This review contains spoilers
I've been playing Pokémon from the moment I unwrapped copies of Blue and Yellow as a child. As an adult, I think a lot about how Pokémon, a game supposedly created for the purpose of giving the Link Cable a reason to exist and thereby encouraged playing together, is a series that I enjoyed mostly solo for the first three generations.
Considering where I grew up (mostly rural-suburban America) that is not terribly surprising. There's a lot that makes up the "core" of Pokémon, but playing with others wouldn't happen until the fourth generation. From that point on, Pokémon was an experience to be shared with others.
Pokémon Sword and Shield were a fine first step into actually letting people play together in the same world, and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet take the next step into allowing players to explore, catch, and battle together in the same world. So much of my joy in this game is directly linked to running around Paldea with my partner, taking silly screenshots and yelling every time we spotted a shiny Pokémon. That happiness combines nicely with the joy of delving into every nook and cranny of this game (dude, we got some real good caves this time around) as well as BLJing into the Crater only to find it wouldn't load and then marveling at how a Garchomp flies around. For these reasons alone, while they are not at all the best Pokémon games (and I would not give "best" to any title after Black and White), they have become my favourite.
There's just so much about this game that also disappointed me. The Gym "challenges" started off so strong, but after the first two or three gyms, they lose all of their charm. This is one area where Sun and Moon excelled, even if I ultimately think the Totem Pokémon fights are not that engaging (give me something more than just "hey let's buff the snot out of this thing, good luck"). The character customisation that had done nothing but improve from X and Y has taken a massive step backward by severely limiting clothing options, and while I love how much more we can customise our character's appearance, it's just far less fun than all of the clothing choices we had in Sword and Shield. It's very well-known at this point that the games show their seams and just straight-up crash more than previous entries, and while I think no one believes Game FREAK is a paragon of perfect programming, I question the management decisions that have resulted in Pokémon sticking to a three-year release schedule when the complexity of the games only increases.
Small aside: I can see ILCA's fingerprints across certain parts of this game, particularly in menus, and to be perfectly frank, I think ILCA has been one of the most detrimental additions to Pokémon. Even in Pokémon HOME, I cannot get away from the feeling that the effort is slapdash and at times downright ugly (I really, really dislike the weird artwork used in HOME. Sorry not sorry.)
And yet there's so much good here. The story is average-to-good until one hits the final chapter, at which point it is by far my most favourite Pokémon plot to date. (Also, the music here? Absolutely incredible stuff.) Koraidon and Miraidon are imbued with so much personality and I could not help but fall in love with them. The wide cast of characters has lots of intriguing standouts (Arven is talked about a lot, but I actually have a huge soft spot for Nemona, and the teachers are so cool. Big heart eyes for them all) and there are some truly incredible Pokémon designs this time around. If I had to pick a single design to call out, it would be the simple, effective, stunning design and naming of Tatsugiri. Absolutely next level.
I haven't talked about Terastallizing or Tera Raids, but in summary: I hope Game FREAK keeps experimenting with battles and I appreciate how hard Tera Raids can be...but they are, sometimes, a bit TOO hard. Please bring back Dynamax Adventures. Thank you.
Since the jump to 3D, I struggle a lot with how to recommend Pokémon to a first-timer to the series. The QOL changes that happen from generation to generation make it very hard to recommend earlier games, while Pokémon as a whole has just lacked the kind of polish it once had in 2D. I can't even necessarily recommend Legends Arceus, because while that is an utterly fantastic game, its gameplay is just enough removed from what we think of as "core Pokémon" that it wouldn't set good expectations for the series as a whole.
So would I recommend Pokémon Scarlet and Violet? I don't even know if I'd recommend Pokémon at all. It's a series that survives on a fanbase that both loves and abhors it. Generation IX isn't quite "as good a place to start as any," but it's a pretty good place to start. Just find someone to play with; I can't imagine ever playing this series alone again.
Considering where I grew up (mostly rural-suburban America) that is not terribly surprising. There's a lot that makes up the "core" of Pokémon, but playing with others wouldn't happen until the fourth generation. From that point on, Pokémon was an experience to be shared with others.
Pokémon Sword and Shield were a fine first step into actually letting people play together in the same world, and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet take the next step into allowing players to explore, catch, and battle together in the same world. So much of my joy in this game is directly linked to running around Paldea with my partner, taking silly screenshots and yelling every time we spotted a shiny Pokémon. That happiness combines nicely with the joy of delving into every nook and cranny of this game (dude, we got some real good caves this time around) as well as BLJing into the Crater only to find it wouldn't load and then marveling at how a Garchomp flies around. For these reasons alone, while they are not at all the best Pokémon games (and I would not give "best" to any title after Black and White), they have become my favourite.
There's just so much about this game that also disappointed me. The Gym "challenges" started off so strong, but after the first two or three gyms, they lose all of their charm. This is one area where Sun and Moon excelled, even if I ultimately think the Totem Pokémon fights are not that engaging (give me something more than just "hey let's buff the snot out of this thing, good luck"). The character customisation that had done nothing but improve from X and Y has taken a massive step backward by severely limiting clothing options, and while I love how much more we can customise our character's appearance, it's just far less fun than all of the clothing choices we had in Sword and Shield. It's very well-known at this point that the games show their seams and just straight-up crash more than previous entries, and while I think no one believes Game FREAK is a paragon of perfect programming, I question the management decisions that have resulted in Pokémon sticking to a three-year release schedule when the complexity of the games only increases.
Small aside: I can see ILCA's fingerprints across certain parts of this game, particularly in menus, and to be perfectly frank, I think ILCA has been one of the most detrimental additions to Pokémon. Even in Pokémon HOME, I cannot get away from the feeling that the effort is slapdash and at times downright ugly (I really, really dislike the weird artwork used in HOME. Sorry not sorry.)
And yet there's so much good here. The story is average-to-good until one hits the final chapter, at which point it is by far my most favourite Pokémon plot to date. (Also, the music here? Absolutely incredible stuff.) Koraidon and Miraidon are imbued with so much personality and I could not help but fall in love with them. The wide cast of characters has lots of intriguing standouts (Arven is talked about a lot, but I actually have a huge soft spot for Nemona, and the teachers are so cool. Big heart eyes for them all) and there are some truly incredible Pokémon designs this time around. If I had to pick a single design to call out, it would be the simple, effective, stunning design and naming of Tatsugiri. Absolutely next level.
I haven't talked about Terastallizing or Tera Raids, but in summary: I hope Game FREAK keeps experimenting with battles and I appreciate how hard Tera Raids can be...but they are, sometimes, a bit TOO hard. Please bring back Dynamax Adventures. Thank you.
Since the jump to 3D, I struggle a lot with how to recommend Pokémon to a first-timer to the series. The QOL changes that happen from generation to generation make it very hard to recommend earlier games, while Pokémon as a whole has just lacked the kind of polish it once had in 2D. I can't even necessarily recommend Legends Arceus, because while that is an utterly fantastic game, its gameplay is just enough removed from what we think of as "core Pokémon" that it wouldn't set good expectations for the series as a whole.
So would I recommend Pokémon Scarlet and Violet? I don't even know if I'd recommend Pokémon at all. It's a series that survives on a fanbase that both loves and abhors it. Generation IX isn't quite "as good a place to start as any," but it's a pretty good place to start. Just find someone to play with; I can't imagine ever playing this series alone again.