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Pokémon Sword and Shield Expansion Pass

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Pokémon The Isle of Armor
Developer(s)Game Freak
Publisher(s)The Pokémon Company
Nintendo
Director(s)Shigeru Ohmori
Producer(s)
Artist(s)
  • James Turner
  • Suguru Nakatsui
Writer(s)Toshinobu Matsumiya
Composer(s)
  • Minako Adachi
  • Go Ichinose
  • Hitomi Sato
SeriesPokémon
Platform(s)Nintendo Switch
ReleaseJune 17, 2020[1]
Genre(s)Role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Pokémon The Isle of Armor[a] is the first expansion pack DLC for the 2019 role-playing video games Pokémon Sword and Shield on Nintendo Switch and part of the Pokémon Sword & Shield: Expansion Pass.[b] It was developed by Game Freak and published by The Pokémon Company and Nintendo and released on June 17, 2020, for Nintendo Switch.[2] It is set on the coastal island name The Isle of Armor, based on The Isle of Man, which is off the coast of the Sword and Shield's fictional region of Galar.[3] The player controls the protagonist during their journey through the island, home to the former champion of the Galar region and his family. Isle of Amour's main gameplay consists of training the newly introduced Pokémon named Kubfu. Completing the training will result in Kubfu evolving into one of two forms of the Pokémon named Urshifu.

Gameplay

Main article: Pokémon Sword and Shield § Gameplay

The island the expansion pack is set on is one inter-connected "Wild Area", a free roaming open world with a free moving camera and dynamic weather, which has implications on which Pokémon species appear at a given time.[4] Additionally, "Raid Dens" appear which are little arena for battling and catching 'Dynamaxed' and 'Gigantamaxed' pokémon. New to the game are the trials. These trials are iniciated by the island's dojo master and former Galar Champion, Mustard, and are need to be completed in order to forward the story. The trials involving battling Pokémon and collecting items for "Max Soup", used for "Gigantamaxing" Pokémon.[5] These trials grant the players access to Kubfu, a Pokémon that can be trained to be evolved into either a dark type or water type version of Urishfu. There is also the "Cram-o-matic", a machine that resembles the Pokémon Cramorant. This machine combines items into creating newer, and sometimes rare, items. A returning feature from the Pokémon Let's Go games is the player's leading Pokémon can follow them in the overworld.[6] A new form of battling was introduced name "Restrictive Sparring", which limits the types of Pokémon the player can bring to a battle.

Pokémon

The expansion introduces the legendary Pokémon Kubfu and it's evolution Urishfu. These Pokémon are central to expansion's plot and it's themes of growth. Additionally, a regional form of Slowpoke and one of it's evolutions, Slowbro have been added.[c][7] The expansion also adds new Gigantamaxed forms for Venusaur, Blastoise and the region's starter Pokémon.[8] The expansion pass also includes the Mythical Pokémon Zarude, which is a pivotal character in the 23rd Pokémon Movie.[9][10] Finally, the island contains 108 returning Pokémon that were not seen in the base game,[11] despite previous statements for not wanting to add Pokémon past the release of the base game.[12] However, you can also get these Pokémon into the game without the use of the expansion with Pokémon Home or trading.[13]

Synopsis

The player arrives at the island via train from their home town.[14] Once at the island, the player meets up with a new rival, exclusive to the version of the game. You meet Avery if playing Pokémon Shield and Klara if playing Pokémon Sword. Due to a mix up, a man at the island dojo thinks you are a new student and then engages with the player in a Pokémon Battle. The player is then prompted to visit the "Master Dojo". At the dojo, the player meets the dojo's master and former region champion named Mustard, who challenges the player to a battle. Once the player has won the battle, Mustard declares that the dojo is at max capacity and initiates the "three trials", the winner of which will be given the "secret armor" of the Master Dojo.

The first trial is revealed to be chasing after and defeating three fast Slowpoke after they steal the rival's Dojo Uniform. After the player defeats all three Slowpoke alone, Mustard lets everyone who at least managed to catch up to the Slowpoke a pass to the second trial. The second trial involves finding "Max Mushrooms" for the dojo's secret recipe, the Max Soup, which allows certain Pokémon to Gigantamax. Upon finding Max Mushrooms, with which the rival challenges the player to a battle for the mushrooms. After beating the rival, the player is able to collect the mushrooms and return to the dojo, where they and their rival are revealed to be the only ones who were able to pass the trial. The last trial is a Dynamax battle between the player and the rival at the dojo's Battle Court. The player emerges victorious, granting the player the "secret armor" of the Master Dojo: the Legendary Pokémon Kubfu.[15]

After the player has obtained Kubfu, Mustard tasks the player with raising its friendship. While the player can use standard friendship methods, Mustard recommends that the player take Kubfu to visit various spots around the island. During this time only, Master Dojo Students will be present at these different points across the island allowing the player and Kubfu a place to view and battle. Once the player and Kubfu become the best of friends, Mustard tells the player to choose one of the "Towers of Two Fists", the "Tower of Waters" or the "Tower of Darkness", and challenge it with Kubfu. Regardless of which tower the player chooses, Mustard will be waiting at the top floor, ready to challenge them with his own Kubfu. After defeating Mustard, the player can let Kubfu examine a special scroll that allows it to evolve into Urshifu. Depending which tower the player chooses, the types and moves Urishfu obtains will be different.[16]

Development

The expansion pass was first announced in the January 9 Pokémon Direct and again shown briefly in the March 26 Nintendo Direct Mini.[17][18] Following this, the pass was shown off in great detail in the June 17 Pokémon Presents, only hours before The Isle Of Armor was released.[19]

Development for The Isle of Armor began not long before the Sword & Shield were released.[20] During interviews, it was mentioned that depending how far into the game you enter into the expansion pack, the levels of the Pokémon would be scaled accordingly.[21] However, in game, no such feature appears.[22]

Reception

The DLC received generally favourable reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic.[23] Many critics believe this DLC to be an extension on the best part of the base game being the Wild Area.[27] However, also had problem with the length of the expansion, specifically the story citing it as too short. Álvaro Alonso of Hobby Consolas and Travis Northup of IGN wrote that the expansion's story only lasts a couple of hours and a lack of post game doesn't help improve this problem.[32][28]

One of the highlights according to critics was the giant Wild Area that is spread across the isle, with critics from TouchArcade calling it "the star of the show".[31] Kallie Plagge of GameSpot noted that the expansion doubled down on the idea and made it "bigger and better" than the base game's version, making praises on the diverse scenery and better suited game elements such as the dynamic weather system.[27] Jordan Biordi of CGMag praises the biodiversity and visually interesting landscape.[25] In Alex Olney of Nintendo Life's review, he felt that the Wild Area was well thought out and carefully planned, but did mark down the game due to "muddied graphics". He also praised the pokémon scaling that was originally missing in the base game, such as with the up-scaling the size of Wailord.[30]

Despite the fairly positive reception, the expansion was mainly criticised for not doing much with it's gameplay or story. Chris Carter of Destructoid mentioned while the game was solid and worth the price tag, the expansion didn't fix the base game's problems nor shake up the "Pokémon formula".[26] Other critics felt the game wasn't offering to much. Sam Loveridge of GamesRadar+ concluded her review by stating she felt the story and characters may not be enough to excite fans of the series and that the Wild Area felt repetitive.[33]

Notes

  1. ^ Japanese: ポケットモンスタよろいのことう, Hepburn: Poketto Yoroi no kotō
  2. ^ The addition of an expansion pass is used to replace the need for a 3rd instalment such as Emerald and Platinum or a sequal like Black 2 & White 2.
  3. ^ Slowking was added in The Crown Tundra expansion.
  4. ^ Score based on 38 reviews.[23]

References

  1. ^ "Pokemon Sword and Shield Isle of Armor DLC gets a release date and trailer". GamesRadar+. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  2. ^ "Pokémon Sword and Shield expansion launching June 17". Polygon. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  3. ^ "The Pokémon Isle of Armor Uninspired Design". Nintendo World Report. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  4. ^ "The Pokemon Isle of Armor DLC's Lively New Wild Area is Much Better Than Sword and Shield's". USgamer. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  5. ^ "Pokémon Sword and Shield Isle of Armor guide: Max Soup and Gigantamaxing". Polygon. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  6. ^ "How to Get a Pokemon to Follow You". IGN. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  7. ^ "Pokemon: How To Evolve Galarian Slowpoke Into New Slowbro In Sword And Shield's Isle Of Armor". GameSpot. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  8. ^ "Pokemon Sword / Shield Isle Of Armor Details: Starter G-Max Moves And Story Info". GameSpot. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  9. ^ "Pokémon Sword and Shield Zarude: Everything we know about the Mythical Pokémon, including ability Leaf Guard, explained". Eurogamer. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  10. ^ "New Sword And Shield Mythical Pokémon Zarude Will Learn A Brand New Move At Level 90". Nintendo Life. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  11. ^ "More Pokémon From Past Games Coming To Sword & Shield This Year". Game Informer. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  12. ^ "Right as Pokemon Sword & Shield are about to arrive, Game Freak re-iterates that there are 'no plans' to add a full Pokedex". Destructoid. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  13. ^ "Pokemon Isle Of Armor: How To Get The Newly Added Pokemon Without Buying DLC". GameSpot. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  14. ^ "How to Access the Isle of Armor". IGN. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  15. ^ "Pokemon Sword and Shield Isle of Armor DLC: Where to Get Kubfu". USgamer. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  16. ^ "Pokemon Sword and Shield Isle of Armor DLC: How to Evolve Kubfu into Urshifu". USgamer. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  17. ^ "Pokemon Sword and Shield Expansion Pass DLC Announced". IGN. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  18. ^ "Everything in March 26's Nintendo Direct Mini Broadcast". IGN. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  19. ^ "Pokemon Nintendo Direct announced for June 17". GameRevolution. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  20. ^ "We Saw 30 Minutes of Pokémon Sword and Shield's Isle of Armor DLC". IGN. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  21. ^ "Pokemon Sword and Shield's DLC Expansion Has Level Scaling". IGN. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  22. ^ "Random: So Much For Level Scaling In Pokémon's Isle Of Armor DLC". Nintendo Life. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  23. ^ a b c "POKEMON SWORD / SHIELD: THE ISLE OF ARMOR Switch". Metacritic. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  24. ^ "Test: Pokémon Schwert & Schild - Die Insel der Rüstung". 4Players.de. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  25. ^ a b "POKÉMON SHIELD ISLE OF ARMOR EXPANSION REVIEW". Computer Games Magazine. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  26. ^ a b "Review: Pokemon Sword and Shield: The Isle of Armor". Destructoid. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  27. ^ a b c "Pokemon Sword And Shield Isle Of Armor DLC Review". GameSpot. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  28. ^ a b "Pokémon Sword and Shield: The Isle of Armor DLC Review". IGN. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  29. ^ "Test : Pokémon Epée/Bouclier : l'île solitaire de l'armure, un DLC avec du contenu, mais sans idées". Jeuxvideo.com. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  30. ^ a b "Pokémon Sword and Shield - The Isle Of Armor 2020". Nintendo Life. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  31. ^ a b "SwitchArcade Round-Up: 'SpongeBob SquarePants' Review, 'Pokemon Sword & Shield: Isle of Armor' Mini-View, and Today's New Releases and Sales". TouchArcade. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  32. ^ "Análisis de La Isla de la Armadura, la primera expansión para Pokémon Espada y Escudo". Hobby Consolas. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  33. ^ "Pokemon Sword and Shield Isle of Armor is a strange little window into the world of Pokemon". GamesRadar+. Retrieved July 26, 2020.

Category:2020 video games Category:Game Freak games Category:Japanese role-playing video games Category:Nintendo Switch games Category:Nintendo Switch-only games Category:Role-playing video games Category:Video games related to anime and manga Category:Video games developed in Japan Category:Video games featuring protagonists of selectable gender Category:Video games with alternate versions Category:Video game expansion packs Category:Video games set on islands

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