Reviews from

in the past


OK HOLD ON without dlc swsh is probably one of the worst modern games. You can trust me because I've played through the main game of both games multiple times some for legendaries other times cause I was bored ig. However, with dlc the game is so content rich that it makes sense why I spent like 300 hours on this goofy game.

Una generación que mirando atrás no fue tan mala, los DLC añadieron mucho, no se compara con generaciones anteriores porque no puede, pero estuvo divertido.

so bad. so bad i forgot this game existed for A YEAR


this game was so bad I didn't even bother finishing it and getting the master ball. that being said the music is great and I liked feeding my pokémon curry.

Pokémon Shield was my first game in the series and as such, I had a lot of fun with it.
The core formula of every Pokémon game that consists of collecting little guys, battling and traversing a new region is really solid, so it's no wonder these games are doing as well as they are, although I guess the game might've been more underwhelming to me without experiencing it as a novelty.

As a new player, Shield had this weird problem where it held my hand at the wrong times, telling me the simplest things over and over and constantly making sure I remembered where to go, but when it came to engaging with the actual depth that Pokémons mechanics have, I had to consult the internet.

In the art department, there's lots to love about Shield: The creature and character designs are charming, especially when you delve into their themes and references.
I'm also fond of the visual style, by which I don't mean the overall graphics, but how vibrant the colors are, how cozy the setting is and how slick the Pokémon look.
Customizing my character was really fun too, with how many different clothing options and hairstyles there were, and it was cool to see what other players did with that freedom.
You can tell that the art team had lots of inspiration to draw from, mainly of course from all over the UK, even though the end product often left something to be desired.

On the technical side, the implementation of these ideas felt pretty rushed.
There are tons of sloppy details, from the infamous trees in the Wild Area, the weird transition between water and shore or the irritating aliasing of edges and shadows, to the low draw distance of objects like characters and Berry Trees.
I actually happened to miss two important characters in the Wild Area just because I wasn't close enough to them, so while I was thinking I had checked every spot, their models just hadn't faded in.
The Pokémon themselves just pop up out of the ground instead of fading in, which feels weird, but while it isn't much of a problem on its own, it is indicative of the larger problems this game has.

Many quirks feel like placeholders that made it into the final release and no aspect of the game feels like it was given the attention it deserved.
Some attack animations are absolutely gorgeous and epic, while others are simply lazily wiggling around a stiff model.
Gigantamaxing is a spectacle and I love how the gym battles are presented like a sport, but at the same time, no opponent but Leon uses the feature in an interesting or surprising way.
The gym puzzles are fun the first few times, but they slowly degrade in quality.

Actual exploration in this game is very limited as well.
I liked the idea of the Wild Area, how it gave you the opportunity to capture a wide variety of Pokémon depending on the weather and battle Pokémon that could be way too strong for you.
The little races across the Area on your bike are a nice addition, so although I wouldn't say there's a lot of substantial stuff to find, I don't want to be too hard on the free roaming aspect.
The traditional 2D routes with a locked camera on the other hand became simpler and simpler the longer Shield went on; no overworld puzzles, no forks in the road, just a very linear path from A to B.

The story of Pokémon Shield is nothing to write home about either.
There's an overall sense of a story they wanted to tell about twist-villain chairman Rose trying to harness a legendary Pokémons power to prevent a future energy crisis, which I would've found interesting.
Unfortunately, it's told in such an underdeveloped and confusing way that his motivations are never really clear.
As a player, you're way too uninvolved in this part of the story.
It may make sense that as a child, adults are the ones to handle a dangerous Gigantamaxed Pokémon in the city or that you wouldn't be sitting in on a meeting with Rose, but just because it's realistic, doesn't mean it's very gripping to be sidelined.
As a matter of fact, the story is further undermined by low-effort cutscenes, where everything fades to black and a little textbox tells you what just happened instead of showing you.
It's a saving grace that many characters and their personalities are so lovable, because their small arcs make up for the main story a little bit.

Another thing I have to mention is how laughably stupid NPCs are.
During battles, I was okay with this since I was just learning the mechanics and I actually struggled a bit with Piers and Leon, but considering I didn't lose even one battle as a beginner, I can understand why some seasoned players are asking for more of a challenge.
During raids however, NPCs are oftentimes more of a hindrance than help, using nonsensical attacks and weak Pokémon, to the point where some raids are impossible to beat in singleplayer.
This is especially disappointing for players who don't want to pay extra for Nintendo Switch Online, so I hope NPCs might improve in future installments.

Lastly, the music slaps.
That's all I have to say about the soundtrack, it's great.

At the end of the day, what makes Pokémon Shield so frustrating to me is all the lost potential that it clearly had.
I enjoyed my time with it, but a lot of other people didn't and I fully understand why.
I hope this franchise will eventually get the treatment it deserves, because right now, it really doesn't.

Got called slurs on Twitter for implying I expected more out of the highest grossing media franchise of all time's debut on home console

The start of the downfall of game freak, still put way too much time in this game

I do like some of the Pokemon, and the diversity of environments is cool, but nothing really drew me back. I do have fond memories of doing Max Raid Battles with a streamer, though

The Pokémon Sword/Shield league is the best in the series, the battles are grand and fun, but that doesn't erase the game's problems, especially the Wild Area's performance. The game is worth it for the Pokémon fan, but I don't recommend it for those just starting in the franchise.

I am a pokemon shield enjoyer and refuse to be ashamed.

MELHOR POKEMON DISPARADO.

Mas é Pokémon, não espere muito. É muito lindo e pra mim virou o melhor da franquia (estou conhecendo agora e já até comprei o Scarlet por conta do anime da Netflix), os personagens são muito carismáticos e sinceramente? as batalhas finais são bem desafiadoras até pra quem ficou grindando no matinho que nem eu. O momento que me tornei a campeã de Galar foi inesquecível, as batalhas de ginásio nesse jogo deveriam se estender pro restante dos jogos por que a qualidade do Dynamax é ABSURDA.

A motivação do vilão é HORROROSA mas eu gosto como o jogo é inocente a ponto de não prender ninguém e um pedido de desculpas ser suficiente, além disso o jogo zuar os gêmeos SABENDO que eles são estranhos me abstém de critica-los, acho que você colocando uma playlist animada que gosta nas retas finais e jogar no puro hype só aumenta as qualidades do jogo.

Controversial favourite of mine. If the story was better written, it would be the best pokemon game in my opinion

Very disappointing for the first console mainline pokemon game. I know the comparison is overdone but the colosseum games came out years ago and look far better and play far better than this game does on a modern system. Its very obvious the game was rushed with cut pokemon, awful animations, and a nonexistent story. The progression in this game feels like a straight line that sometimes splits its about as boring and linear as pokemon gets. Its a shame a series as big as pokemon had a fall this hard.

After playing Scarlet and Violet:
"Perhaps I treated you too harshly"

Disappointing in almost every regard. It has some cool ideas but they fall short in the lackluster implementation. For instance, the wild areas seem to clearly be the prototype of what Scarlet/Violet would eventually be and the disastrous design of most post-3D route designs means you wind up with a half-assed wild area with half-assed "normal" routes, the worst of both worlds. Dynamax was a boring replacement for megas. It's also never been more obvious they just ripped shit out of the game (or never bothered making) in order to sell it to you as DLC. Platinum at least felt like an upgraded version of D/P, complete games in themselves; this game legit felt like 10-20 hours of content were straight up missing. I assume that was filled in by the DLC but I wouldn't know because fuck paying for slop that should've just been in the main game.

my crusty eyed 17 year old little white dog named princess who i love with all my heart

this game made me realize that maybe this series isn't actually so good after all


Man, so much potential but a victim of game crunch. Let it be a lesson that rushed games are never great.

this was the first pokemon game i actually finished...and I played it...as an adult

Very little staying power even by modern Pokemon standards.