Pokemon Sword / Shield: The Isle of Armor

 Switch
User Score
5.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 520 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 181 out of 520
  2. Mixed: 119 out of 520
  3. Negative: 220 out of 520

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  1. Kacek1996
    Aug 20, 2022
    6
    Pokemon The Isle of Armor was a short DLC I played mostly to see my own pokemons run after me, to get new pokemons for my Pokemon HOME pokedex, to catch the new Kubfu and Urshifu pokemons. This DLC was really short and easy with too much of allolan diglets to look for... I liked the galarian Slowpoke evolution line quite a lot, and the map was nicely done!
  2. Darros2
    Jul 23, 2020
    5
    Una extensión del juego bastante pobre, prácticamente solo vale la pena por no quedarse fuera del competitivo y tener más variantes de pokémon, pero la historia es bastante mala, solo el rival muestra algo de personalidad y genera algo de interés, pero en general bastante simple y si se va directo por la historia se puede terminar fácilmente en 2 horas o incluso menos.
  3. Kotelo
    Jun 18, 2020
    5
    I can only give 5/10.

    This DLC is boring. Sure the new Map looks nice and they added new Pokemon, which had to be included in the Original Release i think. The Main problem for me is that it isnt Challenging at all. I read about Level Scaling the last Days and was excited that i can play with my strongest Team of 6 LvL 100 Mons. The first fight on the Isle was... well.. a LVL 58 Abra.    I can only give 5/10.

    This DLC is boring. Sure the new Map looks nice and they added new Pokemon, which had to be included in the Original Release i think. The Main problem for me is that it isnt Challenging at all. I read about Level Scaling the last Days and was excited that i can play with my strongest Team of 6 LvL 100 Mons. The first fight on the Isle was... well.. a LVL 58 Abra. Thats not how Scaling works. Till the end of the Story Part which includes about 10 Trainer Battles and some Fetchquests the highest Pokemon i had to fight was LvL 75. Again thats not Challenging at all. My Mew Oneshottet everything on this Isle.
    The Reason i dont go lower with the DLC is the Hope for the Second Part of the DLC. Till then i will go for DynaRaids and nothing else, cause there isnt really much to do.    … Expand
  4. Luffydjw
    Jun 18, 2020
    5
    At first I was enamoured with Pokemon swords dlc isle of armour. But when you realise it adds 10 hours of meaningful content that should of already been within a very basic main game. Isle of armour demonstrates what could of been with wild area with various interesting biomes. Yet I feel the still fall short of many other cutting edge Nintendo games. It lacks the charm of Mario odyssey orAt first I was enamoured with Pokemon swords dlc isle of armour. But when you realise it adds 10 hours of meaningful content that should of already been within a very basic main game. Isle of armour demonstrates what could of been with wild area with various interesting biomes. Yet I feel the still fall short of many other cutting edge Nintendo games. It lacks the charm of Mario odyssey or innovation of legend of Zelda breath of the wild. The world should simply put be better the graphics(although are not essential) should also be of quality befitting of the franchise. The dlc shows early promise with Klara being an interesting character but unfortunately over the time of playing the dlc she is not developed and then is given a massively different character with no motivation for the change . But the core problem with this and all other Pokemon games since red and blue are lack of gameplay changes with the same basic features. This is problem which must be addressed maybe not in the dlc but for the future of Pokemon. There are not only negatives though with cool new Pokemon and an interesting if lacking in substance new wild area. With a incredible and interesting ensemble of Pokemon which is still incredible to catch making one of the best possible base premises for a game the dlc still brings me enjoyment. But if the Pokemon franchise could match this kind of varied biome set and incredible Pokemon with higher quality environment, better story(black and white level), side quests, voice acting and improved gameplay it may be justifying of swords initial high ratings. But in truth this just a pale imitation of what Pokemon should and could be. So overall: -it shows promise due to an interesting new setting
    -still wonderful to catch Pokemon -yet is let down by lack of character development or real story - it feels more like a side quest than a new story for instance like heart of stone is in Witcher 3 which gives real personality to most characters that are met. - the core gameplay has not be changed (not to be expected with a dlc) but 20 years of virtually the same game only with different typing still feeling outdated.
    - When there are games that are older than this like Witcher 3 the whole of pokemon not just the dlc leave a bitter taste.    … Expand
  5. Robertinho123
    Jun 19, 2020
    5
    Mediocre. Very short, you can finish it in a few hours and for the time spent very overpriced. Only 2 new pokemon and 2 new versions, very little actual new content and no normally available new legendary (2 event-only ones though, which haven't been confirmed for a release yet)

    It seems like the next dlc is the real one to look out for, as it got teased here as well. This one seems    Mediocre. Very short, you can finish it in a few hours and for the time spent very overpriced. Only 2 new pokemon and 2 new versions, very little actual new content and no normally available new legendary (2 event-only ones though, which haven't been confirmed for a release yet)

    It seems like the next dlc is the real one to look out for, as it got teased here as well.

    This one seems like it could have been included in the base post-game.    … Expand
  6. Blud
    Jun 18, 2020
    7
    This is a nice little addition to the game, but the problem lies in this very fact: it is nice, but it is little if it is to be considered as endgame content. I feel to really get the most out of this DLC would be to create a new playthrough, being able to go back and forth between the Isle of Armour and mainland Galar while the Isle scales with you.

    On the positive side, this is how the    This is a nice little addition to the game, but the problem lies in this very fact: it is nice, but it is little if it is to be considered as endgame content. I feel to really get the most out of this DLC would be to create a new playthrough, being able to go back and forth between the Isle of Armour and mainland Galar while the Isle scales with you.

    On the positive side, this is how the wild area always should've been; I would welcome some of the fetch quests within the main game itself.

    The negatives is that it is far too short and unfortunately save for some (actually very cool) additional features, everything we saw in the trailer (at least new Pokémon wise) was all we got. Some additional Galarian forms as well as some Gigantamax forms would've gone a long way.

    In short, it's too short as an endgame piece of DLC but could easily thrive as part of a new playthrough, involving going back and forth. If you want to start over and have Pokémon home to move all your mons to, this would be a great time.    … Expand
  7. Protomario
    Jun 21, 2020
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The Isle of Armor DLC will begin similarly to how Fallout DLC’s occur, where you are alerted to having DLC and directed to go to that location to begin said DLC.
    Once you present the pass at the train station, you may go to the Isle where a short cut scene is shown to introduce you to your new area for exploration.
    Instantly you are introduced to a unique antagonist, Klara, which pops with color.
    This battle is presented to the player to display some of the new Pokemon available.
    After roughly 5 minutes you can begin seeing wild Pokemon, from a Waylord in the water to tons of Pokemon Popping up.

    There are around 100 new Pokemon added with this DLC, some from every generation as well from 1 to seven, new Galar forms like Slowpoke and Gigamax forms like Venasaur and Blastoise.
    Some notable new Pokemon added are –
    Scyther, Porygon, and their evolutions, Dunsparce, Azurill, Sharpedo, Lopunny, Magnezone, Krokadile, Zoroark, Emolga, Talonflame, Kelfkey, Rockruff, and of course, the new mythical and legendariies.

    With over 100 to collect there are plenty to choose from as soon as you get on the island.
    However, most of the island will be cut off until you address the Dojo issue, an old Master named Mustard runs it, after a short battle, he insists you join the dojo and complete three trials.
    This is the crux of this DLC, if you are not into Martial Arts of any kind, you likely will not enjoy the story.

    The music, some of the new Pokemon, the aesthetics of the area are all based around this.
    This DLC follows all the Kungfu tropes, an Old Master, Menial Chores, Rivalries between students, it is all here and done very well.

    All through the DLC you will be tasked to do things and be given rewards from this dojo, to include Kanto starters Bulbasaur and Squirtle.

    The three tasks are simple, involving a few battles and a fetch quest.
    This DLC silently explains that the rival antagonist wants to be the poison type gym leader, and that by you the player appearing to push the antagonist further, they put in all of their effort instead of doing the minimum.

    In a surprising twist of events, the rival actually cheats in the final trial, introducing the possible concept in future games that we could have evil teams doing things outside Pokemon battles to gain the edge.

    I find this concept to be extremely unique, and if a game like Gen 1 was remade, it should definitely be implemented with the Team Rocket encounters.
    After the completion of said trials you are introduced to a comical fighting type bear in a cut-scene that I greatly disliked…

    Regardless, this is how the player receives Kubfu.
    Get it, Kub, fu, like a bear Kub that does Kungfu…the creativity is amazing….
    This leads into how the player gets to take their Pokemon for a stroll…
    You might think this is Amazing, just like in Heart Gold and Soul Silver, and it is, kinda….
    See this is where the game fumbles a little bit, some Pokemon do a better job of following you than others.

    For example, if you ask Drakeloak to follow you it will slowly, and I mean very slowly, follow you, to the point where it takes 5-10 seconds to catch up.
    After testing this feature, your next objective is to become better friends with Kubfu by finding fellow dojo members all around the island.

    This is another way the DLC fumbles greatly, by putting the focus of going to these differently locations to become friendlier with your new Pokemon the game is tricking the player into seeing places they might normally not see.

    But outside of capturing new Pokemon, there is nothing to do in these areas but find these go here and press this button points.

    It is very similar to Destiny’s missions where you are requested to go from one side of the map to the other for some random scan, which people really panned as a negative thing.
    I do think there is a lot to do in the DLC, but in the first hour you are required to do what boils down to busy work until you reach two unique towers with interesting battling gimmicks.

    Then you are finally given access to most of the island for training your new Pokemon.

    These towers revolve around using Kabfu to battle five opponents, while indicating that your Pokemon should be around level 70.

    You can view these towers to be an extremely mild version of the older Battle towers, where you can heal in between battling trainers but only use Kabfu.

    Depending on the chosen tower to battle will also lead to the evolution type of Kubfu, either the single strike or rapid strike Kubfu, one being dark fighting, the other water fighting.
    The method for which this Pokemon was introduced and fleshed out is intriguing but dedicating an entire DLC to one Pokemon and it’s evolutions is a bit strange. This DLC might last you a week at best if you think that is worth $15 then have fun… or you could buy – A Pizza, a couple sodas, buy detective Pikachu and have a great time.    … Expand
  8. R3n4h
    Jun 20, 2020
    6
    Besides Being a good game, the animation qualities are worst than Never, it is really degusting.
  9. Toasttt
    Mar 26, 2022
    5
    meh .
  10. nocturnechloe
    Jun 17, 2020
    7
    It's about what I expected and I think your mileage will vary significantly depending on how true that is for you. The narrative is short; the new characters are charming but hardly exhibit any growth. The island is a bit prettier than the main game's wild area, which is all well and good because the majority of the island is just another wild area to begin with. There are lots ofIt's about what I expected and I think your mileage will vary significantly depending on how true that is for you. The narrative is short; the new characters are charming but hardly exhibit any growth. The island is a bit prettier than the main game's wild area, which is all well and good because the majority of the island is just another wild area to begin with. There are lots of returning Pokemon to catch and I've had fun running past trees, trekking through caverns, and figuring out the optimal way to avoid Sharpedos on the high seas (you'll see what I mean). If this were sold as a full game it would be the worst value proposition in the franchise, but it isn't. It's a piece of DLC, and a pretty passable one at that.… Expand
  11. Kashmoney
    Jan 24, 2021
    7
    Intro: While I personally enjoyed my adventure into the Galar region, Pokemon Sword and Shield definitely needed a bit more help content-wise and polishing up the game to make it more worthwhile for people to get into. And since the games were already in some deep water with the fanbase, I can safely say that I am glad Nintendo and Gamefreak went with this route with DLC.

    What is it?:    Intro: While I personally enjoyed my adventure into the Galar region, Pokemon Sword and Shield definitely needed a bit more help content-wise and polishing up the game to make it more worthwhile for people to get into. And since the games were already in some deep water with the fanbase, I can safely say that I am glad Nintendo and Gamefreak went with this route with DLC.

    What is it?: The Isle of Armor is part of the 2 pack DLC for Pokemon Sword and Shield. The player will travel to another small island off the coast of Galar to train in a dojo to obtain the new legendary Pokemon Kubfu which will later turn into Urshifu. The island is also filled with pokemon that wasn't previously present due to the dex cut, but now can be found, caught, and traded to anyone who has the games.

    Pros: The isle of Armor looks pretty good on its own. It's definitely not super amazing looking, but the map looks pretty neat on its own and was a breath of fresh air from the rolling hills and dry looks of Galar. The story itself is also a nice little addition and brought in some cool characters such as Mustard and the two trainers who rival you on the island, Avery and Klara ( I hear a lot of people like Klara ;3). The story for the DLC is also neat, it's nothing out of the ordinary or super epic like the Delta story or Rainbow Rocket, but I thought that overall the DLC does a good job making a nice side story. And while I still do not support the dex cut, I do like how this DLC update allowed over 100 more Pokemon to come back into the fray making the new dex count of the Galar region be around 500 of new and old pokemon. Plus, while you can't get the returning pokemon in the mainland area of the game, you can trade over or receive the returning Pokemon via wifi from friends or online if needed, no DLC required!

    Cons: While I do like this DLC, I think there are still some problems with it. Main issue I have is that while I didn't expect this DLC to be super long, I wished they could have added more content to make the DLC's story a bit longer. I was able to beat the story in maybe 4 hours, including catching pokemon and raiding a bit. If it was around 6 hours in story content, I feel that it would have been a perfect length for this expansion. Also, while there are some nice little things such as the return of pokemon following you, I feel that Gamefreak failed a bit with it because it looks a bit too janky. Some pokemon literally can't keep up with the player because they tried to be accurate with how fast or slow the pokemon is and it just makes this small feature feels underdeveloped. My final main issue of this DLC is that while the map overall looks decent, I feel that certain areas like the caves and the forest could look a bit better, especially the forest because the textures in there still looked a little washed out.

    Verdict: Overall, I do believe that the Pokemon games should stick with the direction of DLCs instead of a third game and this was a good start. I feel that this DLC was nice overall and was worth its price. I do believe it needs some touch-ups in providing a longer story and including more new Pokemon, but I think this was a nice addition for SWSH. I can't wait to see what will happen in November for the Crown Tundra.    … Expand
  12. 820_alvaro
    Jun 21, 2020
    7
    Entretiene, era mas o menos lo que esperaba, ojala algún día Game Freak se anime a hacer un juego donde la dificultad sea elevada.
  13. georgetime2003
    Jun 21, 2020
    7
    Un DLC en el que esperaba menos pero se ha legado a lucir de maravilla, hay que decir que las texturas de los arboles han aumentado, y ahora te acompañan pokemons detrás tuyo, la pega, las animaciones aun se las pueden currar y que el acompañante vaya a la misma velocidad que tu personaje.
  14. marvsfontanilla
    Mar 31, 2021
    7
    Story: 7
    Graphics: 8
    Sound: 7
    Gameplay: 7
    Game Time: 5 Hours (Main Story)
  15. mystery556
    Jun 29, 2020
    6
    It was more fun than I thought

    However, it is still impossible to enter the Sword Shield's Pokemon, so it is necessary to change the tone quickly.
  16. AlphaSpectre84
    Jun 21, 2020
    7
    Isle of Armor is a fine DLC addition to Pokemon Sword and Shield, which I personally found to be an incredibly lacking package to start with. Seeing old favourites making their return here, having them pop up at random throughout your time on the isle kept me playing long enough after I had finished the main story.
  17. Lish13
    Jun 21, 2020
    7
    too short, but great to have some old pokemon back and the following system
  18. drywall
    Jun 21, 2020
    5
    dlc is pretty bad. trying to clear out all the raid dens in the ungodly large wild area that is the entire isle of armor is terrible, the draw distance means i've had to scour every nook and cranny, including the huge ocean surrounding it, just to refresh my raid battles. 4/10 + 1/10 for klara being both a cool rival and cute
  19. jbezanso
    Jun 22, 2020
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. There is some good in this DLC. New map is great, "New lol" pokemon/raid battles are good too. But we gotta call it how it is, no sugar coating (I'm looking at ALL the youtuber reviews/gaming sites who are scared to call a square a square). This is NOT worth your money. DLC has been around for over 10 years and Nintendo is acting like their eyes were closed the whole time. This "Expansion" is not acceptable for the price. All you get is the new map, added pokemon (not new ones, old ones that weren't in original game) and maybe 1-2 hours of story missions. Thats being NICE. Andddd thats it lol The main mission is to "Train" your Kubfu to be strong enough to battle in the Tower. You get Kubfu at level 10 and every pokemon on Island is 60+. So you can't actually use Kubfu until the end. He sits in your party and gets exp points. When you hit level 70 you can battle in tower. 5 battles, ONE pokemon each. Game Over. OHH and if you were a loyal fan and got most of your pokemon level 75 or higher, again all the pokemon are level 60 in expansion (until your hit tower and they're level 65-70, WOAH), so you blow them out of the water. To make this expansion "Fun" I had to catch a whole new group of pokemon (level 60) and play. There are no extra trainers to battle throughout the world, no additional story lines (only Kubfu tower one), NOTHING. Just a collectathon of sparkles and watts. I really hope the 2nd expansion blows our MINDS but I'm not counting on it.… Expand
  20. DaniyalIslam
    Oct 23, 2020
    7
    Though better than the base game, Isle of Armor comes with some negative aspects. However, I am excited to see a new focus for the series.
  21. AlexMakesToast
    Dec 16, 2022
    5
    Isle of Armor = 5/10
    ......................................................
  22. guygardner2020
    Jun 24, 2020
    6
    Content is not balanced , really only good for starting a new game. New Pokemon are cool though. I think its fixable with a patch and hope they go that route.
  23. tensioly
    Jun 6, 2023
    7
    Venía con muy pocas expectativas para este DLC pero parece ser que las ha cumplido. Como primera parte de un DLC de 30€ quizá parece un poco corto pero, para mi gusto, es de bastante calidad. Los personajes son expectaculares y el pequeño arco argumental hila bastante bien con la historia principal del juego. Añade pokémon de otras generaciones y los nuevos legendarios me parecenVenía con muy pocas expectativas para este DLC pero parece ser que las ha cumplido. Como primera parte de un DLC de 30€ quizá parece un poco corto pero, para mi gusto, es de bastante calidad. Los personajes son expectaculares y el pequeño arco argumental hila bastante bien con la historia principal del juego. Añade pokémon de otras generaciones y los nuevos legendarios me parecen interesantes. Aceptable primera parte de este DLC que me deja satisfecho. 6,6/10
    (07/2020)    … Expand
  24. Resoul
    Apr 18, 2023
    5
    The pokemon all feel super week even tho there level 60 they still get one shot by pokemon that are within 10 levels of them, i think your meant to do the dlc before you beat the main game. Also there levels are tied to how many gyms you've beat not to the level of the pokemon on your team so even if you change your team out for lower level pokemon they'll still be level 60 which might beThe pokemon all feel super week even tho there level 60 they still get one shot by pokemon that are within 10 levels of them, i think your meant to do the dlc before you beat the main game. Also there levels are tied to how many gyms you've beat not to the level of the pokemon on your team so even if you change your team out for lower level pokemon they'll still be level 60 which might be fine if you use level 50 pokemon but i think you're meant to do the dlc around the 3rd gym.

    The DLC's "story" is really short if you aren't filling the dex or finding the diglett as you play and have the rare candies needed to get kubfu to level 70 right away it's likely only around two hours, without having the candy ready and not doing the side stuff it will likely only be about a hour longer as the super weak level 60 pokemon make leveling up pretty quick tho raid battles are the best way since you'll get rare candies which are way faster if you're just trying to level up one pokemon.

    Sadly there's no store where you can buy pokeballs which sucks if you want to fill the pokedex (and go into the dlc with less then 70 pokeballs 50 of which are just the basic pokeball) and there are really no trainers either and of the very few trainer battles that there are only one puts up any type of fight with it being the last trainer of the water tower's poliwarth and even then the fight is only like three turns. The map is also a bit of a maze and just going somewhere you've already been can be a bit of a pain if you don't fully remeber how yoiu got there the first time.

    Now i do like the yellow jacket they give you (not the rest of the outfit tho) and two of the new hair styles for the female trainer are pretty nice and tho the new white bike/outfit is better then all the rest in the game there's still a lack of good character customization also tho you do get to have your pokemon follow you you don't get it right away and if you're like me and started looking for the digletts right away or started catching pokemon for your dex it could be a hour or more before you get to have your pokemon follow you. Also finding all the diglett doesn't really get you anything as tho you get some gen 7 versions of pokemon you can pretty easily get them with home so there not much of a reward.    … Expand
  25. ScreenS
    Jun 5, 2023
    7
    You get a cool bear, I guess?

    Honestly for a first DLC attempt it’s fine, but the fact they knew we wanted an official monotype format but left it single player only and didn’t heal your team between battles is a level of stupid I cannot comprehend.

Awards & Rankings

7
#7 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2020

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
69

Mixed or average reviews - based on 42 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 42
  2. Mixed: 26 out of 42
  3. Negative: 1 out of 42
  1. Universo Nintendo
    Dec 16, 2020
    70
    When reviwed from a zero point, Isle of Armor renews the metagame and includes a significant amount of content. It is just a pity that there is no sign of challenge to live up to the eight months of training. When out of this vacuum, however, it is clear that this expansion is much more complete than the base game, expanding its experience.
    Read full review
  2. Nintendo Force Magazine
    Oct 26, 2020
    80
    The overall evolution of the Pokémon gameplay experience has taken another step forward thanks to DLC. [Issue #48 – September/October 2020, p. 28]
  3. GameMAG
    Sep 12, 2020
    50
    A tiny boring plot, four new monsters for the series, and optimization of some game mechanics are clearly not enough for fans of the franchise, nor for ordinary players. The overall impression of the Expansion Pass, of course, can be formed only after the release of the final part - The Crown of Tundra. Now we can only say with complete confidence that The Isle of Armor is not worth the money.
    Read full review
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