Pokémon Sword and Shield: The Isle of Armor – Test for the very first Pokémon DLC

The eighth generation of the Pokémon franchise made its long-awaited home console debut on the Nintendo Switch last year – and polarized like no other generation before. Pokémon swords and shields have been discredited ever since their announcement, the big Dexit debate and even after their release on November 15, 2019. Too few new and old pocket monsters, a too linear and empty world paired with a disastrous technical condition disappointed the high expectations of a home console branch of the gigantic Pokémon series. And so many fans turned their attention to the mandatory special edition of the eighth generation, which would most likely appear in the course of the following year. But that should never happen, because the developers of Gamefreak announced on January 9, 2020 that there would be no special edition for the first time. Instead, Pokémon Sword and Shield would receive an expansion pass, split into two digital expansions. With The Isle of Armor, the first of these two additions appeared on June 17, 2020 and heralded a new era in franchise. We have taken a closer look at this very first Pokémon DLC and will tell you in the following test report whether this new approach could inspire us.

More of the same

Pokémon sword and shield also caused a headache among our small editorial staff. Like our Maarten in his test report for the eighth generation of the pocket monsters, it was simply incredibly difficult to classify the first home console branch of the ancient franchise. Because despite numerous missteps, the new Galar region also delivered many great moments, Pokémon and mechanics that further developed the genre. Unfortunately, it only seemed as if these (few) innovations had arisen at the expense of the scope and the usual attention to detail, so that the sword and shield left a bland aftertaste for me. At this point, you might already be wondering why I review the basic criticisms and attitudes to the main editions of the eighth generation: The Isle of Armor, the very first Pokémon DLC of this kind, does not change the controversial basis of sword and shield , but tries to build on it. Of course, I am aware that you cannot expect a 180 degree turn from a digital upgrade at half the price of a fully-fledged special edition, but even my low expectations for the island of armor were bitterly disappointed. In my opinion, the first part of the two expansions of sword and shield already shows why this approach of adding new content to the game makes little sense for the eighth generation of Pokémon. Because an increased Galar Pokédex does not change the numerous basic problems that continue to plague Pokémon sword and shield.

Summer vacation on the Isle of Armor

As soon as you download the expansion and hold the so-called armor pass ingame in your hands, the journey to the Isle of Armor begins. After a short banter at the Brassbury train station, you board the flight taxi, which takes you to the remote island and voilà, the adventure can begin. From this point you can freely explore the mysterious island and freely belongs in this context. Because the island of armor is a single coherent natural zone in the style of the zone of the same name of the main edition, that is: free moving camera and three-dimensionality! And before I go into the criticisms of the Isle of Armor, the developers of Gamefreak deserve praise for the natural zone of the new area. The Isle of Armor has made a quantum leap in game world compared to the natural zone of the main game. Instead of a one-dimensional and largely empty level, the new island presents long beaches, hidden tunnel systems, mountains, forests, small islands and desert sections. Although all of these areas are quite small, they are much more varied and interesting. There is something magical about watching the many Pokémon of past generations in their natural habitats. For example, I noticed something big blue on the horizon right at the start of the trip, on the island’s first beach. Interested, I set off on my Swiss pocket bike towards this property, only to find that the big blue thing was a wailord in the wild! Such experiences invite you to dream, because thanks to the island of armor, you can gradually see what a complete Pokémon generation could look like in real 3D. However, nothing has changed in terms of technology. The frame rate drops regularly – especially in online mode – textures and structural models look old-fashioned and objects continue to pop out of nowhere within a 15 meter radius.

A new adventure

Over 200 “new” Pokémon and a new nature zone are not officially all the Armor Island has to offer, but the bottom line is that it feels the same. Because the entertaining story adventure, which is included in the DLC, is hardly worth mentioning in my opinion. Immediately after you arrive on the island, you get to know one of the main protagonists of history with Sophora. And for all those who found hop from sword and shield annoying: Sophora is in no way inferior to the lively champ brother. With her as your rival, you set out to visit the ominous dojo of the island to train under Master Mastrich, who is said to have trained all of the arena leaders and the former Champ Delion himself. The “training” in the dojo does not include challenging Pokémon battles against powerful dojo masters, no, your main task in the course of the almost 4-hour campaign is to get things. Three flegmon ran away, find them! Find three mushrooms in the forest and bring them to the dojo! Find a Pokémon that produces honey! Show three great locations on the island to a special Pokémon! Find goddamned 150 Alola Digda on the island for great rewards! Exciting coaching fights are not only few and far between, there are basically only one in the course of the expansion. It is simply laughable that the Isle of Armor should have endgame content in my understanding. In the big final fight against your rival Sophora, these four level 65-67 Pokémon are sent to battle, two of which are not even fully developed. It is simply not enough for us to travel to the island as freshly baked Champs from the Galar region, child’s play or not.

Karate Kid

In addition to the entertaining competition with Sophora, much of the story revolves around the new legendary battle Pokémon Dakuma, which you get from Master Mastrich. You have to win the trust of this little fighting teddy so that you can have it developed in one of the two fighting towers on the island. Unfortunately, you get the Pokémon at level 10 and access to the towers of water and darkness is only granted from level 70. Although I think the basic idea of ​​changing the development of a Pokémon by training with a certain Pokémon type is great, one would not have had to drag the way there with force. Of course, leveling up a new pocket monster is pretty easy at the end of every Pokémon edition, but it remains a tiring task that I probably wouldn’t have faced if it hadn’t been for the completion of the main story.

Collect, level, yawn

After the quick and emotionless end of the main story, the Isle of Armor has only various collection, level and search quests to offer, for which you mainly receive items or Pokémon. For example, if you find all of the 150 Alola Digda, you will receive all Alola Pokémon from the previous edition and one of the Alola Starter Pokémon for free. If you collect 1000000 watts and give it to Master Mastrich’s wife, she will add useful things to the dojo, such as a Pokémon Center, drinking water machine and Co. You may already see in which direction most of the tasks are going. I personally do not like any of these quests because I am neither a Pokémaniac who wants to complete the Galar Pokédex to the last pocket monster, nor am I looking for any special items to take part in the competitive online tournaments. The bottom line is that I am disappointed with the armor expansion of Pokémon Sword and Shield, despite low expectations. The expansion delivers by far the best-designed open game world a Pokémon game has ever seen, but apart from that it is simply far too little.