Pokémon Sword & Shield featured some welcome changes into an overly-safe franchise, its efforts ultimately left much to be desired.
Indeed, replaying Pokémon Sword & Shield can be a weird experience for fans. The games are far from awful, but revisiting can be quite an eye-opening experience for loyal fans of the franchise, especially if they haven't played them since they first came out.
The Game Feels Unpolished
It's easy to hate on something when it comes out; however, it's just as easy to let the problems slide because of the excitement of playing a new game. Sword & Shield was a mix of both reactions, with many ripping it apart while others insisted the technical issues weren't that noticeable.
However, replaying the games means realizing their shortcomings are too big to ignore. Sword & Shield look unpolished, unfinished even. The world is dull and barren, lacking life and spark. More importantly, everything feels incomplete, as if there was a whole set of things meant to be there that didn't make it to the finished product.
Galar Is An Uninteresting Region
Galar is certainly a unique region in the Pokémon world. Based on the UK, Galar has many things players expect from Pokémon's take on the British. However, GameFreak failed to do the one thing that makes a Pokémon region memorable: give it an edge.
Galar is not compelling or even particularly memorable. Above all, and despite having some clever ideas and unique-looking cities, it's uninteresting. There's no sense of belonging in Galar; the lore is lacking and generic, full of stereotypes that make it hard to connect with the region. It's hard to say what's the best part of Sword & Shield, but the Galar region is definitely not it.
The Wild Area Is Disappointing
The Wild Area was Pokémon's first attempt at a true open-world experience. It was a welcome change to the franchise, one that often seems unwilling or even incapable of change, and players were excited about the new and endless possibilities.
Alas, GameFreak failed to live up to the promises. The Wild Area was a massive disappointment, acting like a glorified Safari Zone rather than an open world. The Wild Area was the bare minimum, a massive and mostly empty space with nothing to see and, sometimes, do. Catching rare Pokémon is great, but the best Nintendo open-world games are ambitious, welcoming, and complex; the Wild Area, and Galar, as a whole, are none of that.
Hop Is Not A Bad Rival
When Sword & Shield came out, fans couldn't stop talking about what a nuisance Hop was. The absurdly eager and enthusiastic rival of the games came out too strong, acting desperate to prove himself and become the best Trainer in the region. Hop quickly became the fandom's punching bag, but revisiting the games means realizing he is one of the most layered characters in the franchise.
There's a classic meme that says Sword & Shield are the story of Hop realizing he is not the protagonist of a Pokémon game. It's true; Hop's journey is about failure and acceptance and how it's okay to change, even when already set on a career path. Hop has something few other characters in the franchise have: a character arc. He falls, fails, learns, and gets up again, making him arguably, the best and most compelling rival in the series.
Chairman Rose Is Not A Bad Antagonist
Villains in the Pokémon franchise can be pretty evil. However, it would be unfair and somewhat reductive to call Chairman Rose a villain; he's more of an antagonist, as his purposes don't come from a place of cruelty or ambition, but he still stands opposed to the heroes.
Rose is an interesting take on powerful tech figures, detached from the "real world." His clinical and cynical approach to solving Galar's issues makes sense on paper, but his lack of empathy and consideration for the people he's trying to save are too heinous to ignore. Rose is one of the most interesting takes on a Pokémon antagonist in the series, and his motives are one of the few things that become clearer and better with each new replay.
Leon's Battle Aged Like Milk
The Pokémon League Champion is the strongest Trainer in the region. They, supposedly, have a team of powerful and versatile Pokémon that help them defend their title against the numerous Trainer challengers that come their way. Sword & Shield sell Leon as the best Trainer in the Pokémon world, but they cannot justify their reasoning.
Furthermore, Leon's final battle has aged terribly. Unlike the other Champions in Generation VIII, Cynthia and Volo, Leon is ridiculously predictable to the point of boredom. His team is the definition of "these Pokémon are great on paper, so they should work." Alas, they don't because there's no cohesiveness behind the strategy; in fact, there's no strategy at all.
The Legendaries Are Forgettable
The box-art legendaries from Sword & Shield have great designs and interesting backstories. However, that's not enough to make them great. In fact, Zacian and Zamaenta are among the most underwhelming legendaries in the Pokémon franchise.
Their participation in the story is minimal, and their impact on the Galar region is almost meaningless. It's a shame because GameFreak could've done something interesting with these two massive, powerful-looking dogs. However, they chose to do the bare minimum, making Zacian and Zamasenta look like two checks in a long list of to-do things.
The Starters Are The Worst In The Franchise
Each Pokémon generation has great Starters. None of the initial forms of these crucial creatures are bad or underwhelming; from Squirtle to Fuecoco, the initial stages of the Starter Pokémon always live up to the hype. The problem comes when they evolve; then, things start falling apart.
Such is the case for the Galar Starters. Grookey, Scorbunny, and Sobble are cute and dynamic designs, but everything afterward is simply awful. Their final evolutions are weird at best and uncomfortably humanoid at worst. Their signature moves are not memorable, and their single-typing makes them feel even less special. Arguably, they are the worst Starters in the franchise's twenty-plus-year history.
The Gym Challenge Is No Longer Exciting
Traveling the region and defeating Gym Leaders en route to the Pokémon League has long been the purpose of the main-series Pokémon games. It's the franchise's bread and butter, the pillar upon which it stands. But Sword & Shield makes this esteemed tradition a nuisance rather than an exciting challenge.
The problem is that there is no challenge. Every Gym battle is ridiculously easy, with many players OHKOing opponents that are supposed to be the strongest Trainers in the region. The games get rid of the Elite Four in favor of a Champion Cup that has the player face the same rivals they've been defeating all game long and acting as if they're some great challenge. There's simply no excitement in the Gym story anymore.
The Pokémon Formula Has Lost Some Of Its Charm
If the Gym challenge fails to impress, then the Pokémon formula is in danger. Indeed, Sword & Shield make the worst sin a game can commit: they're boring. There's no urgency to finish the story because every fan knows where it's going, and no anxiety about the final challenge because everyone knows it'll be easy.
Sword & Shield already feel dated, despite coming out only three years ago, mainly because of how dull they are. The classic Pokémon charm is nowhere to be found in these games, and GameFreak realized it because they made a conscious effort to distance themselves from them as quickly as possible.