Pokemon Sword and Shield: The Isle of Armor Reviews

Pokemon Sword and Shield: The Isle of Armor is ranked in the 30th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
Geeks Under Grace
Karen Kennedy
9 / 10.0
Aug 17, 2020

Pokemon Sword and Shield: The Isle of Armor is a great welcoming add-on to the base game.

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8 / 10
Jun 27, 2020

The Isle of Armor capitalizes on Pokemon Sword and Shield's strengths with an even better area to explore, though its story offering is modest.

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Jun 19, 2020

But in the end, the design of this adventurous and sprawling island - and the chance to raise your own legendary - will ultimately reign supreme for all the Pokémon fans out there. I can’t wait to see what the Crown Tundra has in store.

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8 / 10
Jun 18, 2020

The Isle of Armor is a lovely addition to the base Pokémon Sword & Shield games, bringing in far more new features to tickle hardcore fans than we initially expected. On the downside, it's a little shy on narrative-driven content and is really all about the isle and its Pokémon inhabitants. Still, while we would certainly have liked to have seen more story-based gameplay, what's on offer is still excellent, and offers dedicated fans of the series an awful lot to explore and do. If you loved the Wild Area in Sword and Shield and want more of that, we can safely say you'll get a real kick out of this.

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8 / 10.0
Jun 19, 2020

I enjoyed it greatly, so I'd say it's worth it, with the caveat that we don't know much about the second half of the Expansion Pass yet. Just make sure to get the right version.

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Jun 29, 2020

The Isle of Armor breathes new life into Pokémon Sword and Shield by giving players something they wanted from the start: access to more classic Pokémon from previous generations.

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8 / 10.0
Jun 23, 2020

The Isle of Armor isn't much, but it's a nice addition of content for an already great Pokémon game.

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Jun 18, 2020

The Pokemon Sword and Shield Isle of Armor DLC is a worthy add-on to the base game, despite being somewhat light on content.

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Jun 26, 2020

Every time I enter my profile on my Nintendo Switch, I get greeted by that message when my Pokémon Sword cartridge is inside. With that amount, Pokémon Sword is the third most played title in my library after Animal Crossing and Octopath Traveler.

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8 / 10.0
Jun 25, 2020

Pokémon Sword and Shield: Isle of Armor isn’t the largest expansion available, but it is packed with enough to hold you off until the next DLC. There’s plenty of new Pokemon to catch and raid battles to join as you make your way across this new adventure. The entire expansion features enough to want to reinvest your time into this game that you might have put down a few months ago.

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8 / 10.0
Jun 23, 2020

Pokemon Sword and Shield‘s Isle of Armor is groundbreaking but it gets the job done in pulling trainers back into its world. It’s exciting to see the expansion of the Galar Region with new geography and new stories. Pokemon catching may be the selling point of these games but this time around it is the story and level design that shines brightest.

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IGN Spain
Top Critic
7.6 / 10.0
Jun 18, 2020

Despite not being the primary DLC for the Pokémon Sword and Shield Expansion Pass, The Isle of Armor has enough quality content to bring us back to the eighth generation. Even if its history is short and shallow.

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7.5 / 10.0
Jul 2, 2020

Isle of Armor won't convince naysayers to try Pokemon Sword and Shield for the first time, but offers fans some lovely new content and bags of charm.

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75 / 100
Jun 22, 2020

If you’re in the mood for more of what made Pokemon Sword and Shield so good, Isle of Armor will be just what you need.

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7.5 / 10.0
Jun 22, 2020

A modest expansion to Pokémon Sword and Shield, Isle of Armor doesn't stray away from the established formula of last year's blockbuster game. But when the core experience was that good to begin with, more of the same is exactly what the series needs to still stay fun and fresh.

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7.5 / 10.0
Jul 2, 2020

The Isle of Armor changes a classic format to more open-world-ish, but it couldn't reach its full potential.

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72 / 100
Jun 25, 2020

We were striving for a new Wild Area and we received a the next step of Pokémon's open world experience. Sadly the first part of the Expansion Pass still feels shallow and with lots of empty space.

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Travis Northup
Top Critic
7 / 10.0
Jun 23, 2020

As Pokémon's first-ever DLC, The Isle of Armor is an entertaining but shallow return to the Galar region.

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7 / 10.0
Jun 17, 2020

Surprise: Isle of Armor does not completely shake up the Pokemon formula. You're getting a very small narrative and another big interconnected Wild Area: that's pretty much the gist of it. With those expectations in check, you'll have a blast if you've been looking for an excuse to get back into the swing of chilling out with Sword and Shield.

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Jul 2, 2020

With all the added Pokemon that were previously missing and the fact it's just more Sword and Shield to enjoy, The Isle of Armor is definitely worth getting, but it's best not to have the highest of expectations going in regardless due to the major flaws that hold it back from being great.

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