Except the musekteers. They aren't in the dens, are actually in the CT dex specifically, but they just use the wild battle music! It's a real shame they didn't get a remix of the Gen 5 Legendary theme.
Where My Legendary Music:
That really annoyed me. Like already the side quest felt strange (will get into), though I thought at least I'll not only be getting the "Swords" but I'll also hear the awesome Gen V Legendary theme... why is this the normal Sword & Shield Wild Battle theme? REALLY GF? You remix the Regi's theme and give the Galarian Birds their own theme but you couldn't be bother to at least port the Gen V Legendary theme? And I also discover that instead of the Legendaries having their theme in the Dyanamax Adventure all of them share a new boss theme. And the boss theme is fine... but I think everyone would rather hear each Legendary's theme. Fine, you don't have time to make a new remix, just port the old themes like you did in ORAS & USUM!
Well, now that I started, guess I'll add in some additional complaints I had with the Crowned Tundra DLC:
One New Regi:
Why can you only get one of the new Regi? I can understand why you can only get one of the new Wild Horses for story reasons and I guess you have to have one reason to buy the other DLC (yes, I know the horses and regi aren't version exclusives and you can create a second profile without needing to buy another set of the DLC... but at the same time I feel this was done because they wanted to make those who did buy two sets of DLC feel like it was worth it). So the horses I'm fine with, especially since they didn't advertise them so we had no expectation we'd be getting both.
Not so much with the new Regis. I don't think there was any place where it said you had to pick one or the other, they just said there was two new Regis and showed off how cool they were and both for some reason shared a temple. No, that wasn't enough of a clue that was the case, them sharing the temple felt like it was going to be a part of a mystery/lore (maybe had they showed a quick glimpse of inside each Regi temple MAYBE that would have hinted at the idea). But even then, there was no reason to literally have one get permanently locked away. That feels like GF coming out from the corner of the room and shaking the new release that comes with the DLC in my face.
Then There's Regigigas & Future Worries:
Boy, two new Regis! Surely that means they must be doing something with Regigigas, especially since they kept trying to bury it that it was in the DLC. A Galarian Form? A Gigantamax? A new Signature Move or at least better Ability...
Nothing. Regigigas got nothing new. Oh, sure, it can now use Rest and Protect, woohoo.
Oh, but it gets worst. Because, well, if they're going to make the Regi normally catchable that means Regigigas would probably have a special encounter. And it does, but you need to collect the other Regis first, including the new ones. BUT WAIT! You can only get one of the new Regi, surely they wouldn't make you have to trade in the other Regi just to battle a normal Regigigas... yes, yes they did. They locked the Regigigas battle behind needing to trade over the other new Regi.
And this is where the future worries come in: is this now going to be the norm when it comes to the Regi? Where before all game that has the Regi we just needed to catch the three before then challenging Regigigas all in one game, now we can only get 4 in one game and have to trade in the 5th from the other version to battle Regigigas? Well, that's a good way to have me completely turn on the excitement of there being new Regi. If that's going to be the case now, please GF, while you can make regional variants, please do not add anymore members to previously existing groups if this is how you're going to handle it.
An Entire Adventure, Still Only 4 KOs:
Why are we still only restricted to 4 KOs for Dynamax Adventures before being blown out the den?! Yeah, you made it easier as the Pokemon don't pull up shields and the Den Pokemon don't have as many turns as in a Max Raid, but at the same time we still need to go through 3 Pokemon, a Legendary Boss, all who can use Max Moves which hits everyone, and our Pokemon don't heal between battles (Pokemon which are rentals and aren't given typical movesets, sometimes wocky ones which lack STAB moves).
Yes, it would be unfair if every of the Raid Battles had the 4 KO limits with how easy they are now, but how about this compromise: When you knock out a Den Pokemon we get 1 more "Extra KO" added. Or, how about reset it back to 4 KOs when we face the Legendary Boss which is treated as its sort of own battle.
Story Run Around:
Now I like the characters of the Crowned Tundra, namely Peony, Peonia, and Calyrex. I also like the concept of the story, helping this once powerful but now diminished Legendary regain its power by capturing its "counterpart". However, what I don't like are the story beats. There's just too much running around, and I don't mean the good kind like you're exploring the Tundra. No, we got to like 3 times just go around the small town, talking with the same 4-5 NPCs, and then go back to Calyrex. We couldn't condense some of those moments? Also, every time we got an item we usually immediately use it, they made like 6 new Key Items which this happens to and 2 go unused depending on what Horse you chose. The point of the Tundra was supposed to be exploration, so why not make the quest about fetching these Key Items by going all over the map by condensing the multiple small talk? Like this is what I would have done:
Let's jump to where Calyrex has taken over Peony's body to talk with you. It already knows the people have stopped believing in it, that's much is obvious. What Calyrex needs to know is how to attract its Horse and get the Reigns of Unity. You go around town once and are quickly told the mayor has books about the subject, but the mayor has gone out into the Tundra so you have to look for him. You fetch the mayor and he says he doesn't know how to make the reigns of what attracts the horse, but lets you look through the books. You read the books and it says you need certain carrots to attract the horse and to make the reigns you need the hair of the horse and leaf of the carrot. However you still don't know where to get the carrots. The mayor explains that there's a farmer in town who might know, but after another quick asking around you learn he went off into the Tundra to see the Dyna Tree. You meet the farmer and he tells you two locations where the two variants of carrots once grew. You go to one of these spots and Calyrex says he only has enough power to grow one variety of carrot and asks if this is the carrot which matches what you think his steed would like (maybe at some point have the mayor or a book mention the most memorable feature of the horse was "a neigh that chilled you to the bone", a vague "clue" which you could say describes an Ice or Ghost-type). Upon getting the carrot you then see the horse run by, Calyrex realizing it came from the Crown Shrine thus a likely place to get some of its hair. You go get its hair but when you come back to Freezington it's under attack by the Wild Horse. You defeat the Wild Horse making it flee, but Freezington's crops are completely destroyed. No time to spare, you talk with the mayor, giving him the hair and leafs of the carrot (the carrot item would be updated without having their leafs), and have the scene where he's unable to make the reigns but then Peony does. With the carrots and reigns you go back up to the Crown Shrine where you use the carrots as bait and Calyrex captures the Wild Horse, using its power to cause Freezington's crops to not only regrow but be more plentiful.
There, I not only condensed asking around Freezington to 2 moments but also added more exploring of the Tundra and got the Key Items down to three (the two different carrots and the horse hair which would just be one item that's a gray hair).
Ice Carrot For White Horse, Shade Carrot For Black Horse:
Speaking of carrots, WE GET IT GAME FREAK! THE ICE CARROTS FOR WHITE HORSE AND SHADE CARROTS FOR BLACK HORSE! YOU DON'T NEED TO TELL ME 3-4 TIMES! Two times is all you need, once when explaining that's how it works, and once more from Calyrex when he says he only has enough power to grow one variety of carrot. We especially didn't need that out-of-the-blue poem when we're about to leave town to get the carrots. Back off of the handholding or I'll stab a carrot right through your hand!
Hi Sonia, Bye Sonia:
So it was hinted by Hau in the ending storyline for the Isle of Armor that Sonia went somewhere cold to do research. But while Hau's appearance on the Isle of Armor had a purpose of him helping the player unlock the secret of Urshifu's Gigantamax thus the player could have their final trial with Mustard, for Sonia it just felt like she was shoehorned. You'd think she'd be involved with the Dynamax Adventures in some way, but no, she's just this throwaway side quest.
What side quest? ANOTHER 150 SEARCH! GAME FREAK WHY?! Well, at least this one was less annoying as there was extra of what you were looking for so there wasn't going to be a situation where you're missing those last few like with the Alolan Diglett. What are you searching for? The footprints of the Swords of Justice, and once you find them she tells you where you can find them, you catch them, and you show her each member and she then runs off back to the lab. And there was Sonia's contribution. It feels tack on, especially with how random they decided the Swords of Justice would just be native to the Crowned Tundra instead of just being available in the Dynamax Adventure. The only reason I can think of is they wanted to have that easter egg with getting Keldeo, which honestly isn't a bad easter egg.
So you're probably wondering what I would have done. You didn't? Well let me tell you anyway. So you know how at the end of Crowned Tundra the Ultra Beasts are added to the Dyanamax Adventures after you catch Necrozma? Well, how about this instead, first put the Swords of Justice in the Dynamax Adventure (and make Keldeo a secret boss that unlocks when you capture all the Swords of Justice... heck, maybe do that with a few other Mythicals as well). Second, have Sonia come to observe the Dynamax Adventure, but then have it suddenly invaded by Necrozma. You defeat Necrozma, but then see the other Ultra Beasts released and spread across the Tundra. Sonia is able to track the UBs with her sensor device, so instead of looking for the footprints of the Swords of Justice you're now looking for "tracks" of the Ultra Beasts. I feel that would be a bit more exciting than the Swords of Justice (especially if you're not going to have their theme) as well as make Sonia's presence in the Crowned Tundra feel more significant. Maybe even have it revealed the UBs destructive nature has revealed previous hidden locations around the Tundra which had more lore of the region (Sonia's specialty) and maybe give you some neat stuff, once again emphasizing the exploration aspect of the DLC.
I think that's all for now. I have a lot more mixed opinions on the Crowned Tundra, though I feel those are better suited for the main Sword & Shield discussion thread and the Unpopular Opinions thread.