Pokemon Sword And Shield Receives A Metascore Of 80

Review aggregator Metacritic has published the Metascore for Pokemon Sword and Shield.

Out of 10 reviews, Pokemon Sword and Shield have received a Metascore of 80. This makes them the 64th best Nintendo Switch game of the year. There are 9 positive reviews and 4 mixed reviews. As expected, the number of reviews published at this time is very low as Nintendo and The Pokemon Company International tightly controlled which outlets got access to review copies.

Read some of the reviews below:

Game Informer – 88

Pokémon Sword & Shield are strong first attempts for the series’ full transition to consoles. While some frustrations hold it back from true legendary status, this new generation proves the Pokémon franchise is still great more than two decades after its debut.

EGM – 80

The first new-generation Pokémon game to release on a proper home console does not disappoint. New features like Dynamaxing and the Wild Area are fun additions that make the experience of becoming a Pokémon champion still feel fresh. It’s just a shame that Game Freak didn’t lean into the new features more than they did.

Metro GameCentral – 70

The furore over Dexit may be overblown but even without it this is an underwhelming and unambitious attempt to modernise Pokémon and expand its horizons.

Daily Star – 60

Pokémon Sword and Shield are not bad games. But fun character arcs and inventive, creative designs of new ‘mon are often offset by poor pacing and restrictive world design. The world of Galar is charming, and is a Pokémon interpretation of Britain I’ve dreamed of since I was a kid, but between gating what Pokémon you can catch behind Gym Badges, some half-baked route/City designs and a modest amount of post-game content, Sword and Shield can only be called ‘good’ Pokémon games… not ‘great’ ones.

What do you think?

UPDATE – Metascore updated to 80 after more reviews were added on Metacritic.