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.
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.