Fansided

Ranking the top 10 games on Nintendo Switch

By Gerald Bourguet

Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images /
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Nintendo Switch
Pokemon Sword on Nintendo Switch (image via press kit) /

6. Pokemon Sword and Shield

I say this as a diehard, lifelong fan of games like Zelda, Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart: Pokemon Sword/Shield is not the best Nintendo Switch game, but it very well might be its most addicting.

There’s been a lot of controversy and debate online about the flaws of this game, which mainly revolve around not including the full Pokedex and not being able to transfer past generations of Pokemon into the game (which you could for basically every other Pokemon game ever). To all that I say: I honestly could not have fathomed trying to “catch ’em all” if all 890 Pokemon in the full Pokedex had been included. There’s already so much to do in this game it can be overwhelming.

That’s probably not the case for some PokeMasters who have been here for decades, but even for them, there’s a wealth of new features and massive areas to explore that make this a massive time-suck in the best way possible. Seriously, you can blink playing this game and lose two hours like that. Basically, this is the Pokemon experience players have been yearning for deep down since they first picked up Pokemon Red and Pokemon Blue back in 1996. A fully 3D, open world Pokemon experience, complete with 400 Pokemon to catch and train, online functionality and dozens of new features to make the game more convenient and streamlined? Hell yes.

No, the original 151 Pokemon aren’t all included yet, but DLC is coming this summer and later this fall with more Pokemon and side quests included. Is it a money grab? Sure. Does the game kind of dry up after you’ve completed your Pokedex and finished off the main campaign? A bit. But bear in mind, that process will have you hooked for 100-125 hours before you get to that point, and there’s still new skills, new moves and other modes to try like Battle Tower once you complete the main story. Pokemon Sword and Shield aren’t perfect (my God, Hop is the lamest “rival” I’ve ever seen), but the way it transports you right back to childhood makes for one of the most addicting video game experiences of all time.