Nintendo Switch User Reviews

Interesting game. It could have more battle scenarios instead of just the main stadium. The characters' outfits are awful, and there aren't enough items or Pokémon. Many characters have pixelated graphics. But that's the thing, if the company doesn't deliver a good game for you to pay for, imagine what it's like for free.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

It’s a cash grab that stops at nothing to drive you off a cliff with its bad executive decisions.

Core battle gameplay is GREAT; Competitive depth is GREAT; Team building and roster freedom is GOOD; Accessibility for new players is GOOD; Long-term replay value is GOOD; Single-player / story content is VERY BAD; Progression and rewards is OKAY; Presentation and audio is GOOD; Monetization and value is MIDIOCRE; Platform support and convenience is GREAT. Overall is an GOOD game.

Although it's nice to have a competitive pokemon platform which is mostly accessible, it has numerous flaws. First of all, it's not very attractive, and lacks basic UI accommodations, such as being able to view the game and field status while your opponent is deciding their move. Their is also no reliable way to acquire a specific pokemon if you need them for your team and don't have a friend that can trade it to you. All in all a fine game, but as is typical for Nintento, it rests on its laurels instead of releasing a genuinely polished game.

Pokémon Champions is the PEAK competitive VGC experience. By stripping away the single-player grind and focusing entirely on deep, tactical double battles, it finally gives competitive players the pure simulator they’ve been waiting for. The streamlined teambuilding and highly refined meta force actual strategy and positioning over luck, making every match feel intensely rewarding.

The game is ok but I wish they add 6v6 matches for Casual Battles and Private Battles. Add more Pokemon including items. To be honest it just another disappoint Pokemon game they should listen to fans what they want.

Pokémon Champions is a game with a clear vision, but an unfinished execution. The battle system is compelling, the quality-of-life improvements are a real step forward, and the foundation for a long-term platform has been laid. At the same time, it lacks content, polish, and a convincing monetization and game mode structure at launch. For players already deeply immersed in the Pokémon HOME experience and specifically seeking competitive battles, it's worth taking a look now. Everyone else would be better off waiting for further development. Whether Pokémon Champions truly becomes the central platform for Pokémon battles won't be decided at launch – but rather by how consistently the game is expanded in the coming months.

The gameplay is luck-based rather than skill-based. Hackers are everywhere, using OP Pokémon to abuse the system. Honestly, it’s the laziest Pokémon title I’ve played since ZA

Firstly, microtransactions. Game doesnt feel like its based on skill and more on the luck side. Pokemon stats don't carry over from previous games. When setting up for your turn for speed it still let's the other team go first, despite of setting up for speed boosts & with choice scarf still. Flinching RNG is ridiculous. You could have a good match and it'll disconnect you from the game even without the "connection unstable" prompt in the middle, just completely kicked out. Sleep clause should be a thing. Atleast the game is free huh.

It is funny to see people saying “this game requires no skill” - I suggest you to play competitive in pokemmo then you will understand that Pokémon requires a lot of skill. The only complaint I have is that there is no 6v6 I hope an update will bring this otherwise all the competitive and skill aspects of Pokémon are present and for free - no terracristal **** , mega evolution yes but I have ranked hyper ball in both 2v2 and solo using my pokemmo teams , and my games are not “luck” or “flip the coin” and one shot compared to what scarlet and other Nintendo games offered I could really setup and sweep and use the same combo that I use on pokemmo which is known of the fans of player to be one of the most stable PvP experience in Pokémon (up to 5th gen is known to be one of the most stable experience) - of course Pokémon by definition is a game of counter but you have everything working this time sun teams, rain teams, sweeper setup, I feel a lot of dishonesty the game is free and is more stable than any released previously official Nintendo games ; for those who understand Pokémon PvP they will have a lot of fun the only reason I did not put it 10/10 is because there is not yet 6v6 which is one of the most skill requiring setup they say the battles are long well players should choose what they want and yes they are long because everyone comes with certain combo and with this current meta we can experience everything but it is too fast too setup with stealth rock or so but anyway most of the bad review are because people don’t understand Pokémon PvP at all I used to have the same thought back in time go on pokemmo play PvP for 6 month and come back to this game and tell me if it does not require skill to me I see finally a clear improvement of Nintendo to please true Pokémon strategy battles.

The game is genuinely enjoyable—it captures the VGC experience and distills it from the mainline titles in a very effective way. Importantly, there’s no pay-to-win element. Even content tied to the paid battle pass, such as Pokémon and Mega Stones, is also available in the shop for VP, a currency you can earn in unlimited amounts simply by playing. This makes the premium battle pass feel largely optional, which is a refreshing design choice.Overall, there are very few ways to spend money at all. In fact, this is one of the fairest free-to-play games I’ve encountered, and it has exceeded my expectations. In its current state, the game runs smoothly—I haven’t experienced a single disconnect on the Switch **** drawback is the limited box space for strictly free-to-play users. More dedicated players may feel compelled to spend around €50 per year for additional storage, or alternatively rely on frequent trading via their Pokémon Home account, which comes at about half that cost. Casual players, however, can simply try the game, and if they enjoy it, the starter pack is a reasonable option for expanding box space. Ideally, the developers will introduce more ways for free-to-play users to earn additional storage over time. That said, it’s understandable that some monetization is necessary to sustain the game.Another minor issue is that a few Mega Stones (four in particular) are difficult to obtain without owning Pokémon ZA. However, trading still provides a viable workaround.Looking ahead, it would be great to see features like match replays and recording, along with a continued expansion of Pokémon and items—which seems very likely.

A lot of bugs, game mechanic base on flipping coin. You are lucky then you win. No brain no skill, annoying fk 10% fail hit you all the time and they can get 3 in a row with 10% effect. 2pmk same speed same set up and 10/10 you attack late and lose the game. Fk this game

A competitive pokemon battle simulator is going to fail. There is no basis for skill in pokemon. Its a completely luck based game

Falta el 6 vs 6, no me parece correcto que solo lo quieran enfocar a combates dobles

"Mediocre" would be a compliment to this game. There are few battle formats, little spots to have Pokemon, it's a gatcha game, Private battle options are lacking, animations are long. The background arena is migraine inducing. I truly cannot think of a single good thing to say about this game. Not one.

First of all it's 30 FPS on Switch 2 since it's the switch 1 version. Second like most Pokémon games their is way too much dialogue and third just playing the tutorial was boring and I like traditional Pokémon games.

This is exactly the Pokémon battle game I’ve been waiting for. Even without transferring Pokémon from other games, you can quickly put together a competitive team for the current meta. The UI is simple and clean, featuring all the necessary functions without being overloaded with microtransactions. I’m really enjoying the thrill of the battles in this game.

Can't finish a single, I get disconnected every game without exceptions. I can reconnect only to half of my matches and even then it's only to see that I already lost.

There are a few things that unfortunately don’t make it “THE GAME OF THE YEAR” but, the game isn’t as bad as I originally thought. As someone who played Pokémon for a decent 10 years, I’ve grown my knowledge about the game and how battles work. What I truly enjoy about those games is making strategies and analyzing everything. Pokémon Champions is literally an online Pokémon battle game where you can put all your knowledge and strategies to the test. Plus you can bring your own Pokémon from your previous adventures, tell me that isn’t the dream! Now, I’ll be really honest. The game has a few bugs, yes. But they can be solved by a simple fix update. I genuinely think that the game's image and reputation can be saved and even improved if we just give it a little more time. Pokémon Champions has a lot of potential, let’s wait for it to rise up from the ashes.

Pokemon Champions is a fun time, the battles and graphics are great, however as of the moment, due to the size of the roster of items and pokemon, it’s currently extremely centralised to a handful of pokemon, especially in Singles, like Mega Gengar, Garchomp, Mega Chairzard Y, Kingambit and a select few more. In other games this isn’t much of a problem, since there’s literally hundreds of options, however answers or checks to deal with these pokemon are extremely few and far between in Champions, or aren’t in the game, leading to very samey, boring games that are wins or losses, and if you dare want to bring a team that doesn’t answer to the top picks, don’t bother, you’ll get sweeped. Champions will obviously get better with time, but right now the game lacks flexibility and team customisation the main games have. For a game that’s supposed to be the main play for tournaments, VGC and online battles for the future, right now it leaves a very poor impression.

Pokémon Champions is an amazing game... for what it wants to do. It achieves being a fun, free game for people to battle. But it does not accomplish what I feel the community, or I, wanted. It is very strict. It only allows certain Pokémon, and it only has one mode for single and double battles. It feels just like a slightly improved version of the Gen 9 battle system. I would have much rather had a game that had multiple formats and no Pokémon or strict, universal item limits. Its graphics aren't perfect, but I feel like that is to be expected in a free Pokémon game. As with everything. This is free, so that is where the "7" came from. But still, if Pokémon Showdown could do it, I feel like this can too.

Why would they add pokemon home.. If I wanted competitive battles I wouldve stuck to the main games. Pokemon home pokemon are free to transfer, at least make it a steep fee

Do not download, the devs are greedy and could care less about the tens of thousands of hackers that ruin the game for everyone. Least fun I ever had playing a pokemon game, an absolute sloppy excuse ****!

Sure it released with a limited roster but if we’re talking gameplay in general its good, like really good.

People came into this being told exactly what it was about, what it was going to be used for, and still set their expectations too high for day 1. Yes, the game has a limited roster and item pool, but that's to be expected for a game that has only existed for almost a week. Yes, there are some mtx, but they're fairly priced for what you get, although the battle pass is kinda redundant since you can get the items and Pokémon given as rewards through other, free features. Yes, it does need work, but what MMO doesn't? That's what content and balance patches are for. In conclusion: Give it time to develop before decryingv it as hot garbage. You might be surprised.

Ignore all these negative reviews from people that say it's P2W, they spent 2 hours on the game. I've put over 30 hours into this game as of writing this review. The game is VERY generous at constantly flowing new Pokémon to you as a new player and admittedly as it has launch with a few bugs in the mechanics here and there, this title remains promising! It set out to do what was intended, be THE VGC Battle Simulator, for the public too. And it nails it. Anyone can now access VCG Pokemon at their fingertips. Most people complaining it's pay to win are probably just bad at the game and can't win to earn VP or didn't bother doing the Battle Tutorials, that give even more free stuff that literally takes 10 minutes to do. Also, you can send Pokémon in from Home, Go, any games so getting Pokémon shouldn't be an issue to people who have played the franchise before. Needs some touch ups, some custom settings for private battles, more battle themes and bug fixes, but aside from those minor gripes, it's a solid title!

I can't take away other people's complaints about issues, but across 100 matches since release, I can say that I have had no bugs, no disconnections, and yes, low framerate, but not to a degree that would make me say this game **** because of it. What this game is, is a perfect way to get into competitive if you never have before. If you expect anything but online battles, this is not the game. If you expect the same level of complexity as the current SV scene, you won't find it either, and I actually think that's great. All f2p games start sinple enough, and then add complexity gradually. Don't wait to play this until it actually has everything, if you start now, you'll learn the new Pokémon, items and mechanics like terrastalisation and z-moves as they are added, making this a way better learning curve than ever before. I have played Showdown on and off for more than a decade, but the fact that that game is more complete, is also what makes it more difficult to get into.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

The game is mid-tier at best. It's very obviously pay-to-win and a massive cash grab. The mechanics are basic, but it's a grind from the start. Graphics are ok, but the constant back and forth with ranked battles is a chore. You win and lose in a constant tug of war, freezing you in place. You play for hours and make zero progress. It doesn't feel good.

Ottimo gioco competitivo Pokemon, ottima idea, che cerca di includere persone che magari non vogliono comprare tutti i titoli principali e vogliono partecipare al competitivo. Volevo mettere 9, perché a me è piaciuto molto, ma ci sono anche dei problemi che non posso ignorare. Mancano troppi strumenti importanti, capisco che vuoi iniziare senza mettere strumenti che per anni sono stati il meta, ma neanche mettere 200 bacche inutili e non mettere Toxic Sfera con la presenza di Gliscor che senza diventa inutile. La quantità di Pokemon secondo me c’è una giustificazione, secondo me vogliono inserirli anche per mantenere l’hype e rendere ogni stagione diversa dall’altra(?) Boh non lo so, a me cambia poco comunque. C’è qualche bug di troppo, ma a me personalmente ne sono capitati pochissimi. Aggiungerei qualche funzione in più con gli amici, magari assistere alle partite degli amici, senza che siano delle semplici lotte private. Gli scambi! Mettete gli scambi tra amici, magari solo con quelli che non vengono da Home. Io comunque apprezzerei questa bella iniziativa di Pokemon Company, che cerca di includere anche chi non è proprio benestante. Ovviamente verranno incluse tantissime altre persone quando uscirà per cellulare. 8/10 Brava Pokemon Company, ma puoi fare di meglio con i soldi che hai

Its fine, just okay, the frame rate and option are lacking for singles and items, not sure on how intended and animations are standard if okay. Do think it would be better to have single player content but its free to play and easy to get competitive pokemon and just get points train and go. We should have voice acting in 2026 (again pokemon why?) and more quality. That being said its really destroyed the barrier to entry for VGC and made it so easy and fun to just get pokemon and battle, try teams etc. Its a good step but for a release its kinda meh they better improve it over time. The monetization is odd but you barely need to buy anything if you just play games and rank up (easy) starter pack is honestly all you might want and all thats you need to go. I have enjoyed it, they do need to improve it but ILCA again was never a good choice for competitive which deserves more respect. I do think this meta is interesting but yeah it needs to get more updates etc.

This game was clearly rushed and a money grab. Sure there are a lot of staring rewards, but most of the pass is blocked by a paywall. Also, they should add a way to transfer pokemon found by using in game line-up to pokemon home, it is unfair for shinies found in-game that are stuck in the game. Lastly, the game is overall laggy all around and is useless without an online membership.

Horrible game, they took a ton of features away. If the game decides you have a bad connection, which I don't, it auto selects moves instantly, which doesn't happen online in normal Pokemon games.

It is simply missing too much. There are core-Pokémon that are missing such as the Hoenn and Galar starters, the former being genuinely surprising due to Mega-Evolution being so prominent. Various core items are missing, such as a variety of the "choice" item series, Life Orb, etc. It is also missing more niche items such as throat spray, which are rarely used, however the choice of the pokemon put in the game conflicts with the idea of these items being missing. There is also no 6-v-6, and no custom rules for private matches. Performance, even on Nintendo Switch 2, is generally poor, and unable to achieve a stable 30fps. However, I am quite a fan of the User Interface and artstyle. The gameplay itself is the usual Pokemon gameplay which I am once again enjoying. It's just a case of having to "make it work well enough" over being able to do essentially the things you had expected to be able to do from the get-go. I did not expect every Pokemon from Day 1, nor did I expect any Legendries, but again, too much of the core is missing. This is what I would have expected from a Public Beta or Test release, much like how Splatoon or Sonic Racing Crossworlds did it. Even for a live-service game that will receive continuous updates, this is a poor place to start from.

Hello fellow probably Pokémon fan, this is about all its bad quirks and good quirks this is not in my opinion or being biased as I have done research in what and why this game has been receiving a lot of hate. First issue we have, even if the games free to access Pokémon it’s extremely lengthy and sometimes frustrating to get, then if you buy oh well now it’s quite easy to get Pokémon some people might grind to get. This game can be pay to win in some cases like Pokémon unite did. No matter how much money you spend you always have to go that extra mile to defeat all your opponents which is a sensation to win similar if you were gambling knowing if you just spend a little more you’ll win.This is a battle simulator that is basically well boring only for basically one percent of the fan base. There is not a single guide for beginners, also the fact is there only 1/5 of the Pokémon even though they are on of the biggest companies in the world. They also have little replay due to being stuck in battling for hours. The little mini games don’t fix this and Pokémon’s older basically battle simulator was better except for graphics, it also has more features. Its frame rate can also be compared to a game boy trying to run fortnight. I’ve been a Pokémon fan for a while but lately the games have been dumpster fires for example the game Pokémon x and y had builds that weren’t 2d wall textures, in the big 2026, Oh wait now there’s 2d wall textures. The only game from Pokémon I’m kinda hoping might be ok is winds and waves but so far with the games that have been released lately don’t buy Pokémon games till you know what you’re getting into. I hope this review will help people decide what they want to do about this game. For more information go to distrds review. Hope you have a good day, Helpohh

Pokémon Champions su Switch non è un brutto gioco, ma è abbastanza deludente. Il gameplay di base è decente soprattutto nelle lotte, però dopo un po’ diventa ripetitivo e noioso. Anche la presenza di diversi bug e problemi tecnici rovina spesso l’esperienza, dando la sensazione di un gioco con diversi problemi voto 5.

Es el juego de combates online que hemos soñado durante toda la vida, y gratis. Yo le llevo un vicio de decenas de horas desde que ha salido. Es lo mejor que le podía pasar a la saga Pokémon en cuanto a mantener los combates por turnos.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

I don't understand why the game is so hated. It's a free-to-play game, after all. If you want to buy something, you can, but you don't have to. I've played for about 15 hours now and I have to say it's a pretty good game.

This game is the worst pokemon game i ever played, Nintendo is greedy as ****

Great game, no need to spend real money to have your first team, easy build edit, really focused on battles. I am really enjoying the game.

This game is incredible fun. It's true that the game has some bugs and you can say that Nintendo did false advertising pokemon and itens that aren't in the game. However, I won't lie. I didn't have this fun with a pokemon game since the 3ds.

Pokemon Champions is honestly a very underwhelming experience. The game feels technically rough, with slow menus and clunky navigation that make everything frustrating to use. Battles can be buggy, which is especially disappointing since that’s the main focus of the game. On top of that, the lack of Pokémon and missing essential game modes really make it feel incomplete and poorly polished for a 2026 release.

Too many bugs in battles, and ridiculously this game only has battles content. How can a game be like this in 2026?

It's fun and free. That's all. The bm is very cheap. So why not I spent all my weekend playing this game and it was so much enjoyable time.

Haven't heard a single complaint yet that doesn't have a solid rational response as to why the game is better for it. I'm having a blast.

[Avis au lancement] Présence de beaucoup de lag d’input, ainsi qu’un manque important d’objets et de Pokémon, ce qui fait baisser ma note. En revanche, les animations sont plus belles que dans les jeux principaux, et la personnalisation simplifiée de nos Pokémon est rafraichissant .Si, dans de futures mises à jour, les développeurs corrigent les lags et le manque de contenu, alors ce jeu méritera une meilleure note de ma part.

Techniquement affreux, mal peaufiné, les menus et la navigation sont lent, le manque de Pokémon est flagrant. Il manque des mods de jeux essentiels également.

Been into Competitive VCG since the 2000s... this is terrible. Some animations are nicer and models look a bit better. But it runs terribly even on a Switch 2 and THE ROSTER IS THE WORST... JUST GIVE US ALL THE POKEMON. ITS A ROTATING ROSTER.... PAY TO WIN GARBAGE.