Pokemon Sword and Shield News and Discussion Thread (Spoilers)

[RDG]

Actually, I wouldn't say that. Had E3 actually happened this year, we probably would have expected the DLC to out around that date (or perhaps even a week sooner).

Nintendo/Pokemon don't really do E3 anymore

 

[Light Lucario]

Actually, I wouldn't say that. Had E3 actually happened this year, we probably would have expected the DLC to out around that date (or perhaps even a week sooner).

It's possible since E3 might have featured some more details about the DLC, but I kind of expected this to come out closer to the end of June instead of the middle.

 

[TnAdct1]

Nintendo/Pokemon don't really do E3 anymore

Yeah, the Pokemon news is usually revealed before E3 (to allow it to not be overshadowed by the rest of the Nintendo news). However, there probably would have been some sort of Pokemon thing during the Treehouse Live, while I'm sure a number of things would be available for download the week of the E3.

 

[Magmaster12]

Regidraco actually makes perfect sense getting paired with Regileci.

It reminded me of Arceus and Jewel of Life, how the Zap and Draco Plate were used to power the Jewel of Life. Dragon type moves are mainly physical attacks that use basic energy from within so it makes sense.

 

[DonTrashRoom]

Japanese TV commercial for the Isle of Armor expansion. It doesn't showcase much new, but it does show Skarmory is returning.

 

[Terror of Death]

The Galarian bird trio and slowpoke line remain the best designed of the new Pokemon, not really a fan of the others. Compared to other bear Pokemon Kubfu and Urshifu don't look like they belong to the same species and there needed to be a middle evolution to better fill the design gap. Urshifu face has some dragon qualities to it and the extra fur to resemble martial arts clothing is a bit much. Gigantmax forms still feel like a pointless addition and just make each Pokemon appear like ugly failed mutations rather than cute or intimidating beasts. Calyrex seems like an overgrown christmas tree ornament Also, if it weren't for the eyes the new regis would be out of place among the original three.

The move tutor would be a perfect opportunity to bring back all the moves that were removed from S&S or atleast all the non Z-moves. Adding a few new ones most players probably won't bother with when there are plenty that could be reintroduced is a baffling decision. The cram-o-matic and max soup would have probably been more beneficial during the main game. The jury's still out on Dynamax adventures, the star tournament and towers of darkness & water. As long as they pose an actual challenge they could be decent.

One of the biggest questions that remains is if the amount of new content is both sizeable and different enough and to justify the price tag. To this day, most videogame dlc still has the problem of either being painfully short or mostly composed of material that could have easily been added before launch but was purposely left out to squeeze out some additional cash from consumers. It will be interesting to see what the reviews for these expansions are like.

 

[Light Lucario]

Well I finally did it. I wrote down my full thoughts on Sword/Shield just before the DLC drops in a few days. It would have helped to do this a bit earlier when it was more fresh in my mind, but doing it was still a fun way to spend some time and I wanted to get this out before the Isle of Armor came out anyway. I'll put it in a spoiler tag because it is long, but there's a lot to talk about and I have a lot of thoughts on the games too.

Spoiler

Needless to say. I love Pokemon Sword/Shield. I think that these are easily some of the best games within the main series. I love so many of the new Pokemon. I really like the Galar starters. I liked Scorbunny right off the bat, Grookey was adorable and Sobble was cute. I think that Grookey is my favoite out of the three, if not tied with Scorbunny. I just love how happy it is, I think Rillaboom is my favoite out of the final evolved forms and Grookey just feels so underrated compared to the Scorbunny and Sobble line. I chose Grookey is also my favorite Grass starter at this point. Scorbunny for Sword and Grookey for Shield. I've enjoyed raising both of them a lot. I may try raising a Sobble for one of my teams after the DLC comes out. There are surprisingly few new Water types introduced in the game. Plus, I got the starters with their Hidden Abilities from Pokemon Home. I might raise another Grookey too.

There are a lot of great new Pokemon. I especially love the Yamper, Hatena, Cufant, Toxel, Sizzlipede, Snom and Dreepy lines. There are some Pokemon that I wasn't sure of at first that have grown on me like the Impidimp and Silicobra lines. I'm not sure if I have as many new favorites within this generation compared to the previous two, but there are a lot of good solid designs. I instantly fell in love with Cufant and Toxel the moment I saw them. I managed to not look up the Pokedex until I got Toxel. It was so adorable that I had to see what it evolved into and see the rest of the Pokedex. As fun as it was to see some of the Pokemon for the first time within the game, it was harder for me to plan my teams. There are also Pokemon that I'm probably going to try out once the DLC lands, so that might increase my favorite lists as well. The Legendary Wolves are so cool, but I still prefer Zacian over Zamazenta design wise. The movepools for some of the Pokemon are pretty lacking and minimal though. Cinderace doesn't have a good move to help it against Water types for example. This issue will most likely be improved upon with the DLC though.

I absolutely love the Galarian forms. I'm so glad that they kept that aspect from the seventh generation. It helps to give new life to older Pokemon while making the region feel more immersive. I'm so glad that they aren't limiting it to just the first generation and I absolutely love that they gave some of them brand new evolutions. It's such a terrific progression of the concept. If Pokemon adapting to a new environment would change their typings, it makes sense that they'd also get new evolutions. It's also a pretty cool way to give older Pokemon new evolutions and I've missed seeing that. I love Obstagoon partly because of the concept and also because it looks like a giant badger that can lick you like a dog. It's amazing. Galarian Ponyta and Rapidash are absolutely gorgeous. I do wish that they gave Galarian Rapidash an evolution, but I'm happy that they finally did something with the Ponyta line and at least it became part Fairy type like everyone wanted anyway. I do like most of the other Galarian forms, especially the ones for the upcoming DLC, so I hope that they'll include a few more.

The Galar region itself is so beautiful. It feels so vast and it's always fun to explore. Some places are criminally short like Ballonlea, but I like how distinct each city looks from each other. Some of the routes are also short, but it's still fun to look for Pokemon. I really loved that they give you Pokeballs from the start. It's a nice way to avoid the tutorial and after seeing these new Pokemon, I wanted to capture them right away. I especially love how there are Pokemon walking around in the over world, as well as in random encounters. It's a terrific blend of the traditional random encounter method and the Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee method where everything is visable. It really helps to make the Galar region feel alive and makes it more fun to explore each new area.

The Gym Challenge is so great. I love the designs for the different Gyms and the Gym Challenges actually felt pretty unique this time around. I especially liked the catching contest for the Monostoke Gym Challenge. They were just a fun way to mix up the Gyms and they worked better in that regard than they did for Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee. I really like the Gym Leaders. I don't think I've liked a st of Gym Leaders this much in other games before. They all just have really solid designs and showcase their personalities quite nicely for their limited screentime. I think my favorites are Nessa, Piers and Raihan both in terms of designs and personalities. I really love that Gym matches are in such huge stadiums. It really matches with how Pokemon battles are sports in the Galar region. It also helps to make them feel like bigger deals than before. I don't know how we can go back to regular Gyms after this and quite frankly, I don't want to. Battling in front of huge crowds just helps to make each Gym battle feel more noteworthy. I also like that the Pokemon League is a tournament with the Gym Leaders. It continues to make it feel more like a sport and gives the Gym Leaders a bit more time to shine. It also works given how the Galar Gym Leaders are supposed to be on the level of an Elite 4. Raihan could become the Champion of a different region if he wanted to leave. I like battling against the Elite 4 at the end of a Pokemon game, but I don't mind getting to challenge these cool Gym Leaders instead.

I love so many of the new characters. Out of the bunch Hop is easily the best. As much as fans tend to complain about friendly rivals, I love it when they show the friendship between the player character and Hop. It felt genuine and made it easier for me to grow attached to Hop. He is extremely likable and I already felt bad for him whenever he talked about defeating Leon. I really like his overall storyline. Losing over time does affect Hop, especially after his loses to Bede, and that does make him question more about his own skills and strength. He was so focused in on defeating Leon and becoming a Legend himself that he wasn't really thinking of his own strengths as a trainer. That was a major reason why Bede's words affected him to the point where he took out his original first Pokemon Dubwool, which was pretty huge. Defeating Leon was his goal and after Hop believed that he couldn't do that, he wasn't sure what to do. He was able to overcome his indecisions to create a new team and kept trying to become strong enough to reach that goal. I love that he still played a major role in the storyline. He was basically the secondary protagonist of the game, so helping out with Eternatus and the aftermath was fitting and satisfying.

I'm a bit more mixed on Bede. He was so annoying for so much of the game with his stuck up condescending attitude. It also doesn't help that aside from Silver, I think that fans tend to overhype the jerk rivals. It was satisfying to defeat him, but I also got annoyed every time he showed up. I was so happy that he was removed from the Gym Challenge. Even though his actions helped in discovering more about the real Galar Legend, that wasn't his intentions and he was still primarily thinking about himself. Because of how irritating he was, I didn't even feel bad when Chairman Rose disowned him. But I did like where his story ultimately led to. He was focused on appealing to Chairman Rose above all else, so much like Hop, Bede didn't really have a goal once he was removed from the Gym Challenge and he had no one for support until Opal showed up. While I don't think he was that into becoming a Gym Leader, having his own goal clearly helped to lighten Bede up. I really loved how his eyes look clearer when you battle him as a Gym Leader and he talks about showing off the beauty of Fairy type Pokemon. It shows that he is at least in a better spot emotionally now that he isn't completely focused on following Chairman Rose's orders. Prior to the DLC, I was wondering why he didn't become a Psychic type Gym Leader given his team, but Fairy type worked too given some of his popular Pokemon were still Galarian Rapidash and Hattene. I especially liked the crowd telling him to start over instead of giving up after he loses in the Pokemon League. I thought that was a good lesson to take away since Bede still had a path to becoming a strong trainer, even if it wasn't what he originally wanted to set out to do. While I still find early Bede annoying and frustrating, I think I have warmed up to him to where I can say that I do like his character. I don't think he would be one of my favorite rivals like Hop is, but I think he works ultimately pretty well given what his storyline was about and lead up to in the end.

Marnie is cool and likable, but she really needed more screentime. She doesn't really appear as much compared to Hop and Bede. Hop is the main rival and secondary protagonist, while Bede is the main antagonistic rival, so they both had a solid amount of meaningful scenes. Marnie felt a bit too minimal by comparison. I think that part of the issue might be because they wanted to save the connection between her and Team Yell a secret for so long, but it didn't really amount to much. She just lacked the screentime to really stand out to me outside of her design. She is pretty cool and I like that she also becomes a Gym Leader. She is more into making people happy with her cheers, which seems to be the result of Team Yell cheering for her and how she cheers for the player character near the end of the game, but if she had a couple more scenes or a more clear challenge to overcome like the other rivals had, she might have stood out more for me.

I also really like Leon. He's fun and likable right from the start. I also do like how he does act like an older brother, particularly when he's worried about Hop when he was having such a hard time dealing with Bede's insults. He has so much charisma that it's no wonder he became so beloved in Galar. I especially liked how he has Charizard protect the player trainer and Hop when he realizes that Eternatus was going to break for its Pokeball. It just showed how caring and protective he really is. There's so much hype for Leon that it does feel like a huge deal when you defeat him. It also helps that his team was pretty tough for both of my teams. His reactions to losing at least in the post storyline also show that he's dealing with losing for the first time. Leon might be my favorite Champion, or at least pretty high on the list, since he's so fun, likable and had a pretty consistent presence throughout the game.

The storyline this time around felt much more character focused. There was a greater emphasis on just learning about the region with Sonia, Hop and to a lesser degree Bede overcoming their own personal conflicts and just completing the Gym Challenge. There wasn't a looming threat in the form of an evil team. I don't think that this was bad. I think this fit with how they clearly wanted players to explore more of Galar and especially the Wild Area, but it felt noticeably different. Gyms are usually part of the main focus in a Pokemon game alongside with defeating an evil team, so removing that made the journey almost feel too laid back. Team Yell obviously wasn't going become a major threat. While calling them annoying would be accurate, they were mostly just boring to me. They didn't have the ridiculous awesome flare of Team Skull and mostly served as Marnie's cheerleaders who blocked your way from time to time. The best part about them is easily Piers since he's the cool Dark type Gym Leader fans have wanted for ages. I don't think that the twist with Chairman Rose comes out of nowhere, but I think that the hints were too minimal at best. It also doesn't help that they don't really explain why he feels like he has to take such drastic measures right then and there. Although, I appreciate that they didn't make the villain twist that obvious. I think most fans expected it, but the game didn't spoil it like they did with Lusamine in Sun/Moon. Oleana was pretty cool as the second in command, especially when you see how emotional she can be later on in the game. I also really like Sonia. I like how she becomes more interested in exploring the Galar legends over the course of the game. She was doing it just to help out her grandmother at first and she learned so much that she became the new Professor instead. I liked that moment a lot primarily because I was thinking to myself that Sonia shows up so much that she should be the Galar Professor instead and then it happened.

The post storyline itself was pretty solid. I've seen some people say that it's better than the main storyline. I can kind of see that given that there's a bit more focus on the main objective, but I disagree. It is a good storyline, but it can't really stand on its own. It's basically a way to deal with the aftermath of the Eternatus aftermath and give closure to Hop's character. Plus, I thought that the two brothers were so annoying, came virtually out of nowhere and I couldn't handle them with even more screentime. I thought it was pretty cool to save catching Zacian and Zamazenta until the post storyline. It felt refreshing and fitting given that there was already a lot going on to stop Eternautus. It felt like a natural continuation of the storyline, gave players the chance to interact with the Gym Leaders again, gave Piers more screentime and the pacing was pretty good. It didn't feel too short or too long. I love that Hop was still able to catch one of the Legendary Wolves. Even though he was still dealing with his defeats and not being able to defeat Leon, Hop's kindness was what ultimately allowed for him to be chosen as one of the heroes of legend alongside a Legendary Pokemon.

I was also pretty happy with Hop choosing to become a Pokemon Professor. What he was describing during the battle sounded more along the lines of a Pokemon Ranger, but that spin-off series hasn't been relevant in ages sadly. Plus, there aren't a lot of professions established within the main series and there wasn't another Gym for Hop to take over either. I think it worked in the sense that Hop was able to accept that he wasn't strong enough to defeat either the player character or Leon and that he was able to find his own goal. It was also kind of the opposite of what happened with Leon and Sonia during their journey. Hop became a Professor like Sonia while the player character becomes the Champion like Leon did. It also helps that being a Pokemon Professor doesn't mean that he can't battle since we have Professor Kukui. He's still ultimately in a happier place finding his own unique goal instead of chasing after another trainer, which I think was better for Hop's self-esteem. He is still one of the strongest trainers in the Galar region, but he found his own purpose and his Legendary Pokemon chose him not because of his battle skills, but how much he loves and cares for Pokemon, which is absolutely fantastic.

There are so many great features in the game. The Wild Area is fantastic. Even though I've gone through it multiple times in both games, it never gets old. It's always fun to explore, see what new Pokemon are available and check out the Pokemon Dens. It's no wonder that they wanted to include more Wild Areas in the DLC because this is so much fun and gives players a taste of a open area within a Pokemon game. The graphics are noticeably weaker in the Wild Area, as well as in certain large cities. While that is a problem, it ultimately doesn't bother me that much. Graphics are obviously important for a video game, but it usually doesn't make or break a game for me either. Plus, I'm willing to cut them some slack given that this is the first new generation that they've had to develop for a console system. It is a bit frustrating that Pokemon can be too difficult to find within the Wild Area though. I liked that you couldn't capture some Pokemon until you got some badges. You could still battle them for experience, but you couldn't capture them, which was a good way to prevent players from just breezing through the game with an overpowered Pokemon.

The Dynamax feature is also pretty cool. I don't think it's that popular and I can kind of see why. It's basically a fusion of Mega Evolution and Z-Moves. As much as I miss Mega Evolutions, I can understand why the past two gimmicks have been more widely available. It makes it easier to showcase something like Dyanamax throughout the game when you don't have to have a specific Pokemon to use it. Plus, it does make the Gym battles more dramatic when it comes down to giant Pokemon battling it out. Not to mention it can make the battles more difficult. Max Raid Battles are also another major selling point for Dynamax. It's a really intense way to battle, find more Pokemon and battle with other players. Having AI trainers to battle alongside with can also be helpful, even though they often aren't helpful in some of the stronger Max Raid Battles. The Gigatamax Pokemon are pretty cool and have some pretty solid designs. As overexposed as Charizard is at this point, Gigantamax Charizard is just fantastic. I've found so many cool and rare Pokemon from Max Raid Battles. I've also found so many Shiny Pokemon from joining in other players Max Raid Battles, including a few of the Gigantamax Pokemon.. I've found seven in Sword and six in Shield. I'm usually lucky enough to find one Shiny Pokemon per generation, so I don't know how that keeps happening, but I'm happy about it.

Max Raid Battles, along with the Wild Area events, are one reason why I disagree that there's nothing to do after the storyline. I've been so focused on getting Pokemon during each of the Wild Area Events that I haven't had much time to do anything else with the games for months. Granted, part of this probably also comes down to my pace at playing the game. I think it took me around forty or fifty hours to complete the storyline, but going into Pokemon Dens, trying to find some Gigantamax Pokemon and discovering Shiny Pokemon is a lot right there. I do wish that they made Pokeballs specifically for Dynamax/Gigantamax Pokemon. It is frustrating to spend so much time battling a Pokemon only for it to break. I've also missed out on capturing some Shiny Pokemon due to the one chance to catch them method, so that is upsetting. At the very least, I hope that it will be possible to get more Master Balls in the DLC. I could see that happening at least during the Crown Tundra since there will be Legendary Pokemon in the Pokemon Dens as well.

I really like Pokemon Camp. It's a cute feature to interact and play with your Pokemon. I do miss being able to pet them, but being able to see your Pokemon move around and interact with your other team members is really great. It's especially cute to see them play with different toys. It's also a cute way to increase your Pokemon's friendship and give them a bit more experience. It's adorable how your Pokemon keep running around, wanting to play with you, falling asleep waiting for you and playing with other Pokemon too. Being able to make curry is also pretty cute, although I still haven't gotten it down completely. The Curry Dex is also a bit much. I don't think that they needed to include that many recipes. I wish that it was easier to farm berries, especially the EV reducing berries. The new methods of EV training are pretty neat, but I'm still more into EV training the old fashion way for at least my main teams at the moment.

The trainer customization does feel a bit too limited to me, mainly for the clothing. There is a good variety, but I think my problem is that the color scheme for most of my favorite colors like blue, green and purple are too dark or pale. They just don't look appealing to me compared to some of the other outfits. Having the different Gym outfits available does help, but I really hope that there will be better outfits in the DLC. The male character still has fewer options compared to the female character too. I like that we do get to see what kind of hairstyle we can choose before buying it. The League cards are also a fun way to showcase our outfits. The Y-Comm is a pretty solid way to interact with other players. It's better than the Festival Plaza at least. I do wish that it was faster with updating Max Raid Battle listings though. They also really need to improve on maintaining the connection since it gets lost often in the middle of Max Raid Battles. To be fair, it is hard to say how much that would due to their servers, if it's related to the other players or if it's a problem from my own Internet connection.

I watched a review on Pokemon Sword/Shield that described them as not the best games in the main series, but that they are the most fun to play through. That line always sticks out to me because it's so fitting. These games aren't perfect by any means and there are some valid complaints out there, but they are so much fun to play through. Even going through the Wild Area a few times is really fun to do. It's genuinely sad that the all of the controversies might stand out more to people than the actual games because there is a lot to enjoy about Sword/Shield. I love the new Pokemon, I love so many of the new characters, exploring the Galar region is terrific, most of the new features are wonderful and there are some good quality of life improvements, such as reducing the need to level grind. These are easily within my top five favorite games within the main series, possibly even within the top three. I'm still not sure where Sword/Shield would land for sure due to how they are still somewhat recent and the DLC could play a big factor in determining that as well. For now, I think that they're really fun solid games that I enjoyed. I eagerly await the first half of the DLC to drop in order to have even more fun playing through these games.

 

[DonTrashRoom]

Some more details on the Isle of Armor part of the Expansion Pass revealed:

• NPC and wild Pokemon levels scale to match your Pokemon.
• There's a side quest where you have to find Alolan Diglett.
• The player must complete three trials in order to earn the dojo's sacred armor.
• The move tutor accepts Armorite Ore as payment.
• Players will be able to go to the Isle of Armor as soon as they reach the Wild Area in the main game.

SOURCE 1
SOURCE 2
SOURCE 3

 

[Light Lucario]

Level scaling sounds amazing. All this time, I just assumed that the Isle of Armor would be treated more as an extended post storyline content, but I think it's much better that they went in this direction instead. It doesn't prevent people who just got the games or haven't completed the storyline from checking out the new area, but it also doesn't make it completely easy for people who have finished the storyline and have level one hundred Pokemon. It sounds like a good way to balance out the area so that anyone can potentially enjoy regardless of where they are in the main storyline.

I've also heard that the new customization options are available right after you get to the Isle of Armor, which is pretty cool. I thought that they'd be slowly unlocked, ut having the chance to get some new outfits or hairstyles right away sounds much better too. I just hope that some of the new clothing will look more appealing to me.

 

[RDG]

Nintendo WON'T refund those who purchased the wrong DLC for whichever version they have Nintendo won’t refund if you have purchased the wrong DLC for Pokemon Sword & Shield

 

[Light Lucario]

There is going to be a Pokemon Presents livestream tomorrow morning at 6AM PST. It is going to feature information on the Expansion Pass for Pokemon Sword/Shield, but there might also be some other new information given that the Japanese livestream is called Pokemon New Product Presentation. We might get some news on other spin-off titles. We still don't know what Detective Pikachu for the Switch is going to be like and we haven't heard any new details for Pokemon Sleep since it was announced either. I don't know if we'll get a ton of information, but they might announce some upcoming spin-off titles. I doubt that they'd be ready to announce any new main series titles. They'd probably want to keep the focus on the DLC until after they release the Crown Tundra anyway.

I'd honestly just be happy if they revealed a couple of more new Galarian forms for the Isle of Armor. I like Galarian Slowpoke and Slowbro, but I really wanted to have a couple of more new ones included both waves of the DLC, if only because I just love the regional form concept so much. It's amazing that I was initially turned off by the regional form concept in Sun/Moon. I thought that it would be better to just make brand new Pokemon instead, but now I think regional forms give new life to older Pokemon even more so than Mega Evolution did. I don't think the Vulpix or Ponyta lines got nearly that much attention prior to their regional forms.

 

[DonTrashRoom]

I don't think the Vulpix or Ponyta lines got nearly that much attention prior to their regional forms.

I think the same can be said for Farfetch'd and Corsola, since their Galarian forms can evolve unlike their non-regional forms. In competitive, Galarian Farfetch'd is seeing a lot of usage in Little Cup, and Galarian Corsola was actually banned from that format because of its defensive stats and typing.

 

[Light Lucario]

I think the same can be said for Farfetch'd and Corsola, since their Galarian forms can evolve unlike their non-regional forms. In competitive, Galarian Farfetch'd is seeing a lot of usage in Little Cup, and Galarian Corsola was actually banned from that format because of its defensive stats and typing.

That's true. I think fans wanted an evolution for Farfetch'd for a long time, so getting that for its regional form was pretty exciting. Being so useful in battle is definitely a big selling point too, especially for Galarian Corsola.

 

[creator]

Anyone playing the DLC yet? I think I'll buy it tonight.

 

[DonTrashRoom]

So, here's a list of every returning Pokemon in the Isle of Armor expansion:

Spoiler: Returning Pokemon list - IoA

Sandshrew
Sandslash
Jigglypuff
Wigglytuff
Psyduck
Golduck
Poliwag
Poliwhirl
Poliwrath
Abra
Kadabra
Alakazam
Tentacool
Tentacruel
Slowbro
Magnemite
Magneton
Exeggcute
Exeggutor
Cubone
Marowak
Lickitung
Chansey
Tangela
Kangaskhan
Horsea
Seadra
Staryu
Starmie
Scyther
Pinsir
Tauros
Porygon
Igglybuff
Marill
Azumarill
Politoed
Dunsparce
Scizor
Heracross
Skarmory
Kingdra
Porygon2
Miltank
Blissey
Whismur
Loudred
Exploud
Azurill
Carvanha
Sharpedo
Shinx
Luxio
Luxray
Buneary
Lopunny
Happiny
Magnezone
Lickilicky
Tangrowth
Porygon-Z
Lillipup
Herdier
Stoutland
Venipede
Whirlipede
Scolipede
Petilil
Lilligant
Sandile
Krokorok
Krookodile
Zorua
Zoroark
Emolga
Foongus
Amoonguss
Mienfoo
Mienshao
Druddigon
Bouffalant
Larvesta
Volcarona
Fletchling
Fletchinder
Talonflame
Skrelp
Dragalge
Clauncher
Clawitzer
Dedenne
Klefki
Rockruff
Lycanroc
Fomantis
Lurantis
Comfey
Sandygast
Palossand

Oh, and Magearna is transferable now.

 

[Light Lucario]

Anyone playing the DLC yet? I think I'll buy it tonight.

I played it a bit for Sword earlier today and I'm really enjoying it thus far. It's so fun to explore another Wild Area and see a lot of returning Pokemon. I've missed going on catching sprees outside of Max Raid battles. Most of the new characters are pretty fun and I'm really enjoying being at the Dojo. I haven't checked the new customization options for the male character yet, but they did include a few more options for the female trainer that I liked. I spent a good couple of hours playing on the Isle of Armor and it still felt like I just scratched the surface.

If you already enjoyed Sword/Shield and want something new to do with your team, I think that it would be worthwhile to buy the DLC, especially since you'll also be able to get the Crown Tundra for the fall.

 

[RDG]

Nintendo WON'T refund those who purchased the wrong DLC for whichever version they have Nintendo won’t refund if you have purchased the wrong DLC for Pokemon Sword & Shield

never mind: Nintendo of America says it is resolving issues for players who purchased wrong Pokemon Expansion Pass

 

[Terror of Death]

Isle of Armor dlc assessment.

Pros:
+More customization. New bicycle, hair and clothing options look nice.
+Animations for a few move tutor attacks and first encounter with Kubfu. Favorites are Meteor Beam, Grassy Glide and Burning Jealousy. The Kubfu cutscene is one of the very few good ones in the game since it successfully gave it some personality and charm.
+ Restricted sparring poses more of a challenge than story missions. Gauntlet battles, type disadvantages, level capping and limited hold item and healing options force you to use Pokemon teams you normally wouldn't.

Cons:
- Short and dull story content. Narrative is low stakes and the new characters aren't at all that interesting or well developed. The rivals dialogue wasn't programmed to acknowledge the players current accomplishments and all their boasting is annoying. Takes a little under 2 hours to complete the story, 4 if you intentionally stretch things out.

- Story only has about a dozen brief trainer battles and level scaling doesn't mean much. Trainers don't possess full teams and have several stage one and two Pokemon with weak early level attacks. No complicated strategies are required to beat them and you have to severely handicap yourself to make things even remotely difficult.

-Side missions are just fetch quests and standard training. Chase a few slowpoke, locate an excessive amount of diglett and level up Kubfu to a certain point. Very tedious tasks that don't take much skill and are meant to artificially lengthen an already short expansion.

-New wild area isn't much better. The environments are more diverse than the base game but they suffer because they are even wider and emptier. There's a few Pokemon and hidden items dotted about but it's devoid of trainer battles and puzzles to make things more lively and fun to traverse.

-Pokemon following behind you is the worst it's ever been. They have a hard time keeping pace with the player and sometimes will just stand still or randomly stop in their tracks. They teleport more than they do flying and walking. This feature cannot be used in the base game and the Pokemon have the exact same animations they do when in camp.

-Less than two dozen new attacks from the move tutor. They don't change up the game that drastically and I would have preferred the old moves they took out to be brought back instead.

-Several performance issues. The usual slowdown when biking, lag during online play, Pokemon and parts of the environments clipping, loading slowly and getting stuck. No improvements over the base game despite having months to work out all these kinks.

- No visual improvements. It seems like little to none of the money they earned from last year went into the expansion. Muddy textures, flat and mismatched trees and landscapes, poor lighting and shadows. I didn't expect a gigantic graphical leap but it still looks like a mid era ps3 & xbox 360 title at best.

Overall, it's an extremely underwhelming first half that doesn't seem like its entirely worth the price of admission. They could have easily given it away for free as a thank you for players making Sword and Shield some of the highest selling Switch games. And also as an apology for saying balancing and animations were the main reasons for excluding certain Pokemon. Crown Tundra is supposed to have a ton more content so maybe the majority of the $30 is meant for it. It's hard to say at the moment if the dlc route will end up being a better alternative to a third version.

 

[Dr.Pepper]

I kept meaning to post in here, but I thought the DLC was a bit underwhelming. It was mostly just chasing after some Slowpokes and training Kubfu. Speaking of which, why in the heck is Kubfu a legendary. There is nothing about this creature that screams “legendary”. It evolves, there is more than one, and it’s stats are average.

 

[DonTrashRoom]

New presentation for the DLC dated for September 29 at 6:00am PT/9:00am ET/1:00pm UTC