Pokemon Sword and Shield officially launched the 8th generation of Pokemon on the Nintendo Switch, with many diehard fans of the franchise thinking this platform jump would mean the games would be revolutionized in comparison to older generations. This is true in many ways, but perhaps not in the direction that many believed. Because at its core and despite a few mechanical and story-related shortcomings, Pokemon Sword and Shield deliver an experience that is undeniably Pokemon.
From the minute players step foot into Galar and go through the early sequences of selecting a starter and battling the rival, Hop, it's clear that these are bonafide Pokemon games. For those who have played past entries, it quickly tugs on thoughts of nostalgia as players meet Pokemon Professors, Champions, Gym Leaders, and even Team Yell. Catching and training Pokemon, even with the EXP. Share always on, is just as satisfying and rewarding as it has been every generation prior. In other words, the core remains mostly unchanged.
Pokemon Sword and Shield players will soon realize that defeating gyms has been turned into a sport. As players travel across Galar to battle the 8 gym leaders, events unfold in the background, rivals are battled, and each gym presents its own unique challenge, which adds a nice level of variety to each gym. One gym, for example, would ask a series of questions during the battle in order to test the player's mettle, where another tasks players with solving minor puzzles related to the gym's element. After defeating the 8 gyms, players will tackle the Champion Cup, Sword and Shield's near-equivalent of the Elite Four.
This time around, however, instead of a new powerful threat when facing them, players end up facing off against some of the gym leaders again. For the most part, this lands elegantly, as it turns gym leaders from random city-restricted threats to actual characters. Though it's worth mentioning that some gym leaders, like Raihan and Piers, stand out more overall because they show more development in the game. Far too many of these characters end up being one-dimensional, which wouldn't normally be a complaint if they just served in their respective towns. On the other hand, seeing gym leaders and the champion involved with the on-goings of the Galar region makes it feel all the more authentic than previous generations.
Since gym leaders were effectively roadblocks in cities, Pokemon players never had to invest in them or truly care about them. They just had to beat the gym and move on, but Pokemon Sword and Shield make this impossible. Gym leaders, for better or worse, truly play a role in the player becoming the champion, which is a nice touch. Yet, while this is a good thing for the most part, several characters don't fully develop. Team Yell, for example, serves the sole purpose of being an annoyance, as opposed to living up to the grand schemes of past antagonists; Galar's reigning champion Leon is literally defined throughout the game as someone who frequently gets lost; and Hop's character growth is incredibly slow. It's also not an understatement to say that players battle Hop far more than rivals in other games, to the point that some could consider it obnoxious.
Many were worried about Sun and Moon's Island trials when the games first launched and how significantly Ultra Beasts changed the atmosphere of Pokemon, but that's not anything to worry about in Sword and Shield. Dynamax and Gigantamax are the new gimmick introduced this time around, with Mega Evolutions, Z-Moves, and Ultra Beasts being exchanged for a chunky Pikachu and larger-than-life battles. It's a change that is mostly satisfying and fits into the world and lore of Pokemon more than Ultra Beasts did.
Dynamaxing is largely predictable, though, specifically as to when enemy Gym Leaders choose to do so, meaning the best bet is for the player to do so as well. Then, one super effective move is all it takes for a Dynamaxed Pokemon to go down, seemingly just whiling away time with these new Pokemon Sword and Shield mechanics. The epicness of the design and size is lost in actual battle, with this largely being an exception when it comes to Max Raid battles. These were more designed specifically for the Dynamax and Gigantamax features, and there it shines. If its application during other battles was the only strange mechanic, it wouldn't really be worth mentioning, but there are a ton of strange design choices that raise eyebrows.
To adjust the sound, players have to find a key item that allows them to do so, and this option typically comes standard to any game. On top of that, Sword and Shield's sound option NPC is easy to miss, meaning some could easily go the whole game without realizing this was ever an option. Perhaps the most bothersome choice comes with how Pokemon Sword and Shield change catching legendaries, so just to avoid spoiler territory, players shouldn't just be waiting through the main story to catch their mascot legendary.
Beyond the changes to these legendaries, the overall story is also so far out there that it's incredibly difficult to follow or piece together. At times, it seems that some overarching agenda that adults should do more for the world supersedes the logical flow of the story. The overarching goal of the antagonist is ambitious in scale, self serving in narrative, but underdeveloped overall. As a result, they fall short of greats like Team Rocket or Team Magma/Aqua's leaders.
Still, despite these shortcomings, Pokemon Sword and Shield excel at introducing new elements like better Pokemon Storage while retaining the series' core. Everything a Pokemon player can need or want is there. Whether it's playing competitively, playing the story, playing with friends, spending time with Pokemon friends, hunting shinies, or playing the raid battles, Sword or Shield offers a core Pokemon experience, not much more and certainly nothing less.
Pokemon Sword and Shield are out now, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch. Game Rant was provided a code for the purposes of this review.