Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield Double Pack - Nintendo Switch

Over 100 hours of joy

While I have been enjoying some parts of the games, this isnt gonna be the best in the franchise, and is likely too controversial to do so. I like most of the new Pokemon on display, and there are some great ideas, such as the Wild Area, with returning mechanics such as Pokemon actually roaming the overworld from the Lets Go games (thankfully, the annoying catching minigame hasnt returned this time around). My main problem is that this game wasnt ready for the spotlight, more than likely being rushed by the Pokemon Company. Firstly, the main reason these games are controversial is the fact that not all Pokemon are in the game. Out of the 890 Pokemon there are right now, there are only 400 in these games. That necessarily wouldnt be a big issue, older games, such as Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald for example, didnt have all the Pokemon either, and even the 3DS games required transferring your old Pokemon over. What makes it an issue is that Pokemon that arent coded in these games will not be coming anytime soon, and unlike a GameBoy Advance, the Switch is a more powerful gaming system, a system that can run Doom and Witcher 3, that can receive patches for games on the platform. So you mean to tell me that you cant simply code the lost Pokemon in so people can simply transfer their favorite Pokemon over when available? Another issue that adds to this is the fact that the graphics arent that big of a jump up from the 3DS games, and it shows. Theres some new effects going on, such as Depth of Field, but other than that, they really couldve done more here. First, the character models, for the Pokemon at least, were simply ported over, which isnt necessarily bad as they didnt look bad, but it does make me wonder why so many Pokemon were omitted when they were finished projects before. Secondly, while character models dont look bad, the scenery is rough, and no place show this off better than the Wild Area, where trees are low poly and low res, and battle backgrounds leave a lot to be desired. Sometimes you start a battle in town, but the battle takes place in a field. And how would you like to meet Team Yell in a fancy hotel just to be battle in an inside of a hallow pearl? Then theres my biggest pet peeve, the performance. You can get frame drop from just the Battle Start animations, and during battle, the game may not do anything for a second or two. Most of the time, the Pokemon will go on ahead and attack, but sometimes, they just do nothing for a few seconds until finally they start hitting each other. This was also a problem with the 3DS games, but I chalked it up to the CPU on the system to be slowing things down, but on Switch, I dont see what could be causing the problem. Is it something to do with the engine itself, or did GameFreak run out of time to properly optimize the game? And dont even bother playing the Wild Area online. All these players running around, and it causes the game to freak out and drop frames harder the bass, and with the reliability of Nintendo Switch online, joining in Raids is impossible. I could go on, but its clear that these games were rushed to meet a deadline. If you just want to play another Pokemon game, then either one of these games are not bad buys. Like I said, I do like playing these games, except for Lets Go, but to the parties involved in making these games (if you guys are even reading this that is), I got a few words of wisdom. Pokemon Company, let the developers work on the game without worrying about your toys and anime. GameFreak, make sure you actually finish the games. And finally, Nintendo, fix your broken online system.

I really dont like the term entitled gamer, but the overall harshness of the reviews that Ive read from various sites for this game seem to make this term more and more valid. I too am a fan that has played since the original Blue and Red (and Green for the Japanese), and let me begin by saying that you should really take these reviews with a much bigger grain of salt than is deemed healthy and, if given the chance, at least play the game FOR WHAT IT IS. Heres the thing that I dont understand: while there are definitely tie-ins between previous generations of Pokemon, each separate generation was honestly meant to be particularly stand-alone, with the exception of the very first two whose regions were intertwined. Each region presented its own story and features. This game is no different, though some people seem to really take offence to the fact that the option to get their past gems is not there. Full disclosure: a lot, if not most, of my favourite Pokemon are not present, but that does not hinder the fact that the game is, in and of itself, enjoyable. Is it the best? Well depending on what aspects youre looking for, that depends. I personally dont think so, but thats because I have a bias of one particular generation which I thought was perfect. Anyway, allow me to list a couple of reasons as to why I believe this game should not be getting as much hate as it does. Whether or not your agree with me, or whether or not you think my arguments even pertain to the issue at all, is ultimately up to you. First, I am blown away by the graphics. I dont mean the sharpness or how well they render, because the Switch handheld will still have its limitations. What I mean as that the inspiration of European architecture captured and fully incorporated into the Pokemon world just absolutely amazes me (I had similar reactions to the very obviously French inspired themes of X and Y). You see Big Ben, you see the wonderful castles, you see the London Eye, each Pokemon Gym is like a full blown (not quite Olympic) stadium. Even the fairy-tale inspired forest area with lit up mushrooms leading up to the Fairy-Type gym (how fitting) has me grinning as widely as possible. Dont even get me started with the Wild Area where youre able to pan the camera around (oh my god, a first in Pokemon, and it is breathtaking). Second, the ease of progression stems from multiple sources. There is a consensus that each Pokemon game is progressively getting easier to beat the main game, which is true. What I dont understand is why this is a problem. Heres the thing about this game, I have never had to use more potions and revives in my Pokemon career, and this is because this game gives you a choice, which I dont think people seem to understand. The older games were very simplistic in their graphics, which is largely due to the limitations of the hardware at the time, but that adds to their charm. Thus, if they arent going to wow an audience with graphics, the next focus would be on the mental aspect of the game itself. Let us not forget just how hard the puzzles in the first two games were to solve, and because they were done in areas where random Pokemon spawns could occur, it just made them all the more difficult. This in turn made it all the more satisfying when you were finally able to beat them. You will not get that same level of satisfaction while playing this game. Its a choice, you can choose to explore more, or you can go straight through. There is also the fact that because its a choice, the more hardcore fans of the games feel as if its a let down that the newer, more casual players, and those just getting into Pokemon, are not forced into the same mental hurdles that they had to endure when they were younger. Funnily enough, this is so much like real life that its just sad. The further we progress technologically, the easier everything becomes. That fact that I ordered this game off Amazon as a pre-order saves me so much hassle, instead of the good-ole days of waiting outside on release day, hoping that one copy would still be in stock by the time I got to checkout. I find it inconceivable that people absolutely hate that Pokemon itself is advancing in the same route. Dont get me wrong, sometimes the convenience of everything is a turn off, but it just makes me appreciate it more. Third, the hardcore fans are asking for the impossible. I dont think they realise how much work went into compressing the game data of Gold, Silver, and Crystal back in the day that they were able to contain both regions in its entirety with all 251 Pokemon at the time. Now, there are over 800 in total. Combine that with each needing its own animated sprite in multiple settings, in multiple positions, with multiple different interactions with the Pokemon and NPCs around them, as well as with the new Dynamax gimmick that gives even more sprites, there is only so much you can cram into the game, and yes, this is still a thing in 2019. Not to mention, Nintendo has always been the company to aim for polish than quantity: to take out things to make sure what actually IS offered is as near perfection as it can get. That being said, this game wasnt perfect which was why I hesitated to give it 5 stars despite me enjoying the game immensely. Below are a couple of the things I really like, and some things that I dont. I really didnt want to include a list of stuff I didnt like because theres enough of the hate online, but I felt it fair. Like: - Very noticeable European inspired landscape - Wild Area (Youll see what I mean if you play the game) - Gym challenges (definitely not challenging, but its a nice change from the pure linear progression) - Overworld sprites of Pokemon in the wild - Ease of access to Pokemon boxes Dislike - The aesthetics of the starters (I dont know, I didnt feel particularly drawn any single one of them) - Horrid level cap of CATCHING Pokemon based on the number of your gym badges - Slightly too linear for my liking So really, my main gripe with the other reviews is that they measure this game up to its predecessors too much and refuse to see past that and view the game in its own right. Ive not yet completed the main story yet, but I am enjoying the progression.

Do these games look like pokemon?

Its got its issues but overall its a fun game.

No steelbook its just 2 seperate game cases in a cardboard box

a lot of reading and not much gaming, a big fat rip off

I really do enjoy Pokemon Sword and Shield; however, feel like the game was not as thought out as it could have been. For starters, Sword and Shield are the same exact game; the only difference is that there are two different gyms in Shield than there are in Sword, and a few other different Pokemon to catch. Other than that; theyre identical, down to the story line. Additionally, I was really hoping that, when you play one and then move to the other, it would pick up your profile from the other one, meaning that you didnt have to replay the exact same story over again, and that youd have all your Pokemon youd already caught, ready to continue adding an entirely new set of Pokemon to your Pokedex. However, again, its the exact same game, and it forces you to start all over again, from ground zero, with no Pokemon, going through the same story, catching the same Pokemon. Also, the online functionality of the game is very bugged. When setting up trades and such, its supposed to connect you to the internet, but sometimes it doesnt, so youre just roaming around waiting for a trade to happen that never will, because it isnt actually connected. If you pay attention to the fact that there arent any other players appearing in the game, or that the online icon hasnt turned blue, then its obvious, but if youre in your own little world, doing your own thing, you might not notice this. There are also lots of communication errors trying to complete trades online. When trying to join an online raid battle, or broadcasting your own raid battle for others to join, it never finds a match either way, yet you see others out in the field looking for people to join, constantly. Finally, I feel like, for such a large game, and such a wealthy company, they could have spent a little more time to add a few more character models to the game; seriously, youll run into 20 different NPCs that all look exactly the same. I guess I was just expecting more from Pokemons first real set of 3D rendered games.

Great game

It’s Pokémon..it is always good. Packaging was perfect, but the codes were messed up. Nintendo fixed that for me.