Pokémon Sword - Nintendo Switch

I preordered this and received it upon release date, so this review is long overdue. I finished the game within a week of receiving it and haven't opened it since. The graphics are nice (though could still be polished a bit more), soundtrack is awesome, and it was hit of nostalgia. But that was all. The storyline felt short and lackluster, towns underwhelming, and there was just SO MUCH handholding. I understand that the game is targeted towards kids, but please respect and trust your players' ability to figure the game out. I don't remember the other games being this easy to complete. I remember grinding and struggling to beat certain gym leaders and the elite four in Pokemon Diamond when I was a kid. This game makes it too easy to level up and beat everyone. Not to mention, the gym battles and puzzles were too simple. Please give us a challenge! The after game play isn't exciting at all. At least in past games you had stuff to do. With Diamond, there was the Battle Area and lots of places to explore such as the entirety of Mt. Cornet or catching any legendaries you missed out on. If you already did everything, there were also rare pokemon to catch and competitions to participate in. But in this game, you're done after everything. The only things left for you to do is possibly the Battle Tower, Wild Area, or the once a day battle with the developer. You can't even re-battle trainers because there's no versus seeker. The towns are also something I'd like to comment on. They're just big empty spaces, and some of them you can't even do anything in. Even the restaurants are just there for decoration. We should at least be able to buy dishes in restaurants or interact with them in one way or another. Maybe have minigames or side quests? There's also the missed opportunity of just including more features to be explored in the towns. A shopping center maybe? Arcade? Even the character side quests were lacking. You also can't even watch the TV. It just displays the same thing. In previous games you were able to see updates on the weather on certain routes, get game tips, and even hear about sightings of rare pokemon after the story was over. Such a missed opportunity here. Even the path to each town was one straight line. You can literally not get lost at all. There's no accidentally venturing off the path and ending up someplace interesting. It's just a path, grass with pokemon, and trainers to battle. The distance between each town was also short and easy so there's little to no excitement there. I guess curry making is fun, but it gets old easily. Same thing for the wild area. I thought, from the trailer, that EVERYTHING was going to be like the wild area with pokemon roaming all over and you can go anywhere you want. Basically, this game had so much potential. Imagine if this game were like Breath of the Wild. No complete directions, you're free to roam and fulfill the storyline at your own pace, wild pokemon everywhere, filled with random side quests that you can do instead of sticking to the story, and plenty of nooks and crannies for you to explore. Overall, I guess I can say that what this game lacks is the feeling of exploration. Everything was so goal-oriented and doesn't provide enough freedom to venture beyond the storyline. So, should you get this game? Sure if you still want to give it a try, but not for the full price. I'm sure there are plenty of sellers out there willing to part with their copy for a lower price. The game overall isn't COMPLETELY bad. It may be fun for first time players, but it will surely lack for veterans or those who want more from the world in the game.