SwSh Sword & Shield: Expansion Pass

[Esserise]

What! Am I! Missing!

I've been trying to get Oleana to show up in the Old Cemetery for days now. There must be some event flag somewhere that I haven't triggered, unless there's just some element of randomness involved for determining when she appears. I've cleared all four storylines. I've gone and received Rose's League Card from her in the Galar Mine. I've tried going to the Cemetery immediately after getting the dialogue from Nia about the rumor. Arghhhhhhhh

 

[RK9]

What! Am I! Missing!

I've been trying to get Oleana to show up in the Old Cemetery for days now. There must be some event flag somewhere that I haven't triggered, unless there's just some element of randomness involved for determining when she appears. I've cleared all four storylines. I've gone and received Rose's League Card from her in the Galar Mine. I've tried going to the Cemetery immediately after getting the dialogue from Nia about the rumor. Arghhhhhhhh

It's at night.

 

[Esserise]

It's at night.

Yeah, I've gone there at many different hours of the night (I've gone from as early as 10 PM to as late as 4 AM), but still she never shows.

 

[swiftgallade46]

One thing that is really really bothering me is when these Pokémon are added into the games with ways to obtain them....but no Pokédex entries. They did it with the Alola starters, now they’re doing it with all the legendaries, UBs, and Mythicals. We know that even with entries they can be excluded from being needed for Dex-completion purposes...so why not include them?

Most of the legendaries get little mini-bios from Peony anyway (which I love). I’m not sure why they couldn’t have just added Dex-entries.

 

[Defiant]

Yeah, I've gone there at many different hours of the night (I've gone from as early as 10 PM to as late as 4 AM), but still she never shows.

I went at 10 AM and couldn't find her, but then reset my clock using the raid den glitch, to a couple minutes past midnight the next day, 00:02 or something, flew there and there she was. She stands a little bit away from the cemetery, just on the outside rather than in it.

Also has Peonia told you in the Max Lair about a woman hiding in the graveyard, that might be a trigger

 

[Esserise]

Most of the legendaries get little mini-bios from Peony anyway (which I love)

I really like the part where he rips the kami trio for all looking the same.

Was a little disappointed that he didn't have anything to say about Zamazenta or Eternatus.

 

[prog rocker]

I really like the part where he rips the kami trio for all looking the same.

Considering the fact they exist due to executive meddling, I wonder if that was a staff member venting through Peony.

 

[Nicolas721]

I've finished the Regis and Calyrex parts, and here are my thoughts:

• The Calyrex story was okay. I liked how everything was connected to the town and how its inhabitants contributed to the story, Calyrex speaking was a nice touch that allowed us to connect with it and it's possibly the most lore-driven story we've had since ORAS. However, it's too simple and straightforward, and I don't think there's a reason why Calyrex needed to regain its force so badly. I think somewhere it was mentioned that it was so the crops could grow again, but then why they didn't include a cutscene of the crops growing again?
• I haven't seen the end of the Peony story, but Nia being absent through all the expeditions gives me low hopes about it. (Please don't spoil it btw)
• The birds and Regis' stories were NONEXISTANT. Seriously, Gamefreak? And you lock one new Regi to trading on top of that? Sometimes I wonder if the latest games' flaws aren't because of time issues but because of they just not knowing how to explore their potential. It was still fun, but I expected waaaay more.
• Dynamax Adventures are good. The raids' slowness became very evident some months down the road, so I'm glad they were made sightly faster, and the higher stakes give you some adrenaline rush. I feel excited for doing more.
• While I have my issues with the Pokedex roster, the Pokemon distribution is actually good and every area has its own one or two exclusives. Making the fossils alive and roaming was a great idea.
• The Crown Area design is cool. I was expecting something similar to circular design the Isle of Armor, but instead we have a linear but open and vast approach, with very interesting zones. I prefer Armor's approach for a postgame zone, but I'd love to see Crown's approach used for late game routes in future generations. I missed some special and secluded surprise like Armor's dessert though, there's a couple caves but they feel too simple.

 

[Poke Dragon]

I have just started playing the Crown Tundra today and so far, Calyrex's storyline is my favorite part of it.
From Calyrex literately telling you that he and his steed were once "one" or united to finally having a new permanent original form for a fused Pokemon, I have enjoyed so much of it.
I haven't even started doing the Regi and Bird storylines.
There is only one issue I have with the Dynamax Adventures and that's not because you can't use your own Pokemon, it's the fact that there aren't NPCs inside the den who heals the current Pokemon you have.

 

[venusboi79]

I really hope that going forward, DLC like this becomes the norm, as opposed to the “traditional” 3rd version. Both DLC chapters managed to expand on the gameplay and enhance features, while allowing me to avoid the slog of starting out from square one.

I’m surprised at how much I’ve been enjoying the Max Raid Adventures, especially the rental Pokémon aspect. But so far the options have been decent, and make me really think about my move choices. I’m not a competitive player, so I’m not used to having to think too much about support moves.

Sure, sometimes I keep a support/stat altering on a ‘mon just in case (or because it’s a major part of its design). But I’ve been finding myself not only playing with Pokémon I’d never consider, but really thinking about my choices instead of spamming one or two SE attacks.

One complaint; I still haven’t figured out how to join an Adventure Raid. I know you can set a code for friends or post your code in Slack/Discord. But I haven’t figured out how to do it from the Y comm.

 

[RC821]

Making the fossils alive and roaming was a great idea.

I guess Calyrex saved them.

 

[BigBadButterfree]

I really hope that going forward, DLC like this becomes the norm, as opposed to the “traditional” 3rd version. Both DLC chapters managed to expand on the gameplay and enhance features, while allowing me to avoid the slog of starting out from square one.

I’m surprised at how much I’ve been enjoying the Max Raid Adventures, especially the rental Pokémon aspect. But so far the options have been decent, and make me really think about my move choices. I’m not a competitive player, so I’m not used to having to think too much about support moves.

Sure, sometimes I keep a support/stat altering on a ‘mon just in case (or because it’s a major part of its design). But I’ve been finding myself not only playing with Pokémon I’d never consider, but really thinking about my choices instead of spamming one or two SE attacks.

One complaint; I still haven’t figured out how to join an Adventure Raid. I know you can set a code for friends or post your code in Slack/Discord. But I haven’t figured out how to do it from the Y comm.

My friend and I have been so annoyed because we can play dynamax adventures together using a code, but only the 2 of us. It's stupidly not set up like max raids where I start hosting and he can join before others, and then we could still play with a full team of 4 humans. I just don't understand why it has to be different from something that basically already exists in the game.

 

[RC821]

If I want feedback to Nintendo, my feedback would be if anyone already has a copy of Sword and Shield, the DLC can be free or maybe lower the price of the bundle pack.

 

[Puddle]

How do you get Sonia and the Swords of Justice to appear in the Crown Tundra? Do you have to finish the Ultra Beast mission first? I hope not, because I'm not really in the mood for lots of Max Raid battles right now, and would rather go out adventuring in the snow again.

 

[Poke Dragon]

How do you get Sonia and the Swords of Justice to appear in the Crown Tundra? Do you have to finish the Ultra Beast mission first? I hope not, because I'm not really in the mood for lots of Max Raid battles right now, and would rather go out adventuring in the snow again.

You have to look for pairs of footprints I think.

 

[swiftgallade46]

How do you get Sonia and the Swords of Justice to appear in the Crown Tundra? Do you have to finish the Ultra Beast mission first? I hope not, because I'm not really in the mood for lots of Max Raid battles right now, and would rather go out adventuring in the snow again.

Spoiler

Simply exit Freezington from next to the HQ and approach the tree to the far right. From there it’s a scavenger hunt similar to the Alolan Diglett one in IoA except this time you’re looking for footprints.

 

[Puddle]

You have to look for pairs of footprints I think.

Spoiler

Simply exit Freezington from next to the HQ and approach the tree to the far right. From there it’s a scavenger hunt similar to the Alolan Diglett one in IoA except this time you’re looking for footprints.

Spoiler

Ah, can you do the footprint hunt right from the beginning? I did spot a pair of footprints as soon as I arrived in the Crown Tundra, but haven't searched for more yet as I got distracted by Calyrex etc. Thanks for the tips!

 

[swiftgallade46]

Spoiler

Ah, can you do the footprint hunt right from the beginning? I did spot a pair of footprints as soon as I arrived in the Crown Tundra, but haven't searched for more yet as I got distracted by Calyrex etc. Thanks for the tips!

Yup it’s available right away! No problem!

 

[Daren]

I've finished up all three main expeditions. Thoughts below:

Spoiler

*The main event of the whole thing. A little odd since it feels like you could do most of this very early in a playthrough then get slaughtered by a level 70 horse. It was nice give Calyrex actual dialogue though it was too short for his arc to have too much impact on me, but I liked how you talk to the Freezington villagers to learn about the region's history.
*Regis--the little puzzles are a nice touch reminiscent of getting them back in RSE. Needing to trade to get the fifth one and find Regigias is a classic Gamefreak eyeroll move though.
*Galar Birds--my favourite implementation of the "wandering Legendary" yet. Their designs are fine, I enjoyed the cutscene introducing them.

Max Adventures:
These are so much better than normal raid battles just by virtue of not having the shield phase. I sure hope if the mechanic returns they keep that.
Martin still sucks, though. I had him using Entrainment to randomly swap ally abilities around. Even without Solrock he finds a way to be an Albatross around the player's neck.
So far I've got Suicune, Moltres, Latias, Mesprit, Xurxitree, and Guzzlord. I've lost to Giratina and Celesteela.
I was annoyed to find out I can only memorize two paths, though. I ended up losing to overwriting the path to Giratina's cave by accident.

 

[Poke Dragon]

Spoiler

So, I did the Regi quest, it was okay, I got stuck on Registeel, thinking there was a specific sound-based move that I needed on my Pokemon, but it turns out whistling was the method needed, Regice was also a pain to catch, the second Pokemon I have ever encountered who ran out of moves to use. Still irks me that I need to trade to get access to another Pokemon even in this generation. In this case, getting Regigigas will require trading, which is annoying.