When Nintendo’s Switch first hit the shelves back in March 3rd of 2017, there was a stir of excitement. A new system from Nintendo usually meant a variety of new games; especially Pokemon. Still, with the burden of expectations, the Pokemon series would find a beleaguered home on Nintendo’s Switch. A home that has been defined by having some of the lowest rated games. If we are basing those ratings on the user Metacritic scores that is. With only one entry, Pokemon Legends: Arceus breaking the 8.0 scoring. So, what gives? Was this generation just that bad? Did GameFreak and Pokemon Company just get overly greedy, ambitious or lazy? As with all things, the answer is never truly known. Which is why I set out to seek out volunteers to send feedback about this very topic! The goal with the information was to really see what everyone was really thinking about them. Frankly, the Switch generation for me was the generation of games that brought me back into the fold. As such, I know there will be an essence of bias when I talk about them. So, the hope from this information gathering endeavor would be a more critical observation.

And oh boy, is there a stark difference in response here. As such, this generation of Pokemon games remains decisive. If there is reference to generation, this is towards the console and not the specific era of Pokemon games. I.e. Let’s Go being Gen VII while Pokemon Sword/Shield would be Gen VIII.

Fan Expectations Versus The Delivered Product

The nature that is born out of hype for a product often leads fans down a road of unobtainable expectations. We hypothesize and lean into speculative rumors about a product. This behavior results in disappointment when it fails on delivery. Even if those expectations were anything but reality. It’s often why you see people claiming to have been lead astray about a product once they finally receive it. This happened to the Nintendo Switch on launch as well. With many consumers stating they were mislead about the device’s, graphical capabilities. With the gates beginning to open on the Switch, the bevy of releases began to shuffle out. First with Pokemon Let’s Go Eevee and Pikachu. Being yet another Kanto release and one that had Pokemon GO mechanics baked in. The next to see the light of day was the first original Switch release of Pokemon Sword and Shield. These having teased a future of what was to come, however they weren’t without fault from missed fan expectations. Then, to the much coveted remakes of Pokemon Diamond, Pearl and Platinum releasing as an all but too faithful remake of mostly Diamond and Pearl as Brillant Diamond and Shining Pearl. Then to the release of Pokemon Legends: Arceus, the true first step away from the tried and true formula, but it lacked many of what made Pokemon, Pokemon. Lastly, the true open world experience landing with Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Yet these suffered a from poor performance and a feeling of general ease when it came to the gameplay.

Each release brought with it a bevy of disappointment and dissatisfaction for many fans. From having too much Pokemon GO influence, to being too faithful of a remake that it had foregone much of what mid-generation improvement had done. To being what the future of Pokemon was to look like and yet, it ran like a slideshow. You can find these complaints and more across a wide stretch of the internet and via sources from well known YouTubers and review sites such as Metacritic. They paint a picture that very much shows just how weakly positioned these latest games have been. So much so, that there’s a reason why everyone refers to the Switch as having a weaker Pokemon selection over the rest.

Sword and Shield unfortunately did not have a very compelling story to me, and most of the exciting parts feel like they happen without you. A lot of the characters were also unfortunately forgettable. It didn’t do much to advance the series outside of some shades of what Arceus and SV would expand upon. And personally, I enjoyed the DLC more than I liked the base game.

But is that factually the case for everyone out there? Of course not. No matter the game or system, a widely criticized or accepted failure of a game can still have fans. Any form of popular media will find a home amongst a large or even small, but dedicated group. So it begs the question: are they really the weakest Pokemon games? As mentioned at the start, I did supply a two question form that I promoted on my social media pages. With that, input is indeed what I got. But does it answer my question or will they present a much more diverse view? To answer that portion, I will need to explore this further with another Point entirely.

If You Never Played A Mid-Generation Refresh, Does A Remake Pale In Comparison?

To start us off on the remakes that have proven to be incredibly divisive, did Pokémon Brillant Diamon & Shining Pearl really fail on delivering the remade Sinnoh experience? That would depend on who you ask, actually. Because if you were a person who played the originals plus their mid-generation release of Platinum, then yes, these remakes were a let down. Not only did they not include a lot of the balancing that was introduced in that version, any other of its implements, such as the dedicated Giratina storyline, while maintaining the weaker story elements of the core games.

That being said, if what you only had experienced prior to play these remakes were the original releases and not Platinum, then these are fine games. They do sadly implement the exp change, wherein your exp share is always on, thus making over-leveling a real possibility for players. Yet, these games are perfectly playable for individual like me, who never got to fully complete their copy of Pearl and never got to play Platinum. Now, there will always be talk of, “oh they just have bias having been a player of the original Pearl.” To that I would also point out that the reasons a community finds something to be lacking is due to having bias towards another product that feels perfected over the choice that was made for these titles. That’s not to say that Platinum didn’t make a lot of needed improvements, it for sure did. But if you never experienced it prior then, does it really standout as the best version? Do you even still have a DS or 3DS to play it on? To borrow a term widely used in photography, “The best version of a game, is the one you have with you.”

Performative Woes Can Distract From An Otherwise Amazing Title

To echo that sentiment with Pokémon Scarlet and Violet can at times seem daunting. The games are truly fun and equally impressive. Yet their performance issues and general, desolate feel, trap it in a unique spot. They provide a truly transformative look to how we play Pokémon and yet they also fall short. The freedom to challenge any gym leader or antagonistic team base you want is nice, until you realize that no level scaling is implemented, effectively locking you in on a standardized path still. These games definitely throw out a curveball when it comes to evaluating a game as being overtly good beyond perception or decisively bad. that being said, the expanded DLC that was provided for these games, do offer great additions and implements, while still suffering from the ailments of the base games in terms of performance.

But you know what? These were the games that pulled me back into Pokémon and the games that I had the most fun in since Ruby and Sapphire. I’m not blind to the fact that they are fundamentally broken in some regards, but I also understand just how much they can also bring towards advancing the series. They introduced mechanics that will define how we approach future entries to come. These are evident within the new gameplay footage featured in the Pokemon Day 2025 presentation! So, while they have a bevy of issues present, they aren’t difficult ones to circumvent. Nor are the faithful remakes of Diamond and Pearl or even the issues with Dexit within Pokémon Sword Shield. It’s all down to how you play and enjoy Pokemon. Granted, many of you might have issues with what is present and that’s fine, it represents an issue for you and others, but it doesn’t make these games bad by default.

Rivals and Companions That Stand Above or Below The Rest

A big and often common issue with the Switch titles is that they lack character depth. Now they don’t lack the characters, they just don’t seem to standout as much as the rest. Pokémon Sword and Shield are often the targets of this critique, as both Hop and the lackluster Team Yell, being sighted targets. With Hop, he is often seen as annoying and a weaker character overall, when compared to his brother, Leon. While Team Yell lacks the gravitas of a truly evil team, like Galactic or Team Rocket from generations prior. These characters, much like any other prior one, has their own set of complications that present, no matter the game series. Some. found Wally to be a competent rival and yet, I personally found him to be insufferable. Much as many do with Hop today within the newer games. What boils down to a character being hated or liked, has to do with perspective.

Hop for all is issues of being, ‘annoying’ are warranted as having to live within the Charizard sized shadow of his brother, Leon. If you were in his shoes, would you not want to aspire to that greatness? Would you not also realize mid journey that maybe the path you are walking is not your own? Hop’s journey through the Galar region is one of self-discovery and fulfillment of a new recollection. He makes the discovery that his path wasn’t with his older brother, but rather with Sonia and the path of a Pokemon Professor. Yet, I don’t see many reviewers or content creators on YouTube pointing this fact out.

Still, this perspective is often tossed aside when many point out the flaws of Hop or even that of Team Yell. A team that is based on annoying and often, insufferable futbol fans. It’s their entire persona and ploy to be that annoying fan group that makes going to the pitch a bother. We all know at least one sports fan that exemplifies the type of antagonistic force at play within Team Yell. It would make sense for them to rally around Marnie who like many icons within a sport, often don’t want their fans to exemplify the type of behavior they can often display.

A team doesn’t need to have a vindictive agenda to be a well written team. One of the more recent teams, Team Star, tackles the issues of complacent adults when it comes to school place bullying and harassment. They can be a tool to advance a story piece, much like the antagonistic ones can be towards helping the overall ‘villain’. They can be a force to address a very really and factual issue present in society. Does this make them bad? No, not at all. They have their weaknesses

Making Your Own Impression On What Is Good and Bad

So, are these games truly bad? No, they have their own issues for sure, but they are hardly ones that make these games unbearable. To find a game truly rancid in taste, you yourself need to go hands on with it. To be touched by its story and characters before you can fully make that choice. Now, that’s not to say you shouldn’t trust prior reviews or impressions of the item. You might find you enjoy it more when others didn’t. I personally found Pokemon Violet enjoyable where others found issue and angst with it. It was the game that got me to fall back in love with the series and to rediscover my roots.

Even for many it inspired confidence in their love for Pokemon even more, “Sword/Shield and Scarlet/Violet are more “traditional” Pokemon games but they also brought some new stuff to the formula like the riding mechanics and more characterization to its characters within the story lines“ A quote from one of the replies to the form I had sent our exemplifies this notion entirely. Finding magic in all the smallest things, is what enjoying a piece of media for yourself is all about.

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