Pokemon Sword and Shield: What It Says About The Pokemon Franchise

I finally played Pokémon Sword for the Nintendo Switch. Pokémon Sword and Shield were supposed to be the long-touted revolutionary main console adventure after being on strictly handheld consoles for so many years. Did the games live up to general expectations? More importantly, did the games live up to my expectations?

Pokémon Sword and Shield are enormous disappointments for video games, and are indicative of a larger problem with the Pokémon franchise. Pokémon’s biggest revenue stream comes from their general merchandise sales, and at this point, video game sales are an afterthought to the franchise. Game Freak does not have to put their efforts into creating a good Pokémon game. As long as the game has enough marketable Pokémon (such as the cuteness of the new starter Pokémon), what is going to stop Pokémon from lending its likeness into creating Snorlax-branded Xanax, or blow-up sex dolls that look like Gardevoir?

Because of the massive marketing machine that Pokémon is, Game Freak did not have to put in an effort to make Pokémon Sword and Shield worthy games for the Nintendo Switch. The graphics are terrible, and look like a barely up-scaled Nintendo 3DS game. The overall story is lame and uninteresting. The animations are recycled and monotonous. Despite the games not having any voice acting at all, Hop (your rival) is still somehow one of the most annoying characters to ever grace the Nintendo Switch. All of these critical flaws add up to an old and tired formula with rudimentary RPG mechanics that has not changed one bit since Pokémon Red and Blue first came out on the Game Boy Color. There is not an expansive wild area, or PokéJobs, or a British-influenced region that can cover the fact that the Pokémon video game franchise has not evolved at all.

I feel angry for having paid real money for Pokémon Sword. Although the core gameplay of catching Pokémon and beating up on trainers and gym leaders with the same Pokémon (but just ten levels over-leveled) is minimally fun, Pokémon Sword and Shield is wasted potential. There will be no realization of that wasted potential as long as the Pokémon franchise is making billions off merchandise sales. However, I am the sucker (along with millions of others that purchased Pokémon Sword and Shield), for thinking that these games could be something more than what it was more than twenty years ago.

Pokémon Sword and Shield are not must-play games on the Nintendo Switch. If you are a kid, or have never played a Pokémon game before, then you may find some enjoyment from these games. For everyone else, Pokémon Sword and Shield feels like a slap in the face.

I sometimes think about if there was a game developer that can give Pokémon the AAA treatment it deserves, with amazing graphics, dialogue that is not cheesy, and maybe some voice acting. I realize that this is nothing more than a pipe dream.