Customer Ratings & Reviews

I found this game to be very fun to play through. I went into it a little wary, but was pleasantly surprised by what a good time I had with it. There are a ton of new Pokemon to discover- most of them weren't even hinted at before release. Most of them felt like really solid designs too, with very few that seemed like filler. Personally, I was disappointed in all 3 of the starter lines for the Galar region, but others may disagree. Fortunately I felt like the rest of the new designs were much stronger than what they gave us for the starters. Going in I thought some of the features in this generation seemed gimmicky and not very appealing, but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed them. Dynamaxing, though unlikely to make an appearance in future generations, is pretty fun for what it is. Max raid battles are really fun too (although the high difficulty ones are very frustrating if you have to play with AI partners) The wild area really gives you something to keep coming back to. I find it really fun to just explore it, see what raids are available each day, and see what Pokemon pop up in different weather. The game looks great visually, and the music is fantastic. It's not a perfect game however. The story in this one is incredibly thin- bordering on nonexistent at points. Overall, the main story and gym journey feels pretty short too. There's still things to do after beating the game, but if you mainly play the game for story I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. There were some puzzling design decisions made- like giving no option to turn off the exp share feature like in other entries to the franchise, Also, there is no way to grow your own berries- which is particularly disappointing considering how crucial they are to the new cooking system. You still get plenty of opportunities to collect berries, just no way to direct which berries you get. And of course there's the controversial huge dex cut. For me personally, this ended up being less of an issue than I anticipated. Are there Pokemon that I love that are missing from this game? Yes. Is that disappointing? Absolutely. However, there are still a wide variety of Pokemon populating the region, and you have so many to choose from. While I did miss some of my favorites, it didn't feel like an empty region. There was a good mix of Pokemon, new and old, to be found along the routes and especially in the wild area. They put enough in to make it feel like every area had a healthy variety of Pokemon to find, but not so many that it felt overwhelming. Ultimately, while the game does have its flaws, I am giving it an excellent rating based purely on the fact that I had a blast playing it.

If you like Pokemon, you'll like this game. Not much has changed from the beginning but I haven't played every game so I had fun jumping back in. If you've been playing each Pokemon game as they came out I can see someone fatigued on the series.

I purchased this game for my six year old son for Christmas and he just loves playing it. Reminds me of the original “Pokemon” game for the Gameboy.

Great game with a lot of extra content if you decide to get the DLC! I’m about 15 hours into the game and everytime I discover a new place I either see Pokémon that bring me back to my childhood days or I discover new Pokémon that keeps me sucked into the experience. With the addition of Pokémon home this game is great if like me you played a lot of the old DS Pokémon games. Or the Red, Blue or Yellow digital games you can take those Pokémon and transfer them to sword or shield to complete your Pokédex!

I don’t play a lot of Pokémon, only beat the first 3 gens and tried out ultra sun, but I really enjoyed this one. I still felt the same joy I did as a kid leveling up my Pokémon and battling them, so that magic is still there. Pokemon camp was definitely an improvement from Pokémon refresh in sun and moon (which is the main reason I dropped ultra sun) since playing with your Pokémon and feeding them also levels them up. The wild area was really fun to play around in, but towards the end of the game it became a little stale; I do hope they expand on that in the future though. Story was also very cringy for me, it was way too simple, and how you catch the legendaries was not rewarding whatsoever. But on the bright side, gym battles hyped me up with the music/chanting from the crowd.

The game is really fun! It's a classic Pokemon game, meaning you are a trainer that is designated a starter Pokemon and must venture out to defeat several gym leaders to become the champion in the Pokemon league. Instead of random encounters, you will now see Pokemon or a "!" when you are near an encounter, therefore they can now be avoided more easily. Pros: -fun and easy to pick up for all ages -multiplayer options like online battles, dynamax "raid" style battles -camping creates a dynamic where you can heal out in the wild and increase Pokemon stats and levels -portable or docked modes -pokeball plus support (not as controller) -you can play with one hand! Great for injured, Veterans, disabled! Cons: -much too easy. Now all Pokemon gain experience in your party even without experience share. Most trainers encountered only have one Pokemon. I've not been sent back to nearest Pokemon center once! -does not include all Pokemon in the pokedex. No excuses! -cheap Galarian variant Pokemon -DLC. It's $30 for the expansion pass, an extra 50% of the cost of the game, to play about an extra 20% more content, all of which used to be included in the mainline titles as post game content. Not anymore. Pay up! You won't even see all of the new generation Pokemon without the pass! You can't evolve some of the Pokemon you catch in the game without the pass! -Expansion pass is not for both games! You must pay $60 to get both expansion passes! What used to cost you $39 for each game ($120 for all three versions each generation excluding x and y, black and white) about $120 total is now $180! Oh, and you don't get 3 different copies of the game that will grow in value! Eventually they'll close servers and the $60 you spent will disappear and not grow to $300 in value like say Pokemon emerald did. -tiny, linear mainline map. Less open world than gen 3. Sad. Neutral: -no voice acting. Everything must be read, which is great for helping kids learn better reading comprehension, but in 2019 and 2020 seems WAAAAAY outdated. -pokemon still make midi noises. A giant dynamax Pokemon that sounds like a pager/dial up tone is supposed to be intimidating? -clumsy controls. One handed mode will not allow you to rotate camera in wild area. -graphical capabilities could have been much better optimized. This looks way outdated and switch hardware isn't an excuse. Have you seen The Witcher 3 on switch? Doom? BOTW? It can handle higher fidelity. Do they really expect me to shell out $30/$60 for the expansion passes when I've already bought both games? Overall it's just okay, but i hope they learn from these mistakes. If not, this is my last time investing into Pokemon unless it's the old stuff for collection. This same review will be posted for shield, where the only difference is the legendary and some swapped gym leaders and trainers, very very miniscule Pokemon variation.

My wife can’t stop playing this game. She always talks about the graphics, the story is awesome, and that she love it.

Great game I bought kids last year for Christmas. They played it for hours.

Despite what you hear from other reviews, I love this game. I put this as my 3rd all time favorite pokemon game. I love the wild area, the new pokemon, the gym battle music is awesome, and being able to play it on the tv. Only thing I would say is that it is pretty easy, don't if it's because I'm not a kid anymore or they are making them easier to attract more kids into playing. Don't skip this one, get it and I'll see you on the battlefield

Sure it has its flaws which anyone following the franchise will know what I'm talking about, but I'm thoroughly enjoying it with my all my friends. It's a Pokemon game through and through. The story was fun but a little brief for a Pokemon game and the raids and connectivity are awesome. If you enjoy playing Pokemon and love trying to catch a good chunk of them all even if your favorites not in there you will most likely enjoy this game.

Great game. Great addition to my collection of pokemon games.

My 11 year old saved his pennies and Best Buy had a sale so here we go. I enjoyed watching him play this and he is excited to tell me all about the Pokémon. He was quick to “beat” the game, but continues to collect Pokémon. Graphics and controls look good and this is similar to past Pokémon games. I believe if you have enjoyed the past games, then this would likely be right up your alley.

Such a great game. Animation is so nice as well as the game play.

What can I say, its Pokemon. While not the best they've ever made, its pretty fun.

Great game really had fun playing It. Enjoy every gym battle.

This game made me feel like a kid playing red and blue for the first time again. The gameplay is smooth, it's inventive for the series without derailing from expectations, and it brings so much excitement and adventure. The Wild Area is by far the best part of the game and it engages this Pokemon veteran in a way previous games haven't. I can't wait to turn on my Switch now!

Pretty awesome game, just keeps getting better through out

As a hardcore Pokémon fan, I found that this game exceeded expectations in some areas, but not others. While at times having the Pokémon experience on the television felt like Pokémon had evolved graphically, it was unfortunately held back by how unbalanced the difficulty ended up being, as well as having a story that obstructed the freedom of the player

I have played every pokemon game and man this one is up there! I'm an og that played through Kanto and really love sword and shield!! The graphics are insane and the story actually gave me chills and like I was heading into this intense final battle. The wild area is very cool and gives so much variety between playthroughs.

My son is always telling me about his characters from pokemon. Also how I should know these things with as old as I am. He loves Pokemon cards games and toys. This game made him very happy and me as well, that I can make him happy. Actually, bought another one as well so my daughter could play at the same time. Gaming is a part of life in our house.