played a Shield Surpriselocke race in Spanish with a friend. unfortunately, I lost that race. however, I do have things to say about the game.... and let me tell you, no matter what your opinion on these games are, it's probably wrong. this review is about base SwSh.
the characters are still as great as I remember them. everything down from the character designs to how apparent their personality shines from the moment you meet them still rule
the Pokemon selection here is decent. I don't like it as much as the new Kalos or Alolan Pokemon, but most of the Pokemon introduced ranged from decent to amazing, and I can't think of any outright bad Pokemon they introduced in this generation
Dynamax and Gigantamax I feel very mixed. Raids are probably some of the best multiplayer features introduced in a Pokemon game since the Wi-Fi Plaza all the way back in Generation 4, and Pokemon drawing from its kaiju origins had the potential to be extremely cool. however, I can't say I'm all that interested in Dynamax as a concept compared to Mega Evolution, even if Dynamax is arguably the best-implemented gimmick so far (granted, its competition is Mega Evolution and Z-Moves, so that's not hard). there's also some missed opportunities for Gigantamax too (seriously, no Tyranitar?)
the music's great, though I do feel like they overuse leitmotifs way too much compared to other games, which put more thought into when they should be used (like Lusamine's theme in the generation beforehand). the Gym Leader theme sounds like what they were going for in the Kalos Gym Leader theme without having an obvious "we made this really quickly to get the game out the door"
the story unfortunately is where things fall apart. as some people have commented on, with some minor changes the story could actually be really good, but instead you have a very okay if somewhat incoherent story that can't decide if it wants to be a sports story or a run-of-the-mill Pokemon story propped up by some really great characters, so I can't be too mad about it compared to games like XY that didn't have that crutch. when it hits (like the Eternatus fight) it HITS
the graphics. I haven't liked how washed out Pokemon has looked since Generation 6, but it comes to a head here, especially in the Wild Area when it's raining and such. I get they want the Pokemon colors to look closer to how they look in the watercolor art, but this isn't a way to do it. the Wild Area is pretty rough around the edges, but it was very obviously experimental (and judging by the DLC and Legends, it worked!). that being said, the game IS capable of some rather stunning locales, like Hammerlocke and the altar in Slumbering Weald
I still think the hate for SwSh is very overblown. it reminds me of how people absolutely despised Generation 5 back when I was a kid despite doing a lot of things right (even if it isn't innocent in the trends people hate modern Pokemon for). that being said, I'm not excited for 2029 to happen and the kids that were raised on SwSh come over to tell me that SwSh were masterpieces, actually, and actually Plus and Minus or Poop and Pee are the worst Pokemon games ever conceived
the characters are still as great as I remember them. everything down from the character designs to how apparent their personality shines from the moment you meet them still rule
the Pokemon selection here is decent. I don't like it as much as the new Kalos or Alolan Pokemon, but most of the Pokemon introduced ranged from decent to amazing, and I can't think of any outright bad Pokemon they introduced in this generation
Dynamax and Gigantamax I feel very mixed. Raids are probably some of the best multiplayer features introduced in a Pokemon game since the Wi-Fi Plaza all the way back in Generation 4, and Pokemon drawing from its kaiju origins had the potential to be extremely cool. however, I can't say I'm all that interested in Dynamax as a concept compared to Mega Evolution, even if Dynamax is arguably the best-implemented gimmick so far (granted, its competition is Mega Evolution and Z-Moves, so that's not hard). there's also some missed opportunities for Gigantamax too (seriously, no Tyranitar?)
the music's great, though I do feel like they overuse leitmotifs way too much compared to other games, which put more thought into when they should be used (like Lusamine's theme in the generation beforehand). the Gym Leader theme sounds like what they were going for in the Kalos Gym Leader theme without having an obvious "we made this really quickly to get the game out the door"
the story unfortunately is where things fall apart. as some people have commented on, with some minor changes the story could actually be really good, but instead you have a very okay if somewhat incoherent story that can't decide if it wants to be a sports story or a run-of-the-mill Pokemon story propped up by some really great characters, so I can't be too mad about it compared to games like XY that didn't have that crutch. when it hits (like the Eternatus fight) it HITS
the graphics. I haven't liked how washed out Pokemon has looked since Generation 6, but it comes to a head here, especially in the Wild Area when it's raining and such. I get they want the Pokemon colors to look closer to how they look in the watercolor art, but this isn't a way to do it. the Wild Area is pretty rough around the edges, but it was very obviously experimental (and judging by the DLC and Legends, it worked!). that being said, the game IS capable of some rather stunning locales, like Hammerlocke and the altar in Slumbering Weald
I still think the hate for SwSh is very overblown. it reminds me of how people absolutely despised Generation 5 back when I was a kid despite doing a lot of things right (even if it isn't innocent in the trends people hate modern Pokemon for). that being said, I'm not excited for 2029 to happen and the kids that were raised on SwSh come over to tell me that SwSh were masterpieces, actually, and actually Plus and Minus or Poop and Pee are the worst Pokemon games ever conceived