Pokemon Sword and Shield‘s Expansion Pass launches in just a couple of days, but we’re getting some new information about what to expect from it thanks to a handful of preview impressions that went live today. Basically, The Isle of Armor is a giant Wild Area with tons of Pokemon designed to accommodate your experience levels at any point during your eighth-gen Pokemon adventure.
According to IGN, The Isle of Armor uses level scaling, so you’ll encounter Pokemon near the same level as your team. It’s not clear yet whether they continue to grow as your team does or if the stay at that initial level, though.
The island itself reportedly boasts an even wider array of landscapes than mainland Galar, with IGN noting swamps, lush forests, beaches, caves, and deserts. At this point, it seems none of these are gated either, so like the Wild Area, you can access them whenever.
The camera is fully moveable throughout the entire island as well, and you’ll see Pokemon interacting in the environment in much more detailed ways than before.
As for the story, you’ll start off being re-introduced to your Expansion Pass rival (Avery for Shield, Klara for Sword). You’ll then be shuffled along to the dojo for training. You’ll also catch a glimpse of the special new legendary Pokemon Kubfu along the way and probably some Galarian Slowpoke and their evolved forms too.
Best of all, you can access The Isle of Armor almost straight away. It becomes available as soon as you reach the Wild Area in the main Sword and Shield game, which happens even before you reach the first gym.
Serebii mentioned Isle of Armor will include lots of side quests as well, including one where you’re tasked with finding several Alolan Diglett, while GamesRadar+ said there’s a new EXP Charm item that lets you direct the lion’s share of experience points earned to one specific Pokemon
The original preview is over on IGN if you’re interested.
It sounds like there’s a lot to dig into with the Pokemon Sword and Shield Isle of Armor expansion, and rest assured, we’ll be digging in when it launches June 17. Stay tuned to GameSkinny for more Isle of Armor news as it develops.
