The Pokémon Sword and Shield DLC will expand upon the already massive Nintendo Switch titles with everything a Trainer could have ever wanted.

For the first time in the monster capturing series, the coming Pokémon Sword and Shield DLC will usher in a new age of post-game content.

Full of adventure and story updates, the Isle of Armor DLC pack 1 will release in June 2020, and Crown Tundra DLC pack 2 will release in Fall 2020 for the Nintendo Switch. While that’s still quite some time to wait, there is plenty to look forward to in the DLC that will make the wait all the more worth it.

‘Pokémon Sword’ and ‘Shield’ DLC

Ride Pokémon/Follow Pokémon

Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Eevee! made running through the fields of Kanto feel fresh. We were able to have both the first Pokémon in our party follow us, and ride on the Pokémon that were big enough to carry a Trainer. Soaring through the skies on Pokémon like Aerodactyl and dashing through the Routes on an Arcanine added a beautiful flavor to the Let’s Go games, and that flavor needs to return in the Pokémon Sword and Shield DLC.

This is a high demand, as playtesting out all of the scenarios where a ride Pokémon is accessible is quite the task. The games already have their fair share of day one field glitches; there’s no need to add even more with a rushed push of a Ride Pokémon DLC. The Follow Pokémon aspect would be much easier to code, seeing as most Pokémon already appear in the overworld. Heck, sometimes it feels like that Machoke barrelling down the way at you is already a Follow Pokémon. It’s a simple means of making the games feel more tailored to players’ experiences, and is one that would make playing through Galar even more fun.

A full living dex

Playing through Pokémon Sword and Shield, it quickly becomes evident that the variety of Pokémon in the games is lacking. Sure, we’ve been spoiled before with every other main-series game including all of the Pokémon from previous Generations in their code. Unfortunately, even though it takes a killer amount of work to code, one thing is true: Pokémon isn’t the same if you can’t catch them all.

The coming Pokémon Sword and Shield DLC will add in a good amount of fan-favorite Pokémon, such as many of the Legendary Pokémon, along with Venusaur and Blastoise. We’ve been teased with the inclusion of Galarian Slowpoke, but series-standard Pokémon such as Dragonite and Raticate are oddly missing from Sword/Shield. It may take some time for Game Freak to churn out the code for all of these missing Pokémon, but as long as the new ‘mons come with other story-related DLC content, the fandom will eat it up wholeheartedly.

Overworld MMO-like interactions

The Wild Area of Galar starts to push the Pokémon series toward a more MMO focused game style, but it stops just short of really selling the feature. Currently, we’re only able to see other players absently wandering the Wild Area, but they can’t see us in real-time, and they can’t be interacted with (they will gift you food items, but that’s the equivalent of talking to any NPC in the Wild Area).

It’s quite the undertaking to make the Pokémon Sword and Shield DLC the first instance of a true Pokémon MMO experience, so perhaps it would make sense for the DLC to take a smaller approach here. Having lobbies for players to interact with each other in is a bit easier of a task, as having specific servers and smaller rooms would allow for both cleaner organization of the MMO elements, and an easier time for players looking to battle, trade, and chat with Trainers.

Difficulty settings

In Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, we were able to choose what difficulty we wanted to play the game on. That specific feature has yet to make its return in any other main-series Pokémon game, leaving players thirsting for more difficult Pokémon adventures. While you might think that the harder difficulty was actually the most challenging, consider this: lower-leveled Pokémon in the easy difficulty made for less EXP, and thus more grinding.

It’s time to balance the difficulty levels in the Pokémon Sword and Shield DLC. Perhaps by making the hard mode really difficult, the line between the easy and hard modes would be a bit clearer. Adding in more required battles, and even smarter AI, will be the best thing to come to the Pokémon series in quite some time.

Related: Best Pokémon in Sword and Shield

Whether you’re looking for a more difficult challenge, or you’re simply looking forward to enjoying more story content in the coming DLC, chances are, Game Freak will deliver on your expectations. While not required to fully enjoy the games, the paid DLC packs are sure to improve your Pocket Monster adventures tenfold.