From a non-Pokémon fan's perspective, Pokémon Scarlet feels a bit refreshing. Non-linear open world games appeal to me more than the linear pathing that Pokémon games have been narrowly traveling down for years. As that type of open world game, it's definitely more of a beginner's version of that game. A lot of the core of the gameplay is simply running around battling and catching Pokémon, which is addicting in some regard. Being able to play with friends and run around in a world that's asynchronous is fun, and it's like we're all going on our own adventure together. Being able to tackle gyms or other big content in a somewhat non-linear factor is nice, and welcomed. It doesn't go far enough with this concept, but it's still fairly fun to do. Even the story, while stock standard the majority of the time, still managed to squeeze a smile out of me towards the end. There's small, but pleasant enough character arcs that are simple and enjoyable for this type of game. The changes to this entry are enough to say that I've enjoyed my time with the game. It's an okay-enough game on the mechanical spectrum. It's still got problems that's been affecting Pokémon since it's very beginning, however.
Your first Pokémon will always be your most overleveled. Overleveled Pokémon will always be your most dominate Pokémon. And for the most part, depending on if you catch anything of a higher level, will almost always be your primary attacker. You do have to switch in relation to your type advantage, but to me, it always feel like these Pokémon are just there for the off chance that I can't kill something in one hit, rather than feeling that their abilities are closely tied to the game design. The goal of all of this, is to make your team feel like your team, that you've loved and cared for to make it as far as you've gotten. But as a result to this design, it just doesn't play as well as it could. This is something within the very foundation of the series, and it's something that's even harder to get rid of given the main appeal of the series.
Ontop of the problems Pokémon has always had, you have the many glitches that are frequent within the game. Pop-ins, texture issues, character model glitches, a variety of ways to get stuck, frequent game crashes. Worst of all, the frame rate for almost the entire game is abysmal, and makes the game feel incredibly sluggish. As a AAA title from one of the largest game franchises in the world, it's inexcusable. The management pushing for 3 separate games in a single year is the result of these glitches, and it's aggravating that the Pokémon company did this to it's employees.
There's a lot of little things that I could list that bring down the experience, but I think it's unnecessary to say. At the end of the day, it's still, primarily, Pokémon as it's always been, with a bit of a more substantial twist. If you can look past the technical issues, you can have fun with it. It's not the best, worst, or most average game I've ever play, but it's enjoyable enough to be vaguely interesting for me.
Your first Pokémon will always be your most overleveled. Overleveled Pokémon will always be your most dominate Pokémon. And for the most part, depending on if you catch anything of a higher level, will almost always be your primary attacker. You do have to switch in relation to your type advantage, but to me, it always feel like these Pokémon are just there for the off chance that I can't kill something in one hit, rather than feeling that their abilities are closely tied to the game design. The goal of all of this, is to make your team feel like your team, that you've loved and cared for to make it as far as you've gotten. But as a result to this design, it just doesn't play as well as it could. This is something within the very foundation of the series, and it's something that's even harder to get rid of given the main appeal of the series.
Ontop of the problems Pokémon has always had, you have the many glitches that are frequent within the game. Pop-ins, texture issues, character model glitches, a variety of ways to get stuck, frequent game crashes. Worst of all, the frame rate for almost the entire game is abysmal, and makes the game feel incredibly sluggish. As a AAA title from one of the largest game franchises in the world, it's inexcusable. The management pushing for 3 separate games in a single year is the result of these glitches, and it's aggravating that the Pokémon company did this to it's employees.
There's a lot of little things that I could list that bring down the experience, but I think it's unnecessary to say. At the end of the day, it's still, primarily, Pokémon as it's always been, with a bit of a more substantial twist. If you can look past the technical issues, you can have fun with it. It's not the best, worst, or most average game I've ever play, but it's enjoyable enough to be vaguely interesting for me.