Pokémon Sword and Shield

The games introduce several new features to the series, which includes cooperative raid,[2] the Wild Area,[3] and the temporary transformations Dynamax and Gigantamax; Dynamax allows Pokémon to transform into gigantic-sizes, and Gigantamax which is limited to selected Pokémon additionally alters Pokémon's physical appearance and replaces their Dynamax Max Move battle technique for the exclusive G-Max Move.[4][5] The Wild Area is a fully explorable open world area with free camera movement and dynamic weather, which has implications on which Pokémon species appear at a given time.[6][7][8] A new mechanic called "Poké Jobs" tasks the player's Pokémon with completing requests, such as assisting in construction or cooking, to gain experience or rare items.[9] Pokémon Gyms returned in the games after being absent in Pokémon Sun and Moon and Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.[10] The games have version-exclusive content such as certain Pokémon and Gym Leaders.[4] A new 'Camp' mode allows the player to interact and play with their Pokémon as well as cook different types of curry to provide them with bonuses. New customization options for the player character have been added, like outerwear and other accessories.[11] Similar to Pokémon Sun and Moon, many Pokémon previously introduced in older games reappeared as regional form in the games, gaining new types, statistics, appearances, and evolutions.[12]

Internet connectivity to other players is supported for functionality such as trades, battles, and encountering other trainers in the Wild Area; these functions however require a paid subscription to the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service.[13] Sword and Shield only support direct game-to-game connectivity between themselves. The games are also compatible with Pokémon Home, an online cloud storage service for storing Pokémon, released in February 2020.[14] Supported Pokémon can be transferred to the games from the Nintendo 3DS app Pokémon Bank, Pokémon Go and Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! via Pokémon Home.[15][14]

Sword and Shield are set in the Galar region.[16] The region is inspired by the United Kingdom,[17] with its many landmarks resembling places such as the Bath, Somerset and York.[18] Within the Galar region lie countryside towns featuring cottages and Victorian architecture to the south.[19] There are also Industrial Revolution and steampunk references.[20] Many of the region's towns and cities feature Pokémon Gyms stylized like football stadiums, showcasing the games' Dynamax and Gigantamax mechanic.[21] Snow-covered mountains dominate much of the northern areas of the region.[16] Encompassing a large portion of the south-central part of the region is the Wild Area, an open world area with numerous roaming Pokémon species. Weather in the Wild Area changes regularly.[6]

Similar to many previous games in the Pokémon franchise, the player travels across the region to become the strongest trainer, fighting eight powerful trainers called Gym Leaders and eventually the region's Champion. The player and their best friend, Hop, receive one of three starter Pokémon: Grookey, Scorbunny, or Sobble from Leon, Champion of the Galar region and Hop's older brother. Afterward, the two explore a forest called the Slumbering Weald but are driven off by a powerful Pokémon. During their subsequent visit to the region's Pokémon Professor, Magnolia and her granddaughter Sonia, they convince Leon to endorse them to take part in the Gym Challenge. After traveling to the next city to register for the Gym Challenge, they encounter rivals Bede and Marnie along with Team Yell, a devout group of hooligans who act as Marnie's unintentional fanbase and are determined to stop anyone else from completing the Challenge. The player also meets Chairman Rose, who, in addition to endorsing Bede as a Gym Challenger, presides over the Galar Pokémon League and the region's main energy company, Macro Cosmos.

As their quest continues, the player assists Sonia in her research on two Legendary Pokémon who saved Galar from an ancient crisis called the Darkest Day and deduces that they are the same Pokémon previously encountered in the Slumbering Weald. After beating the eight Gym Leaders, including Piers, Marnie's older brother and the leader of Team Yell, the player makes their way to Wyndon where they win the Champion's Cup, earning an opportunity to battle Leon. Hop and the player then head to a hotel to meet with Leon, but he does not come. With help from Piers, Marnie, and Team Yell Grunt they get the keys from Chairman Rose' guard and make their way to Rose Tower. They reach the top of Rose Tower and battle with Rose' assistant, Oleana, and find Leon who is talking to Rose. Rose reveals his intentions to trigger the Darkest Day to solve a power crisis "thousands of years in the future." Leon, Hop, and the player head home. The next day, before the battle between the player and Leon can commence, Chairman Rose awakens the legendary Pokémon Eternatus in an attempt to harness its power to provide unlimited energy to Galar, purposefully triggering a second Darkest Day. The player and Hop return to the Slumbering Weald and secure the aid of the legendary Pokémon, Zacian and Zamazenta, through a sword and shield they find in the ruins, to defeat Chairman Rose and Eternatus, after which the player catches Eternatus and Rose hands himself over to the authorities. Three days later, the player faces and defeats Leon in a battle and becomes the new Champion of the Galar region.

After defeating Leon, the player and Hop return to the Slumbering Weald to return Zacian and Zamazenta's artefacts to their rightful place. The two also meet Sonia, who has become the Galar region's new Pokémon Professor. However, they are confronted by Sordward and Shielbert, two brothers claiming to be descendants of ancient Galarian kings. The two steal one of the relics and begin forcing innocent Pokémon to Dynamax. The player, Hop, and Piers work with the Gym Leaders to subdue the Dynamax Pokémon and then track down and confront the brothers. Once both the player and Hop corners the brothers in the Hammerlocke Power Plant, they then explain why they forced many innocent Pokémon to Dynamax. They forced innocent Pokémon to Dynamax as experiments on what would happen if Zacian/Zamazenta was to be sprinkled with Galar particles. The brothers' ultimate goal is to reveal the true barbaric and brutish nature of Zacian or Zamazenta, because Sonia thought that the two heroes who stopped the Darkest Day were Pokémon rather than humans. They use Dynamax energy to drive Zamazenta (in Sword) or Zacian (in Shield) berserk, and the player drives them off with the help of Zacian (in Sword) or Zamazenta (in Shield). They then are challenged to a battle by the Legendary Pokémon and allowed to catch it, while Hop follows Zamazenta/Zacian back to the Slumbering Weald and calms it down, being chosen by it as its Trainer. The player and Hop have a final battle, after which Hop decides to be a Pokémon Professor and becomes Sonia's assistant.

Conceptualization of Pokémon Sword and Shield began immediately following the completion of Pokémon Sun and Moon in the months preceding their release in November 2016. Shigeru Ohmori, who previously directed Sun and Moon, formed a team to brainstorm ideas for the title. Kazumasa Iwao, director of Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, later joined the project as planning director. One of the first ideas the team had was making Pokémon gigantic-size to capitalize on the Switch's high resolution and TV connectivity. Ohmori suggested a sword and a shield Pokémon to defeat this gigantic Pokémon; these concepts formed the games' titles.[22][23]

Game Freak approached the games based on the theme of strength and striving to be the "greatest or the strongest," which was expressed through the Switch's status as the most powerful console to run a Pokémon game, the gigantic-size Pokémon Dynamax mechanic, and in-game references to various British folklore featuring giants and other mythical creatures.[23] The concept of "growing and evolving" is an important theme in the games, and it was heavily emphasized in the story.[24]

Full production began in September 2017. Approximately 1,000 people from multiple companies were involved in the development, marketing, localization, and public relations, and approximately 200 Game Freak employees worked directly on the games while around 100 Creatures Inc. employees worked on 3D modeling; an additional 100 worked on debugging and game testing.[25] Game Freak assembled a small team to systematically plan and design the game, enabling them to seamlessly incorporate all desired elements; this approach replaced their previous iterative method, which became impractical due to the complexities of the game's 3D graphics.[22]

Before developing the games, Game Freak worked on Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! as a research project to study the Switch, incorporating a similar code base structure for Sword and Shield.[26] The developers explored various ways to improve and innovate the traditional random encounter mechanic, and after several experiments, they redesigned it to have the player encounter Pokémon freely roaming around the environment. Similarly, they considered allowing the player to freely control the camera to enhance the games' exploration experience, before consulting the staff members in the form of an internal debate, and it was ultimately included.[23]

With the transition to the Switch from previous iteration, Game Freak had to meticulously design Pokémon models from scratch to adapt them to the higher fidelity and more expressive graphics of the Switch when compared to the Nintendo 3DS.[27][28] The Pokémon design process involved planners and concept designers creating settings for each Pokémon, which were compiled into a text file outlining the vision for each Pokémon's placement in the game. They designed the Wild Area as a "wide-open space" that is different from the traditional route systems and is constantly changing where "it would be interesting to come back every day and see what has changed—something that would feel different each time."[23]

Minako Adachi and Go Ichinose composed the music, incorporating elements of UK rock music; a track was composed by Toby Fox, creator of Undertale. Ohmori stated that they included fairly short loop tunes for the route music, as opposed to the longer, more dynamic songs in the Wild Area.[23][29] The games are first Pokémon game with a title theme that features lyrics.[30]

Unlike previous core series games, many pre-existing Pokémon are not available in Sword and Shield, and only Pokémon that appear in the Galar region can be transferred from previous titles via Pokémon Home.[15][31] Producer Junichi Masuda addressed this as a potential issue in a 2018 interview with GameSpot, saying that "it does get complicated when you talk about the details and we're still figuring it out, but we do have plans to find ways to let players use their Pokémon in the next game."[32] In 2019, he explained that the sheer number of Pokémon, combined with the need to produce assets for new features such as the Dynamaxing mechanic, and maintaining a good game balance and high quality standard made it infeasible to include all pre-existing Pokémon without extensively lengthening development time.[33][34] He stated all three companies involved in the development, Nintendo, Game Freak, and The Pokémon Company, agreed to reduce the games' Pokémon.[35]

During the Pokémon Direct on 9 January 2020, an expansion pass were announced consisting of two parts, The Isle of Armor, and The Crown Tundra, and they were released on 17 June 2020 and 22 October 2020, respectively. A physical bundle including both parts and the games was released on 6 November 2020.[44] The expansion pass added additional storylines, places, Pokémon, characters, and other features.[45][46]

Reception of the games was largely positive.[lower-alpha 3] According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Sword and Shield received "generally favourable" reviews from critics.[59][60]

Critics praised Sword and Shield's gameplay, exploration, and mechanics.[lower-alpha 4] Game Informer critic Brian Shea praised the games for their captivating battle mechanics and sense of exploration.[62] Similarly, Casey DeFreitas of IGN praised their engaging gameplay, complemented by compelling battle and exploration experiences.[65] Writing for GameSpot, Kallie Plagge praised the dynamic exploration aspect and streamlined gameplay.[64]

Sword and Shield's lack of depth and innovation were criticized.[lower-alpha 5] In Eurogamer, Chris Tapsell criticised the games for their lack of depth, absence of complex dungeons and intricate lore, limited exploration option, and a restricted Pokédex, creating an illusion of scale and ambition that ultimately fails to provide a satisfying Pokémon experience of depth and substance that characterized previous iterations.[61] In their GQ review, James Grebey and Tom Philip criticised their lack of challenge, depth, and innovation, expressing disappointment in the games' execution and their failure to fully utilize the capabilities of the Switch.[66] Mack Ashworth of GameRevolution cited the subpar visuals and mediocre story execution, and he compared the games' underperformed, inferior visuals to other top Switch games.[63]

In Japan, Sword and Shield sold two million copies during their first three days on sale, surpassing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as the fastest-selling Switch games in that region.[67][68] In the US, they sold more than two million copies in their opening weekend. During its opening weekend, Sword and Shield had sold more than six million copies worldwide, surpassing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as the fastest-selling Switch games.[69] As of June 2023, the games had sold 25.92 million copies worldwide,[70] becoming the second best-selling titles in the Pokémon video game series, behind Pokémon Red and Blue.[71]