For more than a year has passed since the release of the last games of the Pokemon series – Sword/Shield. And from the very announcement of new versions on the Internet, jokes about the third extended version began to appear, as is customary to do with Game Freak. “Pokemon Gun” or “Ultra Sword/Ultra Shield” – out of the habit of community, there was something like that. But this time the developers decided to surprise fans. And instead of another game, two DLCs “just” for 30 evergreen were presented for a full stage.
Whether it was worth it? Whether the outrage of the fans is justified? Whether the game has become better thanks to additional content? For which we players paid $ 90 in the end? Let me express my opinion.
General impressions
Why do you need DLC generally? “Of course, to shake out more money from fans!" – Electronic Arts will say. “To expand the game world, show new facets of the plot, bring something new and let players spend a few more hours in their favorite universe with their favorite characters,” the normal developer will answer. And Game Freak in this eternal confrontation are somewhere in the middle.
On the one hand, we really got a bunch of new content, old Pokemon and a couple more plots. On the other hand, $ 30 is $ 30. And, it seems, for players this is a very profitable exchange. And certainly better than for a full price to buy a third version. But there are a couple of nuances.
Firstly, we will be honest, part of the content from the DLC should have been in the main game initially. Take the same Pokemon. The developers tried to assure us that Switch simply could not pull so many pocket monsters that the number will be replaced by the quality of the animation (no). As a result, it turned out that the console did not break at all from several hundred Pokemon, and that it was not at all necessary to cut half the dex.
In addition, the chip with Pokemon following the coach was in the fourth generation games. And then in the games of Let’s Go Pikachu/Eeeve, which also went to Switch. That is, the developers also had this mechanism, they just did not add it initially.
Secondly, the third version of the games is spared most of the shortcomings of their predecessors, optimized and more or less cleaned from bugs. But in the case of DLC, it turned out that there were only more problems, and the graphics remained at the same level. That is, no Game Freak patches added, although, it would seem, for this they have all the possibilities.
Well, thirdly, without DLC Sword/Shield is not a full-fledged game. How to explain it. The third versions of the games also provided additional content, legendary Pokemon and all that way. But at the same time, the game experience itself did not change much, it was still the same game, only more intense and optimized. In Sword/Shield, without a dopontent, the player immediately cuts out many opportunities. It is impossible to gigantomacias your starter, some objects are not available and, of course, a lot of Pokemon, not only legends. Thus, the purchase of DLC becomes almost mandatory, unlike the purchase of the third version.
However, despite all of the above, additions really expand the world of the game, add new characters, new plots. That is, they do very well with their main task. Honestly, sometimes DLC seemed more interesting to me than the game itself. After a while, I realized that Sword/Shield as they are – just boring and not reigree. This is a standard Pokemon journey from one point to another, and besides this game, in fact, there is nothing more to offer. And the additions give you exactly what is missing the most is the opportunity to explore the world and find something new. After all, there are no ordinary caves in Sword/Shield.
The Island of Armor
The first addition called The Island of Armor came out in May of this year and brought with it a lot. Namely, a whole island with new (although, mostly still old) Pokemon. The plot is short and simple: we are arriving to study in Dodze with the old master, perform several quests, get the legendary Pokemon and we explore the world around him. Along the way, it turns out that gigantomax can be caused by a soup made of correct mushrooms and honey of the wrong bees, and the old master is actually a very military grandfather and generally a former champion.
It is worth noting that the whole island is an open world. And this means that the camera is spinning and the wild Pokemon walk freely along the grass and swim in the water in the hope of “getting to know” you (Hello, Shardo). And, most importantly, the world of the island is made very competently. Unlike wild lands, there is no sharp transition between locations, despite the fact that there are caves and desert. And everything around seems to be more alive. Sometimes even too much. The island is not very large, but it contains many colored animals, so some locations look overloaded.
A separate topic – following the coach of the Pokemon. This function appeared just in the addition, but was implemented as crookedly and lazy as possible. As mentioned above, such an opportunity was still in the fourth -generation pixel games on Nintendo DS. And the fans really liked her. After all, it is so cute and pleasant when your favorite Pokemon walks with you around the world. In addition, you could talk to him and find out his condition. The animal did some simplest things – he turned around his axis, poked into the coach, allegedly selected objects – and that was enough, it was really cool. Unfortunately, then this function disappeared as much as three generations and returned only in the games of Let’s Go Pikachu/Eeeve, where it also looked very cool.
And now the same is https://mummys-gold-casino.co.uk/withdrawal/ available in the eighth generation games. Just not quite the same. It is impossible to interact with the Pokemon, and the follow -up animation itself is implemented badly from the hands. Pokemon are very often too slow, they are not able to be near the coach even when walking. But even if your pocket monster does not crawl with a snail, then he will still stop at some point in his movement and lag behind. And how to lag too strongly – just teleport to you. And it completely kills all the magic. The funniest one, one YouTubert was able to correct this problem in just 20 minutes and make a normal follow -up animation. I don’t know, maybe Game Freak decided to add this opportunity at the last moment or they did not have enough time to bring everything to mind. But why then not to fix it a little later by patches?!
However, something we were distracted. After empty and monotonous wild lands, the island of armor seems to be a rather atmospheric place. Now you can even crash objects! This is definitely never the case … It is also worth noting that I like the approach to quests and the legendary Pokemon in DLC. Now the tasks make the world explore, and the recognition of the legendary Pokemon needs to be earned. I think this is the right path. Naturally, some improvements are still required, but it is definitely better than just coming to a certain place, fighting a legend and catching it.
By the way, the legendary Pokemon in the first DLC is the Kabfu Bear Bear (joke about Kung Fu Panda). And in the game there are two possible ways of his evolution, which depend on the player’s actions. More precisely, from the choice of one of two combat towers. Again, the idea itself is good and is perfectly combined with the capabilities of the open world. It is a pity that while it is realized only at the surface level. But maybe in the future, factors affecting the evolution of Pokemon will become more difficult and will depend more on how to decide or which quest will choose to execute.
Actually, the addition ends with the evolution of the Cabinet and the final battle with the old master. It is also pleasant that on a trip to the island we are already familiar with familiar characters, for example, hop. In addition, here and there you can stumble on the hym-leaders who come here to workouts or just relax.
As a result, The Island of Armor left me an unexpectedly pleasant impression (if you close my eyes to the graphics and animation, of course). It was really some new experience that usually do not offer games about Pokemon. And the ability to climb on each field and in each cave finally brought to Sword/Shield some adventure element.
The Crown Tundra
The second addition – The Crown Tundra – came out not so long ago, in October (we will omit the fact that this article is written in December). And ideologically is the same as the island of armor – another new territory on the map and a new legend. And I was really waiting for this addition, because the trailers looked very promising, and I just like snow -covered locations.
There really were a lot of promises to us: more new territories, the return of the old legendary Pokemon, dynamax adventures, double battles and new items. And all this really is, but in the end, the crown of the tundra left behind only disappointment. Now I will try to explain (including for myself) why it happened.
Let’s start "kicking" this DLC again with graphics. Snow is very good, but only if it behaves like snow. When you go/go along the tundra, then there are no traces after you. At all. It costs me that traces on sand/snow are a trick of the third/fourth generation of Pokeigr? Or within the framework of this article, this is already a cliche?
Sharp transitions between locations also returned. At some point, the snow underfoot abruptly passes into the grass. Just because. And terrible textures, as well as cave designs. They are absolutely empty and plain. Even the walls in my apartment have more expression, honestly. And for the town of Frisington, they did not even began to make new models of houses, they simply took them from the balcony.
From location designs, let’s move on to Pokemon designs. And again, instead of inventing something new Game Freak, operates the old. New legendary birds are old legendary birds. Full of two legends – never happened and here again. And one of the new Reggie is the head of Charizard. No, you did not rush, Pokemon looks like the head of Charizard. Because he is a dragon. Although Charizard is not a dragon. (Oh, that’s it!)
Attitude towards players, like young children, also in place. At some point, one of the characters-Peoni-says that you need to go to Frisington, and then follows a long-long cat-scene, where we are shown how he runs to the town. Well, so you don’t get lost! And, of course, they will repeat you three times that the ice carrot will call an ice horse – galastrier, and the ghostly carrot – a ghostly – spectrara. And I’m not joking now. This information is really repeated in the game three times: in the book, in a conversation with the legendary Pokemon and in a song of one of the local residents.
In addition, the plot in the tundra is at all about anything. More precisely, it is some kind of fragmented and does not concentrate on one thing, so nothing really is remembered. We accidentally become witnesses of the conflict of father and daughter. But he eventually solves somehow by itself. And again, the former champion is before us, it only turns out that he is also the brother of the main antagonist Rose (because it is difficult to make two different models of characters).
But something good should be? And it really is. In this DLC, the player was given more freedom and more action options. Now you can choose for yourself which quest to take first, and what to leave for later. You can go in the footsteps of the legendary Pokemon, you can talk to the legendary hare (more precisely, it will speak with you with the help of Peoni) or become a member of the dynamax adventure.
The quests themselves are decorated as magazine records that need to be supplemented. In my opinion, this is a very good solution. The main emphasis of the crown of the tundra makes it precisely on the study of the world. And on this side the DLC works really good. Regin churches, Kalirex Castle – there is something atmospheric in this. But the most important thing is that all this still needs to be found.
Also in the second, the addition to the problem of oversaturation of the world. Pokemon is not too much here, but enough that the world does not look empty.
Old characters are also found. There is a very funny scene with Oleana, a personal assistant Rose, which leaves no hope of finding his boss. It is interesting that we see it in the local cemetery, but conspiracy theories are a topic for a separate article.
Of course, one cannot help but talk about dynamax adventures. This is the Galarsky analogue of Ultra-Dyr, which also serves to search and capture legends. Only here you need to unite with other players and choose for yourself a random Pokemon from the list, you can’t take your pocket monsters. On the way, your group will have to face a few more dynamax-poemons. Also, the possibilities are provided for, choose another Pokemon or take some kind of useful item in the battle. And in general, all this is good and interesting. If this does not have to repeat dozens of times. But the very fact that Game Freak decided to diversify the usual hunt for legends and connect it with online is definitely a plus.
Well, the last novelty of this DLC was the return of the format of double battles and the Galar Stars Cup. AND. This is done as uninteresting as possible. You fight paired with some character to unlock the opportunity to choose the next time in a pair of some other character. At the same time, you are in no way limited in Pokemon and their levels. Naturally, any opponent is taken out in your light level of a hundredth level with your start-up man and it does not matter that there are now two and that someone else is there with you. Plus, the format of the Cup format is secondary. In Pokemon Black 2/White 2, there was already a world championship, where we could also meet with already familiar coaches from different regions and fight them. Only there there was a restriction in level and the number of Pokemon, which is why in the battles there really was some kind of tension. In Sword/Shield, the maximum that may seem interesting is the dialogs between the characters.
Thus, the crown of the tundra tried to give players even more opportunities and different activities, but many of them are not realized very well or simply not finalized. Therefore, after passing the DLC, some kind of disappointment remains. After all, it could turn out really something very cool.
What was spent $ 90?
Can I call DLC to Pokemon Sword/Shield unequivocal evil? Do Game Freak have the right to demand money from fans for content, half of which would initially be in the game? Maybe it was still worth it by tradition to release the third version of the game and make memes about Pokemon Gun reality?
Despite the fact that the additions have their shortcomings, I believe that they are still worth acquiring them. There really is a lot of content in them, I think there are much more than we would have received if it were just the third version of the game, and it is worth it cheaper.
It seems to me that in the work on the additions of Game Freak nevertheless took into account some of their mistakes and really tried to do something new. So in the end, DLC is better remembered than the main game. I no longer remember how I collected badges in a circle, but here are a long search for diglets and the pursuit of legendary birds – they are still preserved in memories.
I am also pleased that additions are actively working with the open world. It is possible that the next Pokemon games will use this function in full, and not just in certain areas. And if the developers will further develop their ideas, then something very good will turn out.
Yes, graphics and animations are still bad. Yes, Game Freak was essentially admitted to their lies with cutting half of the Pujetx. Yes, without Dopontent Sword/Shield are simply inferior. This cannot be denied, unfortunately.
But not so scary DLC as they are painted. The main thing is that they do not turn into a tool to pump money from fans. At the moment, I do not see a problem in paying a little for a whole mountain of content and new opportunities. Another thing is that in itself, in my opinion, the game Pokemon Sword/Shield does not cost $ 60.