That Regi comment got me. Ruby and Sapphire were so cool because of all the things you could miss. Fossils? An egg? The Regis? Whole locations you don't even need to visit? There were things left to explore on your own, which made it feel special. When everything is handed to you it feels boring. I know it's made for kids, but I felt more challenged as a kid and I enjoyed that.

That's Sword and Shield in a nutshell. It's not BAD, but man it could have been so so much better. Maybe if the games weren't rushed they could be top tier Pokemon games.

I hope gamefreak actually learns from their mistakes but I highly doubt it

I bought a Switch specifically to play this generation of Pokémon games, but it’s hard to keep giving it more chances when it’s competing against Animal Crossing, Dragon Quest XI, Breath of the Wild, Skyrim and everything on the eShop.

I just want Gamefreak to take their time and make a good product. Maybe even team up with another studio to help out. I really don't think their business is going to come crashing down if they take a couple of extra years for development.

What frustrated me the most about this DLC: I got to the new area, cool, so many new pokemon, time to create a new team out of everything this new area has to offer. I finally got my new team ready, taught them proper moves, gave them items, got them to a semi-balanced level gap, off to adventure! But besides catching the few legendaries the storyline offered, my new team collected dust in my party as the game HAS NO TRAINERS!!! What use is playing pokemon game, catching cool new pokemon and raising them, if you can't do anything with them? Honestly it's like playing a racing game where you create your car, but then can't drive it

The most special and important point about the Regis was that no one tells you about them. I remember when I was exploring the Hoenn Region and by accident going through the current I found a place to dive and I found the cave to open the cave to the Regis. At that time I didn’t know how to translate the code and a friend told me how to solve it, thanks to a book that we had at school. Not only that every regi was a little complicated to find like RegiIce, then you have to solve the code with specific things to do. After capturing the Regis , for me, was the best experience that I had with legendary Pokemon!

When roaming Mythicals excite you already, you realize how barebones the rest of the game was.

I dont think the problem is that pokemon is stuck in the past. I think the problem is that its heading towards a gimicky, hand holding and tiring formula and this direction is pretty bad. in fact, If you ask me what an ideal pokemon game on the switch will be like, I would say a game like fire red, emerald, soul silver or black and white 2 - only with the graphics capabilities on the switch and some nice little features. I want the old pokemon feeling back of exploring a region freely and enjoy some level of difficulty. thats where the heart of the franchise is, not in endless cutscenes and turorials, giant pokemon or not so appealing wild area. honestly, just give us a gen 3 - 5 experience with what the switch can do and I will be more than happy. oh, and make it full of content - you know, how HGSS were like 40$ games but had two regions, a lot of places to explore and a battle frontier and you didnt have to buy a DLC for that? yes, please

Here I was hoping we would have a snowmobile instead of a bike in the snow :(

Sword and Shield has been the biggest disappointment in the entire series for me, which is ironic since it was the one with the most potential. It's the first Pokemon game I've ever not finished. Eventually I'll go back to it but damn... nothing about the game gave me the same amazing feeling I usually get. Sad since I grew up with it but they decided to cater to kids more than the people who played it since the beginning making it so easy that i can't even use my traded Scorbunny because he levels way too fast compared to my team even when not in use. I'm just never going to have high hopes for any future Pokemon game.

I have the season pass but just no desire to play this, just feel kinda burnt out on the game which is a shame as I was so excited after the first announcement

At this point I feel 95% of developers in existence can do a better job than GameFreak. Please eliminate this old, out of touch company from the Pokemon equation.

I was really excited for the dynamax adventures, but after I saw it was just a mini map instead of the player characters actually running around a fully rendered cave dungeon and found out that you can't even use your own Pokemon, I lost all interest. They could have had a set level cap like PvP or something, couldn't they? Sucks having Pokemon I love and shinies I've collected and I can't even get any use out of them in this mode.

Clown Tundra

me: *sees Calyrex beeing caught in a Master Ball* also me: *snickering because i caught Calyrex in a Quick Ball*

okay, I have a lot to say in this. First off, the main game of Pokemon Sword and Sheild is not good. That in it of itself is bad marketing, as well as making it so that the good questlines are things you need to buy extra. Pokemon is something I love, but Sword and Sheild are bad. The graphics are bad, its the same system that worked a lot better in the other games and they removed the national dex which some people dont care for but others do which when it was announced it made a split in the community. The only thing I consider good are the pokemon designs, and the story is just bare bones. Like I get gen 1 being simple, Gen 2 also being simple but there effective because it was a simpler time and originally it was going to end with gen 2. Gen 3's story worked and so did gen 4's, but Gen 5 was probably the best in terms of story, map design and feaures and hell even the post game was really good. Gen 6 and 7 though is when I think things started to falter, but the mega evolutions were one of the best mechanics and even pokemon following you. But they put pokemon following you as a pay wall just to get money. Pokemon Sword and Sheild is bad, and having it be bare bones in story, the same battle system with gigamaxing not even being allowed in tourneys and the only thing that I truly liked being the pokemon designs, you get the sore impression that itll be the same for the dlc. I love pokemon, but sadly Pokemon Sword and Sheild is what made me stop caring about the main games. I did however buy Pokemon Mystery Dungeon DX and I absolutely love the PMD series, so instead of buying sword and sheild, play Pokemon Mystery Dungeon DX, show that you want something with story, finese and something that can impress a person. I didnt even play the post game because I was so done with PSWSH at that point.

I remember how everyone said gen 5 was rly weird and wasnt regarded as highly back when it first released. Now we are looking back wishing any of the ds games could get remade and nothing changed or dumbed down...

I am actually happy that finally the dlc is out. Hopefully they will start working on am actual updated pokemon game now with good graphics and some meaningful changes and an actual challenging story mode.

Yeah pokemon is stuck in the past. They really need to revamp the series. From head to toe. Aren't they themselves tired of the same old?

Does anyone know how to fix the game pass glitch people who have had it for months can’t go it keeps saying that there is a problem with the pass check the pass

Hi Alex! Great review! I’m curious what you have in mind with a modern injection? Would you say like a more RPG approach with more movie cut scenes, story, quests or gameplay like Pokken or even how Pokemon play in Smash Bros?

Does anyone know if restarting the game completely after completing the expansion pass and the main game, will I need to purchase the DLC again?

hey, when it comes to the regis at least it’s better then stuffing them into an ultra wormhole.

Thesis of the summarized quality of Sword/Shield as a whole stated in the first 45 seconds with "With the release of the SECOND DLC, Sword and Shield is now complete." Think about that. A main series pokemon game needed 2 additional DLC expansions to feel complete.

How to i get it on the stop bought version?

An rpg Pokémon game in a open world like Breath Of The Wild would be awesome. You could just run around the world finding different Pokémon in different biomes and secret ruins and caves that powerful and legendary Pokémon are in. The game can also have survival elements like setting up camp for night with campfires for cooking food and crafting for different types of potions and items you Pokémon can hold. There can also be camps of whoever the gang of villain's is for the game scattered around the map that you can take down by beating them in a Pokémon battle. And for the game big and giant Pokémon will actually be huge like wailord or Groudon. But ya these where just some ideas that I think would be cool

If I was to buy the dlc for sword and shield it would literally be for the wintery setting to get in the mood leading up to winter

Im planning to get a pokemon game soon, which one is more worth it? Let's Go or Sword and Shield (with expansion pass)?

Only thing that made me not like the Bird quest was how Articuno was set up. It only roams areas that makes it REALLY hard to keep track of and follow, AND its battle is essentially on a timer since all the areas it appears in have Hail.

Bruh it really sucks thinking that us 90kids will never see that awesome awesome Pokémon console game. I always thought it was due to the tech limitations but now i see it’s just gamefreak . I feel like I’m being forced out of plaything these games cause I’m not a kid anymore

1 hour into the game. so far thiis happened. - lady randomly upgrades pokedex - 2 steps. Conversation. Pressing a-button. 1 Step. Conversation. Pressing a-button. Rinse and repeat. - After 2 Steps and a conversation comes the new dyna-Raid. No player found (As in the main game, never had someone join me) - P>icking the choice thats weak against me. Pressing a. Watching the Dynamax animation 6 times... Pressing a until finally the legend fell. Took me over 20 min of pressing a. - Reward: Suicune and 9 special currency. (changing to a special ability costs 150 btw. No Idea If there are better methods, but I won`t find out=)) - The town. Conversations. Guys settle in rnd huts. One hut remains where the mayor lets you press a. - Items lay rnd on the floor. New Collectible: footprints randomly on the floor. 50 of them. - all pokemon around lvl 70. My 60 newly formed team didnt stood a chance against even the Wildlife. These Pokemons now spam dangerous moves like blizzard or the always critting ones. For Now I have NO POSITIVES to say about Crown Tundra. The Whole game can be made with RPG maker. (the subpar graphics not included) Beats me why I even finished the Maingame and DLC 1.

My opinion: its a beautiful walk in the park. Its a beautiful game... part. Tho my fears was true. Its just that. No added story... i already completed everything. Its cool to have new pokemon... but thats it. No trainers to fight, no harder puzzles, and no corrections to things like that walking of pokemon bumping on us. But im a fan so... a must have... that Galarian Zapdos... is worth it...

The way they did the Regis almost exactly like the regigigas platinum event, at least they added a door instead of just being a hole in the side of a wall.

Not gonna lie, I thought that the regi clues would have been in braille. Maybe that would have annoyed most people but I for one would have found it absolutely hilarious. I was also highly amused by Fwoofy... I want this Pokémon to continue to show up in every game with another ridiculously cute nickname. And I think they should have left something from the quests as a surprise for the player to discover alone, rather than be given clues. Although the footprints were kind of like that? I noticed the footprint but then Sonia decided to show up and tell me all about it. So almost. I really liked calyrex. His whole talking through telepathy/possession thing was very Pokémon anime/movies. I thought it was a nice nod. I too liked the return of roaming legendaries. So much more satisfying seeing them in the overworld than trying to track them on a map or a Pokédex.

I was hoping the map would have a lot more thought put into it. They could have made an cozy little winter town but instead its 4 of the exact same house and a fence. Come on😩

If it’s meant to be based on Scotland then why is it below instead of above London/Wyndon? Bit odd really

I'm still in progress of the calyrex part of the crown tundra. So far, it seems okay, but there are already a lot of red flags. So my understanding is that this dlc is split into 3 parts, with the Regis, birds, and calyrex. This is fine, and I enjoy the idea of seeing right from the start that there's 3 different "arcs" of story, but from this video it seems calyrex is the only one with much of an actual story, so the others are just "go here, catch a legendary" which is fine but put those ones at the start. Don't raise expectations for a 3 part story and then have most of the story in the first part. It would also be neat to use the Regis/birds against the battles in the calyrex story. This bits gonna get kinda spoilery, so stop reading now if you care. So like isle of armour, there's a choice between two similar legendaries. Unlike isle of armour, they weren't shown anywhere before the dlc release, so choosing between them I felt obliged to Google both and choose from that - it's heavily hinted that you will only get 1, but it doesn't even show you which you chose until you've already picked it. All you have to go off is one's a ghost type and one's an ice type. It's a nice idea, and leads to surprises, but it also leads to high chance of letdown. If I didn't know people would be shoving them up on gts to switch to the other one, I would have been stuck with the one I chose regardless of whether it's the one id prefer to have. The next thing which is odd to me is the footprints. I'm assuming this is the 4th quest line kind of, and I'm also assuming the prints lead to cobalion, virizion and terrakion. I kind of hope I'm wrong, but either way you need to find 50 prints of each one to get that legendary, but it's just not enough payoff when the rest of the old legendaries are just chilling in the max raid den thing. Speaking of, the trailers made it seem like exploring raid dens was a main part of the dlc. If you want to get every legendary, it probably is but I'm a little disappointed that they're all obtained through the same new mode and there's very little actual exploration involved because it's just choosing between some paths. Also kinda annoyed you have to use your own pokeballs to catch a new Pokémon that you don't even keep - if you start out with a trash Pokémon you feel obliged to catch another partway through so you can beat the legendary at the end, but you're forced to waste your resources to do so. I'll wait til I finish the dlc to get my full opinion, but so far isle of armour felt like a lot of pomp and circumstance around very little content, and crown tundra appears to be the same. The map looks bigger but it also seems very linear. Maybe that'll make it feel larger than the Isle of armour, but there you did also get a bunch of tiny islands around it, whereas here the equivalent is just another field from the field you just walked out of.

You have the choice to choose because Dynamax Adventure Pokémon can be shiny when on he choose panel, and also this includes legendaries, and you can only take one of each legend. That's why you get yo choose, so you can shiny check and decide to take something else if your legendary isn't shiny.

"We understand that paid dlc shouldnt lock its rewards behind gameplay thats too complex" No.. no thats exactly what i want. It should be end game content. I wouldnt give game freak any leeway here. That puzzle looks embarrassing at best

Do they explain why the Legendary Birds that are native to Kanto all of a sudden have Galarian forms? Are they the same creatures?

What I love about the crown tundra is that it reminds me of the old games...i think the old formula works...although a Breath of the Wild type pokemon game would be amazing

I wasn’t keen to start with and wasn’t fond of Calyrex’s design but i have to admit it grew on me through the story. Enjoying it so far! So weird to see fossil Pokemon randomly wandering about - weird but good!

Now you need to buy the post game unlike the previous games and i think they are more focused on competetive side.

There’s a little throwback to gen 4 in the dlc too. I’ll leave it up to you to find ;)

Solid review, I only think the fog shouldn't been Mentioned. Since the weather you encounter is date dependent. So I never saw fog during my playthrough.

HOW is peony not related to rose???its even mentioned in game that they look alike

Pokemon for me needs an overhaul in every department ! The only thing I wouldn't mess with, is the Battle System, it's one of the most robust and well known in all Turn Based RPGs and also pretty easy to learn ! And if you need anything else as a new Battle System, that's where the Spin-offs should shine ;) But even the Battle Mechanics can get some tweeks, love and balance, sadly Sw&Sh removed some of the moves and mechanics that were interesting such as the move "Pursuit", with some talent injected into it, Pokémon could finally be a respectful e-sports. p.s. If there's one thing GameFreak does really good, is designing the pokémons, the regions, the lore and the references ! They should keep the good work on that, and hire other people to do the other things. And also, let other people choose the shiny colouring or the types of the pokémons hahahaha Soooooo many oportunities lost in this department too !! (Common, Scorbunny should've been Fire/Eletric)

Looks fun but I agree with Alex about them desperately needing to update the entire game design of the franchise.

Did he get to the new Champions Cup tourny? Or is that the spoiler thing they mentioned? Because it was mentioned in advertising 🤔 iirc

I think the problem with gen 8 as a whole is that players were used to the grid-based, search for pokemon whereas sword and shield is open. This makes areas seem small because players can run passed pokemon rather than having random encounters, making the game seem more easy than it should be

Even though I’m not a fan of him, I feel like they fridged Peony (quite literally at some points) for most of the DLC. It kinda sucked because I expected a bit more of an involved role from him.

Ironically if these were just regular post game instead of an expansion sword and shield would be a lot less divisive

I want my paid DLC/expansions to be harder/more challenging.

I think my biggest turn off with sword and shield is no speech. I replayed FFX on switch then going from that to sword and shield is totally different. I’m not saying I’m lazy but it’s just noticeable not having any dialogue. And it also helps with immersion. I will play the DLC but I’m not in any rush. Which is a shame because it’s Pokemon.

I’m actually finding the Crown Tundra to be excellent! Calyrex quickly became my new favorite Gen 8 Pokémon. I have encountered one each from the legendary trios and all three just refused to be caught. Regirock literally ran out of moves before I could catch it and it was at 1HP since turn 5 or so. I’m not mad or disappointed or anything, just like “um... okay”

NO SMALL FEAT *shows zapdos feet*

I think dpp and bw remakes will be the only Pokémon games I will be purchasing from now on unless these newer games get a serious overhaul

I think Pokémon sword is the only switch game purchase I regret (it just wasn’t worth $60 ) I didn’t buy the expansion pass at all, waiting to see how it was. I still had fun with it and was less disappointed by let’s go Eevee because I knew what that was most likely going to be though it wasn’t really a 60 game either I didn’t feel as cheated. Granted there are quite a few games in my backlog that I haven’t played yet, but sword disappointed me.

Just give back difficulty choice instead of making it easier overall since you can make more difficult the game the less they give you directions so they just drop hints or tidbits but probably too much for them

I almost screamed when I noticed the Metang that popped up during the video. I had a strong inkling that my favourite line in the game, the Beldum line, would make a re-appearance in at least one of the DLCs and there they are. I boycotted SW/SH due to lack of my favourite mons and I'm still sour that I quite literally would have to pay £80/$90 to "have the privilege" to have Metagross/Noivern/Steelix and the Regis in my party. I don't whole-heartedly blame Gamefreak for the way these games turned out as it was clear they were rushed for Christmas release, to be in-line with the anime, merch and card-game. Hopefully, with the amount of disappointed e-mails Nintendo received, this time they will give Gamefreak the 2 or 3 years they need (if not longer) in order to produce a title we can actually be proud of.

Was waiting for this to see if the season pass was worth it seems not

What is the 4th quest?

No, SwSh is not finally complete. There are around 200 mons remaining to add, so likelihood suggests there'll eithet be another dlc, or an update upon release of Gen 4 remakes, to add the rest. And yes, they will add them.

Let me point out that the Crown Tundra came out on my 23rd birthday. I still can't believe that happened. Haven't played it yet, so I can't give my thoughts on it. I haven't even played the Isle of Armor yet, let alone beaten the main game.

All the quests are original tho The calyrex stuff was original too

I bought Shield at release, but I couldn't get into it. 🤷‍♂️

So the quest are 1) kind of hard 2) dead easy 3) makes you work for it. Ty for the review and will try to pull myself away from Animal Crossing to try this 😋

Gonna dispel some bad advice here. Do NOT keep the Legendary at the end of the Max Adventures. There’s a 1/300 chance they’ll be shiny and you only get to keep one of each. 1/100 if you have a shiny charm. Those are great odds. Take advantage

Maybe Just because I’m a casual but I’m really enjoying the new legendaries and the raid adventures

From what you're saying it makes it feel like the Crown Tundra actually has a proper dungeon as the new wild area and that's a really good thing and a big part of why I like Pokémon. I miss awesome environments like the mountains in BW and caves and routes in Platinum. BW and B2W2 especially took full advantage of the game's new mechanics when designing the dungeons (seasonal differences were very prominent) and I really want to see more of that going forward.

You listed the one thing I hated about Gold and Silver as a positive. I just can't take this review seriously now.

I think I'm abit different from most people here. I have never own a Pokémon game before and this being my first pokemon, I really really enjoyed it. But I get that it feels abit boring and the handholding feels abit too much even for someone like me

Is Peony a common name in the UK?

You want me to be kind in the comments while having your character sporting Rose's hair?

First pokemon game I didn't buy, and after those 2 dlc which at first glanced made me think twice about buying it but after seeing what they give It's a no for me 😅

I feel the 7/10 was completely different from what u said. 5/10 would feel more appropriate according to the video. Felt the video on the whole was good tho.

Played through the entirety of SwSh, even the dlcs. Gave it a good shot. But I think I might have to pass on the next game... it felt like eating a can of junk food. You dont stop eating it, but you know it doesn't taste as good as a home cooked meal or piece of fancy dessert cake. I'd rather a meal that I can savor each and every bite, like a set of freshly baked crepes with fruits, chocolate sauces, lemon juice and sugar, instead of a bag of Lays that you just shove into your mouth without thinking.

They should've left the 3 Kanto Birds alone. What was even the explanation on why they had alternate forms???

I enjoy the dungeon type game. So fun

since pokemon’s one of the biggest franchises in the world tbh i find it inexcusable that this is the best game they can make to stand among zelda and mario, or even franchises like crash. like imagine if they made their budget actually proportionate to the amount of money they make off the games and released a game where they didn’t have to spoil all the Pokemon and characters etc in their marketing and had enough high quality gameplay and story to make trailers similar to other RPGs that make less money. I knew not to expect much from this dlc but the birds and the new regis you don’t even get to find anything out about them, so many things in this game are explained away with “oh that’s weird!” or “a mysterious bullshit something did this..” and it’s so lazy i almost feel mocked when I’m playing it. Calyrex is also weird as hell with those legs and the designs for the horses are just so basic that I just couldn’t take any of it seriously and nearly that whole mission takes place inside of a little forest alcove, I’m not sure how we’re meant to even believe this thing used to be a king over the whole place when it looks that dumb? I find this with the majority of new Pokemon designs, I dunno why they’ve decided to do this the last few years but so many of the designs are just funky in a way that is such a let down to me because they ruin what could’ve been really cool and would fit with the older designs the same way they managed to be innovative in gens 3-6 but still keep the same feel, like I get so disappointed looking at the gen 8 starters and imagining what they could’ve been like if they weren’t designed with personalities (soccer player, spy, that fuckin drum??) and were made to look like natural creatures you’d find in the wild in the Pokemon world

The Calyrex story is one of my favourite in Pokémon so far, the way he uses Peony to speak to you is wonderful. Peony is a great character as well imo. I also like the raid den thing way more than I thought I would. Nowhere near finished the DLC as I still have the sword trio, the bird trio and the regis to go but I love this part so far.

The Crown Tundra is amazing

Does anyone else mouth along to "Let's dive right into things"?

I think this is a fair review. Nice job!

Im lowkey happy I didn't buy the dlc

Anyone else think Peony and Chairman Rose are the same person??

As someone who hasn't played Sword & Shield yet, the pop-in of those overworld Pokémon is incredibly jarring. How have we gotten to the point where the world's most profitable franchise can't even get something as basic as that right.

Dam these new Pokémon designs look weak I’ve seen fans do a whole better Pokédex without all the technology help

I mean Sword and Shield are ok but I just feel they’re very underwhelming. I feel like I’m getting burnt out on Pokémon now. Like how many times can I get excited about the same legendary and mythical and regular Pokémon?

The crown tundra was so amazing

Wow. You’re all so critical. I think this DLC is TONS better than isle of armour and I think this one is AMAZING!

Since when they don’t use Ash?

I think the base game of Sword and Shield is straight trash, but both DLC's give me hope for the franchise. Hopefully the next game is in the style of both DLC's as far as exploration and structure go. In the Crown Tundra I actually wished we had a minimap and that's exactly how I should feel going forward in a pokemon game.

That third quest was fun but short. Overall, the Crown is 10x better than the Isle of Armour, imo.

I cant believe i paid 60 dolars for this and be playing for free genshin impact. Is crazy how bad i make decisions in my life Note: i didint even buyed the DLC

The faux-britspeak is as cringy as ever to us actual Brits (can't believe they actually included "havin' a giggle") and the snow-setting was a bit of a bland setting in comparison to the more colourful and varied Isle of Armor but I think the Dynamax Adventures + Legendary shiny hunting offer quite a lot of fun for quite a lot of players.

I've still not bought the dlc, i kinda want to? But at the same time, may just wait to see if the next games will be better first, if they will listen to the community and build upon things! I'll probably come back and revisit the dlc if they get things back on track with the next games, Or use it as something to do to satisfy the pokemon urge once the next game is announced lol

Crown tundra really is a step up from the wild area. But i wish they would have add more then just legendarys, if you have been playing pokemon your whole life (like me) you most likely already have most if not all the legendarys offered in CT.

I hope the diamond and pearl remakes are better