Very few things in life can make me as happy as a great Pokemon RPG, and Sword and Shield repeatedly left me in a state of pure, child-like joy. The elated surprise of not knowing what’s coming is something this series does extremely well if you can manage to play it relatively unspoiled (fear not, this review won’t deprive you of that), and I’m glad that sense of wonder is still alive and kicking in Sword and Shield. With every new game in this 23-year-old series, changes big and small are always made, but I’ve never been willing to declare the latest entry the new gold standard for Pokemon because they’ve consistently been a balance of better and worse. But the first mainline game on the Switch has changed that: though there is still no “perfect Pokemon game,” the 40-plus hours I’ve spent with Sword and Shield have left me comfortable with calling them the best Pokemon games I have ever played – and I’ve played ‘em all.
