This could've been the best Pokemon game ever.

Pokemon Scarlet was luckily gifted to me, because I'm not sure I would've bought it otherwise. I adore the Pokemon games, and have since I was young, but the lack of polish Gamefreak has been putting into their games has really been driving me away from wishing to actually buy them at launch. Scarlet really reflects this. It has a strong narrative and soundtrack, but it's world, systems and even animations in some cases really lack any sort of care or polish. The state this game came out in is frankly embarrassing for a company as big as Gamefreak, and they seriously need to evaluate how many resources or how much time they're giving to their teams.

This game has so many elements that made me want to love it. I thought its use of a more open progression made it a lot easier to play through, and its characters and writing actually struck a cord with me for once. Just, all of the stuff you need to sift through to enjoy this game is too much for me, and I pray that this game gets patched.. otherwise I can only recommend playing this game emulated.