Pokémon Sword And Shield Outsell Let's Go Pikachu And Eevee In Just 10 Days (Japan)

I'm looking forward to playing the final Pokemon game on the Switch, in about 4 years time when they've actually got it up to a AAA standard.

Dang, guess Japan knew what they wanted lol

I enjoyed Let’s Go Eevee well enough but still don’t plan to get Sword & Shield, May see what Pokemon does next year though

A pretty obvious feat if you ask me. Let's Go were poor Pokémon games for fans of the franchise, while Sword and Shield are excellent games for fans.

Let's Go was an introductory experience for people new to the franchise, and Pokémon Go players.

poke sold 382,540 this wk

Yes, the juggernaut of mediocrity continues.

I think the only Pokemon game I'd be interested in is a new Pokemon Snap 👍

@BenAV

Why? They'll obviously build and improve on the engine they've built over time. And this game isn't too advanced graphically compared to other open-world games like BotW and Xenoblade 2.
Seems obvious they'll try and improve that in their next iterations. They did on the 3DS. Sun and Moon looked so much better than X and Y

@BenAV honestly if it was in the same vein as the OG, hell, maybe even a port, it'd sell okay.

It doesn't need a bunch of different animations or even tons of pokemon. The original had what, 100? And on rails, too. Not too hard a game to make compared to most modern titles I feel

@Dezzy I know everybody and their dog loved the open world design of BoTW, but I personally did not like it. I find open world games overwhelm me with too much to do and no real direction of where to go and what to do. I really liked the NON-open world areas of Pokemon Sword and Shield. The open area in Sword and Shield are annoying to me.

It's a great game. Don't know what all the negative fuss was about. I think people grow up over 5, 10, 20 years, and want the game to... evolve as well. Personally I love it the way it is. As a casual gamer it's one of the few games I can actually finish. Couldn't even get past the first level of Cuphead. Grrrrr.................

@yes

Game design evolves. If it didn't the industry would have died thirty years ago. No one is asking for a Dark Souls Pokemon, but Pokemon has become press start to win with its brain dead difficulty. People excuse Gamefreak by saying Pokemon is for kids, but that is an insult to children. Kids can play hard games, I grew up with Mega Man and Castlevania, and it's insulting to suggest kids need games to be dumbed down to the point where it is impossible to lose. Of course, there is this new thing called difficulty selection, but that would require Game Freak to actually work.

I quite liked Let’s Go, but S&S definitely blew it out of the water. I do hope they patch the multiplayer though, especially the raid system as currently it feels like a coin flip getting it to work.

While I'm not saying that Sword and Shield are necessarily $60 games, LGP/E were really not. Just 2.5D remakes of GB games. I'm glad that Sword/Shield outsold them. Sword/Shield may not be the best, but LGP/E is the absolute worst.

@Yogsoggoth I think that doesn't take into account context. Back in the day we played Mega Man and Castlevania, but we also had, at most, a dozen games to play and spent years mastering one game by playing the same game levels over and over and over like some kind of Rain Man simulator. Maybe modern kids could excel at such games if they sat there playing the same set of levels over and over and over and over and over for years as we did until mastering them, but they have variety of dozens and dozens of different experiences across games, activities they're expected to participate in, etc, etc, (on the up side) and much shorter attention spans as a result (on the down side.) I can't see too many modern kids having the patience and attention spans to do what we did. Technically it probably wasn't very healthy to do what we did. "Mastering" a video game through endless repetition like learning a musical instrument is likely not the most beneficial use of time....

I love my Fire Emblem, Metroid, and Bayonetta, but I enjoy the simplicity of traditional Pokemon more, not less, for the experience.

I really don't see why, but whatever. Good for the fans. Of which I'm no longer one of.

@BenAV

There's no reason this series needs to be visually inferior to something like Xenoblade. It's entirely up to them whether they put the necessary budget and team together. They could clearly afford it!

@BenAV again, if you liked the OG, it would take very little effort to build on that. You could beat the OG 100% in like 2hrs, on rails, few models and animations, few environments, VERY easy to give quality to

@PharoneTheGnome you should try books. They give even less freedom and more structure

@Yas You'll find that most people who were complaining were upset to the game de-volving and also because gamefreak lied to the gamers about why they took stuff away.

@Dezzy In fairness, Xenoblade isn't an annual franchise that needs to release on a schedule to line up with the release of anime series, trading card expansions, merchandise, etc.

If Monolith needs an extra year to polish things up (which it probably did, because XC2's undocked performance is embarrassingly bad at times), no big deal. If Game Freak does with the next Pokemon games, they gum up the works for an ultra profitable multi-media empire.

@Dezzy lol damn...the salt is real. It's a good game dude...but hey what do I know I'm jus a stinking pokemon casual 😂

@NEStalgia I was suggesting the argument that something is for kids is often used to justify a poorly made product. I think children are much more intelligent than they are given credit for being. Look at Finding Nemo. It's an absolutely brilliant film that is great for kids and adults. It is intelligently made and doesn't insult the viewer.

The "for kids" argument is made in defense of Pokemon to excuse the lack of features and difficulty. It's complete nonsense. Nothing prevents Game Freak from adding a difficulty option into their game other than laziness.

Pokemon has a very addictive formula, but let's not pretend that Gamefreak spends all their time trying to deliver the best game possible. They spend all their time trying to figure the least amount of work they can put in and still make money.

@Ralizah They DON'T have to, they have delayed games before. Even a new gen.

Even if they did, as the largest media franchise, yes, they can afford a bigger team. Every issue the game has can be solved with a bigger team.

@Yogsoggoth Pokemon battles don't lack difficulty specifically. Look at a new player flail and get killed often. Even I get killed with some of the gym leaders. It's not that it's "easy" it's that because it's been a consistent formula, long time players know how the systems work and therefore prepare for them correctly as routine without thinking much about it, making the game appear to lack difficulty because we already know the way to solve likely challenges before we ever experience them, and thus never experience challenge.

SMT by contrast plays near the edges of difficulty so that you really must do everything right without falter, and you don't know what's really coming because there's an element of randomness in your character builds and an inconsistent application of the formula so that it's not an experience you can enter with much foreknowledge of what will happen, when, and where simply because you've played prior entries in the series.

Both series allow you to grind to close much of that difficulty gap, but SMT thwarts that with some special attacks/ohko attacks for which being over-leveled can't help. You need the right buffs and debuffs, etc. Pokemon doesn't take it that far into technical difficulty and is, yes, easier in contrast as a result, however Pokemon is also constrained by the 4-move 1 unit on the field battle system and couldn't get away with some of those arguably "cheap" trial & error systems (because it is, yes, intentionally simplified by contrast from the very start.)

No, it's not punishing on an SMT scale, but the reported "lack of difficulty" is certainly an exaggeration.

@NEStalgia If you're talking about the story then yes, the difficulty is not really there. There's too many people complaining about getting over leveled just from catching Pokémon to ignore.

The game tells you all you need to know about type advantages and even shows you via rivals. The only way you can have trouble is if you rush and try to avoid fights or constantly swap Pokémon into your box so they aren't being leveled by the now mandatory team exp share.

And if enemies are too tough, you have what's essentially free exp candies to boost yourself.

@Kalmaro Huh. I haven't opened my copy of Sw yet, so I'm going on prior games including LGP. Maybe this game does have a particular flaw where difficulty is concerned and went the "Everyone's a winner" route, which I hope not, as I'm looking forward to playing the game whenever I get time and move beyond my backlog (haven't even opened Luigi's Mansion 3 yet!) But I do disagree on that running theme on the series as a whole.

@Kalmaro @NEStalgia What Kalmaro has said is accurate. The frequency at which the game's 'rivals' heal your team is aggressive compared to previous generations, which already weren't incredibly challenging. There is one section in Sword and Shield where your team is forcibly healed at the start and end of an area, removing options for players who wish to inject a modicum of strategy into their playthrough. This is part of a larger fundamental flaw modern Pokemon games have, which is an over-reliance on stopping gameplay to cycle through mandatory text dialogue to tell story or simply progress from A to B, which has become excessive even for an RPG and harms the overall experience (I don't believe there is a single town in the game in which the player is not forced to watch an NPC explain the theme of the town and point out where the Gym is upon entering for the first time, which is a rather restrictive method of storytelling and insults the player's intelligence somewhat given most Gyms are the primary feature of the town and can even be seen from the town's entrance in some cases). Removing the option for players to create their own version of a challenge mode on top of this flaw is poor design, which has become all too prevalent in Sword and Shield.

That's quite amazing, despite the controversy.
Also in Japan, Mister Donut and Nintendo have Sword & Shield Pokemon dishware and doughnuts, being sold for a limited time.
Here is a complete review: https://youtu.be/ZT7x_UipKP0

Still available as of this posting.

Why people keep acting like Pokémon was ever hard. Gen 1, 2, 3... etc aren’t hard they are only “hard” from nostalgia of being a kid and not knowing what the hell was going on as you played it. Pokémon challenge always has been post game or pvp. Not ever beating the game.

People complain about team being healed or your box being accessible anywhere? That has nothing to do with difficulty it has to do with tedious things. Having to go to town to heal or change Pokémon before a fight literally nothing about difficult. Just adding on 5 minutes of mindless activity to the game.

@Thegriz The problem isn't that the games were hard in the past but now they are easy.

It's that they were somewhat challenging in the past and now they treat you like you're 5.

The game constantly heals you, makes your rival weak, makes it so you can't catch too many Pokémon or you'll get over leveled.

Accessing the box constantly means that you no longer need to stock up on items and actually manage money since you can just abuse the box to get Pokémon taken care of.

You don't even get a chance to explore a town before an NPC is in your face telling you where everything is.

Pokemom games have never been that hard but they had some challenge at least. Now they have none.

@EVIL-C That was my thinking as well, though several here have just assured me this game is easier than even the last few, so maybe this time they do have a point.

Also, I'm still angry that Japan has Mr. Donut and we no longer do. They were always the best chain, much better than Dunkin Donuts!!

Wonder how this effects the decision on making future Let’s Go titles.

I actually wouldn’t mind a 2 year cycle of mainline games with a Let’s Go title on the in between years.

Am hoping I'll get the chance to play Pokémon Sword at the weekend to find out what the fuss is all about.

Its a great pokemon game, like all the rest. Nothing awesome. My main complaint is that it doesnt feel like a generational jump like ds no 3ds. Its like any 3ds version with hd graphics. I wanted a revolution in the battle mecanichs. Like making the pokemon, trainers, attacks more "alive".

Yay! I love this game.

@Galenmereth I guess so.

@Kalmaro The box doesn't heal your Pokémon anymore, otherwise it'd be completely broken. Of course, you can still swap out fainted Pokémon from your team for healthy Pokémon from your box, but you could do the same thing by catching a new Pokémon with a Quick Ball and adding it to your team, it's just less tedious this way. I think it's one of the better changes they've made because it does away with a lot of unnecessary backtracking. Otherwise you have a point, but the (nearly) always-accessible box is just not something you can use as an argument for it.

@NEStalgia channeling his inner JoJo. He'll never forgive the Japanese.

Gens 6 and 7 were mind numbingly easy. 8 is worse. The only obstacle that had a modicum of difficulty for me was Leon's Charizard. And it wasn't what would be considered "hard". Luckily, most people do not play Pokémon for the story. Not knocking you if you do, but that's my experience.

Sword and Shield were fun games with great things like the wild area and quality of life improvements, but taken in context with the rest of the series, it leaves a lot to be desired. From the lacking jump to HD, Dexit, Game Freak lying, raids being poorly designed, and Masuda refusing to even consider a full dex in future games, there is plenty to be disappointed about for longtime fans. The last issue in particular is what worries me. Hopefully The Pokémon Company gives appropriate manpower, a better budget and a lengthy development time for Game Freak's next POKÉMON project. I hope they have also learned from Dexit. Although I'm not holding my breath for any of this... The video games that started it all are not on the priority list and that is obvious to anyone that has been playing since the early days since around the time of X/Y. I sure hope they learned from the backlash to their terrible decisions this gen. Although the concept of the "gen" has been broken. Diamond/Pearl remakes will be Gen 9. But that's beside the point.

I have to disagree respectfully with @Kalmaro on the box issue, I would much rather it be in than out. I just chose to use it for QoL as opposed to cheesing the game.

Curiously, because S&S offered a gift for Go players, I returned to Go and have been mostly playing that!

@nintendoknife I see, I misspoke them, thanks for clearing that up.

@Soulblade iTge box thing I'll concede isn't that bad of an idea. I just think it makes things easier. I suppose one cash just choose not to use that feature. At least it isn't forced on you like team exp share.

@Thegriz wasn't pokemon black/white challenging?

And yet the spinoff Let's Go games scored as well on Metacritic. You'd want to have it be a lesson that maybe they should step it up, but in reality they see they can get away with less and people will still consume away.

@NEStalgia My friend visiting Japan was telling me S & S are on the easier side, which does sound disappointing to me as a person who's played since Gen 1.
However, if it's not to the degree of babying-hand holding that Sun & Moon were, it could be tollorable. I just finally got hold of my hard copy.

Really? No Mister Donuts left in the US? I read their history on Wikipedia once before. They were founded in the US. I'd never heard of them because I'm Canadian; Japan was my first encounter with MD. They're pretty good. 🙂 Have you ever tried Canada's own Tim Hortons? 😉

@EVIL-C Haha, yeah, Mr. Donut has been gone for many, many years here. Some of their locations became Dunkin, others just closed. But that was 15, 20 years ago. I thought all that time the company went entirely out of business. I was shocked to find out they still exist in Japan! As always, Japan always gets the best stuff... Even American donut chains!

I've heard about Tim Hortons often, more in relation to their coffee than their donuts, but I've never actually tried iti remember at one point there was talk of them expanding into the US, but so far that seems like it was only rumor. Competing against the Dunkin juggernaut would be no easy task here!

@NEStalgia I just did some more research and apparently Dunkin Donuts has closed all their Canadian stores. I had one down the road from me which I visited as a kid. After it left, I kinda forgot about them, and it's a chain I saw less and less of the older I became. I can't comment on the old menu of US Mister Donut, but Japan's menu, while not as diverse as I'd see at a place like Tim Hortons, everything I tried was very good. I should've tried Dunkin' when I visited NYC. I did at least visit both a terrible K-Mart store, and a decent Target.

Horton's actually does have stores in the US! Although I think most are near the boarder. They also operate in the UK, middle east and Asia. I knew Burger King bought them a few years ago, but didn't realize just how fae beyond Canada they'd expanded. My girlfriend, who worked at Horton's when she was in Canada, heard a rumour from her boss at the time, that they also plan to expand into Japan.

@EVIL-C Huh, I'm shocked DD shut down the stores in Canada. Here in the US they're an unstoppable pseudo-monopoly, up against only Starbucks, really. They're virtually on every corner. I can't imagine how they managed to blunder their Canadian business so badly unless the local loyalty to Tim Hortons is so entrenched it's hard to compete against!

With DD it depends where you buy. They've started not making the donuts in the stores, they have one store for their franchiser that makes them and they deliver them to all the local stores. I have two franchisers near me. The one is very bad, I'm convinced they make everything a day or two before....it's stale and hard before you even buy it. The other one makes things fresh in the location on one side of town and delivers to the other two same-day. Pricy though...and the donuts keep getting smaller

I think there's two Kmarts left in NYC....not that there's many left in the US at all (They were the best store back in the day! Some locations still were until they vanished...) But if it was the one with the ugly blue tiles....yeowch....that store seems depressing. I haven't been there, personally but I've seen pictures. Has to be the ugliest store in the Kmart fleet! Target used to be more fun than it is. They've gone all in on apparel and pseudo designer stuff. They were really fun when they were more general merchandise oriented!

Yeah, I think I'd heard of a few Hortons in the upper midwest... I've always been curious about it. Reality tells me it's just another chain donut/coffee store, but I'm still curious

@NEStalgia Tim Hortons probably would be a monopoly in Canada. It's engrained into our culture, but we also love our Starbucks too. There's 2 inside my local grocery stores, and 2 right across from each other also near me. 😳

Tim's used to bake everything fresh. Now I believe they just reheat thawed doughnuts. They still taste good, but fresh baked does taste different. I suspect Mister Donut in Japan is doing the same thing as Tim's, although I'm not 100% sure. That one Dunkin making everything fresh sounds interesting! 🍩 😄

Lol, I can't remember if it had blue tiles. It was extremely depressing, though. I hadn't been to a K-Msrt in over 20 years. They all left Canada. I'm always passionate about retail, as I've briefly worked at both Best Buy and Target, during that brief time Target was in Canada. That launch was laughable. I was setting up the store. We barely had 50% of our shelves stocked, yet they forced us to open. Customers were turned off right away. Had it been my decision, I'd have delayed for 2 months. One shouldn't need an MBA to realize "Oh crap, we're not ready" , but what does a lowly grunt know, right? 😉 😋
Now we in Canada all wish for "Zellers" to come back. ♥ They were very general merch, like Walmart, but a bit less ghetto, lol.

Tim's won't knock your socks off, but it's still decent. I want to find another Dunkin again and try them. My city (Toronto) is currently losing its collective mind over a Chik fil a opening up here. I guess Toronto never knew you can stick chicken between bread before? It is possible. I've done it at home. 😋
It's amazing how many stores we've lost in Canada. Japan however is very diverse with retail, and its really fun to explore. You can go into a Bic Camera, grab a beer, some food, go to the furniture floor and find a chair, recline with your Switch, and they're cool with it. 😂