Pokémon Sword And Shield Is The Fastest-Selling Switch Game Yet

I’ve never touched Pokémon before, so I really don’t care about the controversy, but man, the game looks terrible! I’m glad others will like it, but it looks like it could’ve been so much more?!?

The complaining did nothing to the sales as expected

I'm glad people are enjoying this, but I genuinely feel like this game doesn't deserve this level of success.

The amount of care, love and fan service put into games like Odyssey, BoTW and Smash are evident.

This game so far feels unpolished and a massive missed opportunity. I got this game for free, I'm super glad I didn't pay for it!

If only Nintendo had the authority to give the franchise to a more capable developer...

Gamefreak will not change if we all keep buying the thing

I’m enjoying the game so far (3 badges in) the gyms are cool and I like the new way some of the wild Pokémon roam freely. But it does feel a bit stripped back compared to Sun/Moon. The soundtrack is definitely not as good, although there have been a few good sounds. Small oversights I’ve noticed include a lack of people in towns to speak with, very few trainer battles in routes (so far, maybe this will increase) and small errors such as when on a bike and enter battle you’re transformed back into walking clothing. I know that last point is very petty but it does point to a general lack of polish when compared with the predecessors; you appeared during battle with your pole ride gear intact. Overall though it’s pretty fun, I find myself not wanting to put down even after 4+ hour stints so that says something. One thing that annoys me with Pokemon these days though are the rivals, why do they need to be so friendly? I want idiot rivals like Gary (Blue) who would put you down and appear out of nowhere to battle when you least expect/are not fully healed etc. Imagine back in red/blue Gary handing out Revives...

I am not surprised.

All the people doing the major complaining about the game are the minority of Pokémon's audience. I am sure most just enjoy the art of Pokémon and probably don't care about the changes and accept the game for what it is - a new traditional Pokémon game with some slight changes to the formula.

I am glad it's doing well - but I say this is as a total Pokémon outsider.

@Aurumonado People tell to not buy the game but they don't tell which games to play. What do you want to play in that period? Death Stranding? Shenmue 3? lol. Sure this pokemon has less content than previous entries but compared to these games its content is stellar.

@Bliquid EA does that with Fifa
Activision does that witch COD
Sony does that with MLB
Sega does that with Football Manager
Namco does that with Tekken
But when gamefreak does that with Pokemon it's the worst thing ever lol.

Japanese fans: #F***YouGameFreak
Japanese audiences: #RightBackAtYa

Nintendo Switch needs all the momentum it can get going into 2020 with PS5 looming. We should all be celebrating instead of moaning about this. Look, The Pokémon Company needs to do a lot better in the future, and I think that they know that. But Gamefreak has developed 2 reasonably competent and fun Pokemon games in back to back years. They need to devote a lot more resources and talent into developing these games in the future though.

@Aurumonado Yep. They can sell toilet paper with the name "Pokémon" on it and it will sell millions of copies.

That's an absolute fact.

They don't have to change, and they might not. Unless Nintendo tells them to. (which they might)

For every good design such as the base starters, Nickit line, Skwovet line, Wooloo line, Chewtle line, Yamper (in terms of potential, though the design needs to look less like it copied Electrike), Corvisquire/Knight, Impidimp line (they pulled it off, I'm impressed),

It seems like we have to endure the same terrible archetypes over and over again found in the starter final evolutions (overly-anthro), Boltund (unfitting of the line), Rolycoly's evolutions (nonsense/lazy), Applin line (food-based), Toxel line (amateur scribbling), Stonejourner (big rocks lazily given a face), Eiscue (cutesy without following the franchise design notes), the Zolts (amateur scribbling), and Duraludon (nonsense/lazy).

Get whoever is making these design archetypes out of the franchise - they've had plenty of time to improve and failed to do so.

Thanks a lot, guys. Now Game Freak's going to cut back even more for the next game and only include 50 Pokémon in the next game's Dex, 90% from Gen I, of course.

This has nothing to do with the sale numbers but man i really hope they release the remakes of DP next year

@Silly_G Depending upon how it's done, that might be an improvement.

@mariomaster96 I think we will see remakes of Gold & Silver in the Let's Go style before "normal" remakes.

@Bondi_Surfer They definitely could have had better textures in some places, but there are actually a lot of beautiful places in the game and comparing it to the let's go games, it's already a great improvement. I'm excited for how they can continue to improve on it in the future, but I do agree with you

@mariomaster96 : I think the most likely scenario is Let's Go Gen II for next year (more than 50% of the work is already done for them as they'll be recycling the Kanto Pokémon and the Kanto maps for the latter portion of the game).

I would expect the Gen IV remake to come along in 2021 or 2022 if Game Freak/Nintendo feels that two remakes in a row is excessive.

"However, it's worth noting that around 100,000 more were sold in the week that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate launched."

Mhhh but that was another week, it was 46th iirc. Let's wait and see the HW sales in the holiday season. For now, the Switch is a whopping 1.000.000 up YoY

My son is eight and got caught up in the Sword / Shield hype, downloading Pokémon Quest from the Switch eShop so he could try a Pokémon game. He really likes it, but he understands it’s not a real Pokémon game as such... he has now put on his Santa list, and I quote... ‘a random Pokémon game’ lol he has a 2DS but really only uses his Switch now, any advice? Is Sword or Shield the right place for him to jump in, or Let’s Go? Thank you, any advice appreciated.

@Aurumonado Game Freak will never change because they're just not a very good studio in the first place, hence why none of their other games outside of Pokemon have had any real success critically or financially. They're just sell a few copies, get average reviews and fade into obscurity almost immediately. If they were decent, they would have managed at least one other successful franchise or game in the past 20-30 years. Their incompetence is down to their lack of ability, not lack of effort.

They just got lucky with Pokemon. The concept is inherently fun and even a bad Pokemon game is enjoyable enough even because of that core concept. I would love to see it in the hands of a more competent developer, but it's not going to happen if they keep selling as well as they do, which wont happen until either GF push out something horrendously bad or people just get bored of the concept...Plus it's a Nintendo exclusive, that alone secures some degree of sales.

@SquareOneMJ : Let's Go is a lot more child/beginner friendly and will ease him into the mechanics of the series (plus, I imagine that he will have a lot of fun using motion controls to capture Pokémon).

But Sword/Shield is a far better experience overall (with far more content) for your money, however I think it may be overwhelming for somebody unfamiliar with the main series of Pokémon games.

@glaemay What? Are you saying there's not much to play now??

Have you already played Cuphead, Hellblade, Mario Maker 2, Crash Team Racing, Bloodstained, Dragon Quest Builders 2, Fire Emblem TH, Astral Chain, Spyro Trilogy, Divinity 2, Dragon Quest XI, Ni Ko Kuni, Ori, Yooka Laylee: TIL, Witcher 3, Overwatch and Luigi's Mansion 3??

And I'm only talking about games that have been released this year on SWITCH, if I go to other systems, the list goes bigger with games such as Residen Evil 2, Devil May Cry V, Sekiro, Borderlands 3, Gears 5, or Star Wars Jedi.
Don't tell me you have already beaten all those great games...

I'm enjoying the game very much and I'm glad it's doing well.

@Tao they actually have changed quite a bit. This is far and away the most polished Pokémon game, and includes features that the new core demographic wants, while cutting old features bogging down the series. This is only phase 1

@SquareOneMJ I'd recommend Sword/Shield. Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee are a lot of fun but Sw/Sh has a lot more content and it's perfectly newbie friendly.

Good to see. Another success for Switch.

@Taya @Silly_G thank you both

I dunno, a few people complain, go extreme and it gets fabricated into "no one likes this game"

Social Media is not the real world, these sales prove that. Reminds me of Brexit and President Trump, SM was well in favour of the opposites, see how those turned out.

Death Stranding doesn't seem to be doing too bad either despite the hate on that.

Maybe because I am a "casual" Pokemon fan, but I played it 3 hours straight yesterday before bed and loved it.

No more random encounters, I really enjoy the RAID and Gym battles. Yes the cut Pokemon is bad, but it is making me appreciate other Pokemon, as I have a Gen 1/2 bias. It looks nice aswell, not mind blowning, but I primarily handheld as I travel alot with work, so it looks pretty great! Also managed to get it for around £25 by selling the Steelbook and DLC, so can't complain!

With all the hate I read about for this game I keep waiting for it to suddenly be awful. Just got the 6th badge after over 20 hours of play. It's still fun so far.

‘And lo the cries of the entitled community fell on deaf ears and once again did the monsters of pockets break all sales records’

@Bondi_Surfer So uuhh how can you say it looks terrible when you never "touched" the series like you said? Unless you're specifically talking about aesthetics. Performance aside aesthetically this looks normal for a Pokemon game.
Not defending the game or anything (lol) but I'm genuinely curious as to your reasons.

@Kalmaro... we lost. All is lost.
So this is how the previously unbroken record of total backwards compatibility between handheld games (and, with it, the National Pokédex, wildlife-wise) dies... to thunderous applause.

Thinking these truly wouldn't sell well, even with the controversy, was always bound to be crazy. Congrats on the sales, though it's still a shame.

I am really concerned though that even a Gen IV remake at this point would be stupidly stripped of Pokés, too. :/ I'm not the biggest fan of Sinnoh, but I do tend to like the remakes, and now I can't be 100% excited for that.

Why the heck has other game development sold out to mobile btw? We've had virtually no console spin off games. At least a battle/mystery dungeon game would likely give us the freedom of having all our favorites again. Virtually the only hope rn. 😿

@AlexSora89 And the sound of opening wallets as we are having stuff held hostage by their Pokémon home shenanigans.

@Lalivero Another Mystery Dungeon game would make me pretty happy right about now.

Can everybody just stop being entitled. If you don’t like the looks of the game don’t buy it. Meanwhile, me and tons of other people enjoy it for what it is, a Pokemon game. And concerning the pokedex, so far I love it to not see the same pokemon over and over again, but that the focus in this game lies mainly on the new ones. Breath of fresh air in my opinion

Games can always be better. There’s no need to become an ass about it

I'm enjoying the game.

others: raises pitchforks

Well, congratulations !
I have trained my Sobble to level 20 two days ago.
Still haven't beat the first gym leader Milo because i want to grind the level of my current Pokemons (until i feel bored 😅) so i can beat the earlier gym leaders easily.

@Illusion are you having fun in the game?

You must be a Nintendo fanboy!!!!

Get him, internet!

@AlexSora89 Ruby & Sapphire didn't have backwards compatibility either. The record was broken by the third entry in the series.

I am enjoying the games a lot. I wonder if the people who bash the game have actually played it.
Yes, there are some issues with the game, as there are with any other game, but the main draw for me is that the game is an enjoyable experience.
Yes, the game could be better. But, couldn't Super Mario Odyssey be better? Couldn't life be better? Just because something isn't perfect doesnt mean it should be discredited and disrespected.

@SquareOneMJ Sword and Shield is still a pretty solid representation of the traditional gameplay and nonetheless remain pretty accessible.

In fact compared to the last two gens, I would say there are sections or mechanics that exists "apart" from the game and more that instead exists within the core exploration/battling mechanic.

The big question is how your kid might deal with menus battles that ultimately are present in both games(just in lesser number in Let's Go due to it's catching mechanics).
But even in that area, Sword and Shield remains what Pokemon strives to be: something that can be a kid's first turn based RPG while still featuring decent enough of content.

I would even say that new additions combined with other stuff that was cut from just the previous game cut up a lot of the "fluff" or needlessly complex content("super training" to game the pokemons' EV values, something only hardcore players will care for) while still retaining a lot of these features in a subtle non-intrusive fashion(Sun/Moon had festival plaza as a menu-accessed location with items that could be bought with a resource only gathered there... the new Wild Area does some of the same with ramdomized merchants spread throughout while being in truth an area where traditional battling and exploration -still applies and it exists in a fashion stl connected to more traditional areas of the game.

If anything cutting down on that fluff makes it more accessible. Even the more unique mechanic(Dynamax) is only used in specific areas and doesn't have to burden other areas of the game.

As said, 8 years old might be a little young for the game, but only because it's on the lower end of the 8-12 years old range I could say is a good time to be able to start playing these, mostly because of the text- based nature of things. This said I only started later myself because I only spoke french at that age and the games were only in english back in the days(which us no longer the case).

If it means anything, starting text-based RPGs at a nonetheless young age is one of the thing that helped me learn english at all in semi-rural Quebec ^^;

So there could be worst games out there to get you child.

@Kalmaro Yeah. Seems we can't be sure we can count on the core games now, so where's our spin off fix? Haha.

A new Mystery Dungeon would more than likely make me happy now, too. Hell, a Colo/XD sequel finally would make me really happy right now.

@SquareOneMJ how old is your son? The Let's Go series is definitely the best option for beginners, but Sword and Shield does have a relatively beginner friendly beginning. If he is a competent reader and has a decent amount of focus, I would start him up with sword or Shield.

@SquareOneMJ the only issue I can see a youngster having with pokemon is the elemental tree ie flying beats bug, water beats rock and fire, ground beats fighting etc. In pokemon Sw/Sh you battle the wild pokemon to weaken them before attempting to catch them where as in let's go you cant battle wild pokemon, just catch them. Imo I'd just go for Sw/Sh.

Like I said the mass buying Pokemon fans do not care about all the complaints, they just want the latest Pokemon game.

Nice! This is good for the power of positivity, but it does slightly encourage Game Freak to not change their standards since this proves the game will sell regardless. I will probably end up picking up Pokemon when it drops a little in price. I still think I will have a great time with it, and maybe some updates will be released that fix the issues it has by then.

The game has flaws but I'm really enjoying it. As a shiny hunter that's where all my time is going to and now that we know there are different kind of shiny animations that just makes me more eager to hunt all the new Pokemon!

Doesn't surprise me as thsi is one of the best in the franchise so far

Lede should read "1.3 million sold AT RETAIL". This is a voucher game, so there was incentive to buy digital. 1.3 million is the sales FLOOR.

@Dpullam Do mainline Pokemon games even drop in price? It'll probably still be MSRP years from now. Probably better to buy used instead of wait for a sale.

@Anti-Matter honestly i'm surprised but how long I took to get to the first gym despite having been to do so whenever I wanted, yet still felt content to take my time level up new catches.

In hindsight, making the Wild area as it is, with so many pokemons across the level ranges spectrum, was a genius choice as it make it perfect for players to head there to train new teams as long as they want. And the funny thing is it does so while stealthily featuring a lot of the functionality of Sun/Moon's festival plaza through these Watts traders you can encounter, items you can gather and sell for money AND the items the avatars of other players can give you when connected to the internet. Which is much more direct and less of an hassle than the quizzes of players avatars in Sun/Moon Festival Plaza.... especially more so consider how Festival Coins were gathered exclusively in the plaza by doing stuff that existed separate from the vore experience while Wild Area's Watt is specifically gathered by doing exploration and special battling in the Wild Area which draws from the core of Pokemon's experience.

Which is a fun thing that even when suince of the stuff of a previous game was "cut", it's functionality is still there in the end in a subtle and more seamless fashion than before. Of course there's stuff that's gone-gone instead of gone-but-not-really but so far I'm actually impressed.

Plus even the pokedex might not be final. Though there are numbered legendaries(Mewtwo-grade) in Gen8's pokedex, I noticed that there's no numbered Mythicals(events-only like Mew) in the pokedex unlike any previous games. There are other legendaries and mythicals in the game but none have a pokedex number and instead have a "foreign" tag.

This tell me two things:

-The numbered Gen8 mythical(s) will be added post-release in concordance to events or tie-in movies. Not being in the game data until then means it can't be spoiled before it's reveal.
-There is ALREADY a foreign tag for pokemons in the game even if only a selection of 35. However this selection would be perfect for an Home release date tie-in events where some might even appear as pokemon one could catch in the Wild Area.
-A potential catch regarding's Game Freak's wording that they wouldn't add pokemons that can't be caught in Galar. They specified that didn't want to go to do the effort of adding the support for TRANSFER of pokemons from past-games you can't catch in Galar.
However the existence of the "foreign" tag of non-Galar-indexed pokemons means there's already pokemons you can't catch in Galar in the game... unless they intend the player to BE able to catch them in the game through time-limited events(such as Pokemon Go already make use of at times) for which the current internet connected Wild Area when already mutable spawn lists and weather effects could be perfect.
So even that list of non-indexed 35 pokemons might not be "final" and could see more added through similar events which, in a technical fashion, WOULD make them "pokemons one can catch in Galad.. for a time".
It's also a perfect biiit of foresight if the next pair of Gen8 is a remake of another region built over the same engine because then it could, if they decide it's possible(and mean they won't have lied if they change idea), allow S&S to trade and interact with the other pair of games.

Which could still add to the pokemons one can catch AND mean they won't have lied about not bringing back the national dex if it proves that it's still not enough to get the "full" pokedex back.

And with re:wild area could still end up being tied up to a timed event for that "can be caught in Galar" requirement.

Of course a lot of that is speculation from my part but the fact remains that a lor of the infrastructure could already be there for it.

@Friendly on a Nintendo fan site I thought we all were 😂
I really hope things calm down around here though. I remember when the only negative person on this site was Sligeach Eire.

@rjc-32 Completely agree there! There are barely any trainer battles and the rivals are annoyingly nice. there is the chairman's challenger who is a little better but I want a cheesey 'smell ya later' after i beat the rival.

@Ralizah They do rarely, but I know it is a long shot.

Glad it’s doing so well, it’s a blast! So many little details you can tell a lot of thought and care went into the game. A great first attempt at a full Pokémon console game that I hope will lead to even bigger and better titles going forward.

@Bondi_Surfer play the game before you judge it, I haven’t played a Pokémon game since pearl 11 years ago and I’m loving this game. Honestly if you haven’t played a Pokémon game in forever or you never played one before this is an excellent game to pick up. I’ve been addicted to this game as soon as it dropped

@Bondi_Surfer
How did you know if Pokemon games were terrible to you BEFORE even you played them ?

@playstation_king honestly I'm tempted to say so.
I'm sure there is a lot of the subtle stuff of past games i'm missing but for a game whose world has such a "linear" design, in surprised by how much TIME I've spent already in it despite only clearing the second gym?

I could have cleared it MUCH sooner but instead I've felt really content to take my time, to level up new teams worth of pokemons in the Wild Area(it's design concentrating so many level ranges of wild pokemons make it perfect for that) and so on.

Probably i'll take even more time loading around now that I've just unlocked the nursery to boot. Perhaps finally do a bit of PvP multiplayer.

Honestly, having just cleared Act 2 in Dragon Quest and already decided I'd stretch out Act 3 to savor the game for even longer, Sword&Shield couldn't have come out at a more auspicious time.

I'm going to drop off the fanbase. At the rate of things, I just keep getting more and more disappointed that everyone didn't stick to their guns, and those who did became disgustingly toxic. I had hoped to hear news of changes in Game Freak's stance about possible Dex expansion through updates, or get new info regarding Home. Not saying that I wanted to have the whole Dex in the game, but I can't support a series that's now just becoming even more barebones each year, even if they're still fun. Yokai Watch and Digimon added some who were missing through updates.

I'm not going to rage, I'm not going to defend. I'm done...

@Aurumonado Why should they change juat for cutting Pokémon? 😂😂😂

It really is a bummer because this game has so much potential to be so much more that what it is if it wasn’t for Gamefreaks laziness.

@Saro I’m absolutely with you man, this to me was the last straw. I’m done with the series no matter how much I love it. Gamefreak make sure they alienated their veterans fan base so they don’t deserve our loyalty any more. I’ll come back when they decide to get this right and give us what we want.

@Ludovsky totally agree I've spent over 25 hours and only have 3 gym badges lol I'm trying to raise literally every pokemon I find and use serebii to make sure I get every pokemon from every route and zone

@Kainbrightside honestly with the stuff they said about pokemon home... i'm half expecting them to do that.

I mean. Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow/Gold/Silver/Crystal are ALL on the 3DS eshop with their original graphic YET were updated to export Pokemons to the Pokemon Bank.

At this rate it's not too far-fetched to imagine even more rerelease updated with support for Pokemon Home, perhaps even allowing to get pokemons FROM Home this time around to boot?

Time will tell but there's a lot they can do and even outside of that many folks expect the next Gen8 games to be remakes of Gen4 Sinnoh built in Sword&shield's engine... which would make S&S's support of pokemons with a "foreign" tag most auspicious when there's already 35 critters with that tag within the game's data.

I wouldn't be surprised if that tag somehow grew to include all the Sinnohdex pokemons not yet in Galar when the next pair of games would be ready for release. I mean, they could even have a timed "Sinnoh incursion" event in the intermet-connected Wild area to allow these pokemons to be caught in Galar so they could claim they didn't add any pokemons that "can't be caught in Galar" to the game. Which is a nuance I noticed in their claims about how they'd go about supported pokemons and specified how "past games allowed players to transfer pokemons that can't be found let alone caught in the games".

Like... I don't expect the full national dex to be supported but I think this game's supported pokemons will have a few unnanounced surprises for us left.

You mean the review bombers and ranting "fans" on the internet don't represent what the mainstream market actually wants? I'm stunned!

Next thing you'll tell me is the mainstream market actually listens to music through cheap earbuds on Spotify and doesn't insist on high resolution DSD audio played through a vintage 1970's NAD amp with 1940's Mullard power tubes that cost more than the amp.

Some people....

@dacangri12 I'm going to Digimon, which embraced it's longtime fanbase by making their games darker. Play Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth, and look up Digimon Survive, that is basically Digimon as a Fire Emblem game and it's said choices in cut scenes can potentially lead to character deaths.

Thinking Pokemon was not going to sell because of online complaints was as silly as thinking the same thing for Monster Hunter World.

Vocal minority.

And so far 3 of the little ones in my family have played it and they love it. I am still renting mine, but I know I am the minority and really not made for me anymore.

@Bliquid Had to stop playing Death Stranding after 2 hours lol. It's the emptiest game I've ever seen. There's nothign to see and nothing to do beside farming fedex quests. How can you lower yourself to accept this? The playstation fanbase used to have such higher standards.

@NEStalgia That analogy pretty much sums up the whole "pixel count/framerate/power" crew in here as well...Sometimes convenience is king.

@SquareOneMJ

Let's Go is a good jumping-in point, it's basically "Pokemon Lite." And that's not a bad thing! It's still a fun adventure, and if your child has never played the original Red / Blue / Yellow then they'll find it pretty fresh.

However, if I was a kid and asked for a "random Pokemon game" and I knew the newest ones had just come out, everyone knows I'm asking for the newest one. Sword and Shield aren't gonna be as easy to get into as Let's Go, but they're current and exciting.

Good luck!

@glaemay I feel the same way. Then again I've kinda felt the same way about "acclaimed" open world games like Assassin's Creed and The Witcher as well. I feel like just because the game has a ton of points of interest vomited up into a large space doesn't make the space compelling. Witcher for example has innumerable little question marks on its world map, but they're all gonna be either "kill the bandits" or "kill the monsters."

I think Breath of the Wild is the king of open world games because it's the only one where exploration is fun because of THE WORLD itself and not the objectives in it. Don't get me wrong, the shrines are a big part of motivating me to explore, but mostly I just wanted to get to the top of every mountain lol.

@glaemay Death Stranding's a game people either love [while acknowledging its problems] or hate. Either they're cool with the core premise of finding your way around to deliver stuff, and make it to where that gets easier and the game picks up several hours in, or it's just not for them.

@dacangri12
Excuse me !
I want to continue my progress of Pokemon Sword tonight.
Get Outta My Way !

Game is awesome. The whining is just an out of date internet commotion.

X/Y and Sun/Moon sold 2.1 and 1.9 million retail copies at launch in Japan, so there has obviously been a considerable decline in physical sales for Pokemon.

Digital sales should bring Sword/Shield's launch figure up to ~1.7 million (assuming a ~20% digital sales ratio) - there will still be an overall launch sales decline, but not by a huge amount.

With an ever-increasing shift to digital and more digital purchasing incentives such as the NSO vouchers, I dont think we'll ever see a game debut at 1.5+ million retail sales in Japan ever again.

@Saro
Idk the vocal minority make everyone who is upset look worse, and that's who they group us with. Which sucks
I'm still not buying the game and it looks like I'll have to wait a few years to even get back into it, cause of what gamefreak is pulling. Glad people like it, but this game, to me at least, doesn't seem like a $60 console game. But never really doubted that pokemon would drop in sales. The power of brand name is huge.
I used that 'pokemon' money and bought Dragon Quest and loving it!.I am waiting for the new Digimon game that is coming out next year, looks good!

Totally undeserved but whatever.

Well, get used to more and more cut content then (And I don’t just mean the dex).
Fans have done this to themselves.

@Saro thanks for the tip man! I heard good things of the franchise I might have to check it out!

@dacangri12 No problem, happy to help out.

@Saro Yeah im kinda the same way too, I just lost hope in this series after being disappointed so many times, 3ds generation to now. Look on the bright side of it, the series i used to bash as a little kid for being like Pokemon (barely is aside from the monster thing tbh) is the same game series I end up liking. Im enjoying Cyber Sleuth Complete.

@Bliquid nope ea and 2k do far worse with their games then gamefreak.

@Yosher still being salty dude just get over it man.

@Bondi_Surfer game is honestly fantastic

@Yosher nah game is awesome. A blast to play

@BenAV I thought you were not getting the game? How do you know

Is the game good for real? Anyone completed it? Ive fallen for the ”game is good hatets sucks and are wrong” thing before. Ive bought some games where all the things the haters said was totally right.

@Ralizah Well Let’s Go sells new for like $40 and supposedly (according to Gamefreak) it was a mainline games. So I guess the answer is yes.

@Ttimer5 Yeah, this I just see as an opportunity to catch up on other stuff I hadn't gotten around to. While I'm having fun wrapping up Crash Team Racing right now, Dragon Quest should definitely be one of the next couple of games I jump into; loved the demo!

I just can't wait to see how well New Horizons sells.

And that’s why GF will ignore complaints and keep on making more of the same next time

I find the argument that Game Freak will never improve because of this somewhat exaggerating. Its important to consider this was GF's first true HD Pokemon game on top of the fact they were likely under a lot of pressure considering Nintendo was no doubt banking heavily on this game as their tentpole title for Christmas 2019.

Since loading both dual games and playing each the Portable graphics falsehood is just that pure fiction. I see how it goes when docked but those claiming performance and graphics I think have more then just gripes but personnel grudges against anything Pokemon to start with and needs a medical provider help first. I played the Pokemon games from 2DS/3DS where I started and have enjoyed them. They aren't COD or WWW but it's own unique game and that is what burns some other bungholes because it could do so well even with all the falsehood being put out there. But sorry to say your the minority and Pokemon keeps on poking(pun) regardless of what your trying to do. Most Poke players knew full well it would sell well individual or dual packs of different offerings.

@Bliquid Hell yeah. Lego Star Wars was, and still is, an incredibly fun game.

Technical shortcoming aside, Sword/Shield is pretty fun for me so far. I enjoyed the wild area, massive improvement in that regard, although without minimap, it is rather easy to get lost.

Glad that it do well.

Software Sales (followed by lifetime sales)

[NSW] Pokemon Sword / Shield (The Pokemon Company, 11/15/19) – 1,364,544 (New)
[PS4] Death Stranding (Limited Editions Included) (SIE, 11/08/19) – 37,382 (223,291)
[NSW] Luigi’s Mansion 3 (Nintendo, 10/31/19) – 29,718 (235,047)
[NSW] Ring Fit Adventure (Nintendo, 10/18/19) – 28,015 (263,940)
[PS4] Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (Deluxe Edition Included) (Electronic Arts, 11/15/19) – 26,761 (New)
[PS4] Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (SIE, 10/25/19) – 9,411 (181,165)
[NSW] Mario & Sonic at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (Sega, 11/01/19) – 9,042 (42,756)
[PS4] Need for Speed: Heat (Electronic Arts, 11/08/19) – 7,638 (23,944)
[NSW] Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition (Bundle Version Included) (Microsoft, 06/21/18) – 7,637 (1,003,160)
[PS4] Persona 5 Royal (Limited Edition Included) (Atlus, 10/31/19) – 7,195 (228,756)
Hardware Sales (followed by lifetime sales)

Switch – 97,565 (9,515,266)
Switch Lite – 82,751 (550,531)
PlayStation 4 – 4,393 (7,171,340)
PlayStation 4 Pro – 3,701 (1,319,925)
New 2DS LL (including 2DS) – 1,188 (1,674,022)
New 3DS LL – 74 (5,885,066)
Xbox One S – 41 (91,462)
Xbox One X – 39 (17,338)
PS Vita – 20 (5,862,786)

@Kalmaro
My thoughts exactly.

@Ogbert
True. I don't recall if I specified as much, but Gen III-to-Gen VII is still an unbroken record.

@AlexSora89 Your words were “ the previously unbroken record of total backwards compatibility between handheld games”. It’s not a previously unbroken record if it was broken early on. You can have a record period of “time since it was last broken” I guess but that has nowhere near the importance or gravitas of an actually unbroken record.

What happened to the babies that said they weren't going buy it? Vocal minority strikes again.

I am glad it is doing well but I just cannot get into Pokemon anymore. I was super addicted when Red and Blue first came out and part of my would love to dive in again but I just cannot seem to get into it. Seems like Sword and Shield did some things right and some things wrong but it is Pokemon on the Switch so no surprise it is selling well.

When I played Xenoblade Chronicles on the Wii I remember thinking at some point that Pokemon would do well to reinvent itself into a similar system to Xenoblade Chronicles. The wild zone seems to be a step in that direction, and people seem to really enjoy the wild zone. I would love to see a Pokemon game with a more active battle system though, you control the trainer, your positioning sometimes affects how well your pokemon's moves work. The Pokemon auto attack but your positioning and timing of shouting out commands for special moves effects how effective the move is. Battles with other trainers are more straight forward and follow rules but fighting wild Pokemon and "the bad guys" are more of a fight for survival, as the trainer can take damage if up against a particularly aggressive Pokemon or bad guy but you can release more of your Pokemon at once in these cases because all rules are off.

You know, stuff like that. I really want a Pokemon game like this now!

@Bondi_Surfer somebody probably bought the copy I didn't. Good for them.

@penamiguel92 I didn't. I like to spend my money on complete games. Thanks for asking!

@Bliquid figures Trolls would come around sooner or later. Also LEGO's are kids fun and even I enjoy all of them. Do you have all of the LEGO's release then if not then your missing out on life there.

@Fulgor_Astral "I didn't. I like to spend my money on complete games. Thanks for asking!"

Show me any games that didn't require updates? I betcha you can't because they all do have updates sooner or later. Take Witcher 3 even after full cart release it still got updates and BloodStained updated and now I like it playing it. So no games I've seen had no updates to it in it's lifespan. Only those that don't the Developer probably stop supporting it or closed Shop.

@penamiguel92 Not seeing what you're getting at? I haven't bought either and have no plans to buy Shield(my initial interest), barring some freak discount.

It leaves me some extra cash for any Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales that might pop up, so it's all good.

Maybe we will get a bigger budget for the next one.

@Illusion Whatever happened to them anyway?

@RiasGremory Pokémon Bank is definitely leaning toward that territory.

@NIN10DOXD got banned for going on too many off-topic and confrontational rants I heard. Which is too bad since unlike the negative people of today he had well thought out comments most of the time. He just didn't play well with others.

@Samsamsam do you like any other pokemon game? If so, this game is for you: it’s pokemon, but with a lot of quality of life changes.

Don’t expect 4k resolution, top notch graphics, a ton of inventive gimmicks and fidelities etc, but a solid and good pokemon experience.

@dacangri12
We Want?! or You Want?!

@Bliquid unfortunately your in the minority here. Why should one change based on your unproved bais. Pokemon done better then most other games and that is why others can't stand it.

I finally got a level 20 Sir Fetched, it was easy as long as you knew about the location and evolution requirement beforehand.

My only real complaints about this game, the unpredictable weathers and the difficulty of finding the pokemon i wanted, i havent even seen a single sizzipede or fished a single arrokuda, i'm already sick of the magikarp. and the low catch rates, i had to use 10 great balls just to catch that one galarian farfetched.

But otherwise, it is a beautiful game, graphics are really good, especially in hand held. im going to challenge Nessa later today.

@SakuraHaruka I was talking to the toilet not what was flooting in it...

@Zyph I thought it looked aesthetically terrible, purely from video I’ve seen. The NPCs and Pokémon popping in when you approach was really distracting, along with the identical house interiors, and shops that were merely facades - it just didn’t look great to me.

But many people in these comments are loving the game, and I do feel like I’ve missed out on a gaming cornerstone, so I’ll possibly pick it up (although I gather they usually release an enhanced version a year later, so may wait for that - I’m in no rush)

@Bondi_Surfer Idk if you've got eyes in your head my man, but if the new Pokémon games look terrible to you... Yikes.

Better head over to XB1X/PS4Pro then.

They genuinely look excellent (with some rough edges here and there in certain areas), and there is so much personality in the games. Playing them truly is a joy, and I could fetch you like 100+ videos of how charming they are, but you'd probably not watch them.

EDIT: The main issue aesthetically is the Wild Area which keeps popping in things. Anywhere else it is great.

@Illusion yep the dude would deliberately word things in a way to be contrary. Mind you the site wasn’t as soft as they are now, but then again they’re dealing with many more people these days than when that clown was hovering (although there’s no doubt he’s still here under another guise)...

@SquareOneMJ Get your kid either Sword or Shield. Its a complete Pokémon game (cept for the Dexit issue). Your kid won't really care that half the pokemon are missing anyway. You and your kid will have a good time playing this together.

Already more than 6 million copies sold.
WUT?! 🤯

Good for switch sales, bad for the pokemon frachise

Holiday sales for Sword/Shield are going to be insane.

@Blizzia The short draw distance is noticeable throughout the game. Although I agree that calling Sword/Shield "terrible looking" is hyperbole of the highest order. Unfortunately, people seem to feel like they need to communicate in extremes today to get their point across.

This game's sales cannot be contained. And neither can my disappointment in the Sheep.

I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror!

@Tao gamefreak didn't got lucky with pokemon. They made a phenomenal game and stick with it. Yes they could never release something as mega as it, but they didn't even try, rest of their releases were low-key.

@Ralizah Yeah it is noticeable... at times. I really don't find it super noticeable all the time. Also, the moment you get into stuff like camping, battles, max raids and such, it's just incredibly beautiful, not to mention some of the smaller towns (and shroom heaven) are just gorgeous.

It has its flaws, but it's by no means an ugly game at all. It looks very nice most of the time.

@LordGeovanni If anything, people who avoid buying games based on what they read in reviews are the "sheep." Free thinkers would have to play it to judge it for themselves, no?

@Ralizah The towns look actually pretty nice tbh. The main issue of visuals for me is the Wild Area which actually does look pretty ugly imo, especially with the weather effects. It runs awful in online mode as well. Can you believe it crashed on me for the first time yesterday while I was online:

@Sinister thank you and to everyone else for their advice

@Blizzia
I've seen a fair bit of footage and I couldn't disagree more. Yes, the wild area is a worst offender. It's a copy&pasted area of really low quality assets being used again and again - ad nauseam. The same ugly looking tree pasted upon the same super low-rez ground textures and poorly "animated" water.

It's not the only ugly place or aspect of the game by any stretch of the animation. I found the lack of combat animations much more offensive. There is zero personality in combat and given what other games are doing (which are much, much less commercially viable - just look at TMS#FE) it is simply unacceptable for a $60 game in 2019.
If I look at P5 there is also no denying that the interface is ugly. Plus, there is way too much of it, constantly pressing A just to pick up an item or shake a friggin tree.

As far as presentation goes, the game is obviously unfinished. Some areas do look great though, but this makes things worse actually, as the contrast between the good and the ugly becomes this more striking.

I feel at this level of presentation (in addition to the missing Pokemon and the inexistence of any proper in-combat animation, paired with lacking VO as well as the lack of meaningful camera work or aesthetically pleasing menus) the game is simply overpriced. Pokemon is money-printing machine, and at least a small fraction of all the revenue should have gone back into the game. It clearly didn't and that is unacceptable.

This is the equivalent of Frozen 2 being a silent stickman movie, because Disney could not be bothered to create some 3D modells and having some rendering done. It doesn't matter whether you like the movie, song, story, the villain or lack thereof ... Disney put in the work. Yes, it might not be great from a content perspective, but it sure looks and sounds like a labour of love and a bundle of cash.

Pokemon, which easily tops out Frozen, just doesn' though.

This game lacks life. Compared to proper Nintendo games, everything looks so hollow and robotic. Not to mention the competitive scene, which was born already dead.
There goes, probably, the best oportunity ever to make Game Freak care about its games and fan base.

why don't those who have been expressing their intense dissatisfaction online before the game was even released just play the game for a while and give it a chance? I understand that it might not meet your expectations and that the game has shortcomings, but it still might be a fun experience.

@TeslaChippie
Two problems with your little statement there.
First, there is no major reason why anyone should expect Exquisite results of quality from this game, both because of what was formally announced and shown off from this game and what was lied about from this game.
Second, I do hope you are not including people, such as myself, who who went out of our ways to search for multiple different reviews for information, made an independent decision, and/or seeked out full gameplay, and then finally determined that this dung heap of a game is not for us.

@iakona23 there's not even a demo, who would pay 60 dollars just to confirm it's not a well made game after seeing so many flaws on the internet?

@TeslaChippie Haha yeah, there is something odd about being called a sheep for making my own decision by people jumping on a bandwagon repeating statements off a reddit thread.

We all know now who will be the new DLC characters of Smash (Sword and Shield).

@Ralek85 We'll agree to disagree completely there. Voiceover would've been nice, but it's never been a thing in Pokémon, so not expected.

As for the rest, eh, I disagree. Simply put.

Wow, the haters are coming out in full force. I bet those are same players whom are losers in Pokemon go games as well. To base their own mindset on reviews then actually playing before comments tells their bias already. So if your going to do that then post a YouTube video of your review and gameplay if you want any credibility.

@TeslaChippie your talking to the preconceived mindset already.

Congratulations to Pokemon Fans for once again blindly purchasing a game regardless of its quality, ensuring to GameFreak executives that a short dev cycle putting out off-quality games will make them more money than allowing the developers to take their time to make a game that actually lives up to the franchise name. Never again will those in charge care about Pokemon.

6 million? Congrats to gamefreak.

I was going to wait and buy this for myself for Christmas, but I ended up breaking down and purchasing it last night to play. I bought the digital download version, so I still might buy the physical version for my Christmas, and just keep it sealed. I got the Sword version.

The attach rate for SwSh is MUCH higher through 1 week than the attach rate of Sun/Moon. I’m glad the game is selling well and I am really enjoying it. I personally think it’s already the 3rd best game in the series.

That being said, I still think the envelope can be pushed further and wouldn’t mind seeing Pokémon get off it’s annual release schedule. Let it just be done when it’s done.

Looking forward to picking up sword in two weeks!!

Great game, well deserved. Let’s Go! and Sword/Shield brought this grizzled old gamer back into the Pokemon fold after a long absence. Neither game deserves the backlash they have gotten/continue to get.

@Ralek85 Love your comment. I've watched a bit of footage and clips myself. You even listed reasons why it doesn't seem up to standard.

It's funny how you can watch gameplay (not just read words on a review), which is as close as you'll get to actually playing, to get a good enough read on whether you find a game worth it or not yet you're still a 'hater' like anyone who doesn't view the game as anything but a 9-10. lulwut? ☠️☠️

This isn't a $3 eshop title or even a $40 3DS game. Why in the heck would you waste $60 to play a game that doesn't look like it'll personally live up to the value that's being asked?(this goes for any game) That is a biggg gripe here.

It'd be different if they released a demo like Let's GO had. I more than likely would've downloaded that.

ETA - Ex: Even though I liked the look of game, the demos for Daemon x Machina are what totally sold me on the game(which I wasn't entirely sure about from a price standpoint).

so what Game Freak could make the worst Pokemon game in existence and Pokemon fans will still buy it and call it the greatest game of all time

Pokémon Fans used Complain!

It's not very effective...

Pokemon is basically a sports title now.

Guess Pokemon and Nintendo fans will buy whatever they put out.

@glaemay then you didnt really play it. DS is easily GOTY.

Eh, it would be pretty good if the #1 game turned out to be something other than a Wii U port.

This is what happens when Nintendo stomps on ps/xbox that their fandom can't stand that fact. And thinking by bashing Pokemon will make them feel better but unfortunately the sales and buying continues unabated from the trolls. Good luck but the more you diss it the more buys yet and so I say keep it up your only helping the sales.

Wait, you mean most people that play Pokémon games don’t read Nintendo Life?

This is great news, silence all those haters

@SwitchForce why do you keep trying to reignite the console wars? You realize most people own both right? Are you like 12?

@Blizzia What's there to disagree? Are you saying literally moving a Pokemon up and down the screen in a 100% static pose should count as a proper combat animation for a $60 AAA videogame for one of the biggest entertainment franchises on the planet in 2019?

We can disagree about the severity of the shortcomings and the consequences they have on one's enjoyment of the game.
The shortcoming itself are not really up for debate though.
The wild area is copy&pasted together from the same dozens or so textures and a "tree" models, that would not have been approved by any other AAA developer 10 years ago. It's not something I'm making up or that is open to subjective interpretation.

Maybe someone finds this "it's-the-early-2000s-and-this-is-our-first-3D-rendered"-game charming ... I don't not at this price and certainly not for that franchise. This would be an amazing game for a couple of friends, somewhere in basement, thrown together over the course of half a decade, but for Pokemon? Again, unacceptable output to me.

As for voiceover. That we can agree to disagree on. It's never been there is a weak argument because neither has there ever been this kind of animation, with characters gesturing non-stop, showing emotions all while being totally mute. It's not the lack of VO that concerns me, it's once more the stark contrast between these characters being given bodylanguage, but no actual spoken language. It's a really weird contrast and not something previous Pokemon games suffered from before.

That'S really the crux with Pokemon. The things that work about, make the things that just don't work come that much more into focus, and since there is so much that doesn't work, I cannot shake the feeling, that the game is not something that is even supposed to be enjoyed on it's own merit.

I would love to know how well the game would be doing without the Pokemon name and legacy attached. On the other hand, if those weren't attached, Gamefreak might have been liberated from the shackles of tradition and might have been able to take the whole idea to a different level.

The kicker for me though is that from a presentation standpoint in regards to animation, effects and camera work, I feel confident in saying that this is not up to the standard Pokemon Colosseum set back in 2003. That was 16 !!!!!!! years ago.
The very though is mindblowing until you realize of course, that Colosseum was not made by Gamefreak.

Anyway you look at it, Pokemon mainseries making the jump to a non-handheld device ... we deserved better. Yes, call me entitled if you will, but after Colosseum and an entire generation of people having passed I consider this to be an objective truth: This should have been much more than it turned out to be.

Bu-But THE NATIONAL DEX!!!

😂😂😂😂

I haven't played Pokmon until this new entry in years since Heart Gold and I gotta say that this game is a lot of fun on its own merits.

The future is looking bright for the next Pokemon game no matter what the haters say.

Can we get 5+ dislikes on this comment, too?!

XD jeez almost every comment in the upper half, pro or anti Sw/Sh has SO MUCH HATE.

Hopefully with the money GameFreak get they can frequently make the game better with updates.

Like you know.. smash?

I got the bundle

@Ralek85 Should have limited the number of Pokémon to 48, like in Colosseum.

@Skunkfish
If Genius Sonority could do those in 2003, Game Freak can - 16 years and a coupe of billion-with-b dollars later - do it not just for 10x that many, but that AND better.
I'm not quite sure, but wasn't the/one reason for not all Pokemon being included the "fact", that animating all of them was too much effort? Something like that?

Considering that didn't even translate to those who made the cut being given the proper treatment .... I hear you, they probably should have stuck to just under 50. I mean, what else could they? Hire additional professionals?
Where would they get the ressources for such a bold and unheard of business move? From TV? Movies? Previous games? MERCHANDISE (apparently that is thing with Pokemon, don't ask me). Sure those billions were meant for all kinds of things other than reinvesting into the franchise, but at least a fraction could have been funneled of into dark channels for the mainseries game development.

Given the fact that no one cares, that would have indeed be a silly thing to do though. Never try any harder than you absolutely have to. It's an important message, esp. for a young audience. If you can make it anywhere in life with 25% effort, then you must not push yourself any harder. It's just a very wholesome package is what I am saying

Nintendo thanks all of their angry fans for promoting the heck out of this game.

I purchased Pokémon Sword for release day to catch the timed events which I would miss out on if I got the game later. For some reason I'm not bothered about playing it yet. Having trouble getting enthusiastic about this one I'm afraid.

Been casually playing since release and I’m loving it so much.

My only complaint is that, I wish the Pokeball would rumble the controller like the Let’s Go games did, for the 3 wobbles before the green light clicks. For some reason that was super immersive. I really wish it did that.

But that aside, it’s excellent..

It is alright. I haven’t played much of it. I have been in retro RPG heaven. I do not know when I will come back. I’m playing Silver Saga 2 and after that a translated copy of MOTHER 3 has been bestowed on me. So Pokemon can wait.

@Trajan i only own a switch, i don't have any other consoles apart from my old wii and 3ds xl.

Its almost like manufactured controversy does not really affect sales figures. Weird that...

@Bondi_Surfer

That is what disappoints me as a long time fan of the series, the game is still worth a purchase and playthrough but you can see the lack of effort put into the game and that they are just piggybacking off the Pokemon brand.

@Ogbert
I've never thought I'd find myself discussing the meaning behind the concept of an unbroken record, but I guess Dexit was good for something after all!

Thankfully not everyone is swayed by fake news and internet outrage.

Nice. I'm really enjoying Shield, the wild area is just crazy fun and I love how the gym leader battles have that epic feel to them.

My only real complaint is the cut Pokemon. On the bright side, this is the first time I've been interested in filling up the Dex since Diamond.

I was never bothered about the animations or "what the game could've been". Call me a shill or "part of the problem" , but those things just never got to me.

@dimi If they didnt even try with other games, why bother making them in the first place? Great logic, they just released games for the sake of releasing games? "Just make something, dont put much effort in though"

That recent 'Town' game or whatever it was eventually called on release is a great recent example. They obviously did try on that, they said countless times that it was a focus and they were hoping for it to do very well. It got a lot of pre release attention. What happened? Mediocre reviews and faded so quickly I legitimately cant remember its actual title.

Meanwhile even with the negativity, Pokemon was a massive success...because as said, even a bad Pokemon game is fun enough (I like it, dont think its bad).