Pokemon Sword & Shield

All other video games not related to the main farming series - Pokemon, Stardew Valley, My Time at Portia, and other indie-developed games.

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Blue Rose
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Post  Posted:

So I may be SOL for finishing the Pokedex until I can get online subscription. I can't find an in-game trainer who has Stonjourner, plus there is the Karrablast/Shelmet evolutions that I could only maybe manage to get his raids if im lucky.

Might just have to wait on it. I've only got like 34 mons left tho so ripp.
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Kikki
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Post  Posted:

You can get a one month subscription for one person for $4 (USD), which might be okay if Pokemon is the only thing you ever want to use online for.

Alternately, I have three spaces left in my group plan, too, if you want one of them. I think I'll eventually use one more of them, but I will probably never need the other two. But even if I somehow DID eventually need all the spaces, group members can always be removed later. Mind you, I'd need your profile's email address since that's how you send an invite to join the group. (You then just click the link in the email and you're in.)

If you want to try it, you can PM me, Blue Rose. If not, no worries. There could be other people around here (or that you know from elsewhere, of course) that you might be more familiar with than me who have spaces left on their plans, too. :)
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Pachi
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Post  Posted:

@ Sir Stardust thanks for the tip! I'll check it out.

@ Bluie you mean like trade each others' legendaries then trade back, right? I'm willing to~ But I'm only activating my online subscription this weekend. If you're okay with waiting until then
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Bluie
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Post  Posted:

Thanks for that, but I already got someone to do it for me! My Pokedex is all finished now.
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Pachi
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Post  Posted:

Gotcha. Congrats completing your Pokedex!!
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LeBurns
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Joined: Sep 26, 2011 10:48 am

Post  Posted:

Worth skipping and waiting?

Having read everything I can, watched vids, reviews, etc., I think I may give this game a pass. I'm not giving pokemon a pass (been playing since Gen 1), just this game. With it being the first release on the Switch it just seems like it needs a lot of polish and many things seem rushed. Note I have no problem with the missing pokemon cause to be honest I've never been able to catch them all since Gen 2 anyway, so that's not an issue.

I do feel like they will make a follow-up game, as they often do, which hopefully will upgrade the game some, or I may just wait until the next Gen altogether. Other factors I'm considering is I'd like an upgraded Switch mini made with the drift problem fixed, and I'm waiting on all the FE3H DLC to be released before getting that game anyway. So obviously I have no problem with waiting.

I'm also not crazy at all about some features being locked behind a paywall (the subscription) and I'm just not sure that's a line I want to cross anyway. Though I am aware this will be getting worse with the new games coming out, and not better.
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Sir Stardust
Pick Potatos, not boogers
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Joined: Dec 02, 2011 1:17 pm

Post  Posted:

Mm... I’d give it a solid 6.5/10. I mean, it’s not *not* fun. The core mechanics are still there. But I can’t help but feel like I just paid $20 more for less content than in previous games... Or at least content with way less polish.

Looking forward to competitive battling, though. Hoping Dynamax/Gigantamax won’t snap it in half, but when things like Moxie+Dynamax Gyrados exist, I’m not hopeful. >w>”
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Kikki
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Post  Posted:

I gave it the same rating, Sir Stardust :)

Btw, potential good news for people who need an Online Membership. My Nintendo is now offering a week of it as a Nintendo Reward, purchasable with 100 silver coins. You can use it even if you've used the 7-day trial the they offered before. Available to claim until the end of January.

I'm not positive this would work, but it should. I think you could also use someone else's code and get more than one week of online service that way, as long as you wait for your week to expire before inputting another code.

I got a code even though I have the service (I don't have anything to spend my silver coins on anyway) so I can't use it. If anyone wants my code, just let me know :)
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Night Owl
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Joined: Jun 03, 2014 11:44 pm

Post  Posted:

Having completed the post-game now, I've walked away with a better feeling towards the game. Maybe it was just the hours and hours I spent just wandering about the wild area recovering from the long, long end-game that helped out. My current Dex count is like, 303/400, and I've got friends to help me fill in the blanks, so once I complete the Dex, that would just leave the Battle tower. I don't know if I'd really want to do that though. Honestly, my feelings towards Shield are more positive than my thoughts on Ultra Moon, but UM sorta hated my guts so that might be why. First off, the Rotom Phone knows to keep its mouth shut... But my feelings on the Ultra games are a bit of a tangent.
(I'm completely disregarding the National Dex debacle because while the loss of SOME of my favorites hurt, they'll be back later on, and besides, a lower Pokedex count means it's easier for me to complete the Dex.)
I'll break this down by subject matter.

Story: Bare-bones and incredibly back-ended to the point I was shocked at how long the game kept going and going. But everything's very character-focused. Hop just isn't your rival, he's also the 2nd protagonist. It was all very structured like you'd get out of an anime series or a movie, and that's what it felt like to me at times. Which is why I think the lack of voice over made it all the more jarring to me. Going on the journey WITH Hop is really vital to how the story wants to handle it. I think that's why the X&Y "rivals" fell short completely because they'd just pop in, say hi, and then leave again. Which made them feel more bland and forgettable. Bede, Marnie, and Hop are all there. Not to mention Leon and Sonia.

Characters: Honestly where the game shined the most in my opinion. The League Cards fleshed out gym leaders that we only ever seen as obstacles before. Only a select few gym leaders EVER got the actual character treatment before (Jasmine, Volkner, Iris/Drayden, and Blue to name a few), but here they were all given a chance. Maybe except for the version exclusives, which I guess is fine, but I really wanted more from them. Oh well. Hop, Bede, Marnie, Sonia, and Leon were all wonderful. I wish Marnie got a biiiit more spotlight, but she and Bede sorta swapped places after a certain point. Bede's character arc was pretty good all things considered. It made me hate Chairman Rose and Oleana though. Which I suppose was a good thing. Hop's character arc blew me away honestly. You saw him struggle a lot and lose a lot of hope. When he completely switched up his team other than his starter, I was heartbroken. The moment I didn't see Wooloo/Dubwool in that fight with him, I knew something was off and I hated it. It made me wish that the didn't make the protagonist mute all the time, or at least give us better dialogue options, because there were so many times I wanted to encourage him. Marnie's good, but she ended up getting overshadowed by her older bro in the end, which I guess was okay, but I sorta wanted a bit more from her since her theme is really good. Sonia will make a wonderful Pokemon Professor, and I hope that we'll get introduced to the Galar region by her instead of Chairman Rose next time. Leon was a wonderful champion. He's a really, really good Champion, like I hadn't needed to reset a battle since Cynthia I think, lol.

Music: Really good. I liked a lot of the themes. Hop's theme got stuck in my head for a while there... Gym theme's super fun. I loved how it sounded like a rave.

Battles/Core Mechanics: Still a Pokemon game at heart. I struggled here and there, but otherwise it was REALLY good. If I hadn't spent so much time out in the Wild Area, I would've been in trouble in a few locations. The gym battles felt... Awesome in this game. The Dynamaxing just felt really cool to do, and I think it felt more satisfying that way. The region's a bit linear for my liking, but Pokemon games have always been like that. A few more optional areas might be nice in the future though. Like, I have no clue why we needed an escape rope as a key item now when there were really only the mines that were dungeons. Honestly, the quality of life changes alone in this game were really good. The Wild Area alone makes up for a lot. Camping is a good replacement for Pokemon Amie, the ability to catch Trade Evolution only Pokemon in the wild was a HUGE plus, Raids are super fun with friends, and just the amount of stuff you get from the Wild Area (limitless, FREE evolutionary stones/items, Berries, and Rare Candies) was shocking. Seriously though, Raids are super fun with friends, I'm able to help them out.
This generation has also introduced some of my new favorite dragon types. Dreepy line and the Applin line. They're all so adorable. Appletun's my favorite though.

I'd give the game a solid 8/10 if I had to rank it. The core mechanics of Pokemon are still there, and that's what I like to see. I can also sort of see them shift towards more character driven writing a bit more heavily this time around, making it feel like a real journey of sorts. Really, they need to add voice acting, some more side areas, and the ability to turn the Exp All on and off (or just tweak the Exp Gain curve a bit) and I think they've got a good setup for next time.
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Blue Rose
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Post  Posted:

Got a 3 month online subscription gift card despite my feelings on the whole thing, and Im almost done with the pokedex. It has been a real pain getting the 'mons though. I can't even trade something like as eiscue in exchange cause it refuses to show up for me in the wild.

Im almost done though. I think at most I just need Flapple and Dhelmise for visual records. So annoying though, I just want the Shiny Charm, ahhh.
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Kikki
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Post  Posted:

If anyone needs an extra free week of online service, you can use the code I got (I have no use for it). I have TWO codes, actually:

C02V V4SS C0PP WTJ8
C079 Q4FL 1VWR HHTT

Anyone who wants it can take one or even both. You can only use it if you have no online service when you enter it...it won't extend your existing subscription, and you can only use one at once. The free trial codes expire on...I think Feb 7th. So ithey can be input up until then.
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Blue Rose
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Post  Posted:

While hunting for Ralts with Synchronize, I got a shiny one! He's got « Puppy Doodoo » stats but considering I don't even have the Shiny Charm, it's exciting!

Just need Seedot and Nuzleaf and Ill be freeeee.
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copernicusmaximus
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Joined: Apr 06, 2013 8:57 am

Post  Posted:

I had a lot of fun with my Shield game but it's an unfortunately marred experience that introduces or enforces trends I don't like for the franchise. Dex cut is just DISRESPECTFUL when you are using the same models from XY, which CAME OUT IN 2013. The animations are sloppy as hell so it's hilarious that they tried to use THAT of all things as an excuse. Why they can't just include the rest of the dex when Pokemon Home comes out, I don't know, but it's ridiculous. Everything about the game felt rushed.

Oh, and Dynamax is a good concept with horrible execution. If you thought Megas and Z moves were bad for the meta, Dynamax throws ANY concept of balance out of the water.

Still like it more than Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. Was NOT a big fan of gen 7. I am a patient person, but that chattering Rotom Dex pushed me to my limits.
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