Pokémon Champions Review (Switch 2 & Switch)

It’s not looking good for Pokémon Champions thus far. Still early days to be fair, though I’m uncertain whether that’s enough of an excuse to give it a second thought. Because, as it is, many will be walking away disappointed at the low effort put into the roster and graphics. Perhaps your diehard love for the franchise might have you stick around for longer. And that’s the gist of it, put simply. 

You’ll definitely have a blast, I should be careful to stress on. The franchise isn’t where it is because it lacks an inherent special experience that fans keep returning to revel in. Quite frankly, any gamer who’s enjoyed the battle moments of mainline Pokémon franchises will find pleasure in the focal point that Champions shines brightest. It just won’t be the perfect gaming session you would hope for this far along into the series and level of tech innovation in the industry as a whole.

As always, we’ll explore all that the game offers, so you can make an informed decision on whether to add a new item to your wishlist. Ladies and gents, I present to you our Pokémon Champions review.  

A Little Housekeeping

Gamers often come off disappointed in a game for failing to deliver on expectations. But some of the expectations we bestow upon games are never items or features that the game promises to include in its playthrough. 

So you know exactly what to expect in Pokémon Champions, I’ve compiled a list of the things that it is (and the things that it’s not).

What It Is

• It’s free-to-play
• An online multiplayer with cross-platform functionality
• A turn-based battle simulator
• It’ll be the official Video Game Championships game moving forward for competitive Pokémon tournaments and eSports events
• You’ll find a focus on 3v3 singles or 4v4 doubles PvP battles 
• It includes Mega Evolution, Dynamax, and Terastallization
• You can import your Pokémon collection from previous Pokémon games, as well as Pokémon Home
• You choose four from a team of six Pokemon creatures
• Online modes include ranked, casual, and private modes
• Oh, yeah. You must have an internet connection to play the game

What It’s Not

• It’s NOT a single-player game. So, no story campaign, questing, exploration, or catching of Pokémon. Instead, you unlock creatures by completing missions and battles, or import them from your collection
• There’s no 6v6 PvP
• No PvE
• Lots of Pokémon creatures are missing from the launch roster, including pre-evolved forms, but they’re likely to be added over time. The same goes for fan-favorite held items. 
• No offline or local wireless play 
• No more Effort Values (EVs) and Individual Values (IVs). Instead, all Pokémon have a more accessible ‘Stat Points (SP)’ system

There, there. Everything should be less fuzzy now. It’s disappointing, of course, for features like offline play to be lacking. Others, like the limited roster, are temporary, with future updates likely adding more options.

Diving Right In

Sucks for newbies because Pokémon Champions pretty much throws you right into the gutter. It trusts in your ability to swim with the sharks, quite literally, in fact, given that you’ll be facing real-life opponents. Yikes. Truth is, the systems and mechanics can be a little tricky for newbies to grasp. It’s just a lot to consider to effectively outwit your opponent. Every Pokémon has its unique strengths and weaknesses. And it’s up to you to balance them out in the team of six you create. You also want to gauge your team’s overall strengths and weaknesses against the opponent’s. 

Because of aspects like stats and abilities, you have a lot of nitty-gritty to pay attention to. The stats include HP, attack, defense, special attack, special defense, and speed. Each is independent of the other, and defines the ‘class’ a specific Pokémon fits into. Perhaps faster and dealing stronger attacks. Perhaps bulkier and able to take more hits. Ideally, players boost the stronger stats with SP points, which are capped at a maximum of 32 points. All while keeping in mind the opponent’s own stats against yours.

Next up are the types, which include water, fire/flying, grass/poison, and more. They interact through a rock-and-scissors mechanic, where grass beats water, for instance, water beats fire, and fire beats grass. And yet, it gets more complex when you consider all 18 standard types, where flying types can evade ground folks, and steel can beat rock. Abilities add another layer of complexity, where some Pokémon creatures manipulate the weather, unleashing harsh sunlight. And when paired with types like fire, strong special attack, and speed, the Pokémon creature can be unstoppable. 

Patience, Friend

It’s not all carved in stone, with lots of opportunities to customize your build and train Pokémon in specializations they thrive in. It’s about patience when experimenting with different combinations of types and abilities until you hit the jackpot. And even then, you might have to consider unexpected buffs and debuffs by the enemy, such as those that slow down your attacks or increase their attack stats but not their special attacks. Imagine having to learn and master all of that on the lonesome, without a dedicated tutorial.

It definitely would have been perfect to compete against the AI before diving right into online competitive matches. Against NPCs, perhaps: learning to ride the bike with training wheels on, as it were. Jumping in as a newbie and getting obliterated can have you rage-quitting so quickly before discovering just how fun and satisfying the battles can actually get. Because it all is truly exhilarating, with so much depth, strategy, and variety to go around. Well, not considering the limited roster of under 200 Pokémon creatures at launch compared to the over 1,000 total creatures in the franchise.

To Spend or Not to Spend

We haven’t had to put actual cash into previous Pokémon games to enjoy them. And the same can be said of Pokémon Champions. Coming in without spending a dime is the highest possible level of accessibility a game can have. Not to mention the upcoming port to iOS and Android devices that should open up the player base to staggering numbers. This is meant to be a fast-paced battle simulator that you can quickly jump into, show a couple of strangers online who’s boss, and return whenever you have a few minutes to spare.

Only problem is how limited the roster is at launch, and that unlocking new Pokémon creatures for gamers who don’t want to spend actual money might turn out to be a frustrating grind. Especially considering the folks who’ve given in to buying Pokémon. Mind you, it’s not only Pokémon that money can buy. Rather than the free-to-play version, you can opt for the Starter Pack Bundle, Premium Battle Pass, and Champions Membership at $6.99, $9.99, or $4.99 monthly/$49.99 annually, respectively.

The advantage that these packages offer isn’t insignificant. You get more storage slots for your Pokémon teams, exclusive Pokémon, items, missions with potentially better rewards, music, and cosmetic flair. Stockpiling in-game currency will get you somewhere decent, and eventually, you will unlock the goodies that paying players have. The free pass just won’t be as fast, which can create a divide that can discourage players from grinding their way up. 

Technical Issues

Sadly, Pokémon Champions’ visuals aren’t at all impressive. They look choppy, with frame rate issues, and poorly optimized, even on the Nintendo Switch 2. Some players have also run into performance issues and bugs. 2021’s New Pokémon Snap and 2022’s Pokémon Scarlet and Violet look much better, with better character modeling and costumes. Surprisingly, the battle animations themselves don’t look too bad.

Verdict

There are enough mainline Pokémon games to go around with charming stories and exploration. The joy of encountering wild Pokémon grazing in the wild and successfully timing a rare catch is a treasure. But that’s not the experience that’s on offer here. 

Quite like Pokémon Stadium and Pokémon Battle Revolution, Champions narrows it down to solely the turn-based battles. Except, rather than challenge other gym leader NPCs, your competition is online friends and strangers. Now that can be intimidating, when you’re still learning the ropes and mastering the complexities that Pokémon battles can have.

At its core, it does deliver a competitive experience for pros to show off their best moves. It serves the depth and strategy needed for Pokémon tournaments and eSports competitions, with the variety of Pokémon, types, and abilities. 

Sure, the graphics could look a lot better, and the performance could use a little more dusting. The content at launch is also limited compared to all that the franchise has to offer. Baby steps, it seems, for this free-to-play online multiplayer. 

The good news is that you can always jump in at any time and enjoy a hopefully consistent stream of new updates that won’t be hampered by a predatory gacha system or plain demand for actual cash.