SwSh How do you rate Sword/Shield (+DLC)?

[WyndonCalling]

I respect everyone's opinion, but honestly, I am tired of people saying "the game needed more development time", "the game was released too early", "it needed another year in the oven", etc.

The DLCs fixed most of the base game's problems anyway, meaning that GameFreak had everything clearly planned in advance. It was strategy, rather than lack of time.

I disagree - the Expansion Pass certainly introduced new content with improved features compared to mainland Galar, but it didn't enhance the main Wild Area, didn't fill in the conspicuous story gaps, didn't add voice acting, didn't make any of Galar's disappointingly short routes any longer etc. The overall package has more, better stuff in it, but the iffy content that was already in the box is still there and largely untouched.

Re: comments about the games being rushed or cut short, we practically know that there are missing cutscenes demonstrating the Dynamax Pokémon rampaging across the land. Of course, not every limitation or feature we'd like to see expanded is entirely due to time constraints, but it's as good an excuse as any as to why half of Wyndon's attractions are merely skybox fodder and there's no train animation, to name just a couple of niggles.

 

[Norzan]

I do not get how it is rushed. Term is used a lot.

Because i'm giving them the benefit of doubt here and assume the games were rushed. Because otherwise they didn't actually cared about the graphical oddities in terms of cutscenes, textures and animations, how barebones a lot of the region is in terms of route complexity, and the lack in a lot of meaningful content for the base game.

 

[Welkamo]

I feel like I'm the only one that likes XY.

Call it nostalgia but XY are my favorite games.

This may not make sense, but to me, SwSh has a sort of warm/orange yellow vibe to it, while XY has a steel blue vibe to it. I prefer blue to orange and yellow, so maybe that taints my opinions.

it's pretty clear Hop is "supposed" to be the protagonist instead

Wait this is an interesting angle. Now that I think about it, it makes a lot of sense. In my book, it's not a good or bad thing, just a "woah that's interesting to think about".

 

[Welkamo]

Here's all the mainseries regions and what colors I associate with them:
Kanto - White and purple
Johto - Gold and berry red
Hoenn - Deep, vibrant green and sea blue
Sinnoh - Purple and purplish gray
Unova - Grays, black, white, brown
Kalos - Blue, blue-gray, off white, pink(?)
Alola - Oranges, Greens, Yellows
Galar - Green with orange/yellow lighting

I like grays/cool colors over warm colors, but that's not to say I don't like games with "warm color" vibes.

Isle of Armor was probably more vibrant blue/bright yellow than the mainline game, while Crown Tundra was a much more subdued green/purple/blue.

 

[Boss1708]

Re: comments about the games being rushed or cut short, we practically know that there are missing cutscenes demonstrating the Dynamax Pokémon rampaging across the land.

Could you elaborate, please?

 

[Phosphene]

Could you elaborate, please?

I believe they may be referring to the fact that a datamine of the games revealed a barebones WIP scene of Dynamaxed Pokémon attacking, which wasn't shown in the final game, instead relegated to dialogue.

 

[Boss1708]

I believe they may be referring to the fact that a datamine of the games revealed a barebones WIP scene of Dynamaxed Pokémon attacking, which wasn't shown in the final game, instead relegated to dialogue.

Ooooh, I see. I didn't know about this.

But my guess is this was a very early attempt, not something that they scrapped in the last minute due to "time constraints". It's more likely they just didn't know how to implement it properly.

Either way, very interesting topic.

 

[SodiumChloride]

I respect everyone's opinion, but honestly, I am tired of people saying "the game needed more development time", "the game was released too early", "it needed another year in the oven", etc.

I'm 100% sure that Pokémon games are released early due to time constraints. Masuda even said in an interview that content was cut from x and y so it could have world wide release


Sword and Shield absolutely needed more development time, but it was rushed for the winter so they could make holiday sales money

 

[Boss1708]

I'm 100% sure that Pokémon games are released early due to time constraints. Masuda even said in an interview that content was cut from x and y so it could have world wide release


Sword and Shield absolutely needed more development time, but it was rushed for the winter so they could make holiday sales money

I still don't agree that SwSh were rushed, but even if that were the case, at least they got a DLC to make up for that, unlike poor XY...

 

[Esserise]

I disagree - the Expansion Pass certainly introduced new content with improved features compared to mainland Galar, but it didn't enhance the main Wild Area, didn't fill in the conspicuous story gaps, didn't add voice acting, didn't make any of Galar's disappointingly short routes any longer etc. The overall package has more, better stuff in it, but the iffy content that was already in the box is still there and largely untouched.

Re: comments about the games being rushed or cut short, we practically know that there are missing cutscenes demonstrating the Dynamax Pokémon rampaging across the land. Of course, not every limitation or feature we'd like to see expanded is entirely due to time constraints, but it's as good an excuse as any as to why half of Wyndon's attractions are merely skybox fodder and there's no train animation, to name just a couple of niggles.

This may just be my taste, but I'm... really not sure there should be, since the trains are meant to just be a quick warp to a faraway place, much like the Flying Taxis. I guess those do have a little taxi icon in the corner while it's loading, so maybe they could do that, but I worry that an animation would bog down what's supposed to be a rapid timesaver. Like, yeah it was cute when the Johto games did it, but I don't think I'd want to see that every time.

Definitely agree with the rest of your post though. The DLC "fixes" some of SwSh's faults in the sense that it injects some new kinds of extra content that the initial games lacked, and capitalizes on the idea of a Wild Area in a more effective way, but the base of the game is literally unchanged. I do get why they would rather just add new stuff as opposed to altering the core (because then any players who've beaten the game would either have to wipe their save data or create a new user profile in order to experience those core changes) - but I suppose that's the trade-off for not doing separate upgraded versions anymore. The main body of the game is going to be what it is and we just have to roll with that. (But even still, surely it wouldn't be too excessive to at least touch up some minor stuff like giving Piers a dialogue box when he's singing or not having Hop throw an invisible Poké Ball at his wolf?)

 

[WyndonCalling]

This may just be my taste, but I'm... really not sure there should be, since the trains are meant to just be a quick warp to a faraway place, much like the Flying Taxis. I guess those do have a little taxi icon in the corner while it's loading, so maybe they could do that, but I worry that an animation would bog down what's supposed to be a rapid timesaver. Like, yeah it was cute when the Johto games did it, but I don't think I'd want to see that every time.

The form could vary wildly - it could, for example, actually just be an occasional noise and shadow passing overhead in the Wild Area - but it would be great to get a reminder that physical trains actually exist in Galar. Outside of a handful of one-off transitions within the story, I don't think we ever actually see a train, and it's a peculiar omission given how Galar's aesthetic is heavily defined by viaducts and the level of detail found within the several rail stations dotted around.

The main body of the game is going to be what it is and we just have to roll with that. (But even still, surely it wouldn't be too excessive to at least touch up some minor stuff like giving Piers a dialogue box when he's singing or not having Hop throw an invisible Poké Ball at his wolf?)

If I could get just 'one' thing by way of enhancement for the base game, it would be to clutter the main Wild Area with more detail. Give me some of that forest floor texture for the left-hand grove area, get me as many of those reeds and lily pads as you can muster, and I want rocks and fallen logs as far as the eye can see.

 

[Esserise]

As for my own evaluation of the games, there's a lot that I think they do incredibly well. Galar is one of the most fleshed-out settings we've ever had, in terms of the regional culture. Everything is integrated with the lore and the gameplay in a way that feels organic, and there are so, so many small and subtle details and design choices that I think demonstrate a real love for the project. And I commend them for their overall vision - however, it is pretty clear that some things were not able to reach their highest level of expression.

The Wild Area is a novel idea and certainly a concept worth pursuing, as the DLC demonstrated far more of its potential, and Legends: Arceus is poised to take it even further... but what we had to start with was merely alright. Granted, this was rather in-line with my expectations - the premiere games of a generation always bring new ideas that are only fully capitalized on by subsequent releases. But I mentioned some time ago that I saw someone describe it as a "glorified Safari Zone" and ever since then, my enjoyment of the place has really been sort of dampened, because I see how true that is. I think there's kind of a fundamental problem with dropping this wide-open landscape in the middle of an otherwise aggressively linear game. The problem being that the openness of it begins to feel undercut. There actually is no point in venturing past the Motostoke Riverbank when you first arrive, because everything past that point is impassably strong, and even if you were to make it all the way to Hammerlocke Hills, that's as far as you could go, because Hammerlocke itself is barred until you obtain 3 Badges. You can't actually determine your own sequence like in other open-world settings, so the Wild Area is functionally more of a closed circuit that just lets you catch different Pokémon as you progress. Part of the reason why the DLCs were so much more effective with the open-world concept is because the landscapes were integral to the stories, which could be completed at your own pace. The Isle and the Tundra weren't just a cordoned-off sidebar; they were all-encompassing.

Fortunately, I was much more impressed by the other headline feature, Dynamax. It has its flaws, but I think in the right contexts, it really shines and is able to bring something fun to the battling formula. Max Raid Battles, Dynamax Adventures, and Restricted Sparring were some of my favorite experiences in these games, and Dynamax is what made them really interesting for me. I really liked the challenge of thinking about when would be the most effective time to deploy a Dynamax transformation, and if I would be able to reap the attendant stat buffs. On the other hand, I don't think it worked as well in the context of boss battle lynchpins (aside from Eternatus, anyway), and I know Smogon have attested to its balance issues.

I think the storyline and the character work (for both the base game and the DLC) is, for the most part, pretty solid, and works with some very interesting themes. But I think it's certainly clear that Rose was a little underwritten, although personally I was more disappointed by Team Yell. While I think they are baked into the setting organically, from a function point of view, they seem at odds with themselves. The game has them stand in as living roadblocks and then prompts us to battle and defeat them in order to get them out of our way - but then, so often, there's a pair of grunts standing at a path you're not meant to reach yet, and you simply can't do anything about them. I really love the idea of anthropomorphizing the standard RPG roadblock, but I feel like you've got to stick to one philosophy or the other. For example, I think it would have been cool if you could challenge those other Yell grunts, but they would have much higher-level Pokémon. If you somehow manage to beat them, you get to go into an area you're not supposed to, and find Pokémon at a point that you normally can't. I don't think this would actually break the progression all that much, either, since it's established that the Gyms have to be challenged in order. So even if you were to go to Circhester right after Stow-on-Side or something, the Gym simply wouldn't open its doors to you. And you can't get to Wyndon anyway since it's accessible by train or taxi only. I'm also forever reminded of how the official site's profile on Team Yell talked about how they distract Trainers during battle, and yet the only time that sort of happened in-game was against Opal, not Team Yell (or, I suppose, when Marnie was on our side, giving us stat buffs). Team Skull disrupting your first trial in Sun & Moon was a better illustration of that kind of thing than anything Team Yell had to offer.

(Also, the chase for the key to Rose Tower is peak stupid.)

Lightning round review of other features:
- Pokémon Camp is cute, but limited. It's nice to see all of my Pokémon interact together, but more forms of play would be appreciated.
- Cooking curry has its charm, but I wish there was a little more to it, and maybe more of a reason to complete the Curry Dex.
- Poké Jobs are a direct downgrade from Poké Pelago, and really not worth bothering with.
- League Cards are a delightful form of personal expression and were very fun to collect.
- The array of clothes you can choose from is fantastic, and I really liked tracking down all of the new clothing that the DLC added.
- I simply can't fathom the point of the Rotom Phone. I've got an ass-ton of ideas for things they could have added to it, because there's just nothing there.
- Again I want to emphasize how much I really loved Dynamax Adventures and Restricted Sparring. The standard Max Raid Battles definitely gave me something to do in the post-game, but the diversification of options that the DLC brought really breathed a second and third wind into the whole thing.
- I liked all the new Pokémon, but then again, I always do.
- Soundtrack is dynamite. Why won't they release it???
- The numerous quality of life improvements are out of this world. Mints, cheap vitamins, everywhere-PC (I could have lived without this one, but I can't deny the convenience)... not to mention Jack's corner, the lottery being built into the PC terminal, egg move transferring... dirt-cheap Ability Capsules in the DLC... so good. Renewable Apricorn Balls, although still very rare, as well as the return of the Dream Ball, are also very cool.
- They did a really good job with all of the key Legendaries, and making me feel connected to them. Never before have I so actively wanted to use Legendaries, but they make my relationship with them feel earned.
- There really is something that I like about pretty much every character, which is an accomplishment.

I guess I give it 7 out of 10 Wishing Stars. But that's a good 7, not a normie 7 (otherwise known as a 5).

 

[Daren]

But I mentioned some time ago that I saw someone describe it as a "glorified Safari Zone" and ever since then, my enjoyment of the place has really been sort of dampened, because I see how true that is.

In fairness it was a lot less annoying than the actual Safari Zones were.
"Tauros fled!"

I forgot to mention earlier that one very nice Wild Area bonus was it made certain types available more quickly than usual, like Ice, which tended to be available late-game otherwise. In Sword, though, I was able to get a Glaceon around the first Gym (which may have been a bit too early, but...)