Yesterday, Game Freak announced expansion packs for Pokémon Sword and Shield. The first, Isle of Armor, is set to launch this June. The Crown Tundra will follow in the fall. In addition to new rivals, clothing, and areas, the expansion pack will also introduce new co-op, legendaries, and a wider pokédex. For most games, this would be standard news. For Pokémon, it’s almost revolutionary.
Pokémon moves at a glacial pace when it comes to major changes. It’s taken roughly two decades for its traditional RPG experience to land on a console. Before that, it felt revolutionary when the series finally introduced online play or 3D graphics — years after many games had already done so. Sword and Shield, released last year, were the series’s…