Pokémon Sword and Shield Reviews

Pokémon Sword and Shield is ranked in the 79th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
7 / 10
Nov 21, 2019

While returning to its roots in some ways, Pokemon Sword and Shield feels stuck in a transitional phase

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Unscored
Nov 20, 2019

Pokémon Sword and Shield take us on a journey to the beautiful and vast region of Galar, where the challenge of gyms has recently been brought. We, a village boy / girl have to discover all the new pokémon that have been introduced in the eighth generation and decipher the Gigamax phenomenon. It is a very precious game with a great soundtrack, which proves to have work behind it, even if it is half finished.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

9 / 10.0
Nov 20, 2019

Despite a few minor flaws, and an avalanche of controversy, Pokémon Sword and Shield prove themselves to be excellent games, and stellar new Pokémon adventures.

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8.5 / 10.0
Nov 20, 2019
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8 / 10.0
Nov 20, 2019

The Wild Area in particular is fun, though I mostly stayed offline due to it slowing down ever so often. What the new Pokémon does right is battling and in the smaller details. There are many little tweaks that keep the experience lighthearted, which I wouldn't have any other way.

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Nov 20, 2019

If you’re not sick of the formula, or if you’re new to the franchise, then it’s easy to forgive the meh story, subpar visual presentation, unchanged battle system, and messy multiplayer. It’s a solid Pokemon game that anyone can enjoy. Nothing more, nothing less.

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7.5 / 10.0
Nov 20, 2019

Pokemon Sword and Shield are good games that improve on the Pokemon formula, but a rushed late game and cut content keep them from being great.

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7 / 10.0
Nov 20, 2019

On one hand, the online is absolutely broken and embarrassing. On the other, anytime I'm not dealing with that nonsense, I'm having fun with the game. Maybe in a couple of months, when I've min-maxed every Pokémon in the Dex and am just focusing on raids, I'll feel more antagonistic toward the game and its woeful online, but right now, when I'm doing literally anything else in it, I'm having a good time.

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4.3 / 5.0
Nov 20, 2019

Pokemon Sword and Shield is a decent mainline entry and a good attempt for their first home console Pokemon game. The new pokemon are lovely, the cinematic experience is phenomenal and it does most things quite well. Newcomers will have plenty to enjoy, while veteran fans will likely be disappointed. Add in the lack of a national dex and it's a shame but not enough to say it kills the experience.

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8.3 / 10.0
Nov 20, 2019

Pokémon Sword and Shield represent an exciting new beginning for the saga. Some ideas aren't perfectly developed, but overall the work of Gamefreak is convincing.

Review in Italian | Read full review

9 / 10.0
Nov 20, 2019

Pokémon Sword and Shield is everything that you love about pocket monsters and then some. With an emphasis on sharpening what works and ditching more bloated elements aside to create the best region yet for the franchise, Pokemon Sword and Shield is pocket monster catch 'em all mania at its very best.

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6 / 10
Nov 19, 2019

Pokemon Sword and Shield gives us but a glimpse of what a proper home console Pokemon could look like, and not much more.

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4.7 / 5.0
Nov 19, 2019

While it sounds like a lot of changes are present here, and a lot is new, Pokemon Sword and Shield doesn’t really feel all that different. The Wild Area does change things up quite a bit, but it isn’t completely revolutionary just yet.

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Gamersky
八云猫车
Top Critic
8.8 / 10.0
Nov 19, 2019

Although it's far from perfect, Pokemon: Sword is a decent sequel of the series and does a nice job in terms of some detail improvement.

Review in Chinese | Read full review

Nov 19, 2019

The series needed that soft reset, and now Game Freak has the same outstanding basis and core to build on anew. Just as it did back when Pokemon Blue & Red so effectively captured my imagination 21 years ago.

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5.5 / 10.0
Nov 18, 2019

Older fans are catered to in tournaments and events, making it hard to claim it is “just a kid’s game.” Even as a kid’s game, one giant leap for Pokemon is one small step to the industry standard.

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8 / 10.0
Nov 18, 2019

In the end, Pokémon Sword and Shield is a decent Pokémon game that will keep you playing until the end. It doesn't deserve all the controversy it's been getting, but it's not a particularly stand out entry in the franchise either.

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9 / 10.0
Nov 18, 2019

Game Freak has succeeded in creating a new core entry worthy of being on home consoles, and Pokémon Sword and Shield are a couple of the best games on Nintendo Switch.

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USgamer
Top Critic
Nov 18, 2019

Despite the controversy, Sword and Shield offers a great time.

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7.5 / 10.0
Nov 18, 2019

Pokémon Sword and Shield is at once a really fun game and a disappointment. It has a lot of great new features, excellent new Pokémon, some much-needed quality of life improvements, and is generally a solid Pokémon title. However, the first console outing feels like it should've been more impressive, especially given the reduced Pokedex. If you're a fan of Pokémon, you'll enjoy Sword and Shield a lot, and if it's your first Pokémon, it's a good way to experience the franchise's high points. If you're a longtime fan hoping for the Breath of the Wild of Pokémon games, you'll be disappointed.

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