Teal Mask DLC final verdict

[Squirtkipfan01]

Seeing as the first part of the DLC has been out for almost a month id thought id make a thread for final thoughts. I will say off the bat that i already like this dlc more than sword and shield, i found it more compelling to go through it.
PERSONAL PROS
1. Was interested in the story
2. New characters Carmine and Kieran are fairly interesting(very interested to see kieran in part 2)
3. Alot of personal favorite pokemon were added
4. New TMS to craft
5. Can search for tms based on what a pokemon can learn(very convienent)
6. They got me to care about ogerpon in one story( never been so attached to a legendary so quickly)

PERSONAL CONS
1. Levels arent super high, fairly easy for most people who probably already have lvl 100 teams( i started a new team from scratch, way more enjoyable)
2. The "loyal" Trio are pretty lame

Spoiler:

They bullied ogerpon, peace was never a option

3. The whole bloodmoon quest is honestly pretty lame
4. I actually had alot of noticeable frame drops. i normal dont comment on it as it never really bothers me, but it was SUPER bad here
Overall id say part 1 is a 7.5/10, i quite enjoyed it

 

[_confused_piplup_]

I overall had a fun time with the DLC. The new characters are pretty good and I really liked them. Kieran is cute and sweet and Carmine is pretty funny when she's angry lol.

Story wise, nothing exceptional. I liked the fact that the three Pokémon for once were evil. On the other hand, the story itself is not that original: a good Pokemon is considered evil, but it's actually the other way around. It sounds like nothing special, but it was quite well executed.
Morally wise, the point of the story is probably to talk about welcoming foreigners (because Ogerpon and his trainer were rejected and because Carmine doesn't like us at first for being foreigners). I liked that.

When it comes to difficulty, I had some problems because I made a new team and it wasn't too perfect, but I had fun and added a layer of difficulty to the game. I recommend playing the game with a totally new team.

Technically wise, instead, I found the game to have some problems. I had frame problems as well and it was pretty annoying.

 

[Curt_09]

I started off thinking Carmine was cringe and Ogerpon was ugly, by the end of it I found Carmine endearing and Ogerpon p cute. I like that the story didn't take very long if you want to blast through it, but it took you on a tour of the whole island if you felt like exploring. I'm happy with the return of some of my favorites like Milotic. Overall I've enjoyed it, but don't think that the DLC will change anyone's overall opinion of S&V one way or the other. If you liked the games, you'll enjoy the DLC; if you didn't like the games, you won't find any redemption for them in this DLC.
I think that it's decent value for the money if you remember that this is only half of the overall DLC content paid for. My only complaint is that it's borderline pay-to-win DLC for ladder players--not strictly necessary, but you're putting yourself at a disadvantage by not buying it.

 

[Squirtkipfan01]

but don't think that the DLC will change anyone's overall opinion of S&V one way or the other. If you liked the games, you'll enjoy the DLC; if you didn't like the games, you won't find any redemption for them in this DLC.
I think that it's decent value for the money if you remember that this is only half of the overall DLC content paid for. My only complaint is that it's borderline pay-to-win DLC for ladder players--not strictly necessary, but you're putting yourself at a disadvantage by not buying it.

Is that ever been a thing? A DLC so good that it gets people to buy a base game they didnt like? Kinda curious

 

[Curt_09]

Is that ever been a thing? A DLC so good that it gets people to buy a base game they didnt like? Kinda curious

Like, so good that someone heard about it from their friends and wanted to buy it? Or saw an online video or stream that made them wanna buy it? I'm sure it's happened, but I don't know about on a large scale. From my experience with the Destiny franchise, The Taken King and Forsaken expansions probably brought a lot of people in by word of mouth. Maybe back in the day some kid saw a commercial for some WoW expansion that made them want the game, but that's more about marketing. The age of DLC and the age of trying games at your friend's house don't have a lot of overlap, so I doubt many people have played a DLC so good that they went and bought the base game + DLC.

 

[Sheep]

I was definitely more interested in this DLC than The Isle of Armor, primarily for the characters. Kieran's potential in the future DLCs is interesting and Ogerpon is so cute. As far as the area itself though, I actually think I liked Isle of Armor more? The landscape there was a bit more interesting to me and I can't pinpoint why lol. But overall I'd give this expansion a 7/10 I think, compared to Isle of Armor's 5/10ish.

 

[Devalue]

Just finished a playthrough using (a little of) the Teal Mask. Wanted that completed before commenting here.

Story: Disliked the choices the story made for you. Never grew too attached to Kieran or Carmine. Wanted to be far away from both. Conveyed Kieran's dislike of you well with the expressions in the photo. Managed a decent twist with the Loyal Three being thieves.

Returning Pokemon: Some nice returning Pokemon. Would have liked more fixed encounter trade-evolution Pokemon, though. Only finds Trevenant in the wild (with Conkeldurr, Politoed, Golem, Dusknoir, and Milotic being confined to Tera Raids). Did not anticipate liking Ogerpon. Mentions the nice new animation for Morpeko too.

Impact on repeat playthroughs: Mild. Adds some new Pokemon of various levels. Not many super amazing TMs. Grabbed cash and berries (namely Sitrus) easier. Offers quick experience gain, if you want it. Could have missed some handy item somewhere, though.

Rating: 5.5/10? Not terrible, but not great either. Pretty skippable, on its own.

 

[Drayton]

Story: Orgepon does the right thing and she in fact trying to avenge her human by beating the heck out of those lamers. The villagers and people thought she was angry or mad at them, and goes liek OH NO we anger her and cause her a bad reputation thru out the whole time. The loyal lamers are just bullies and never be more of a hero. I guess it goes saying never judge its book by it's cover as looks can be deceiving but far truth. I think it's fine and I neither don't like both characters (Carmine was rather onxious too much and was loud and her brother isn't good either being too center of attention and akward)

The battle goes is just too easy if you have good team who are max level, just literally one shot everyone including Carmine and her brother. Stashing with focus stash is pointless at this point as you just shove them easily. I haven't explore much of the gang but will review more.

 

[ReKoil]

New Pokemon:
-Dipplin - 5.5/10 - Idc either way about this thing.
-Poltchageist/Sinistcha - 6/10 - I guess. Unlike the Wiglett and Toedscool lines they are somewhat likeable to me. Still not overly fond of them though.
-Okidogi - 2/10 - I reserved final judgment until I actually played the DLC, but I still find this thing highly unappealing.
-Munkidori - 5.5/10 - Idc either way about this thing. I did have to fight it twice as the first one struggled itself to death. Came back with a Kingambit though as the thing can't even touch Kingambit, saving me healing items 😏
-Fezandipiti - 7.5/10 - I like it.
-Ogerpon - 7.5/10 - Initially indifferent on it, but the DLC actually does a good job of making her likeable.
-Ursaluna, Bloodmoon Form - 5.5/10 - meh, I like regular Ursaluna more. Don't really care either way.

All in all an okay selection of new mons. Better than Isle of Armor's new mons at any rate.
I was looking forward to potentially using Fezandipiti though, and rather dislike that they locked the trio to the DLC's postgame.

Returning Pokemon: 7/10
Pretty good selection of Pokemon. There were some that I wasn't expecting to see, but am glad that they now have a game on the Switch to call home (such as the Leavanny line for example).
I find it very weird that they decided to give us the Sinnoh starters instead of completing the missing parts of the Kanto, Johto, Unova or Alola trios. For all of these trios only one starter is currently in the game; they should've at least completed one of them imo.

New Area: 6/10.
Pretty much just Paldea 2.0 in a different setting tbh. Didn't really feel all that unique as far as exploration goes.
The trainers in this area in general also just needed to evolve their Pokemon imo. There was the Oni clan, but the regular trainers pretty much just used 1st stages, making them an easy stomp.

Story: 6/10 - as lackluster as ever.
It's only saving grace is actually making me like Ogerpon. I liked spending time with it.
Actually.. I'll bump it up to 6/10. Was not expecting that Loyal three/lousy three reverse, something not straightforward and predictable for once, well for Pokemon standards anyway.

Ogre Outstin': 2/10 - Very irritating minigame if you're trying to complete it. Impossible to complete in solo.
Initially thought it was okay, but nothing special. Then I learned there was a reward Shiny Munchlax with a mark for completing the hard difficulty.
I tried for quite a while, but I could not for the life of me beat round/wave 6 of Normal difficulty in solo. Always 3-10 berries short when the timer expires. There's just not enough time to complete Normal in solo. Defending the collected berries eats up too much time.
And if you wanna do it in MP you need to arrange a play session with someone. Why the heck do they not give us the option to play with random people without a code? SwSh had it for Raids and DA. SV's Tera raids have it. Yet if you wanna do Ogre Oustin (or Union Circle) it's not an option. Which for this minigame I would be okay with if it were actually possible in singleplayer, but it's not.
I eventually just refused to spend more time on it and abandoned it.