literally just finished the main storyline today and it was good. graphics bad lol but its okay. i like the idea of the whole school thing and that you can actually take classes dont like that you cant customize your outfit all that much though. the whole tera forming and changing types feature didnt impress me all that much i feel like it didnt make you any stronger but maybe i just used it wrong lol. with sword the dynamaxing feature was better in my opinion i felt powerful lol. i did enjoy that you had the option to fight random trainers in the wild. i also really like the post game im definitely gonna complete it and probably get the dlc. nemona was mid. the whole game being a open world kinda scared me because i really like games to hold my hand but i actually really enjoyed it. comparing it to sword again this storyline was better. also it being set in spain was cute, the hispanic food was cute.

The game looks like shit and it's clear that they do not care, but the gameplay is very fun and has a lot of new mechanics that help make leveling up way less tedious. There are ton of Pokemon to catch, the different story paths are all cute, and the general experience was very satisfying.

If they had made leveling up just adjust around an average or you Pokemon or any kind of similar equation so you could truly go in any order you chose, I might even have given it a 4.5 despite how shitty it looks, but the game is still relatively linear just masquerading as open world.

this one is tricky. full of half baked ideas and it really pisses me off how a lot of thigns in this game are handled. everyone and their dog has talked abt the bugs before. i think the region is the ugliest we have ever seen in a mainline game, i hate how the cities feel so unbelievably out of place. but also idk i had a lot of fun playing it. i love the mons, and i love the paradox mons [in violet idont really gaf about the scarlet ones #RIP]...... the story was okay but def not my favorite... Ummm hassel is literally beautiful

Good ideas half-baked and non-existent performance.

The game has good ideas, different routes, charismatic characters, but leaving aside the performance and the thousands of bugs the game is crappy.

How can pokémon, one of the most iconic franchises and sells the unimaginable is able to make scenes that move lips characters without voice, or as a speech bubble seems made with paint.

Just as they create a map for you to explore freely, but then there are levels so exploration is not so "free". Not to mention that those levels can be at the other end of the map, instead of following the "coherent" route.

All these details and those that I have forgotten plus the optimization of the game is a game that if it had not had the name of pokémon would have been a failure.

Buenas ideas llevadas a medias y rendimiento inexistente.

El juego tiene buenas ideas, diferentes rutas, personajes carismáticos, pero dejando a un lado el rendimiento y los miles de bug el juego es cutre.

Como puede ser que pokémon, una de las franquicias más icónicas y que vende lo inimaginable es capaz de hacer escenas que mueven labios los personajes sin voz, o como un bocadillo parece hecho con paint.

Al igual de que te crean un mapa para que explores libremente, pero luego hay niveles así que la exploración no es tan "libre". Por no hablar que esos niveles puede ser estar en la otra punta del mapa, en vez siguiendo la ruta "coherente".

Todos esos detalles y los que me habré olvidado más la optimización del juego es un juego que si no hubiera tenido el nombre de pokémon hubiera sido un fracaso.

Pokemon Violet does a lot right, and a lot wrong.

Firstly, the positives. I like the characters and setting, Paldea is a really appealing region, at least on paper. The QoL is good, as it is with every new Pokemon generation, the new Pokemon are pretty cool, the story is fun, and the DLC also seems fun even though I haven't played it.

But, as I said... There's a lot I don't like about it. The world feels very unpolished, and the bad textures actively break my immersion even though I don't usually care about those.

The cities look awesome, which makes it all the more heartbreaking that they feel really lifeless a lot of the time. You can't enter buildings, the shops are menus, and the NPC feel cold.

I don't like the overworld encounters. Sure, it's fun running around, seeing cool stuff, and catching it, but the way they scattered Pokemon all over the place makes it feel messy. Why am I finding Flittle in the middle of a random river?

This isn't helped by the way this game handled shinies. Since they don't sparkle, a lot of your time is gonna be spent inspecting every group of Pokemon you see, since some of them can be REALLY subtle.

...Which brings me to my next point: New shinies. I already said I like the new Pokemon, which I do, but they have the WORST shinies out of any new lineup of Pokemon

Gholdengo, Ceruledge, Tinkaton, Baxcalibur, Tandemaus, Mabosstiff, etc... All extremely underwhelming if they even change at all. It astounds me that someone at GF deliberately decided on them.

My last major gripe is trainer customization. I don't know how it is in the DLC, but in the base game it's pitiful. 4 options that look equally sub-par, with the main outfit being the worst out of any protagonist regardless of version.

Also, I think the art style is worse than the one in Gen 7/8.

That might seem like a lot, but I'm being a bit harsh. The game is still fun and you'll probably like it more than I did

I have mixed thoughts on this game. While I preferred it over Pokémon Sword, it's still not at the level I'd expect from a billion dollar franchise like Pokémon. For example: the lack of voice acting is very disappointing. It's not like they can't add voice acting, at least for the cut scenes. Even Xenoblade has voice acting and that series isn't nearly as huge as Pokémon is.

Visuals were subpar when in the open world. The environments also seemed pretty generic. It's easy to tell where corners were cut like with the eating animation or the shops that are just menus. I still don't understand why this and Pokémon Legends Arceus were released in the same year, what were they thinking?!?

The open world is very interesting compared to the half step that Pokémon Sword made. Only problem is that there's no level scaling so you'll be jumping around the map a lot if you don't want to brute force your way through a tough fight. I would usually be fine with this, but there's nothing on the map telling you which level the Pokémon are in each area. I had find that information from IGN and not from the actual game.

Exploration is pretty fun when using Miraidon, though you probably won't get all of his movement options until fairly late into the game.

Conceptually, the idea of having three paths their own main objectives to do instead of just the gyms is cool on paper. Though in practice it falls on its face. There's eight gyms, five titans, and five Team Star bases. The titans and the Team Star bases should be a nice breather between the gyms, but the titans and the Team Star bases are just too short in my opinion. I was able to get a lot of the game done faster than I anticipated simply because there's not much to some portions of the game.

I like being able to send out my Pokémon to fight on their own. It made grinding go by a lot quicker.

Some fights in this game are difficult if you're under leveled, especially in the last game.

The story is pretty good on paper, but the lack of voice acting really makes the pivotal moments fall flat. Even if you can't include voice acting for whatever reason then you could at least do what Ace Attorney does. The sound design, music, and the text sounds for the dialogue really do make for the limitations of the Ace Attorney games. Just do something like that and it would increase my enjoyment by a vary large amount.

Overall, Pokémon Violet is a fun game. If you don't mind poor performance and messy visuals then you'll probably have a good time with this game. Don't let my opinion stop you from having fun.

(i beat area zero pt 1 and base game, felt fulfilled enough to put off pt 2 for a while)

in spite of its shortcomings this reignited my love for pokemon. i really enjoy the new tera mechanic (although i wish gyms and trainers did more crazy tactics w it but its a pokemon game so. easy) and even though the texture work for the environments is ass ugly, i still enjoyed my time exploring it.

just uh, please make it run at a solid 30fps next time thanks

This game has the best story and main campaign of any Pokémon game. The new characters (Penny excluded) are some of the best in the entire series.The new Pokémon added were a step up from gen 8, as was the main marketable gimmick. This is the first and possibly last game where you can have a team with all 18 types represented. As far as Pokémon games are concerned, and after the DLC came out, this is no doubt one of the most fleshed out and complete experiences. This game does most everything fans have been asking for.
Criticisms of this game range from dishonest to broader complaints about the franchise overall to youtubers just looking to clickbait the bugs (which will most never happen in normal gameplay). Its insane how doomy the detractors get when Pokémon hasnt been bad for that long whatsoever, and series like Sonic and Megaman have had multiple rough patches up till current year and still get overwhelming support whenever a new game is announced. Pokemon fans need to play other games.
But yes, the game looks and runs like complete dogshit. Like the textures warp around the models terribly and the game cant keep a stable 30 FPS despite being limited. That’s why I cant give it a perfect score. GameFreak is terrible, but SV absolutely is not.

Klefki and Swords Dance Ceruledge sweep FTW.

Def better than Sw/Sh, and def better than studying for finals. Now time to move onto my competitive Pokemon/PokeMMO era. Now add Shedinja you cowards.

Base game finished: 49hr 41min