Pokémon Sword and Shield has steered the franchise into the next generation of Nintendo Hardware, and on a home console to boot. The campaign was enjoyable, the post-game was good yet lacked the drive to invest time. Enter the Isle of Armor DLC, where players could expand there Pokédex (Yes, I know and don’t start) and grab some brand new Pocket Monsters. The Crown Tundra adds even more mons to the roster, with a focus on every legendary, well, ever.
The Crown Tundra Pokédex
Here’s the Crown Tundra Pokédex, courtesy of Bulbapedia, they also go into great detail as to what legendaries can be found. The Crown Tundra is split into three chapters (Maybe four…), with the first focusing on the legendary Pokémon Calyrex. Featured as the cover Pokémon for this expansion, there’s no better place to start than the hunt for Calyrex.
initially, players stumble upon the hub town Freezington. They will find item vendors, rest spots and other useful features here. Players will first also encounter Calyrex, the first region-specific legendary in the Crown Tundra. This chapter involves a lot of running around and checking boxes to finally get the chance to catch the ‘King of Bountiful Harvests’, but the payoff and sense of reward are worth it.
Pick a Ghost-Type in the Crown Tundra
Calyrex needs to locate his long lost steed to unlock his full power, which is later found and battled after players decide on its typing. The Ghost-type Spectrier or the Ice-Type Glastrier make an appearance thanks to the actions of players and affect Calyrex typing also.
The final fight, and ultimately capture of Calyrex is a challenging one and mirrors the more challenging days of Pokémon. A big criticism of the later generations of Pokémon games is that they have traded challenging gameplay for accessibility. The fight to capture Calyrex is Game Freaks rebuttal. The battle reminded me of trying to catch Ho-Oh in Pokémon Gold, the source of my childhood anxiety.
I’m Going on an (Dynamax) Adventure!
An amazing new addition from the Crown Tundra is Dynamax Adventure. Up to four players can grab a randomly generated Pokémon to tackle a series of raid battles with an opportunity to bag a 100% catch rate Legendary. Sounds easy? you’re wrong. Players have the opportunity to swap out their existing Pokémon with the one they just captured from their last raid. This can ultimately ruin a Dynamax Adventure before it’s climax due to typing clashes.
A Pokémons health will not recover after a battle in this mode, which means swapping out Pokémon to a potential duff is the only option. The A.I. on NPCs in this mode has been significantly improved. No Magikarps using Splash is always a bonus. Players will have the option of selecting just one Pokémon to keep at the end of the Dynamax Adventure. Such a difficult choice…
Unlimited… Legendaries?
So, what happens post successful Dynamax Adventure and the Legendary Pokémon at the end wins? Don’t worry about it, researchers will remember the last legendary battled for unlimited attempts at catching. With that being said, a certain Tapu has mugged this writer off four times now.
Post battle, players may come across a pile of berries or a researcher offering to swap out Pokémon. From my experiences during online play, fellow players seem to know the score in terms of the best route forward. This comes in handy when in a health pinch or a Pokémon simply isn’t cutting type matchups.
Quality of Life Improvements
Noticeable improvements have been made to raid battles in Dynamax Adventures. A Dynamaxed Pokémon will not raise shields and Pokéballs only wiggle once before confirming a capture. Whilst this sounds insignificant, it’s a brilliant time saver and solves a couple of personal pet hates.
Overall, the Crown Tundra is presented well and is a step up for scenery vs the vanilla game. Whilst merely scratching the surface of The Crown Tundra, it feels fresh, exciting and ignites the passion to Catch ’em all. Well, the one’s Game Freak included. Shots fired.
Stay tuned for the next part of our Pokémon: The Crown Tundra coverage.
