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[Typhares]

IGN 9.3

Pokemon Sword and Shield are the best games in the series, streamlining its most tedious traditions without losing any of the charm.

Gamespot 9/10

In collecting, battling, and exploring, Sword and Shield cut out the bloat and focus on what makes these pillars of the Pokemon games so captivating in the first place. You're not held back by overly complicated back-end systems or hoops to jump through; from the outset, you can start wandering the Galar region, seeing its new Pokemon, and trying out its new battle strategies with very little in your way. This leaves you free to enjoy what Pokemon is all about, and that makes for an incredibly strong showing for the series' proper debut on Switch.

Gamesradar 4.5/5

Gameplay tweaks and attention to detail make Pokemon Sword and Shield the most compelling Pokemon world to date.

EGM 4/5

The first new-generation Pokémon game to release on a proper home console does not disappoint. New features like Dynamaxing and the Wild Area are fun additions that make the experience of becoming a Pokémon champion still feel fresh. It’s just a shame that Game Freak didn’t lean into the new features more than they did.

Metacritic 81 with 19 reviews

Unscored review:

Eurogamer

There will undoubtedly be a moment of shivers, if you're a long-term fan, when you first see Pokémon roaming the world and you finally get to gaze around that space yourself. But that moment will wear off when you realise you've already seen it all. And it'll fade from memory entirely when you inevitably hop back on the rails from which you have just at last broken free. What is intended as a great, Breath of the Wild step forward quickly turns to two giant leaps back, and with these games that sad irony is everywhere. Pokémon Sword and Shield project a sense of scale and ambition far beyond any previous ones in the series, but to take it back to those gargantuan new Dynamax forms, the size is merely a shadow. A shallow projection, in place of the real thing.

Kotaku

The magic of Pokémon is that it lets you tap into a sense of wonder that becomes more and more difficult to access as an adult. Sword and Shield do that more successfully than any Pokémon release has in years. It won’t be everything to everyone, and it will not make everyone happy. I’m not sure it needs to. It’s a portal to a new world. And it definitely has something for Pokémon’s core audience: everyone in the entire world.

Polygon

The surprise in Sword and Shield is that I’m still finding things that surprise me, even after putting in so many hours. It’s in how Game Freak has made a linear game feel so much less linear. Make no mistake, Sword and Shield is not an open-world game. There are limitations. But the game’s designed for me not to notice them, and mostly, I don’t.

The verge

They don’t change up the formula dramatically. But the changes that are here — a larger, more detailed world and a streamlined structure that cuts out the annoying bits — are enough to make this the ideal iteration of the concept to date. The moments when I felt frustrated or bored in past games simply don’t exist in Sword and Shield. It’s one big adventure.
I’ve been training pokémon all my life, but I never felt like a true trainer until I walked through a tunnel into a stadium full of screaming fans.

 

[Lionel Richie]

Nintendo was due for a letdown.

 

[mcjmetroid]

Let's play a game of spot the shill scores

IGN is winning so far

 

[Fake]

Besides that dexit, the IGN review don't mention any aspect of the gameplay. Is this the new kind of review format?

Damn, even the time you spend they don't mention. They made a very harsh review from DS.

 

[GreatnessRD]

Reviews from the mainstream folks seems promising. I haven't played a Pokemon game since Gold on GB Color. I'm excited to see what the new game is hittin' fo.

 

[Jooxed]

I'm excited for Friday to check out what all the noise is about

 

[TheSadRanger]

I think VG247 did a pretty good review, basically just points out that the game is just very inconsistent.

https://www.vg247.com/2019/11/13/pokemon-sword-shield-review/

After promising a Pokemon experience that’d satisfy the hardcore, this game is in fact much like Let’s Go – fine as a more chilled-out experience, which is how I played it, but likely more disappointing the deeper a Pokefan you are. Bizarrely, it’s also somehow less polished than that spin-off, a game which was supposedly developed quickly to allow the team to get to grips with HD development.

 

[Saber]

I'm really disgusted by the IGN review.

Like, she clearly did this on purpose. I mean, she didn't even talk about curry, jobs, sound behind items. She barelly talk about graphics at all.

 

[Zannegan]

I'm really disgusted by the IGN review.

Like, she clearly did this on purpose. I mean, she didn't even talk about curry, jobs, sound behind items. She barelly talk about graphics at all.

Or those things are just ancilliary to her experience and she just enjoyed the game that much. *shrug*

Those problems are big deals to you, obviously, but it would be a big mistake to assume that everyone notices what you do let alone values those things the same way. You'd be shocked by the number of people who watch movies with autosmoothing running full-blast and just don't care.

Note: I'm not saying you're too sensitive or somehow wrong to care about those issues, not at all, but assuming she A. noticed them B. cared and C. went against her own feelings just to combat the opinions of those that do care is silly.

 

[iconmaster]

Surprisingly positive reviews.

Great news for my Fantasy Critic team.

 

[Saber]

Or those things are just ancilliary to her experience and she just enjoyed the game that much.

Those problems are big deals to you

Read before you post, please.

She didn't talk about 3 new things and one major change. Curry, camps and jobs were heavly advertized by Pokemon itself and it's not actually bad things.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Let's play a game of spot the shill scores

IGN is winning so far

I certainly wouldn't call them shills, but Casey at IGN and Kallie at GameSpot are super Pokémon fans, so just keep that in mind when reading their reviews. I do believe their love for the series is absolutely genuine, though.

 

[Antwix]

The game is trash on a technical/gameplay level.

-Gameplay comes to a halt while your're on a ladder. All NPC/pokemon literally stop moving while you're climbing. Same with when you "pull out" your bike.
-Lock sound balancing behind an item you find from a random npc.
-Absolutely disgusting pop-in, textures also trash
-GF still doesnt know how to code NPC walking in a curved line
-Animations are trash. The move "Double Kick" is literally your pokemon just jumping a foot off the ground with 0 movement.
-Trainers, while in battle, just disappear then reappear whenever a move is performed.
-Postgame? LOL.

Just some things I can quickly remember off the top of my head.

 

[Saruhashi]

The game is trash on a technical/gameplay level.

-Gameplay comes to a halt while your're on a ladder. All NPC/pokemon literally stop moving while you're climbing. Same with when you "pull out" your bike.
-Lock sound balancing behind an item you find from a random npc.
-Absolutely disgusting pop-in, textures also trash
-GF still doesnt know how to code NPC walking in a curved line
-Animations are trash. The move "Double Kick" is literally your pokemon just jumping a foot off the ground with 0 movement.
-Trainers, while in battle, just disappear then reappear whenever a move is performed.
-Postgame? LOL.

Just some things I can quickly remember off the top of my head.

I take it the game is getting decent review scores then?

Hahahahaha.

 

[Fbh]

About as expected. It will also sell like crazy which is why nothing major will change with this franchise.


Still, I wonder how the Witcher 3 or Horizon would have reviewed if they had no voice acting, very stiff animations , tons of recycled assets from previous games and the production values of an HD ps Vita game

 

[mcjmetroid]

I certainly wouldn't call them shills, but Casey at IGN and Kallie at GameSpot are super Pokémon fans, so just keep that in mind when reading their reviews. I do believe their love for the series is absolutely genuine, though.

I would imagine though the better Pokemon fan you are, the more disappointed you are.

Cmon though this game isn't a 9.3. I'm not one for making a big thing out of scores but really?

 

[Saber]

About as expected. It will also sell like crazy which is why nothing major will change with this franchise.


Still, I wonder how the Witcher 3 or Horizon would have reviewed if they had no voice acting, very stiff animations , tons of recycled assets from previous games and the production values of an HD ps Vita game

Tbh I'm actually impressed what Saber did to Witcher 3 for Switch. I though the game would look like Ark.

 

[Fake]

Loads of people aready banned in the Pokemon Sword/Shield REEview thread.

 

[Lionel Richie]

Loads of people aready banned in the Pokemon Sword/Shield REEview thread.

The heavy Nintendo bias on REEsetera is the one saving grace out of that dumpster fire.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

I would imagine though the better Pokemon fan you are, the more disappointed you are.

Cmon though this game isn't a 9.3. I'm not one for making a big thing out of scores but really?

It really depends what you like about the games. I would wager that the vast majority of folks who buy Pokémon are there to have a whimsical adventure of catching cute monsters and enjoying fun battles with light elements of strategy (type matching).

 

[Fbh]

Tbh I'm actually impressed what Saber did to Witcher 3 for Switch. I though the game would look like Ark.

Oh I have no issues with the Switch port.
I'm just saying that when I see a game like this get some very high scores I can't help but feel like other games are held to higher standards.

If the Witcher 3 or God of War or Assassin's Creed launched with no voice acting, ugly stiff animations, recycled assets and the overall production values of a 3DS/Vita game running in HD then I'd be very surprised if that didn't show up during the review (affecting the score)

But this $60 game from the $90bn Pokémon franchise isn't held to the same standards

 

[Fake]

In fact, Pokémon Sword and Shield is entirely dungeonless. There is no route or cave or building or wood more complex than Red, Blue and Yellow's Viridian Forest, the tutorial pseudo-dungeon at the start of generation one. Nothing in the game comes close to even Mt. Moon or Rock Tunnel, let alone the twelve floors of warp-pad mayhem in Silph Co. - all first-generation locations that were fully realised in Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee, both ostensibly remade versions of the classic games, but for children. It might seem inconsequential to say these games are dungeonless - Breath of the Wild did away with traditional ones, after all - but I can assure you it isn't. Dungeons, in every generation until now, are the very essence of Pokémon games. They're where you find the most trainers, the most items, the most puzzles and the most interesting, mysterious nuggets of lore. In Sword and Shield all of that is gone, and there is no replacement.

 

[Saber]

Oh I have no issues with the Switch port.
I'm just saying that when I see a game like this get some very high scores I can't help but feel like other games are held to higher standards.

If the Witcher 3 or God of War or Assassin's Creed launched with no voice acting, ugly stiff animations, recycled assets and the overall production values of a 3DS/Vita game running in HD then I'd be very surprised if that didn't show up during the review (affecting the score)

But this $60 game from the $90bn Pokémon franchise isn't held to the same standards

I totally agree with you. We all know that GF it's shieldblocked from all the commons complains that reviewers and gamers throw at them.
The worst part is that people now is not allowed to have high standarts.

 

[mcjmetroid]

Loads of people aready banned in the Pokemon Sword/Shield REEview thread.

Lemme guess without looking

Lazy Developer rhetoric?

 

[GAMETA]

Internet 2019

Previews: The game is good
Internet peoples: The game is not good

Reviews: The game is good
Internet peoples: The game is NOT good

Internet peoples who have played the game: Oh well, it's actually good
Rest of the internet peoples: GODDAMMIT I'M TELLING YOU THE GAME IS NOT FUCKING GOOD!

 

[Saber]

Lemme guess without looking

Lazy Developer rhetoric?

Almost

 

[Fake]

Lemme guess without looking
Lazy Developer rhetoric?

Most of them for defending pokemon and ignoring staff info in the OP.

 

[Obmont]

Yes a masterpiece of a game indeed. 98/100. Still too much water.

 

[Jack Videogames]

Giant-ass pic

 

[Fake]

Internet 2019

Previews: The game is good
Internet peoples: The game is not good

Reviews: The game is good
Internet peoples: The game is NOT good

Internet peoples who have played the game: Oh well, it's actually good
Rest of the internet peoples: GODDAMMIT I'M TELLING YOU THE GAME IS NOT FUCKING GOOD!

Sry to say, but by your logic you will miss a bunch of really good games. Days Gone have so many harsh reviews, still is a amazing game.

 

[yodine53]

Surprised that the biggest outlets gave the game a 9. I'm sure i will enjoy it

 

[Mozza]

Internet 2019

Previews: The game is good
Internet peoples: The game is not good

Reviews: The game is good
Internet peoples: The game is NOT good

Internet peoples who have played the game: Oh well, it's actually good
Rest of the internet peoples: GODDAMMIT I'M TELLING YOU THE GAME IS NOT FUCKING GOOD!

I have been on the Nintendo life article comments section, and if you even dare suggest most of the haters are in the minority you will cause anger.

 

[Mozza]

I totally agree with you. We all know that GF it's shieldblocked from all the commons complains that reviewers and gamers throw at them.
The worst part is that people now is not allowed to have high standarts.

It's not that people can't have high standards or complain, but sometimes the complainers seem to suggest they are in the majority, and if anyone does not share their view that these games are broken then are simply seen as stupid, when in fact the mass market Pokemon fans could not care less about the issues, they are just excited for a new Pokemon game on the Switch.

 

[Barnabot]

IGN 9.3

Not gonna give IGN clicks but I just wanna know: does that review contain the following "It has a little something for everyone" line?

 

[Shaqazooloo]

I don't trust these reviews but hopefully it doesn't disappoint my currently rock bottom expectations.

 

[Mozza]

I don't trust these reviews but hopefully it doesn't disappoint my currently rock bottom expectations.

It's funny that we do tend to trust negative reviews more than positive ones, but at the end of the day there will be only one opinion that should matter to us, our own.

 

[GAMETA]

Sry to say, but by your logic you will miss a bunch of really good games. Days Gone have so many harsh reviews, still is a amazing game.

I'm not with the bashing team... I think people are completely overreacting.

 

[MagnesG]

I'm more worried that I don't have more time to spend on the game lol. It's good that I got to have a clear head from outrage nonsense once in a while.

 

[Trojita]

 

[Ogbert]

Do people genuinely get worked up about Pokemon reviews?

 

[bobone]

The game is trash on a technical/gameplay level.

-Gameplay comes to a halt while your're on a ladder. All NPC/pokemon literally stop moving while you're climbing. Same with when you "pull out" your bike.
-Lock sound balancing behind an item you find from a random npc.
-Absolutely disgusting pop-in, textures also trash
-GF still doesnt know how to code NPC walking in a curved line
-Animations are trash. The move "Double Kick" is literally your pokemon just jumping a foot off the ground with 0 movement.
-Trainers, while in battle, just disappear then reappear whenever a move is performed.
-Postgame? LOL.

Just some things I can quickly remember off the top of my head.

Its just sad at this point.
Actually it got sad several generations ago.
Gamefreak had amazing technical achievements on the first few generations. And then they got unbelievably lazy.

Noone can possibly defend this game on the Switch from a graphical/technical standpoint.

I understand people are blindly in love with Pokemon. But until Gamefreak sees pushback they will continue to put in the absolute minimum effort into each new game.

 

[Fake]

I'm not with the bashing team... I think people are completely overreacting.

Keep in mind thats is not because the review are bad make the game bad, neither good make the game good.

Unless people are blind to buy a game just by follow metacriric score.

 

[Danjin44]

I myself never in to Pokemon series and I don’t think I ever will but let me remind you guys that Fire Emblem Three Houses wasn’t exactly looker either but that didn’t stop the game being good.

 

[Codes 208]

Part of me thinks they over-review pokemon to avoid the kind of backlash they got with OR/AS when they deducted points for “too much water” (despite it being a remake of the same game they gave a 9+ years beforehand which wasnt an issue then apparently.)

 

[chemspida]

Sure.

In ten years time - "Most revolutionary Pokemon game since Gold!"

 

[Mozza]

Do people genuinely get worked up about Pokemon reviews?

I have never seen such passion from the core internet posting Pokemon fans, makes the Death stranding brigade look like amateurs.

 

[Mozza]

Part of me thinks they over-review pokemon to avoid the kind of backlash they got with OR/AS when they deducted points for “too much water” (despite it being a remake of the same game they gave a 9+ years beforehand which wasnt an issue then apparently.)

That Nintendo bias again eh.

 

[Codes 208]

That Nintendo bias again eh.

Or anything popular between the 90’s and early 2000’s I guess. They gave halo 4 a 9.8 afterall.

 

[Nikana]

Do people genuinely get worked up about Pokemon reviews?

Clearly... They do lol.

 

[Mozza]

Or anything popular between the 90’s and early 2000’s I guess. They gave halo 4 a 9.8 afterall.

Or they are reviewing a game who's core demographic is children with the fact it's a game designed for them in mind, the game on the whole looks fine.