Spoilers How do you feel about the games?

I haven't brought the games, and probably never will. As much as I love a lot of the new Pokémon designs, everything else about the game is super disappointing IMO.

The lack of the NatDex is what I'm the most annoyed about. It's already been proven that the models are reused from the 3ds games, so GFs excuse about there being less mons due to having to create new models is complete bs. It's obviously just them being lazy.

The graphics. God damn are they mediocre for a switch game. Some of the cities and towns don't look bad, but the wild area is just.... Yikes.
I hate how the Pokémon look like they're made of plastic. It makes some Pokémon (like Rillaboom and Copperajah for example) look really bad. The washed out textures in the 3ds games look half-decent in comparison...

I've also heard that the postgame is pretty much non-existent, which honestly doesn't surprise me considering how they've handled the postgames in the last few gens *coughcough*ORAS*coughcough*. Still disappointing though.

 

I haven’t gotten the games yet because I don’t have a switch, but if I did I would probably buy. On release day I read through some things that got cut from the games and I looked through the Galar dex and I’ll be honest, I was a bit skeptical of the games. I had a positive opinion on them, but this information may have tainted my view of the games. However, I listened to some of the battle themes and all my skepticism went away. The music is absolutely amazing as usual, and the cherry on top is Toby Fox’s song. I guess my viewpoint is that for what the games have, they’re great. I trust that the games are good.

 

Aside from the horrible online code system, I think it's fun and unlike other Pokémon games I'm still playing after I've done everything in the game for the most part. Filling the dex was a lot easier and getting competitive ready mons is too so breeding is realistic for me this gen and is something I'm spending time on.

 

They aren't bad, idk why people are so up in arms. The teams had only like a year to do these games, what do you want?

 

I feel like the story could have definitely been longer, and I feel like they should have included other starters from previous generations, not just charizard. Don't get me wrong, I like charizard but they focus a bit too much on it. I haven't gotten around to playing much in the wild area, though i need to.

 

I kinda sped through this game because I was playing with a bunch of friends, I'll probably replay in the future, but this is what I think as of right now.

Spoiler: I wrote this at midnight lol

- The new Pokémon are mostly pretty good. You have your usual duds like Eiscue, Stonjourner, and Perrserker, but you have many more great Pokémon, with standouts being Hatterene, Rillaboom, and Clobbopus. Overall one of the better generations we've had, even if not the best.

- I thought Alolan forms were only made to add more diversity to the typings of the Kanto mons for Let's Go, but I have literally never been happier to be wrong. Alolan Forms were my favorite new addition to Sun and Moon and I'm very happy to see them returning, and in this case, a lot of more underappreciated Pokémon got them as well, like Corsola and Stunfisk. Very happy about this one.

- Gigantamax forms, honestly, are pretty lackluster for the most part. I like Garbodor, I LOVE Pikachu, Alcremie is okay, and I think Charizard is interesting but I wish they put those design aspects on another Pokémon...but I struggle to think of any other Gigantamax forms that stand out to me. Most of them are boring or barely change the design of the originals when compared to, say, mega evolutions.

- The story is kind of all over the place. In the past games there was always this looming threat that was meant to keep some suspense, and even with Sun and Moon having a less than serious evil team, they still had the Ultra Beasts at the very least. Team Yell did not provide this, and the story felt kind of felt like an hourglass, with a lot of it pushed into the very beginning and the very end. On top of this, the dialogue was pretty bad, especially around Leon. I feel like I might have liked Leon if they had done more "show don't tell" with him, but instead, they told us that he was undefeatable as many times as possible. I may have appreciated his dynamic with Hop, but I just can't get past the dialogue. Definitely one of the weaker points of these games.

- As for Dynamaxing as a whole, it's definitely better than Z-Moves and Mega Evolutions. Let me start by saying that they are by far the most unbalanced new mechanic introduced to any generation, other than possibly weather. This is only the case in singles though, I hear it's fine in doubles. The reason I like it though is for everything else. You can't use it during every battle, only the important ones, which really makes it have this grand feel to it. They also are great for their addition of Max Raid Battles, which leads me to my next point...

- The Wild Area is a fantastic addition to the games that kept me hooked for weeks. When a Pokémon game drops, I mostly play until I get bored of the Battle Tower, which mostly lasts me a week or so, story included. But Raid Battles are insanely fun despite being so simple. They are by far the best part of the Wild Area and they kinda just make me forget about everything else they have to offer.

- However, the characters are overall pretty good on average. We have friendly rival Hop, jerk rival Bede, and Marnie lacking personality to be perfectly honest. Pretty standard stuff, but they all actually go through some character development unlike so many other characters in the series. What if the friendly rival gets beat down by someone and his confidence gets killed? What if the one thing the jerk rival has is stripped from him and he has to realize his mistakes that way?

- Although at first I hated them, I really liked Team Yell at the end. They're just a bunch of rougher people trying to cheer on their hometown hero! They aren't the brightest, but they have a really wholesome goal in mind, and that's really charming to me. Piers is also one of my favorite characters in the franchise, like definitely top three, for somewhat similar reasons. He appears to be rough on the outside, and he's snarky by nature, but it shows that he has a caring heart for his people and especially his sister. It all just works in a way I can't really explain beyond that.

- I honestly didn't even remember the name of the team "Macro Cosmos" until I looked it up. Rose was an obvious twist villain, and I'm kinda unsure what to think about him. I find it interesting that he has good intentions for Galar and is just worried about their future, and I also like that he realizes his mistakes one he's done. Really paints the picture that he's not a bad guy. But why couldn't he wait one day like he was asked? Him being that kind of impatient really just ruins it for me. If Leon hadn't told him that the championship battle was the day he brings Eternatus up, I feel like I could have liked his character a bit more, but he's just kinda "eh" for me.

- The graphics are a mixed bag. Solid 3D models, good animations for the most part, but the textures could get REALLY bad sometimes. I don't understand why they didn't just use Let's Go's artstyle, because in my opinion, it was fantastic. Much better textures, nice and vibrant colors, and a much more stylized look. This inconsistency definitely bothers me at some points, so this is definitely a low point for these games as well.

- There are also quite a few areas where the game lacks polish. Why do people have animations for when they turn around, but the Pokémon in the overworld don't? Why are some of the move animations as simple as they are? Why are there so many bugs with the Shiny Hunting methods? Definitely something I could live without, and this started to bother me over time.

- Something I don't normally compliment in a game, but the world they build is overall really nice. The cities all feel much more fresh and dynamic than they did in past games, there are people on the streets that recognize you as you get further and further into the game, and there are many people cheering in the stadiums just as a sport as important to this world as battling should be. Honestly, this game makes other great games in the series feel kind of empty in that way, which is definitely something to be proud of. The fact that they sold me on this is especially telling for me, since I'm not normally interested in this kind of stuff when looking into a game.

- Lastly, the music: easily the best in the series for me, barring side games. There's no contest. I can only name a single theme that I found to be bad, even if some are forgettable. Bede's theme is fantastic, Eternatus 3 is fantastic, Slumbering Weald is fantastic, and Rose's theme is a contender for my single favorite theme in the entire series, up there with Steven's ORAS theme and Ultra Necrozma. My bias as a drummer may be coming into play here, but music is a very powerful thing when it comes to setting a tone, so this is a huge plus for the game in my book.


Overall, I love Sword and Shield. They're very flawed games for sure, and there are Pokémon games that have less obvious flaws than them that I like more. These games are great fun and I'm happy to see them selling so well. If I were to compare them to other games in the series, I'd say they're worse than BW, BW2, HGSS, and DPPt, but they're better than the rest of the games in the series. It makes me sad to see them removing the National Dex only because of how they mess with the reputation of these games, and I feel like if they had it, these games would be recognized as some of the best in the series. At least it's still selling well, and at least many of the people I've spoken to have enjoyed it.

EDIT - I forgot some stuff. Postgame was fine but nothing spectacular, it was kind of short but we got some decent dialogue and it was kinda fun. Sordward and Shielbert are my least favorite characters in the entire series though. I haven't played Pokémon Camp but it's nice seeing there's more stuff to do in the game outside of just battling. There are also a bunch of nice, small quality-of-life changes in the game that I really appreciate but won't get into.

Well that was fun. Hopefully it wasn't too unorganized or weird to read.

 

@Duo I agree with your opinion on the story line; That was my biggest let-down with the game probably. The story felt all over the place and the writing was poor. Nothing seemed to flow and I felt a lot of things were left behind doors. Like, something big would happen, and Leon/Sonia/somebody would be like "Oh no, I'll go handle this! Bye!" I felt like the MC missed out on a lotta action and that's a bummer.

Also I find myself HIGHLY concerned for Leon: Like holy heck, these people rely on the Champion for EVERYTHING. I feel like if some old lady needed help opening a jar, she'd go straight to the Champion. I just feel like these folks put him on this untouchable pedestal and man, that's gotta be a lot of stress for that guy. Meanwhile, where are the police? Where is Officer Jenny's cousin? Where are the proper authorities to help out this one single man with such huge responsibilities?? Where is the nice boy down the street to help the old woman with her jar?

 

I think that Pokémon Sword and Shield are awesome.

 

OH MY GOD LOVE FOR ICE TYPES! Will this be enough love to warm my long frozen heart?! No, but at least I got some. I went into Sword and Shield with no expectations. I had heard the controversies with the Pokédex and really had no care for it. I always like making new teams based entirely on the new regions Pokémon so it didn't bother me that much.

Spoiler: Presentation

As for my expectation, I expected to battle Pokémon, catch them, travel around the region collection gym badges and facing the champion. Its a Pokémon game and unless god himself comes down to whack game freak's director into making something fresh for Pokémon, I'll always expect that. What truly blew me away this generation though was the one thing I wasn't expecting, the presentation. Never before have I felt so invested in a Pokémon game since this game. They truly do everything they can to make everything feel like it really matters. From the massive stadiums of screaming fans, to the dynamxing only in gym battles, to the music, to the rivals with their own fan clubs, to the little details like the crows showing up around you to pump you up for the fight, this game knocked the presentation out of the ballpark. The only real nitpick I have is that the crowds needed about a 100 more people to be believable. That would just be an epic site to be walking from the hotel to the stadium and the entire road is closed off for you with thousands of people screaming at you as you walk by making your way to the final fight with the champion. That would be the cherry on top and truly make me believe that everyone was watching my matches. The 2d fans in the stadiums were a bit jarring at first until I realized, most fans are actually that hallow and good on Nintendo for accurately portraying sports fans. Joking aside, that could have really used some more touch ups. I don't mind 2d sprites, but they were really pixelated for a 3d game.

Spoiler: Others

If I was to ramble on about everything else in this generation I'd merely be repeating what others have already said so I'm going to do a rapid fire cliff notes version here.

The story is terrible and could easily be band-aided by sprinkling Macro Cosmos goons around the world being evil.

Team yell was there and kinda stupid for most of the adventure, but then cleaned itself up in the final act unto something fun.

The wild area wasn't disappointing because its exactly what I expected, big open world with nothing to do but catch Pokémon from other gens (which I didn't like to do). So I didn't really mind it. If anything the bike made traveling the area acceptable and I didn't feel like I had to slog through something I didn't like.

The routes look better than they've ever been. Sure their graphics aren't on par with other games, but its the best Pokémon game graphics (aside from 2d pixel fan art). Improvement is slowly being made. Yes they need to speed it up, but I can acknowledge progress.

Dynamaxing I thought was stupid and corny at first and something Pokémon devs weren't going to commit to, but I found it to be a well balanced middle ground between megas and zmoves. Op, yes but so were those others too.

The post game side story was entertaining, but wow did I want to claw their ......... with my corviknight's talons.

The champion had a 2d personality (kinda like all the rest), but with all the build up that Pokémon did it made fighting him truly feel like a battle of the ages and honestly, that's all you need from a champ.

Haven't done the battle tower but the renting feature is probably the best new addition.

Clothing sucks, but there are a few really good outfits mixed among the rubbish. Progress is being made, but that's still not an excuse.

Overall I had more fun in this Pokémon game than any other that I've played since, and I'm a gen 3 man with RS remakes so its pretty hard to top that. I haven't been more invested in a Pokémon game than this one and you can really see a lot of effort was put into making the world feel alive, fresh and ready for to take it on. It could however used some more time everywhere else.

 

Oh boy, Sword and Shield. The most controversial Pokémon games, ever.

Here's my opinion in a nutshell: These two aren't the best Pokémon games, not even close, but they're still fun to play.

Here's what I really like about it:

Spoiler

- The characters are absolutely solid in my book. You've got Hop, who probably has the most character development of any rival in the series. Piers, who is not only the first Dark-type Gym Leader (No, I don't count Nanu), but he really helps you in the aftergame and he made an entire villainous team to give his sister motivation, etc. All the characters look great and they made me smile whether they were important to the plot or not.

- The music is AMAZING.

- The Wild Area is really cool.

- The Pokémon designs are pretty nice if I do say so myself. We haven't had old Pokémon get new evolutions in a very long time.

- Raid Battles are a pretty cool concept of PvE in Pokémon.

- Wild Pokémon roaming around on the field are back from Let's Go along with random wild battles. It's nice to see Pokémon roaming around the area.

- If you're a competitive player then the mints and the introduction of EXP Cubes and the ability to put egg moves on a parent makes the process much faster. In fact, the inclusion of these features makes me wonder why they weren't in previous games to begin with.

-Despite this fact being mostly negative the dex cut is very interesting. It makes some Pokémon more viable than others, and some of the power creep from previous titles are gone.

However, there are things I don't like about this game and I'll address them here:

Spoiler

- I said the Wild Area is cool, but it's missing potential here. I think you only have to travel through it twice in a playthrough. They should've gotten rid of some of the routes and made the Wild Area a little bigger if you ask me. Not only that, but most of the time if you're in a Pokémon's range they actively try to approach you, which is annoying if you're hatching eggs in the wild area. There aren't too many Pokémon that try to get away from you.


- Dynamaxing and G-Maxing are underwhelming. Dynamax can be incredibly powerful, yes, but it only has offensive abilities. So if you Dynamax a defensive Pokémon there isn't much there besides Max Guard. At least Z-Moves had offensive and defensive utility. I also don't see much of a point of G-Max forms, unless there's a move that you REALLY like, but honestly, most of the G-Max moves don't seem to be worth it if you ask me.

- The fact Mega Evolution and Z-Moves are removed. Honestly, they really should've had all three. I don't see why they couldn't have all three either, other than make the game easier for new players to get into.


- The online mode SUCKS. No seriously, me and a friend tried to trade with each other for about 50 minutes one time, and we couldn't get each other at all. Mainly because the game uses a 4-digit code. Why can't we just trade with people through our friends list privately without having to use the code? Some people use the same code or randomly guess it and there is a chance you can get into a trade with a complete stranger. I hate to say it, but the festival plaza in Gen 7 was WAY better and I hated the festival plaza! Not only that, but using the Y-Comm in the Wild Area makes the game lag for whatever reason. I know it's just a small nitpick and it doesn't matter, but it's still very odd to me.


- Max Raid battles are cool...in concept, but I feel like the rules are a little too restrictive for any kind of strategy. You just hit the right attack and hope the Dynamax Pokémon gives out before the defeat conditions are hit.

- Moves being removed. Moves such as Return and Hidden Power don't return. Again, this is a bit of a nitpick, but I was looking forward to using Hidden Power this gen.

- Techincal Records...seriously, did anyone ask for these to come back?

I think that's all I have to say about it. Like I said, these aren't the best Pokémon games to hit the market, but I still had a great time with this game despite it's shortcomings.