This Pokemon Sword and Shield DLC Will Make You Hate Game Freak Even More

Game Freak's not going to win any love from Pokemon fans with this Sword and Shield DLC package. | Source: Nintendo/Game Freak/YouTube

• Pokemon Sword and Shield enraged longtime fans due to the removal of the National Dex.
• New DLC was announced on today’s Pokemon Direct, which adds some of these Pokemon back to the game.
• Considering how shallow Sword and Shield feels, this DLC is a slap in the face.

Pokemon Sword and Shield endured a lot of flack heading into their release. Some backlash was deserved, some criticism wasn’t. But overall, it wasn’t a spectacular launch for Game Freak.

Most of the controversy surrounded the loss of hundreds of Pokemon from the National Dex. At first, it didn’t bother me. Then Nintendo announced they’re going to add some of the cut Pokemon back into the game – as paid DLC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C66Zrb4XdSg

Pokemon DLC Makes Sword and Shield Even More Disappointing

I’m not a Pokemon fanboy. I was skeptical about the quality of the new games, but I also didn’t think that removing the National Dex or other features meant Sword and Shield were doomed to suck.

Now that I’ve played them, I can confirm they’re disappointing. I quit after the eighth gym, half-convinced I’d pick up where I left off eventually. Maybe.

But Nintendo’s Pokemon Direct announcement makes that less likely.

Why?

Because they’re adding endgame content, and they’re bringing back some of the missing Pokemon. But you’ve got to pay extra for content that should have been included in the initial release.

Why This Will Make You Hate Game Freak Even More

Sword and Shield don’t feature enough content in them to start with, so at this point, it feels like they removed stuff from the game and are trying to sell it back to us.

Sure, you’ll be able to trade for the new-old Pokemon without paying for the DLC. But it’s not as easy as buying the DLC. And either way, someone has to shell out money to Game Freak.

The DLC does add new Galarian forms to the game, and they do look pretty cool. (Although they raise questions about how legendary Pokemon can have Galarian forms when only one of each is supposed to exist.)

But, on their own, a few Galarian forms aren’t enough to stop this DLC package from looking like a shady tactic.

Game Freak Nintendo pokemon Pokemon Sword and Shield

William Worrall

William Worrall is a professional writer based out of the UK who has been writing about video and tabletop games for over a decade and has covered industry events such as EGX and UKGE. Contact him at [email protected], see his LinkedIn profile here.

[email protected] @mizushinzui