As the first mainline home console game in the Pokémon franchise, there was a lot of pressure to live up to expectations. Pokémon Sword lives up to many of those expectations but lacks in others. In terms of gameplay, this is one of the stronger titles. The new overworld features that were present in the Pokémon Let's Go games, such as Pokémon appearing physically and being able to pick and choose your battles, are both aesthetically pleasing and functionally well designed. The idea of being able to run through an open plain with tall grass blocking your path is not nearly as daunting and encourages exploration. Battles are mainly the same, however type differences are much more apparent which makes the game easier to understand for a newcomer. The obvious main grievances gameplay-wise is the stripped down National Dex and poor visuals which have plagued this game since it's reveal. The visuals in the game are not great, models like trees look unfinished, the pop-in is awful and the game can really drop frames in some places. The National Dex being taken away was not a bad choice on it's own but when coupled with the context that it was stripped mainly to time restrictions and became released later as paid DLC is a bummer to many. The main gimmick of the game, Dynamaxing and Gigantamaxing, are a really lame well to say 'This game has a new powerset, what do you mean?' without having to put in work to make proper unique models for most characters like Mega Evolution did in the past. If Gigantamaxing was the only thing power in this game, I would have been fine with it, but that would have required more time to work on unique and creative models. That brings up what I believe this game lacked in, time. If given more time, I believe this game could have become one of the best Pokémon games to date and I will mention later on where I believe the game feels unfinished due to a lack of time. More on the gameplay however, the overworld is pleasant but that's all I can really say. Nowhere did the game particularly fascinate me, and anywhere slightly fascinating, was typically over very quick, such as the towns of the Fighting gym leader and Fairy gym leader. The Wild Area, as advertised, is easily the best and most interesting part of the game. However, much like the other towns, it too is over far too quickly and lacks much to do, other than filling out your PokéDex. Finally, we turn to the game's story, which is overall fairly good for a game rated E but compared to how deep, or even just well-thought out the stories of the Mario and Zelda entries on Switch, there was a lot to be desired. Spoilers here for obvious reasons, so if you wish to skip over them, my overall summary of the game will be marked at the end. The game focuses around these wishing stars which are brought up at the beginning of the game but quickly forgotten about until the end of the game. Most characters and character designs are done well at beginning, but as the game moves on, the designs become lackluster and stories are wrapped up poorly. This is another big aspect of the game that could've been done beautifully if given more time, but it is what is. Hop, your rival, starts as a very generic character, until later in the game where, after being repeatedly, the player becomes more sympathetic to him, before he goes right back to being generic. Other important character, like Sonia or Bede, start out as okay character, build into better character, and almost as you reach the climax, their stories are wrapped up rather quickly and in an unsatisfying way. The main villain of the game, Chairman Rose, basically becomes evil out of nowhere, believing he needs to unleash an event known as 'The Darkest Day' in order to save the power from going out in the town 1000 years in the future. This motivation comes from almost nowhere and this plan has massive flaws that completely break his character, before he goes back to being his cheery self after being defeated and turns himself in. This wraps up the main plot but there is a fraction of post-game content that, in my opinion, could've fit nicely into the main story and actually make Rose a better villain without having to change his already poor writing. This post game content includes two new characters who are the direct descendants of hero's who saved the region long ago, and believe they are entitled to the throne. They attempt to make themselves look better by wrecking havoc on the region, making wild Pokémon look at fault and turning the legendary Pokémon against the townspeople. These two are written significantly better than most characters, and actually wrap up Hop's story in a much better way than the main game could. The gameplay in the post game content is basic but good enough to still make it worth playing through for the legendary Pokémon and the story.
---------------------------------------Summary-------------------------------------------Overall, Pokémon Sword (and Shield, for that matter) are good entries in the franchise but could have benefited from more time to brainstorm ideas, program better models and create a better story. A solid game, but I will likely not be revisiting, even to finish the PokéDex. If you are an older fan who wants to revisit the franchise or a newcomer who wants to know where to start, this is well suited for you.