Pokémons Sword & Shield got a lack of flak during their initial release for the butchered pokédex and minimal postgame content. Game Freak has listened and responded with one hell of an upcoming update… at a price. Shown during the Pokémon Direct earlier today, Sword & Shield will be getting an Expansion Pass with details that would have most Pokémon fans howling with excitement.
The amount of additional content is massive, but for convenience’s sake, the following listing will address the more major details:
- Two new areas: The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra, complete with new storylines and characters.
- 200+ pokémon not originally available upon the game’s release.
- New Galarian forms for Slowpoke, Slowbro, Slowking, Moltres, Articuno, and Zapdos.
- New Gigantamax forms for Venusaur, Blastoise, Inteleon, Rillaboom, and Cinderace.
- A special Co-op mode where one can travel within a special poké-den and potentially encounter numerous past legendary pokémon.
- Two new legendary pokémon, one of which has an evolutionary line.
- Additional hair + clothing accessories.
For a full look at what to expect, here’s a trailer for the Expansion Pass provided by the official Pokémon Twitter account:
The Wild Area was only the beginning.
Forge a brand-new path to greatness with the Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield Expansion Pass!#PokemonSwordShieldEX pic.twitter.com/G6GCXp2ixW
— Pokémon (@Pokemon) January 9, 2020
The kicker to this Expansion Pass is the two-part process. It will begin with The Isle of Armor, due to release sometime in June this year. The Crown Tundra, however, only has an “Autumn” release date, which implies that fans could be waiting until the very end of the year.
Price-wise, the Expansion Pass will set players back $30, half of the cost of the base game itself, which is admittedly somewhat pricey considering the circumstances. Sword & Shield details suggest that the game is able to be completed in a moderate 15-20 hours, excluding cutscenes, and even with the beefy Expansion Pass, the full pokédex isn’t quite completed. Already $60 by itself, the Expansion Pass will have players spending nearly $100 on content that some would argue should have been present from the start.
Nevertheless, Game Freak has set out to make Sword & Shield better in the ensuing backlash from the Dexit controversy, even if it didn’t matter much in the end.
For more Sword & Shield content, be sure to check out our official game page for useful guides and tips!
