TheHonestMan

Whoo boy, where do I even begin with this one...? It feels like all the worst traits of newer Pokémon titles in a single package. Incredibly slow, handholdy opening hours,ugly bland enviroments, clunky attempts innovating. Personally speaking I didn't like the story either, which seems to ignore most of the XY cast, and is full of filler and artifical padding out. Even compared to the previous Legends game they've thrown out a lot of thethings which made that unique and fun like the rideable mounts. The only reason I'm rating this a 3 and not a 0 is because the soundtrack is nice even if you hear the same couple of songs a little too often, and a few of the new characters were entertaining. Otherwise, this game has NOTHING going for it. It's insane that it costs $100 for how unpolished and barren it is

I really wanted to like this game, and at first I was having a lot of fun with it. The new mechanics like rail griding and wall jumping are great, as are the new courses. I also love the wacky characters you get to play as now. However, the game's main selling point, the open world.. it more bad than good. Free roam is a nice novelty for maybe 2 hours before you quickly get tired of it due to lack of variety in the missions, which reward you with measly stickers. They could've done so much more with that aspect of the game like having boss races - or unlocking characters and karts that way, instead of through coins and the kamek item (which is pure RNG). Then of course comes the games biggest problem. The intermission tracks. These are long, dull, and usually amount to straight lines with maybe a couple turns. You only get to race on one lap of the actual good courses because of them, and thanks to Nintnedo, you will be racing on them 90% of the time since they removed any guaranteed way of having the traditonal 3-laps online for worldwide. There's parts **** game here, but it's heavily neutered by poor design choices. It's simply not as fun and polished as 8 Deluxe, and definitely not worth the asking price of $80.

This a game which actively punishes you for trying to have fun with it's cumbersome ultra hand controls, excessive menuing and the same weapon durability from BOTW. Even if you make something cool with the new ultra hand it will last a few seconds at most. Good for viral clips, but not an actual game. Overall, a VERY samey sequel that does nothing exciting nor addresses a single problem from the last one. Even the story is nothing special. It's laughable that this took 6 years. Aonuma probably made it to please his son who likes minecraft cause it sure isn't a Zelda experience.

Underneath the terrible presentation and performance I do believe there is a good game here. It does more right than SWSH with it's freedom of choice and larger world, and the characters and story also feel more interesting this time around. The online is also more convinient (though still not at gen 6 level). If the patch the game to improve performance I'd happily give it an 8 but as is I can't give it any higher than 7. Wait for a discount.

Mediocre game. It does get some things right like the seamless battles and quality of life when it comes to changing movesets; but otherwise this is a step back. Empty, ugly world where the battles matter very little since you can just stealth and throw the ball at everything. Even when you get into one of the few trainer battles they are too offense based to be any fun thanks to the new system. This is only a good game if you just like catching pokemon and nothing else, but at that point why not just play GO? Too much was sacrificed like a developed region with towns and the ability to battle others online.

Mediocre experience. Retains the originals flaws and has an ugly art style for the sake of "faithfulness". Sinnoh itself is still well designed and the improved pacing is welcome but there's just nothing compelling about it for those looking for a better or fresh take on the originals. Forced exp share and affection bonuses also tamper with the experience as most of the game it not rebalanced to accomodate them. You'll get some causal nostalgic fun going through the story but the buyer's remorse will kick in at the postgame where there is little to do except the same old low-effort legend fetch quest we've had since ORAS. Save your money for Legends

Don't let the overly positive user score for double pack fool you, organized raids by reddit and discord are not an accurate representation of the quality of these games. Throughouly average throughout, and as remakes incredibly disappointing compared to HGSS. You can enjoy this game casually but a 9/10 game it is not. Tacked on new content and plenty of removed content from Platinum. You may have fun, but deep down this is not the remake you dreamed of when you first thought of gen 4 remakes. And don't you think it should be? World's biggest IP here folks.

A bit too simple for my liking, but has some nice aspects to it. The Pokemon world has arguably never looked better than in this game with nice lighting, a clean cohesive stlye, and pokemon looking their proper scale for once. The game has a lot of charm with it's buddy mechanics and throwbacks to the anime like Jessie and James. When it comes to gameplay though, the removal of wild battles in favor of GO-style catching is a bummer and there's really not much to do once you've beaten the main campaign outside of battling some trainers and rematching the gym leaders and elite 4. New to the game is candies which let you boost stats further than used to be possible. This can make the game way easier but is also interesting in that it can make otherwise unviable Pokemon be useful for once. I'm also a fan of the fact you can mount some Pokemon in the overworld like Arcanine and Charizard, which makes the game feel more alive. Overall, this is a nicely presented remake of Yellow version but it just doesn't offer enough content for the price point.

Simply put ,this game is a masterpiece for Pokemon. The original content was left intact as well as elements from Crystal version - and a ton of new features brought to the table. The towns are lovingly remade and made more distinct, the remixes are interesting new takes on the songs, and the game is jam packed; With 16 gyms, rematches, battle frontier, and side activities like the pokeathlon which has a surprising amount of effort put into it. The game also comes with a pokewalker accesory to give you something to do even when not playing. There's just so much to do, and it's hard to fault the games outside of the weirdly low level curve which was a flaw of the originals. The postgame and side content more than makes up for that in my opinion though. So much better than the remakes we get today.

Not so Brilliant or Shining. There's things to like here such as the faster pacing and streamlined HM system, but otherwise this is a real mixed bag. The new additions like revamped contests feel hollow compared to how they were, and following pokemon are bothced compared to how they were done in past entries like HGSS and even LGPE. So what you're left with is an indentical game to the originals, with a divisive super-chibi art stytle, and none of the improvements Platinum brought to the table. Oh, and the amie battle bonuses, which used to be optional and out of the way, are now forced on you through regular gameplay. This is a big design flaw imo as it further trivialiizes an already easier game. Overall, I see little reason to buy these games if you've experienced the originals since it removes or waters down features and introduces flaws of it's own. What little new there is does not make up for what was lost.

I will never understand why this generation, and these games in particular, didn't fair as well with critics and some fans. Subjective things like an ice cream Pokemon aside, Black and White 2 are chock full of content and build upon an already strong start to a generation - making the 2D era go out with a bang. Seriously, the sequel concept is so much better than the typical third versions with how you really get to see how the characters and region change over time. There are plenty of new faces and locales to see, as well as cool new features and mechanics like the Join Avenue, Pokestar Studios, Medal collecting, and a vast postgame with a facility that's fan service galore. The only bad things i can really say about these Pokemon games is that the story was a little weak and had some pacing issues. The overall package is just so polished and rich, and it's a shame they don't make them like they used to.

Pokemon Sword and Shield boast expansive landscapes and a sense of ambition... at first. The more the game goes on you become aware of how hastily put together and hollow it really is. The main selling point, the Wild Area, is smaller than you would expect - and plain ugly to boot. There is not a lot to do there. The same games for the game's traditional routes which are some of the smallest and most linear yet. This combined with the game interrupting you every 5 seconds for Leon to brag about his Charizard or whatever make the game a chore to sit through despite their short length. That's not to say the game doesn't have it's positives though, Galar can be quite pretty when it comes to towns and colors, and there are some much welcome quality of life improvements like easily accessible move re-learners and nature mints. A lot of the series past tedium is now gone and getting into competitive has never been easier. The new monster designs themselves are also cool and imaginative. The dynamax gym battle are a sight to behold with their giant battles and roaring crowds. I also much prefer the new Y-comm to generation 7's festival plaza. Unfortunately, that's about all nice I have to say about the games. The difficulty is nonexistent, the story is dull and predictable, and the overall content and variety pales compared to past entries despite them sacrificing 500 Pokemon and costing $20 more. These negatives as well as the technical issues and signs of a rushed game (an important battle has no music, last gym is a single room etc.) mean I can only give these a 4/10. There is potential, but they need to spend more time on their products for something truly good. Better luck next game.