Written by Zachary Jacquest, Staff Writer
The next entries in the Pokémon franchise, Pokémon Sword & Pokémon Shield, have just recently been released and they have definitely made an impact on the library of the Nintendo Switch.
Both versions of the eighth generation of the series are a fantastic evolution of the series, as well as being the series’ first exploit onto a home console rather than a handheld. To begin, the presentation of the game is absolutely amazing. The game looks sharp and runs really smoothly. The environments in the game look so colorful, vivid, and just full of life. The cartoon/anime like art style really compliments the game quite well. The soundtrack is just really fun and driving that it just always puts a smile on your face. The songs in this game span from upbeat to sad, and contains a wide range of both classic tracks and brand new material and they all go together so well.
The writing and dialogue are both very detailed and entertaining to read and is just really fun to experience. You’ll meet such an amazing cast of characters that you’ll learn to love and hate alike.
Overall, the games look and sound beyond great. They really outdid themselves with the newest addition to the Pokémon lineup.
Jump in and explore the Galar region, a place where Pokemon roam, history is explored, and battles of gigantic proportions are held throughout the land. As the protagonist, you’ll choose your starter Pokemon and embark on an eventful journey to complete the Pokedex by capturing all the Pokemon, defeating all the gym leaders, and ultimately becoming the reigning champion of the Galar region.
A major extraordinary occurrence in Galar is known as Dynamax, the act of a Pokemon growing to a humongous size and towering over its opponents, using special dynamax moves to really destroy the oppositions chances of victory. This phenomenon can also be used by your opponent against you, though, which will really put you in a tight spot.
If you really wanna catch em’ all though, you’ll sometimes be faced with having to catch a dynamaxed Pokemon, in which you’ll need to team up with other Pokemon Trainers from all over the world. Hopefully your combined efforts will be enough to take down the gargantuan monster.
Discover and rewrite the history of Galar, learning the truth behind the hero of leg- end and what it actually means to the region. As you travel the land winning gym badges, you’ll face several different obstacles in your journey to defeat them all, such as foiling the plans of Team Yell, facing one of your rivals in an epic battle, or finding and analyzing different pieces of the region’s vast history. It’s a fun and eventful quest well worth the time and effort.
In terms of gameplay, it’s a Pokémon game. Taking your pocket monster, battling other monsters, catching them and adding them to your squad, and repeating the process in order to become the champion of Galar. You’ll train and strengthen your Pokemon to learn new skills and build up their stats in order to become the very best.
It definitely has elements of a traditional RPG, but it also has a lot of its own identity. The biggest change in this generation is the dynamax feature. The ability to turn one of your Pokémon into a mega-sized version of itself once per battle in order to turn the tides of the battle in your favor. It truly makes for some interesting experiences and is such a good way to mix up the traditional Pokémon formula. There are a ton of new Pokemon to meet and capture in this generation and tons of old ones to recapture and create another bond with.
A lot of changes in the game can be described by one word: convenient. Most of the changes have been made simply for the sake of the player and to avoid annoying the player with tedious mechanics. From making it easier to travel from town to town, to something as minor as easier menu navigation, this game is really just out to make playing it more convenient.
Pokémon Sword & Shield is well worth both the time and money. An amazing journey, a fantastic story, fun and exciting gameplay, and just a fantastic experience overall. The changes after the last game made are extremely welcome and just great to have. I’m really glad to have been able to play it and I hope you give it a good try as well. I give this game a solid five out of five stars.