Pokémon Champions Review

Pokémon Champions aims to continue the legacy of battle-centric Pokémon games, focusing on online PvP using the classic turn-based combat system. While it visually and mechanically resembles mainline Pokémon games, its lack of substantial content prevents it from being a definitive battling experience. Players build teams of six Pokémon for 3v3 single battles or 4v4 double battles, with moves chosen simultaneously. The core combat system, which combines reading opponents, strategy, and luck, remains enjoyable despite occasional bugs that the developer has been addressing since release. However, the game suffers from a significant lack of content. Despite being a dedicated battling game, the options for engagement are limited to 3v3 or 4v4 battles, with no option to bring out a full roster of six Pokémon into a single fight. There are no single-player challenges, offline options, or features reminiscent of past games like the Gym Leader Castle gauntlet. This content deficiency extends to the Pokémon roster itself, featuring a mere 186 Pokémon. Many popular Pokémon, early evolutions, and significant legendaries like Mewtwo and Mew are notably absent, leaving glaring holes. While future live service updates are expected to fill these gaps, the current selection is disappointing, especially for the competitive community. The competitive scene is particularly impacted by the limited Pokémon pool and a scarcity of held item options. For instance, out of 22 Pokémon prominent in the 2025 Pokémon World Championships Masters Division Tournament, only three are currently usable in Champions. Held items are largely uninspired, consisting mostly of healing berries or move-type enhancers, with few strategic outliers. Many heavy-hitting items favored by hardcore players are missing, posing a barrier for competitive players. Players can get Pokémon into their teams either by importing them from previous games via Pokémon Home or by recruiting them from Champions Farm. The Home integration is straightforward, while the recruit method involves a rotating pool of Pokémon, making it a "gacha" situation. Players get one free pull daily and can spend "victory points" (VP) to permanently add Pokémon or rent them weekly. Special tickets earned from objectives can shorten the pull cooldown. The game’s design, from menus to multiple currencies for speeding up timers and expanding storage, strongly reflects a mobile game business model, even though it's currently only on Nintendo Switch and will be released on mobile later this year. Despite the mobile game characteristics, the free version of Champions hasn't felt predatory so far, thanks to plentiful beginner gifts and the fact that basic casual, ranked, and private battles are all free. VP, the primary in-game currency, is currently earned through daily, weekly, and special missions, or ranked battles, rather than direct purchase, which helps mitigate a pay-to-win feel for now. Visually, Champions is underwhelming for a battle-focused game. Pokémon models lack texture and detail, and many attack animations are simplistic or illogical. For example, Hyper Beam is impactful, but Body Slam shows the Pokémon remaining largely in its idle animation, and Bullet Seed inexplicably spawns a few feet in front of the Pokémon. The game fails to elevate the visual experience beyond what was seen in games as far back as 2018, missing an opportunity to reignite the excitement of seeing Pokémon in 3D. One positive aspect is the training room, which allows players to boost a Pokémon's stats, swap out moves and abilities, and change its nature using VP. These changes are exclusive to Champions, offering depth for strategy crafting. However, the VP cost for these alterations is a concern, raising fears of a potential pay-to-win scenario if VP becomes directly purchasable. In conclusion, Pokémon Champions could have been a standout title but delivers a stripped-down, underwhelming experience with an unfortunate monetization model. While the core battling experience is enjoyable and effectively implemented, the pervasive lack of content, limited Pokémon roster, and uninspired visuals detract significantly. It falls short of being the definitive battling platform it aims to be, prompting players to revisit mainline games or older Stadium titles instead. The game will require substantial updates and potentially an evolution of its own to fulfill its promise.