This one had been a long time coming but look at it this way: I'm currently more than qualified to go over everything about this game now that I've almost 1000 hours in it and have beaten it twice. (I needed a second Legendary for trading purposes; you know how it is.) As another benefit, I have done enough preamble for this game and going into my history regarding the Pokemon franchise that I'm fairly certain there is literally nothing left for me to cover. I even spent a whole blog detailing the history of how this game came to be, I've literally covered all of my bases. So with that in mind: I intend to review Pokemon Sword and Shield both on the merits on how it shapes up as a Pokemon title and how it fares as the very first main-series Pokemon game to launch exclusively on home platforms; as I think that is a factor that should be taken into consideration.
Just as with every single one of my reviews, this means that my following paragraphs will contain a lot of in depth discussion about systems in the game as well as quite a bit of spoilers. This is because these 'reviews' are really just a self-therapy method for to unwind about everything that I went through and come to terms with it all. (Yes I know that's pretty pathetic, thank you for reminding me.) However, that being said we are talking about a Pokemon title here, so one could question whether or not the presence of a 'spoiler warning' is really necessary given how little story really factors into these games in a typical day. However, there is a element of potential guilt that I want to avoid as well as a point I want to bring up about storytelling later down the line so here I go anyway with my Spoiler Warning. (After I talk about the miscellaneous stuff, of course.)
Pokemon Sword and Shield were two games that were released to signify the start of the eighth generation of Pokemon games, which means a whole new bunch of Pokemon, a new set of stories for the Anime, and a whole new region for players to explore. This time things became very personal for me as Pokemon Sword and Shield would be set in the Galar region, which is a landmass loosely based on the United Kingdom. (Which is my home, by-the-by.) Usually, whenever a foreign based gaming studio decides to tell a story in a land they don't know what ensues is a mess of cliches that is either supremely funny for locals or supremely offensive, and so I was excited to get in on that action for once. (Maybe the next game should be set in Jamaica. Actually, that may be taking it a bit too far, even for Gamefreak.) So did the team do well with capturing the UK spirit? Yes, actually; but there are certainly a few eye-brow raising moments.
Visually the Galar region almost perfectly mimics the British isles, only with an incredible lack of rain that makes me wonder if the team even actually visited this place. (Being rained-on is like our national pastime) You'll start your adventures in the rolling green hills of Postwick where your only companions are fields of Wooloo. You'll find yourself travelling to the impressively industrial Motostoke which is certainly a lot more steampunk than any cities in England, but I'll offer points for effort. Players will see the mean streets of Spikemuth, the glacial forests of Circhester, the spooky woods of Ballonlea and the desert plains of Stow-on-Side. Wait a minute... Points for the name, Stow-on-Side is literally the most British sounding place of all time; but why, prae-tell, is there a desert area in Britain? I can tell you fairly conclusively that no such place exists on these isles and I'm a bit perplexed at how Gamefreak thought there were. (Are they mandated to include one desert area in every region or something?) But I'll admit that most of the country is pretty well done.
When it comes to capturing the culture, however, Gamefreak are a little hit-and-miss. In one regard, the idea of converting Pokemon Gyms into huge stadiums in order to riff-off of football culture is literally ingenious. On the otherhand, the localisation team do get a little handsy with their 'culturally appropriate lingo'. (Or to put in their terms "The dialogue is pretty pants at times") Another strange thing I noticed is the fact that the act of making and consuming curry is a big part of this game, as though Gamefreak think that Curry is the national food or something. There's several conversations about curries, lots of curry sprites and even an involved curry-cooking minigame with it's own dedicated ingredient collecting system and 'Curry Dex' full of 151 different curries that the player can make. (Each curry also comes with different quality ratings.) I mean sure, some people in England like a curry but I'd hardly say the nation is obsessed with it. Heck, Curry doesn't even come from Britain! (Sometimes you weird me out, Gamefreak.)
One of the big revolutions for the game franchise that was announced by Gamefreak was the abolishing of traditional random grass encounters; a stable of Pokemon games past. Instead Pokemon Sword and Shield features a whole new system wherein you'll spot tufts of grass shaking which the player then can choose to step into or completely ignore. Not entirely abandoning the random element but cutting down on it to a substantial degree. This is supplemented by the odd above-grass Pokemon who will spawn and wander around the area haphazardly. This allows players to see exactly what they'll be fighting if they approach it in case the grass was getting too annoying. Unfortunately these guys actually act like animals and so will charge you down if you wait around for too long. (Which is incredibly annoying when you just want to whizz past an area.)
This new Pokemon spawning system is highlighted at it's best in the new Wild area, which makes up the space between Motostoke and Hammerlocke and is intended to blur the line between the single player Pokemon experience and the connected online world around you. As soon as the player enters this area they'll notice that other online trainers can be seen all around with whom you can interact with in order to learn their nationality and get a small gift. (These gifts are random and so minuscule that you'll soon stop seeking them.) The Wild area makes for a great place to come back to for training as the Pokemon you come across will level to you throughout the game, (up to level 60 and provided that you are regularly picking up Gym badges once you hit the optimal level.) meaning that endgame players aren't stuck to grinding the 'Victory road' again and again like in early Pokemon games. Another huge part of this area is the Raid dens, but that needs a lot of explaining to get into so I'll start looking at the story first. Skip to the Summary if you care about spoilers for some reason.
Pokemon Sword and Shield starts off with your typical introduction to the world of Pokemon as though you even really need it at this point. One interesting change of pace comes from the fact that this time the introduction doesn't occur in a void wherein you're having one-on-one with the Professor, but rather in the middle of Motostoke Pokemon area with the usual spiel being exposited by this Pokemon league's chief organiser; Chairman Rose. Although he unfortunately doesn't go into the specifics of asking you about your personals. (Pity, I was hoping to hear him scream out to an entire stadium's worth of rapid fans "Are you a boy or are you a girl?")
At this point you are thrown back into the shoes of the player character whom you designed beforehand. You play a something-year-old kid who's excited watching on the TV as the current regional Champion Leon struts his stuff. It's then that you are introduced to your closest friend and next-door neighbour Hop. (Yes that is his name, his parents must hate him.) This is about the time that you are struck with the full strength of Gamefreak's colloquialisms to an arguably nauseating degree. For my part I actually found it all rather charming, but I'm sure there's some folk you were really riled up about it. (Actually, scratch that I know there are. I've read their ranting articles about it.)
As it turns out, Hop is Leon's younger Brother and he's absolutely ecstatic about the prospect of introducing you to his big bro. (Which hasn't yet happened, rather amazingly, considering you two live right next to each other and yours are the only houses for miles.) Hop is positively obsessed with all things Pokemon and trainer related and will not, nay, can not stop reminding the player how one day he will beat his bro and become the new regional Champion. (He's even been practising his throw. Because that really matters in a Pokemon duel, I guess.) On the way out the door bonus points if you spot the fact that your Player Character only has one parent. This time around they didn't even bother to allude to your father being busy with work or anything, that deadbeat is just a no show. (Maybe Gamefreak are trying to pull a reverse Disney with dead dads.)
At the Postwick train station, (Yes, Gamefreak remembered to put in trains. That's one British point for the accuracy team) you'll bump into Leon who is in the middle of being swarmed by hordes of adoring fans. (Most of which look decidedly too old to be fawning over a Pokemon trainer. Then again, I'm a Twenty-something guy who's reviewing a Pokemon game so I can hardly talk.) At this point I'm convinced that the localisation team had a stroke because Leon tells the crowd how he is determined to have "A champion time" and everyone just goes with it. From this point on that is practically his catchphrase and we all have to live with it despite the fact it makes so little sense that I feel like I'm going crazy. ('Champion' it not an adjective! Christ, Gamefreak, what are doing to me?)
In order to celebrate Leon's victory over his rival Raihan, Hop's mother invites you over for a barbecue that you are inclined to accept. (If for nothing else than to fruitlessly try to reason with Leon and his insane appropriation of false adjectives.) Half way through this cook-out it strikes Leon like a brick when he realises that his younger brother and his friend don't have Pokemon yet, and so he offers them a selection of three of the cutest starters I have seen in a good many generations. Sobble, the water-type Lizard; Grookey, the grass-type Chimp; and Scorbunny, the Fire-type Rabbit. (And the correct choice.) Whichever Pokemon you choose, you can bet your stars that Hop will choose the Pokemon with a direct type-disadvantage to yours, because sometimes it feels like this game was made for babies.
At this point Hop will engage you in one of many fights as he tries to do you in. He does have one advantage however, being in that he hasn't been Pokemon-less all these years (Like he made it seem) but rather he's had a pet Wooloo all this time. (Hop's family must be Welsh then...) This is one of the first times that I've ever seen a rival Pokemon trainer hit you with two Pokemon in your first match-up and I have to admit it's a pretty dirty move. Although that is undermined by the fact that as soon as you use your first super-effective attack against Hop, (Which, seeing as how he chose your direct type-disadvantage, is the moment you do a typed-attack) he'll recoil in surprise about how his Pokemon took more damage than usual. At this point I'm about to go on a rant, so fair warning. (I'll address it directly to Hop, so you know who I'm angry with.)
Okay first of all, Hop, you won't stop talking about how much you idolise your competitor brother and his Champion bouts, you've seen everyone one of his fights and have even learnt to mimic his mannerisms in a duel. With all that in mind, how in the Sam Hill have you never heard of type match-ups? How can a Pokemon obsessive literally not know the first things about Pokemon battles? Even ignoring that, if you'd just use common sense it would all become clear to you. Afterall, I picked Scorbunny, a rabbit that produces fire, and you picked Grookey, a Chimp who works with Grass. Physics dictates that fire burns grass, you have to accept that. As a society we have to hope that Pokemon-universe Children are taught basic elements otherwise we're all screwed! Oh, and you act surprised whenever a critical hit lands as well. Come on.
After you soundly defeat Hop, he gets all down in the dumps as he realises what an absolute failure of a human being he is. Then he gets it into his head that he and you should sign up to The Pokemon Challenge which is starting soon. This is an event wherein hopefuls duke it out with gyms in front of thousands of people in order to earn a shot at the Championship. This off-the-cuff idea will become the driving force for the entire narrative, because you have no will of your own and are doomed to shadow Hop around and best him at everything he wants to do. (That's actually rather cruel, now I reflect on it.) The only problem with this plan is that he needs a sponsor to enter the challenge and Leon is on-the-fence about the idea. (Note how at no point do they ever stop to ask their parents if they can take part in one of the most televised competitions in the region. Do they even sign a release form?)
The next day things start in a tizzy as Hop spots that one of the Wooloo has broken through the gate right by your house and has rolled on into a spooky forest known as 'The Slumbering Weald'. Being the up-and-coming Pokemon trainers that you are, Hop decides that it makes all the sense in the world for both of you to charge into the woods that even adults are afraid to tread into. (This is how horror movies start, ya'll.) After some trekking through mysterious locales, you'll start to notice that your vision is fogging up as the mist grows ever more dense. Both you and Hop are immobilised as you hear a ghostly howl through the wind before finding yourself face-to-face with a mysterious blue wolf (If you're playing Sword) or a red wolf (If you're playing Shield.)
The Player character and Hop then try their hardest to smash their heads against this strange Pokemon, only to find their attacks entirely ineffectual against the beast. (How spooky.) The fog then builds once more and then it clears the Wolf is gone, replaced by Leon who has barrelled into the woods after you. Hop tries to explain what happened, but since nothing really did happen it all comes out like word salad. The missing Wooloo also gets spotted by Leon's signature Charizard, kicking off a plotthread that has been only hinted at by know, that Leon is terrible with directions and needs his Pokemon to guide the way. I have no idea where this came from or if this even counts as a character trait, but I have a funny feeling this spawns from some Japanese stereotype against us Brits that I don't know about...
Once there you finally meet the Professor of this generation; Professor Magnolia, but she isn't so much here to instil you with Pokemon collecting pride as she is to just stick you with a Pokedex and call it a day. It's here that Leon decides to set a blood sport between you and Hop wherein whoever wins the Pokemon duel will have his endorsement for the Pokemon competition. Of course, that's hardly a competition because by this point you've likely already caught another 5 Pokemon and you don't have the brain of a child so you wipe the floor with Hop. (And yes, Hop is still amazed when you use type advantages against him.) Once you win it seems that even the heavens choose to ordain your supremacy over Hop as the stars rain down a meteor shower upon you.
The fruits of this stellar spectacle are two wishing stars that fall out the sky and land a few feet from you. Hop grabs these stars with reverence; apparently these ultra rare wishing stars fall only for those destined for greatness. Professor Magnolia recognises this and takes the wishing pieces aside to convert them into Dynamax bands which are essentially wrist bands that allow for any Pokemon to Dynamax for a limited type as long as there is significant Dynamax energy in the area. Leon uses this excuse to endorse both of you for the competition (despite Hop being pathetic) and before you know it you are off on your journey to tear up the region with your sick Pokemon hunting skills.
Before I go any further, however, it would behoove me to go into greater detail about exactly what this 'Dynamax' thing is. You see, ever since Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, Gamefreak have tried to do something extra with their Pokemon to make them more special than usual. In those games it was the 'Ultra forms', which would allow Pokemon to have a hidden final form that was incredibly powerful in combat. For Pokemon Sword and Shield, however, it is Dynamaxing; which is so far something totally unique to Galar. Dynamax is the practice of infusing your Pokeball with red Dynamax energy which causes it to swell in size and ensures that the Pokemon who release from the ball similarly swells to the size of a small office block. This phenomena is largely unexplained and scientists are clueless as to why it happens only in Galar, which is part of the reason why Sonia wants to investigate in order to prove herself as scientist in training.
In gameplay, Dynamaxing can only occur in the middle of most gym battles (As most gyms are built on top of a power spot) or in Max raid battles. It essentially allows you Pokemon to turn into a giant for 3 turns, during which their health is increased and their attacks are powered up. You are by no means invincible during those 3 turns however, and if you're Pokemon should be kicked out of it's giant state, whether through running through those 3 turns or getting killed, the player will be unable to Dynamax again for the rest of that match. In single match ups' this essentially just becomes a guessing game of figuring out when is the best time to rain hell upon your opponent and when you can resist that same hell from them; but in doubles this takes on a surprisingly tactical role as many of your powered up moves confer helpful benefits on your team. Some attacks my buff everyone's speed, whilst others will protect the user's team from all damage, allowing the non-Dynamax Pokemon to spend their move buffing themselves up. Personally, I enjoy the Dynamax prospect, but I prefer normal uncomplicated Pokemon battles. (call me old-fashioned.)
On your way to the train station to leave for your journey of fame and fortune, You and Hop are accosted by your mothers who are understandably mildly peeved that you two tried to skip town without telling them. After a short swapping of goodbyes you are on your way to the start of the competition at the industrial town of Motostoke in the heart of Galar. This is place where all the hopefuls from the country will gather in order to strut their stuff in the middle of a stadium for thousands to gawk at. (Quiet the opening show for a couple of kids to crash, if you ask me.)
Before you can get there, however, the train is stopped by a wandering band of Wooloo who have rolled themselves into the track. This forces the duo to get off early and make their way through the Wild area in order to reach Motostoke, which is a prospect that Hop is really excited for. (Because then he gets to capture a bunch of Pokemon. As if that will help his chances. The kid's a lost cause.) Sonia is there to greet you on your way off the train and she explains that she'll be travelling the region the same as you in order to expand the horizons of her research. This also allows her to confer upon the player a 'Box Link' which is arguably one of the most useful items ever given to anyone. Basically is allows for the player to put their Pokemon into storage and withdrawn them without having to visit a Pokecenter every single time, shaving hours off of potential hospital visits. (One of the many benefits of playing newer Pokemon games; the art of convenience.)
With this you are free to wonder the Wild Area, and what an area is it. The Wild Area is the place in which the player is given full directional control over the camera and a wide space in which to explore and hunt for Pokemon who change their position according to the daily-generated weather. The Wild area is also the only place (at least until you clear the game) that the time of day is synced to your console, meaning that you can seek the Pokemon you need at the right time or, should you need to, seek the perfect evolve conditions. The most notable part of the Wild area, however, would be the Max Raid dens that spot the landscape and shoot various power beams into the sky. These beams represent active Dynamax energy and interacting with them allows to you to host a raid battle; a four person match-up against an wild Dynamax Pokemon which three other actual other players can join in on. These wild Dynamax Pokemon don't have to abide by the 3 turn rule and depending on their difficulty (which is assessed with a Star system) can summon damage negating shields that prolong the battle. They can also pull off anywhere from 2 to 4 moves at once, so these fights are nothing if not challenging. Your reward for completing them? A chance at capturing a high powered Pokemon as well as a whole host of battle items, treasures, berries and the chance of a rare TM. (Which is kinda cool, I guess.)
Once you reach Motostoke you'll be given the lay of the land by Sonia and then left to go nuts. There's a clothing shop to browse through if you're okay with spending an extortionate amount of money to look unique, a barbers in which you can do the same, and a whole lot of people you can interact with who will say the same things now that they'll say when you complete the game. (Because Gamefreak have only been making these games for over 2 decades now, you can't expect to have all the basics covered...) However, at this point the only thing worth doing is heading straight for the Motostoke city arena or order to register and get the event going. In the stadium lobby you'll spot several faces of folk ready in their challenger gear and only 3 faces that look anywhere near distinct, so you can already tell who the main characters are at a glance. You have the punk girl, Marnie, who goes everywhere with her trusty Morpenko; Bede, the stuck-up kid who let's everyone within ear-shot know that he was sponsored by the Chairman and Hop, the walking mess who thinks he has a chance in this competition.
Once you sign up for the competition you'll suddenly be informed that you and Hop are the only two people to ever get an endorsement from the Champion, and that you have quiet the reputation to live up to. This is news to digest on as you are then discharged to stay at the 5 star hotel next door. (Free of charge I presume. Afterall, I am a child.) In the Hotel lobby Sonia arrives and appears to be very interested in a statue there that depicts a man wielding a sword in one hand and a shield in the other. She explains that this depicts the story of a legendary hero who saved Galar from something known as the Darkest Day, but that is literally all anyone knows about the legend. Whilst pondering this information, that first real conflict in the game pops up as you spot the Hotel staff getting harassed by a group of colourful freaks who call themselves Team Yell.
At this point Pokemon veterans will likely be rubbing their hand together in anticipation. "Team Yell, you say? Well I wonder what dastardly plans these guys are cooking up." Previous Pokemon Teams have wanted to kidnap Pokemon, flood all the land, evaporate every ocean and shoot a giant meteorite on the planet to wipe out all life. So what is Team Yell's MO, I hear you ask? Well, they're Marnie fans who get a little carried away from time-to-time with their cheering. Yup, that's about the whole of it. Nothing nefarious, just excited fandom. Don't get me wrong, I understand their love of Marnie, she's clearly the best character in the game and if she isn't a part of any of the DLC I'll consider it a personal affront, but it still feels kind of lame for your running antagonists, doesn't it?
As far as Team Yell are concerned at this point in the story, all they do is cause a ruckus to the point where you are forced to beat them in a Pokemon duel in order to shut them up. After which Marnie shows up to tell them off for being so unruly and then apologise on their behalf because she's the best character in the game. The next morning is show time as every contender is summoned to the Motostoke arena in order to don their competition uniform (Which suspiciously resembles your typical football uniform) and conduct the opening ceremony. This consists of the reigning Gym leaders being led onto the pitch in grand fashion before they are followed by all your excitable faces. That's just a glimpse of the limelight and spectacle that the player will have to endure for the remainder of the game.
On your out the player bumps into the most important man in Galar, Chairman Rose, and his obediently deadpan assistant; Secretary Oleana. This woman is meant to be regarded as cool and collected but honestly she just comes across as tired everytime you meet her, I half expected her to fall to sleep in every scene with her eyes half closed like that. That combined with her obsession for serving the Chairman manages to convey this creepy robotic quality to Oleana which I'm still not sure I'm comfortable with. Rose seems impressed at you and Hop for securing the Champions endorsement and conveys his expectations upon you, as though you don't already have enough of that. (I swear, with all the pressure that is being forced upon these two adolescents I can't help but think it's only a matter of time before they snap and go on a drug-fuelled bender.)
At this point the journey of the player starts in earnest to systematically beat all of the Pokemon Gyms in order for the chance to compete in the championship. Of course, in the fashion of Pokemon, this means that the gyms you encounter are different whether you're playing Sword or Shield; but I own Sword so I'll carry on my synopsis from that perspective. One thing I will note that I noticed about the game as a whole was the way in which this generation of Pokemon features a lot fewer roads than previous entries. Some of the earliest games would have a lot of 'routes' to navigate whilst Galar only has around 8. It allows things to be a lot less complicated but one could argue that some of the charm of the originals is lost in that simplicity. (It's each to their own, I suppose.)
The players journey takes them first along the eastern path where they will get to see that most British of sights; a power plant. Here Sonia will appears once more to let us in on the fact that these plants are all run by Chairman Rose. At this point you've likely have immediately clocked onto the fact that Chairmen Rose must be up to something, because no one in charge of infrastructure is ever a good guy in video games. (Or children's media for that case) It's like a rule. When you thought he just ran the Pokemon competition he was just a sweet jolly man, but now he's some sort of power hungry energy oligarch that is sure to betray you somehow, just mark my words!
Major stop number one would be the country town of Turffield with it's fields of wheat and terraced houses. (Very much the 'English dream' of a town.) This is the place in which Sword players find themselves faced up against the Grass type gym leader Milo, who seems to have caught the same disease as Krillin from Dragon Ball having had his nose replaced by spots. Milo is a gentle giant who is first seen herding flocks of Wooloo by himself and seems very jolly despite the fact that his Gym is ranked as the weakest of the lot. (I mean, that must have been a bit disheartening to hear when they were organising the competition. Do you even think he got the chance to appeal that? And does that mean he has to purposefully use his weakest Pokemon on newbies? Am I thinking about this too hard?)
One way that Pokemon Sword and Shield attempts to update the whole 'Gym' experience is by introducing this new thing called 'the gym challenge' which simulates the quirky gimmicks of going through a Gym without it being too tough or long to endure. Early Pokemon games would often have it so that the Gyms were more gruelling than the Gym leader themselves, usually requiring several dips to the local Pokecenter in order to get through them. (Which kinda defeated the point of a Gym.) But with the Gym challenge the player is locked in until completion or defeat and the going is much easier to handle overall, making it more accessible for younger players.
Before that, however, the Player finds Sonia looking over Galar's version of Stonehenge which happens to be right next to Galar's version of the Nazca lines. (Wait a minute... Gamefreak does know that Nazca is in Peru, right?) Somehow Sonia looks at these giant lines which appear to represent a chicken with an antenna sticking out of it's rear and conclude that it depicts the Darkest Day. The player then chooses to go along with her delusions, probably fearful for their own safety, before Sonia decides to needs to focus more and this and send them on their way.
The player promptly beats Milo and than makes their way across the bridge to the water port of Hulbury, but not before another bout with Hop. I know what you're wondering; 'At this point Hop must have already beaten Milo in order to get here and challenge you, so surely he's picked up the basics of Pokemon battles by now.' Nope. He still chokes on shock when you destroy his Pokemon and marvels at the novel concept that is type match-ups. You know, at first I thought this was Gamefreak's way of implementing a tutorial for particularly thick people who can't see the helpful tool tips plastered under every move, but now I've convinced that Hop is actually an idiot. There is no helping such a man.
Once in Hulbury the player finds themselves confronted by the Chairman and his secretary again, with them promising to wine and dine you after you beat the Gym. Or rather the Chairman offers and Oleana just tells you to hurry and don't be late with those soulless eyes of her. (God she makes me shiver.) There is also a brief opportunity for the player to converse with the trainer in charge of the Gym, Nessa, and learn about how she was best friends with Sonia back in the day of their Pokemon challenge. Nessa is a model who surrounds herself with adoring fans and the most beautiful water Pokemon, and yet she still isn't as annoying as Raihan.
Nessa's Challenge was the only one that really reminded me off old school Pokemon Gyms by being mildly frustrating the whole way through. It's essentially just a simple puzzle that requires you to turn valves in order to shut off water and get through the map, but it's just complicated enough to get under your skin in that subtle, irritating way that these puzzles do. This is nothing compared to the Gym challenge itself which managed to give me trouble just as Water Gyms always do in these game. It's because I naturally think to bring electric types to counter the Water whilst forgetting that Water and Electric types are both weak to each other. (A better choice would be a grass team, but who stocks grass Pokemon?)
After the player's victory they meet with the Chairman for dinner at a fancy restaurant where he does little more than slyly imply that there's a lot of duties that go into keeping the region running. Sounds to me like a guy trying to justify his basement full of acid vats, but maybe that's just me being weird. Sonia and Nessa come to bid the player goodbye on their way back to Motostoke, as what follows is the end of the first leg of the Pokemon challenge. Fitting then, for it to be as annoying as humanely possible with a Gym challenge that I'll gladly call the hardest in all the game.
The Motostoke Gym, which is also the fire gym, requires the player to capture Pokemon whilst battling another trainer. This essentially means that you have to juggle weakening the Pokemon in order to get a decent capture rate whilst an opponent is trying to KO the Pokemon or just inconvenience you. This is doubly frustrating if you've prepared for this Gym, because that means you'll have a team full of water-types that are designed to kill fire-types, only then to be told you have to capture a bunch of them requiring precision damage dealing. Literally screw this challenge with an iron rod, I absolutely hated it.
Kabu is the leader of this Gym, and he is a loving letter to Pokemon games past. This is apparent in the way that his bio specifically identifies him as having hailed from Kanto, which is the home of the original Pokemon games. Although there is a little discrepancy there as he is specifically designed to appear Asian whereas in the actual games where Kanto is featured all of the people are designed to be ethnically implacable. But I'm getting that itch which is telling me that I'm overthinking things again, so I'll just go ahead and let that one slide. Long story short, you beat Kabu and come out with a renewed pip in your step under the knowledge that you've aced the beginning of the challenge. Next you have to go back to the Wild area (which has now levelled considerably) in order to reach the castle-dominated town of Hammerlocke.
Before you get there, however, the player finds themselves accosted by that smartass Bede. He showed up earlier for a little bout but it was so insignificant it wasn't worth bringing up. Not even his off the cuff comment about not having time for a duel because he was too busy collecting wishing star pieces was notable. (afterall, I'm sure that won't come up later.) Hop decides to insert himself into this situation and vows to defeat Bede on his lonesome, so the player is free to make their off to the rest of the challenge safe in the knowledge that Hop is about to get his ass handed to him.
Once in Hammerlocke I will admit I did have to take a second to admire the impressive size of the castle at the centre of this place. I mean sure, any foreigner making a game about England is going to pick up on the castles, (despite the fact that most of the other countries in Europe have much better castles) but I do appreciate Gamefreak's dedication to making this one the coolest one possible. Maybe that's aided by the fact that this is the Gym of the dragon trainer Raihan, and so features dragon-themed paraphernalia all other the place. (Everything is cooler with dragons.)
Quite a lot happens at this point so I'll just summarise it all like this; you learn that the giant tower in the middle of Hammerlocke doubles as a powerplant that is run by Chairman Rose. Sonia finds you and drags you over to the Hammerlocke archives in order to see an ancient tapestry that depicts the legend of the Darkest Day only with two legendary heroes instead of one. Hop finally drags himself over to Hammerlocke to reveal that he was soundly beaten (surprise, surprise) and now he's all down in the dumps about it. And a creepy old lady decides to start stalking you. After all that you are sent off on the next branch of your Gym challange which is to end at Hammerlocke, so off you go on the road again.
The next Gym takes place in that desert area that I mentioned so fondly earlier, and has you facing the Fighting Gym and it's leader, Bea. Stow-on-Side is probably the least England looking place in Galar, but Bea is a fan favourite character so I guess that makes up for things. This Gym challenge is literally just a bumper kart course inter-cut with fights (exciting) although the fight against Bea herself is notably as this is the first time that you'll see a Gigantamax Pokemon. Now Gigantamax Pokemon are incredibly rare Pokemon that visually transform whenever they Dynamax and typically have a unique move to that form. They can only be acquired by the player from Max raid dens. (In which they're extremely rare.) And having a shiny Gigantamax is basically the ultimate flex that anyone can have.
Immediately after beating Bea everything is thrown into disarray once earthquakes start shaking the place up and no one can quite figure out what's going on. (Oh come on, Gamefreak! We don't get Earthquakes around here. At least not often...) Actually these shockwaves are the fault of Bede who is using a Copperjah to knock down an ancient wall mural in order to get at potential wishing star pieces behind it. (In his defence the mural is incurably ugly, I would want to destroy it too.) Unfortunately, Sonia is there so she forces you to confront Bede and defeat him in order to make him stop.
At this point Chairmen Rose comes out of the sky to observe what his personally endorsed trainer is up to and public denounces him, much to Bede's shock. (Sounds like the evil mastermind trying to distance himself from his lackey, if you ask me.) Rose then proceeds to pull Bede's nomination in such a brutal public shaming that I genuinely felt bad for someone who was an unbearable arse for the entire game. (No, not Hop. He deserves all the hate I give him.) Bede is withdrawn from the competition and sent back to Hammerlocke to await his disqualification, and I've never seen a Pokemon sprite look like it died inside more than I did during this scene. (Way to go to the art team, I guess.) Of course, the consequence of Bede's recklessness is that the godawful wall mural falls open to uncover a secret hidden behind it; A statue of the two heroes of Galar flanked by two wolves. At this point it becomes apparent that Sonia's investigation is literally solving itself around her and she is deducing nothing herself, but she still plays the archaeologist for a minute while you stand around gobsmacked at the contrivance of this new plotpoint.
Glimwood Tangle is up next, and this is a location that feels right out of an Irish folktale. The sky is blotted out by massive trees, the trunks of which seemed to have swollen far bigger than usual trunks do and the only source of light comes from different coloured mushrooms that shimmer in the darkness. Here you'll also find the new Goblin Pokemon, so it all fits into the British theme rather nicely. Of course, this is all to get to the town in the middle of this canopy; Ballonlea, which houses the fairy Gym. At this point it is revealed that the creepy old lady who has been stalking you all this time is the leader of this Gym, Opal, and she has been scouting for a new Gym leader to take over for her. (Which makes sense as you can see her struggling to hold her Pokeball during the Dynamax scene) I really did like this Gym as it is framed as a job interview alongside the Pokemon fights the whole time, it's really rather unique and fun. Of course, the player wins but doesn't get the Job and is sent on their way to the next town.
This next town, Circhester, is the first snowy location you come across and that is because it was clearly designed with the ice Gym leader in mind, Melony. Unfortunately she is a Pokemon Shield exclusive and us Sword folk got left with her stupid Rock-type son Geordie. (Points for the punny name though, Gamefreak. If you guys even realised what it was that you did there.) Geordie's challenge is pretty stupid and tedious as it requires you to play 'minefield' using the Switch controllers as minesweepers. All it really accomplishes is prolonging the inevitable as Geordie is doomed to fall to your Pokemon might!
Penultimately there is the slum-like town of Spikemuth, which is the home of Team Yell and the first place where you run into a real roadblock for the challenge. Turns out someone how closed the gates into the city and no one can get in to challenge the Dark-type Gym leader, Piers. You would be out of luck too if it wasn't for the fact that Marnie is there and she has your back. Being as she grew up in Spikemuth, she knows a secret way in the back and she sends you off on the challenge whilst she goes off to chew out whoever caused this. The Spikemuth Gym challenge basically boils down to getting repeatedly mugged in back alleys, as that is all you'll be doing as you try to walk down the road to Piers and Team Yell attempts to stop you. (There's even one fun bit where a Mister Mime manages to block your progress with the whole 'invisible wall' trick.) After some grit and determination the Player pushes through it all at which point the rest of Team Yell assembles to stop you. Marnie finally catches up to them and defuses the situation with possibly my favourite quote in the entire game "Oi, shut it!" She explains that Team Yell closed the door in order to ensure that no one other than Marnie gets to beat this leg of the challenge, and only she is sane enough to confer how stupid of a plan that was. With your help she manages to clear up the confusion and let you beat Piers, who turns out to be Marnie's older brother. (What a twist!) Also there's this subplot about Spikemuth being poor and not having a turnout to their Gym matches because there's no Dynamax point in the town so the Pokemon can't grow big, it's actually all rather tragic and none of it ever gets resolved.
The final Gym of the challenge just so happens to be Raihan's and I have to admit that I just cannot stand this man. Something about his personality, mannerisms, posture, fashion sense, and face just really puts me off, I can't put my finger on it. It also doesn't help that his Gym fight can really catch people off guard as it all revolves around double fights, which is something that the player is completely new to at this point. He throws this at you whilst also performing a heavy weather dependant fight which just makes me wonder if there was some sort of disagreement in the design room that led to a difficulty spike this steep.
Once you've beat him, the Gym challenge is complete and you're clear to move onto the capital to take part in the championships. On your way there, however, so much happens to get in your way. First Bede manages to get scouted by Opal to be next Fairy Gym leader, despite being disqualified from the tournament altogether; the Dynamax energy around Hammerlocke goes out of whack meaning that any Pokemon can Dynamax anywhere for a short period of time, requiring Leon and Sonia to run off to fix it; (Shame we never get to see this actually play out in the game.) And worst of all, Hop catches up to having finally gotten over his loss to Bede. "Oh, it only took you this long? I was expecting an entire series worth of moping."
The player's trip to the capital is set in the snow with an upwards charge up a mountain positively fraught with high-level trainers. Only now do I realise that this is essentially Galar's version of Victory road, at the time all I remember is screaming everytime another goddamn trainer made eye contact. Interestingly, however, due to the levelling of the Wild Area, this isn't the best place to farm at all so you'll likely never return here for the rest of the game. (Small miracles.) After that ordeal, you finally get to lay your eyes on the nation's capital; the City of Wyndon. (surrounded by huge f-off stone walls for some reason. As though someone was trying to keep out the White Walkers.) Wyndon is easily my favourite spot in Galar due to the many plethora of references to good old London; the rain-iest city in the world. You have your red telephone boxes, black cabs (attached to Corviknights), Wyndon Eye, huge clocktower, above ground monorail, (wait- we don't have that yet) and City full of people trying their hardest to pretend that everyone around them doesn't exist. (Ahh.. it feels like home.)
From there you get to enter the Semi-finals of the championship which revolves around an elimination round between the novices to see which one will go up against the Gym leaders for a chance at the title. First comes Marnie, whom I honestly felt a little bad about beating, and next came Bede in a surprise twist. He manages to rush the pitch before your fight with Hop and instead of being tackled to the ground (As what would happen in a real football match) he is allowed to challenge you under the provision that he'll retire from Pokemon duelling when you inevitably thrash him. One thrashing later and the encouraging cheers of the crowd convince Bede not to retire,(proving his word means nothing) and you're free to face Hop. Looking back, I acknowledge how this fight is supremely weird purely for the reason that Hop mimics every single one of his older Brother's mannerisms down to the way he throws his ball. He even has the exact same reaction to losing, I don't even know how he copied that as Leon is renowned for having never lost a match. (He takes the obsessed fan deal to a whole new extreme.)
After winning, the player is free to stay at the local five-star hotel in order to prepare for the Quarter finals tomorrow. There they meet with Marnie, who coyly admits that she might be supporting them to win the title, and Hop, who has learned from his defeat and decides to redouble his conviction into supporting you, rather than mope around like he did after Bede. (Character development in my Pokemon game? Well, I never.) Next is a challenging rematch against the hardest Gym leaders all with a renewed stable of high level Pokemon and a Gigantamax finisher. (Although by the rules of the competition, Raihan can't conduct a double match so he is infinitely easier to put down.) Finally the player beats all the pretenders and it's up to them to go one-on-one against Leon for the championship in a grand finale. We get to live the build up and excitement as Leon takes the pitch, makes a speech and then... Chairman Rose hijacks the monitors to delay the competition. Leon is desperate to get things running again, (He's shedding street-cred at this point) so he agrees to meet the Chairman for dinner. (What is it with Rose and dinner plans?)
After some faffing about team player manages to get the key and make their way to Rose Tower, but if you were hoping for a 'The Raid 2'-style break in sequence- so was I. Instead you just walk in the front door and take the elevator up. Along the way you and Hop get accosted by new folk entering the elevator, but all of these security men seem to prefer dealing with intruders using Pokemon battles rather than just getting out batons and tasers. (Come on, Gamefreak! What's wrong with tazing kids?) Once they reach the top the Player finds themselves face-to-face with Secretary Oleana who lets the apathetic facade slip for one terrifying second as declares that she will not let anyone interfere with the Chairman's plans. It takes a certain kind of crazy to persist after that and proceed to beat the unhinged woman, but I'm just that brand of crazy so I did. After the fight there is this one moment where Oleana seems to deflate and declares herself to be a pathetic woman afterall, which instantly made me think that she'd secretly been suffering years of verbal abuse from her peers to which she finally succumbed to. Perhaps after this she developed a serious drinking problem and began drifting away from friends and family. Hmm? Thinking too hard again? Right.
Rather humorously, it turns out that Leon and Rose where actually on the otherside of the same room from you the whole time and having a serious conversation. Apparently all the shouting and Dynamaxing Pokemon wasn't enough to get either of their attention. What follows is a Yakuza-style still-picture cutscene that shows the Chairman threating about an energy crisis befalling Galar. Leon complains that this supposed crisis is at least a century off from occurring and that they focus on it after the championship, but Rose merely replies with the "you don't understand" of someone who has clearly already set the match to light the orphanage on fire. Leon doesn't pick up the same 'evil dude' vibes that I do, however, as he takes that as the green-light to continue what he was doing and heading back to do that champion bout. (Yup, this conversation essential just renders the entire 'rescue operation' moot, but it was fun to take part in so I won't complain. Too hard.)
The next morning the player gets up bright and early in order to have the match-up to end all match-ups against Leon on national television. All your friends show up to cheer you on including Marnie, Hop and Piers; and before you hit the stage it feels like the Poke gods themselves are smiling down on you. Before long you're on the pitch across from Leon as he cherishes how proud he is of you, only to then claim that it doesn't matter because he's going to send you home packing anyway. "Oh, it's like that? Okay then Leon, Imma ground your face into the dirt just for making that particular comment." After a gruelling battle you are crowned victorious as the new Champion of Galar, even Leon has to smile about having his unbroken winning streak finally ended. (The smile hides the tears) Now begins the reign of a new champion! ALL HAIL- hey, why is the sky turning red?
Turns out this is the time when Chairman Rose decides to undermine your success by enacting his plan to- provide energy to the region? (Yeah, as far as supervillian plans go, his one was pretty lame.) Just as everyone is freaking out about what kind of fresh hell had been unleashed upon them, Sonia comes along to inform everyone that this very likely the return of the Darkest Day, prompting Leon to go charging off to the source the dark swilling thunderstorm; the summit of Hammarlocke. Hop, however, has been struck with his first good idea in his entire time alive and he figures that if the Darkest Day is about then the only folk with the power to stop it is the wielders of the mythical Sword and Shield. Some small mental gymnastics leads Hop to deduce that the mysterious Pokemon from the Slumbering Weald is their hero, and so off you two go right back to where it all started.
A brief trek later and the two of you find yourselves face-to-face with an old ruin in the middle of the forest that looks so much like a 'Breath of The Wild' rip-off it ain't even funny. The two heroes don't find their Pokemon, but they do come across a couple of rusted artefacts on the floor; a rusted sword and Shield. Of course, whichever version of the game you are playing dictates which item you pick up whilst Hop picks the other, arming you both for the battles ahead. Then it's off to the Hammerlocke hellstorm in order to battle this looming menace head-on. (I'm not sure what two preteens are going to manage with a blunt sword and a mouldy Shield, but at least their hearts are in the right place.)
Once in the tower the two find themselves accosted in the power generator room as there, waiting for you to show up, is Chairman Rose standing before a busted containment shield. And in the manner of every Bond villain ever, he exposits everything to the couple of teenagers in front of him with literally no provocation. Basically, Chairman Rose wanted to use the power of Dynamax to provide a limitless source of power to the region and found the Pokemon responsible for emanating that was an ancient entity known as; Eternatus. For reasons still as-of-yet unknown, this Pokemon exudes the potential to enlarge any Pokemon and is the reason for the Dynamax phenomena that is unique to Galar. Chairman Rose wanted to harness this but, as evidenced from the abundance of smashed glass behind him, the second he turned on his power siphoning machine, Eternatus just broke free and began flooding the skies with Dynamax energy, which threatens to turn all the region's Pokemon into rampaging Godzilla knock-offs unless something is done right now. (Huh, when did this stop being fun and games about winning a tournament?)
Of course, despite having just acknowledged his wrongdoings and the potential consequences of it, Rose attempts to stop you and thus must be taught up close and personal just how it was you became Champion. Then Hop and the Player make their way to the room in order to support Leon, only to watch the guy get completely blindsided by the floating purple Snake Pokemon that seems to have the same aura about it as Calamity Ganon. (What's with these 'Breath of the Wild' parallels? Are we prepping for a crossover?) This being, know as Eternamax Eternatus, is a swirling vortex of death in the sky with a hell claw protruding from it's maw just big enough to soundly crush a couple of tweens, but you two idiots step up to the plate anyway in order to save the, now unconscious, former Champion. (Sonia, meanwhile, does nothing despite apparently being a trainer in a past life.)
What follows is a gruelling battle where the two of you realise that your Pokemon are useless and that you are definitely going to die. Oh wait a second, didn't you both get those artefacts literally 5 minutes ago? Maybe you should use those, common sense says. Only after wielding them do the depths of the Slumbering Weald awaken and shoot two beams of light flying right your way. In a second they consume the two rusty weapons you hold and materialise into the two Legendary Pokemon of the generation; Zacian and Zamazenta. Zacian is the blade wolf who carries a sword in her mouth and thus must be nicknamed "Sif" (That is the rule), and Zamazenta is the shield wolf who's mane sort-of resembles a shield (The cooler choice is obvious if you ask me). These sisters valiantly fight alongside you as Hop and the player battle Eternatus and, if you're me, completely carry you whilst your Cinderace misses an 80-accuracy move 5 times straight. (What the hell am I playing? Is this Pokemon or Xcom?)
Soon your efforts are rewarded and you manage to beat down Eternatus enough to try and contain it in the one enclosure powerful enough to store even the god of creation itself; A Pokeball. (Fun fact: This throw is actually 100% guaranteed to be a capture, so I used that as an excuse to get by Eternatus in a Beast Ball.) With this the chaos is finally halted and the endless night is broken over Galar. The sun can rise again over the city of Insomnia and the people of Lucis can finally rest in the knowledge that the Starscou- wait, I stroked out for a second. What game are we talking about again?
With their job done the eternal Guardians, Zacian and Zamazenta, retreat as though they're both late for a dinner date with Chairman Rose, leaving you and Hop there to bask in the glory of being the saviours of Galar. (Even though the real heroes just hoofed it.) Over the next few days Chairman Rose is arrested and the entire Galar region slowly comes to terms with their new Champion, a situation that earns you the congratulations of everyone who helped you along the way. After this the credits role and you're left to fondly think on the adventures that you just had in the knowledge that everything is now said and- wait a minute. I still haven't got the Pokemon on the front cover of the game! What gives?
Of course, as anyone who has played a Pokemon title in the past decade would tell you, the end is never the end and once the credits are done the post game will start. For Sword and Shield that means the Slumbering Weald's ruins will stir and you'll be woken from your bed in the knowledge that something isn't quite right. Professor Magnolia is the first person to greet you, having handed her Professor status down to her granddaughter Sonia, (That's not how that works, but okay) and she offers the player perhaps the single most rare and powerful item in the game; A master ball. (I still have mine to this day.) Leon has also vanished from the waking world in order to start working on retrofitting Rose tower into something more... trainer friendly.
The dreams refuse to let the player rest, however, and it isn't long before they make their way back into the Slumbering Weald and all the way to the ruins again. There Hop is already waiting, claiming that he felt the same calling. Together you know it is your job to return the artefacts to their resting place, and only then will the physic GPS stop ringing in your ears. For a brief moment Hop stops to consider your journey together and his place now that his best mate has essentially swooped in and stolen his most heartfelt dream. Even Sonia shows up, in her new labcoat, to observe the little heart-to-heart as well as hawk her new book on all the findings about the true heritage of the Galar region. Everything is nice and relaxed- until the fire nation attacked!
Now Gamefreak choose to introduce us to perhaps the single most annoyingly weird villains in all Pokemon History. Sordward and Shielbert are two adult humans who go around with- well you can see it from the screenshots. That hairstyle is now a thing that exists and I hate it with every once of my body. (And yet I still want it to be added as an option in the DLC. What's wrong with me?) These two show up out of nowhere and demand to be given the artefacts. It's never quite explained how it is that they managed to track down this ruins given the fact that they have been abandoned for hundreds of years and you two just stumbled on it by accident, but this is a kids game, shut up already.
After a brief bout against Sordward you manage to hand onto your Sword whilst Hop manages to lose his battle and thus loses his Shield to Shelbert. (Which brings up the interesting dilemma about why it is trainers feel compelled to do things purely because they lost a Pokemon duel. Are they afraid of getting gored by their opponents Pokemon now that they are defenceless?) The two then run off and the group are left supremely confused about what just happened and now have a whole new goal on their hands as they have to retrieve the Shield if ever their visions are to rest. (I presume, at least.)
This post game takes the player all the way over the Galar region as they are forced to chase down these two whilst they visit each Gym and manage to Dynamax a Pokemon there and send it wild. The player is then forced to collaborate with every Gym leader along the way in order to calm down each Gym and stop the chaos from leaving the confines of the Gym. I suppose this turns out to be your very first job of Champion heroism, as all the populace can thank you for their homes not being caved in by a gigantic Tsareena. Although Bede manages to clear his Gym by himself and merely decides to attack you the moment you show up in order to prove how much of a arse-hat that he is. (God, I dislike Bede...)
This action is interrupted when Sonia's mysterious new lab assistant turns out to be plant from the twins and she manages to steal away your wishing pieces and hand them to the new Jedwards. This new chase takes the action all the way to the same place where it just ended for the main story, Hammerlocke power plant where you uncover the truth behind all this cat-and -mouse nonsense. As it turns out, Sordward and Shelbert are royal descendants of the two heroes who saved Galar from the Darkest Day generations back. (Huh, not incredibly impressed with your depiction of our royal family, Gamefreak.) Although their legacy has now been tarnished by Sonia's new book which reveals that Zacian and Zamazenta were the real heroes, and now they want to use a wishing star to Gigantamax those legendary Pokemon and send them running amok in the public in order to discredit them. (Actually not the dumbest plan I've ever heard, to be fair.)
Unfortunately, the twins misjudge their own plan and Shieldbert manages to get himself into deadly danger after summoning, Dynamaxing and enraging Zamazanta, requiring the preteens to save them once again. (Not the best look, guys.) Luckily, Zacian is summoned to your side in order to calm down her older sister and the epic battle of siblings can commence. Of course, if you've got Zacian on your team the fight won't last long, as Zacian is clearly the superior choice of legendary and absolutely no-one can convince me otherwise. Eventually, Zamazenta is beaten and she runs off into the distance, with Hop choosing chasing after her, leaving the player and Zacian alone on the roof.
This the point at which the legendary offers herself to you, but only if you manage the frustrating task of beating her in a one-on-one and capturing her, because she can still be KO'ed and by this point all of your Pokemon likely hopelessly out-level her. To call this back and forth annoying is an understatement, but with some grit and pig headed determination you'll eventually manage to beat her down just enough to bag your very first Gen 8 legendary. (Not including Eternatus, whom you have on hand despite it being the instigator of an 'end-of-days' apocalyptic scenario.) All that's left now is to wrap up the story in a neat little bow.
The final scene of the game I actually find strangely touching, as it follows the player tracking down Hop and Zamazenta (In the Weald, obviously) and has the two of them conducting one last fight together now that you both have your legendary Pokemon on call. Hop spends the whole fight reminiscing about your time together and coming to terms with the fact that he was never meant to be the Pokemon Champion. Given the right circumstance, it actually makes an oddly appropriate parallel to two friends who are bought together by a shared interest before realising that now their interests have shifted and that they're about to start drifting away for each other. For the player it's their chance to start living the life of a Pokemon Champion, whilst for Hop he wants to live a more stable life as a trainee to Professor Sonia. Perhaps that's just the interpretation that I lay upon this scene, but I've played through it twice now and both times I can't shake that melancholic feeling of this being the end of a stage in their lives as well as the end of the story. (Honestly, I'm not sure I've ever seen Pokemon get that real before.) But with that the campaign is over and the player is free to enjoy all the post game activities like completing their Pokedex, hunting for Shinies, and partaking in the endless-mode that is known as Battle Tower. For all intents and purposes, however, the journey of the Champion is over. (Until the July DLC, that is.)
Summary and Verdict
The appeal of Pokemon is simple and classic. It's all about capturing and collecting a vast degree of cute animals, choosing a few to train up and perhaps even go competitive with. The trick is with presenting this loop in such a manner that it remains interesting for the player to partake in, and for Sword and Shield that is pretty well nailed down. A lot of the Pokemon of this game can be found from following the main road but a least a hundred of them are exclusive to the Wild Area, which changes it's conditions (and therefore what Pokemon can be found there) every single day. This does add a touch of the dynamic to the whole collect-athon aspect of the game and ensures that the player has plenty to do for a while. Plus some of the evolutions of the newer generations are pretty wacky and fun to take part in, requiring players to do things as obscure as get a Yamask injured by a certain amount of points before taking it to a ridiculously specific location, or trading a Spritzee with a specific item. That sort of ritual gets the community involved with one other in order to pick apart the secrets and fill out the Pokedex and I love that.
The problem is that these are the exact same things that the Pokemon franchise was doing in recent generations, and people expected something grand and revolutionary for the formula considering that this is the first home-console mainline Pokemon game. The Dynamaxing aspect to combat seems gimmicky, but the rare Gigantamax trait does lend a little spice to the collect-athon loop. Nothing feels like a true 'step-up' however, and that does paint a worrying precedent. I've heard some people fear that Pokemon could become one of those soulless yearly titles that comes back to sell people the same old things without doing anything special with it, even going so far as to deprive people of old content and sell it back to them. (Look at the EA and 2K Sports title.)
It's hard to shake that parallel from your mind when you remember the 'Dexit' crisis that plagued the marketing pre-release and the upcoming DLC that promises to reintroduce a bunch of old Pokemon. Plus, there's the way how the previous game, Sun and Moon, allowed for previous generation's Legendaries to be caught through the Ultra Space; something that was conspicuously missing for Sword and Shield but is reflected in the upcoming Pokemon dens that will come with the second DLC. It feels like this Pokemon game suffered from a little bit of rinse-and-repeat in a package that one might consider a little consumer unfriendly.
But when looking at the base package of Pokemon Sword and Shield, everything you'd want out of a basic Pokemon experience is there and I'd be remiss not to stress that. This is not an incomplete title by any means of the imagination, but it just feels like it could have been a very special one if a bit more effort was put in the right places. One way in which I stress that is with the story, which is serviceable enough but ultimately woeful when compared to previous generations. In those games we had alternate universes, end of world meteors and wormholes to deal with, whilst in this game there seem to be several moments where important situations happen only for the Player to be told to ignore that and continue doing their silly Pokemon tournament. Even once the story does start to get more serious, there's never any real purpose or intent behind events beyond the explicit, and some plot threads just aren't even remotely explained.
Perhaps once the DLC starts to come out, this game will start to really shine as the special Pokemon game that stands out from all the previous games in the series, and I really hope that happens but right now I'll admit I was overall a little underwhelmed. Consequentially, Whilst I think Pokemon Sword and Shield are fine games and great starting points for anyone getting into the Pokemon series, they are hardly 'must buys' for any series regular who is familiar with what these games could be. I'd argue that Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon seem to offer more in terms of content and activities to partake in, and makes me even more sad that the Nintendo Switch never got the chance to see Pokemon Stars. Overall, I'd call this an Above Average Pokemon game at the present moment, with potential to grow as the season pass starts rolling out. That being said, I do thoroughly enjoy the game and await with bated breath the arrival of the new Mythical Pokemon, Zarude, later this year who I'm already prepared to name: 'Za Warudo!'
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