Why Pokemon Sword and Shield are the MOST UNDERRATED Pokemon Games | The SWSH Critique

[@darktemplar446]

Gen 8 has some absolutely amazing pokemon and it has by far the best pseudo legendary of all 9 gens. Its a solid pokemon experience and i enjoyed my time with my copy of Sword.

[@bandicootsauce4569]

Okay, taking a step back, I can agree with at least SOME of the things people say in defence of this game. I agree that it's unrealistic to expect the 3D models of all 800+ Pokémon to have dozens of unique movement and attack animations each. I agree that the game probably would've been at least somewhat better by default if GameFreak had been given another year to develop it. What I DON'T agree with so much is the matter of money. I get that not every dollar the Pokémon franchise makes goes to GameFreak specifically, but Pokémon, as a franchise, has accumulated ninety billion dollars at this point! Ninety BILLION! Even the most high quality video games out there are made on budgets consisting of just millions, not billions! Why can't the higher-ups of the Pokémon Company set aside even HALF of ONE billion (as well as a few extra months of development time) so as to allow GameFreak to make a Pokémon game on Switch that at least feels FINISHED?!

[@robertlupa8273]

Well, most of that money is probably going into merchendise and TPC's personal stuff. Pokemon used to be a game franchise with merchendise to promote it. Now it's merchendise with a game franchise to promote it.

[@enchorialdude2721]

Random person: "I enjoy the game, it's fun." No-life, gatekeeping, pokemon elitist: "IT'S NOT A GOOD GAME, STOP HAVING FUN WITH IT, IT'S TOO EASY, I'M BETTER THAN EVERYBODY ELSE!!!"

[@TheWeeabooKid]

I dont think SWSH are terrible, The character designs and new pokemon this region are good. But with things like dexit, despite using the same models and, and the underwhelming story. The games a good 7/10. Maybe a 7.5. They are far from a bad game overall tho.

[@The-Fishkeeper]

Despite their flaws, I really liked Sword and Shield. They're probably my favourite 3D Pokémon games and I vastly prefer them to Scarlet and Violet. Also (in my opinion) had the best actual Pokémon designs in YEARS. I honestly struggled a little with gens 5, 6, 7 and again with 9 to find a party of 6 new Pokémon I actually liked without too many type overlaps or resorting to previous gen Pokémon, whereas I had the opposite problem with Sword and Shield. There were many cool designs that I didn't get to use.

[@ithuhalinqua1026]

"It's at least more balanced than mega evolution." Oh, that's why all dynamaxing is banned from OU.

[@ithuhalinqua1026]

Also, the vast majority of people were okay with the cut dex until their reason for cutting the dex was proven to be a complete lie.

[@Tharja-iBW]

Also less fun

[@mobilenation1104]

remove dynamaxing forever!

[@Freezerboy69]

Its banned from ubers as well😂

[@DrawciaGleam02]

@@Freezerboy69 Wait, really????

[@oscarsullivan5983]

nothing wrong w/ having a different opinion obviously but saying shit like “dynamax is more balanced than mega evolution” is just blatantly wrong

[@mobilenation1104]

dynamaxing is not balanced option! dynamaxing is unbalanced opinion!

[@Coconattsuu]

I only liked the animation they do to transform, it's cool (there's not many animations in the game so seeing one is good) Other than that, I hate both Megas and Dynamax balance wise

[@mobilenation1104]

sorry oscar sullican! but coconattsu still hate dynamax too!

[@Coconattsuu]

yeah, we know how important my opinion is

[@conejonegro957]

Meanwhile I’m here in 2023 owning all the pokemons (except let’s go) on switch and still playing sword 😅 currently doing a curry shiny hunt but yesterday I catch a brilliant shiny slowpoke

[@hi-c4142]

Love how before entering the wild area, the game shows u a preview of “how beautiful and peaceful it is” only for u to actually walk in it and BOOM: completely pouring rain Also love how this games main focus is on the gym challenge and tournament. I like it especially considering that this game came after gen 7 where it was like “ugh yeah so we barely have any trial leaders and e4 since this is the first alolan challenge; and we kinda have a champion but not rlly”

[@ReferenceGetter]

That's Sword and Shield's biggest strength honestly, the Gym Challenge being the big focus never made doing the gyms feel pointless, whereas with something like Diamond and Pearl you only fight the 7th Gym because it's just there, but you're supposed to be focused on finding your Rival, this detour feels pointless when the narrative is supposed to be picking up.

[@3dsfan2002]

In my opinion,Why Sun and moon are the most underrated games in the series. They are pretty good

[@animatedink2529]

Yes! So much yes. Actually, I’d argue that US & UM are more underrated because they have far more content and things to do. Sure, SM Vanilla’s story was better but USUM had so much to do and a huge roster of mons

[@goldman77700]

I like them more than X and Y but that's not saying much.

[@Umbra423]

They're awful and slow, most of the Gen 7 Pokémon are also awful and slow and Z moves are just a terrible gimmick. Even Dynamax is better than Z moves.

[@trxxblx-wxs-hxrx]

@@Umbra423 I actually go back to play from time to time and when I compare megas to z-moves and also dont forget fusions, I actually like the concept of z-moves (but this is a gen5 fanboy that abused the normal gem 😵)

[@3dsfan2002]

@@Umbra423 Shut up, Gen 4 is awful and boring

[@TanBrosSAndYYT]

It’s kind of silly that I’m one of the fewest people who like sword and shield

[@someallay]

OMG ANOTHER PERSON WHO GENUINLY LIKES SWSH

[@baatarbeifong7869]

I really liked the shiny Galarian Slowpoke's golden color (hated its evolutions' shiny forms), liked the ability to "level up" and evolve Pokemon at level 100 and the ability to access to PC boxes from bag (don't know if this feature was already available in the Let's Go games I never played), liked the ability mints and ability patch, liked the ribbon/titles, like the Regi additions and the Galarian birds forms, loved the "Journey to the Center of the Earth"/ stepping back in time kind of concept to the Crown Tundra (don't know why they had all kinds of fossil pokemon roaming around except for the Galarian ones in their true forms), loved how challenging it was to capture Calyrex, liked the Wedgehurst theme and the one with the wolf howling sounds in the background, and liked the ability to have sports and safari balls. I hated the difficulty of obtaining certain balls, hated that room in the league championship locker room that can't be accessed, hated the concept of charging the bike to briefly move fast, hated the curry making activity, hated the fixed camera angles in places like Wyndon, Glimwood Tangle, and Slumbering Weald, hated the limitations of the camera angles in the Wild Area/DLC locations (such as when I want to beat all raid dens for armorite ore farming and can't easily see a raid den in the desert behind the Tower of Darkness because I can't zoom in/out nor look up that high), hated dynamax adventures/battles, hated how gts/Discord bot link trading requires Nintendo Online, hated how one has to work so hard for certain clothes/trainer card backgrounds but won't be able to obtain all of such if one didn't buy the game early enough for certain event distributions or didn't care to get save data for other games, and I like/hate the constant saving for things like Cram--o--matic usage and Digging family activity, although, I suppose, as with use of the daily raffle system, it increases the meaningfulness of rewards like apricorn balls.

[@datrell006]

Gen 8 was honestly magnificent! Some great Pokémon designs and great replay value. Was a little hand holdy yea but story was pretty ok not very inspiring. But alot of fun to be had !! I personally give it 8.9/10

[@TheAdventuretrainerRuby]

I find Sword and Shield to be the worst pokemon mainline games ever. I expected much more from the biggest game franchise that earns the most money. I personally don't mind the pokedex cut as many had a problem with it. But my problems comes from it not being a fun game to explore or a story to invest me. Perhaps worst of all, if you want to replay the game you cannot skip lengthy dialog which this game has in spades. I loved playing ORAS and even Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon as they had some of the hardest battles, fun post game content and interesting characters. However that game too also has flaws, like not being to skip lengthy dialog. I feel like everyone can more or less resonate with me here, but then I see how much these games and even BDSP sold and start thinking im in the minority

[@Medachod]

Yeah, even Let's Go has cutscene skipping right out the box.

[@vaya-dragon1998]

Sorry, I don’t resonate with you at all. I loved Pokémon Sword.

[@charlescase5268]

Pokémon isn’t the biggest game franchise out there and if it is it has a super weird and toxic communtiy that makes most people feel uncomfortable so try and explain that one

[@matthewshirts9523]

@@vaya-dragon1998 🤣🤣🤣

[@lambtoken2708]

It's perfectly valid to have an opinion But saying dynamax is more balanced than mega evolution ain't it bro

[@Lucy-uf6oi]

my jaw dropped when he claimed that, worst take ive seen in weeks

[@ummidk757]

If you look at it as a stand alone game and ignore all the controversy behind it it’s objectively better then some older pokemon games such as yes red and blue

[@JDoradoTube]

I hate that this game gets hate. It's one of my faves and controversial but brave opinion...I prefer this game over Scarlet and Violet. The only thing I like more about S/V is the post game story and ending.

[@vikhyatnigam7452]

Idc what others say about the game cause I just love the games, they're probably my favourite game of all time(most people will call me dumb but that's just my taste). These were the first Pokemon games that I played on an official console and I just loved them, people hate it for a tree? Like literally for a TREE? Even though the games seem short the dlc is just so much fun with the whole story and especially dynamax adventures. These are the first games where I really love gym battles. There are just so many iconic characters (I don't remember the last game where so many of em' were so cool), some of them are Hop,Bede,Leon,Nessa,Marine,Avery,Sonia etc. Shiny hunting doesn't feel boring in these games with the inclusion of Dynamax Adventures.And for those of you bashing the game for it's graphics and 3D models , you should consider the fact that they need to add so many Pokemons n characters in the games with so many actions and still only about 250 Pokemons are missing and nvc about them atleast until you beat the game. The only flaw that I can actually see is the story with lack of content.

[@spotsthecat7913]

Oh, trust me that whining about tree texture doesn't surprise me anymore. Back in the day, I encountered one whiny cr*phead who said that he hates Pokemon Emerald because HOW RED/LEAF LOOKED IN LINK CABLE ROOM when you linked up with FireRed/LeafGreen, and how some pokemon sprites animation are "shitty and forced. Haters gonna hate, whiners gonna whine I suppose

[@zenopz8276]

It was fun to play but I just wish it was harder

[@nickvang7]

Nah these games suck Let's Go at least had good animation, a cute art style, proper backgrounds and the best Pokémon following mechanic yet. It was very fun to shiny hunt in and the Master Trainers were a fun concept imo. Not saying they were good, but they at least had stuff to like about them. Sword and Shield literally had nothing going for them.

[@octopodesia3317]

I dont like sword and shield very much but I do really miss square shinies. I looooved square shinies

[@HandheldGamer1991]

Nah the gen 3 argument makes no sense. Of course you had to get older pokemon somehow In gen 3 from 1 and 2 and since those where on the og gameboy they just remade gen1. I mean how else where you supposed to get them? It's not like you didn't need red,blue or yellow to get pokemon from those games in gold,silver or crystal. Also they where in the game unlike with sw,sh where some pokemon are missing to this day. Also i don't think we should count games like mystery dungeon,i mean they don't have anything to do with the mainline games.

[@ReferenceGetter]

Next Month i'll be back with BDSP, the next Game to be covered AFTER that is a toss up, still debating between Let's go and the Wii game. But i want to know YOUR thoughts, how do you feel about Pokemon Sword and Shield? Also take a shot for every time you see Dragon Ascent get used in the gameplay. [IMPOSSIBLE CHALLENGE}

[@lukane333]

The reason visuals are focused is that was the reason given for cutting the national dex

[@mikeb6065]

These are the most underrated/best pokemon games available due to available pokemon in one game, breeding, training, farming capabilities and because of pokemon home. I can say this confidently 9 days before the release of Arceus. 10 days from now hopefully not so much

[@grydon6422]

Wtf literally one of the worst games when it comes to availability of Pokemon since bunch of them were not even in the game at all🤣 jesus christ

[@zephyrorsomethinh1528]

Most games have hundreds of mons. Breeding is the worst in this gen and you're complimenting having to pay extra money for pokemon bank?

[@tanzolo4487]

@@zephyrorsomethinh15281. this game has 600+ catchable pokemon (Compare that to SV with 400 or Arceus with 250.) 2. pokemon home = free. 3. Breeding in this game is the fastest most efficient it ever was. What are you talking about

[@ishierrogamer7798]

To be honest that's not true, The concept is good, but the execution is far wrong. Galar has good songs and good Pokémon designs. However the gameplay and story is terrible, plus the PVP was ruined because of dynamax and 20 minute timer. The wild area is terrible, the routes are flat, the story is rushed, it was the first Game to remove Pokemon, and they did it without any valid reason.

[@Devil935]

Listening to all these different opinions about over the years i realized theres no wrong answer about how one feels about the franchise because we all play the differently and how we think the concept of pokemon mean to us. In the end i don't agree with all of these points but I can see whee your coming from, for example the issue of not being strong enough to fight certain gym leaders. for me i never had this problem until the champion and even than i realized i just had to use strategy instead of simple brute force but other people for example those who like to switch their team often could find this a problem. In the end Pokemon is a series with insane amount of potential but because of that impossible to satisfy all, the best it could do is satisfy the main two camps of players; those being combative players and those who simply like the novelty of pokemon.

[@grydon6422]

When I listened to this video, it was all about ”this flaw is not actually that bad” ”there was an overreaction to this” jadijada, so in other words bunch of excuses on the terrible choises made for this game. Not literally everything is bad about these games, I enjoyed them quite a lot from a casual standpoint. But what has kept me in the series for so long (28y/o) is the competitive battling, and the dex cut + removing of past gimmicks in particular have destroyed the games for me from that standpoint, to this day. So to say ”an overreaction to the dex cut” is outright laughable bs and invalidated the whole video. Sure it doesn’t affect casual fans and that is great, but very self centered view that is as casuals are no where near the only ones out there

[@HoneeyMoth]

If you have to defend your game by saying it’s a complete game and you also try and defend it by comparing it to the lowest common denominator (assassins creed games), I think you may have to rethink your constant defending

[@otterhero6229]

I mean the Fates comparison is a bit unfair; the two box games are very different story/gameplay wise, and therefore each is available as DLC on the other game, as well as the 3rd story path, Revelation. You are expected to play through all 3 paths While only needing to buy one physical game (or eShop download), whereas SW/SH, in pokemon tradition, is just the same game twice with very minor differences. It’s not really in the core design of the game, or the series, to play through both editions, as opposed to Fates where playing through all three IS the full experience.

[@gahnity]

after seeing this video and your video on pokemon crystal, i think we are just on…. completely different wavelengths

[@EricWalkerUk]

I had fun with these games. I especially loved the big spectatle of the gym battles. The games are certainly not perfect, but no pokémon games are. I think in time people will appreciate these games like they did with black and white

[@vjbd2757]

Underrated? Hardly. It's one of the most handhold-y and easiest titles in the series and it rivals Pokemon X and Y on lack of content. It has one of the most pathetic enemy gangs in the series and the Pokemon gyms and your rival are easy to beat especially with the forced XP share. If the game has to be nuzlocked in order to make it more fun then there's something wrong. The Dexit doesn't compensate for the "improvement" of the Pokemon animations and the more simplistic map exploration.

[@kimjongil9840]

I beat the entire game with just a boltund. I literally had to ditch my starter and the rest of my party bc of how easy the games were.

[@oyeh8908]

@@kimjongil9840 Any Pokemon game becomes easy if you just use one Pokemon. It's absorbing all the experience that would have gone to the rest of your party.

[@SteamPunkVGC]

@@kimjongil9840 You literally can do that in any Pokémon game.

[@victor2641]

Okay

[@Rivecha]

Almost all the evil Pokemon teams were Pathetic. Team Aqua/Magma grunts used Poochyenas/Zubats until the endgame and their idiotic bosses immediately regret awakening Groudon/Kyogre despite that being their intended plan. It makes sense for some ruffians to be pathetic but not for well funded organizations Bent on destroying the world.

[@HighlandOwl005]

I like the British in SwSh. It was interesting to see some of the British inspirations for some of the new Pokémon

[@Alians0108]

I'm playing Pokemon Sword right now and with the expansions, it's basically my third favourite set of games behind HGSS and B2W2 The beginning is the only complaint I have, which is really slow.

[@kanna2746]

Recently bought sword and I loved it it was my first Pokémon game

[@SumireSakura]

For me SwSh looks so good. The building details are amazing. Except for the wild area trees, the game looks amazing. I don't know why ppl say this game doesnt look good. This game looks way better than BDSP, PLA and what Gen 9 is looking to be. What is there to do post game? Shiny hunting of course! What else is worth playing a pokemon game.

[@tanzolo4487]

Pokemon sword and shield + DLC = The best and most complete pokémon game on the switch. People hate it because expectations were high. First mainline pokemon game on the system that wasn’t a remake + they had seen what was possible trough Zelda. But I stand by what I say. Go play some scarlet or Arceus for a while. Then come back to this game. You’d be suprised. Almost everything in swsh was better, the graphics, the soundtrack, the character design, the pokedex, even the gimmick. A shame really. Because fans wanted bigger and better we got that dumbsterfire that was S&V. We ended up with a game that is a massive downgrade on pretty much every level compared to SWSH. You have an open world now, and your trees and pokemon have more realistic textures. Yeey. Well done. But at what cost? Play scarlet or violet and see for yourself. If you can even play that game without getting a headache from the unstable frames to the abissmal 2 second delay whenever you open up a menu (in a game all about menu screens that is) Arceus was fine. And improved on a lot of things. But the battles were horendous. People seem to just love being able to run around while fighting. Yet it zooms away from the action to hide the graphics that, compared to SWSH actually are worse. Catching is a lot of fun in that game. Until you realise all it takes is just running around throwing pokéballs left and right. Trust me it works. Not to mention there is no skill involved whatsover. You’re just going through the motions. You ‘d have to come up with a special kind of nuzzlock in order to fail at Arceus. At least Swsh gave us the battle tower and online ranked modes. Modes that actually required skill. For what the switch and Gamefreak can handle, sword and shield was very well executed. Arceus and SV are ambitious in their idea. But the team with their deadlines can not handle these ideas. Not on this console.

[@Sobble_99]

Maybe i have to agree

[@chaosmd9714]

No I don't want Experience Share on fool.

[@GodSlayer330]

Sword and shield are garbage games if we refer to the base game without the dlc.

[@keithflippers4429]

I knew this was gonna happen

[@MatteoTGS]

I always, always, hear about how shitty the pokemon sword and shield games are. This is such a nice breath of fresh air

[@ReferenceGetter]

Yeah something about the Things the game did wrong REALLY rubbed fans the wrong way, and they DESPISE ANY and all praise about the games, personally i thought it was fine, sure it has SOME flaws, but damn every game does. Personally i managed to enjoy Sword and Shield more than Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, but i do know i'm in the minority on that.

[@bandicootsauce4569]

When all is said and done, the only thing that I genuinely hate about this game is how it constantly halts your progress throughout the main story to tell you things that you either already know or that a ten year-old kid - Pokémon's quote unquote 'target audience' - could've figured out for themselves. Seriously, you wanna know the real reason why people hate Hop? It's not because he's a lame rival or anything like that - it's because he's constantly in your face to state the glaringly obvious, or to stop you from going anywhere except where he wants you to go! Sonia is no better in this regard. In fact, I'd argue that she's actually WORSE than Hop, but I digress.

[@anthonyhill3194]

i’ve always despised hop because he (and everyone in the region, really) are cocky and arrogant for no reason; like he’s lost 6-7 battles against the player and other rivals, and he still spouts shit like “i’m gonna beat the unbeatable champion! i’m gonna crush you!” EDIT: then he gets waxed so hard in the champ cup/box legend side quest that he decides to become a pokémon professor like Sonia, somehow catches the opposing box legend with a pokeball after just talking to it, THEN GETS FLATLINED AGAIN WITH THE LEGEND ON HIS TEAM. like dude. he’s one of the wimpiest, most unreliable losers in the entire franchise

[@malikpierre-louis3343]

@@anthonyhill3194 oh yeah like fucking blue and silver in gen 1 and 2 and those 2 are beloved !!

[@jessegartung294]

You should review Temtem since it claims it’s better than Pokémon

[@vaya-dragon1998]

I genuinely love Pokémon Sword and Shield.

[@turtleanton6539]

They are honestly great games ! Especially with the DLC :)

[@blueflameboi]

Bro swsh was my first games and even if they weren’t I would still love them. Hop is such a underrated character. I love the games and the Soundtrack is incredible

[@StarguyLOL]

W video

[@appleando752]

My problem with Sword and Shield above all else, is that they are boring. At least with a bad game like Mega Man X7 or Sonic 06, I can have fun with how broken they are. Those games are so ironically fun... I can't do that with a boring game. Boring games aren't fun to make fun of.

[@leeeroyjenkins555]

I hated it a lot at first, but not so much after Gmax Blastoise. Havent bought it tho.

[@AmityvilleFan]

This is NOT a pokemon-game. This is a ZELDA game.

[@gayema664]

Actually I would say it's one of the most popular games of the series

[@ReferenceGetter]

Honestly, I don't know how you reached this conclusion outside of the competitive scene, but damn do I respect it.

[@gayema664]

@@ReferenceGetter it's because it has the second most popular character of the series Gloria outside of anime. Who can forget the scottish memes from gloria. Also has the most **** with the longest service so far. Even with new pokemon games pm switch like arceus,diamond,and pikachu/evee people's mind will go to sword and shield instantly. I will say the most underated games would be like pokemon gold,resue team,and pokemon tornament. Really good games that are like almost never talked about.

[@KingGiles92]

Sword and shield are incredibly boring to replay, I know I've done it and it was boring.

[@compatriot852]

Yeah it's pretty much understood how much of a shit show Sword and Shield was. Now only being peaked by Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.

[@mobilenation1104]

i am very hate pokemon sword and shield base game!

[@ReferenceGetter]

agree here, the SWSH base game was drastically lacking, like sure it was still larger than the likes of Gen 1, Ruby/Sapphire, and XY. But that still doesn't fix the problem on what exists is pretty lacking, especially on a $60 game. the fact Black/White isn't being beat in terms of quality and in terms quantity of postgame is a shame.

[@mobilenation1104]

well! i got a better idea! who wants rejected pokemon sword and shield base game & their idiot gamefreak defenders from pokemon peaceful clubs for the rest of their own lifes forever!

[@mobilenation1104]

@@ReferenceGetter thank you kermit117! i hope i own you a good one!

[@cheezitz5735]

@@mobilenation1104 Your grammar is so bad it's like talking to my mom and dad

[@mobilenation1104]

@@cheezitz5735 do you know why pokemon sword and shield base games is a terrible pokemon games!

[@EmeralBookwise]

When even a review "defending" these games has so many negative astrix and caveats, you know something has gone terribly wrong. Sword and Shield are obviously not the worst releases in the entire history of video gaming, but they might just still be the worst in the mainline Pokémon franchise specifically... ...well, an argument could maybe be made that BD/SP have now usurped that dubious honor. For all their faults, Sw/Sh at least tried to do something new, which is more than can be said for the overly _faithful_ Sinnoh remakes.

[@Lejitz]

It literally lacked impact everything. Let down in content and Lies under its rug. Design wise is pretty good but lack in it's world building. Hence the MOST Underwhelming pokemon game to date

[@dayandere2669]

Something more scummy is now you can't make save files with profiles on your switch that don't have an online account linked to it

[@stevenwillians9665]

I respect your opinion man good video but my least favorite pokemon is gen 4 but I do not hate game I like gen 8 it okay game in my opinion

[@GWTNess]

based

[@flick2flick]

Heart Gold, Soul Silver, Platinum, Emerald, White 1, Black 1, Fire Red, and Leaf Green is the golden era of pokemon. Everything else is garbage in my opinion. White 2 and Black 2 is meh but not terrible it's just that the story in the first Black and white games are waaaaaay better!

[@Matty002]

lol 'underrated' maybe in a parallel universe

[@bfwzombie7282]

people shit on these games way too hard imo i had so much fucking fun with these games mostly thanks to the dlc and online content

[@HyouVizer]

the lack of proper main story, nor no post endgame content in base game (real post game paywall expansion pass), hollow battle tower, and simplistic basic town/route layouts, removed GTS put it in a premium app, removed loads of old moves. We're literally paying more for less. But Gen 8 pkmn designs are great, as are each of the characters too, especially the OST during gym battles.