I’d like to put this in a simple format with just what I saw as positive and negative.
First, I should explain how I played:
- I only used Pokeballs (except for using a Premier Ball to catch Zacian)
- I spent a long time in the Wild Area before completing the game
- I chose Scorbunny as my starter
- I caught every Pokemon that I saw in the wild, that I hadn't yet caught, but didn't go back and forth looking for rare spawns if I hadn't seen them once before
- I fought every trainer I saw
I finished the game with 175 Pokemon captured, and 291 Pokemon seen.
PROS:
+ While game performance in the wild area is marginal at best, it's really cool having an open space to explore
+ The gym battles being in massive stadiums, along with Dynamax makes for a real mood of competition and excitement that I don't think the Pokémon games have had before
+ The decision to have small minigames in the gyms seems a good one, I really enjoyed them
+ The integration of internet multiplayer is basic, but it's still quite cool
+ Some of the non-starter mons are pretty cool
+ The graphics (particularly in the cave) are a massive step up from previous Pokémon games
+ The art style is very nice, I think they nailed the style of the game
+ The UI looks slick
+ The option to disable all the pointless stuff (the game asking you to rename Pokémon, or send them to the box, etc) is really great, and makes the end of battles less painful
+ Trainer customisation is really extensive, and though I don't use it much, I appreciated being able to choose 069 as my number, though I now regret it
+ Pokémon Camp is pretty cool (cooking curries is, too)
+ The Pokémon Box Link is a great addition while in the Wild Zone, and removes a lot of needless tedium
+ The way that the Legendaries were handled is nice, and pretty cool
+ The signature move animations are no doubt the best they have been in a mainline Pokémon game
+ Max Raids are pretty great, when you can get into a game
+ Max Raids provide a good alternative path to standard leveling, that makes the process much less tedious (but if you get too deep into this, the game becomes a walk-over very quickly - my started was level 100, and the rest of my team ~level 70, before taking on the elite four equivalent)
+ Seeing Pokémon in the overworld is a good change from the 3DS era games
+ The characters become endearing towards the end of the game
+ The streamlining of Surf into the bike is fantastic, and removes what is usually a minor pain point in the series
+ The animations for trainers are pretty great
+ The animation introducing the starters felt like a look into the future of Pokémon, and it was great
+ Thank God, no mandatory motion controls
+ The new Pokémon generally have good Special / Physical animations
CONS:
- While it makes sense that you're not allowed to catch higher level Pokémon in the wild area, the restrictions feel pretty artificial, and I would have appreciated the ability to catch, but not properly use (through a mechanic like disobedience)
- To me, the UI feels really slow in battles, because you have to wait for it to animate before you can select the next option
- The move animations, while kind of a step up from the 3DS games, are still pretty boring and uninspired
- There really shouldn't be loading screens between areas. It's clearly possible to not have them - the Switch is powerful enough.
- There were a lot of moments where I wished I was Leon so I could participate in the story (for example, the Dynamax'd Pokémon in Hammerlocke)
- It's weird watching people's mouths move in cutscenes without any spoken dialogue (even if in another language, spoken lines are clearly possible, as evidenced by games like FE3H and XC2)
- The performance is disappointing compared to other Switch games, which look better, and perform better
- The Rotom Rally is almost unplayable in terms of performance (while online)
- The postgame is very short, and there is little to do (only two catch-able legendaries)
- The online coop modes barely work - selecting Join, to wait through a loading screen, only to see a message letting you know that the roster is full, or the person is no longer searching is really quite terrible, and made worst by the fact you can't manually refresh the multiplayer search list
- Spamming the A button does not always repeat the last action
- The animations for overworld Pokémon are pretty bad (for the most part) - even when it matters most, in the final few cutscenes of the story
- Having nonspecific moves all be modifications of a base Special or Physical animation works well for some moves, but really doesn't for others
- Most moves that describe specific actions (Peck, Double Jump, etc) are very poorly animated
OTHER:
- Knowing that so many Pokémon from the previous generation will never make it to this one really breaks my heart still, especially given this game only has 2 catch-able Legendaries
OVERALL:
Most Pokémon Fans would probably find something to like here.
I wouldn't recommend it as someone's first Pokémon game, though, especially if they've played other RPGs on Switch.
where I'd place it (among the Pokemon games I have finished):
Black/White > Black/White 2 > HeartGold/SoulSilver > Platinum > Alpha Sapphire / Omega Ruby > Diamond / Pearl > Ultra Sun / Ultra Moon > **Sword / Shield** > Sapphire / Ruby > X/Y > Let's Go Eevee / Let's Go Pikachu
Total score: somewhere between 6.0 and 7.5 / 10
If anyone else has the game, and wants Pokerus I can provide.
Submitted November 19, 2019 at 06:48AM by PhonicCanine https://ift.tt/2O1PwQZ
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