I'll talk about the story, the big final fight, and the new pokemon, so don't read if you don't want to be spoiled, but BEFORE the spoilers, I will say that this dlc sort of changed my opinion of SV?? I think after this big update, I might have had as much fun as I did playing legends: arceus, which is one of my favorite new pokemon games. The amount of content added in parts 1 and 2 of the dlc seems like it adds up to as much content in the original game, so if you liked the base game, definitely get this for twice the content and tons of fun gimmicks.
Also, I don't blame you if you aren't reading all this I mean whhat
(SPOILERS DOWN HERE LAST CHANCEEE)
I think I'll start with my thoughts abt the environment?? I really loved this place, and I thought it was really unique. The spacing of the little UV blocks around the map, just to remind you that this is not a naturally made area was really interesting. And the way they handled bringing back old regional pokemon was really interesting, I always wondered how they would let you catch old regional pokemon in new games since they can only be caught in one region. However, the fact that the artificial weather caused similar effects to the home region of the regional pokemon is fascinating and really well done.
It is pretty fun exploring the whole area, although things start to seem a little bit the same after being in one area for a while. Still, that's fixed by shaking things up and being told to go back and forth through all the other biomes. And, this might be a better place to put my thoughts on this, flying with Koraidon/Miraidon is just amazing. you can fight me about this, but it might be just as good if not better than the latios/latias flying in the old 3ds games (which I also loved)
The new pokemon were?? interesting?? From the leaks, we all saw Hydrapple coming, and it's final design is sort of okay. I don't hate it, which is a good sign for pokemon designs. Archaludon is also there, not too great but not too bad.
Terapagos surprised me with their alternate form being tinier than Espurr, so I thought that was pretty funny. (I'll talk about more when I get to talking about the final fight)
Haven't seen the peach pokemon in-game, so I can't be completely sure, but from the one image I saw it looks pretty great
The new four paradox legendaries are about par for the course with paradox forms in the past. The past paradoxes look really interesting, and although Raging Storm or smth looks a bit goofy I love that they did something a bit more out there. The future paradox forms just look like a robot version of the old ones, but I at least appreciate Iron Crown's horns and Iron Boulder's interesting body shape.
Also the story!!! I was so invested in the characters here, since they had more personality than most nintendo characters, who usually have the personality of a wet sock. I loved the dynamic of Drayton, Carmine, Kieran and the player, and the other elite four people were pretty good too. I hated Briar, not because their character wasn't well made, but just because they're so annoying about everything they do??
I thought the final fight was pretty well executed, especially for most pokemon games. The switch games have had pretty scripted final fights, which meant they looked good, but you just sort of press the A button whenever. I thought this had a good mix of both, and Terapagos's final form reveal was just perfect. The shock you get from seeing the first ever master ball broken is great, the final form is so well designed, and the little events that go on in the fight are perfect to get you invested in this climax of the story.
I still haven't talked about this, so I'll talk about the battles!! People were not lying when they said the characters were going to use real competitive strategies, and I actually love that. So many trainers had unique gimmicks going on, and real challenging battles that had me more interested and focused on the battles than ever. The constant type matchup switching with Lacey was amazing, and I loved that even though I don't care much for pokemon battles, I was starting to use more competitive strategies towards the end.
The Elite Four challenges were pretty interesting. Amarys had a pretty simple challenge that led to the flying power. the cooking guy(lol) had a little puzzle that was really fun to do. Lacey had a basic quiz, and Drayton had the most interesting gimmick of them all. The fact that you have to use just-caught pokemon and come up with an all-new strategy was jarring, but very fun. I'm glad they gave you a little slack on these battles, since getting used to a whole new team is a little hard.
I guess I'll put other misc thoughts here?? The BP system and the club computer were pretty unique. I liked that you were finally able to change your ball throwing style. I think the little hunt that was made for the old legendary pokemon was also very uniquely done. I think the only new mechanic missing from this dlc was being able to switch the pokeballs that your pokemon are in, which I think would have gone perfectly with the theme of tons of customization.
Anywaysss if you read all this congratulations ig?? I just wrote all my thoughts about this entire dlc ever and I don't mind if people don't rlly see this, I just wanted to write all this because it's just so fascinating
