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. LaADE
    Jun 19, 2020
    0
    Es una vergüenza que nos vendan el postgame de un juego cuando siempre nos han brindado uno GRATIS. Además que se ha demostrado que es contenido recortado del juego.
  2. Edumiroku
    Jun 19, 2020
    0
    Postgame que debió estar en el juego, no vale la pena pagar 30 pavos por el postgame de un juego y por un contenido que oficialmente fue recortado con la intención de sacar más dinero. Sorry not sorry
  3. KrissTRS
    Jun 19, 2020
    10
    Personally I adore all pokemon games and more of it is just perfect for me and the new wild area/entire new area is large expansive and feels lived in unlike the base one wich felt more barron
    Over all perfect for anyone who slightly enjoyed the base game. The story could have been longer but its aboit 2 and a half hours a quarter of the base game so with the other part it will be enough    Personally I adore all pokemon games and more of it is just perfect for me and the new wild area/entire new area is large expansive and feels lived in unlike the base one wich felt more barron
    Over all perfect for anyone who slightly enjoyed the base game. The story could have been longer but its aboit 2 and a half hours a quarter of the base game so with the other part it will be enough and more for me    … Expand
  4. 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
  5. Askhelon
    Jun 19, 2020
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is the first half of the DLC. There are some nice ideas and design (Slowbro, the new rival and dojo characters), the island is of a respectable size with much more detail than the wild area (save some zones, which are very empty still and feel like filler). However, it feels very unfinished and is disappointingly short. The experience is made worse with the poorly working Y-comm, and the following-but-teleporting-every-2-meters pokemon is a big miss. Really expected some suprises that were not shown in the trailers, but the trailers are all there’s to it. They probably show a good 30% of the story.
    The story itself is fun, interactions with the characters are well made, but it's just so short. You can be done with everything in under 2h. Very few trainer battles that use unevolved pokemon. They're not using anything interesting. The first match with Avery uses a lv 60 Abra and slowpoke, which is simply ridiculous after beating the story. Sure, you can enter the DLC as soon as you enter the wild area, but still, this feels disappointing.
    If you come after finishing the main story (which is probably most people), there's NO mention that you're the champion, even the reverse: they refer to Leon and some gym leaders, but act as if you're a nobody. Not that you just went on all screens and newspapers from defeating the Undefeated Champion or saved the world from Eternatus.
    The rest of the island is just a more detailed wild area with dens everywhere, and with how well the Y-Comm is working, it’s not very enticing. The addition of "removed" pokémon doesn't feel like reason enough to buy the DLC (they're unlocked for everyone anyway), and to many, they should have been in the main game already. So I will not consider it content from the expansion, since you don't pay for it. It does feel nice to see all these new faces roaming the island, though.
    They added supposedly a huge feature: following pokémon. Sounds amazing on paper. In practice, it's only available on the isle of armor, and most pokemon won't manage to follow you at your speed (walking or on your bike) and will just teleport at their convenience. Looks horrible. They even added an NPC in the Dojo to disable that; so I guess they knew how bad it was. Fast pokemon even struggle to follow you, I could not understand the logic behind that.    … Expand
  6. LongHappyFrog
    Jun 18, 2020
    0
    Its really hard for me as someone that loves Pokemon to see how far in the opposite direction the game has gone. This DLC to me mainly feels they took all the complaints that the game had on launch and tried to put a price tag on it. Not only that it feels like you are paying for content that should have just already been in the main game! This is the post game! Why do i have to pay forIts really hard for me as someone that loves Pokemon to see how far in the opposite direction the game has gone. This DLC to me mainly feels they took all the complaints that the game had on launch and tried to put a price tag on it. Not only that it feels like you are paying for content that should have just already been in the main game! This is the post game! Why do i have to pay for it!

    Not only did they put this dumb price tag on it they put as much effort into this DLC as they did the main game. They couldn't even do the Pokemon following you correctly. They put this giant invisible box around the Pokemon so you cant even get near it which in my guess is laziness on not wanting to develop collision for each individual Pokemon. Not only that they just copied over the same code they used for wild over world Pokemon and used it for the following mechanic. That's right! Your Pokemon that is following you is just a wild spawned Pokemon chasing you! This is why some of the Pokemon who normally dont spawn in the world have very slow speed and dont even move! They have to teleport to catch up to you! That is not FOLLOWING! They added more Pokemon cool i guess, should be in the main game already.
    Its laziness that's all this DLC is and that's all Sword and Shield is. It is the equivalent if in gen 4 they made it so once you beat the elite four you had to spend 30$ to go to the end game islands. As a hard core Pokemon fan for 12 years i am disappointed.    … Expand
  7. DragonGamerZ
    Jun 18, 2020
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Ah yes, the first part of the Expansion Pass for easily the most controversial Pokemon games. Now, before this review begins, be mindful of something: Do not be misinformed. All these rumors on Twitter and such about how "they cut content to sell it back to you as DLC" and things of the such are false. Anyone who's heard of this DLC knows that it's bringing back Pokemon that didn't appear in the base game, and they're doing so for free, NOT behind a paywall. The DLC is simply extra content like all other DLC. Now, with that in mind, let's get right to it.

    First and foremost, the Isle of Armor itself looks gorgeous. Game Freak wasn't kidding when they said there were a variety of different areas in the Isle of Armor. There's a swamp, a cave, beaches with a massive Level 80 Wailord because sure, why not, forests where Pokemon interact with their surroundings in new ways such as Emolga gliding from tree to tree, etc. And of course, each area has different Pokemon, including both old ones seen in the Galar region already and new ones added to the Isle of Armor. Some fan-favorites that were added back in include Volcarona, Zoroark, Luxray, Skarmory, Lycanroc, and much more (I think the exact number added back in is 109). On top of all these locations, there's also the Master Dojo, which is where the story campaign of the Isle of Armor will take place. It looks nice overall, and has a few different attractions of its own, which I'll get to in a moment.

    As for the story campaign itself, it was quite enjoyable. You're given three trials to do alongside the other students of the Master Dojo, which is run by someone who used to occupy the seat of Champion before: Leon's teacher, Mustard, and you'll also meet Honey, who gives you a Bulbasaur or a Squirtle later on, each of which are able to Gigantamax. Additionally, one of these students is your rival on the Isle of Armor: Klara in Pokemon Sword, and Avery in Pokemon Shield. These two actually have a bit of development of their own, which is frankly pretty surprising given that the time from the beginning of the campaign to your final battle with them where their development comes to a close is a bit on the shorter side. That's not to say the campaign itself is over then and there though, as after this, you get Kubfu and need to build a friendship with it before heading to either one of the Towers of Two Fists, the Tower of Darkness if you want to evolve Kubfu into Urshifu's Single Strike Style (a Dark/Fighting type, which I chose), or the Tower of Waters for Urshifu's Rapid Strike Style (a Water/Fighting type). Clearing whichever tower you choose results in Kubfu evolving into the aforementioned Urshifu style. Additionally, once you complete this, you'll have another quest to do, which involves Hop coming to the Isle of Armor, something which pleasantly surprised me. This then eventually culminates into a final battle against Mustard's full team of 6 Pokemon, with the highest levels seen in a Trainer battle in Sword and Shield, maxing out at Level 75. What's also really neat is that he uses the Urshifu form that is opposite to the one you use. Not only is this story campaign fun to go through, it's surprisingly longer than I expected, making for a great experience.

    Despite the aforementioned events being what ends the main story campaign, there are a plethora of activities to do on the Isle of Armor, and they are a lot of fun to do. For starters, you can fill up the Isle of Armor Pokedex, which is not only as fun as always, you can also talk to certain people and register a Pokemon on the Isle of Armor as seen for a small price of 100 Watts. Speaking of Watts, you can also spend time collecting them via Raid Dens that show up in the Isle of Armor, on top of fighting and catching Dynamax versions of Isle of Armor exclusives (one Den even has a Dusk Form Lycanroc, which is really cool). These Watts can also be used to help Honey out in a side-mission involving spending lots of Watts to improve the Master Dojo, which will even let you unlock a secret battle against her, where she has a full team of 6 and uses the opposite starter of what you chose (between Bulbasaur and Squirtle), which can Gigantamax. You can also find TRs on the Isle of Armor, which can be pretty helpful, and other activities include making Max Soup to Gigantamax Pokemon you have that are capable of doing so (including the Sword and Shield starters, who all now have new Gigantamax forms), finding Apricorns and making Poke Balls out of them (along with combining items to make new ones with the Cram-o-matic), finding 151 Diglett scattered across the Isle of Armor for a reward, and even finding Gym Leaders just hanging out on the Isle of Armor. There is simply a lot to do and a lot of ground to cover as you explore.

    All in all, this is a great start to Sword and Shield's Expansion Pass, and while we wait for the even more promising Crown Tundra, we can enjoy what the Isle of Armor offers us.    … Expand
  8. riverkev95
    Jun 18, 2020
    4
    Es un añadido interesante a la aventura que vivimos en Pokémon Sword/Shield con funciones llamativas como la historia del pokémon Kubfu, la nueva área salvaje con ambientes que van desde playas hasta cuevas, algunos pocos nuevos pokémon y el regreso de más de 100 especies de generaciones anteriores, además de la sorpresa del regreso de la característica del pokémon acompañante.
    A pesar    Es un añadido interesante a la aventura que vivimos en Pokémon Sword/Shield con funciones llamativas como la historia del pokémon Kubfu, la nueva área salvaje con ambientes que van desde playas hasta cuevas, algunos pocos nuevos pokémon y el regreso de más de 100 especies de generaciones anteriores, además de la sorpresa del regreso de la característica del pokémon acompañante.
    A pesar del aumento en las horas de juego, este contenido adicional no deja de sentirse como contenido recortado del juego original, lo que vendría siendo el postgame en otras ediciones. Además de la inexplicable limitación en la funcionalidad del pokémon acompañante, la cual no permite utilizarse fuera de la isla. También es inevitable no destacar que los nuevos ambientes no mejoran en lo absoluto la experiencia de juego, lo cual nos muestra una especie de mundo abierto que continúa sintiéndose muy vacío y falto de personalidad.

    En conclusión, si te encantó el juego base deberías comprarte este pase de expansión con la incertidumbre del contenido del segundo DLC, en cambio si el juego base no te convenció del todo recomendaría esperarte aún más para ver si el segundo DLC mejora mucho más la experiencia de juego.

    El precio de $30.00 me parece muy elevado para un pase de expansión y específicamente $15.00 por este DLC no lo vale, habiendo muchos mejores contenidos adicionales de otros juegos o juegos independientes que te ofrecen mucho más por un menor precio.    … Expand
  9. muttsy13
    Jun 18, 2020
    4
    Finished the story in just over an hour new wild area is nice to look at and is what the original wild area should of been but 151 digletts to pad out how long it takes to finish this dlc is silly only 8 or 9 trainer battles id wait till the second dlc comes out before buying the pass as ive still hope that will be better
  10. OmegaAP
    Jun 18, 2020
    10
    This expansion is amazing. Wish the base game had Pokemon follow you around. Such an underrated feature.
  11. 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
  12. Tellthem
    Jun 18, 2020
    2
    It really depends on what you were expecting.

    Everything that was shown in the trailer is in the DLC, but very little else is included. It’s very much just a new wild area where you can catch old Pokémon (which should’ve been in the base game) along with two new Pokemon and two new forms. The two new Pokemon are quite good and I like how you get given Kubfu at level 10. The new Galar    It really depends on what you were expecting.

    Everything that was shown in the trailer is in the DLC, but very little else is included.

    It’s very much just a new wild area where you can catch old Pokémon (which should’ve been in the base game) along with two new Pokemon and two new forms. The two new Pokemon are quite good and I like how you get given Kubfu at level 10. The new Galar forms are nothing particularly special and it is irritating that you cannot evolve the Slowpoke into a Slowking until the next DLC.

    The story is insultingly basic and can be completed in under an hour easily. It seems weird that no one recognised you as the champion of Galar either considering the story. The levels of the trainers and wild Pokemon do not seem to go higher than 65-70 either which makes this DLC very easy to complete.

    Another feature introduced is Max Soup which allows you to “Gigantamax” certain Pokemon, such as your Gen 8 starters, manually.

    The remaining new feature allows your Pokemon to follow you around out of their pokeball however this really shouldn’t have been hidden behind a pay wall.

    Overall it seems that Gamefreak have done the bare minimum to create DLC, I would really hope that the next DLC later on in the year is more substantial but I wouldn’t hold my breath.    … Expand
  13. Lareplay
    Jun 18, 2020
    0
    This game, it's so unattractive! The added areas are all small volumes, with no answers to what you've been doing for a year! The game is so boring, fun! You can tell it's a real rush.
  14. Il_Brama
    Jun 18, 2020
    4
    Pro: "new" pokemon, Urshifu and some minigames.
    Con: ALL THE STORY because after 8 months from the release, all people who have had fun playing Pokemon Sword and Shield, have at least 6 pokemon at level 100, but in this DLC the opponents pokemon are between level 58 and 75.. so finishing the DLC is too easy also for a child..
    The question is: WHO IS THIS DLC MADE FOR? surely not for    Pro: "new" pokemon, Urshifu and some minigames.
    Con: ALL THE STORY because after 8 months from the release, all people who have had fun playing Pokemon Sword and Shield, have at least 6 pokemon at level 100, but in this DLC the opponents pokemon are between level 58 and 75.. so finishing the DLC is too easy also for a child..
    The question is: WHO IS THIS DLC MADE FOR? surely not for people who played Sword and Shield after have beaten the League.. and this is a paradox because who buys a DLC is usually a person that has already finished the game..
    My final opinion about this DLC: 4 becouse IT IS WRONG.    … Expand
  15. 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
  16. 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
  17. Mijdax
    Jun 18, 2020
    2
    It is really beyond me how anyone can give this DLC anything over 5. The DLC consists of a few trainer battles which arent even a challenge when you use freshly cought pokemon from the wild area. Most battles are just rematches and there isnt much to do except a few mmo like fetchquests. The only good thing is that they added more wild area but its fun for 15 minutes and becomes boringIt is really beyond me how anyone can give this DLC anything over 5. The DLC consists of a few trainer battles which arent even a challenge when you use freshly cought pokemon from the wild area. Most battles are just rematches and there isnt much to do except a few mmo like fetchquests. The only good thing is that they added more wild area but its fun for 15 minutes and becomes boring very quickly. What is left then is a bland DLC without any challenge and a bad story.… Expand
  18. arulz8
    Jun 17, 2020
    10
    Only the first half of the DLC! Already way more content than USUM versus base SUM. If this was the full DLC my rating would be lower, but considering it’s only HALF so basically $15 USD, that’s ridiculous value. Best value pokemon you can buy IMO.
  19. Blueflame1114
    Jun 17, 2020
    10
    Everything I wanted out of the DLC and more. It improves on SwSh in every way. Only real problem I have is the following Pokémon feature is a little buggy, but I think it’s still a 10
  20. hkjhkjh
    Jun 17, 2020
    8
    Pro:
    +Much more complex and more variety than the wild area
    +Some of the areas like the swamp or the forest look much better than we know from the wild area, it's still not switch standard but still Con: -No new pokemon or galarean form beside the ones we already knew about (Kubfu, Urshifu, Slowpoke, Slowbro), atleast i didn't enounter one in the 10h i already played -Not much    Pro:
    +Much more complex and more variety than the wild area
    +Some of the areas like the swamp or the forest look much better than we know from the wild area, it's still not switch standard but still

    Con:
    -No new pokemon or galarean form beside the ones we already knew about (Kubfu, Urshifu, Slowpoke, Slowbro), atleast i didn't enounter one in the 10h i already played
    -Not much trainer battles and most of them are very easy (exept the last one)

    Neutral:
    ~Pokemon follow you which is really nice BUT only on the isle of armor and because of the postition of the camera and the fact that most pokemon are slower than the player u don't see them most of the time because they are too much behind

    Overall about what I expected,, it's really ok, especially considering that was only the first DLC, really looking forward to the next one    … Expand
  21. Starfree
    Jun 17, 2020
    8
    There’s a lot in this half of the pass that I didn’t expect. The new moves are amazing, new items are very much welcome, and the new story content is more then I expected. Tho at the same time there some stuff missing that I was expecting. New Galarian forms or new Pokémon just for version exclusives. I find it very odd that the only difference between the sword and shield versions is theThere’s a lot in this half of the pass that I didn’t expect. The new moves are amazing, new items are very much welcome, and the new story content is more then I expected. Tho at the same time there some stuff missing that I was expecting. New Galarian forms or new Pokémon just for version exclusives. I find it very odd that the only difference between the sword and shield versions is the rival. I’m sure that’s a disappointment for anyone who bought both. But overall very good experience, up their with smash and splatoon as the best AAA DLC on the switch.… Expand
  22. 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
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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.
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  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.
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