Pokemon Sword and Shield’s Isle of Armor DLC Sets Precedent for Next Gen

Pokemon Sword and Shield’s Isle of Armor DLC concentrates on improving the parts of the base game with potential to make an excellent experience.

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For the first time in Pokemon’s nearly 25-year history, the series is attempting paid DLC. On June 17, The Isle of Armor expansion released for Pokemon Sword and Shield, adding a new locale to explore, bringing back Pokemon cut from the game, and introducing a Legendary Pokemon through a contained narrative.

Despite Sword and Shield’s massive sales numbers, the games were marred with controversy leading up to release. They’ve been derided for not advancing the series as much as they could have, particularly compared to contemporaries like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey. Yet, the Isle of Armor DLC shows the potential Sword and Shield had to create a more complete next-generation Pokemon adventure, potential that the developer should carry into its next mainline title.

The Wild Area Perfected

The stand-out part of Galar’s Isle of Armor is that the entire thing is one interconnected Wild Area. Sword and Shield’s Wild Area is an open-world region connecting the three major parts of the base game with a free camera, Max Raid Battles, and an MMO-like visibility of other players. While the Wild Area lives up to this ideal on the surface, it doesn’t really land.

Meanwhile, the Isle of Armor showcases how it would look if the open-world concept of the Wild Area was more varied by Pokemon’s fantastical-realism design philosophy. Rather than going into separate loading zones like caves to break apart the island’s biomes, areas like the Forest of Focus and Soothing Wetlands flow seamlessly into each other. Almost the entire island can also be circumnavigated by an ocean full of islets, and there’s a sense that a whole game could be designed this way if it had a larger scope.

The island is also inextricably linked with the DLC’s story. Tasks players have to complete take place in every area, and major landmarks like the Tower of Darkness can be seen from anywhere. On top of that, the Isle of Armor is full of NPCs that serve purposes for competitive play not included in the base game, such as wiping a Pokemon’s EVs and learning new attacks. The dojo where players train can also be upgraded to offer further mechanics and story.

Animations and Story Integration

When the subject of animations come up with Pokemon Sword and Shield, many complain about stilted attacks or walking animations that persist even after a subject reaches the end of its pathing. These are justified criticisms given Pokemon is the highest grossing media franchise of all time, but The Isle of Armor shows improvements outside of battles.

Minor NPCs serving as Dojo students and relevant characters are more expressive than ever, particularly the player’s rival (Klara in Sword and Avery in Shield) and Master Mustard. The rivals spend time mugging for the camera and are involved in great visual jokes that mess with series’ conventions. Meanwhile, Mustard can be seen playing Pokemon Quest on his Switch and taking on the player in a new fashion that’s worth not spoiling. Kubfu, the Legendary Pokemon players receive, also turns out to be so adorable in some wonderful cutscenes blending into gameplay that main story scenes told through still images are put to shame.

It would be remiss to not talk about the implementation of Pokemon following their trainers too. While this is disappointing locked to the Isle of Armor, every Pokemon has unique movement speeds and a special animation when prompted. Some even notice the player doing things like looking over a cliffside and react appropriately. Though some of this was present in Sword and Shield’s camping, the ubiquity of a following feature combined with better NPC presence needs to carry forward.

Evolving Content

Modern games like Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Bungie’s Destiny thrive because they consistently add new content — even if this “games as a service” model is not always successful. If Sword and Shield had taken this approach for advertising returning Pokemon rather than trying to hide DLC plans, many of the “Dexit” detractors likely would have been pleased with how things turned out in the Isle of Armor. To be frank, the idea of receiving an entirely new Pokedex with previously unavailable Pokemon months after the base game’s release is exciting, and The Isle of Armor’s Wild Area concept having a different ecology makes it a much easier sell.

Because the developers were able to focus as much of their energy as possible on an area with a limited scope, there are a lot of extra flourishes that make the DLC stand out further. For instance, many of the new Pokemon react in fun ways — notably Dunsparce, which anxiously hops away on its belly. There are also plenty of Pokemon that have never been seen in the wild before, as concepts from the base game were able to be applied in a new way. Future Pokemon games should no doubt consider elongating their lives through post-launch content greater than just Mythical Pokemon giveaways.

Side Quests

When players first arrive on the Isle of Armor, they come across a roadblock in the form of an Alolan Diglett. The trainer who owns this Pokemon asks players to find the remaining 150 Diglett scattered across the map, which sounds like (and is) a daunting task, but one that is implemented in such a way that it demonstrates the potential of heftier side quests in Pokemon.

Side quests are nothing new in the RPG series, but more often than not they have boiled down to bringing a specific Pokemon to a place, or invoking item trading quests reminiscent of games like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. What makes the Alolan Diglett quest work is it’s unobtrusive if players wish to ignore it, but going on an island-wide scavenger hunt is a copacetic way to encourage thorough exploration of the new Wild Area.

The quest does have faults, for instance the Diglett being too difficult to spot at times because they lack animations. Its rewards, Alolan Pokemon with good IVs and hidden abilities, also may not be worth the effort for non-competitive players. However, the game keeps track of your progress, making it easy to approach the task if a casual player simply wants more excuses to explore. Overall, the Diglett hunt is reminiscent of better quests from previous entries that offered world building and rewards, such as exploring New Mauville for Wattson in Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, or the relationship-building calls with Yancy or Curtis in Pokemon Black 2 and White 2.

Sword and Shield’s Isle of Armor DLC offers a glimpse into a possible future title with a completely interconnected world, one that has more expressive characters, concentrates on additional quests to enhance the experience, and introduces new content to extend its life. Some might find the current DLC too short to warrant its $30 price tag. However, considering that bundle comes with another, hopefully further-improved experience in The Crown Tundra later this year, it could signal a move in the right direction for one of Nintendo’s most beloved franchises.

Pokemon Sword and Shield is available now on Nintendo Switch.

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