An Isle Worthwhile?: Isle of Armor Review
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Art by Kaiju Bunny.
Introduction
The announcement for the Sword and Shield Expansion Pass was met with a lot of reactions and opinions, but I'm sure we can all agree that DLC for mainline Pokémon games was inevitable during a time where nearly every game on the market has DLC you can buy. Just recently, the first part of the Expansion Pass, the Isle of Armor, was released, and I'm sure many are wondering if it's worth the money and if the quality is high enough to keep good expectations for the second part, the Crown Tundra. In this article, I'll be taking a look at the Isle of Armor and judging its many aspects so I can tell you if it's worth it to buy the Expansion Pass. Let's dive in!
Story and Characters
In all honestly, if you're thinking about buying the Expansion Pass to experience the story only, then I wouldn't really recommend it. Similarly to Sword and Shield's main storyline, the Isle of Armor's storyline is rather uninteresting and wasted great potential in more ways than one. The only newly introduced characters that actually had a purpose in the story were Mustard and your rival, and your rival is basically irrelevant halfway through the story. Funnily enough, however, I found Sword's Klara to be a much more interesting and charming character than a majority of the characters in the main story, especially considering she didn't get as much screen time as she deserved. Without spoiling much, Klara's snarky attitude and jealousy make for some hilarious interactions with her and give her the personality characters like Leon and Bede desperately needed. I found it funny that when her arc got cut short, the story somewhat went downhill and I became unmotivated to finish. I can't say much about Avery, since I don't own Shield, but from what I heard, he has a fairly interesting backstory, wanting to work his way up to be the best he can, which, of course, involves him wanting you out. You can consider Klara and Avery to be practically opposites of each other, but both are similar in a sense that they want to find success through the Isle of Armor with past failures as motivation. Both also have a sour yet unique relationship with you, which, combined with their own unique personality traits, makes them both very charming and memorable characters. Once again, without spoiling much, the second half of the story is basically filler (they really don't try to hide the fact that it is). Additionally, you get to see another character "important" to the main story, and let's just say he made me want to hop off and do something else. That's really all I have to say; I didn't touch on the whole gist about Kubfu because it's rather uninteresting, and there really isn't much to know than what we've been given from the trailers and info beforehand. Simply put, the Isle of Armor definitely isn't something you want if you only care about the story, but its value shines more in its other features.
By the way, make sure you have enough EXP Candies to get Kubfu to Level 70. They tell you this before you enter the tower at which you evolve it, but you definitely don't want to find out then and have to grind it out. I'm still perplexed at this pretty bad game design, though; why would Game Freak promote such a grind fest when they've always had battles where the levels were scaled to match your own? While Sword and Shield is sprinkled with instances of weird game design, you would think Game Freak can learn from their mistakes, no?
Overworld
A lot of people were disappointed at how the Wild Area didn't meet up to people's expectations, containing flaws such as repetitive and uninteresting scenery and seemingly lazily designed models. While the Isle of Armor didn't necessarily make the models of things like trees better in its overworld, it certainly did provide with a much more interesting sights for our eyes to see. In particular, the Soothing Wetlands and the Forest of Focus surpass everything in the original Wild Area; the former is much more dynamic with unique scenery, while the latter simply utilizes, well, forest scenery, something that should've existed in the original Wild Area. Additionally, I loved how basically the whole island was an open world, something I believe Sword and Shield in general should've been, so it was really enjoyable playing like that for a while. Also, unlike the original Wild Area, where it seemed like Pokémon were dropped randomly into their habitats, the Pokémon that roam on the Isle of Armor actually feel like they would belong there, making the newly introduced tropical climates feel a lot more natural. However, the overworld still does have its flaws. Firstly, traveling to locations by water is an incredible pain. All of the small islands are so spaced out for some reason, so it takes a while to actually get there; the number of times I've gotten lost or gone to the wrong island is quite embarrassing. Moreover, the constant Sharpedo that chase you while in the water are just straight up annoying, as they are faster than you while your Rotom Bike's acceleration is recharging. It's an even bigger pain when you realize you're going the wrong way, so you may just end up having to turn around and be forced into battle with the Sharpedo chasing you. Also, while there are many Dens for you to battle Dynamaxed Pokémon, a lot of them are very inconveniently placed. For example, some Dens are tucked away in caves, which can easily be missed, and many Dens are scattered around the vast ocean area by the main island, most of which are just on an extremely tiny piece of land. Overall, while the overworld provided in the Isle of Armor is definitely more fun to explore, it can become a painful chore to navigate, especially if you need to travel on the water. However, the openness to exploration certainly is a great improvement from the original Wild Area's linear design.
And yes, one of my complaints was basically "too much water," but do you really want to me to use a six-year-old meme? Come on now.
Added Pokémon
There's about 100 "new" Pokémon that you can catch on the Isle of Armor, and I must say that I'm happy that some of my favorites made the cut. A lot of fan favorites in general snagged a ticket, such as Volcarona, Zoroark, Magnezone, and more. However, when it comes to regional representation, it's fairly imbalanced. For example, nearly a quarter of the added Pokémon were a part of the original 151, while the only Pokémon that were added that appeared first in Hoenn are the Sharpedo line, Exploud line, and Azurill (which barely counts). I know it was confirmed before that there will only be around 100 Pokémon added, and I really don't mean to sound greedy here, but I wish there were more additions to the party; I was really hoping for the Expansion Pass to eventually add all of the Pokémon back, but with the number of Pokémon added in the Isle of Armor, I don't really have my hopes up for the Crown Tundra to drop 400+ Pokémon to make them all available. In regards to actual new Pokémon, though, Urshifu is a great addition to anyone's team. I found it very helpful for doing things such as Dynamax Raids and grinding money, and while I opted for its Single Strike forme, I'm sure its Rapid Strike forme can excel at doing such things as well. Lastly, when I saw Galarian Slowbro, I was hoping for new Galarian formes as well, but alas, I was left empty handed. It was honestly the perfect opportunity for Game Freak to add more regional formes, especially considering they're very popular among the community, so it's pretty unfortunate. I'm fairly satisfied with what Pokémon were added, but like most things in Sword and Shield, what we got is probably much lower than people's expectations.
New Features
Okay, so I know that a good handful of what I've already said isn't really that positive, but some of the features that you gain access to in the Isle of Armor really make the purchase worthwhile. Specifically, if you're looking to get into the game competitively, then you'll find a lot of these features incredibly useful to you. Many of the new tutor moves are simply amazing and really worth it, especially considering that many of them are designed to be utilized in VGC. Moreover, you gain access to a way to reset a Pokémon's EVs, and although it and the new moves require a certain amount of a new item, Armorite Ore, to be utilized, you can get them fairly easily by completing Max Raid Battles on the Isle of Armor. Restricted Sparring is another cool feature you gain access to that places you in consecutive battles similar to the Battle Tower, though your Pokémon must all share a typing and you only get two opportunities to heal your team up. The best part about this is you can get BP from it as well, so you can play it if you want to grind but find the Battle Tower a tad boring or lacking in difficulty. Also, Max Soup is a new item that can be used on any Pokémon with a Gigantamax forme to allow it to Gigantamax, and though it somewhat hurts the rarity of the ones you catch in Dens, it can really save you time if you already have a Pokémon fit for battling and you want it to Gigantamax. When it comes to the competitive aspects of all of the features available, the final one is that you're able to find Mints as hidden items occasionally on the Isle of Armor. Although you're not guaranteed to get the right Mints you need, it's still a nice touch and might save you some time if you do happen to find the ones you're looking for. Oh, and you can also find TRs as those golden Pokéballs that are usually TMs. A fairly nice quality of life feature as well. By the way, do you happen to have a lot of Watts but nothing to spend them on? Honey, Mustard's wife, provides you with many upgrades to the dojo, most notably easy access to EV vitamins. Beyond that, though, most of the other things you can get for Watts is really just for fun, such as a secret battle with her and her League Card, which is definitely worth the three million Watts it costs. No sarcasm there. At all. Lastly, if you happen to be short on Watts or want to get some Armorite Ore, Digging Pa and Digging Ma, respectively, can provide you with all you need...at a cost, of course. Digging Pa will grant you Watts in exchange for your Armorite Ore, and Digging Ma charges you one Armorite Ore for her to dig for more, but if her shovel breaks, you don't get any back. The fact that it usually breaks after finding only one Armorite Ore and her random locations force you to find her could be a deal breaker.
Also, although it isn't part of the Isle of Armor, there's a new NPC in the Battle Tower that will give any of your Pokémon the mark that essentially says it's native to Galar in exchange of wiping all of its moves, making Pokémon like the Musketeers and regional formes like Kantonian Weezing legal for online competition like BSS and VGC. Again, you don't need to purchase the Expansion Pass for this, but it came with the update and I thought would be neat to highlight in case you didn't know.
When it comes to the casual features, the Isle of Armor is filled with them as well. The Cram-o-matic allows you to get an item in exchange for four items of your own, and it can be fun to see what different items you get with different combinations. There are some recipes that can guarantee you very useful items, though; for example, you can trade in at least three Rare Candies for an Ability Capsule, and you can obtain a Gold Bottle Cap for at least three regular Bottle Caps. Additionally, now that you can obtain Apricorns on the Isle of Armor, you can use those in the Cram-o-matic for a chance to get a rare Pokéball, such as a Heavy Ball, a Moon Ball, or even a Safari Ball, but your chances of getting one are incredibly slim. Moreover, obtaining the Apricorns is already pretty tedious, so combining that with a luck-based system just makes it a chore. I feel like it would've been more interesting to have a relative of Kurt or something of the sort to craft the Pokéballs for you, as that slight Johto presence definitely would've complemented the Isle of Armor's Asian theme nicely. If you happen to be a fashionable person, though, then the Isle of Armor will certain satisfy you with the amount of new clothing and accessory items you gain access to, though it's a tad annoying that the new items are all spread out at different stores rather than being all at one store specifically for the new items. You may also find the Galar Gym Leaders around to talk to on the Isle of Armor, which helps to expand on the lore, so it definitely satisfies those who like immersing themselves with the story and the world they're playing in. Finally, exclusively on the Isle of Armor, you're able to have the first Pokémon in your party follow you around! As a beloved feature back in HeartGold and SoulSilver, players can now experience walking with their Pokémon once more, and it certainly is amazing now considering how it's available in a much more open and lively environment. However, it does seem like this feature was rushed. For example, Pokémon only follow you on the Isle of Armor, not mainland Galar or even the main Wild Area. Additionally, most Pokémon go awfully slow and take forever to catch up with you, even if you're walking, which leads to them almost always teleporting beside you nearly every five seconds. These flaws definitely hurt the immersion and excitement with the feature, but at least we got it. Regardless, the Isle of Armor is filled with features for both competitive and casual players alike that definitely make up for the DLC lacking in other areas.
Oh yeah, be sure to have the mental stability to play hide and seek with more than a hundred Alolan Diglett, because I didn't.
Should You Buy It?
Despite the many flaws the Isle of Armor has, I still believe that you should buy the Expansion Pass. While most of the story isn't incredibly exciting or interesting, there are some moments that you may find charming. Although the overworld does have its flaws as well, it's still very fun to explore and has many places where you definitely would want to stop and appreciate the scenery. It's also really nice to see the newly added Pokémon in the wild, even if it's not as many as I expected. The true luxury in your purchase, however, is most certainly in the new features now available to you. So, if you're still on the edge about buying the Expansion Pass, hopefully I swayed you towards buying it. If you're not convinced, though, just remember that the Crown Tundra is also a part of the Expansion Pass and will be coming out a few months from now, and who knows what will be available there? Regardless, with what the Isle of Armor is offering at the moment, I still believe that it's worth buying right now.
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