Pokemon Sword and Shield is more than a week old which means some trainers have already completed the main game. A lot of trainers are complaining about the game’s length being too short, though.
Playtimes vary massively from player to player as trainers have different methods of playing the game. Some go straight through the story while others will take the time to build up their Pokedex, and explore what the region has to offer.
How long does Pokemon Sword and Shield take to complete?
This means the length of Pokemon Sword and Shield will be very different for each player. We asked how long it took to go through the main storyline in Pokemon Sword and Shield on a Twitter poll. Predictably the results were split.
How long did it take you to go through the main #PokemonSwordShield story?
— Pokemon Sword & Shield ⚔️ ? (@PokemonSwordNS) November 23, 2019
The results showed that the average was around 20 hours. It also showed that a sizeable numbers of trainers took less than 10 hours while a similar number took more than 40 — proving the earlier point there are different ways to go through the game.
Sword Shield Speedrun
Regardless, it does show that if you’re an efficient trainer and just want to play through the story only, that it can be done in less than 10 hours. Some will argue that for such a build up this is too short.
One trainer has already completed a speed run of Sword and Shield with a time of 4 hours 30 minutes. Five trainers have completed it in five hours or less. Given it’s still so soon after the release, this will likely be beaten quite comfortably in the upcoming weeks and months.
Too short
Opinions on Pokemon Sword and Shield have also varied, with some of the negative feedback perhaps influenced by the National Pokedex saga. Joseph on Twitter enjoyed the game but felt it was too short: “I really liked Pokemon Sword/Shield but one problem it’s too short. I beat the game fully and all the post game in 20 hours or less. With that much play time in the game I personally don’t think it’s worth 60$. I would give it a 6/10.”
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I really liked Pokémon sword/shield but 1 problem it’s too short I beat the game fully and all the post game in 20 hours or less. With that much play time in the game I personally don’t think it’s worth 60$ i would give it a 6/10 #Pokemon #PokemonSwordSheild
— Joseph (@Joseph41391379) November 24, 2019
Another Twitter user had a similar opinion: “Pokemon Sword and Shield has so much potential but Game Freak literally launched a short fused game. I would’ve gladly waited another year for more content than this.”
Pokémon sword and shield has so much potentail but game freak literally launched a short fused game. I would’ve gladly waited another year for more content than this :/
— *.:｡ıṡѧҡѧ ❈?thank you Woojin? (@JkitsHyunjin) November 23, 2019
However, if you want to enjoy all what Pokemon Sword and Shield has to offer then you can get a lot of playtime out of it. Other trainers are quite surprised by the less than 10 hour playtime with Twitter user Meg being one of them: “Don’t understand why people are saying Pokemon Sword & Shield are too short. I beat the main story in 35 hours, and have still been playing afterwards for another 25.”
Don’t understand why people are saying Pokémon Sword & Shield are too short. I beat the main story in 35 hours, and have still been playing afterwards for another 25.
Imagine rushing through a game, and then complaining that it’s “too short” haha.
— ⭐️ Meg ? (@triforcemeg) November 24, 2019
The game is also being criticized for the ease in which you can complete the game. This has led to trainers finding ways to make the game harder. We shared three ways to make Pokemon Sword and Shield more challenging ourselves.
Did Game Freak drop the ball by making it too short and easy? Much like everything else in the build up to Pokemon Sword and Shield, opinions will likely be split.