Pokémon Sword and Shield Expansion Pass and More Announced in Pokémon Direct

This morning, Nintendo held their first Nintendo Direct presentation of the year, focused on the Pokémon franchise. In it, we got a first look at future updates for Pokémon Sword and Shield, among other things. Let’s take a look!

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX

A brand-new entry in the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series is on its way! Well, sort of. Rescue Team DX is a remake of the original Rescue Team duology on the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS, but with added features such as Mega Evolution. The game will be hitting the Nintendo Switch on March 6th, and is available for pre-purchase starting today.

Check out the trailer below!

Pokémon Sword and Shield Expansion Pass: The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra

In a first for the series, Pokémon Sword and Shield are getting an expansion pass with new downloadable content! In previous generations, Game Freak would release a third version of each game with additional content (Emerald Version, Platinum Version, etc.), but this takes the place of that for Generation 8. The expansion pass for Sword and Shield will retail for $29.99 USD and includes two major updates: The Isle of Armor, which is due for release in June, and The Crown Tundra, which is set to come out in the Fall.

There’s a lot to unpack here: Gigantamax forms for the three starter evolutions? New forms of famous Legendary Pokémon? New characters and areas to explore? Both The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra are set to add even more to the core Sword and Shield experience.

Over 200 Pokémon are being added to Sword and Shield with these expansion packs, further expanding the game’s available roster. Furthermore. players who don’t own the expansion pass will be able to trade with those that do to receive these new Pokémon. There is incentive to pre-order, however, as a new costume will be made available in-game for those that do!

For more information, catch the entire Pokémon Direct below. If you’d like to know what we thought of the base game, Joe Czop has you covered with his review. Stay tuned to RPGFan for more Pokémon coverage!