Pokémon Sword & Shield Review Round-up

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The release of Pokémon Sword and Shield are close—very, very close—and the reviews for the games are now being posted. Here are some highlights:

  • IGN: 9.3/10, Editor’s Choice “…the best Pokemon games I have ever played…”
  • Kotaku: Positive “For the first time in my adult life, I was seriously thinking about strategy in a Pokémon game, and I had a blast doing it.”
  • Gamespot: 9/10 “The vibrant Galar region is a consistent delight to explore, incentivizing and rewarding collecting and battling in equal measure, and grandiose battles add an exciting dimension to the familiar Gym formula to deliver an engaging adventure beginning to end.”
  • VG24/7: 3/5 “Pokemon Sword & Shield is all too often a bit disappointing, and in some places actually feels a little unfinished, but it also fully provides that warm, fuzzy feeling that one expects from the series.”

Let us know what other good reviews you find. Are you particularly excited by what you’ve read from them? Apprehensive? Let us know!

Don’t hesitate to hop into our Discord server for more discussion!

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90 thoughts on “Pokémon Sword & Shield Review Round-up”

  3. Okay so I’ve changed my nicknames already.
    Everyone is gonna have names based on punk or metal band members (except Toxtricity who shall forever be named after my personal hero, the late Philip Lynott, bassist and singer of Thin Lizzy)

    Rillaboom, Ranken after Andrew Ranken, drummer for The Pogues

    Toxtricity, Philo (personal hero as both a bassist and singer)

    Grimmsnarl, Abbadon after the original drummer of Venom

    Copperajah, Ganesh after Ganesh K., bassist and former vocalist of Indian metal band Kryptos

    Dracozolt, Brent after Brent Hinds of Mastodon

    G-Darmanitan, Galder after the guitarist of Dimmu Borgir

    Additionally
    Zacian (cause I always end up using the box legendary when I get it), Cuchullain.

    I couldn’t help myself with Zacian, as this is the one region I can use all my Irish names

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  7. So, to those who have pre loaded a game o to their switch before;

    When can you start playing? Midnight on the day of release? I’ve got a friend d coming over so we arent sure how this works as we’ve never done it before.

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  9. For my Nuzlocke run, all Pokemon I catch will have AoT based names and I won’t be allowed to use Dynamax. This all in service of a joke only I will be there to laugh at.

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  11. Team member names for my Sword mons(all of them are inspired by pop culture stuff):
    Rillaboom: Grass Monkey (inspired by “Brass Monkey” by the Bestie Boys)
    Bolthund: Corg (short for Corgi, also is intended to sound like Korg from Marvel since I could see that personality in Bolthund)
    Sirfetch’D: Escanor (Seven Deadly Sins, totally see Sirfetch’D having the personality of that character)
    Carcoal/Coalossol (I’m willing to play the game with an Eviolite Carcoal lmao): Initial D (cause of the meme songs and Steam Engine’s effect)
    Polteageist/Cramorant: Mrs. Potts/Nigel (The first from Beauty and the Beast, the second cause of the pelican from Finding Nemo)
    Orbeetle: Scotty (Star Trek, also has a saucer like shape and is based on a scientist while having red as it’s color)

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    • honestly I would expect its the reverse. Pokemon generally take months to create from concept to approval(sword and shield averaged 3 months per pokemon), so they probably just design a character to complement the pokemon.

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  13. So when Pokemon adventures/special manga gets to sword and shield arc Sword will prob have Sobble and I’ve come to terms with it. Shield will prob have Scorbunny

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  14. Eurogamer said there are virtually no dungeons in S&S and the ones present have no complexity to them, which makes me sad because side areas and stuff are my favorite parts of the regions

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  16. So, that’s my team!

    Intelleon – Bond
    His battle skills made him the powerhouse of the group. He’s kind of a loner, but it’s very friendly and charming.

    Bolthund – Q
    He is a hyperactive child and loves to play with gadgets like Rotom Phone.

    Coalossal – M
    She acts as the group leader. She is very protective and has a mother-child relationship with Bond, Q and Raoul.

    Rapidash – Le Chiffre
    Extremely intelligent and confident, Le Chiffre has a tough ego to deal with.

    Grimmsnarl – Raoul
    Skillful as Bond, they cultivate a brother-like rivalry, but have a harsh relationship with M.

    Frosmoth – Vesper
    Calm and mysterious, Vesper is the only one really close to Bond.

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  17. 2 MORE DAYS! 2 MORE DAYS! For me at least, since I’ll be waiting for my timely Friday afternoon delivery. I said that I’d be around more often…and I haven’t been…but I’ve been following all of this insane #GameFreakLied drama in my free time. Yes, there are an inexcusable number of glitches and some jawdropping design choices, but I’m truly hoping they would have ironed out a lot of them by the time Diamond and Pearl remakes are announced.
    I wanted to ask for a Switch friend code exchange like the good old X&Y days! I’ll post mine and I’d like as many friend requests as possible. Perhaps you’ve already had one of these, but if you’d like to type your own you can as well. Everyone is welcome!
    My FC: SW-3805-4579-5488

    Reply

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