Review: Pokemon Sword and Shield

Goutham Jayaraman

Ravencrow Game Review #8

 

Pokemon Sword and Shield (I played Shield)

Pokémon Sword for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Game Details

Pokémon Shield for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Game Details

Genre	RPG
Platform	Nintendo Switch
Developer	Nintendo
Publisher	Nintendo
Playtime	∞ (33 hours main story)
Date Completed	7/1/2021
Date Reviewed	14/5/2021
Overall Grade	B-

 

Being one of the most hyped and also controversial games of all time, Pokemon Sword and Shield came onto the Switch with the highest ever expectations, but sadly ended up falling far short of the mark its countless fans had set for it.

[Fair Warning]
This review may be slightly biased against the game because I am a diehard Pokemon fan who has been with the series for over a decade, playing every generation and watching every anime. Expectations were high for this game, but I ended up not buying the game for over a year after seeing the bad press it initially got. Eventually, I decided to get back into VGC and so I bought the game. It was fun going through the main story and battles are awesome, but I still felt like the game was a bit of a letdown.

What I liked

-          I definitely liked many of the new Pokemon designs

-          The music in the game, which was some of the best music I’ve heard in a Pokemon game

-          The world, which looked decent enough

-          The general *concept* of the game and the wild area

-          The energy and vibe that I got from the gym battles and other important battles

-          The ease of life improvements in the game for getting competitive and shiny Pokemon

-          Tier system was a nice addition to Ranked Battles, as it gave a generous helping of rewards to play for. However, it also made ranked battles a nightmare.

-          Some cool animations here and there, primarily for signature moves

-          The DLC (Dynamax Adventures and Legendaries)

What I disliked                                                                   

-          The forced EXP share. I don’t get what’s the problem with making it an option

-          The abandonment of so many Pokemon

-          The cost of the DLC

-          Dynamax

-          Low difficulty of the game. AI decision making felt poor, especially in raids

-          The poor pacing

-          The relative emptiness of the world

-          The villains made no sense to me. They felt like they were added just for the sake of it.

-          Raids were only fun for the first several times.

Gameplay 19/20	+ Standard Pokemon battling mechanics + Energetic gym battles + Wild Area. It is fun to wander around and look for Pokemon, who themselves are wandering around. + Dynamax Adventures are a fresh new gameplay mechanic + Hunting Legendaries in the Crown Tundra was fun + Isle of Armor arc was also fun enough + Overall, definitely a fun game. No doubt about that - Game feels easy unless additional rules are implied
Game Design 4/20	+ Ease of life improvements when it comes to leveling up, maxing out stats, getting hidden abilities and acquiring shiny Pokemon. + Ranked Battles feel more purposeful with meaningful added rewards + Gyms were mostly well designed + Some interesting creature designs such as Corviknight, Toxtricity, Obstagoon, Sirfetchd, Rapidash, Zacian, Zamazenta and the Galarian Birds to name a few. + Wild area is a conceptually good idea + No forced random encounters is a big deal = I feel like Dynamax is fun, but not the best mechanic in a competitive sense. Sure, it opens up options for weaker Pokemon and teambuilding and introduces a new element of strategy, but it can so easily snowball a game. This is not mentioning the gigantamax forms who deal 1/6th residual damage for 4 turns and some other GMax effects that all feel rather unbalanced. - Dynamaxing can make the gym battles too easy. I had a good time battling gyms but mainly because I imposed so many rules on myself. - Uneven Pokemon stats design which makes many Pokemon nonviable in competitive. Same issue as with older gens, but magnified with dynamax. - Decision to cut many Pokemon from the game. I personally think this is unforgivable. - Forced EXP Share, although level caps somewhat make up for it. - Weak AI, especially the clowns who join you in raids - Poor Pacing (gyms too close together) - Raids were a fun gimmick for a while, but very quickly became lifeless. Needs better implementation for long-term gameplay. - Similarly, wild area also gets stale after a while because nothing is random.
Graphics 14/20	+ Towns and routes look good, reminiscent of the UK they are based on. + Character customization is plentiful + Character models look well designed + Some visually striking animations + DLC Crown Tundra and Isle of Armor look fairly good and feel a bit more like open worlds. - Trees randomly clipping in the Wild Area - Pokemon literally popping in and out of existence - Wild Area looks bland and weather abruptly changing from one small area to another is somewhat bizarre - Inconsistency in texture and animation quality (Ditto using behemoth blade)
Audio 20/20	+ Awesome soundtrack that is not only memorable but worth listening to on a regular basis + Good sound effects - Lack of voice acting which would have made the cutscenes more powerful
Story 10/20	+ Not the best or worst Pokemon story + Story emphasises the gym challenge rather than thwarting evil plans, which is a nice change of pace - Relatively mundane and forgettable story otherwise
Lore 15/20	+ Fairly good character design.  + Some amount of character development can be seen + Gym Leaders appear to have distinct and interesting personalities, even if they do not get much screen time + British localization - Towns and routes are small and feel empty. Region feels somewhat stagnant as a result - Wild Area is also small. + DLC does make up for the small Wild Area, giving more varied landscapes and biomes to explore
Value 8/20	+ Value is high if you are interesting in playing beyond the base content, because of excellent multiplayer functionalities. + There is admittedly a ton of things to do in the game. Raid battles, Wild Area, Dynamax Adventures, Shiny Hunting, Egg Hatching, Battling etc. - But you do have to keep in mind that the play time is short for the game's high asking price. You'll pay about $100 but only get about 50 hours total. The game is only truly worth it if you wish to invest time into multiplayer. And I do mean A LOT of time.
Overall Grade 13/20	B+
Score	64

 

As you can see for yourself, Pokemon Sword and Shield are really not the best games out there, and I'm sure other reviewers will mention other issues or even strong points I may have overlooked. 

Sure, there is plenty of fun to be had and I did have my fair share of fun. That much is an undeniable fact. However, that the game radiates a cash grabbing aura is also an undeniable fact. The amount of fun you can have is probably not worth $100, especially when you consider the extra money you many need to sink into Switch Online (which enables the postgame fun) and Pokemon Home to bring Pokemon in from the 3ds.

I think the biggest problem with this game is just simply its staleness. It always feels like there is something missing from everything. The characters in the game try to stand out but don’t quite manage to get there due to a lack of voice acting and insufficient development. The gym battles try to be exciting, and they are, but the moment you click on the dynamax button, the show is over. The wild area promises to be a new engaging experience, and it manages to for a while but you eventually see past its novelty and start wishing it was more lively. Tournaments and raids attempt to give you an engaging postgame experience, but never attempt to throw anything new at you.

You know what, let’s try something. Let’s picture what this game SHOULD have been.

An expansive wild area, filled with multiple biomes each serving as thriving ecosystems where Pokemon live, breathe and eat as if it was a simulation of a real world. Maybe something similar to Pokemon Snap, but slightly bigger and more randomized. I mean, god I was so excited at first, but then realized how small the actual area was...

Large bustling cities with numerous places of interest corresponding to real world locations. Perhaps at least a dozen or more buildings you could enter, maybe including card shops where you can dabble in TCG or game shops where you could have special mini tournaments with unique rulesets and a local set of characters to compete against. Characters who have intelligent AI and actually grow each time you participate. Heck, maybe even have photography shops, biking tournaments, catching tournaments, scavenger hunts, so many ways the world could be made more lively.

Raids where pokemon throw new, clever and unexpected tactics at you in an attempt to win, maybe forcing you to come up with alternative strategies instead of just using your strongest Pokemon.

Gyms where the leaders have full teams of six and the levels are preset as they are in ranked battles.

A story that is well written, ideally voiced and actually engages you throughout the game.

Collectibles or mini events that discuss the lore of the Galar region, how certain Pokemon came to live here, how they go about their daily lives and so on.

Wyndon tournaments that have more randomized teams and even randomized structures that change every day, making them feel *alive*.

Ranked battles where you don’t lose points so you don’t keep banging your head on the wall Everytime you lose to a stupid confusion or freeze hax.

Legacy Pokemon getting revitalized stats, moves or abilities to fend off power creep so that EVERY SINGLE POKEMON can actually be viable.

None of this is difficult to ask for. It really isn’t.

But will we get any of it?

I suppose we can just keep hoping.

For now though, its already been 2 years since the game’s release. Cash grabbing DLCs have come and gone (Honestly, the game should have been $60 INCLUDING the DLC and then the value would have gotten a decent score), adding some Pokemon but still leaving out a sizable chunk. In all honesty, the DLCs do at least provide some good gameplay but are probably not worth the asking price.

All in all, whether I recommend this game or not depends on whether you want to compete in VGC and whether you are a diehard Pokemon fan who must play every game in the series. I only bought the game for the purpose of getting the opportunity to compete. And I resisted buying it for over a year. Looking back at it, it really just feels like it was not a necessary game to purchase, and that's why I would ultimately not recommend this game, at least until the price goes down. 

Although,

I will say this.

It’s not inherently a bad game.

It's just lazy.