Pokémon DLC?!

January 9th 2020, there was a Pokemon Direct and what a Direct it was.

Gamefreak have announced for the first time in the franchise’s long run, DLC will be released for their latest titles “Sword” and “Shield.” This actually came at great surprise to me as it is a very unusual move for them to make, it certainly shakes their forumla up a bit. The first of these DLCs, The Isle of Armor, releases June this year. Needless to say, I am waiting anxiously for it.

As a long time fan I own all of the main series titles in the Pokémon franchise, which includes their “sister” or “sequel” games which are usually just slightly altered versions of the previous games in the trilogy or quadrilogy. They are never more than the same story with altered dialogue, some slight Pokémon changes or new legendaries.

This is not the case with these expansions! They are re-adding Pokémon that were not available in the base game and even adding some new ones, a new Galarian form for Slowpoke was revealed, including the original legendary trio of Zapdos, Articuno and Moltres. It also appears to be adding two new legendaries to a group that the fans thought were finished with, these are two new Regi forms to accompany Regirock, Regice, Registeel and Regigigas. Thirdly, they are adding 4 NEW legendaries to the new roster of Pokémon this generation. A fighting type Pokémon “Kubfu” which evolves into “Urshifu.” This Pokèmon has two forms, one for Sword and one for Shield, with different typings to boot! Also Calyrex a Psychic and Grass Legendary that resembles a Goat. They are also adding new Gigantamax forms of the latest generation’s starter Pokémon, “Cinderace, Rillaboom and Intelleon.” Something I feel should have been in the base version of the game.

Lastly, something a lot of fans will be excited for, all previous legendary Pokémon will be accessible in the second expansion, “The Crown Tundra,” releasing fall this year, in the form of raid battles! To top it off the entire second DLC can be played in a CO-OP mode, another first for the series.

The announcement of DLCs has me thrilled and excited for the future of the main series games. The DLCs are roughly £/$15 each or £/$30 for the pass to gain access to them both at launch, this is MUCH cheaper than the £/$60 “sister” game they usually release. This allows them to add more Pokémon to the Sword and Shield Pokédex and new content and activites without the need to develop new games! They even teased that more will be coming!

Looking at Twitter, the reactions appear mostly positive with a lot of people who clearly didn’t listen to the information correctly as people seem to believe each DLC is £/$30 each which is not the case. A lot of people also seem to believe that they are putting returning Pokémon behind a paywall which is also incorrect, in the announcement they stated that even if you do not own the DLCs the Pokemon that are re-added are all tradeable and transferable (with the use of Pokémon HOME) without the necessity of purchasing the DLC themselves. This is great for anyone wishing to transfer their Pokémon from previous titles over to the current games.

What else can I really say other than I am ecstatic for the future of Pokémon and look forward to see if they decide to stick with this new content model for the forseeable future of the franchise!

Harry.