Sword & Shield’s Isle Of Armor Proves DLC Is Better Than A Third Game
Thanks to a wealth of fresh content, Pokemon players are discovering that DLC is a much better alternative to the traditional third installment.
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In January, The Pokemon Company held a Pokemon Direct to announce that the latest mainline entries in the Pokemon franchise: Pokemon Sword & Pokemon Shield, would be receiving paid DLC in 2020. This was in lieu of a third entry in Pokemon’s eighth generation, something that had been a staple of the series ever since the first generation and the release of Pokemon Yellow. A couple weeks ago the first half of Sword and Shield’s DLC released, titled Isle of Armor, and it brings into light just how much better an alternative paid DLC is to a third version of the same game.
The third version Pokemon titles were never incredibly exciting releases to begin with. While they were almost always considered the “definitive” versions of each Pokemon generation, they lacked a lot of exciting features that would convince someone who had already played through the generation to pick up the new version. The third version was known for condensing the Pokedex and getting rid of version exclusives, adding gameplay tweaks to improve the experience, and adding little bits of content at the end or changing the story in minute ways. Many would say the third version peaked with generation four’s Pokemon Platinum, which completely overhauled the speed of the game and added a lot of endgame content, such as the Battle Frontier. Despite this, the game was still criticized for being too similar to Pokemon Diamond and Pearl before it, and its sales fail to compete, only selling 7 million vs. Diamond and Pearl’s 17 million.
Now, with generation eight, the third version is completely gone, replaced with two parts of paid DLC to be released in 2020. The first part, Isle of Armor released on June 17th, and already it shows just how archaic the third version model was. The DLC adds a massive new area to the game, a new story mission for the player to complete, and over 100 Pokemon missing from the original’s release.
Why DLC Is Better Than A Third Pokémon Game
While new areas were not absent in third versions, they pale in comparison to the massive open world of the Isle of Armor. The Isle itself takes the basis of the Wild Area from the base game and expands on it, adding new environments such as caves, a forest, and some wetlands, and does a great job at making it feel like a connected, diverse landscape.
The best part about Pokémon Sword & Shield’s DLC is the price tag. For $30, players get both the Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra DLC packs, the latter of which is set to release this fall. That is half the price of what Pokemon Sword and Shield cost, and also half of what a hypothetical third version would have likely cost. Unlike the third version, however, players aren’t forced to replay through the same adventure just to get to the new content. Instead, players can jump right into the new areas and story without even needing to complete the main adventure first (at least in the case of Isle of Armor). While sales figures for the DLC aren’t available yet, it can be assumed that the DLC will sell incredibly well, as Pokemon Sword and Shield were already massive successes.
Hopefully Game Freak and The Pokemon Company continue to push for more creative and engaging experiences like the Isle of Armor, rather than reverting back to re-releasing the same game with minor tweaks a year later in future generations. Pokémon Sword & Shield’s Isle of Armor proves that the third version is a product of the past, and it should remain in the past.
Link Source : https://screenrant.com/pokemon-sword-shield-dlc-third-game-isle-armor/