Pokémon Sword: The Isle of Armor – Heading in the Right Direction

PhantomZ2 returns to Pokémon Sword and the Galar Region to take on the trials of the Isle of Armor! Thank you to Nintendo for sending us a review code!

If you tuned into my review of the latest mainline entry in the Pokémon franchise, Pokémon Sword, you may recall that I was faced with dissatisfaction and disappointment.

“I don’t care about challenging the Battle Tower after the story is over, the Wild Area, which is meant to be a highlight of the game, isn’t that interesting, and the overall story of the game, while interesting, could’ve been expanded upon. This is unfortunate to me as a longtime Pokémon fan. With there being so many other games on the Switch that can satisfy my hunger for an enjoyable experience, it’s a shame Sword and Shield lack the longevity Pokémon Black and White or HeartGold and SoulSilver did years ago…”

With intense curiosity and interest in how the first instance of DLC would be handled for a mainline Pokémon game, I can happily say that the wait for the first part of Pokemon Sword and Shield’s Expansion Pass: The Isle of Armor, was worth it.

STORY I:

The first major highlight of the Isle of Armor comes from the new story you’ll be playing through. Once you arrive, you’ll be greeted by the Poison Gym Leader in training Klara or the Psychic-type Gym Leader in training, Avery, if you have Pokémon Shield. Upon their introduction, it turns out they’re here to guide you to the Master Dojo – but with the player character having zero awareness of such dojo existing, your tour guide mistakes your cluelessness for mockery and thus wishes to test your strength in a Pokémon battle!

Of course, with your victory and Klara’s defeat, her conceited perspective gets turned into shambles as she now wants to ensure that you don’t join the dojo and steal her spotlight. She suggests looking around the island instead – and that’s exactly what I did!

GAMEPLAY I + PRESENTATION:

A major gripe I had with the Wild Area was it’s lack of depth and interconnectivity with the rest of the Galar region, so much to the point that I barely spent any time there and was only there because I needed to go somewhere else. However, the Isle of Armor is all wild area! There aren’t any routes or other specific locations or cities on the island. It is a medium-sized area that is almost completely interconnected through caves, forests, and various aquatic paths.

At any instance, you’ll be surrounded by a myriad of Pokémon – mostly from different regions. Jigglypuff floating in the grass, Buneary hopping around, Golisopod and Whiscash hanging around in caves and Sharpedo chasing you across the ocean! Also, your Pokémon are probably high leveled and these wild Pokémon are here to match you. Almost every Pokémon you’ll encounter is at level 60, with a huge Wailord in the ocean being level 80. Also, with the release of the DLC and a patch, some Pokémon that didn’t make it into the base game have returned and even if you didn’t purchase the Expansion Pass, you’ll be able to bring them over through Pokémon Home.

STORY II:

After traveling around and catching myself a Rotom – it was time to become a student at the Master Dojo and introduce myself to the owners, Honey and Master Mustard, to Klara’s dismay! This lovely couple spends their lives on the island and in the dojo, training students to become great Pokémon trainers, so much to the point that Champion Leon was a student of the dojo. However, your welcome into the dojo isn’t too simple nor is it too hard.

Then you’ll further introduce yourself with a battle against Master Mustard and after defeating him, you’ll get to choose between the Kanto starters of Bulbasaur and Squirtle (if you beat the base game, you’ll know why) and then receive your Master Dojo Gi. Just as Klara is about to receive hers, a team of Galarian Slowpoke steals it and you have to chase them down within an area close to the Dojo – thus introducing the trials you’ll go through to prove your strength as a student!

GAMEPLAY II:

While on the Isle of Armor, you’ll be engaged with several trials to prove your strength. While the first one will just consist of capturing Slowpoke, the second involves you searching for a cluster of Max Mushrooms. Upon your return of finding it and Klara’s found cluster being used to make a meal for the Dojo family, you’ll be able to talk to one of the students to make Max Soup, when you have those mushrooms on hand. Feeding this to certain Pokémon that currently only have the ability to Dynamax, like your starter, allows them to Gigantamax! On the flip side, if your Pokémon currently can Gigantamax, feeding it the soup will turn it back into its Dynamaxed form.

The final trial, the final test of strength, will involve you and Klara facing off one last time. With Klara heading to the back of the dojo before you, she took the opportunity to cheat by placing toxic spikes on the battlefield and this is something that I’d like to see more of! It’s a staple of the series that the current weather effects of the overworld also affect battles. When it’s harshly sunny outside, the battles will also feature harsh sunlight and, of course, help certain moves like Solar Beam act on the same turn. Hail and Sandstorm will also damage Pokémon that are not of the corresponding type. This is basic Pokémon knowledge, but I’m going somewhere with this.

As many Pokémon fans may know, before Generations 7 and 8, every Gym Leader has had their Gym designed to match their typing and personalities or interests. Additionally, the anime has also featured Gyms having their stadiums with a custom-designed battlefield where, in some instances, there would be hazardous terrain or conditions you’d have to battle in. Pokémon Sword and Shield didn’t have either of these aspects as battles against the Leaders took place in a huge stadium and the wide amount of space is also meant to accommodate for the ability to Dynamax. While some leaders did have gimmicks to their battles such as Raihan specializing in double battles and Opal quizzing you mid-battle for stat boosts, I think it would be a good idea for Game Freak to take what they did with Klara and evolve the concept so that Gym Leaders get customized fields that specifically gives them an advantage, specifically puts the player in a disadvantaged state or features a gimmick that puts both players in harm’s way.

STORY III:

After the battle with Klara, Mustard brings us back into the dojo and introduces me to the secret armor – the legendary Pokémon, Kubfu! With a cute little cutscene that shows us how energetic but shy it is, Mustard encourages us to take Kubfu and build a bond with it so you and it can choose a path to greater strength by evolving into the Fighting-Water Dual Strike Urshifu or Fighting-Dark Single Strike Urshifu.

While many of you may be aware of the other features introduced and where the story progresses from here, I’d much rather want you to be left spoiler-free like I was. This also means that if you’re interested in checking out the review discussion shown at the top of this article, you should steer clear of that if you’re trying to avoid spoilers. Doing so allows you to enjoy the events and character moments a lot more and I can say that I was left with huge smiles and laughs at many points.

FINAL VERDICT:

With the update of returning Pokémon that is available even to players that don’t own the Expansion Pass, a new story with some incredibly fun moments, and a new area to explore that takes advantage of the Wild Area concept – I think the Isle of Armor is definitely worth your purchase. While there are some issues I have, most of it can be overlooked due to everything else that I loved with my time with the first part of the Expansion Pass. In addition, many of the ideas and improvements made from the base game give me hope that Game Freak can continue to strive and evolve the mainline Pokémon games to the best that they can be.

However, it is important to note that when you purchase Pokémon Sword’s Expansion Pass, it will also cost you another $30 if you own Pokémon Shield as the Expansion Pass purchase is specifically tied to the respective versions of the game. In addition to having to pay for Nintendo Switch Online and a Pokémon Home subscription, I can understand how someone could feel a little uncomfortable paying up to $46 to continue playing Pokémon Sword or Pokémon Shield’s Expansion Pass with online play and their Pokémon from all their past journeys. However, based upon the information we have about The Crowne Tundra and how much I loved the Isle of Armor, I think the $30 price tag is worth it for a very fun experience now and later in the fall.