The release of Pokémon Scarlet & Violet, more than 25 years after Pokémon took over the world, mark the beginning of a noticeable new phase for the franchise. Similar to the introduction of online functionality in Pokémon Diamond & Pearl (2006) and the jump to 3D in Pokémon X & Y (2013), these games will forever change the way that Pokémon games are made in the future. After Nintendo’s new home/handheld hybrid console – one you can use on the TV and take with you on the go – in some sense “forced” Pokémon to bring their classic formula to a more powerful console after all the success on Nintendo’s weaker handheld consoles, the standards for what a Pokémon game could be shifted. Fans asked for an open world, and slowly but surely Game Freak (the developers of Pokémon) started to listen. Pokémon Sword & Shield (2019) had one open area with the DLC (downloadable content) for those games introducing even more, Pokémon Legends: Arceus earlier this year gave us five bigger open areas, and now Scarlet & Violet feature a fully open world. Each previous step was more well received than the last, but the question now is: does Game Freak stumble while taking this last step, or do they successfully take it?
To wash the negativity out of my mouth, I’ll start with Game Freak’s biggest hurdle and what is far and away the worst aspect of the games: the graphical performance. This is one of the least polished games I’ve played in a while, maybe ever. The games are not only largely ugly outside of battles, there is slowdown everywhere. There are also various objects, Pokémon and characters with glitchy characteristics that only become visible once you come close enough to them (also known as pop-in), NPC that move at a few frames per second unless you stand next to them, it is just unpleasant overall. These games simply did not have enough time in the oven, that much is clear. If graphical quality is important for you then I cannot recommend Scarlet & Violet, the problems are sadly unavoidable.
It would be easy to fully write off the games based on the outside, but just like with people it is the inside that really counts – and Scarlet & Violet’s inside is luckily a lot more beautiful. Every Pokémon game has good gameplay and these games do not change that fact. You catch Pokémon – that are visible in the overworld just like in Legends: Arceus, there are no random encounters – and use those Pokémon against other Pokémon (usually owned by trainers) in turn-based battles. These battles have been made a bit fresher again through the introduction of “Terastallization”, which allows one Pokémon per battle to change its type. Most Pokémon you’ll catch can only change into one of their already existing types, and it that case attacks of that type will receive and extra power boost. This will not always make the difference in every battle, but the moments when it does feel good – and your opponents also make good use of it, which helps to keep you on your toes during the most important battles in the game.
Speaking of opponents, Scarlet & Violet contain the usual eight Gym Leaders, Elite Four and Champion that the player must defeat, and also feature two other storylines besides that. In “Path of Legends” you search for Titan Pokémon to battle them (similar to Totem Pokémon from Alola), and in “Starfall Street” you square off against members of Team Star in their bases (similar to the villainous teams from earlier Pokémon games). These storylines sound familiar at first glance, but Scarlet & Violet distinguish themselves in the execution. There is no freedom of choice in what you do in the game, the three storylines all need to be completed, but the order in which you do everything is completely up to the player. The game does nudge you in certain directions – which is visible in things such as the levels of Pokémon trainers in the overworld and Gym Leader descriptions – but besides the few mobility upgrades locked behind the “Path of Legends”, you can go wherever you want from the very beginning. This sense of freedom is great, made even better by the excellent exploration elements. There is something useful to do/find everywhere you go: an item, a trainer, a new Pokémon to either catch or fight against. These things then all help to make your Pokémon team stronger in different ways, and this leads to a very satisfying positive feedback loop. Not only that, you get to do all these things while riding on top of a Legendary Pokémon you befriend at the beginning of the game, what’s not to love? The music is also better and more dynamic than ever: when you enter a battle with a wild Pokémon the area’s music track seamlessly changes into a battle version of the same music track. And then we haven’t even talked about the 400 Pokémon available during your journey, of which 100 are brand new. The fact that a quarter of those 100 are in some way related to an old Pokémon doesn’t spoil the fun – as expected the designs are just as cute and/or cool as always.
The remaining part of the distinctive execution lies in the region, characters and storylines. The different cultures of each new region have become more and more unique and noticeable since the moment that they stopped being only based on regions from Japan. The Paldea region – based on the Iberian Peninsula, largely consisting of Spain – continues this trend. The Spanish influence; visible in the language use, the history of the region, Pokémon, characters, and cities is a delight. At the start of the game you become a student at Naranja/Uva Academy (Naranja in Scarlet, Uva in Violet) – and it is this setting that brings the story and characters to life. You learn from and work together with different teachers and classmates to bring the previously mentioned three storylines to a successful conclusion. It is these characters, all with their own fun quirks, that make the entire story – especially the last few hours – special.
In conclusion, when I look at the game design Game Freak took the last step towards the open world Pokémon experience convincingly, and they even managed to take along a bunch of fun new Pokémon, characters and stories. But it ultimately didn’t matter how well they took that step. Their destination – a game that is the complete package – was still far away. Pokémon Scarlet & Violet are therefore the perfect representation of the state in which the entire series finds itself. The vision of hardworking developers that, under all the pressure of the corporate machine, manage to create a pretty good Pokémon adventure. And to be honest, I feel bad for them, because these games will be – partly deservedly so, don’t get me wrong – remembered for their bad graphical performance while I can’t imagine that the people working at Game Freak were satisfied with how the games looked on release day. Give them more time and we’ll get Pokémon games that are beautiful on the inside and on the outside. Sadly I don’t think that will happen, considering the money that any product with the Pokémon logo on it keeps generating. Regardless, Pokémon still hasn’t lost that magic with which it enchanted the world in 1996, and with which it enchanted me in 2011 when I started my first journey through a Pokémon region. There simply is no other series like this one, no other feeling like seeing a Pokémon you’ve never seen before and wanting to add it to your team as soon as possible. If you can look past all of the graphical problems, then this is one of the best Pokémon games, and a great addition to the Nintendo Switch collection of any RPG fan.
To wash the negativity out of my mouth, I’ll start with Game Freak’s biggest hurdle and what is far and away the worst aspect of the games: the graphical performance. This is one of the least polished games I’ve played in a while, maybe ever. The games are not only largely ugly outside of battles, there is slowdown everywhere. There are also various objects, Pokémon and characters with glitchy characteristics that only become visible once you come close enough to them (also known as pop-in), NPC that move at a few frames per second unless you stand next to them, it is just unpleasant overall. These games simply did not have enough time in the oven, that much is clear. If graphical quality is important for you then I cannot recommend Scarlet & Violet, the problems are sadly unavoidable.
It would be easy to fully write off the games based on the outside, but just like with people it is the inside that really counts – and Scarlet & Violet’s inside is luckily a lot more beautiful. Every Pokémon game has good gameplay and these games do not change that fact. You catch Pokémon – that are visible in the overworld just like in Legends: Arceus, there are no random encounters – and use those Pokémon against other Pokémon (usually owned by trainers) in turn-based battles. These battles have been made a bit fresher again through the introduction of “Terastallization”, which allows one Pokémon per battle to change its type. Most Pokémon you’ll catch can only change into one of their already existing types, and it that case attacks of that type will receive and extra power boost. This will not always make the difference in every battle, but the moments when it does feel good – and your opponents also make good use of it, which helps to keep you on your toes during the most important battles in the game.
Speaking of opponents, Scarlet & Violet contain the usual eight Gym Leaders, Elite Four and Champion that the player must defeat, and also feature two other storylines besides that. In “Path of Legends” you search for Titan Pokémon to battle them (similar to Totem Pokémon from Alola), and in “Starfall Street” you square off against members of Team Star in their bases (similar to the villainous teams from earlier Pokémon games). These storylines sound familiar at first glance, but Scarlet & Violet distinguish themselves in the execution. There is no freedom of choice in what you do in the game, the three storylines all need to be completed, but the order in which you do everything is completely up to the player. The game does nudge you in certain directions – which is visible in things such as the levels of Pokémon trainers in the overworld and Gym Leader descriptions – but besides the few mobility upgrades locked behind the “Path of Legends”, you can go wherever you want from the very beginning. This sense of freedom is great, made even better by the excellent exploration elements. There is something useful to do/find everywhere you go: an item, a trainer, a new Pokémon to either catch or fight against. These things then all help to make your Pokémon team stronger in different ways, and this leads to a very satisfying positive feedback loop. Not only that, you get to do all these things while riding on top of a Legendary Pokémon you befriend at the beginning of the game, what’s not to love? The music is also better and more dynamic than ever: when you enter a battle with a wild Pokémon the area’s music track seamlessly changes into a battle version of the same music track. And then we haven’t even talked about the 400 Pokémon available during your journey, of which 100 are brand new. The fact that a quarter of those 100 are in some way related to an old Pokémon doesn’t spoil the fun – as expected the designs are just as cute and/or cool as always.
The remaining part of the distinctive execution lies in the region, characters and storylines. The different cultures of each new region have become more and more unique and noticeable since the moment that they stopped being only based on regions from Japan. The Paldea region – based on the Iberian Peninsula, largely consisting of Spain – continues this trend. The Spanish influence; visible in the language use, the history of the region, Pokémon, characters, and cities is a delight. At the start of the game you become a student at Naranja/Uva Academy (Naranja in Scarlet, Uva in Violet) – and it is this setting that brings the story and characters to life. You learn from and work together with different teachers and classmates to bring the previously mentioned three storylines to a successful conclusion. It is these characters, all with their own fun quirks, that make the entire story – especially the last few hours – special.
In conclusion, when I look at the game design Game Freak took the last step towards the open world Pokémon experience convincingly, and they even managed to take along a bunch of fun new Pokémon, characters and stories. But it ultimately didn’t matter how well they took that step. Their destination – a game that is the complete package – was still far away. Pokémon Scarlet & Violet are therefore the perfect representation of the state in which the entire series finds itself. The vision of hardworking developers that, under all the pressure of the corporate machine, manage to create a pretty good Pokémon adventure. And to be honest, I feel bad for them, because these games will be – partly deservedly so, don’t get me wrong – remembered for their bad graphical performance while I can’t imagine that the people working at Game Freak were satisfied with how the games looked on release day. Give them more time and we’ll get Pokémon games that are beautiful on the inside and on the outside. Sadly I don’t think that will happen, considering the money that any product with the Pokémon logo on it keeps generating. Regardless, Pokémon still hasn’t lost that magic with which it enchanted the world in 1996, and with which it enchanted me in 2011 when I started my first journey through a Pokémon region. There simply is no other series like this one, no other feeling like seeing a Pokémon you’ve never seen before and wanting to add it to your team as soon as possible. If you can look past all of the graphical problems, then this is one of the best Pokémon games, and a great addition to the Nintendo Switch collection of any RPG fan.