The Pokémon series is a very special phenomenon of the game culture. There are lots of gamers who adore those fantastic creatures and anticipate each new game with them – and especially core RPGs. Also, many gamers just don’t understand all the hype around Pikachu and friends. Their position has many shades, from ignoring to aggressive resistance. One of the quite reasonable statements is the following: “The overall quality of Pokémon games is far away from the modern standards, they succeed only because of the old fans”.
The discussion can become stronger in the upcoming days and months – new games of the core Pokémon series have been released. For the first time ever, they are playable also on a TV, so the quality difference may become even more obvious. Still, many players wait for these games, and their first feedback is positive.
Pokémon Sword and Shield are exclusives for the Nintendo Switch.
Are these the best games in the series?
Sword and Shield introduce many interesting innovations. The most promising among them is the possibility to see wild Pokémon and decide to start battles with them or not. Annoying random encounters is history right now.
The visuals of these new Pokémon games are much, much better than even of the previous part, Pokémon Sun and Moon. The reason is not in games, strictly speaking. The technical power of the Nintendo Switch is much bigger than of the Nintendo 3DS devices. The world of Galar, the UK-like region, is gorgeous.
The games have lots of small improvements, which make the overall playing experience much more pleasant: from skipping tutorials to boosting the Pokémon’s stats with special candies and changing their move in a super-easy way.
Dynamax and Gigantamax forms of Pokémon are the most intriguing part of battles. Of course, the community is waiting to try them out with 81 totally new creatures of the 8th Generation. Total number of Pokémon in the new games is 400. Many previous species have a special Galar form.
Why someone can be unhappy?
The Pokémon community wants to have all the creatures from the National Pokédex, and they are upset by the absence of this possibility. Many people outside of this franchise are very surprised by the world’s reaction to Sword and Shield. There are lots of much bigger and visually deeper games on the Switch (and on other platforms). The multiplayer experience of other game titles offers so much more various entertainments. The “innovation” to move the game camera by your right joystick in one particular area of Sword and Shield seems just ridiculous nowadays…
Many people disagree with the mixed reception of the huge and amazing game Death Stranding and cheerful 9-10 out of 10 for Pokémon Sword and Shield.
It’s hard to understand (and probably to explain this). The Pokémon games invite in a special world. So many gamers just love to be there, explore, follow the story, collect Pokémon, participate in battles, or just goof around. The atmosphere, traditional mechanics, familiar creatures, and healthy weirdness – these are some of the reasons to love Pokémon games. And of course, it’s just great to be part of such a friendly and joyful community.
Pokémon Sword and Shield are out now. They are quite good in comparison to the older Pokémon games. They don’t need to be compared to other games outside of the series. If you feel like to try them out, you probably will enjoy the experience. If they are not games on your radar, the industry is ready to offer an almost endless variety of adventures (for example, Luigi’s Mansion 3 if you are on the Switch).
The games Sword and Shield are very similar to each other. Usually, the developers from Game Freak put some slight differences in the storyline for such game pairs and make some Pokémon exclusive for one version. This time, they also have added some unique Gyms and Gym Leaders. Don’t bother too much with the choice and take whichever you like more. Which legendary Pokémon appeals to you better - Zacian (with a sword) or Zamazenta (with a shield)?
To play Pokémon Sword and Shield, purchase the games through the official site:
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Do you know the history of the Pokémon game series? This article on Very Good Games is quite informative: “Pokémon universe: games, regions, and generations. A guide to the main series”.
