Thank you to Nintendo for providing us with a review code! Join PhantomZ2 as he experiences the Galar Region in this review of Pokemon Sword for Nintendo Switch!
Every two or three years, many new Pokémon are discovered and trainers new and old prepare themselves to traverse through the world of Pokémon. This time around, the Galar region is the set destination in Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield. While there was a lot of controversy surrounding the many different elements of the game, we’ve still got to complete our quest to be the very best. So come with me, as it’s time to review the newest generation of Pokémon and the second set of mainline console games on the Nintendo Switch – Pokémon Sword.
STORY:
The Galar region, home of the Gym Challenge, is the new region that trainers, new and old, will be exploring. Unlike regions of the past, the people of Galar take great pride and joy in the sport of battling and in the competitiveness of challengers young and old taking on the Gym Leaders and most importantly, the Champion: Leon! While I’m a veteran 20-year-old Pokemon Trainer in the real world, for the sake of the game’s story I’m a young trainer traveling across Galar with my best friend, rival and neighbor, Hop, to take on the Gym Challenge and Champion, who also happens to be Hop’s older brother!
As you and Hop travel together, you’ll meet many more people with an array of ambitions. While normally we’d have Professor Magnolia acting fully in a guiding role to the player, her granddaughter Sonia takes the stage in discovering and archiving Galar’s legends, which concerns two heroes who had saved the region from a calamity known as the Darkest Day. Chairman Rose, along with his assistant Oleana, is essentially the prime minister of the region as he is the one that set up the entire Pokémon League, Gym Challenge, and ensures the people of Galar are happy. Champion Leon himself will also meet up with you along the journey as he endorses the player and his younger brother to take on the Gym Challenge. Two other important trainers you’ll meet along the way that are looking to take on the Challenge are Bede and Marnie. Bede is a smug pretty-boy Gym Challenger that focuses on Fairy-type Pokémon. However, what he personally finds to be most important is that he is endorsed by Chairman Rose himself. Marnie is a stylish and cute trainer that focuses on Dark-type Pokémon that constantly has a posse of annoying fans that will cheer her on and also get in your way, called Team Yell.
Travel across the Galar region, meet new people and take on the Gym Challenge, all while casually uncovering the undiscovered lore of the land that will lead you to the Legendary Pokémon: Zacian!
Of course, there is more that I’m not going into, and while the games have been out for a while now, I’d rather leave a deep dive analysis of the story for another time. However, I do feel as if the story sets up a lot to be established without fully diving into it. In particular, Hop often takes center stage, trying to prove himself while shouldering the burden that comes from being in the Champion’s shadow. However, because the player isn’t allowed to lose to him in a Pokémon battle, my forgone victories against him become a bit painful. For Bede, his backstory is touched upon, but not enough to play into why he is the way he is or with enough chances for him to take a spotlight in the overall story.
I love how Game Freak played with Pokémon staples in comparison to prior games. The legendary Pokémon being part of the story from the beginning makes their presence stronger and made me curious about how they would be handled as I progressed. But, another major issue comes in telling but not showing. For instance, we’re told that the Gym Challengers have personal lives and do other activities, but we never really see that. Nessa, on her Trainer Card, is shown to be a model and occasionally does it as a hobby, yet we never get to spend time with her outside of her Gym Leader position. For the games set in Unova, we saw the lives and work of the Gym Leaders. The story involves them stopping the Sages of Team Plasma and we see them arrive at N’s Castle to help out the protagonist. In Black 2 and White 2, if you use the Memory Link, you’ll be able to see the relationships between Gym Leaders like Elesa and Skyla, as well as N departing with his Pokemon that you can eventually catch. They may have taken some actions because their Gym Leaders, but they had roles unrelated to the Pokémon League. But, Pokemon Sword and Shield feel very lacking overall in its storytelling and, personally, that is what I care about most when it comes to Pokemon. The gameplay is important, but I also need to have the motivation to play through the game and this game’s story made me wish that it was different, in certain aspects, from what it was.
GAMEPLAY:
Pokémon Sword is the same as it’s always been for the franchise at its core. Capture Pokémon new and old, battle against a variety of trainers and occasionally do some trading. However, there are some new curveballs to keep things interesting and engaging – as much as it can be.
Traversing around the Galar region is very similar to games of the past, but we’ve got some new things to touch upon. While there are still hidden Pokémon in the wild shaking in the grass and burrowing in caves akin to Pokémon Black and White, Pokémon are now completely in the wild! As introduced in Pokémon Let’s Go, wild Pokémon are now digging, swimming, and running around in the overworld for you to approach, distract, and get chased by! The world of Pokémon, in terms of interaction, has expanded and while I love the idea of being able to see what Pokémon are in the area from the get-go, especially if it’s a brand new Pokemon I’ve never seen before that I know I’ll want to catch, this also encourages me to avoid them more often than not. It’s not like I need to grind much with the EXP Share being on all the time, so I’d still receive EXP from trainer battles. However, with Pokémon walking in the overworld, instances of the past where grass and wild Pokémon were used as an obstacle are almost completely removed. While there are some spots where avoiding Pokémon will be harder to do based upon the route layout, like with these Manectric chasing after me on Route 4, there aren’t enough areas where there is a sense of tension when traversing through the grass because it doesn’t force you into situations where you’ll have to encounter Pokémon. As strange as that may sound to some people, the idea of experiencing wild Pokemon being optional makes the overall game lack a sense of adventure or scale in contrast to earlier installments.
While Pokémon Sword isn’t aiming to be an open-world game, this game features a new way to explore through the Wild Area. The Wild Area is a large open space of land to freely travel through at your leisure to encounter Pokémon of different types, environments, and generations. Instead of it being like a route where part of the challenge is traveling through it with Pokémon that you’ll encounter, the Wild Area is a place for trainers to explore comfortably to the extent that if you wanted to, you could go directly to your next destination without trouble. Moving on, this is primarily where Pokémon from other regions, such as the Combee from Sinnoh, Duskull from Hoenn, or Bewear of Alola, will reside in Galar. Considering that the Wild Area is also introduced very early into the game, it allows the player to fill up their PokéDex faster and create variety in team building for a player that may be completely new to Pokémon. However, the Wild Area is home to a lot of strong Pokémon from the get-go. If you can find a way to defeat the Level 40+ ‘mons that early in the game, that’s going to be a big boost of EXP for your team. However, you won’t be able to catch any super strong Pokémon past a certain limit if you don’t have the required amount of Gym Badges. But, there are also some powerful Pokemon that you will have a chance against… giant Pokemon!
Dynamax is a phenomenon that occurs within the Galar region where some Pokémon grow in size and in strength. The effect only lasts for three turns and changes your HP stat only, but it also changes every move on that Pokemon into a superpowered max attack based on its original typing. While this new mechanic has completely removed Mega Evolutions and Z-Moves, it is a fusion of both of those mechanics. While it doesn’t change the tide of battle as much as Mega Evolutions, it still mixes up matches and can make them intense when both players are on their final Pokémon. To take it further, there are certain Pokémon that can go beyond Dynamaxing in what is known as Gigantamaxing. With Gigantamaxing, the Pokémon not only gets bigger but also has a change in design. However, not every Pokémon of the same species can Gigantamax. While any Pikachu can Dynamax, only special Pikachus have the ability to Gigantamax thus making it, in a way, an exclusive gigantic Mega Evolution. However, because of the strict turn limit, it’ll be easy to cheese your way through them during Gym battles by reviving your knocked out Pokémon and waiting for the opponent’s Dynamax to run out. I should specify that Dynmaxing can only occur within battles against a Gym Leader or in a Stadium that is built above a Power Spot. Speaking of Power Spots, let’s go back to the Wild Area.
Outside of Gym Battles, Dynamaxing can also occur at Power Spots In the Wild Area. Wherever you see a den, you can approach it and receive some watts that can be exchanged for items. However, dens that have a dim red light beaming out of them contain Dynamax Pokemon and by connecting with other players around the world, you can gather with 3 other people to battle the Dynamax Pokémon in a Max Raid Battle. This builds off of the raid battle mechanic from Pokémon GO, where all 4 players are fighting against the gigantic Pokémon to knock it out and catch it. However, you’ll need to do it without too many of your team’s Pokémon fainting or too many turns going by, or else you’ll get kicked out. If you do win, you’ll earn some Dynamax Candy to level up your Pokémon’s Dynamax level and some EXP Candies, which are different sized candies that will give your Pokémon a burst of EXP, unlike a Rare Candy that will simply raise it to the next level. While the concept is fine, it can become very unfun very quickly. Some Pokémon are extremely strong, like Legendaries. In my first instance of doing a Max Raid Battle, I got matched up with someone using one of the new Legendary Pokemon and it instantly knocked out the Dynamaxed Sawk we were against. Instances like that instantly take the fun out of even doing Max Raid Battles and can also spoil players that are early in the game to special story related Pokémon. However, if you’re playing with friends, then you probably won’t have to deal with this issue.
Speaking of online, connecting to other players within Pokémon Sword and Shield is done through the Y-Comm. With the Y-Comm, you’ll connect to the internet and receive badges on the left side of the screen to see what other players around the world are currently doing. If you have it turned on while in the Wild Area, you’ll also be able to see other trainers walk around and you can talk to them to sometimes receive items. While that’s cool and all, the execution of it isn’t that great since trainers will pop-in and walk in the air sometimes. Connecting to another player, even in local play, can take quite a few minutes too. This is the least I’ve used online to enhance my experience in a Pokémon game in general because neither the Y-Comm or online interactions within Pokémon Sword make the game any more enjoyable. If you don’t care much about the competitive scene or competitions that take place online, then battling won’t mean much outside of playing with your friends or doing battles in small doses. With trading happening only through Wonder Trade, now called Surprise Trade, and Link Trading with people you already know – you can’t request for the Pokémon you want for the whole world to see and help you out. I would have preferred some sort of online hub, kind of like Pokémon Sun and Moon or Platinum, where players could directly interact or play some kind of minigames? I’m not sure, but I just wish there was a way to return to the PSS system from Pokémon X and Y because it allowed trainers to interact with one another easily. Having someone want to challenge me just by seeing my name? It felt awesome to take people on their challenges against me amid my journey. Sword doesn’t have that, making it feel a bit inferior and a step back in its online setup.
PRESENTATION:
Pokémon Sword and Shield is an evolution of the Pokémon art style as it has been presented since its move onto the 3DS. The Galar region is incredibly vibrant and expressive from the lighting in the Galar Mines to the advertisements of Wyndon. However, there are some times when the presentation isn’t too great. I think one example that I’m constantly faced with when I walk through the Wild Area is that during some weather events at some angles, the player model’s shadow isn’t there because the surrounding area is also darker which makes it look as if the character is floating above the ground and isn’t contacting with it. Even with the shadow being there, it feels like I’m walking above ground and this is only for the Wild Area and it’s probably because of the “free” camera! That’s correct, for the first time in the series, there is a free camera in the overworld but only for the Wild Area. However, the free camera is still incredibly limited because you can’t look up to the sky, all the way down above your player or zoom in.
Now to the biggest aspect of the presentation, the Pokémon! I haven’t said much about the actual Pokémon of this generation yet, so now is the perfect time to talk about them. While every Pokémon wasn’t able to make it into the Galar Region due to the lack of a National Dex, which I don’t care about anyways, the Pokémon that did make it into the Galar Region look a bit better than before with some upgraded textures and the effect that lighting has on Pokémon in different areas. While I haven’t seen every single Pokémon introduced in the Galar region, those I have discovered are incredibly lively, cool, and cute! While it’s important that my starter, Scorbunny, looks cool, there are plenty of other Pokémon that caught my eye! Centiskorotch, while simple, has a very nice color scheme and balance that helps present it as a fire type while also being a bug. The Applin and Hatenna line are hilariously interesting and are filled with designs that I could’ve never imagined! The Galarian form of Mr. Mime looks very weird at first but its evolution, Mr. Rhyme, is the kind of appreciation that Mr. Mime has needed for so long! Lastly, Pincurchin, Snom, and Falinks are just the cutest designs in the entire franchise! Now while most Pokémon are special in their own right, some Pokémon have more attention to detail for their animations. Each Pokémon has an animation for their battle cry, attacks, physical and special, and fainting. Besides, the simple animations when playing with my Pokémon in Pokemon Camp were enough to make me enjoy taking the time out of my journey to give my mons the attention they deserve. However, I think the idea of each Pokémon getting more detailed animations when the importance tends to mostly be on the special visual effects of the attack is a bit pointless. That doesn’t mean that some attack animations could be improved or switched. For example, when Cinderace uses Double Kick – it simply hops off the ground. However, when Cinderace uses Double Kick against a Dynamaxed Pokemon, it does its kicking animation – so why not just have it do that each time? Even with small issues like that, it can all be overshadowed by the overwhelmingly amazing animations of Dynamax attacks and other special attacks like Cinderace’s Pyro Ball, Zacian’s Behemoth Blade, Boomburst, and Dragon Pulse as they all carry a lot of impact.
I’d also like to give some recognition to the character designs and animation. Like most other games in the series, Sword and Shield has a lot of nice character designs. However, these characters feel far more diverse than what we’ve ever had! The main trainers themselves, Hop and Leon, Gordie and Melony (if you have Shield), Opal, Raihan, and Oleana? As well as the NPCs! There are only a few character designs that I didn’t care for, but so many of them spoke to me in a way that I just wanted to see everyone get far more screen time. In the heat of battle, special trainers will have dialogue and cutscenes to escalate the tension of the battle when an attack lands as critical or if they’re on their last Pokémon. On the other hand, outside of battles and cutscenes, characters are still pretty stiff in their movements and the lack of voice acting makes it feel worse than it is in some cases. While the idea of having Piers on stage and rocking out is great in terms of presentation, hearing absolutely nothing from him makes that entire character trait feel pointless. For instance, they could’ve composed a song for him that had lyrics in the same way that Elesa and Roxie had for their gym themes. Feels like a missed opportunity considering what is considered among many fans to be the best song from Sun and Moon were the Team Skull themes, which also had vocals.
Moving forward with music, which is very important in my eyes for any video game, I think Pokémon Sword and Shield is simply good. Taking the time to listen to the soundtrack without playing the game, there are a lot of tracks that have very soothing melodies and others have guitars accompanying their rhythms to make me move to the rhythm out of me! Meeting up with Leon, Sonia, and Marnie is something I look forward to because their encounter themes are amazing. Even though I don’t look forward to wild encounters, the Wild Pokémon theme is just as great as Sun and Moon’s. I’d say, Bede, Marnie, Piers, Oleana, and Hop, when facing against him towards the endgame, have the best battle themes in the entire game! The tracks that accompany the places you’ll go such as the Salons, Boutiques, the Galar Mines, and Turffield Town are also amazing. However, when playing the game, I didn’t feel much from the music. I’m not too sure why, but the music felt far more impactful and powerful as I listened to it on its own than when playing the game.
FINAL WORDS:
Pokémon Sword is better than average for a Pokémon game, but it lacks a lot of aspects to make me want to continue playing. I don’t care about challenging the Battle Tower after the story is over, the Wild Area, which is meant to be a highlight of the game, isn’t that interesting, and the overall story of the game, while interesting, could’ve been expanded upon. This is unfortunate to me as a longtime Pokémon fan. With there being so many other games on the Switch that can satisfy my hunger for an enjoyable experience, it’s a shame Sword and Shield lack the longevity Pokémon Black and White or HeartGold and SoulSilver did years ago. There’s still a lot more I want to say about Sword and Shield that doesn’t have much to do with how I would rate the games as a product, but through my personal outlook as a Pokémon fan. However, I’ll save them for now as I think this review has run on long enough. This review originally was longer, but I think separating my thoughts I want to focus on into different videos should help express how I truly feel about Pokémon Sword and the state of the franchise. At this point, you probably already purchased Sword or Shield. If you’re a Pokémon fan who adores competitive battling, Max Raid Battles and shiny hunting, you’ll get a lot of mileage out of the game. But as someone who cares more about the story, characters, and having an interesting region to explore, Sword and Shield didn’t satisfy my interests enough.
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