The much anticipated Sword and Shield was released on November 15, 2019. This is the latest release in the Pokemon series, referred to as generation 8. Many people have jumped into the game and have already finished the main story, myself included. I bought Sword a few days after launch. A select few have already completed the Pokedex as well. As you may or may not be familiar with, the Pokedex is an encyclopedia of the Pokemon you collect on your journey. Speaking of the Pokedex…

     The absence of the national dex stings. I finally bred the perfect battle team in Ultra Moon, and now they have to sit there on my 3DS. There are over 800 Pokemon, and we can’t bring our partners from Ultra Sun and Moon. So all we have to rely on are the Pokemon we can catch in Galar. A few rumors have started as to why this is. One rumor that turned out to be false is that Game Freak had to remake every model from scratch. However, they simply imported the older Pokemon from the 3DS. This is most notable on Gyrados’ model. The whiskers had vertices instead of being a smooth curve. The Vaporeon model on the other hand, when extracted, also has all the same vertices as the 3DS model. Model reuse is not the problem, it simply caught people off guard.       

     Sword and Shield are on a new system, the Nintendo Switch. It was believed that the Pokemon couldn’t be imported due to this new hardware; however, it was done. They still look great with the new lighting, but the same models nonetheless. The real reason is likely that the developers were working on half power. That is, half of Game Freak was working on Pokemon at the time. Should the full team have been on it, Sword and Shield may have had a national dex. Or it could at least let you import all of the USUM Pokemon. 

     There is no GTS, unlike previous installments. If you want to trade, it has to be done the old fashioned way. Not by link cable, let’s not go too far in the past. You can trade by wi-fi. However, you and a friend have to be in the same area. Let’s say you want a version exclusive, like the popular Galarian Ponyta/Rapidash, and you play on Sword. You either have to have another Switch with a copy of Shield, or you need a friend who has Shield and is willing to trade you, unless the Pokemon bank comes out on the Switch. This seems unlikely. 

     Yet another thing I noticed are the graphics. People have been comparing Sword and Shield to Pokemon Stadium 2, and it isn’t good. The berry trees are a good example. I’m not expecting Game Freak to model every single leaf and every little branch, but they look like Gamecube era trees with pretty lighting added. I could tell all of the resources went into the end of the Slumbering Weald. This is where the box legendaries, Zacian and Zamazenta, sleep for most of the main story. It’s a beautiful ruined arch surrounded by a lake with a path to said arch. The lighting here is what you’d expect if you were standing in a forest. It’s a nice place to be in. I spent a few minutes marveling at it until I went on. The Wild Area is also impressive, mostly because of its size. You can encounter Pokemon of various levels here. I’ve seen from level 5 all the way up to the 60’s. The wild Pokemons’ level scale with your own. 

     The gym battles are nothing like the trials of Alola. They are more traditional, but with the Galarian special added. All of the gyms are built on power spots. This means that Pokemon can dynamax and/or gigantamax in the stadiums. All of the gym leaders have a Pokemon that can gigantamax, and they will always go for it when they send out that Pokemon. This one is always last though, ensuring that your team has been whittled down enough for the ace to knock them out. Unless you are like me and go in extremely over leveled. 

     There is also no elite four, you battle other semi-finalists that have beaten the gym leaders, as well as the gym leaders themselves in rematches. This is set up like a bracket, so you won’t fight all of them. When you finally get to the champion, the plot comes rushing in to interrupt your battle. I’m not going to spoil the story, but eventually you do get to fighting the champion and ensure your place as the new champion of the Galar region. More story ensues, and you are free to explore the region with your new partners. 

     All in all, Sword and Shield was very enjoyable for me. This gen’s Pokemon were unusually easy to evolve. By this I mean they were mostly evolved by levels. The use of stones were very, very limited. Speaking of, Eevee can now evolve into Leafeon and Glaceon by the use of a leaf stone and an ice stone. This was a very interesting decision. Galar lacks the mossy rock and ice rock so they had to improvise somehow. Anyway, Sword and Shield was very enjoyable for me. I didn’t have any moments where I was so bored I had to put it down for a while. As long as you do not think that graphics are everything, I highly recommend it if you have a Switch.