Pokemon Scarlet and Violet have a hard road ahead of them. Being the follow up to both one of the most applauded side games in the franchise and one of the most uninspired remakes, my personal expectations were a bit all over the place. Nonetheless I decided to opt in again for another adventure with my team of lovable battling monsters.
When I say I wasn’t excited for this new chapter in the Pokemon franchise I really meant it. A few years ago when Sword and Shield dropped I was through the roof with hype. I started collecting the cards again, I bought both copies for the first time in my life, one of which still sits there unopened, and made sure to get all the goods I could. I really, really was all in on it. And what happened after is definitely what shaped my current passive mood towards the series.
Sword and Shield are fine enough Pokemon adventures, they really are. But the lack of impact and superficial “big map” Wild Area was disappointing at best and downright boring at worst. As much as I loved the art design of some of the towns and areas, not to mention some awesome Pokemon additions like Orbeetle, when I was done with the game, I was really done! The slapped together story, pointless characters, unsatisfying adventure loop and more were all complaints that made the adventure less interesting than it should have been. Heck I didn’t even check out the DLC!
Of course some of these or many have been complaints from fans for years now and not only affect Sword and Shield. But for some reason the move to the Switch and overall hype had my expectations for the game to be more than it was. So fast forward to now, and I’m going into this with more than a little skepticism. Even if the Arcesus spin-off showed us what steps the series could do to expand its horizons and our expectations I didn’t really hold them to anything. But either way, let’s see what Scarlet and Violet have in store.
Just like any other entry there are a number of changes from the previous title. Some mechanics return as series staples and others are left by the wayside. One thing that never changes is the premise of being a kid going on a big adventure with your companion monsters. Or does it?
This time around instead of being a delinquent out on their own, were actually a student enrolled at an elite school. The usual opening things happen of course such as being given our own Pokemon to adventure with but the entire premise is pretty different than before. But instead of boring us with the daily life of a student like Persona would, instead we skip ahead to the schools big “Treasure Hunt” where students spread out across the island to discover their own personal treasure.
It threw me for a loop honestly. The games opening and premise is a lot more detailed than I thought it would have been. This is probably as a result of the criticism that was rightfully thrown at Sword and Shield for its nothing burger story. Either way it doesn’t take long before the several main plot points are tossed at you. Battle through the gyms and become champion, find several mythical plants and the giant Pokemon guarding them, and smack down the rival group of school delinquents Team Star.
The game plays it pretty loose right from the start letting you do these in any order you want. As a OG fan from Gen 1, I of course went tothe first gym. The gym battles return in all their glory. They do however play out through gym challenge mini-games before the main event. These are pretty easy and don’t take too much of your time thankfully. I do applaud them for sheer variety sake and not making them truly annoying. Most even have a few battles to keep your interest.
Once the challenge is done its time to battle the leader in a one on one battle. Just like any other gym in the series they are of course themed by type such as grass, electric, and so on. Proper team prep and honestly the sheer freaking variety of Pokemon at your disposal even before the first gym, makes them a breeze. Is what I would say if not for the new Terrestialize mechanic. Small spoiler but each gym leader makes use of the new mechanic to change the typing of a completely unrelated Pokemon into their gym theme. And I love it. It definitely adds a bit of an extra surprise to the battles and can really upend your biggest hitter sometimes.
Gym battles aren’t going to be the most difficult thing to overcome but it definitely has a more welcome twist this time. Honestly I’m looking forward to seeing how this shakes up team compositions for people who are into competitive battling as well.
On the other side there is the adventure to find the mystical plants. This adventure has you tracking down some massive Pokemon who guard them too. After getting to one of the said Pokemon you’ll have to go toe to toe with it in a big crazy awesome battle with unique mechanics and more! Is what I’d like to say but in reality its just fighting a bigger harder hitting version of something you can find in the game.
It was pretty disappointing to go up against these honestly. They just have higher HP, and hit way harder. Usually they are not even unique to the area. It’s a bit weak in terms of a plot element but it’s a nice in-between while exploring the island. None of these gave too much trouble. Some of the story moments around it as well are nice though. The main reward from these though is upgrading our story partner Pokemon. They gain extra abilities each time one is taken down to help traverse the land.
Lastly is taking down Team Star. The rival group this time around is as toothless as they have been in the last few generations sadly. Long gone are the days of Team Rocket being you know, actually a threat to the creatures of the world and all that. Team Star are just wanna be cool kids who convince others to follow them and they make up their own little bases across the island as well. They act as psudo gym challenge and battle mini-games.
These are unique in their setup for sure like having us battle with our three lead pokemon in a real time strategy style. You don’t choose moves but typing does matter. They also culminate with a boss battle that is more akin to the giant Pokemon encounters where HP and damage values are stacked against you, but none the less can be defeated with proper planning.
What’s most interesting is the story elements following these. Finding out a bit more of the backstory of these delinquent students could sometimes be more interesting than the encounters themselves. Finding out that some were bullied for various reasons and what not hence their aversion to school really made a lot of sense but also completely unexpected given how nothing burger Pokemon’s characters tend to be.
I actually was surprised how much I liked this aspect of the game and wish there were more of these Team Star guys to walk all over.
Those are the three big plot elements that are going on at least. They are not any different than the usual run to the Pokemon League if you think about it but it feels fresh to have them laid out separately like this. Another element at play here is the school life aspects of the story. While they almost instantly get back burnered by the adventure it does play a part if you choose to do it.
If you visit the school you can go to class and sit through a subject. There are several of these per subject. These are basically just tutorials for the various game mechanics, but with a question tossed in as well. These are all pretty easy for anyone who has been playing Pokemon for the last 20+ years like me, but the history questions in particular are related to this game’s lore and you’ll need to at least read the dialog here to get it right.
There isn’t a reward for getting them right in class but there are also tests. Tests are a series of questions about the class. Once again general knowledge of things lets you ace these. You get a variety of rewards for passing them so it’s worth it to take a minute or two in between major areas to blitz through a class when a new set is available.
Also you can form bonds with the teachers in a Persona like moment. If you visit teachers for a chat you can learn a bit about them and increase your relationship with them. For the most part these are quick but interesting. Once again rewards come from major checkpoints in their progression. At first this felt like another set of busy work tasks but I actually enjoyed some of the interactions personally.
So in general the gameplay progression and tasks are the same as always. Become the champ, do some side stuff to solve a mystery, and rough up some hooligans for fun, you know, Pokemon. But where this one differs is that little bit of extra story consistently sprinkled throughout. Before, these games would let you go several major events before the next important moment but here there is more, more often. It feels, more well, JRPG-ish if that makes sense.
You also have trainer customization once again. This was one of the best parts of Sword and Shield and I’m really, really sad to say it pales in comparison to that. Because we’re re students we’re made to wear the gaudy boring uniform the entire time. You can accessorize with bags, shoes and so on but wow is this a missed opportunity. Our uniform choices are only 4 seasonal options which are ok, but takes away a lot of personality. I also liked the hair styles this time around. It’s such a small thing but having 3 textured hair options right from the opening is definitely the right direction.
Battling is the same as ever though that may be a positive or a negative depending who you ask. It’s just my opinion but I like the minimal frills approach that Pokemon combat has. Typing and taking advantage of weaknesses is still the bread and butter of the game. Each monster still learns a variety of attacks. And the battle animations still leave a whole lot to be desired. Almost nothing has changed in this regard. When exploring the field you can now rotate the camera but it provides no real benefit honestly.
If you like the battling of Pokémon there isn’t much to complain about honestly. It hasn’t changed once again and for me that’s just fine. I do think the battle effects are still way too bland for a majority of attacks, especially if you look at the awesome terra and raid effects. They can do better and every release I wish they would
The new Terrestrialize mechanic is neat and looks quite nice in my opinion. This new mechanic changes a Pokemon’s type and adds a really gaudy crystal to the top of their head at the same time. For example you can make a Pikachu change type to Ground, changing its advantages and weaknesses to that type. This also boosts any known moves of that type too. It’s a pretty basic on the surface thing but it does add an extra layer to the general system we’ve all grown accustomed too. This can only be used in a single battle for a single Pokemon though. If you want to use it again you’ll need to heal at a center or some other rest location making it a bit more interesting to use and when.
This time around the game isn’t broken up into set traditional paths and a wide open section separately. GameFreak has dedicated to an full open world this time and it kind of works. But only kind of.
As a concept the open world here is pretty well done in my opinion. As soon as you get your Pokemon and are tasked with the treasure hunt you can go in essentially any direction to complete the game. While I didn’t go off the beaten path so to speak too much in my playthrough it seems like you can do things in a somewhat unset path. For example I went from the first two gyms next to the school city to skipping the set path on the map all the way to the electric gym bypassing a Team Star hideout, a titan, and several Pokemon Centers along the way.
Of course it wouldn’t be Pokemon without unique themed towns as well. These have a nice variety but there really was something lost in the switch to open world. They feel, I don’t know, wider, flatter, and not exactly emptier but a touch more lifeless. The lack of random buildings to go in, and whatnot in a town really is missed here. Still I enjoyed the themes like a modern billboard filled city and a town that celebrates olives. You can just feel the loss of fidelity though.
This kind of freedom is spread out well in my opinion. It let’s you not only experience the game in a wide assortment of ways with some traversal barriers, but also completely gives a different variety of Pokemon. In Sword and Shield one of the restrictions given was that gym badges determined what level you were allowed to catch. This is gone thankfully and you’re free to grab whatever you can, if you can. Similarly levels of the various monsters don’t have massive spikes and will stay in a general range per area but after adventuring a bit deeper you may encounter stronger monsters than you expect.
The area you are exploring of course determines what you can find as expected. I liked the immediate sense of variety there is. As usual some are more rare than others. A nice new feature is when opening the map you get icons added that show the Pokemon in the area. Occasionally a rare one will be listed but not show itself so you’ll need to explore a bit before finding it. It works well enough but isn’t anything crazy or unexpected. The amount of new and old monsters to discover is something I don’t want to spoil so keep your eyes open for personal favorites.
Some of the regional variants can be obtained as well so be sure to talk to npcs to find the ones who can provide them. Not to mention the ones that exist in this game exclusively.
There are also trainers sprinkled throughout the areas between towns. When I say that, I mean it. Many are along the main paths but sometimes they will be in random open fields way far away from anything so I think they spawn randomly instead of set. One change that has been made is that they are completely optional now. Instead of them engaging in battle on sight, the player has to talk to them first. I don’t know if I like this change because it takes out a part of the challenge in progressing between towns. There is compensation though for beating a certain number of trainers in each section so it is worth it beyond just the money and experience points.
There’s a large variety of items to find while exploring. Just like the trainers these seem to spawn randomly as red poke balls for common items. These range from normal potions to bigger ticket items so it’s a good idea to pick everything up. TMs are also found as yellow poke balls and also seem set and random. This time around TMs can be crafted. After finding one you can make copies if you need by using the various drops you get from wild encounters. Other than that important items are both bought and found across the game as expected. And good on them for making the soothe bell available in the first town!
You really get flooded with items though. I don’t think I ever bought a single healing item while playing and only the occasional pokeball. Since so many accessories and battle items are available at the start I did help myself to those sometimes. Given that there are also two currencies used for the same pool of items you basically never left low on funds as long as you take a few trainers and raids down along the way.
Exploring in general is what you’d expect. Running around lets you get to most areas but with the help of your rideable partner Pokemon, you can to a variety of extra areas as you progress. The extra speed and momentum may also let you get to a few extras before your technically supposed to, hint hint. More traversal options unlock as you progress like dashing, swimming, and more. Fast travel also gets you to and from visited landmarks. There isn’t much more to say about it honestly.
Raids also return in all their glory. This time they feature unique Terristialized Pokemon. On the map the type and location are shown but you won’t know what is inside until you check. The raids are similar but a little tweaked for quality of life sake. Once inside you and a team of online or offline provided supporters will battle it out against the monster. Once it’s down you can go on to catch it. This is definitely going to be the long term meat of the game, trying to find certain monsters and den type combinations. It was fun seeing some of these unexpected combos and even monsters I hadn’t seen yet.
Outside raids unique Terra Pokemon can be found on the field sometimes. These are noted by huge golden auras that can be seen from really far away. You won’t know the type until you battle so it makes it a bit of a toss-up for if you’ll be able to take it down. Once the Pokemon is at low health it can finally be caught like any other. These out in the open challenges are a nice touch to keep things interesting.
In general I really like the adventure here. While it’s not a major diversion from the Pokémon formula, some of the changes here make it feel more complete. Even if the open world is a bit bland by today’s standard I enjoy being in it and running around. The visual style they are going for works well, but there is a big caveat to it in performance.
Let’s just get it out there right away. Once again this is another Switch game with terrible performance. The overall frame rate in this game is awful at best when out in the field. It’s a downside of having a completely open world obviously and the game tries its best to alleviate things with a pretty large amount of pop-in. And boy oh boy if you liked the drama around Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s Door nonsense, get ready because the asset quality here is pretty low too. Toss in a sprinkling of graphical glitches as well and we have a new king of terribly performing Pokemon games!
It really sucks to say it but this game frankly, runs like crap. Still I quite enjoy the game portions of it but each time I jump in I can’t help but be left wanting. This also affected the general image quality. Lots of assets just look low res and compromised all over. It doesn’t feel like the Switch can’t run this game mind you, and we’ve definitely seen better. And small aside I was really blown away by the opening cutscene and its quality only to have my hopes dashed as soon as I stepped out of the house.
So all in all how is Pokemon Scarlet and Violet? Well, pretty good in my opinion. While I don’t think it’s particularly ambitious by today’s standards it takes steps to sure up areas like story consistency and the scope of the adventure at hand. The separated main elements make the game feel fresh and new without actually being so but I still like that too. And while battling hasn’t changed much the new Terra system is a welcome addition to the formula to mix things up, which I’m sure will never come back after this. Sadly the game’s honestly terrible performance really leaves you wanting more because you know it should be better.
This might not be the next big step in the formula that Arceus felt like earlier this year but its overall package is one I’m positive on. If you’re a Pokemon loyalist there is plenty to be happy about. For those on the fence this might be one to get you back on the horse depending which areas you were hoping to see improvements in. For me I’m really into this adventure after feeling letdown by the previous entry and I can recommend it for those in the same mind.
That’s all for this review and boy it’s a big one. It seems like since I took a smallish break from reviews I got a lot to say now. I’ll try to tighten them up again. Anyway thanks for checking this one out and I hope to see you again next time!
The Hyperion 