as you get spoon-fed pieces of the bigger plot as you go on. All of the biggest events in the game seem to happen just off-screen and it’s always swept under the rug with a “sorry you missed it” kind of reasoning. The final hour of the main game was amazing and a high point of the story, it was just in my opinion, a missed opportunity that we could have been having that kind of excitement sprinkled throughout the game, and not all at once in the end. The main characters were a mixed bag. Some of them felt one-dimensional, some are given vibrant personalities, some start off stale and grow into their role, while others who seemed important at first, just faded into the background.

That’s just the story. In the end, the gameplay will be the main course of the game, and I can truly say that it delivers a thousand-fold on what it set out to do. With the new quality of life changes to the battling system, no matter your style of play, everything will flow perfectly, from the simple act of fighting and winning, to training your team up. Also, for the people wanting to get into the championship, with the new elements of changing your favourite Pokemon to your liking, like their behaviour patterns, the stats they learn at which time, etcetera, it’s never been easier to play competitively, so get in there. The ability to switch your team at any point is also a godsend, making the trek back to the nearest PC a thing of the past. The next big addition is the game’s central mechanic, Dynamax. It can turn any battle into a Godzilla vs King Kong fight for the ages, and stays satisfying as your attacks explode with flair.

Adding onto this mechanic is the newly added Max Raid Battles in the wild area, which take the idea of Dynamax forms and asks you to team with 3 AI partners, or your friends online to take it down, all for the chance to add it to your team. I enjoyed this feature and made sure to challenge these every time they appeared, and was fun to battle with people online. However, one word of advice, never trust the AI partners during the stronger battles, as long as they continue to choose the wrong type of Pokemon or actively sabotage your chances, 9 out of 10 times, you won’t win without finding a friend to help out.

Although, I didn’t spend much time with this next feature, it was still a welcome return to form. This is the Battle Tower, a highly-requested returning feature, which has you battle other characters in 3 on 3 matches, getting gradually more and more challenging, and is likely the most challenging aspect to this game.

The next new addition to the gameplay is the Pokemon Camp, which is an incredible simple and small idea, just letting your partners rest and watch as they do their own things. It may sound boring, and I was one of the people who groaned at its inclusion, but when I got to it, I sunk a few hours into watching them become friends with each other, fight amongst themselves, struggle for your attention, it’s like taking it easy as you watch your pets play by your feet and just as charming. The ability to cook meals is a nice idea too, if not mostly for the people who like to collect everything a game has to offer, but if not, the game can easily be won without ever knowing this mode existed, which brings me to my last big gripe with the game.

Depending on your stance on difficulty, this could either be a positive or negative thing. The game is way more forgiving and easier than any of the past games in the series. I know, the sky is also blue and fire is hot, this is all nothing new. However, this game not only never proves a challenge in the main game, but also discourages those who wish to perform challenge runs, such as the popular Nuzlocke challenge, by permanently fixing a way to share the growth between your entire party, regardless of being in the fight or not. This is not a big deal-breaker, but as someone who watches some crazy challenge videos done by talented creators in the community, it is a shame this style of playing wasn’t accounted for in the grand scheme of things.

Despite some instances of framedrops, blurring and some awful draw distances, the visuals are still beautiful and the best that the series has ever looked in the games. It’s just a shame that characters seem to just materialise 5 feet from your feet when you’re walking in the more open areas. The biggest consistent win for the game, is its amazing soundtrack. From the moment you boot up the game, to the credit sequence, you will likely be bopping your head a lot of the time, especially the final hours of the game, and the battle theme in the Battle Tower, composed by Toby Fox, the creator of the amazing indie game, Undertale.

Lastly, the new species of Pokemon are overall great, all of which being creative and imaginative, despite there being 900+ at this point in time... which brings me to what I brought up at the beginning. I think I’ve went as far as I can without bringing up the elephant in the room. To those who are unaware of the recent controversy of the game, Pokemon’s old primary goal was to “catch em all.” With this, people have been collecting them all, bringing their favourites into the new era from the older systems and continuing to use them. However, the heads of The Pokemon Company, and Game Freak as a whole, came out and told the world that they will not bringing every species back, and that less than half will return. This caused an uproar in the community, which rose to the term we now call Dexit. I won’t go into a huge lecture about it, but the controversy plagued the game even after its release.

Even though I make sure to take advantage of the new additions, I understand why people were upset about this, but in my honest opinion, people were at fault from both sides of this battle. Game Freak should have handled the situation better (more on this topic a little later) and at least offered an explanation that couldn’t be proven to be a lie on the same day as the statement, or maybe even the truth, either way. As for the people, I ask this. Was it really worth spamming and threatening the business and private social media accounts of those involved in the decision? I was disappointed at first too, but there has to be some other way to cope without flinging insults and death threats at the very people you claim to be a fan of. It’s just not a good look for you.

After the dust settled, it has recently been revealed that two expansion packs, The Island of Armor and The Crown Tundra, are coming out later in the year, which will add a lot more of the cut species, with more likely to be announced. I will comment more on that when it comes out, but the first impressions are looking really good, with new stories and characters to see. Very exciting stuff.

In closing words, what we currently have in the game is what I can sum up as... good, just alright. It takes some bold steps in the right direction, being the first big title on home consoles, and it was definitely the most ambitious one to date. However, they were in a tough situation, living up to its name on the handheld, whilst having big shoes to fill, namely the other first party Nintendo Switch debut, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild. On top of that, a small team was fractured due to the development of their new IP, Little Town Hero. Also, with the unflinching deadline looming over them, refusing to budge thanks to the tv series and trading cards that will accompany its release. All of these factors add up and they show as bright as a beacon. It is an amazing game for those looking for the simple Pokemon magic and addictive fun that come with it, and to those people, both veterans and newcomers, I can recommend the game, the magic is still there. With the expansions coming out, and the constant updates that they are making to the game, if they wrinkle out the little flaws and rough edges, this game could go from good to borderline perfect, but only time will tell.

I give Sword and Shield a solid 4 out of 5 for giving me a good time and the long hours I have clocked in, but to Game Freak, maybe if all the big issues fizzle away in the expansions, you’re looking at a full 5 out of 5 next time.