This review contains spoilers
KIERAN IS SO RAW I LOVE HIM!!!!! I can't believe the SV DLC gave me my 2nd favorite rival (Silver is the goat). There's way more content then Teal Mask. The writing here is so strong??? I had a blast, this DLC got difficult too! Double battles get their highlight here and its a fun romp, the new world map for this is also way better than teal mask. The scene at the story's end when Kieran throws a Master Ball to stop that stupid turtle from walking towards the MC was actually amazing my jaw dropped. Giving me access to every gens starters scores you bonus points too, good job gamefreak, now please hibernate for 3 years and release a pokemon game anyone could love, and not just one for addicts with low standards like myself.
loved the running storyline from teal mask, loved the return to base game stuff, loved the double battles and increased difficulty. their teacher should probably be fired tho
gostei da dificuldade
sabe quando você chama seus amigos pra um rolezinho a noite, geral se divertindo e pá, noite mó legal
só que aí, já pras duas da manhã, um dos seus amigos, o qual você considera muito, tá muito louco e simplesmente não demonstra nenhum sinal de querer ir embora, você já tá com sono, de saco cheio, metade da festa já vazou mas o seu amigo tá lá sendo insuportável e você fica sem jeito de mandar ele ir embora, sabe?
essa dlc é isso aí
só que aí, já pras duas da manhã, um dos seus amigos, o qual você considera muito, tá muito louco e simplesmente não demonstra nenhum sinal de querer ir embora, você já tá com sono, de saco cheio, metade da festa já vazou mas o seu amigo tá lá sendo insuportável e você fica sem jeito de mandar ele ir embora, sabe?
essa dlc é isso aí
This review contains spoilers
To me it looks like GF decided to put everything onto this portion of the DLC, and it shows. All of the previous starters returning, expanded customization with the League Club through BP and (when they become available to you), updated rematch teams for all of the Gym Leaders, Paldean Elite Four, your Teachers, Geeta, Clavell, and your main group of friends from the base game. Also I enjoyed the main battling style of this DLC being doubles instead of singles, something about it just clicks well in general. It pairs nicely with the fact that this portion of the DLC is centered around competitive play more than casual play, and it shows in the AI teams being of a higher level and being somewhat competent as well (ex: the BBE4 using Pokemon that benefit an overall strategy rather than just their specialty type, like Amarys with her Reuniclus for Trick Room or Crispin with his Exeggutor for a sun strategy.). I love that this DLC forces people to strategize a bit more with their teambuilding and simply not just throw a level 100 Pokemon at the problem since you can and will get your shit rocked if you're not careful. I'll also mention that I somewhat enjoyed all of the Unova references scattered in this DLC, from obvious things like the music to the smaller references like Lacey being Clay's daughter. With that said though, I think the one thing I didn't really like was the last fights with Terapagos. Everything about it just felt very rushed and underutilized with very little resolution. Overall, loved the DLC for the more competitive aspect to it, but felt that the ending was a tad rushed and underwhelming.
Pretty decent DLC! I was hoping for a bit more of a story, the Terapagos appearance came out of nowhere and didn't have much to do with anything, but I loved all of the gen 5 love, and it was nice to have double battles be the focus! Grinding BP took a long time but it was at least quick and efficient with friends!
A somewhat underwhelming end to the generation, the Indigo Disk sees your character flown back to Unova to explore an artificial terrarium and battle a new set of elite 4 trainers.
The focus on only double battles introduced a welcome challenge lacking for many previous Pokemon games.
It’s hard not to mention the lack of any improvements to performance, there are numerous points where the game will drop frames (mud!)
Most disappointing is the apparent focus on completing BB quests for in game points to unlock a bulk of the DLC’s content. It’s a slow grind, with menial tasks that aren’t compelling enough to sustain the grind required.
The focus on only double battles introduced a welcome challenge lacking for many previous Pokemon games.
It’s hard not to mention the lack of any improvements to performance, there are numerous points where the game will drop frames (mud!)
Most disappointing is the apparent focus on completing BB quests for in game points to unlock a bulk of the DLC’s content. It’s a slow grind, with menial tasks that aren’t compelling enough to sustain the grind required.
woah
Really cool dlc but Incineroar is back
hell yeah this is what I wanted. The writing still isn't very interesting but mechanically this is what I wanted. Plus you can play as your little guys and trundle around. You can have a little tea party with your friends where you're all the different eevees. I can BE my shiny Hawlucha
The story ends in a satisfyingly way. Character are unique and are nice, some side character have depth, more than they needed, but i think that adds to the charm. Alot of pokemon return and get introduced, a nice addition but also some pokemon id rather go a gen without. The map is nice, in handheld mode it mostly doesnt lag etc and its layout is more interesting than the mainmap. Alot of stuff to do, id recommend to get the DLC just for this alone if you got the base game.
As ever with Scarlet/Violet, the characters are the stars here.
The side/end content included is a bit of a grind if you're playing single-player, but the pay-off is extremely solid and allows for significant creativity if you habitually create new teams like I do.
I can't wait for the Epilogue in a few weeks. Let me hang out with this cast forever, Game Freak.
The side/end content included is a bit of a grind if you're playing single-player, but the pay-off is extremely solid and allows for significant creativity if you habitually create new teams like I do.
I can't wait for the Epilogue in a few weeks. Let me hang out with this cast forever, Game Freak.
This review contains spoilers
As its own part in a larger story, The Indigo Disk stood out to me far more than it perhaps should have. The first expansion of Scarlet and Violet underwhelmed me, leaving me to wonder just how low Pokemon can go before its charm is all lost.
While The Indigo Disk is still fundamentally more of Scarlet/Violet, with all of its own problems that remain to be addressed, it manages to be a compelling enough edition to the world of Pokemon. Being somewhere off the coast of Unova, Blueberry Academy is complex enough to compete with what we saw on Paldea, while managing to feel more than just a single linear quest-line like in Kitakami. Kieran's arc is still predictable, but there's more meaning to it than there was last time. The Elite Four are supporting figures in his life and are all impacted by his pursuit of success.
All that being said, the eventual reveal of Terapagos and the Stellar mechanic feel underbaked. I'm not big into the competitive scene nor do I truly care about battle strategies, so I could be missing reasons why this could be a compelling feature, but yeah I don't really get it tbh. It doesn't seem particularly cool or interesting to me.
I still feel like this is a pretty good deal overall, but wait there's more! You can now actually fly with Miraidon and control your Pokemon for overworld auto-battling. Its pretty rad. Grinding for all that BP to upgrade the biomes was needlessly annoying. I like that all the starters are here in this way (and eventually the legendaries), but wow it takes so long to get to 3k BP. Battling all the trainers will get you a good way there, but it still takes way too long.
Music fucking slaps as per usual.
While The Indigo Disk is still fundamentally more of Scarlet/Violet, with all of its own problems that remain to be addressed, it manages to be a compelling enough edition to the world of Pokemon. Being somewhere off the coast of Unova, Blueberry Academy is complex enough to compete with what we saw on Paldea, while managing to feel more than just a single linear quest-line like in Kitakami. Kieran's arc is still predictable, but there's more meaning to it than there was last time. The Elite Four are supporting figures in his life and are all impacted by his pursuit of success.
All that being said, the eventual reveal of Terapagos and the Stellar mechanic feel underbaked. I'm not big into the competitive scene nor do I truly care about battle strategies, so I could be missing reasons why this could be a compelling feature, but yeah I don't really get it tbh. It doesn't seem particularly cool or interesting to me.
I still feel like this is a pretty good deal overall, but wait there's more! You can now actually fly with Miraidon and control your Pokemon for overworld auto-battling. Its pretty rad. Grinding for all that BP to upgrade the biomes was needlessly annoying. I like that all the starters are here in this way (and eventually the legendaries), but wow it takes so long to get to 3k BP. Battling all the trainers will get you a good way there, but it still takes way too long.
Music fucking slaps as per usual.
it expanded on what made the teal mask good and made it better so all things i like about that apply to this. the terrarium is cool asf to explore, the new elite 4 are cool, and so is the battle system, and kieran and carmine my beloveds
my only gripe is the BP system. unfortunately im a bum who didnt have anyone to do the union circle with while playing through the story, so i would grind those shitty 20 BP quests for a long ass time just to fucking upgrade the terrarium. i got people to play it with now so im not stressed anymore but it bothered me then so boowomp
and the game still runs like shit a year after release lmaoooooo
my only gripe is the BP system. unfortunately im a bum who didnt have anyone to do the union circle with while playing through the story, so i would grind those shitty 20 BP quests for a long ass time just to fucking upgrade the terrarium. i got people to play it with now so im not stressed anymore but it bothered me then so boowomp
and the game still runs like shit a year after release lmaoooooo
the Pokemon games set in Unova continue to be great
actually challenging pokemon content!! Thank you double battles
Double battles had me fucked up fr fr
This review contains spoilers
So I technically started this in December (Dec 17, 2023), but I didn't really feel like playing through it then. To be honest, its mostly because Teal Mask was disappointingly mid to me. Took me until today (Jan 5, 2024) to really go and complete it; to my knowledge, there's a bit of post-game content, too, but frankly I think I've had enough Pokémon Violet for a long time. It didn't really seem worth doing for me judging on what the game was hinting at it being (refighting the gym leaders - which we already did in the base game - and elite four again), so I'm fine leaving my save right after beating the game and earning some goodies from it like being able to Terastalize whenever you want or fly with Miraidon. In my opinion, Indigo Disk is better than Teal Mask, but I think I have significantly less to say about this DLC than I did about Teal Mask since there just...wasn't much here that gripped me. I felt Teal Mask had a lot of potential to be really interesting, even though it wasn't. Meanwhile, Indigo Disk is a DLC I felt mostly fulfilled its promises, but was still a bit boring to me. It seems evident this was the one that saw the most care put into it, but its still not that much better than Teal Mask. Unfortunately its building upon a pretty flawed base game, so I suppose that was only inevitable.
The story goes in pretty much the same direction you'd likely be expecting it to. After helping out the folks in Kitakami, now you're going to the Blueberry Academy since Director Clavell and Ms. Briar are interested in having you transfer there. Blueberry Academy is supposed to be in Unova, but, since you don't get any glimpses of any locations outside of the academy, you don't really get a sense of where exactly this place fits on the Unova map (perhaps saved for whenever they inevitably remake Black and White). The design doesn't feel especially Unovan to me, either, though that's a very unimportant gripe. The goal here is to explore the Terrarium, which is like a big high-tech dome with simulations of different natural environments, to find new Pokemon and fight the elite four. This time, you're fighting the Blueberry Academy's elite four, consisting of Crispin, Lacey, Drayton, Amarys, and then the champion Kieran. Kieran basically gets a full-on villain arc here, becoming the "mean rival" of the game while Carmine takes a backseat into the minor supporting character role after you helped her in Teal Mask. I was on record as a big defender of Kieran in Teal Mask, but unfortunately he is super hard to like in Indigo Disk because he's nothing but a complete ass to everyone around him here and he never gets called out for it. Worse yet, STILL no one has any idea how to help him with his obvious low self-esteem and insecurities, and the main character can't do anything about it either since you're basically a cardboard cutout of a character. You're kinda just left to watch this kid fester in jealousy and rage, bullying anyone he feels he can get away with bullying, until you inevitably win against him. It at least doesn't make you feel bad anymore, though, since now he's a jerk and you gotta knock some sense into him, whereas before it was like you were fighting some poor shy kid who's constantly teased (at best) by his sister and thought he had any chance against you. Annoyingly, Carmine is still brushing off Kieran's problems as just teenage angst, though at least now she isn't being mean to him anymore. I will say that I found it really funny just how hard the game almost seems to play into the whole trope of the main character having plot armor; everyone is almost self aware of how you're just better than everyone else, you've been to the Area Zero and discovered one of its greatest secrets before the authorities of this world did, and you win against everyone who could possibly challenge you. You are a transfer student who beat the Blueberry Academy elite four and champion Kieran in the span of...like, one day. Kieran is forced to accept that he will never be as good as you, which lets him finally let go of his grudge and his very harmful coping mechanism of pushing himself (and everyone around him) to the limit. I guess its a pretty great arc as far as Pokemon goes, but I can't help but feel it could've been pulled off better, and the whole time I was just annoyed that I couldn't help Kieran (though, again, not nearly as bad here as it was in Teal Mask because Kieran is in villain arc mode and not some shy kid being pushed around all the time). Also, right at the end, you go back to Area Zero and use the titular Indigo Disk to go further down. They play this as some big epic thing but really it just felt like going through some small corridors, stopping to talk to the characters, do a battle, talk to the characters again after the barrier opens, rinse and repeat until you reach Terapagos and fight it. Terapagos is the new legendary, of course, and its kinda neat I guess? It really doesn't have much of a role in the DLC, though; it just kinda pops up at the very end of the story after you trudge through Area Zero again. There is buildup to it since this was what Ms. Briar was dying to get to Area Zero for throughout the whole story of Teal Mask and Indigo Disk, but I dunno it just didn't leave much of an impression on me. Certainly not the same kind of impact the AI Turo fight from the base game did, anyway.
I know I'm being a negative Nancy throughout a lot of this review, but I think I was hyperaware of Pokémon Violet's repetitiveness here and this DLC does next to nothing to spice it up. I'll talk about some things I liked in this paragraph to balance it out. Despite my gripes with how they handled Kieran, I do still like him as a character. I think the fact that he was so consumed by self-loathing and jealousy was interesting to see, though still rather frustrating since, again, we can't help him through it. The resolution to his arc is rather bittersweet: he realizes he will never be able to be as good as you, but he's also humbled by that experience and it seems like it was the only real way to get him to let go of the grudge. As for non-story related stuff, a few other people already mentioned this, but I do enjoy the shift towards a double battle focus here. The fights against the elite four were surprisingly really competent, I actually lost to each of them (except for Crispin) once or twice. My team is far from the most optimal team in the world, but even with the huge level advantage I had (since these DLCs don't seem balanced towards someone who kept the same team for the whole game) I still got clobbered by most of the Blueberry Elite Four at least once. It'd be interesting to see how I would fare against these guys if I was on the same level as them. Ironically, champ Kieran was one of the few that didn't beat me once. I also liked that we're back in Unova again; there's nothing about the design or environment of Blueberry Academy that really hints towards it being a Unovan location, but we do get some nice remixes of Gen 5 music and there are a good amount of returning Unova Pokemon here. Was really disappointed to see some of my favorite Pokemon - Vanillite and its evolutions - not return, though; I know they get a bad rep, but come on, throw me a bone here man! Nonetheless, I still found there was stuff to enjoy in this DLC.
I can't help but feel like this review has devolved into unfocused ramblings now, so I'll wrap it up here. I think that, overall, Indigo Disk is just okay. Its better than Teal Mask, but not by much. I give it an "alright" rating of 2.5 stars. At first, I gave it a 3, but in retrospect I think I have too many complaints about this DLC to justify it being a 3. I'm going to demote my rating of Teal Mask to a 2.5, as well.
The story goes in pretty much the same direction you'd likely be expecting it to. After helping out the folks in Kitakami, now you're going to the Blueberry Academy since Director Clavell and Ms. Briar are interested in having you transfer there. Blueberry Academy is supposed to be in Unova, but, since you don't get any glimpses of any locations outside of the academy, you don't really get a sense of where exactly this place fits on the Unova map (perhaps saved for whenever they inevitably remake Black and White). The design doesn't feel especially Unovan to me, either, though that's a very unimportant gripe. The goal here is to explore the Terrarium, which is like a big high-tech dome with simulations of different natural environments, to find new Pokemon and fight the elite four. This time, you're fighting the Blueberry Academy's elite four, consisting of Crispin, Lacey, Drayton, Amarys, and then the champion Kieran. Kieran basically gets a full-on villain arc here, becoming the "mean rival" of the game while Carmine takes a backseat into the minor supporting character role after you helped her in Teal Mask. I was on record as a big defender of Kieran in Teal Mask, but unfortunately he is super hard to like in Indigo Disk because he's nothing but a complete ass to everyone around him here and he never gets called out for it. Worse yet, STILL no one has any idea how to help him with his obvious low self-esteem and insecurities, and the main character can't do anything about it either since you're basically a cardboard cutout of a character. You're kinda just left to watch this kid fester in jealousy and rage, bullying anyone he feels he can get away with bullying, until you inevitably win against him. It at least doesn't make you feel bad anymore, though, since now he's a jerk and you gotta knock some sense into him, whereas before it was like you were fighting some poor shy kid who's constantly teased (at best) by his sister and thought he had any chance against you. Annoyingly, Carmine is still brushing off Kieran's problems as just teenage angst, though at least now she isn't being mean to him anymore. I will say that I found it really funny just how hard the game almost seems to play into the whole trope of the main character having plot armor; everyone is almost self aware of how you're just better than everyone else, you've been to the Area Zero and discovered one of its greatest secrets before the authorities of this world did, and you win against everyone who could possibly challenge you. You are a transfer student who beat the Blueberry Academy elite four and champion Kieran in the span of...like, one day. Kieran is forced to accept that he will never be as good as you, which lets him finally let go of his grudge and his very harmful coping mechanism of pushing himself (and everyone around him) to the limit. I guess its a pretty great arc as far as Pokemon goes, but I can't help but feel it could've been pulled off better, and the whole time I was just annoyed that I couldn't help Kieran (though, again, not nearly as bad here as it was in Teal Mask because Kieran is in villain arc mode and not some shy kid being pushed around all the time). Also, right at the end, you go back to Area Zero and use the titular Indigo Disk to go further down. They play this as some big epic thing but really it just felt like going through some small corridors, stopping to talk to the characters, do a battle, talk to the characters again after the barrier opens, rinse and repeat until you reach Terapagos and fight it. Terapagos is the new legendary, of course, and its kinda neat I guess? It really doesn't have much of a role in the DLC, though; it just kinda pops up at the very end of the story after you trudge through Area Zero again. There is buildup to it since this was what Ms. Briar was dying to get to Area Zero for throughout the whole story of Teal Mask and Indigo Disk, but I dunno it just didn't leave much of an impression on me. Certainly not the same kind of impact the AI Turo fight from the base game did, anyway.
I know I'm being a negative Nancy throughout a lot of this review, but I think I was hyperaware of Pokémon Violet's repetitiveness here and this DLC does next to nothing to spice it up. I'll talk about some things I liked in this paragraph to balance it out. Despite my gripes with how they handled Kieran, I do still like him as a character. I think the fact that he was so consumed by self-loathing and jealousy was interesting to see, though still rather frustrating since, again, we can't help him through it. The resolution to his arc is rather bittersweet: he realizes he will never be able to be as good as you, but he's also humbled by that experience and it seems like it was the only real way to get him to let go of the grudge. As for non-story related stuff, a few other people already mentioned this, but I do enjoy the shift towards a double battle focus here. The fights against the elite four were surprisingly really competent, I actually lost to each of them (except for Crispin) once or twice. My team is far from the most optimal team in the world, but even with the huge level advantage I had (since these DLCs don't seem balanced towards someone who kept the same team for the whole game) I still got clobbered by most of the Blueberry Elite Four at least once. It'd be interesting to see how I would fare against these guys if I was on the same level as them. Ironically, champ Kieran was one of the few that didn't beat me once. I also liked that we're back in Unova again; there's nothing about the design or environment of Blueberry Academy that really hints towards it being a Unovan location, but we do get some nice remixes of Gen 5 music and there are a good amount of returning Unova Pokemon here. Was really disappointed to see some of my favorite Pokemon - Vanillite and its evolutions - not return, though; I know they get a bad rep, but come on, throw me a bone here man! Nonetheless, I still found there was stuff to enjoy in this DLC.
I can't help but feel like this review has devolved into unfocused ramblings now, so I'll wrap it up here. I think that, overall, Indigo Disk is just okay. Its better than Teal Mask, but not by much. I give it an "alright" rating of 2.5 stars. At first, I gave it a 3, but in retrospect I think I have too many complaints about this DLC to justify it being a 3. I'm going to demote my rating of Teal Mask to a 2.5, as well.
This is what happens when Kieran doesn't learn to chill.
Lots to do around, at least, and the new characters are neat
Lots to do around, at least, and the new characters are neat
it's good but the climax is kind of gay
A cool premise and location with an ok conclusion to the Hidden Treasure of Area Zero story.
The exchange student set-up was interesting and while basic I liked the Elite Four/Champion story aspect. The Terraium is a very cool setting although its limited by its size and the everpresent technical issues of this game. I still really like Kerian as a rival character, his turn from friend to semi-foe feels fresh for a Pokemon game and it's resolution while a little too quick and clean still feels nice.
As for new mechanic additions the BBQ quests are a good idea that just needs a little tweak to feel less grindy. Upgrading the League Club is cool and has some interesting rewards. The Synchro Machine is the most lacking, with a really fun concept but no use for it. All these mechanics are cool enough that I hope they all return in future games with a few tweaks.
Overall the DLC was a decent spot of this mixed bag of a game, so I hope the next Pokemon game takes a lot of notes from both the postives and the negatives.
The exchange student set-up was interesting and while basic I liked the Elite Four/Champion story aspect. The Terraium is a very cool setting although its limited by its size and the everpresent technical issues of this game. I still really like Kerian as a rival character, his turn from friend to semi-foe feels fresh for a Pokemon game and it's resolution while a little too quick and clean still feels nice.
As for new mechanic additions the BBQ quests are a good idea that just needs a little tweak to feel less grindy. Upgrading the League Club is cool and has some interesting rewards. The Synchro Machine is the most lacking, with a really fun concept but no use for it. All these mechanics are cool enough that I hope they all return in future games with a few tweaks.
Overall the DLC was a decent spot of this mixed bag of a game, so I hope the next Pokemon game takes a lot of notes from both the postives and the negatives.
Terapagos is OP.
Polaroid's Mega Rush to the 2023 End... Game 7...
Last 'game' from 2023 I wanted to cover for this rush through December. I have some other games I'll cover on a top 20 list I'll post around New Years, however I didn't feel the need to write up anything for them in a formal log or something like that.
That said, the new Pokemon DLC.
The Mystery of Area Zero pertains to not any actual mystery or concern that I had with the location in Scarlet/Violet- but actually the mystery as to why Game Freak decided to call the DLC pack that. If I recommend this expansion it's not really for this through-line that they hoped to staple onto Scarlet/Violet, instead it's because I thought the new area and plot regarding Blueberry Academy's league was interesting enough of an add-on to kinda sorta not really justify the price of the expansion pass. Do I recommend you check the package of both DLCs out? Ehhhhh… only if you want more Sc/Vi, otherwise mostly check it out for the Blueberry Academy.
The Academy League portion is a pretty fun time, pitting you against some of the hardest trainers in the entire series. From basic trainers to the Elite Four themselves you'll face pokemon teams with legitimate synergies and strategies that are really fun to watch play out. I'm not really the kind of Pokemon fan to go deep into VGC-type techs and team compositions but I was really enjoying fighting battles that actually got me to think a few moves ahead. Sorry to say, Pokemon needs to consider switching to (or at least upping the use of) double battles. I think its way more interesting than the usual advantage based single battles and brings out the potential of a lot more Pokemon.
Similar to Teal Mask, I decided to create a new team centered around the expansion and I gotta say for a guerilla team this turned out to be a pretty enjoyable squad.
-Golurk
-Pawmot
-Talonflame
-Hatterne
-Archeludon
-Araquanid
Archeludon turned out to be a pretty surprise hit- I initially hated Duraludon's design and still kinda hate looking at Archeludon but holy hell does it take a beating. It's signature move of Electro Shot being a rain version of Solarbeam with the addition of a Special Attack buff helped a ton during some fights in which rain dance or drizzle was a factor. Golurk has also turned into a big favorite of mine too- not an explosive pokemon or all that impressive in the grand scheme of things BUT, I do think it looks cool as fuck and enjoy its ability that boosts punching moves. Golems are cool.
Yeah, there's not too much to comment on with this DLC, sad to say. Exploring the four main biomes is pretty fun, grinding Blueberry Quests (BBQs) is kinda tedious but easy, and a lot of the unlocks are nice. Also the fanservice in making this pretty Unova centric, in addition to some Alola callbacks is pretty fun.
I do think that this DLC also highlights another aspect as to why Pokemon as an RPG is so fucky- especially nowadays. You get dropped into the Elite Four section and can pick any order in which to fight them as you like. Its kinda weird, we haven't had an Elite Four like this since Gen 7 but hey I'm not complaining I always liked that kinda structure. Unfortunately, because they can be fought in any order, they have fairly equivalent levels ranging from 78-80. This isn't too much of an issue but that damn exp. share... Leveling is a breeze and it becomes pretty easy to catch up on the stat gap pretty easily between the massive exp gains and the constant 'feather' stat growth items littered around the world. It's weird, I don't think levels make or break battles and you can certainly win while underleveled as I did for most of the Blueberry E4 but once I beat most of the members and closed the gap things got significantly easier- the 'Champ' was honestly easier than the rest of the guys. I don't know, I don't hate the idea of an exp share that applies to all of your Pokemon but I wish there was a better way to balance out boss fights.
There’s some stuff after you do a small trek back down into Area Zero for one final ‘raid’ like boss with Terapagos, but I'm kinda burnt on Paldea. I think there’s a lot of stuff that could carry the momentum that the fan service creates but there’s so many irks and shortcomings that keep me from being positive through and through. I thought the base game, while hindered by terrible performance and some shortcomings of the open world structure, did deliver on a satisfying blow and acted as a more holistic (albeit janky) idea as to what a modern pokemon could be. However rather than support this idea and patch up some of the shortcomings, this and the last DLC kinda just exist as a side story with a bit of new content, which is fine but overall underwhelming. That Unova trainer remix fucks though.
Last 'game' from 2023 I wanted to cover for this rush through December. I have some other games I'll cover on a top 20 list I'll post around New Years, however I didn't feel the need to write up anything for them in a formal log or something like that.
That said, the new Pokemon DLC.
The Mystery of Area Zero pertains to not any actual mystery or concern that I had with the location in Scarlet/Violet- but actually the mystery as to why Game Freak decided to call the DLC pack that. If I recommend this expansion it's not really for this through-line that they hoped to staple onto Scarlet/Violet, instead it's because I thought the new area and plot regarding Blueberry Academy's league was interesting enough of an add-on to kinda sorta not really justify the price of the expansion pass. Do I recommend you check the package of both DLCs out? Ehhhhh… only if you want more Sc/Vi, otherwise mostly check it out for the Blueberry Academy.
The Academy League portion is a pretty fun time, pitting you against some of the hardest trainers in the entire series. From basic trainers to the Elite Four themselves you'll face pokemon teams with legitimate synergies and strategies that are really fun to watch play out. I'm not really the kind of Pokemon fan to go deep into VGC-type techs and team compositions but I was really enjoying fighting battles that actually got me to think a few moves ahead. Sorry to say, Pokemon needs to consider switching to (or at least upping the use of) double battles. I think its way more interesting than the usual advantage based single battles and brings out the potential of a lot more Pokemon.
Similar to Teal Mask, I decided to create a new team centered around the expansion and I gotta say for a guerilla team this turned out to be a pretty enjoyable squad.
-Golurk
-Pawmot
-Talonflame
-Hatterne
-Archeludon
-Araquanid
Archeludon turned out to be a pretty surprise hit- I initially hated Duraludon's design and still kinda hate looking at Archeludon but holy hell does it take a beating. It's signature move of Electro Shot being a rain version of Solarbeam with the addition of a Special Attack buff helped a ton during some fights in which rain dance or drizzle was a factor. Golurk has also turned into a big favorite of mine too- not an explosive pokemon or all that impressive in the grand scheme of things BUT, I do think it looks cool as fuck and enjoy its ability that boosts punching moves. Golems are cool.
Yeah, there's not too much to comment on with this DLC, sad to say. Exploring the four main biomes is pretty fun, grinding Blueberry Quests (BBQs) is kinda tedious but easy, and a lot of the unlocks are nice. Also the fanservice in making this pretty Unova centric, in addition to some Alola callbacks is pretty fun.
I do think that this DLC also highlights another aspect as to why Pokemon as an RPG is so fucky- especially nowadays. You get dropped into the Elite Four section and can pick any order in which to fight them as you like. Its kinda weird, we haven't had an Elite Four like this since Gen 7 but hey I'm not complaining I always liked that kinda structure. Unfortunately, because they can be fought in any order, they have fairly equivalent levels ranging from 78-80. This isn't too much of an issue but that damn exp. share... Leveling is a breeze and it becomes pretty easy to catch up on the stat gap pretty easily between the massive exp gains and the constant 'feather' stat growth items littered around the world. It's weird, I don't think levels make or break battles and you can certainly win while underleveled as I did for most of the Blueberry E4 but once I beat most of the members and closed the gap things got significantly easier- the 'Champ' was honestly easier than the rest of the guys. I don't know, I don't hate the idea of an exp share that applies to all of your Pokemon but I wish there was a better way to balance out boss fights.
There’s some stuff after you do a small trek back down into Area Zero for one final ‘raid’ like boss with Terapagos, but I'm kinda burnt on Paldea. I think there’s a lot of stuff that could carry the momentum that the fan service creates but there’s so many irks and shortcomings that keep me from being positive through and through. I thought the base game, while hindered by terrible performance and some shortcomings of the open world structure, did deliver on a satisfying blow and acted as a more holistic (albeit janky) idea as to what a modern pokemon could be. However rather than support this idea and patch up some of the shortcomings, this and the last DLC kinda just exist as a side story with a bit of new content, which is fine but overall underwhelming. That Unova trainer remix fucks though.
A lot better than the previous DLC, with a new map and a bit more to actually do with it. The entire DLC serves as a post game story and all battles are double battles too which is nice. The side quests can get repetitive fast and can be extremely grindy if you try to do everything.
Not a fan of some legendaries being locked behind multiplayer exclusive quests, but it's an improvement over version exclusives.
Steller Tera Type is a cool mechanic, but given raid pokemon don't use them, there isn't much to do with it outside of competitive.
Overall, not a bad DLC.
Not a fan of some legendaries being locked behind multiplayer exclusive quests, but it's an improvement over version exclusives.
Steller Tera Type is a cool mechanic, but given raid pokemon don't use them, there isn't much to do with it outside of competitive.
Overall, not a bad DLC.
It was really fun getting to do a lot of double battles, even though my team doesn't exactly have the best synergy in that format
Wow, what an awful experience! Almost fell asleep many times at the nothingness that this DLC had to offer. It is like my 35 dollars were wasted on this shitty expansion. Also, they did not bother to address any of the game's bugs.
The main map is fun, there is a lot to unlock and discover at the Terrarium and it was very addicting to explore the biomes and see what pokemon is on what biome..and I didn´t even unlock the legendaries or starters.
But the ending is really a curveball..the terapagos guy is so shoehorned in that it takes away from a really nice combo of DLC.
It would be a 8.5/10 had it handled the legendary more like kitakami.
In the end, Pokemon SV generation is such an amazing setpiece..so much things to do, the pokemon are beautiful..I really hope the next installments fix the performance issues
But the ending is really a curveball..the terapagos guy is so shoehorned in that it takes away from a really nice combo of DLC.
It would be a 8.5/10 had it handled the legendary more like kitakami.
In the end, Pokemon SV generation is such an amazing setpiece..so much things to do, the pokemon are beautiful..I really hope the next installments fix the performance issues
Fine continuation of the DLC story that isn't as neatly made as the first part but enriches the overall game quite nicely.
+ more long-term content with grindable missions and an even larger pool of new Pokémon
+ refreshingly challenging double matchups as default
+ natural conclusion to the previously unfinished narrative
- uninvolved legendary that comes out of nowhere at the end
- less appealing main map
+ more long-term content with grindable missions and an even larger pool of new Pokémon
+ refreshingly challenging double matchups as default
+ natural conclusion to the previously unfinished narrative
- uninvolved legendary that comes out of nowhere at the end
- less appealing main map
way better than teal mask that’s for sure.
This may be some of the best pokemon content in the entire series. Pretty good story with a lot of extra content once you're finished. With even more content coming soon!