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[Fake]

The wait is over. A new, true mainline Pokémon game has landed on Switch, with Sword and Shield showing Game Freak's full use of a new console generation. The big focus is on the Wild Areas here - open terrain for trainers to explore with free camera movement - and yet, there's a lot that doesn't quite hit the mark.

 

[Evilms]

Summary:

• The graphics engine used here is an advanced version of Let's Go.
• Wild Area is big, with a high density of foliage and a beautiful flowering effect.
• The city design and urban design are more in line with Sun & Moon standards than the "grid-based" design of Let's Go.
• The camera locked in the city improves performance.
• Shadows have been improved compared to Sun & Moon, appropriate shadows are also present outside battles.
• More than 400 Pokémon, Z-moves, Mega and many online features have been removed for increased quality.
• The environments are mostly static (window dressing), the rooms and decorations seem to repeat themselves over and over again.
• The textures are generally of poor quality, highlighted by the camera's low viewing angle.
• The dynamic shadow system, on the other hand, is impressive, but suffers from a lot of flickering.
• Pop-in remains a huge problem, the scope of the rendering is extremely limited and almost comical.
• 3D models of human characters are more detailed than ever, but unlike Game Freak's statements before its release, Pokémon models have not been reworked.
• Lighting and material interactions are significantly increased compared to the 3DS version, but this does not explain Dex's huge reduction.
• In Docked it runs in 1080p in partitioned environments and in dynamic resolution on outdoor environments (864p in the worst case). The game is a little more demanding than Let's Go so the lower resolutions are justified.
• In Portable mode it is dynamic 720p, sometimes falling to 576p outdoors in the worst case.
• Technically, compared to Breath Of the Wild or Xenoblade 2 for example, the game is clearly a good notch down.
• No anti-aliasing.
• No graphic difference between portable and docked mode.
• The game runs at 30fps and seems stable most of the time. Combat scenes can cause the refresh rate to drop to around 20fps.
• Overall according to DF it's a step forward for the franchise, but pop-in remains a glaring problem for a new generation Pokémon game.

 

[Fake]

I expected worst, but dynamic resolution caught me off guard.

 

[Nydius]

Overall according to DF it's a step forward for the franchise

I have to disagree with DF on this point. The only real step forward was the presentation, namely moving from the top-down presentation to the more third person over-the-shoulder presentation. Everything that was cut to achieve that presentation change, however, feels like several steps backward.

They touch on the point here:

More than 400 Pokémon, Z-moves, Mega and many online features have been removed for increased quality.

But where is the increased quality and scope these cuts were supposed to offer? Better shadows, the aforementioned third person presentation shift, and dynamic resolution while docked? Those don't seem like a great trade off for losing many core gameplay elements.

 

[nowhat]

No anti-aliasing.

This... I just can't even. And not talking about this particular game, or Nintendo, but Japanese developers in general - and not only on Switch (where the hardware may justify the decision). I just can't understand it, I'd downgrade graphics otherwise way before dropping at least some form of AA.

 

[Saber]

Its funny that a DF delivers a better review than reviews given by "game journalists". No dick sucking, he points out the goods and the bads of this game. This what consumer should be looking at.

 

[ZeroGravity]

That's an understatement.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

Overall according to DF it's a step forward for the franchise, but pop-in remains a glaring problem for a new generation Pokémon game.

But Let's Go looks/runs better? (Viridian forest though)

 

[Codes 208]

But Let's Go looks/runs better? (Viridian forest though)

Having a locked camera position helps with that. And when a bunch of pokemon on screen pop up, LG can chug pretty bad at times.

 

[TheDuskwalker]

Weird they didn't talk about the framerate in the Wild Area while on a bike, there is some spots, like Bridge Field, where the framerate tanks hard.

 

[JordanN]

This... I just can't even. And not talking about this particular game, or Nintendo, but Japanese developers in general - and not only on Switch (where the hardware may justify the decision). I just can't understand it, I'd downgrade graphics otherwise way before dropping at least some form of AA.

It's actually very ironic. The N64 was the first console at it's time to have anti-aliasing.
Yet every other Nintendo system since, their 1st party just ignores it.

And it's not the hardware or Japan. I remember even Capcom advertised they got AA running on Resident Evil for the 3DS. It was only in 3D mode did it drop it to save performance.