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Reviews (1)
Dec 11, 2019
Started out strong but fell flat. Regretting it slightly.
2 of 3 found this helpful SWSH would've been fine if we were in the 3DS era. It was surprisingly good at the beginning if you overlook the reused models and wack textures. The region tugged at my heartstrings. Baiting cutscenes and new Pokémon wherever I went, even the longwinded stroll past 4 routes until the first stadium hype fest (gym revamp) felt brilliant. I was fairly entertained for a good bit until the most hysterical thing happened - I started playing Pokémon wrong. I was stuck in the wild area for +10 hours, borderline addicted until eventually I accepted that one had to move forward. This is where the fun halted.
If you have a Nintendo Switch Online Sub you'll enjoy Max Raid Battles decently, otherwise good luck beating any lategame ones without flinging yourself into the den out of despair because you only get to Dynamax in specific places and stadium/event aside, your only options offline are the wild area power spots. Trading and /all/ online content is walled by the sub but if you don't mind the barely 2€ monthly, it shouldn't make a difference. I personally find it reasonable for tournaments, extra perks and multiplayer mode but to restrict trading and the biggest gimmick of the series behind a sub seems bizarre to me despite having it already.
Besides that, the plot is quite short and lackluster. While you do get several compelling characters and there is a lot of potential for further storyline to develop, it falls short on what it could deliver as a main series. By the time I realised there was no challenging bad guy team whatsoever or even a proper villain to speak of, the game had ended. You get slapped with a straightforward inconvenience mid championship for 3~5 battles then sent to battle a completely unheard of legendary throughout the plot and that's it. Post-content hinged on obnoxious and again took all but 20 minutes to finish. Zacian/Zamacenta interactions were intriguing at best. Dexit didn't bother me nearly as much as it could've, although replayability won't be as engaging or encouraging for SWSH taking everything into account.
I purchased both titles, and I'm not joking when I say that the most riveting aspect was discovering curry recipes. If you didn't want a Hau reskin, too bad, that's your rival. If you hoped for a new arch behind bad guy motive, it's a right pity that they just morphed Lysandre and Lusamine into a pot-belly CEO and his haughty assistant. Well, suppose characters do get their Galar variants now, too. Those were formidable at least in terms of Pokémon.
"It wasn't that bad" is the wrap-up review to this game without the disguised DLC of disappointment. Will update as my online experience improves. It's okay though, Alcreamie has +70 Gigantamax forms. Never mind royalty, she alone will save Galar from the Darkest Day.
Should any of you reading go out of their way to purchase SWSH? Do it for the meme.