The Expansion Pass receives its second part, a territory rich in content and hours ahead, plus a new mode, the Dynamax Adventures: a success.
The question that many of us asked ourselves when we finished Pokémon Sword and Shield a year ago was the following: is this what we really want from one of the most important sagas in video game history? Be uniquely remarkable? The search for the definitive experience is something that has always characterized the third editions of Game Freak, the Yellow, Cristal, Esmeralda and Platino; then reinterpreted with Blanco 2 and Negro 2 or Ultrasol and Ultraluna, different formulas to reach the same point: something more and better a year later. But eight generations have gone by, almost 25 years of stories. It was time to do something different. An Expansion Pass, started by the pleasant Isle of Armor in June and now continued by Las Nieves de la Corona, have ended up proving that the rush is not good, that times have changed and it was time to do something truly better; to build on what has already been built. Snow had to come to make full sense of Galar. And they have succeeded. Let’s talk about Las Nieves de la Corona.
The Missing Page in This Story: Consistent and Rich Content
Let’s start at the beginning: where we are and what we have here. To a greater or lesser extent, we all fell short of the main adventure of Sword and Shield because the endgame incentive was known to be insufficient. Insufficient not so much in itself as in relation to the series itself, the one that delighted us with the Battlefront in Hoenn or a considerable chunk of unexplored terrain in Unova. The one that made the impossible a real thing by integrating Kanto into the Johto region… twenty years ago. Galar is still in his place, with his virtues and not a few signs of improvement, but we have to be transparent: the sum of The Isle of Armor and The Snows of the Crown is just what we could ask for from Pokémon right now, leaving the margin the graphic theme, which as we know is not up to par.
Any player who buys the Expansion Pass will find two train tickets in their backpack. On the one hand, one for the Isle of Armor, an area focused on experience, the one-on-one relationship with your partner, resilience. He explored the concept of training and combat. On the other, this new territory, located south of Galar and inspired by Scotland, closes the circle with a philosophy more focused on cooperation, in making it clear that you are not alone and that others can make you stronger. It has also endowed the experience with more purely quantitative content in the most qualitative way possible. Let us explain this in more detail.
Same diagnosis: artistically spare, technically lacking.
After arriving by train in this sub-region – much, much larger than the Isle of Armor -, being received by the singular Peony and putting on the raincoat, we will be presented with the plot conflict, whose premise is fragmented into three large perfectly differentiated blocks : discover the past and present of Calyrex, the new unique Pokémon; delve into the background of the three Hoenn Regis to find the whereabouts of Regieleki and Regidrago; and see what happens to the Legendary Birds of Kanto (Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres), which happen to have regional alternatives in Galar. Along the way, a hundred new species returning from the previous seven generations, new very useful items and a new game mode, Dynamax Adventures, which have greatly improved the previously known Dynamax Raids.
The map is varied and rich in ecosystems.
Why Dynamax Adventures work and don’t exhaust
Unlike the Wild Area Dynamax Raids in Galar, where beyond the periodic rotation it was relatively easy to win the match – and we had the feeling of being passive agents in cooperative turn-based combat – here the randomness feels like a shot in the center of the target. It’s not quite a roguelike, but it’s an ideal parallel to understand. The so-called Supernido Dinamax will be the welcome room to enter these caves where extraordinary events take place. Your team? That one will have to wait, because here we borrow a creature from a random lot; just like the other three allied components – we can play cooperatively online, in local multiplayer or solo with characters controlled by the CPU. You can get a second evolutionary phase like Charmeleon or you can get an Octillery, and that’s what it is. The starting order will determine who chooses first. From there, things can go for better or worse, but the final reward will always be a Legendary Pokémon within several dozen; there are practically all those from previous generations, with the exception of the mythical species (Mew, Celebi, Jirachi, Victini…).
The path consists of four fights, three against Dynamax species and the final one. We can choose whether to choose the path on the left or the one on the right; We only have as a reference the elemental type of the rival, but we must be cunning and draw the most suitable path strategically, because a lot of objects or a character awaits us on one of the routes that heals our team before the final confrontation. The result? A hilarious game mode. In combat nothing changes: they are Max Raids, only that at the end of each combat we can apply to change the defeated Pokémon for the one we are using. In this way, what could initially be a poor team can end up being a more than competent line-up going head-to-head with Tapu Fini, Kyurem, Solgaleo… whoever turns.
Now, what happens if we die on the way? In the upper interface we will always see the number of lives remaining, which are initially four and fall depending on the number of weakened Pokémon in the team. It is irreversible: if we lose four lives in total, we have to start over. If we reach the end the reward will be juicy: a 100% capture rate. We can only capture each Legendary of the Dynamax Adventures once, a solution that makes a lot of sense to maintain the sense of exclusivity of each species and that luck, determined by chance in the statistics, determines whether or not our captured Legendary is so genetically potent as expected. Otherwise it would have broken the nature of Legendaries for a very simple reason: they cannot be bred, there is only one of each per cartridge. If we were allowed to capture each species infinitely, it would corrupt an intact rule from the beginning of the series.
We will get Maxinium by completing battles in the Dynamax Adventures.
Taking into account that each Dynamax Adventure can be completed in about 16 or 18 minutes and there are more than 45 legendary Pokémon waiting for us, calculate the hours of content ahead, added to the fact that each adventure is different because we never know the loaned Pokémon that we are going to receive .
In short: the Dinamax Adventures are a continuous enjoyment. Great idea, best execution.
Empowered Wilderness Area: A Look at the Future We Want in Pokémon
To be frank, Galar’s routes were excessively linear, with few nooks and crannies, without mystery. Artistically precious, that cannot be argued, but at a lower level than expected. A 3D video game that continued to express itself in two dimensions. Both La Isla de la Armadura and Las Nieves de la Corona have finished defining what the Wilderness Area hardly dared to communicate; it felt empty, big but uninhabited; varied in ecosystems, but desert at times. If the seas, forests and caves convinced us in Armadura, the caves, fields and hills of this frozen tundra exude personality.
It is a unique territory, open, very definite, with verticality. You get lost, but you don’t care, because you know that Game Freak has intelligently designed this terrain, fully aware of the difficulty of navigating it. They are no longer routes where you go from A to B; They are scenarios with a much broader, complex perspective, it feels alive. It’s nice to be here, and we love that. Is there room for improvement? Of course, starting with a technical section that shows that Pokémon requires a little more budget and human capital to make that world that we all seek. The result, despite the circumstances, is more than remarkable, introspective. A curious place, which hits the key of the so coined term of lore. Did we want lore? Have three cups.
We are not going to get into plot spoils, but everything is very simple. There is no drama, although you don’t need it either. Of course, Pokémon is at a time where it is legitimate to ask for something more to its argument, more depth in its stories and with events that give more the feeling of being before a JPRG of adventures such as those of Unova (White / Black) or Alola (Sun / Moon), that sometimes we forget how interesting its script is. Beyond all that has been commented —which can give us perfectly for ten hours alone in the search for the Legendary Birds, the Regi and Calyrex; and the unlimited nature of the Dynamax Adventures— we have the Galar Stars Tournament, which, unlike the other mode, is required to have finished the story of the main game in addition to the stories of the two DLCs to unlock it.
The location, as usual, is ten.
In Ciudad Puntera we will find this tournament, the occurrence of Lionel, champion of the Galar Pokémon League. Once the presentations are made, in broad strokes it is a tournament based on elimination rounds with 2v2 fights. Both our partner and the rivals will be recognizable characters from Galar. Synergy is essential; Here it is not only worth going with Pokémon with good nature, maximum IVs and a good set of movements, but we must understand our partner and make that union an advantage. Three fights in total with a reward that, as you can imagine, we are not going to reveal here. Is it a difficult game mode? Not necessarily, it all depends on our ability and ability to take advantage of the peculiarities of double fights.
Many places to explore. This is the kind of caves we want in the series from now on.
Before finishing, a couple of notes. Las Nieves de la Corona incorporates a new currency, the Maxinium, which we obtain by participating in the Dinamax Adventures. This currency is used to exchange objects; from vitamins to candies and, most importantly, new items such as Duralium, a mineral that we will need for a certain species in this territory. Also, quality of life content such as the Ability Patch item, which allows you to change a Pokémon’s Ability to its hidden Ability (if it has one).
CONCLUSION
Pokémon has managed to accommodate itself to three dimensions. After doubts and several lurching, an Expansion Pass has served to close the “third editions” where only something else was added to the original adventures. The Isle of Armor and the Crown Snows must be valued as a whole because they cannot be purchased separately. And, being completely transparent, the result is up to par. Of course it is, with the exception that for Pokémon Sword and Shield to have turned out to be one of the most complete editions in the history of the saga, we have had to wait a year and purchase a paid Expansion Pass separately. If you are a regular or sporadic Pokémon fan, you have a Sword / Shield and you ask us if it is worth getting this DLC, you should know that the answer is a resounding yes; but we will also say that, given what we have seen, the main game without this additional content would feel an incomplete experience, and it is a shame.
However, this is the course to follow, this is how we want future deliveries to be: complete, complex, open, rich in content. It is time to turn the page. The saga deserves it. This is the way.
THE BEST
- Las Nieves de la Corona: an exciting territory
- Fifty Legendaries in total and how to get them
- The Dinamax Adventures and their random nature: always something new
- Scenario design: verticality, nooks, ecosystems
WORST
- Having waited a year to have the “definitive experience” in Galar
- Technically still presenting problems: Pokémon deserves more
Very good
A game with a remarkable finish that we will enjoy and remember. A good buy, highly recommended for lovers of the genre. It is well cared for at all levels.
