This is the best Pokemon has been in ages.
Where Arceus felt like an overhaul of the core of Pokemon's gameplay, Scarlet and Violet are an overhaul of everything surrounding the core gameplay... with a few bits and bobs from Arceus anyways, just for good measure. The world feels so carefully designed, every objective placed with intention to push the player to explore. The writing is vastly improved, and every storyline is a treat. Most of the new Pokemon are hits, and Terrastalizing is a legitimately fun and well-thought out "super" mechanic, putting the series' other attempts to shame handily. The difficulty is also surprisingly good for a modern day Pokemon. I loved this game from beginning to end, and I can't believe I might be considering a Pokemon game of all things for my top 10 of the year.
Just a few small dings here: for starters, the very last area does drag a little bit and doesn't fully take advantage of its cool concept, but at the very least the story beats are enjoyable and done well. Performance is rough, but it never hit the point of unplayability for me (though admittedly later areas with more effects on screen push the envelope). I also didn't experience any of the rampant glitchiness people were talking about, aside from one persistent glitch where Pokemon would spawn in walls when an outbreak was placed strangely on the map; hopefully that gets fixed or tweaked.
Where Arceus felt like an overhaul of the core of Pokemon's gameplay, Scarlet and Violet are an overhaul of everything surrounding the core gameplay... with a few bits and bobs from Arceus anyways, just for good measure. The world feels so carefully designed, every objective placed with intention to push the player to explore. The writing is vastly improved, and every storyline is a treat. Most of the new Pokemon are hits, and Terrastalizing is a legitimately fun and well-thought out "super" mechanic, putting the series' other attempts to shame handily. The difficulty is also surprisingly good for a modern day Pokemon. I loved this game from beginning to end, and I can't believe I might be considering a Pokemon game of all things for my top 10 of the year.
Just a few small dings here: for starters, the very last area does drag a little bit and doesn't fully take advantage of its cool concept, but at the very least the story beats are enjoyable and done well. Performance is rough, but it never hit the point of unplayability for me (though admittedly later areas with more effects on screen push the envelope). I also didn't experience any of the rampant glitchiness people were talking about, aside from one persistent glitch where Pokemon would spawn in walls when an outbreak was placed strangely on the map; hopefully that gets fixed or tweaked.