Here’s a controversial opinion—third-version Pokémon games were never good. Wait..! Hold on, hear me out here. I loved collecting all three versions as a kid, but can you really say that makes any sense in this day and age? Back in the old days, we had to pay full price for incremental upgrades—it was the only way. The expansion pass announced for Sword and Shield earlier this month brings Pokémon up to date with modern gaming standards.
Upgrades to games have been relatively common over the years. Pokémon may be the most obvious example, but other series have done it, too. Kingdom Hearts and Persona come to mind. When this was popular, it made a lot of sense; a director’s cut of the title, with a ton of new and exciting content. In 2020, we have access to online services and a wealth of storage space. There is no reason for this model to exist anymore.
Were the third-versions ever worthwhile?
Image taken from the Nintendo UK website
Look, I hear you. This is bucking a tradition dating all the way back to Pokémon Yellow in 1998. I, myself, grew up with the idea that paying for a third Pokémon title is normal. The thing is, most of them aren’t worth their asking price. The first two examples, Yellow and Crystal, added an extremely small amount of content. Yellow allowed you to start with a Pikachu, and Crystal allowed you to play as a girl. Are you honestly telling me these are worthwhile, full-price upgrades?
Image taken from the Expansion Pass reveal trailer
Some people are calling GameFreak greedy. I’ve even seen some compare them to EA – a company infamous for shoddy DLC practices. The Expansion Pass is one huge package of bonus content, offering huge new areas, new Pokémon forms, and even new story aspects. I mean, just look at The Sims 4, a game with almost £500 of DLC content to purchase. This just isn’t a comparable situation. Hell, even the extra Pokémon are going to be available without the new content packs, so calling this approach ‘greedy’ just baffles me.
Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield are doing the right thing. I’ve had my share of complaints about the base game. I miss the National Pokédex, and I’m not a fan of the graphics, but this may be the first thing GameFreak has done right. The Nintendo Switch has internal storage, most people have a sizeable memory card, and Nintendo is pushing the eShop more than ever. Some of us were rather disappointed with Sword and Shield, but this is a step in the right direction. This gives us more for less, and that’s always a good thing.
