The Pokémon franchise has not been without its ups and downs, its highs and lows. Over the years we fans have had major controversies like Dexit in the Sword and Shield games, but also MASSIVE sleeper surprises like the extremely positive reception of Pokémon Legends Arceus. We in the community have known it all, and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet had seemed to promise so much in terms of a mainline game since the release of Pokémon Sword and Shield 3 years ago.
Being the first truly open-world mainline Pokémon game in the franchise’s history, what could Game Freak really bring to the table to not only amaze us but also enthrall us? Are these games everything we have been hoping for in an open-world Pokémon game? Or is the Pokémon Company just making more promises that they can never keep? Let’s take a look!
Gameplay, Graphics, and Performance
These three aspects belong in the same sets of paragraphs because they play off of each other the entire time while playing through these games. If any one of these is lacking then the others will usually suffer as a result. In the case of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, the gameplay is overall quite fun and the graphics are top-notch for a Pokémon game, but the games’ performance tends to drag them both down quite often.
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Gameplay
Let’s start with the Pokemon Scarlet & Violet’s gameplay. The gameplay loop of these games is quite different than most other Pokémon games. Instead of following a linear path throughout your adventure, you are placed in an open world to pretty much do as you please. The only thing stopping you from getting anywhere in the Paldea region is the lack of your ride Pokémon Miraidon or Koraidon’s traversal abilities, which you unlock by completing some story events. It is up to the player to run around, explore, and find out how to access whatever it is you wish to get to in the region.
After unlocking said abilities you can access more areas of the map featuring stronger trainers and Pokémon. Continue to beat trainers and train up your Pokémon to be able to safely travel farther and take on more of the story with ease. You could head off the beaten path just exploring only to find you have traveled into a harsher environment, only to have to backtrack until you are in safer terrain. This means that the games can be as hard or as easy as you the player wish them to be. There is no level-scaling to trainers or gyms though which means you could just as easily run into trainers who you outclass by miles.
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet add 107 new Pokémon to the still-growing franchise offering 400 total in the two games. Along with the addition of the new terra raid battles, these games really seem full of life everywhere you look. All of this adds to your gameplay experience while in this great new world!
Graphics
Hilarious internet memes and bugs aside, the graphics of these games is pretty great. The games do tend to render things in slightly degrading quality the farther from the trainer they are, but this is merely to help optimize the games as much as possible for the Nintendo Switch. It can be off-putting to some when things start popping up in the distance without warning or the scenery seems to change as you get closer. Some may find this easy to look past, but others may consider this far too much to deal with, removing some of the game’s immersion.
On the flip side of that coin, the quality of the 3D models of Pokémon, trainers, and scenery is quite breathtaking once you are close enough to see all the details. The trees painted by Grafaiai, the metal sheen on Pokémon like Magneton, and the model of your biology teacher Jacq all look fantastic! Game Freak seemed to step up the quality quite a bit from Pokémon Sword and Shield.
Performance
The performance of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is by far the worse of any 3D Pokémon game officially released by Game Freak. Multiplayer suffers from stutters and slows down the most, but even in a single-player run-through, there are many instances of the game frame rate dipping below 30. It could be the fact that this game was a bit more intense than most other Pokémon games, but games like Super Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and even Pokémon Legends Arceus don’t suffer nearly as much as Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. They seem to have needed more time in the testing and optimizing departments instead of being rushed out to meet the yearly Pokémon game quota.
Not only does the frame rate suffer in these games, but there are numerous graphical glitches and visual bugs that make these games feel like a tech demo. While some of them can be funny at times, other times they just leave the player wondering why the games are so buggy that they sometimes don’t want to play. During our initial playthrough of the games, we did not see too many of the crazy glitches, but it is undeniable that some people are experiencing these awful issues. These games really should have been tested more, and hopefully, some patches come out to fix some of these game-breaking bugs.
Controls
For an open-world game, most of the controls actually work quite well. The movement seems natural while on your ride Pokémon Miraidon and Koraidon, but having the “+” button be the button to mount them seems a bit of an odd choice. Luckily there are no motion controls being forced down our throats for these games though. During our playthrough of the game, and even now, some of the buttons can still be confusing, and we happen to open the map instead of accessing the main menu. Giving players the ability to remap what buttons opened what would have been a great addition, but as they stand right now it is more than passable.
Same Old Story?
Pokémon games have not really been known for superior storytelling over the years. You are a child either moving to a new town or you have lived there a while, you meet your rival and start your Pokémon journey, you thwart whatever evil team is trying to ruin the world, and you become the champion of the region. Rinse and repeat. But Pokémon Scarlet and Violet add some nuisance to the story that really helps make this one of, if not the best story told yet!
For the first time, we have three stories that are given to you throughout the overarching theme of trying to find your own treasure in the Paldea region. You start your journey after moving to a new town, getting your starter, meeting your neighbor and future rival, Nemona, and going off to school. Along the way, you also meet Arven and your ridable Pokémon Miraidon or Koraidon, the evil Team Star, and Penny along with a host of teachers for your many classes.
After doing some off-screen schooling, you are tasked to set out into Paldea to find your own treasure. Nemona urges you to take on the gyms and become a champion, Arven asks for your help finding Herba Mystica for his cooking, and a mysterious character Cassiopeia asks for your help taking down Team Star. All of these stories can be taken on however you would like, and they are all well thought out and impactful on an emotional level.
Becoming The Best (Victory Road)
Obviously, the Victory Road story sees you making your way through the eight (8) gyms of the region, collecting badges, and becoming a champion. Nothing really too new here as this is usually the main progression path through most previous generations. The more badges you gain the higher level Pokémon you can recruit and take on harder gyms, becoming a champion by the end.
Nemona brings a slightly familiar tone as Barry did in the Diamond and Pearl games, always eager to battle no matter when you see her, just not running into as many walls. However, Nemona is actually already a champion-level student at the start of the game, instead gaining a new Pokémon and restarting her team from scratch to match your progress through the gyms. Her readiness to battle and even some of her backstory really endeared us to her throughout the game. She just loves battling and becoming stronger with you!
Making Some Sandwiches (Path of Legends)
Arven is your guide through the Path of Legends, and honestly, he starts out as a really mean guy. After you find the ridable Pokémon injured, he just gives it to you to take care of instead of him doing it. By traveling through the Path of Legends and taking out titan Pokémon you slowly regain abilities to help your Koraidon or Miraidon travel through Paldea.
During our playthrough, we started with this path to unlock all of the riding abilities, and this story is the most heart-wrenching for sure! We won’t spoil anything but suffice it to say, Arven isn’t really that mean; instead, he is hurting inside and you end up helping by taking on the titans and finding the Herba Mystica. SUPER sad and emotionally heavy, but by far our favorite storyline of the game!
Take On The Team (Operation Starfall)
The “evil team” of this generation is Team Star, a group of rebellious kids causing havoc for the school. Really they are just being truant from school and not much else, but obviously, the Director of the school wants them dealt with. Cassiopeia, a mysterious character only calling you through your Rotom phone, asks you for help taking them down.
There are five (5) Team Star bases around the region, and you have to use the ‘Let’s Go’ auto-battling function to take down the members in the base before taking on the base’s boss. Still some major spoilers to the story with this path, so I will just say this is another AMAZING story! This story focuses on bullying in school, though not exactly in the way you may be expecting. It is quite a great story that had me tearing up multiple times!
Sound Good Right?
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet have quite good music and sound effects. From riding around on your Miraidon or Koraidon to taking on gym battles you will be met with pretty decent music and spot-on sounds from the Pokémon around you. Some people do prefer the old 8-bit music from games of old, but music and sounds work so well now with the 3D games now. We did run into some instances of music and sounds not lining up with the game as they should, but that boils down more to the game’s terrible performance than the sounds themselves.
Let’s GO Again?
The games might be great to play through, but how well do they stack up to the tests of time? Will you be coming back to this game for the next month or the next year? Well, honestly that depends on how you play Pokémon games. If you like hunting for shiny Pokémon and taking on the new Terra raid dens, you may play this game until the release of generation ten (10) easily! However, if you are looking for more stories after the main campaign, you may be a bit disappointed.
Though the story has so much to offer which you can draw out by exploring more of the world after the story is done there isn’t much to offer. There are really no more story aspects after the main campaign finishes. It is almost certain that DLC will be coming to these games, but for now, there isn’t much to do story-wise after the credits roll. Some may find enjoyment in the terra raids, hunting for slightly off-colored Pokémon, or maybe even competing in tournaments with a competitive team. This varies wildly based on how you choose to play the game.
Conclusion
To wrap everything up in a nice Pokémon Scarlet and Violet bow, these games have to be one of the best main-line games the franchise has ever made. Although we completely understand the backlash these games have received so far, due to performance issues, graphical bugs, and lack of level scaling, the things they were able to accomplish here stand far above those issues in the grand scheme of things. It is worth it in my opinion! Even though the games are a bit glitchy and needed some polish, they are by far the most fun I’ve have with a main series Pokémon game to date.
Want to know more?
But what do you think about the latest installments in the Pokémon franchise? Let us know somewhere online! And while you’re at it, check out AlanEight on YouTube and Twitch for some Pokémon Scarlet streams. Maybe join for some shiny hunting?
