RE: Pokémon Sword and Shield

So I’m six gyms deep into Pokémon Sword, and creeping up on the seventh.  I probably shouldn’t be, but here I am.  To think there was a time when I said I was planning to sit the game out.

The reasoning was sound.  The eighth-generation game -- both for the franchise, and in terms of consoles -- has been mired in controversies for months.  “The graphics are awful.”  “They’re cutting out Pokémon.” “Features are getting dropped.” “They’re not even trying.” “Game Freak lied.” And so on, and so forth.  All things considered?  I didn’t need another franchise installment in my life.  I fell off at the endgame of Moon, and was willing to sit it out until Gen 9’s inevitable drop.  Maybe then, Game Freak would straighten things out.  Earn fans’ trust with a title that knocked it into space.  I bought into the fans’ outcry (despite previous indifference to it) and decided, yeah, supporting the game meant supporting a slide into mediocrity.  So, I didn’t.

Then my brother bought the game regardless.  I suspect he would have even if he knew about the controversies -- which meant I’d have to give the game an honest shot.

Pfft.  Who needs integrity, anyway?

Not gonna lie: I think that song’s a banger.

The big question on my mind is a complicated one: what’s the criteria for a good Pokémon game?  The slashed National Dex/Dexit controversy means that the core element -- getting all the mons you can -- got a massive nerf, which you’d think would instant-kill the game right off the bat.  Problem is, there are still hundreds of mons left to grab.  Certainly, I sympathize with those who’ve lost their favorites and/or can’t import the creatures they’ve had for years into the new game (possibly any game going forward).  The cut roster is a problem Game Freak created for themselves, even if there was no way around such an inevitability.

But again, there are still hundreds of mons left to grab.  If there are only 400 possible creatures to slot into a 6-man team, you’re still going to have about 4.096x10¹⁵ combinations.  That doesn’t include online battle/tournament-viable mons, granted, nor does it take into account unique, one-of-a-kind entrants.  Still, what’s here is nothing to shrug off.  Is there a chance the one you love got cut?  Absolutely, and I’m sorry if you were hit by Dexit.  But as a fighting game fan, I like to think of it this way: even if your main gets dropped in a sequel (I will laugh hard if T. Hawk ever makes it back into a Street Fighter game), it’s a chance for you to pick up a new main -- maybe even one you’ll like more than the last.  Keep an open mind, and make the best of a bad situation.  It could work out.

Sometimes, it’s best to judge a game on what it is, not what it isn’t.  Judge based on what’s here, not what’s missing.  It’s risky to shrug off everything a game -- any art, really -- has, just because some parts are missing.  On the other hand, sometimes it’s downright unavoidable.  Foolish even.  If it sounds like I’m waffling and faffing about with my words here, it’s because I am.  To be more direct: I’m on the fence about Pokémon Sword.  I’m putting tons of time into it.  I’ve had some good feelings because of it.  I’ve found some cool mons that strike my fancy (I didn’t get Gardevoir before, but…now I get it).  The problem is that there’s been this consistent, sinking feeling I’ve had from the get-go.  That feeling’s only gotten worse over time, as if to punish me for my ridiculous time investment.  So let’s go ahead and rip off the band-aid, even if it takes some hair, skin, and muscle with it.

This game is half-assed.

It’s a Switch game that doesn’t deserve to be on the Switch.  The only way it genuinely takes advantage of the hardware is that it maintains the portability of the 3DS (battery life notwithstanding).  It’s another victim of the eighth-gen curse -- “the same but less” applied to what should’ve been a slam dunk.  And to be clear?  I’m not just talking about the graphics here.  The original DS was and still is one of my favorite gaming systems, and the trees there had polygons that could skewer a rhino.  No, the issue here is that there’s been little to no attempt to push the franchise forward.  It’s a new Pokémon game, and not much else.

I don’t doubt that there are Pokémon games that have good stories.  This isn’t one of them.  The narrative here is practically nonexistent, with all plot progression tied to 1) slowly and briefly going over the legend of the sword and shield doggos, and 2) the “development” of a handful of rival characters.  Among them, pink punk Marnie is the best of the bunch; puff-haired Bede is antagonistic for seemingly no reason (and thankfully actually gets punished for being a bratty idiot).  Hop, your real/main rival…he’s…I need him to go away, quickly.  Permanently.

I appreciate Team Yell for having a theme song that slaps, but they’re pretty much nobodies in the grand scheme of things.  I’m not an expert on the franchise, that much I’ll gladly admit.  That said, I thought that Pokémon could do better than this.  Even if they’re not world-ending threats, Team Skull for example had thematic heft, in that they were a cautionary tale on how important it is to gracefully accept defeat and progress in spite of failures.  Here?  The goons are just a pack of fanboys/fangirls, and that’s it.  The most fun I’ve had with them is imagining that the male grunts sound like Birdie.

Speaking of?  Where’s the voice acting in this game?  Sure, this is a Nintendo-approved game, and they’re not totally in the habit of featuring fully-voiced games (or full-on narratives, while we’re at it).  But this was a chance to truly push the franchise forward, and they didn’t.  There aren’t even voice clips to insert at opportune times, which I know was possible because the original DS could handle that much.  Only Pikachu and Eevee are properly voiced, with the rest getting Game Boy-era clips whenever they show up/faint.

This is a far cry from the Breath of the Wild-style game I don’t doubt some fans secretly wanted.  There’s one big area across the entire game, but near as I can tell, it’s the only one of its kind -- and you’ll leave it behind as you progress further and further into the gym challenges for the standard, linear routes.  The designs of the new towns are pretty fancy, but their interactivity leaves something to be desired -- not to mention scale.  There’s a woodsy town tucked amongst glowing mushrooms, but it’s disappointing to see that there’s nothing to it besides a Pokémon center and the gym.

For a world so dependent on its living, lovable creatures, it doesn’t do much to feel alive -- and anything that tries is ultimately fleeting.

I won’t deny that an insane amount of effort went into making the game, as is the case with any game -- or art in general.  (I speak from experience by saying that a video that only runs for five minutes can take two weeks to produce.)  That said, what’s here is basically just another Pokémon game -- and, crucially, it does the bare minimum necessary to reach that status.   That would be fine if this was the perfect franchise, but bizarre design decisions and lingering issues clasp another ball and chain around the ankles of Sword and Shield.

When I played through (almost all of) Moon, I got the sense that it was too easy.  That sense has returned, and been magnified dramatically, for Sword.  Playing the game means being over-leveled for plenty of fights to come, which is exacerbated by an EXP Share mechanic that you can’t turn off even if you wanted to.  Even if you’re not over-leveled, a huge amount of the game’s strategy comes down to type advantages.  That’s not as big a problem when you’re fighting online/human opponents (I got hyper-murdered in a couple of player matches by mons and strategies I’d never even seen before), but because the core single-player game hasn’t really evolved, you’ll curb-stomp and one-shot your way through gym after gym because they’re hell-bent on using one type only.

Not to keep dwelling on the story, but -- man, it’d go such a long way if the gym leaders were better-established as people outside of the gyms.  Like, make them actual characters with an effect on the plot.  Gordie’s stylish and all, but I’m going to forget about him in a week.

The Dynamax mechanic is…fine.  Since it’s only usable in certain areas, it’s limited in applicability for most battles; when you do get the chance to pop it for raids/gym battles, it’s mostly only there to help you bolster your chance to one-shot enemies.  Basically, it’s a gimmick.  Was it worth the sacrifice of Mega Evolutions and Z-Moves?  I don’t know.  I mean, I’m only popping Dynamax for raids and to counter gym leaders’ last-minute Dynamax, and even then, I feel like I can do well enough without it because of type advantages.  Sooooooooooooo…I think I already know the answer to that.

And then there are all these niggling little quality-of-life issues that pile up over time.  Why is there no fast-forward option for battle animations (such as they are), like in Fire Emblem: Three Houses?  Why do I have to be told that Pin Missile hit five times after watching it hit five times?  Why can’t I just skip Dynamax intros entirely for Max Raid battles?  Why aren’t there more customization options?  Why can’t I change my clothes whenever I want?  And so on, and so forth.

This game really does feel half-assed.  I’d leave it at that if the half of an ass we got was objectively awful.

There’s no story to rely on here, meaning that the gameplay has to carry everything.  And for as much hate as this game’s gotten heaped on it (some of which is deserved, no question), the gameplay is the saving grace.  It knows exactly how to tickle the pleasure centers of your brain, whether you’re finding a new mon to add to your team, the ding of a level gained, an evolution that makes your partner even cooler, the rush when your planning/strategy helps you down an enemy mon…this franchise is a drug that hasn’t been regulated for more than twenty years, and it’s just as addictive as when it first dropped.

The combinations of mons, types, abilities, moves, and items leads to an infinite number of possibilities.  If you’re as basic as me, you can be satisfied with just making team themed/named after classic bands and musicians (I’ve never nailed anything harder than naming a Galarian Zigzagoon “Kiss”).  If you’re out to become an online warrior and blow up anyone who crosses your path, then you’ll need to build the strongest team you can.  Presumably -- if not inevitably -- that means you’re going to have to dive deep into the rabbit hole of breeding and stat-crunching in order to create your team of atomic supermons.

I’m convinced that virtually every design decision in this game is there to facilitate the online battle space.  I wish it didn’t have to sacrifice the single-player campaign by throwing it into a volcano, but if this is how Game Freak is going to maintain Gen 8’s longevity, then so be it.  Yes, EXP Share is non-negotiable, but between that and the ability to access your mon-storing Boxes at any time, you’re encouraged to swap out and experiment with new teams instead of sticking to the same old squad.

Grinding is basically a thing of the past.  Optional at best.  The key reward from Max Raids?  Candy that you can use to give your mons EXP boosts, so that even a baby newcomer can jump up 34 levels at once if you’ve collected enough of the good stuff.  If that’s not doing it for you, then there are high-level mons roaming around the Wild Area that, much like a Xenoblade Chronicles game (even the bad one), you can challenge if you’re brave enough.  While you won’t be able to catch them until you’ve gotten enough badges -- which sucks, no question -- they’ll still give you EXP for bringing them down.

To pare it down to basics, you can play this game with two mentalities in mind.  One: see a cute/cool critter and go “I WANT DAT OOOOOOOOOOOOOOONE!” then get your drug fix if you capture it.  Two: go down this sunny little route, as I often do.

So, at the end of the day, would I recommend this game to others?  Assuming that they hadn’t already bought it yet, which they probably have?  Yes…but only after a long pause and a heavy sigh.  And after throwing up some qualifiers.  And after figuring out what conditions they personally have.  If it’s their first Pokémon game in years, then yes.  If it’s their first ever, then yes.  After that?  It gets hazy.  Complicated.

There are worse games out there than this, make no mistake.  And for all of the animosity spewing online, Sword and Shield aren’t as grievously, irredeemably bad as what the internet would have you believe.  It’s just distressingly, painfully unambitious, and it’s not hard to notice as much early in.  It makes me wonder if Game Freak buckled under the pressure and realities of development.  This, the Let’s Go games, and Little Town Hero may very well have bumped elbows with each other on their way out of the gate.  I can’t confirm anything, granted, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they did -- because it’d explain so much.

What’s here is fine.  But pretty soon, “fine” is not going to be enough.

Well, that’s another one for the archives.  But man, it seems like I’ve been having some sour luck with games lately.  Death Stranding is a wash, Indivisible’s got problems, Code Vein is…what it is, and now there’s this.  Maybe this is a sign that I should step back from games for a little bit.  Sure, there’s still good stuff out there I haven’t touched, but hey.  Now’s as good a time as any to poke my head in elsewhere. 

I wonder what’s going on in the anime world.  Let’s see what YouTube’s been recommending me every Thursday, and --

I really need to stop setting myself up like this.