During a Pokémon Direct event that took place today, Game Freak revealed the existence of the Pokémon Sword Expansion Pass and Pokémon Shield Expansion Pass, two separate passes that will introduce brand new content, Pokémon (including new legendaries), characters and customisation options to the game. Check out the official trailer below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvpAEw_gW60
The Expansion pass will include two DLC Packs: The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra. The first DLC, The Isle of Armor, takes place on a brand new island which houses a Dojo led by former Champion Mustard. You can also earn a new legendary Pokémon, Kubfu, who can evolve into Urshifu. Urshifu has two separate fighting styles depending on whether you’re playing Sword and Shield, and will also have two separate Gigantamax forms to boot. Sword players will have the Fighting/Dark type Single-Strike Style, while Shield will gain the Rapid-Strike Style that combines Fighting and Water.
Meanwhile, The Crown Tundra sees you travel to a snow-capped landscape, introducing a new legendary by the name of Calyrex. A new co-op mode will also be introduced that’ll allow players to take on underground dens that house Dynamaxed legendary Pokémon from games in the past. In total, over 200 Pokémon from past games will be added to the game as part of the Expansion Pass, though certain Pokémon will be locked to either one game or another.
While a lot of players will likely be glad to see classic Pokémon make their return to Sword and Shield, soft-locking them behind an Expansion Pass might still be a controversial move. That said, players can still obtain those Pokémon via a Link Trade or via Pokémon Home which launches in February, plus the new areas and additional content should make the Expansion Pass a good deal all around. We’ll have to see how the news is received in the coming hours.
The Pokémon Sword Expansion Pass and Pokémon Shield Expansion Pass will go live for pre-order later today (make sure you buy the right one), with the first DLC scheduled to launch by the end of June 2020 while DLC pack 2 has the more vague Fall 2020 window. Are you excited for the Pokémon Sword and Shield Expansion Pass? Sound off in the comments.
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