Pokemon Sword & Shield - Crown Tundra & Isle of Armor DLC Review

Guys, I’m completely aware that Isle of Armor can be played at any point in the game. (Once the Wild Area is accessed) I literally said I liked how the levels scale, in the video. I’m just saying that for those who were playing it “post” playthrough, (a majority of players) the challenge was not tailored for us. I do intend to replay Sword and complete the Isle of Armor Mid game. That sounds fun.

I liked seeing the fossil pokemon living naturally in the Crown Tundra. It made it feel like a land that was forgotten by time

I can't belive he didn't mention the fact that sceptile returned

The sharpedo in the water are my sleep paralysis demon.

i was disappointed by calyrex's design but.. its backstory is soooo gooood .. now i like it

Isle of Armor: short, easy, but fun
Crown Tundra: an extremely fun glimpse at the future, with promising advancements and room to grow
Imo anyway
Edit: holy crap this got attention! But let me say, for the folks in the back; this is opinionated. The games are not on an objective decline, as that cannot be measured. And even if they were, that would not be because of a comment on a KRplus video. So think what you want, but lay off on the pessimism

I just enjoy your positivity towards these games and dlc regardless of their flaws. Obviously gamefreak should dedicate themselves to removing all or most of the flaws for the next thing. But on the other hand us players should stop the downright unhealthy focus on negatives and focus more on the positives. I try to be somewhere middle ground. Like it ruins the experience just being negative, but the franchise wont improve if I flat out ignore the negatives.

With the amount of content in the Crown Tundra (specially for people who like shiny hunting), I feel like would have been better to just put some of the Crown Tundra content into Isle of Armor. It's a great jump from not having legendaries to EVERYONE IS HEEEERE! At the end I really really enjoyed both DLCs and Dynamax Adventures is one of the best features they created in years, getting the competitive people with the shiny hunting peeps together

The new DLC gives me hope for the future of Pokémon on Switch. If everything is of this quality or better I'll be content.
Edit: Looks like I set my expectations too high. DP remakes look like a mobile game, sorry

The DLC has shown me that SwSh could’ve been better if Game Freak had more development time. But it does give me hope that Gen 9 will be much better

I ADORED the remixed regi-theme. It was so epic and really hit me in the nostalgia. I really do wish there was one more puzzle between the door and the regis though. A riddle for the door, a puzzle to solve for the inner chamber (something simple still, like just examining things in the right order or turning on lights or something), then the symbolic patterns.

I'm glad Galar lovers exist. I feel so alone seeing everyone hate on gen 8, but this shows me that there are people who appreciate it.

I got an advertisement for the crown tundra before watching this vid xD

Sword and Shield: Small Meal
Isle of Armor: Light Snack
Crown Tundra: Huge Feast

One thing I give gamefreak credit for is the music. It never misses.
Edit- Gen 5 music especially hits hard.

The Isle of Armor knocked on the door. The Crown Tundra tore it off the hinges

The reason for the Isle of Armor’s structure-for anyone who doesn’t know, is it’s designed as an early game area, around the first two gyms. If you start a new play through, the levels are around 15.

Isle of Armor is the greatest because of one thing and one thing only:
The Mega Chonk Wailord

The Sinnoh remakes will be worthy if they are Crown Tundra levels of quality.

7:14 "adds pressure" as Suicune is seen using Pressure

The Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra DLC are really fun!, sure they could be better but they still are pretty good!...

This was a great review. Thank you for pointing out everything the DLC did right while acknowledging most mistakes and missed opportunities. I really appreciate your focus on the experience instead of the stats or checklists. In my opinion, the best part of the Crown Tundra is the exploration, it was the most immersive Pokemon experience I've had. I loved searching for clues, completing quests, catching pokemon while exploring a vast land with twists and turns, and being able to watch pokemon and people around me and in towns. The only thing I disagree with is the map. I really like the current implementation, it shows me where I am without revealing my exact location or destination, I can explore at my own pace and even get lost and it feels great.

6:22 "...while the Crown Tundra felt like it was giving us a glimpse into Generation 9" This aged *so* well

Isle of Armor pros: So much to explore, awesome returning Pokémon like Lycanroc, Amoonguss, Porygon and Scolipede, Urshifu is sick, Klara, the Cram-o-matic.
Isle of Armor cons: The Wailord never returns if you fight it, no Toucannon. 😭
Crown Tundra pros: Even more to explore, Peony, Calyrex's facial expressions, Calyrex's goofy dance, the new horses, the new birbs, the new Regis, Calyrex's goofy dance, all the legendaries and UBs, wild fossil Mons, Dragonite is back, the Star Tournament, Greedent gets a whole island dedicated to it, Calyrex's goofy dance.
Crown Tundra cons: Squidward and Shitbert return in the Star Tournament, still no Toucannon. 😭

Love the positivity :D
This was definitely an apt analysis of everything that these DLC expansions had to offer, and I too chose to focus on the improvements we can see in them as a glimpse of a near future for the Pokemon series. If the main game was a basic introduction of elements that can be used to create an amazing Pokemon game in the future, then the Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra were trial runs of seeing just how well these elements can be executed- and to great success in my opinion. I can only hope that the experience given in the DLC becomes somewhat of a standard for games in the series moving forward

Thank you for making me appreciate Pokemon so much more. I'm now more interested in Pokemon as a whole all because of you and your absolutely entertaining content and great personality :)

Thank you for always providing such positive, respectful and insightful commentary. I always appreciate listening to your reviews because while passionate, you maintain composed and able to articulate a lot of points concisely. It's really nice, considering so many others are quick to judge and harp on these games!

I love this DLC, Crown Tundra especially, I didn’t spoil myself on most of SwSh as a whole so everything new was a surprise. In the DLC I wasn’t expecting too much but I was happily proven wrong because gamefreak actually made something that I can call some of my favourite experiences in Pokémon. Getting lost in the Crown Tundra and searching for legendaries, and just continuing to find little secrets was awesome

your positive outlook on stuff really kinda refreshing. Focusing on the good things that you can enjoy instead of just bitching about everything. But you are still analytical in thinking about what the game could have been. Good job

A very short summary of my opinion about the DLC: the Isle of Armor was good, but a bit too small and too short, but the Crown Tundra was really good and really gives me hope for the future of Pokémon.

I loved seeing your perspective and opinion, this really helped me decide if I should but the DLC!

So happy for all of the Pokemon content I’ve seen lately. Lovely as usual, Ron!

Sword & Shield were getting towards being my favourite main series games before the DLCs. Wild Area & Raid Dens were great, I enjoyed the story & like most of the new mons. DLCs pushed it to being my new favourites. Isle of Armor improved on the best bits of the main game and added following pokemon. Crown Tundra added fun legend stories the best version of a wild area, then added Dynamsx Adventures on top which are great.

I was delighted to see the following pokemon allowed from the outset in Isle of Armor. I understand the frustration that they dont follow you fully like HGSS and just... trail behind you, but this is a fun bit of realism that's well worth it as opposed to slow pokemon moving fast. It truly feels like your partner is walking with you and you have to take into account their limitations!
It's the best when you call out a Bolthund or Lycanroc, and it goes SO FAST that it keeps up with your bike. Thank god they dont disappear when youre on the bike like in HGSS.

I think the dlc was pretty good, but I think they should have perhaps introduced a couple of more brand new Pokémon or Galarian Forms, especially in Isle of Armor. And I think they should have perhaps had slightly more battles in Crown Tundra, and made some of the battles slightly more challenging in Isle of Armor.
Those are my only real criticisms, though. I thought the story was good, the regi temples is definitely better and more interesting than just getting them from ultra wormholes, and the visuals, oh man I love how this game looks visually. Overall, I think the DLC was worth it for me personally.

I definitely didn't expect to have to whistle to open Registeel's temple. I tried catching a Swablu and teaching it Perish Song since I thought that was the answer lol

I just got both expansions and it made me so happy, not because I was excited, I wasn’t this happy when I bought it, it was when I started playing. Something about Pokémon makes me so happy, just being around my Pokémon and the way they show how much they love you. I love my Pokémon and they are all my babies

For the early squad reading this, I hope you stay safe and have a great rest of your day :)

One of the best review i've ever seen about a game/expansion, i love the way you have fun and your positive vibes.
Thank you for this video!

As always Ron your analysis and input are always top tier. Please keep making videos because if there's one thing the (western) pokemon community needs, it's cool-headed individuals like yourself.

Note for some of the earlier comments on the Isle of Armour: It wasn't necessarily meant to be postgame, as the Isle was supposed to be accessible at any point in the game, hence the gym badge scaling. The crown tundra is intentionally postgame, however.

Ron: Adds pressure
Game: Suicune’s pressure
Me: A coincidence, I think not!!!

i love your rewiews because you always have a positive angle on the things you rewiew. Thank you!

I feel out of everyone I know, your the own with the closest playstyle to my own. We have so much in common in terms of the things we appreciate most about pokemon games. There are still differences such as how you put a greater value on the soundtrack of the games, something I love to, but your appreciation seems to be on a whole other level.

I admire your positive attitude and appreciate that you were able to see the good without letting gamefreak off the hook.

When I did a new run to get the other Steed and new Regi, I did the Isle during the main story. Mustard's battle with Mienfoo and Shinx is considerably more difficult and the Dynamax Battle with Klara is pretty difficult, too, with the Weezing and D-Max Slowbro against Lv25 Pokémon. In the postgame, the Isle is no challenge, but it is during the main story.

I have mentioned this many times in calls with my friends "If pokemon and moves were not deleted this would be my favorite pokemon game". The dlc is wonderful and the base game was already in my top 3 pokemon games I love this game so much. Awesome video!

The door for Registeel's temple had me stumped. At first, I thought I needed a Pokémon with Screech, so I grabbed my Corviknight.
Nothing.
Thought maybe try Metal Sound and OH LOOK, there's a Bronzong right outside the temple! And it knows Metal Sound! This HAS TO BE IT!
Nope.
On releasing it, I happened to accidentally click the whistle button.
The door opened.
...certainly not my first thought.

Honestly I recently played through Sword, but I had the DLC, and Kubfu was my “starter” and as one whole game? It feels Really great. I went through the first four badges, went back to the isle, got my Urshifu (the game does scale w you before you beat the game) and then I beat the game, caught Zacian and went to Crown Tundra and it really did feel like end game stuff.

This convinced me to get the dlc! It was a great review.

Thank you! I’m getting isle of armor today, and I’m really looking forward to it!

Can u please make a video ranking all the music introduced in the dlc

The fact that you can access some of the DLC content before finishing the main story does seem like part of the reason why the Isle of Armor at least is a bit weird as a post-game. Unfortunately, while I'm sure there are people who started the game with the DLC (especially now with the physical bundle), we're probably not going to hear from their perspective as much as the perspective of those who beat the game when it came out and came back twice for the DLC.
I know I'm planning a monotype run, and I'll use Gigantmax Blastoise and Multi-Strike Urshifu
I feel like the Crowned Tundra and Isle of Armor were approached from such a different perspective from the base game that even if you gave the base game 10 years of development, they wouldn't have had anything like what's in the DLC. Heck, it even has a different director from the base game.
Maybe we would've gotten a post-game wild area, but nothing designed the way the Isle of Armor or Crowned Tundra were designed.

also we can catch Keldeo in the crown Tundra not obtain catch and there's also that Victini mystery that is still unsolved

THANK YOU FOR TALKING ABOUT THE MAPS!!! I get what they were going for but I cannot understand where on the map I am supposed to be when my character only changes places when I change areas.

Thank you !! im about to purchase it now! Watching this video got me excited!

For Registeel’s temple, I put my Bronzong at the front of my party and taught him/her Metal Sound; it obviously didn’t work.

Really enjoyed the expansion pack, I don't want to say goodbye to Sword and Shield!

ur positivity about pokemon is so refreshing

After I found you , you instantly became my favourite KRplusr

Always great to hear your honest take on the games, thanks mate!

Me watching this even though i have never played a Pokémon game
👁👄👁

Yooooooo thank you so much for making this video.... I was fence walking on wether or not to get the DLC but this video changed my mind entiiiiirely so for that I thank you sir

I like your positive outlook for Pokemon. I'm glad you could have fun.

i think its dope with all the legendaries, but idk i might be old school, but i miss legendaries being a more you know... legendary and special thing?

Have y’all ever noticed the legendary birds
Mol tres (Spanish word for three) has 3 burning fires
Zap dos (Spanish word for two) has them two large legs
Artic uno (Spanish word for one) has one super long tail
Just something random to thing about

This was the best review video for these DLCs.
Bravo.

I loved all the little secrets in the CT. The Keldeo in Ballimere Lake, the Dybamax Greedunt in the giant tree, the Spiritomb, and the level 100 Regigigas den.

"Although most of use didnt think to whistle in front of Registeel.
Uhhm, I instantly got it... and RT too.

It's really weird exploring Crown Tundra and then going back to the Wild Area. The CT & IOA is way better than the Wild Area

Sick review man! Subscribed !

My favorite part about the DLC is that I can access them in every playthrough I do. I'm excited to experience isle of armor early in the game and get to use older pokemon

I am so glad you based your opinion off of the positives and not the negatives. There are so many people bashing it for not being like their first games and not being hard enough (looking at you Hopcat). I really enjoyed the dlc and hope that gen 9 will just be like crown tundra, with you having to do missions instead of getting gym badges, like yokai watch

Here's my personal opinion on Sword/Shield as a whole:
Base game: The story was kinda meh (with the exception of Hop's character arc) so not much to really say here. Twilight Wings makes me appreciate the story more than when I played the game but it kinda sucks that Game Freak had to rely on a seperate anime series to improve the base game story. The new Pokemon designs are hit or miss. The good designs are absolutely fantastic and well done with examples such as Toxtricity, Sobble, Raboot, Hatterene, Flapple, Wooloo, and Corviknight. The bad designs are...well...bad. I won't call out what I find as a bad designed Pokemon because I know someone will get very upset with me. No need to hurt someone's feelings. The character designs are definitely one of the best we got in the series. Characters like Sonnia, Nessa, Bea, Allister, Marnie, Kabu, Rose, Bede, and Raihan are just a few examples of the well designed characters in the game (I personally believe Nessa is the best designed female character in the game and Allister is the best designed male character in the game but let's try not to turn this into a waifu/husbando war). The dynamax mechanic is kinda meh. Dynamax I believe definitely works pretty well in doubles and is somewhat balanced. In singles however, the mechanic is kinda broken and definitely needs some readjustments to be more balanced for people who prefer playing in a singles format. It's no wonder Smogon banned the mechanic, it breaks singles. Competitive SWSH is definitely the most welcoming and begginer friendly of the Pokemon games with it being extremely easy to get competitive Pokemon. Competitive SWSH was definitely one of the more balanced Pokemon games as well but unfortunately the DLC has kinda tarnished its reputation as a more balanced competitive Pokemon game. Gigantamax is a great mechanic as an addition to Dynamax but unfortunately more than half of the new Gigantamax Pokemon kinda suck and it sucks that Gigantamax is the replacement for Mega Evolution. Another bad thing about Gigantamax is that only gen 1 and 8 Pokemon got it with only 1 non-gen 1/8 Pokemon getting a Gigantamax form (you could also include Melmetal as a gen 7 Pokemon which would make it 2 non-gen 1/8 Pokemon to recieve a Gigantamax form but some people consider Melmetal as a gen 8 Pokemon so it's hard to argue if Melmetal is a gen 8 Gigantamax or a gen 7 Gigantamax). Galar forms are definitely a nice addition to SWSH and are definitely an improvement from Alolan forms with there being more than just gen 1 Pokemon getting Galar forms and some of these old Pokemon who got new Galar forms also got brand new evolutions, something that hasn't been done since gen 6 with Eevee getting a new evolution (that evolution of course being Sylveon). Post game was underwhelming with it just being a giant fetch quest with occasional battles in between and finally being able to catch the box art legendary. Difficulty of the game is kinda meh. It's Pokemon, don't expect it to be a difficult game. That's basically most of my opinion on the base game for SWSH, now time to go over the DLC.
Isle of Armour-I was unfortunately one of those people who had high expectations for the first part of the DLC and it unfortunately left me a little disappointed. Basically the DLC has a short underwhelming story, 100+ returning Pokemon, 1 new galarian form (Slowpoke was available through updating base SWSH so that's why I say 1 instead of 2 new Galar forms), 3 new Pokemon (4 if we include the Urshifu forms as seperate), 7 new Gigantamax forms, and a couple of new characters. Honey is pretty cute and cool, Mustard is cool, Avery is alright (a little annoying), and Klara is alright (also a little annoying like Avery but gets brownie points for being cute). The best thing about the Isle of Armour is the ability to get competitive Pokemon a lot more easily than in the base game and it's nice having 100+ new Pokemon to choose from when creating a team. That's basically my opinion of the Isle of Armour, now onto the Crown Tundra.
Crown Tundra-After finding the Isle of Armour to be a little underwhelming, I didn't have high expectations for the Crown Tundra. Since I didn't have high expectations, I was actually amazed with what Game Freak did with the Crown Tundra. Crown Tundra is by far the absolute best thing about gen 8. Dynamax adventures gives you the ability to capture all the legendaries/Ultra Beasts/Hoenn starters, and it actually brings about an actual good and efficient way of getting shiny Pokemon (which hasn't really been much of a thing until now). The story was actually pretty descent, Peony is a great character, Calyrex is cool, the side quests for the Regis and Galarian birds are pretty good, and the new Pokemon added in (those being Calyrex, the horses, and new Regis) are pretty cool. Just like with the Isle of Armour, Crown Tundra adds in 100+ returning Pokemon but unfortunately this time it feels more like 50+ because half the returning Pokemon are all just legendary Pokemon and Ultra Beasts which is a little unfortunate. One thing I really like is the return of Sonnia and also being able to catch Keldeo after completing the Swords of Justice side quest. The Galar Star Tournament is alright but gets pretty old after doing a bunch of them for awhile. Welp, that's my thoughts on the Crown Tundra.
Base game rating: 6/10
Isle of Armour: 6.5/10
Crown Tundra: 8.5/10
Sword/Sheild as a whole with DLC included: 8/10
Gen 8 is not and will not ever be my favourite Pokemon game but I actually had fun with the games. Crown Tundra was absolutely amazing, Isle of Armour was underwhelming but not terrible, and the base game may not be what I personally want out of a Pokemon game but it isn't as bad as many people claim it is. Sword/Shield have flaws, many flaws, but they aren't inherently bad games (not by a long shot). Are they disappointing? To many yes, but are they absolute trash? I would argue that gen 8 is not trash. As for the whole national dex thing, I honestly don't care if every Pokemon got in. Is it disappointing that they all couldn't get in? Yes. Is their reasoning for not including every Pokemon in stupid? Absolutely. Should we be harassing the developers to add all the Pokemon back in? Absolutely not! I think Game Freak could learn a few things from Sword/Shield on what to do and what not to do for their next Pokemon game, whether it be a Sinnoh remake, Let's Go Johto, or even generation 9. I definitely think DLC is a much better idea over making an enhanced version of the same game so I think Game Freak should definitely continue doing DLC but I hope they don't go overboard with it like many other companies do. Anyways that's my opinion about Pokemon Sword/Shield, have a nice day/night :)

I’m glad to see that he’s back! It’s super cool, too!

Your review was awesome for me because i was not sure if i'm gonna buy it but with what you said about the fun and the environment that is in the game was enough to persuade me haha I was not sure because of the price and because so many people talk bad about the game but with a different point of you like yours we can see the game differently and appreciate the works that game freak as to offer. Really good review keep it up man!

yes, the dlc have a few flaws, but DAWM BOI the music in both is a bop
and for me, this a big deal, if its good i will just ignore it and listen to a video, but if really good i will drop any video and listen to the music

I REALLY need to get a switch XD

Thank you for explaining it better than everyone on here i still bought it its worth it at least you got to the main points about the DLC.I wonder what will DLC 3 be about they caught my interests.

Thank you for just presenting the information and kinda sharing your thoughts on it, buying shield and the expansion pass because of you.

The render distance of the pokemons always scare me,
They just pop in front of you

I wish Gamefreak would add more choices to make the game more challenging. I feel like with every game since gen 6 it's been worse and worse. I would love the ability to turn off EXP share or the ability to see how many pokemon each trainer has before we start the battle. That way we can limit ourselves if we wanted to. I need more damn choices. If they want to keep making these games easy as all hell then fine. But please don't exclude the fans who like a challenge.

It's videos like this are why I respect you so much, Truegreen!😎😀

I love the dlc and I only got it because my birthday was a few days ago and i was bored of wandering around galar. It was the best experience I had with Pokémon with it being the only Pokémon game I played but I love the vast landscape of crown tundra and the many terrains of isle of armor. The dlc is 10/10 better than I thought.

I like how realistic the Crown Tundra is.

The diglett and footprints sidequests triggered my Zygarde cell hunting PTSD.

This is a well and Honest review, I liked how you explained things that made sense to haters although It won't change their minds about it. Atleast you earned a new subscriber :)

You can see where game freak was experimenting and trying new things in these dlcs. I just got them and only beat isle of armor main story the other night. And needless to say I'm loving them a lot! If these dlcs are the base level of quality in future games (larger scale obs) then straight up I would buy it.

I REALLY am hoping for a sequel to Sword and Shield, with all of the stuff from the DLC added in

Yeah I think the dlc shows GameFreak is heading in the right direction, but they still shouldn’t be comfortable with this level of quality. It’s cool but there’s still problems they should work on and I really hope they stop rushing games out

Fun fact: I always watch these 15 minutes after you post cuz I have a break from my clarinet class zoom from 11:15-11:30

Good review. Keep it up big dawg.

Wow! I've never been so early! : ) 52nd view!

Don't get me wrong I LOVE the dlc's but it is kinda like this:
X/Y: trying out 3d
Let's go P/E: trying out the switch
Sw/Sh: trying out dlc

I dont even play the games after gen 5 because my old computer cant handle 3d games but this video was super entertaining. Great job.

I wont lie I enjoyed both but crown tundra is my favorite and makes a lot of sense as post game it goes back to some roots of pokemon as well as giving a glimpse of what is hopefully to come. I think the coolest thing about it is that most pokemon brought back have some sort of rare or "legendary" status the fossils absol being the disaster pokemon jynx electabuzz and magmar having been considered to be legendary pokemon, and we now have every pseudo legendary pokemon.
While it is annoying I like that pokemon dont just walk at the same pace because for some pokemon that isnt how fast they are. And I agree that its awesome to have my favorite pokemon (salamence) walking with me. Its amazing and I hope that they keep walking pokemon and refine it. Like maybe choosing who follows instead of it just being the first in the party. I also think that letting pokemon walk with you should help increase happiness

Great review, amazing to see not everyone is cynical for a change :)

They were both fun, the isle of armor gave that sense of training and bonding, even with your enemies. It was great to go to dynamax dens for max shrooms, and of course to bond with kubfu to evolve. The crown tundra was also cool in the sense that catching legendaries was challenging but something to look forward to. Peony was hilarious and it was awesome to speak with calyrex. Overall, thee dlcs were worth it.

Thank you :)
I loved the DLCs and hope future Pokémon games will be like the crown of tundra 😎
The camera feature in towns would be amazing!

As my first Pokemon game, I don’t have any foreknowledge of any others, but I loved both DLCs.