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So is Pokémon sword and shield good?
- Thread starter LordDraven
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Do you want to play a Pokemon game? If yes, it is good. If not, it is bad.
If you don't have a strong opinion yet, you'll probably enjoy it just fine.
If you don't have a strong opinion yet, you'll probably enjoy it just fine.
I really enjoy playing Sword. Think they're definitely good, obviously they have their flaws but they haven't stopped me from enjoying them.
Depends how much you value it being Pokemon to your review.
There's better RPGs on the Switch, buy one of those. Like Dragon Quest.
There's better RPGs on the Switch, buy one of those. Like Dragon Quest.
It's a good basic Pokemon game. Pokemon requires time and iterations to build up quality and features present in previous games because that's how game development works. When you pay your 3rd $60 it should be great.
Im currently enjoying it a lot
Its way better than the internet would have you believe but its not gonna wow in the way other contemporary long running franchises have wowed this generation
They are finally on an interesting trajectory though with the to dips into open world.
Its way better than the internet would have you believe but its not gonna wow in the way other contemporary long running franchises have wowed this generation
They are finally on an interesting trajectory though with the to dips into open world.
There are some parts where it is quite fun (e.g wild area, breeding and ev training simpler than ever, music) and there are some parts that are very frustrating (e.g story, characters and most boring cities in the series). That being said I've put more than 160 hours into this and look forward to the season pass
Oh and the new pokemon are so well designed and fun to use.
Oh and the new pokemon are so well designed and fun to use.
The new pokemon are good.
The battling is good - probably the best it's ever been.
As an RPG it's fucking terrible.
Online features are fucking terrible - though that part isn't a surprise.
The battling is good - probably the best it's ever been.
As an RPG it's fucking terrible.
Online features are fucking terrible - though that part isn't a surprise.
The Good: The character and Pokemon designs are amazing, some of the visuals and towns are gorgeous, and the music is great. The Gyms are pretty fun.
The Meh: Battles are the same as always, to me. No dramatic change there. The Wild Area is a welcome new addition but once you've been there once you've seen all it has to offer.
The Ugly: The story incredibly disappointing and it feels like the game is on rails. It's incredibly linear with no sense of exploration or branching points to find something interesting. Unfortunately, the dungeons and their puzzles are completely gone.
I've also got my own gripes with forced "Quality of Life" changes that basically ruin the experience for me, like forced EXP share, but that's a personal gripe.
The Meh: Battles are the same as always, to me. No dramatic change there. The Wild Area is a welcome new addition but once you've been there once you've seen all it has to offer.
The Ugly: The story incredibly disappointing and it feels like the game is on rails. It's incredibly linear with no sense of exploration or branching points to find something interesting. Unfortunately, the dungeons and their puzzles are completely gone.
I've also got my own gripes with forced "Quality of Life" changes that basically ruin the experience for me, like forced EXP share, but that's a personal gripe.
Catching and raising is fun but it's kinda pointless when the game is so damn easy. I didn't expect a SMT game but if you watch the Dunkey video on this game, it really be like that. You just use one attack from the same Pokémon all the time. There's no incentive to really experiment with other Pokémon. The game also just felt...lifeless?
How is it unfair to compare it to other mainline games made by the same developers that were also $20 less? Lol🙄
They're probably my least favorite games in the series. That being said, there are a lot of really cool new Pokémon designs, and the trade/breed/battle gameplay loop is as addicting as it's ever been.
Very fun, very straight forward, no dumb ass tedious caves anymore, no more 20 trainers in line on a single road waiting for you to defeat them.
I get why some would find the game disappointing, but it's seriously a fun, fast game. Don't expect difficulty or anything. I don't think it's an issue. Some studios legit want their games to be easy.
Some might not like it, but the difficulty of the game isn't an issue. It's a choice made by Game Freak, and Pokémon games have been super easy for a whiiiiile now anyway.
I get why some would find the game disappointing, but it's seriously a fun, fast game. Don't expect difficulty or anything. I don't think it's an issue. Some studios legit want their games to be easy.
Some might not like it, but the difficulty of the game isn't an issue. It's a choice made by Game Freak, and Pokémon games have been super easy for a whiiiiile now anyway.
It's not actively bad, if that makes sense, but it is incredibly mediocre. The Pokemon catching is good which can elevate the game for you if you are into that. Everything else is generic, boring, or braindead easy. There's honestly not much to like here beyond the actual Pokemon catching. You can sleepwalk through the battles and the story is both boring and completely linear as are all of the routes around the game. It's not a terrible game but it should have been taken to task for the sheer lack of ambition for a flagship game on the shiny new console.
The core mechanics of Pokemon are still intact, so depending on how much of your enjoyment of Pokemon comes from that is how much you'll enjoy it.
Everything beyond that is mediocre to bad. Practically no story, horrible handholding, every route and town is lifeless window dressing with nothing to do, exploration outside of the wild area doesn't exist because it is completely linear (the only cave in the game has the complexity of X/Y's Route 1), the online features are a step down even from Diamond & Pearl (no GTS) and then borderline non-functional on top of that, difficulty is non-existent until the champion (and only then, if you've skipped every optional trainer and rushed through with only the starter), performance problems out of the wazoo in the wild area (and the game ain't even much of a looker to start with).
Everything beyond that is mediocre to bad. Practically no story, horrible handholding, every route and town is lifeless window dressing with nothing to do, exploration outside of the wild area doesn't exist because it is completely linear (the only cave in the game has the complexity of X/Y's Route 1), the online features are a step down even from Diamond & Pearl (no GTS) and then borderline non-functional on top of that, difficulty is non-existent until the champion (and only then, if you've skipped every optional trainer and rushed through with only the starter), performance problems out of the wazoo in the wild area (and the game ain't even much of a looker to start with).
Been playing Pokemon for over 20 years. Huge fan. Put dozens of hours into every Pokemon game. Found a lot to love in every entry.
I bought Shield. I dropped the game about a quarter of the way through. It's mediocre. It single-handedly killed my enthusiasm for the franchise. I am not going to allow myself to get excited for another Pokemon game again. Not with Game Freak at the helm.
No, Sword and Shield isn't good. It's thoroughly average, and everything good that it does, is balanced by something terrible or baffling. It kind of sucks. It's a bad, poorly balanced, impossibly easy, straightforward, utterly unambitious mess. With competent core mechanics. Does that sound like a good RPG? Fuck no, unless you're without standards.
I bought Shield. I dropped the game about a quarter of the way through. It's mediocre. It single-handedly killed my enthusiasm for the franchise. I am not going to allow myself to get excited for another Pokemon game again. Not with Game Freak at the helm.
No, Sword and Shield isn't good. It's thoroughly average, and everything good that it does, is balanced by something terrible or baffling. It kind of sucks. It's a bad, poorly balanced, impossibly easy, straightforward, utterly unambitious mess. With competent core mechanics. Does that sound like a good RPG? Fuck no, unless you're without standards.
Playing it right now and having fun, they introduced a lot of features that fix a lot of the tedious aspects of previous games, lots of QOL improvements.
My biggest problem with the game right now is that the graphics are pretty bad, I expect Switch games to look much better, this just looks like an HD version of a Gamecube game.
My biggest problem with the game right now is that the graphics are pretty bad, I expect Switch games to look much better, this just looks like an HD version of a Gamecube game.
It's a mediocre game. Arguably worst in the series. Still an okay playthrough once, but I doubt I'll ever touch it again.
The story is horrendous. The route design is among the worst in the series, on top of there being fewer of them. The Wild Area, in its current form, is a negative addition to the series that lowers the number of unique routes in the game and also removing any semblance of any kind of wild Pokemon ecosystem in the region, making this one of the least-memorable regions in the series to date (probably in a fight with Kalos for worst). There are numerous parts of the game that are just clearly missing from the final product as several climactic moments are delivered in laughable states (taken care of off screen by another character or delivered via a joke of a goose chase to obtain a key that leads into a joke of an elevator ride). The enforcement of Exp Share and the change in capture mechanics completely hamstring anybody attempting to play the game in different ways. You're still railroaded around the region by annoying supporting characters despite the pre-release illusion of semi-openness.
The good thing is that competitive battling is in pretty good shape for the time being. If you're into that then that can probably overlook most of the previously stated issues. I personally just use Showdown these days because I can't be assed to raise the Pokemon.
It's also still Pokemon, which is just inherently some level of fun, so all of the stated issues still manage to deliver a mediocre experience instead of a bad one.
The story is horrendous. The route design is among the worst in the series, on top of there being fewer of them. The Wild Area, in its current form, is a negative addition to the series that lowers the number of unique routes in the game and also removing any semblance of any kind of wild Pokemon ecosystem in the region, making this one of the least-memorable regions in the series to date (probably in a fight with Kalos for worst). There are numerous parts of the game that are just clearly missing from the final product as several climactic moments are delivered in laughable states (taken care of off screen by another character or delivered via a joke of a goose chase to obtain a key that leads into a joke of an elevator ride). The enforcement of Exp Share and the change in capture mechanics completely hamstring anybody attempting to play the game in different ways. You're still railroaded around the region by annoying supporting characters despite the pre-release illusion of semi-openness.
The good thing is that competitive battling is in pretty good shape for the time being. If you're into that then that can probably overlook most of the previously stated issues. I personally just use Showdown these days because I can't be assed to raise the Pokemon.
It's also still Pokemon, which is just inherently some level of fun, so all of the stated issues still manage to deliver a mediocre experience instead of a bad one.
Shield has been a fine rpg for me so far. I've been rotating my team constantly to reduce how overleveled i get so it hasn't been frustratingly easy. Fun but not mindblowing.
Cute environments.some good new monsters.gym battles turned into major sporting events feels pretty hype.
Not much exploration. Not really anything in story or worldbuilding that fuels my imagination or leaves me obsessed.
Cute environments.some good new monsters.gym battles turned into major sporting events feels pretty hype.
Not much exploration. Not really anything in story or worldbuilding that fuels my imagination or leaves me obsessed.
Boring, mediocre and basically the same game again.
I had to push myself to finish the game and I basically never want to play it again. Unless they make some big changes to the formula, I don't think I'll come back
I had to push myself to finish the game and I basically never want to play it again. Unless they make some big changes to the formula, I don't think I'll come back
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