Pokémon Sword - Nintendo Switch

I have not fully beaten the game but i did make it to the third gym and a route beyond that and i was not expecting it to be this good :) with past games, u just simply go in the gyms and beat some trainers to get to the gym leader. This game still holds true to that but they added a gym challenge to spice things up. Gym challenges are certain objectives u have to do while you're also beating the trainers and its just so much fun and the scenery as u walk in is so breathtaking :) once u complete the challenge, the doors open and tons of people r cheering making u feel like actual pokemon trainer :D When the first gym leader dynamxed his pokemon, it makes things a bit tougher as it did way more damage than what i expected it to even though his pokemon isnt super effective against mine. That forced me to dynamax and set up defensive moves such as light screen and reflect and held up just in time for the 3 turns to be over and his pokemon reversed back to being tiny. I ended up beating the gym with red hp. The second gym was easy to beat since i had an electric type corgi and the 3rd gym gave me a bit of a challenge since i didnt have any pokemon with type advantages but still managed to win my second time around :)This game has more freedom to roam around when ur done interacting with the main characters and theres lots of hidden stuff on the roads that shine as ur passing through. The diversity of old and new pokemon is outstanding as well. Theres lots of pokemon to choose from in every route. Even in the beginning of ur journey, u can start fishing with ur fishing rod so u can mix and match the perfect team from the start :) i would also advise being very careful in the wild area because i got my butt kicked with a level 45 Galvantula while i was just level 12. I was lucky to escape with my last pokemon still unfainted xD i was dumb enough to interact with it since i thought i would be lucky enough to catch it but found out u have to beat a certain amount of gyms in order to catch high level pokemon or else it'll just tell u that it wont let its guard down. Its the same concept as having a certain amount of gym badges to make high level pokemon from trades obey u. I had to find out the hard way lolNow for the designs of the new pokemon and graphics of the games. Everyone has their own opinions on this ever since it was announced that there was gonna be no national dex. Personally, i avoided the leaks so idk what im expecting to get. So far, i love every single pokemon i have come across. Some r weird and funny looking but they do grow on u as u figure out they are really good in battles :) when they evolved, i still love the designs and was so surprised of the typings that were added and became even more useful to keep in ur team. It is true that many battle move animations and models r reused from past games but it really shouldnt matter all that much as alot of old moves have new animations and the pokemon's colors and textures look way better than the previous generations. The graphics in the wild area is the best ive seen except for the trees. The weird part is, the berry trees in the wild area look completely fine and fit well with the good graphics so my guess is that the company didnt really bother making those normal trees look as good since u cant interact with them at all and in my opinion thats completely fine. The graphics in the towns, caves, and routes are completely breathtaking so theres nothing negative i can say there :)Despite lack of national dex i will say this. Overall, this game deserves its 5 stars and worth every penny. The variety of pokemon, the fun battles, and both ur awesome and jerk rivals make it a really fun experience for both oldschool and new trainers to enjoy. As i stated, i avoided every single thing about this game besides the announcement trailers from pokemon and nintendo so i was nervous since so many people were stating that the animations were garbage. Playing this game, i just dont see anything wrong with how it looks and how the pokemon move. The game and its scenery looks absolutely beautiful. I really recommend this game to at least be given a chance. I know it will be worth the gameplay :)

To start off - I'm a casual Pokemon player, and I have been since Red and Blue. I don't EV/IV Train, I don't worry about competitive, and I don't make 'roid rage Clefables with meticulously crafted Effort Values and Movesets. If that's what you play these games for, I won't be much help.I'm also not a picky consumer - much of the controversy surrounding this game is around the number of Pokemon from previous games that were "culled", and while I'm a bit bummed that some of my favorites aren't in the game, it doesn't offend my sensibilities and I don't feel like Nintendo or Gamefreak desecrated my familial burial site because of it. I bought this game with full knowledge that we were working with a smaller pool of Pokemon.With that all being said:- PRO: Gameplay on the Switch is fun. I've really loved watching the Pokemon series evolve with the systems they're on. The environments are gorgeous, and the world feels more lived in than usual.- PRO: Wild Area, while it has its bugs, is overall a fantastic addition to the game. Seeing other players messing around and just having the access and ability to so many Pokemon so early in the game is great for me, someone who doesn't play competitive, as it gives me more options to use during my playthrough since I'm not concerned about much else.- PRO: The music for the game is fantastic. The gym music really gets me hyped. It's everything 10 year old me dreamed of and more.- PRO: Leveling seems to have been simplified and made easier for ease of use and accessibility. Some of you may hate it. For me, it's time I don't have to sink into superfluous crap. I'm here to game, not take a second job.- CON: For a main line Pokemon game, this feels a bit...short. Maybe it's been too long since standard Sun and Moon and it's the same length it's always been, but to me at least, it seemed shorter than usual. This is exacerbated a little by the lack of "minigames" to me, as I spent a lot of time doing the surfing and other stuff in Sun/Moon. Again, I could 100% be forgetting if Sun and Moon was a little barren as its been a while and I had no major complaints- CON: as a follow up to the last point, not much post game stuff. I think there's battle tower and you can replay a mini-gym challenge, but that seems to be about it.- CON: this one's more of a personal gripe, but the catch rates on Gigantamaxed Pokemon is so abyssmal that you'll want to temper your expectations there. Rates on them are also absurdly low (to even encounter) so if you're someone who wants to collect every version of every thing, you might have a couple years of gameplay here.Overall, I think this is a great game. It doesn't deviate from the formula, and if you like Pokemon games usually, you'll probably like this one.