How Long Does It Take To Beat Pokemon Sword And Shield?

Reviews for Pokemon Sword and Shield are live, and so far, it seems like critics are really enjoying it. If you plan on picking one of the two games up when they release on Nov. 15, you may be wondering: how long does it take to beat Pokemon Sword and Shield?

Thankfully, a fair number of reviews hit on the campaign completion time, which is probably the bare minimum you could spend playing Sword and Shield if you eventually want to "catch 'em all."

The folks over at IGN clocked 46 hours playing through the Sword and Shield campaign. Over at GameSpot, that team put in even more time, racking up 55 hours of playtime for the game's story. The rest of the playthroughs, however, may be more in line with what you can expect. Kotaku recorded 30 hours for the story. Polygon also spent 30 hours playing through the tale. And USgamer notched 35 hours of playtime.

Averaged out, it'll probably take most players around 39 to 40 hours to beat the main story campaign in Pokemon Sword and Shield.

But let's not kid ourselves: that's likely not all the time you'll spend with either title. You'll want to hunt rare Pokemon in the Wild Areas. You'll try to level your team up to take on every challenge, big and small. You'll face off against Dynamax Pokemon in raids. And, if you're really dedicated, you'll do your best to uncover every single secret hidden the Galar region is hiding. The campaign is really just the beginning in any Pokemon title, and that seems to hold true for both Sword and Shield, as well.

So there you have it. It seems you'll get plenty of playtime from the latest entries in the Pokemon series. Now all you have to do is wait until Friday, Nov. 15 to grab a copy of Sword or Shield yourself.