Community Review: Pokemon Sword And Shield

11 responses to “Community Review: Pokemon Sword And Shield”

1. 

   transientmind

   November 19, 2019 at 4:14 pm

   This thing is everything I wanted from a next-gen pokemon game! It’s pretty, cheerful, and runs great, the pokemon are all niftykeen, and the characters say shit like ‘Mum’ instead of “Mom,” so it’s basically the perfect game.

   I’m looking forward into doing some of the co-op dynamax raid thingies, after I grind up a little more so I don’t feel like dead weight.

   I heard today (for the first time ever) that apparently some people are upset about some things, but I haven’t got a clue what the hell they’re on about, so obviously whatever is upsetting them all so badly is nothing I care about.

   Reply
   1. 

      piratepete

      November 19, 2019 at 6:44 pm

      Dont forget that its graphics are up there with some of the best looking PS2 games I have ever seen!

      Reply
2. 

   stormo

   November 19, 2019 at 4:14 pm

   Loving it. I’ve never played a Pokemon game before, and it feels to me like a Shin Megami Tensei game aimed at kids. That’s fine because I love Shin Megami Tensei, and having recently played through the heavy shit that is Persona 5, this feels like the perfect antidote to that game.

   Great stuff.

   Reply
   1. 

      transientmind

      November 21, 2019 at 12:32 pm

      This reminds me I need to go back and progress through SMT4 on my DS while it still lives.

      Reply
3. 

   camm

   November 19, 2019 at 4:35 pm

   I’m caught between rose-tinted glasses, that I’m not the target demographic so don’t expect it to have more depth, a better story, etc, and that Pokemon judged completely on its merits is kind of a shitty game in 2019.

   I’m still playing it though.

   Reply
4. 

   jengaship

   November 19, 2019 at 4:49 pm

   I’d be wanting my money back if I paid for it with anything other than gift cards. According to many data miners, turns out they didn’t actually revamp the Pokemon models since Sun/Moon.

   I’d boil the game down to. Pros: Pre-Gym Trials are fun, Gym Leader battles are great. Music is on point. The UK setting, complete with mannerisms is fantastic.

   Cons: Half the Pokemon are gone, reasons for why they’re gone seems to be all BS. Animations are quite poor, and in a lot of cases are completely missing. Textures don’t live up to next-gen. Very little story, I’ve just finished the game and there has been more story in the last half hour than the other 22 hours of the game. So much hand-holding that it hurts.

   Reply
5. 

   cmac

   November 19, 2019 at 5:16 pm

   My (and the wife’s) first Pokemon game.

   It’s simple but fun and we have both been enjoying it. The reduced Pokemon is a plus for us. 800+ seems like way too much. As Pokemon Go players, we would be happy to never see another zubat or rattata.

   One con though: I have an unreasonable hatred for the horror that is Chewtle. It is so ugly it offends me and I refuse to catch one. I command my pokemon to destroy every one that we find. Like I said, unreasonable level of hatred but they all need to be stomped Mario-style.

   Reply
   1. 

      piratepete

      November 19, 2019 at 6:42 pm

      I think a lot of people arent really getting what the reduced pokemon count actually is all about. The way the last games worked on the 3DS was that there were only a few hundred pokemon actually catchable in any way shape or form in the game itself, and all the trainers you battled only used pokemon from this pool of a few hundred. The only way you would have more than that is if you traded them over from a previous game. They didn’t even show up in the pokedex so you wouldn’t have empty slots for the ones not in the game.

      Just something to note that a few people have mentioned the smaller amount of pokemon as a plus for the reason you listed above.

      Reply
6. 

   checkerchairs

   November 19, 2019 at 8:16 pm

   Disclaimer: I spent like 3 days shiny hunting so I haven’t completed the game.

   I honestly love it. There’s plenty of flaws, for sure, but I love the little things. The gyms and their puzzles are back and feel really refreshing, the little quirks of each gym leader, their backstory, their dynamax animations, etc – are all lovely. The new Pokemon are a mixed bag – some are amazing, and it seems the internet has taken a liking to Toxtricity in particular. Max raid battles are great, while they can be a little repetitive, they give great rewards that make it worth it. The game looks gorgeous, and some areas took me off guard for their creativity and theme-ing. The trading/baseball cards are an awesome feature too, and it’s really exciting to me to collect my friends’ cards.

   Some negatives I guess – while I love the varied weather in the wild area, it makes it hard to find specific Pokemon since it rotates daily and could wipe a mon you’re hunting or trying to find (ie, me shiny hunting Toxel had to be put on hold due to the thunderstorm that made it spawn clearing at midnight) and that considering max raids, if you abuse the Pokemon from them and the XP Candies, you become overlevelled pretty easily; or at least I’m still overlevelled even at the 7th gym. Also a personal negative, but the new shiny hunting method is awful and honestly frustrating, and most hunters are reeling trying to understand it. It kinda makes it hard to shiny hunt in the game without the shiny charm or through the masuda method. Additionally, the new communication options – and the removal of the GTS – kinda sucks. XY/ORAS’ PSS system is still the best imo, even SM’s Festival Plaza, while not my favourite, is easier to use than this lmao

   Other things: there’s been some misinformation thrown around that the game runs poorly, and I’d say that’s blown out of proportions. The only issues I have is when I’m playing connected to the internet and in the wild area with a lot of players and/or weather particle effects can make the game stutter/slow down – something that I think is pretty understandable – but otherwise it runs fine.

   tl;dr: with some bothersome issues for long-time dedicated fans, the game is still otherwise fun and looks amazing, with the new features and Pokemon being highlights.

   Reply
7. 

   sabrescene

   November 20, 2019 at 12:26 am

   I’m mostly enjoying the game so far (heading for the 6th gym) but I don’t think I’ll ever shake the feeling that I’m playing a rushed game. There are some great things that get ignored by the community (the animation for Cinderace’s signature move is easily one of the best they’ve ever done) but for the most part, it does just come off as the same old game along with even more cut corners.

   Even ignoring the obvious problems like the dex/move cut, model reuse, etc, there’s so many little things that just seem like GF didn’t or couldn’t care this time around; the interior void battle-scenes, the awful Link-Trade system and lack of connectivity with Switch Friends list, the insanely low catch rates on most Pokemon over level 30, the fact you can’t actually use any of the gym uniforms you unlock/buy in a gym battle, being spammed by your own Y-Comm stamps while offline and even (this one hurts as it reminds me of a favourite Pokemon I can’t use) the fact that there’s a Poliwag shirt while Poliwag isn’t in the game…

   Reply
8. 

   ldt

   November 20, 2019 at 8:08 am

   I’m really loving it. I just defeated the 3rd gym and I’m about 10-12 hours in.
   I can easily see how some people are flying through the game though. If you didn’t do anything other than head from gym to gym skipping fights, not exploring cities, ignoring the wild area you would easily be done in a short amount of time.
   Personally I’d love a ‘hard mode’, and I can never seem to find anyone to do the raids with (I’ve got the internet turned on!).
   Other than that I can’t complain at all.

   Reply