Pokémon Sword and Shield review: Pikachu and pals come to Britain

It’s clear from the off that Game Freak really did its research when it made its decision to base the new region, Galar, on Britain. I spent the first few hours of Pokémon Sword whooping with delight every time someone called me ‘mate’, or I went to the clothes shop and saw ‘trackie bottoms’ on sale. Heck, this is the first time any English Pokémon game has correctly identified the protagonist’s mother as ‘mum’, rather than ‘mom’. 

The game begins in the sleepy hamlet of Postwick, where I immediately felt at home. Nestled amongst rolling farmland, surrounded by the new sheep-like Pokémon Wooloo, I almost felt like Game Freak had taken my memories of growing up in the rural North West and Poké-fied them all. 

Greeted outside of my thatched cottage by my cheerful and mildly-irritating rival, Hop, we set off to meet his older brother, Leon, the greatest Pokémon master in Galar who is coming to present us with a gift. 

It won’t come as much of a surprise to fans of the series that Leon’s gift is a choice between grass, fire, and water-type starter Pokémon. Here the options are a green monkey named Grookey, a bouncy flaming rabbit Scorbunny, and a rather sad, weepy chameleon named Sobble.