Pokémon Sword | $25 | Amazon
Having spent the past year catching up on all the games I missed since I stopped playing in college, I can tell you for a fact that the Pokémon franchise has gotten real weird with it in recent years. From Mega Evolutions to Z-Moves to Dynamaxing and Gigantamaxing (which are two different things, mind you), the lore is pretty much inscrutable at this point. Despite that, Pokémon Sword and Shield were a nice reset for the series after the breakout success of Pokémon Go. As much as I, admittedly, complained about the lack of a national Pokédex at first, putting in over 100 hours taught me to appreciate Max Raid Battles in the Wild Area, farming candies to power up my Pokémon faster, and kicking Hop’s ass over and over again. While its Shield counterpart is still near full price, you can pick up Pokémon Sword and discover for yourself what the hell I’m talking about in your journey through the Galar region.
This story was originally published by Gabe Carey on 11/16/2021 and updated by Joe Tilleli with new information on 08/19/2022.