Rob Soener

A remake that does far too little and translates poorly to the Switch. Controls are janky and feel completely unimproved from the original. The art style is fine, even if it is not to my taste. Animations, however, are sudden, jarring and feel unfinished at times. Sound design also feels uninspired and outdated, such as dull, delayed “thumps”, occurring when your character runs into any obstacle (which will happen often due to awkward movement). Also not a fan of being forced to share xp between all Pokémon, I wish there was an option to turn it off for more of a challenge (like in previous Pokemon games). The core Pokemon formula is still there, so there is still some enjoyment to be had if you like Pokemon, but everything surrounding it feels rough, awkward, and lazy. Overall this game feels like a step backwards for the series, and is a far cry from previous remakes such as Soul Silver/Heart Gold, or Alpha Sapphire/Omega Ruby.