Today, Nintendo hosted a Pokemon Direct, which revealed a ton of new content for the franchise moving into 2020. The Pokemon Nintendo Direct gave updates on Pokemon Sword and Shield and made a couple of surprise announcements. The 20-minute presentation announced, detailed, and showed concept art for the new Sword and Shield expansions and laid out what 2020 is going to bring for Pokemon fans.
Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX
Some Pokemon fans have been wishing that some of the beloved GBA spin-offs would get a Switch sequel or re-release. At today's Nintendo Direct, their prayers were answered. A new version of the 2006 Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon Red and Blue Rescue Team games was announced and given a release date.
Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX is coming to Switch on March 6, 2020. This game will be a remake of the dungeon crawler that adds some new features and combines both editions of games into one deluxe edition. A new auto mode will automatically move the player character through the environment while still allowing them to participate in battles, and a streamlined automatic attack system will also be added.
Additionally, players will now be able to add Pokemon encountered in dungeons to their team, up to a maximum of eight. If the player is defeated in battle, they will be able to request rescue from another player or their own rescue team in order to continue playing from where they fainted. It seems like all the new changes are an attempt to make the game as accessible as possible, but players who want the classic experience should still be able play the way they want as well.
There will be a demo available for Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX on the Nintendo Switch e-shop later today. The save data from this demo will be able to be carried over when the main game comes out later this year.
Pokemon Sword and Shield Expansion Pass
The biggest surprise from today's direct was the announcement of the Expansion Pass. Paid DLC is usually no surprise, but the Pokemon Sword and Shield Expansion Pass is going to replace the the typical third game in the cycle, according to the developer statements from the direct. The two expansion packs included in the pass are the equivalent of what Platinum or Ultra Sun and Moon would be in previous generations, which signals a major overhaul to the way Pokemon content is dolled out going forward.
The Sword and Shield Expansion Pass will cost $29.99 and will be available for pre-purchase today. The two expansions are set for release later in 2020 and were detailed during the rest of the Direct. By purchasing the Expansion Pass, players will get a unique bonus costume. Players will be able to receive the Pikachu and Eevee Uniforms in Pokémon Sword or Pokémon Shield by using codes that they receive after they purchase the Expansion Pass.
The Isle of Armor & The Crown Tundra
The two expansions for the games are The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra. The Isle of Armor is seeing release in June 2020, and The Crown Tundra has been given a release window of Fall 2020. Both will include new regions, new characters, new gameplay elements, and new Pokemon and Gigantamax evolutions. Each of these expansions will have new legendary Pokemon as well.
The Isle of Armor will focus on the theme of "growth," and will include a dojo where players will become apprentices to former champion Mustard, who will also gift the player the cute Fighting-tyle legendary, Kubfu. It will also add new rivals - Klara for Sword and Avery for Shield. When players "complete their training" with Kubfu, it will evolve into Urshifu. This evolved form Pokemon is unique in that it has two different styles players will be able to get: Single Strike Style, which is fighting/dark-type, and Rapid Strike Style, which is fighting/water-type. The style that players obtain for their specific Urshifu will determine the appearance of Urshifu's Gigantamax form.
The Crown Tundra will also add a new legendary Pokemon named Calyrex. This a psychic/grass-type Pokemon is the narrative focus of the expansion, but beyond this, not much is known. The icy region has a much different aesthetic from what was shown from The Isle of Armor, and it will also introduce a new co-op mode that will feature many Legendaries, featuring brand new Pokemon and returning classics.
One of the biggest announcements to come from the Direct is that the Sword and Shield starters are getting Gigantamax evolutions in The Isle of Armor. G-Max versions of Venusaur and Blastoise were also teased, but were not given specifics. A focus of the expansion, aside from adding new areas and characters, appears to be adding more G-Max and Galarian specific evolutions.
Software Updates To Sword and Shield
The biggest piece of news for a major portion of Pokemon fans would have to be the addition of over 200 old Pokemon to the Galar region in the expansions. But fans who don't plan on getting the Expansion Pass for their game of choice won't have to worry. Game Freak will be releasing free updates alongside the releases of the paid DLC that will allow all players obtain Pokemon they don't have access to through trading or via Pokemon HOME, which got an official release date of February. This lets Game Freak avoid the mistake of creating a two-tier system where some players have access Pokemon that other players don't. There will be more specifics to come on Pokemon HOME in the near future.
Today, moreover, Pokemon Sword and Shield will be getting a different update. Starting today, players are more likely to run into certain Gigantamax Pokemon in Max Raid Battles in the Wild Area. The update will also add the new rivals from The Isle of Armor into the game as NPCs. Finally, a Galarian Slowpoke is being added to the games. This Slowpoke can be evolved into Galarian Slowbro using an item found on The Isle of Armor and or into Galarian Slowking using an item from The Crown Tundra.
Pokemon Sword and Shield are available now, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.