This morning, The Pokémon Company took to the usual Nintendo Direct live stream formula for several announcements. Fans of Sword and Shield will be excited to find a pair of DLC expansion packs for last year’s release, which bring 200 additional Pokémon, new content, and more. Those looking for something outside of the core Pokémon titles are in for a treat with an upcoming 2020 release from the Mystery Dungeon. Head below for all that and more, like updates to the Galarian PokéDex, and other new unveils.
Pokémon Sword and Shield DLC is on the way
Pokémon Sword and Shield launched back in November to a pretty positive review, at least on our part. One area that was lacking was post-game content, and today’s Nintendo Direct has given The Pokémon Company a chance to announce the first DLC for its eighth generation title. Entering as the Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra, the first of the updates will roll out in June. Both pieces of new content will be included in a $29.99 expansion pass for both Sword or Shield.
Isle of Armor looks to give trainers a new battling experience in the form of a training dojo. On the other hand, The Crown Tundra will be focusing on bringing a new co-op mode into the titles. Both updates will be added into the game as “seamless maps” and look to expand the game’s already massive layout.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRUWgM31BRQ
In an attempt to quell some of the outrage over having a limited number of Pokémon in Sword and Shield’s catalog to collect, better known as Dexit, the expansion will also be adding over 200 catchable characters from past generations. Half of the new Pokémon will arrive alongside Isle of Armor, and another batch with The Crown Tundra packs as free upgrades. Though right now, it looks like you won’t be able to catch the new additions in-game and will have to rely on the upcoming Pokémon Home app.
On top of bringing back some old favorites, the DLC is also introducing some entirely new Pokémon, as well as new Galarian forms and Gigantamax versions. Two such new Pokémon are Kubfu, a fighting-type legendary, and Calyrex, a psychic and grass Legendary. Slowpoke, Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres have all received some new designs for the region, and the original Kanto starters are getting a similar treatment with Gigantamax forms.
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX
Those looking to get their fill of Pokémon without playing one of the mainline games are also in luck. Today, we got our first look at the latest addition to the Mystery Dungeon series in the form of Rescue Team DX. Serving as a make of 2006’s Red and Blue Rescue Team titles, the upcoming game will be landing on Nintendo Switch come March 6th. While not too much is known about this release quite yet, the game will likely receive more than graphical updates, like a new cast of Pokémon compared to the original version, and more.
It’ll retail for $59.99, the standard price for a Switch game, and is currently available for pre-order at Best Buy. Expect to see listings go live at Amazon and other retailers shortly. In the meantime, a demo has launched on the Nintendo eShop that’s certainly worth taking a look at.
9to5Toys’ Take:
While I wasn’t left initially wanting more out of the Sword and Shield PokéDex following my review, it’s still nice to see The Pokémon Company’s willingness to listen to fans. Alongside just new entries to fill in your collection, it’ll be interesting to see just how much content is packed into the Pokémon Sword DLC. Even though we’ve just gotten a first look today, I’m pretty excited for all that’s to come.
In terms of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, the last title to debut was back in 2015. So with roughly half a decade of waiting for many, there are certainly high expectations this time around.
Which of today’s announcements are you most excited about? Be sure to let us know in the comments below.
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