Posh Pokémon
I guess I am the resident Pokémon person at ZTGD. It seems that since I have worked for the site, I have reviewed every mainline Pokémon game that has come out. I’ve played almost all of them at this point, and have always enjoyed my time with them. Over the years, Pokémon has changed a lot of things up to make it more diverse as well as accessible, and with the release of Sword and Shield, they have made the most accessible version of a tried and true franchise, for better or for worse.
Going into the story of a Pokémon game feels almost like a broken record. Players are a young new Pokémon trainer that has decided to take on the Gym Challenge, where they will travel the region to battle all the gym leaders to earn their badges in hopes of taking on the champion to become one themselves. Along the way, they run into a villainous group they will have to take on as well as a rival they have from the very beginning. All this while trying to catch all the different wild Pokémon to complete their Pokédex. It’s a lot like every other Pokémon game, which, I guess if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.
Platforms: Switch
MSRP: $59.99
Price I’d pay: $59.99
For those of you who don’t know about Pokémon, but let’s be honest, I think anyone reading this knows what they’re getting into, Pokémon is a turn-based RPG where players use trained animals to battle each other using up to four moves per party member. The game has a heavy focus on the Rock, Paper, Scissors mechanic, where certain element types will be more effective against others. Fire beats Grass, Water beats Fire, Grass beats Water – that sort of thing. Allbattles are stat-driven, where attack power determines the amount of damage while defense mitigates damage. That, along with speed, accuracy, special attack, and special defense all play major roles in the battles. While marketed towards kids, this series can be a very complex RPG for those that want to dive deeper into it.
With Sword and Shield, the amount of accessibility changes is small but makes a big difference. Instead of the old experience share item that originally was a held item for a single Pokémon in my party turned into a key item that could be turned on and off. It then changed to a key item that gave all my party members experience points, and now it isn’t even needed in Sword and Shield. From the get-go, all party members get experience points by default. This makes grinding for levels much easier, to the point where grinding isn’t really needed much. Another nice improvement is the fact that after I have battled a certain Pokémon before, while in the battle menu, it will tell me which moves in my Pokémon’s repertoire are effective or not, which is really nice considering the amount of Pokémon in this game I have never seen or know of.
Much like the previous games in the series, the two different versions come with their very own Pokémon to catch, but one new addition is each version has two unique Gym Leaders that have completely different gyms and Pokémon types. So essentially, the boss fights in Sword are different from some in Shield.
One of the best new additions to the series is the Wild Area. Here, the player can roam around a large open world form and find all sorts of Pokémon to capture. Keep in mind, there are also strong Pokémon wandering around that players with low level party members may want to avoid, but with this Wild Area connecting multiple towns together, it is a nice place to travel in to buff up their teams. Since this area is so large, players can choose to set up a camp where they can rest their Pokémon, cook a nice meal that can heal them as well as offer up experience points to the team, and play with their party members to raise their affection.
What may have sparked controversy in the Pokémon community that many have more than likely heard is the removal of the National Pokédex, which is the full roster of all Pokémon since the first game released. Sword and Shield has brought multiple Pokémon over from previous games while adding a lot of brand new monsters to catch. Sure, it doesn’t have them all, but the sheer amount to find and collect in Sword and Shield will still keep players busy for a nice long time, and the diverse types and styles are all here. When I found that Steel, Ghost, and Ice types were never explored as much as I would have liked in previous games, I am always finding monsters of all the types in place here.
Some things I do love are the look and feel of the game. I can finally play a mainline Pokémon game on my TV and it is fantastic. The colorful art style pops in both docked and undocked modes, and controlling the game with either the joy-cons or the pro controller is well done. I can finally get away from straining my eyes and hands on a 3DS.
Far from the days of having to physically have a friend with me to trade or battle players, with the Switch version trading and battling friends and randoms is even easier than the 3DS games. There’s even an option to randomly trade Pokémon just to see what I would get, all of which can be done right through the menus. Along with that, players can team up with up to three others to take on a wild Dynamax Pokémon. Dynamax means the Pokémon grow to a giant size, become stronger, and have altered moves that can affect the entire battlefield. Players can Dynamax one of their Pokémon in their party but only once per fight, and Dynamaxing is usually something that takes place during a Gym Battle. Taking on a Dynamax wild Pokémon in the Wild Area is call a Max Raid Battle. Here, players can recruit other players to take on the giant Pokémon or just have the game provide some AI controlled trainers.
If there was one issue I had with Sword and Shield, it would be that the accessibility hinders the game. Making things easier for newcomers or for younger players makes the entire game not very challenging. Sure, I’m a 34 year old man who grew up knowing that I HAD to grind in RPG to beat the game, but even then, I find Sword and Shield way easier than previous games in the series. I found that as long as I made sure to fight every trainer along the way to a new city, I would be leveled just fine and would breeze through the Gym Leader battles. Sometimes, even being able to one shot their Pokémon. It almostfelt overly easy.
Even with that issue, there is still a ton to do in Sword and Shield. Either catching ‘em all, or taking on the Wild Area and the Gym Leaders, there’s plenty of content here even if some people think the National Pokédex removal is a deal breaker. It’s still a lot of fun and can keep players busy for hours on end. The style and look is great and it controls fantastically. Is it my favorite Pokémon game in the series? I’m not sure, but it still holds the standard for one of the best out there. Any RPG fan will get enjoyment out of this one and Pokémon fans new and old will have a great time exploring the Galar Region.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
