Pokémon Sword and Shield/YMMV


 * And the Fandom Rejoiced: The tutorial modes are optional and using a hands off model, which means that Pokemon veterans will be able to jump into the action and newcomers can learn how things work.
 * Creator's Pet|Pandering to The Base: Charmander was given the "Overrated/Creator's Pet" stone according to some gamers, since according to the November 6, 2019 leaks, he's the only remaining old gen starters (besides Pikachu) that made the cut. This even made some gamers hate the Gen 1 Starter, since they feel that Game Freak is ONLY pandering to Charmander fans (also, that Charmander is the company's favorite), and their favorite starter wasn't given the time of day.
 * Game Freak referencing the whole Kanto region is also this.
 * Critical Dissonance: Some video game journalists loves Pokemon SwSh, even dismissing the reported bugs and concerns, but some of the fanbase has either mixed or downright hate the game (made worse by reported bugs).
 * According to Metacritic states that critics gave Pokemon Shield 81 Metascore and Pokemon Sword 81 Metascore, while the audience gives both games a 3.8 and 3.5.
 * One of the IGN writers outright dismisses all problems with SwSh, including game breaking bugs, as being bought up by gamers as being conspiracy theorists.
 * Subverted slightly with Nintendo Life's review address both the pros and cons about the game, despite rating it an eight.
 * Subverted with Eurogamer's review which stated that there's severe main issues and Dexit ain't one of them, like there's an aura that one can tell there's trouble development within the game.
 * Ensemble Darkhorse: Galarian Weezing got this big time on it's reveal for looking both classy and reminding fans of Doug Dimmadome. It's popularity only skyrocketed with the reveal of it's ability, "Neutralizing Gas", which negates any other Pokemon's ability, leaving many fans calling it one of the biggest, if not the biggest Game Breaker in the series for it's potential in battle.
 * Fan Dumb: The fandumb accuses the boycotters and some of the neutrals and casuals (who are waiting for reviews) as ONLY complaining of the National Dex being cut in half, not serious issues, like the game being rushed out too soon.
 * Averted, some IRL Poketrainers are neutral, casual, and just want to play and enjoy the game and not get into any drama.
 * Also, averted, other IRL Poketrainers love SwSh warts and all, even admitting that some of the boycotters did brought up good points.
 * Just Here for Godzilla: Like Little Town Hero, Some people are only interested in the game so that they can listen to Toby Fox's | contribution to the soundtrack, which is played in the post-game's Battle Tower.
 * Memetic Mutation: Thanks to the existence of "the big tiddy goth gf" meme, Marnie is often called "goth gf" by fans, thanks to her black clothes, shaved hair, choker, serious-looking expressions, and absolute cuteness.
 * Nightmare Retardant: Dynamaxing can often fall into this. As fun as it is to enlarge your Pokemon to Kaiju-size to fight one that's equally large, some Pokemon look utterly ridiculous as such. A gigantic Wooloo or Hoothoot (to name just two) isn't all-too scary to the typical video game fan.
 * Overshadowed by Controversy: Rather than being remembered as mainline Pokemon's big leap to the console scene, Sword and Shield will perhaps never escape the controversy of it's 60% Pokedex cut and the reasoning behind it, the announcement of which proved to be the straw that broke the camel's back in terms of Game Freak's questionable decisions and cutting corners philosophy concerning the games.
 * Ruined FOREVER: Poketrainers aren't too pleased that the National Dex was omitted and they can only catch Mons that are only found in the Galar region.
 * The Scrappy: Hop is widely considered to be one of the worst rivals in the series. He is generally loathed for endlessly praising Leon, practically showing up every 5 minutes, being too similar to Hau right down to using some of his animations, and being the personification of the hand-holding Pokemon games have taken since Gen 6.
 * They Changed It, Now It Sucks: Sword and Shield had consistently been hyped up as the best games in the franchise and the grand debut of Pokémon to the console scene, but at the tail end of the E3 2019 Nintendo Treehouse direct, Masuda announced that only Pokémon in the Galar Pokédex could be transferred to Sword and Shield through Pokémon Home, effectively ending the tradition of being able to transfer any Pokémon from one generation to another. Fan backlash was immediate and harsh. Not helping matters was the reason why, stated just days after the E3 direct: Game Freak was apparently redoing all of the Pokemon models and putting their effort into "high-fidelity animations", which was why they couldn't have every Pokemon in the game. Enraged fans pointed out that all the models and animations seen at that point were either on par with, or were straight up lifted from, the 3DS games and Let's Go. Because of this, much of the hype that Sword and Shield had built up evaporated overnight and left fans mad that Game Freak was cutting corners when they shouldn't have to.
 * To put things into perspective, the Japanese fanbase, well known for rarely being outraged over anything, was just as critical, if not moreso, than the western fanbase for many of the reasons stated above.
 * It got even worse when an interview with Masuda on June 2019 had him implying that the National Dex cut would be the precedent for all future games, meaning fans would never be able to "catch em all" ever again and essentially turning the games into a popularity contest. In addition to making fans angrier, this managed to turn off some fans from the franchise completely, seeing it as meaningless to buy the new games if there would always be restrictions on what Pokemon could be transferred into them.
 * Also, adding some leaks that appeared during November 6 2019, were half of the National Pokedex has been cut. Some gamers thought it was not gonna be this extreme.
 * Not even Mewtwo and the Gible line could escape the cut.
 * Some trainers are questioning the Galar Region's recipes. They're shock that it's confirmed that we can eat Pokemon.
 * "NO! NOT TEPIG!!!!"
 * What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?:
 * Some insane fans that are disappointed by Dexit, even resorted to harassing and even sending out death threats to the Game Freak/the Pokemon Company devs. Some of the extreme ones are trying to make it that so that no one else is allowed to enjoy Gen 8.
 * A downside to hashtag "Thank You Game Freak" is that some of those fans that are using the hashtag don't know why their fellow gamers are upset about glaring actual issues and are merely jumping on the bandwagon without a care, don't care about researching why people are bringing up these issues (i.e. GF getting rid of a huge chunk of movesets, etc.), even grouping those who are just criticizing GF's current route with the toxic fans that are actually doing the harassment and death threats. Instead of using the campaign actually just to support the well being and mental health of the developers.
 * Or worst, are shills and die hard fans that are willing to defend Game Freak and the Pokemon Company no matter what.
 * Hastag ThankYouGamefreak, which was started by the YouTuber, MysticUmbreon, was a campaign made thanking Game Freak for Pokemon, how it changed their lives, and other just as important points (i.e. boosting morale for the devs), just to counteract the negativity surrounding this controversial game.


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