Players need to know that after the complete travesty that was Gen 7, Sword and Shield is a sharp turn in the other direction, boasting a beautifully-designed region, solid graphics, excellent quality-of-life features, and the best new Pokémon designs in a long time.
First of all, while the story is underwhelming, it isn’t as bad as Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire's original story was and unlike Pokémon Sun and Moon, Game Freak had the decency to let you skip the tutorials and intrusive cutscenes. This brings us to the Wild Area, a vast and beautiful place filled with places to explore and the largest variety of Pokémon to catch before the first gym in any game to date; even the DLC allows you to access the Isle of Armor and the Crown Tundra before earning a single badge, with appropriate level scaling to boot.
The new Pokémon designs look utterly fantastic; the likes of Corviknight, Hatterene, Eldegoss, Toxtricity, Morpeko, Cinderace, Obstagoon, the legendary duo, Urshifu, and the legendary horses are all designs that Gens 6 and 7 largely lacked.
The way Pokémon Gyms were handled was great, giving them a vibe just like Association Football. In particular, Spikemuth was a high point for the gyms.
There are some negatives, but the positives outweigh them by a lot. For example, Hop is a very annoying character, and I didn’t really feel sorry for him after Bede thrashed his team; I found lines like “I’m so sorry, Lee!” to be pretty funny. He’s not as grating as Hau, but that doesn’t say much. The Dexit ordeal, while not a dealbreaker, is also a point against it, and it’s also even easier than Pokémon X and Y.
All in all, while not the best Pokémon game (Gens 2, 4, and 5 all outclass it in my eyes), it still earns a solid 9/10 from me.
A huge step in the right direction
Players need to know that after the complete travesty that was Gen 7, Sword and Shield is a sharp turn in the other direction, boasting a beautifully-designed region, solid graphics, excellent quality-of-life features, and the best new Pokémon designs in a long time.
First of all, while the story is underwhelming, it isn’t as bad as Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire's original story was and unlike Pokémon Sun and Moon, Game Freak had the decency to let you skip the tutorials and intrusive cutscenes. This brings us to the Wild Area, a vast and beautiful place filled with places to explore and the largest variety of Pokémon to catch before the first gym in any game to date; even the DLC allows you to access the Isle of Armor and the Crown Tundra before earning a single badge, with appropriate level scaling to boot.
The new Pokémon designs look utterly fantastic; the likes of Corviknight, Hatterene, Eldegoss, Toxtricity, Morpeko, Cinderace, Obstagoon, the legendary duo, Urshifu, and the legendary horses are all designs that Gens 6 and 7 largely lacked.
The way Pokémon Gyms were handled was great, giving them a vibe just like Association Football. In particular, Spikemuth was a high point for the gyms.
There are some negatives, but the positives outweigh them by a lot. For example, Hop is a very annoying character, and I didn’t really feel sorry for him after Bede thrashed his team; I found lines like “I’m so sorry, Lee!” to be pretty funny. He’s not as grating as Hau, but that doesn’t say much. The Dexit ordeal, while not a dealbreaker, is also a point against it, and it’s also even easier than Pokémon X and Y.
All in all, while not the best Pokémon game (Gens 2, 4, and 5 all outclass it in my eyes), it still earns a solid 9/10 from me.