by Finn, Grade 6
Pokemon, one of the highest grossing franchises of all time, took its mainline games to the Nintendo Switch, and underwhelmed fans. This is from the reused animations to what fans called Dexit, where Game Freak basically did a Thanos snap of the National Dex, only taking some Pokemon from it and basically snapping the rest away. AND THEY WOULDN’T BRING BACK MY TREECKO! AUUUGHHH! But, what are my thoughts? Let’s find out.
The Story
The main plot from all games remain. Get a starter, and start to become the best, like no one ever was. Do this by going from route to route, town to town, rival battle to rival battle, to compete in the Gym Challenge, where you do a puzzle, some battles, and then fight a Gym Leader of a certain type to earn badges, eventually to challenge the Champion. That’s the very basic story, without adding in the new plot elements. And despite it being unoriginal for the series, it’s still fresh and fun.
The Graphics
Now for the graphics. They are actually very good, but the reason people don’t like them is because they compare them to Breath of the Wild and Mario Odyssey, which took years to develop compared to this, which took a little over a year. But I still do have issues. The graphics don’t render that well in the overworld, so they used popup, which made the game feel older than it is. Not only that but the trees are as good as the Ocarina of Time trees. MrBeast and his trees didn’t deserve this.
The Gameplay
The gameplay is as fun as ever. It’s classic four-option/attack RPG fun. And just wandering around in places like the Wild Area feels and looks amazing, despite the graphics. And the Gym Challenges. Augh, they are filled with life. Just all of the gameplay is just near perfection.
The Music/Sound
This is the best part of the game. No question. The music is perfectly paced. When you’re just walking around in the Wild Area, it’s really slow paced. But battling a Gym Leader or a rival, the music is fast paced. And together, it sounds amazing. The Gym Leader Battle is like music you rave to. And the Battle Tower Battle Theme is made by Toby Fox, who made Undertale and the music and is responsible for Megalovania. And when Toby Fox is involved, he doesn’t disappoint. Overall, the music is amazing.
The Animations
Listen, despite Game Freak reusing animations from Sun and Moon, I think the animations are good, with some of them perfect, like Cinderace’s Pyro Ball. I don’t mind the other animations, but like other people, I have a problem with the animations of the double-hit moves. The animations on it are lazy, with most, if not all, animations just hoping a few times or just throwing something at the opponent. But besides that, the animations are good.
Final Thoughts
I think Pokemon Sword/Shield are great games. In the storm of negativity, Game Freak pulled off a game that didn’t disappoint. Through its gameplay, plot, music, graphics, even its animations, that did not disappoint. So get your Switch, and go catch ‘em all.