Japanese Charts: Pokémon Sword And Shield Break 2 Million Sales, Switch Sales Rise

Almost 10 million of the original Switch sold. No doubt that Nintendo is doing well in Japan.

Well, it's Pokémon, this is to be expected.

Ring fit is doing so well!!!!

Impressive!

The install base next year will be very large, which means more awesome games for me to play!

I love that the Switch Lite is complimenting the Switch and not cannibalising its sales. Genius move by Nintendo.

Let's hope Vanillaware won't get hurt too much by the 13 Sentinels flop.

Sword/Shield sold more retail copies in its 3rd week than Sun/Moon or X/Y, despite the much lower retail sales during its first 2 weeks, so it's legs are pretty remarkable. It should be at close to 3 million copies sold once digital sales are factored in.

Switch hardware sales continue to be insanely strong. PS4 hardware sales continue to be Wii U-esque.

@westman98

I think it is a tad unfair to label PS4 sales Wii U-esque as it is the expected sales of a system at the natural end of its life cycle, whereas the Wii U was just a disaster.

@SBandy
Selling <10,000 units weekly at this point in the year is awful. The Wii U was at least selling >10,000 units weekly at this time of the year back when it was still somewhat relevant.

@BenAV I'm sure you know how bad they are, having not played them

@BenAV Oh look, someone that probably hasn't even touched the games and has solely relied on hearsay on the internet to make a decision about their quality. I get it. I got wrapped up in the negative press and I will humbly admit I was wrong, especially because I actually played them. This is the most fun I've had with a Pokémon game since I was a kid, Dexit notwithstanding.

@BenAV possibly the biggest exaggeration ever, I’d be amazed if you’ve played them.

@westman98

So calling the sales Wii U-esque is actually insulting to the Wii U!

@bahooney I dunno, I'm 10 hours in and I've seen nothing to change my mind that these are terribly cut down games. Not saying there aren't improvements, but it feels like the game was made for a toddler, rather than for anyone, just like SuMo. The Wild Area is so unbelievably boring, and it's annoyingly long to get through. At least they let you skip the tutorials finally...

@Galenmereth

Do you often spend 30 hours on a "mediocre" game?

@link3710 It's totally valid for you to feel that way. I understand that as longtime fans age, they may start yearning for an experience from Pokémon that shows the series has grown up as much as the individual has. I hope SwSh offers you something to change your mind, but thank you for trying it out anyway.

It prints money!

Calling it now. Pokemon Sword and Shield will dethrone Mario Kart 8 Deluxe to be the #1 game on the system.

Everyone is talking about Pokemon Sword and Shield while I'm here admiring the 26 legends who bought a Playstation Vita in 2019.

While Pokemon Sword isn't the worst game in the series as @BenAV suggested it's also not the best as @HammerKirby @bahooney @Rodan2000 may be suggesting. I rate it about a 7/10 it's another mediocre entry in the series that could have been great if they hadn't been so lazy in certain design decisions for the game. It definitely had a lot of quality of life changes I liked, and I enjoyed the Wild Area, but I feel the graphics were not done well for the system it's running on and cutting of the dex did not feel neccesary based on that. Additionally I think the game really could have used voice work at this point (personal opinion there), and the last couple of gyms especially felt like they rushed them as they were not as good as the others. Of course this is just my opinion, and while it stinks it will sell well either way I do hope they consider some of the complaints when they go to make the next game in the series. It is definitely a great thing for the system though as I want to continue to see more and more support as the install base continues to grow.

@bahooney Its still bad there using old models lying to us about new ones except for the fewest moves. The only way to make me happy to want to try this game is... make a new double kick animation.

Sales are going to continue to be nuts worldwide going into the holiday season.

It's going to be pretty funny if SwSh end up outselling the 3DS generations. I guess a few people on the internet riling each-other up isn't the existential threat to the brand that some people might have hoped it would be.

@westman98 now compare how many households have a ps4(s) already in it compared to how many would have a wii u in it. Everyone that wants a ps4 has already got one bar the odd few. Doesnt matter if its Christmas time or not. If someones already got one then they wont be buying another. The 2 consoles cant even be compared

@HammerKirby I played Pokemon Sword, great game, until you finish the story.

Max raids in the wild area were supposed to be for the casual player, and until you get 8 badges they pretty much are, but between the crappy AI characters and the horrible matchmaking system (Worsened by rampant exploiting because it's so horrible), they become a frustrating (In some cases nigh impossible) slog, going from the best feature of the games (Which BTW show obvious signs of rushing) to the very worst.

@Galenmereth

Fair enough.

@Galenmereth As a general point to you or anyone else, I'm amazed people buy digital for games they are unsure about. Why not buy physical, and resell for most of your money back if you don't like it. I have things like MK8 and NSMBU on digital, but recently bought FE3H on physical. I'll give it a go, and if I don't like it I'll get my money back, then use that money to get my next game. You can't lose!

Ha Shenmue III and Death Stranding are both gone from the top ten. Guess a game about delivering goods through weird places and a game which is essentially a worst version of the first two Shenmue games (Shenmue 1 & 2, you travel near and far to find the guy who beat Ryo's dad, in Shenmue 3 you travel through 2 places to find the guy who beat Shenhua's dad) doesn't attract Japanese gamers as much.

@Galenmereth,

Why because you do not like them personally?, by that token all games are rubbish and deserve to sell poorly, that I myself do not personally like.

@SquareOneMJ,

The main reason they removed the T.V connection, was not to stifle the original Switch models sales.

@bahooney I don't think it's about wanting the series to grow up. I think it's about differing markets. Sw/Sh is a fine game if you're in it for the usual trek through the gyms, and it has some great QoL improvements. Most of the people who are looking for that experience are thinking of it as an 8 or higher, which is totally fine. However, I usually spend small amounts of time in campaign mode and hundreds of hours in post game. Sw/Sh have an abysmal post game, by far the worst in the series to date. Since that's a huge draw for me personally, I think of the games as more of a 6/10 and not really worth their +$20 price point over previous entries in the series. What's frustrating is that Pokemon used to satisfy both camps. This is why I played a copy borrowed from the library rather than actually pay money for it.

@BenAV I've never hated any of the entries, I'd say the Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon games are probably my least favorite since it really didn't add much and was even more lazy.

@BenAV Sounds like a you problem. Sell it back if you hate it so much!

The ratio is now over 30:1 for Switch models vs. PS4 models?

MAID! PLEASE!! MY FOREHEAD CLOTH!! I CRAVE DEMOISTURIZING!

@Kidfunkadelic83
Market saturation is definitely a thing, but it definitely shouldn't be resulting in numbers this bad during the holidays.

I think everyone needs to leave @BenAV alone, he's expressing his opinion just like everyone else.

What was Shenmue 3 sales I must of missed it?

@westman98 if anything I think it's the lack of or late advertisement over the BF week. I see switch and xbox adverts a long time before I started seeing any for the ps4. Also Microsoft were knocking their disk less S model out at 109 so that would have sold very well (I wouldnt touch an xbox with an extremely long stick) I havnt seen a ps4 deal for under 199 ish here in the UK.

@Galenmereth,

It's not subjective when the games have good reviews and are selling well, I know it's your personal opinion, but the line people who do not like the games always seems to suggest the people who do like and buy these games are somehow wrong.

Nice to see another chart thread hijacked. I still can't believe the lifetime sales for the XBone are under 40k. Wow.

Sony better be prepared for terrible PS4 sales next year, although you get the feeling they don't care much about Japan anymore. At least the PS4 outsold the XBone in Japan by 99%

Give game freak a year to polish up Sword and Shield, as they were clearly pushed for time - the ultra versions for next Xmas should be much improved titles.

Going to very interesting to see if Nintendo can keep this momentum going ... Can switch do 20m units lifetime in Japan? What did the PS2 do?

@BenAV “Undeniably” means ‘impossible to deny’. That is, what you’re stating is objectively true, cannot be refuted, and therefore doesn’t happen to be ‘just your opinion’.

I mean, I haven’t even played the games. I’m in no position to speak on their quality.

But if you’re wondering why people are rounding on you for what is apparently ‘just your opinion’, it’s because you’ve literally stayed it to be irrefutable in your opening sentence.

You have every right to state your opinion, and people have every right to state theirs, which may well differ. But when you conflate opinion with fact; when you literally claim your opinions to be “undeniable”, you’re very openly inviting them to be, well... ‘denied’ by those who don’t share them.

'Undeniable' can still just be in his opinion, you're not obliged to interpret this as absolute fact. Undeniable to him.

The reactive bullying of those who dare find flaws in one of their favorite video game franchises is ridiculous and ignorant. Everyone is entitled to say whatever they please about these games, good or bad. Rebuttals like "but other people think it's good", "reviewers say it's good" are not an actual response to the (correct) argument that Sword and Shield are fundamentally flawed, despite their success.

@Galenmereth

81% average is hardly mediocre as you put it, the games are not perfect but far form the train wreck some are stating, there will be lots of people enjoying these games, sorry you are not one of them but it's not for you or anyone else to state these games should not sell well, just because a small vocal minority on the internet does not like them.

@Majora101,

My view is the same as yours, if people do not like these games fair enough, but to harass the people who have no issues is wrong, and to do it in a sort of high and mighty manner is also unfair, these games do have issues but also have good things too, of course the way Game Freak have trimmed the games was never going to sit well with the core fans, but the majority of pokemon fans who this game is made for will welcome the changes.

@johnvboy I'm happy we agree, though I disagree with the premise of your point that someone in this thread "harassed" those who like the game (he did not, nor did he express his opinion in a particularly "high and mighty" manner; though, even if he did, he is entitled to do so and it would not be "unfair" in the slightest). I also disagree with the assumption that a majority of players who purchased Pokemon Sword/Shield have no complaints with the game, as the incredibly large negative response they released to clearly demonstrates. I would add that the "trimmed content" not present in the game is among the least of the myriad issues that plague Sword and Shield.

@Majora101,

Same here my reply was not aimed at that poster in general, just an observation of other posters on here, in fact up to the games release Galenmereth was one of the new games defenders, and stated people should wait until it's release before judging.

I can't agree with you on the large negative reactions to this game, it was only ever the vocal internet minorities that were up in arms.

@johnvboy I appreciate the context, thank you. It is very surprising and unequivocally disappointing to see Pokemon enter this sort of territory, which is usually reserved for post-Adventure 2 Battle Sonic games. It's an IP with a huge potential to deliver groundbreaking, expansive new experiences and a ton of resources behind it to boot (the Pokemon brand is larger than Star Wars, Hello Kitty, Harry Potter, Lord Of The Rings, and all Marvel properties). The fact that it's not only failing to realise that potential but shrinking in development scope while delivering a product as fundamentally and even technically flawed as Sword and Shield is astounding, especially for long-time players, who are the purchasing decision makers for their children (who will comprise the next generation of Pokemon fans).

@Galenmereth,

I can read, I do realize these are your own personal opinions, which is why I stated I was sorry you did not like these games, as you did want to enjoy them, but I still feel you are wasting your time warning people, let them judge by themselves.

@Majora101,

If my daughter want's this game or any other child for that reason, they will end up getting it, as for the delusion that somehow the internet minorities are going to prevent people from buying this or future games is just ludicrous, the game is aimed at a younger mass audience that when they grow out of it more younger fans come in, and all the core minorities fans moaning and exposing issues to other minorities on the internet will not make one tiny bit of difference.

Two observations

1.) Ring Fit is doing a lot better than I thought. Seems to have a better future than Labo

2.) I'm a bit disappointed in Luigi's Mansion 3 sales. Ring Fit is out selling it! I have really enjoyed playing that game with my son. I hope Nintendo doesn't view those numbers as low. I want #4! haha

@johnvboy Again, I disagree with the premise of your point that a built-in ever-present self-regenerating audience exists for any franchise, Pokemon included (perhaps we don't agree as much as we thought?). Even the Zelda series relies on a balance of innovation and quality to sustain its ever-faithful following, hence why Breath Of The Wild is the most critically and commercially-acclaimed game in the series since Ocarina Of Time and has outsold the more traditional, less ambitious Triforce Heroes despite initially releasing to a smaller userbase (March 3, 2017 for Wii U and Switch compared to the longer-lived Nintendo 3DS). If a series is to continue to generate healthy sales spanning multiple consumer generations, it must continue to provide a high quality, fun, or innovative experience in some measurable way. Skyward Sword, another Zelda example, is arguably a far more ambitious, polished, and better executed game than the latest Pokemon outing, and even that game released to much criticism, some of which was warranted (hence the fundamental correction, innovation, and landmark title that is Breath Of The Wild, which will be remembered as a great game and an important one, as is Pokemon Red; Pokemon Sword and Shield on the other hand will at best be remembered as "good games". That is the primary motivator behind most criticisms of this release: many players both young and old simply want a better offering, as they should).

Sword and Shield lack all of these qualities, and instead exhibit a resistance to innovate and a lack of baseline quality to the point that simply enjoying the game can be challenging; basic graphic assets have issues laymen and children can notice without nitpicking; never mind held-over 20 year-old design issues that fail to translate to the now-industry standard HD 3D open world design that Pokemon players crave. Name another jointly-owned landmark Nintendo property release this year with a clearly visible floating pixel in its animated loading icon (something tells me Sword and Shield would not have been released as-is had they been developed in-house at Nintendo — representatives for the company have even gone on the record in service email responses stating there is some disappointment within the company in the latest Pokemon outing).

I would add that most parents (myself included) do not purchase everything their child wants, as they are the parents rather than the children, who are the children (hence the distinction). The fact that your average six year old is not equipped with an iPad and a gaming PC loaded with $1,000 in Fortnite V-Bucks is exemplary of that fact. I would also add that most six year-olds in 2019 probably aren't as excited by Pokemon as we were in 1998, partly due to their interest in other things that happen to deliver innovative, quality, or simply fun experiences (such as Fortnite, Call Of Duty, etc.). I can't say I blame them, as there are many times during Sword and Shield where there is truly very little fun to be had.

Slowly flicking through nested menu after nested menu just to assign an item to a Pokemon and repeatedly pressing A to cycle through the onslaught of game-pausing text messages alerting the user to every weather change, status condition, move effectiveness message, and NPC dialogue during battle is perhaps the most immediate demonstration of the essential Pokemon experience in 2019 (the same could be said for the series ten years ago and ten years before that, if that says anything to you). The "fun" of Pokemon was clear in Pokemon Red during its time — it's practically buried in Sword and Shield, requiring real devotion and passion for the series to find. Many fans possess that passion, of course, but this will not always be the case.

@Galenmereth You and I are very much in agreement on this topic. I do have to give you credit, as I remember we had a minor disagreement on the topic earlier in the year. You were very much willing to overlook early signs of there having been something off about the games, you took the time to go in blind and made a commendable effort to rightly give the games their due before coming to an informed decision. The fact that your opinion has changed after seeing the game in action reflects very well, as you were more than willing to give the games a chance. I respect that you are honest in your sentiment about the game now, which is something many people have trouble doing. Many choose to dig in and "defend" the games from any and all criticism however justified, as if criticising the video game is an act of hatred upon both the people who like them as well as the entire Pokemon series. On the contrary, providing negative feedback is essential in helping these products "mature". Breath Of The Wild simply would not exist had Skyward Sword not received some negative criticism. Negative feedback is integral to that process, and there is nothing to be gained from stifling it.

I was of roughly the same general opinion prior to the games' release date, though I was very skeptical after seeing the preview footage and reading about what was to come. There were a small number of telltale signs that something wasn't quite right once they began releasing information about this entry. One of those things where you just have to pinch your nose and dive in despite your misgivings.

@Majora101,

You and others keep stating the missing features plus a better overall graphic look is what the fans crave, when in reality it's only a small number of vocal internet posting Pokemon players actually want, the rest of the mass buying Pokemon fans have no issues, or are even aware any of these issues exist and are being discussed on the internet, so your suggestion this will harm future generations Pokemon games sales is totally without credibility, and I do tend to wonder why you or others would ever think any different.

Another issue is with the games reviews from both the critics and user reviews, the people that do not like the game only trust the negative critic reviews, this seems to stem from the point that the positive ones do not mention the negatives, but the whole basis of a review is it's a personal opinion at the end of the day, so if a reviewer does not mind the dex cut for instance, then he or she is not going to make a massive deal out of it, we can't only trust the negative or positive because it does not sit well with us personally.

On the user reviews things get a little more complicated as this will tend to be the more vocal internet players bothering to post a critique of the game, now even with this it's not black and white as out of 4500 reviews 2700 do not like it and 400 players have mixed feelings, now of course to the people who do not like this game this would seem like a victory, a statement to Game Freak to change their ways as the fans are not happy, until you stand back and realize it's only around 3500 people on the internet moaning, out of a potential 15 million or so sales, once again the core minorities also overlook the fact that even within their own ranks as it were 1500 people still love the game.

As for the evolution of Zelda only existing because of complaints that Skyward sword received is pure vanity at best, the games evolution is down to improved hardware technology as the developers would have always dreamed of a open world Zelda game, but would have not had the resources before the Wii U and Switch to make this dream a reality, the fact you are suggesting that the core internet minority of what amounts to a few complaints on internet forums made the Zelda development team make Breath of the wild is delusional.

@johnvboy I would reiterate my actual points rather than the multiple non-existent ones you appear to be debating throughout your comment: the "missing" content in Sword and Shield is among the least of the problems in the game. Yes, releasing an underwhelming more-of-the-same entry during a time when many players want something more will produce negative feedback, which in turn can harm sales should future titles continue the disappointing trend. Sonic The Hedgehog is a prime example of that fact, having gone from a contender to Mario in the nineties to the notoriously buggy, rushed, and somewhat weird Sonic of today known for "hits" like "Sonic 06" and 2014's infamous "Sonic Boom".

You can repeat the same baseless "vocal minority" line endlessly, but it does not make it any less true that Sword and Shield released to an extraordinarily and overwhelmingly negative consumer response. I would suggest furnishing evidence to support the (incorrect) claim that only a small group of fans are responsible for the majority of its negative feedback. The Twitter hashtag "#gamefreaklied" trended in the United States during a busy news week, which clearly refutes this baseless "vocal minority" claim; on the contrary, a large number of fans who have a great amount of passion for the series have voiced complaints with the latest entry, pretending otherwise does nothing to change that fact.

I'm not sure what "negative critic reviews" you are even referring to — of the 77 critic reviews for the game featured on Metacritic, zero are negative, while seventeen are mixed. The "#gamefreaklied" hashtag began to trend before critic reviews even began to appear online; it began organically as a result of the major widespread leaks that took place in the weeks leading up to its release date, with the entirety of its Pokedex, story, and blink-and-you-miss-it post-game leaked before the game was available to purchase. Fans analysed and discovered its flaws in real-time, producing a social trend of negativity compounded by the already negative fan response to earlier disappointing announcements and underwhelming game footage shown earlier in the year (apparently marketing a product around what it doesn't do isn't the best approach). If anything, players relying solely on reviews would have been encouraged to purchase the game, not the other way around.

I would add to that point that consumers in 2019 likely do not base their entire purchasing decision around video game review scores provided by critics, which at best play a supplementary role in this day and age when footage, screenshots, and in-depth analysis for nearly any game can be easily found with a Google search. I would also add that most Pokemon fans probably don't make purchasing decisions based on what a millennial writer at IGN or Polygon have to say about their favorite franchise — they have years of first-hand experience with past titles and can come to their own conclusions based on what they've come to expect from the series relative to the plentiful footage and preview material that exists for the new entry. The fact that many of these fans happened to do just that and found the latest titles underwhelming is proof of that. Excluding obvious 0/10 review-bombs, the fact that the user score for these titles is as low as it today is a symptom of greater player disappointment rather than the opposite — if that many people who happen to have verified Metacritic accounts have a negative opinion of the game, the true number of disappointed players is likely higher rather than lower, as it can be reasonably assumed that the average consumer does not actively maintain a Metacritic account and the average consumer disappointed with the latest Pokemon titles does not regularly post Metacritic reviews.

As for your point on the Zelda titles, you are demonstrably incorrect, and I don't believe you understood the meaning of the word "vanity" when you wrote it. Series director Eiji Aonuma has gone on the record with multiple outlets during the promotion for Breath Of The Wild stating that many of the most well-received changes in the groundbreaking new title were made as a direct result of negative fan feedback, see the sources at the bottom of this comment. Specifically, player complaints regarding the linearity of Skyward Sword and its restrictions on environment exploration were addressed by Aonuma in Breath Of The Wild with its masterful "read the air" design philosophy; in summary, they learned from fan feedback to Skyward Sword that it isn't a bad thing to allow the player to get "lost", resulting in a game where "getting lost" is part of the fun. Additionally, I did not say that fan feedback was solely responsible for informing the design of Breath Of The Wild, please refrain from straw man arguments when arguing a point.

I will add to that, the fan response to Skyward Sword was not limited to "a few internet forums"; it was actually quite widespread (though nowhere near as widespread as the negative reaction to Sword and Shield, mercifully). Part of the issue Skyward Sword had is that it released in the same year as Bethesda's groundbreaking Skyrim, which set a new standard for huge open world game design until Breath Of The Wild's release six years later. Skyward Sword is of course a great title, but perhaps a misunderstood one, due to being a great linear Zelda experience with somewhat controversial motion controls that released in the same year as a groundbreaking landmark open world title. As with Sword and Shield, there was merit to the negative fan feedback Skyward Sword received, and Nintendo EPD were wise to take note of it and address that feedback rather than encourage rabid fans to stifle it or publicly retweet comments calling the long-time fans who love the series enough to express what they think could be done better the C-word, which Sword and Shield's art director James Turner did in the months leading up to its release. It is that open-minded approach to development that makes the difference between the production of a game-of-the-decade 97/100 masterwork title like Breath Of The Wild and a decent-but-fundamentally-flawed 80/100 (truly 63/100) mediocre title surrounded by controversy like Sword and Shield.

Sources:
https://www.polygon.com/e3/2016/6/16/11951678/legend-of-zelda-breath-the-wild-skyward-sword-e3-2016-wii-u-nintendo

https://mynintendonews.com/2016/06/16/aonuma-said-that-changes-in-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-were-made-based-on-negative-skyward-sword-feedback/

https://nintendoeverything.com/aonuma-changes-in-zelda-botw-were-made-based-on-negative-skyward-sword-feedback/

@Majora101,

I can't debate with you if you continue to think that the people that have issues with the new Pokemon game are in the majority, they are not, and as you only real basis of the negative reactions the game received are from the internet, listen I don't want to be the one that breaks this to you, but people that post on internet forums about video games are in the minority, we as core hobby gamers that devote lots of time to our passion are a rare breed, the mass Pokemon buying fans simply do not care about all the tech stuff, they just buy the game because it's Pokemon and they will have fun with it, I fail to see why this is so hard for people like you to understand.

@johnvboy As the strawman arguments continue — it's like I'm debating you, and you're debating an evil devil on your shoulder that only you can see. I suggest improving your reading comprehension, and I do not say this to be insulting. Failing to understand the meaning of written text as consistently as you have in this discussion can get you in trouble in the real world. A link to a helpful reading comprehension test called the Accuplacer English Test is provided for your review at the bottom of this comment, I highly suggest you take a look when time permits (and please have your children do the same, for their sake). I accept your failure to acknowledge your refuted point regarding Skyward Sword/Breath Of The Wild. Your assumption was understandable, and I guarantee you were not the first person to have dug into a position like that in ignorance of the important role fan feedback played in the development of Breath Of The Wild. Acknowledging you do not know everything is an important step in the learning process. Simply put, it's OK to be wrong sometimes, I'm not here to put you down for it.

In regards to your latest selection of strawman arguments, I have not even remotely implied that people with a negative view of the latest Pokemon titles are in the majority, far from it (however, bear in mind how large the Pokemon fanbase is. The fact that players with negative views aren't "the majority" does not mean they are not sizable in number — a number that can only increase should future entries continue this disappointing trend). The crux of my argument was that negative fan reactions like those Sword and Shield released to can degrade brand value and negatively impact players' view of a series over time, which in turn impacts sales (it's hardly a challenging concept, is it? Make games that many people like, people continue to buy them — make games that many people dislike, fewer people buy them).

Additionally, there is no invisible "line in the sand" between "hobbyist gamers" like yourself and I, because believe it or not, I also play video games for a hobby despite my views not falling in lockstep with your incredibly narrow view (it's easy to dehumanise people we disagree with in 2019). I inform my views the same way you do: by playing the game, not from any fan forum or social media site (I took a quick glance at your comment history just out of morbid curiosity, it seems you have a history of repeatedly citing "internet forums" as a boogeyman in your points, be it a comment about Pokemon, Switch sales numbers, Mario Kart, the SNES controller, IZGO Switch displays, etc. There are literally nine results for the term "forums" on at least one page of your comment history. Are "internet forums" really still relevant in 2019? Do people still even use the vast majority of them on a regular basis? I think "social media" is the more modern platform you are trying to reference in approximately 95% of your internet discussions — it's not 2002 anymore). Communication mediums aside, I don't need someone else to tell me why Sword and Shield are decent-if-flawed games, I can see its flaws for myself. The reasons why they are flawed are neither extremely technical nor so obscure that laymen or children couldn't notice them — it doesn't take a nitpicking 8K 90fps PC gaming fanatic to notice the numerous flaws present in these games.

The first flaw I noticed occurred simply by booting the game for the first time while connected to the Wi-Fi, which crashed every Roku device on the network in the entire house, requiring hard resets to pull them out of an infinite boot loop. Annoying as it may be, this is simply a bug rather than a fundamental design flaw, such as the slow, needlessly nested held-over UX design the Pokemon games have been using since Red (my first Pokemon game); the radically aggressive over-reliance on stopping gameplay to communicate gameplay and story; the literally non-existent post-game completable in a half hour; the appalling level designs, of which many are straight 90 degree promenades so brief in complexity and content that not only are they less feature-packed than Route 1 in Pokemon Red's Kanto (a game that is nearly a quarter century old), they can be fully traversed in a matter of seconds; the incredibly disappointing and obvious development compromise that is the Wild Area, which features 100% flat terrain in some areas and boasts zero interaction between Pokemon or their environment that might engage the player or add depth to the area in a way that might justify its existence; level design that evokes the Nintendo 64 in a bad way, with assets unbecoming of a modern full price high definition product that visibly clash with the environments they appear in to the point that many look like they were copied and pasted in from another game with a different art style; the poor lighting system that overexposes characters and environments and colors in-battle Pokemon in dark areas so poorly that I actually mistook a few of them for shiny Pokemon before realising it's simply a trick of the light, which annoys me as a big shiny hunter; the locking of game settings as fundamental as volume controls behind an in-game item, which is all too easy to miss, making it entirely possible that many players have played through the game start to finish without ever even having the ability to make a simple BGM volume adjustment (laughably bad); the gimmick-of-the-year that is the Dynamax mechanic, which will undoubtedly be relegated to the same trash bin as Mega Evolutions and Z-Moves before it, which again annoys me as a fan because even if I do come to enjoy this mechanic over time, it will be removed when the next games release; the list goes on. None of these things are overly technical — it does not take a master's command of every object-based programming language under the sun to be disappointed in the many under-cooked, poorly-executed, and simply unfun aspects of Sword and Shield.

Accuplacer English Test:
https://spscc.instructure.com/courses/1345787/quizzes/2404742

@Majora101,

Let's just agree to disagree fella. we do not have to have the same view on this matter, as you are clearly to upset over this game than you should be, move on don't buy it, complain if you need to, If this results in a major change for the next Pokemon game, then well done.

By the way for the last two posts you have thrown various comments as insults, or suggestions as you call them, I do not really care all that much, may I suggest you find something better to spend your time doing, as your posts seem too long, for what amounts to complaining about a kids game.

@Majora101
Twitter hashtags dont dictate actual consumer reception.

@johnvboy I am more than happy to agree to disagree, my friend, there are zero hard feelings. I am also happy to look past the silly "upset" comment, as we both know that is not the case. I already have bought it (Shield), thank you for spelling out my options as if I hadn't already done so. I don't feel a particular "need" to complain about the title, however, as it's a decent-but-flawed experience that still has a moment here and there; rather, I'm giving you the other side of the story with the hope that you won't put down other people who also have issues with the game in the next comment section, saving us all from future strawman arguments about "internet forums" and the boogeymen that still unaccountably inhabit them. I apologize if my responses are too verbose and considered to keep your assuredly lengthy attention span humming along, I'll make sure to use my brain less next time.

@westman98 This is partly-true, though "indicate" is a more appropriate word. Trending topics do indicate what conversations are taking place to a certain degree, however, especially for non-political topics like these (political topics are more prone to being skewed one way or another due to bots, platform bias, etc.). This hashtag trended in the United States during a busy news cycle while user scores for the games routinely skew below the average critic score (mostly between the 60-70/100 range across numerous sites, from Metacritic user scores to NintendoLife's own user score). I would argue that social trends like Twitter hashtags are simply one among many indicators of an unusually negative reception to the latest Pokemon outing. The fact that we're having this discussion right now rather than singing the game's praises is a small microcosmic example of some of the conversations that are taking place regarding this release, if you need an immediate example.

@Majora101
Twitter trends (and social media trends in general) don't indicate consumer reception. Neither do Metacritic user reviews.

Sales do.

@westman98 Thank you for the correction and the well-considered addition, though you are still only partly-correct, as user scores do act as one among many indicators of player reception given they are self-assigned scores given by the players themselves. My above point still stands, as success and reception are not mutually-exclusive — a game can be both successful and poorly-received (ie: Fallout 76). I will once again add that Skyward Sword is a great comparison, as it was actually the fastest selling game in the Zelda series at the time of its release, becoming the seventh best-selling game of November in the United Kingdom during a busy release year. Despite its sales success, it clearly also released to some negative criticism much like Sword and Shield. Sales indicate attraction more than they do reception; how often do you buy things you end up disappointed with? You may answer negatively to win a comment section debate and put that idiotic Pokemon hater in his place, but the true answer is "all the time". Overall, it's hardly a false statement to suggest Sword and Shield's reception has been mixed at best. I think we can agree on that!

@Majora101
There is no denying that Sword/Shield had less than stellar reception, but Twitter hashtags and Metacritic user reviews aren't indicative of that.

I find the Skyward Sword comparison a bit disingenuous. Sure, it sold quite well at launch, but sales collapsed very quickly and it ended up selling below 4 million copies lifetime. This means Skyward Sword sold 45% less than Twilight Princess on Wii. I'm sure Nintendo realized that another 45% sales decline from Skyward Sword to the next Zelda game would be disastrous, so changes to the Zelda formula needed to happen. In that sense, Breath of the Wild did a phenomenal job revitalizing a seriously declining brand.

On the other hand, Sword/Shield stands alongside Sun/Moon as Nintendo's fastest-selling game ever, and its legs have been strong. In fact, as I indicated in an earlier comment, Sword/Shield had higher 3rd week retail sales than X/Y and Sun/Moon in Japan despite the massive rise in digital consumption, which implies good word-of-mouth.

@westman98 We will have to agree to disagree on the basic role social media and user review data play in gauging consumer opinion (there is a reason businesses advertise to you in the same space in which you conduct online conversations). While you are correct that Skyward Sword sales did fall quite quickly, I do not think this is due to any particular game flaw or reception issue, but rather due to this title having released towards the tail end of the Wii's lifespan. The fact that it required an additional console accessory in order to play may also have played a role in how it performed commercially. I choose Skyward Sword as a comparison as it is another divisive entry in a popular franchise with a devoted base that sold well despite a good to mixed reception (Skyward Sword was no sales failure for the Zelda franchise by any means). Like Skyward Sword, Sword and Shield are not a commercial failure by any means, and they enjoy a well-timed release three years after the Pokemon GO craze, with the added benefit of releasing on a highly popular hybrid console with a long lifespan ahead of it. The point I have made is not that they are a commercial failure but that they are uncharacteristically and justly poorly-received by many players, and allowing future titles to carry on with more of the same content (or lack of it, whatever the complaint may be) a growing number of players find disappointing will have a negative impact on the brand over time, which in turn will harm sales of future titles.

Its success is indicative of the fact it is the first mainline game after the mobile GO craze in a series that until now has been beloved by nearly all its players to release on Nintendo's hottest console in years, not good word of mouth. Most incredibly-positive player testimonials I've seen of the game are made almost exclusively as responses or commentary primarily given to foil negative feedback from other players; it's difficult to even cite major influential examples of positive responses without an us-vs-them slant that are made purely on the merit of the game on its own that would even qualify as "good" word of mouth. Players are hardly writing grandma to inform her of how awesome Sword and Shield are in any visible way — at most, they are defending the game from any and all criticism on the internet. Angry internet people insulting others for not liking what they like isn't exactly positive word of mouth by most standards.

@TheLightSpirit,

It was getting old way before the game was released, people need to move on now.