To my own internal sadness and despair, I cannot get into this one.
Riding high off of Teal Mask's success, I began the dlc with a lot of curiosity and expectations for how the year long story-in-the-making would conclude. Teal Mask took the emotional highs and perfect character arcs of the base game and carried it on perfectly; the map was lovely, the environments looked far prettier than they originally did in Scarlet, the small improvements to the camera and clothing options were wonderful. It concluded with a cliffhanger that left me very intrigued as to where it would lead. The opening to Indigo Disk was not so bad, but slowly I began to feel very overwhelmed by the amount of things being thrown at me. I could really tell that they put the most effort into making sure players had enough to keep them occupied and spent little time on anything else. New gameplay introduced like the BBQs are not a bad idea in theory, but they end up becoming grindy through lack of options for obtaining them. Defeat 10 pokemon through auto battle is not something I'd ever do, ever. Doing it 30 times in a row for what feels like a measly 10 points feels harsh.
The terrarium was very impressive at first glance, but over time I started to feel claustrophobic and very weary of the glass ceilings and blocky architecture. On paper I very much appreciate the love Unova gets here but walking through a savanna and having it suddenly cut off by these weird copy and paste mega exposure producing cubes makes the area feel enclosed and artificial. It is, of course, a terrarium but it gives off such an oppressive feeling... the map design itself is good I feel, but theres something empty about it and it doesnt help that the only thing to break the mold are the same old boring cube structures youll run into anywhere else on the map. Kitikami had a varied selection of different environments and things to see while still withholding its theme, but Blueberry Academy doesnt feel aesthetically strong or interesting enough.
The new characters you meet feel rushed and pointless. I want to appreciate them and like them, but you only get to spend a negligible amout of time getting to know them and then its off to Area Zero for more rushed development. And its so dissapointing how they drop Kieran on his head, especially after how he shined in the Teal Mask. Everything he goes through is absolutely streamlined and he comes out the other side not feeling changed at all. The story beats are so quick and its disheartening that this is what they were building up to since base Scarlet. What is Terapagos? Whys it important? Whys it there, how does it generate the terrestrial power? Dont know! They did not eleborate. I know they put more effort into things like the battles and the club, but the way the story is organized is such a let down for the finale of my favorite pokemon game. I was really hoping for more.
In terms of what I am enjoying, I think all the clubhouse stuff is my favorite part of the expansion. I never got a proper sendoff to all my Paldean buddies so its very nice that I can invite them over and see how theyre doing, refight them and whatnot. Im impressed that they have situational dialouge for if two characters are in the clubroom together, that is a lot of writing and a great deal of effort so im glad they spared some on this behalf. I also like the old pokemon added back in, its been fun seeing them again
Overall im pretty bummed with this final dlc. The terrarium area overall feels overbearing and I dislike being in it, on top of the Blueberry Academy stuff being notably grindy for a pokemon game. Its a sad way to send Paldea off, but hopefully the next game builds on the progress SV has made and is just as great, if not better.
Riding high off of Teal Mask's success, I began the dlc with a lot of curiosity and expectations for how the year long story-in-the-making would conclude. Teal Mask took the emotional highs and perfect character arcs of the base game and carried it on perfectly; the map was lovely, the environments looked far prettier than they originally did in Scarlet, the small improvements to the camera and clothing options were wonderful. It concluded with a cliffhanger that left me very intrigued as to where it would lead. The opening to Indigo Disk was not so bad, but slowly I began to feel very overwhelmed by the amount of things being thrown at me. I could really tell that they put the most effort into making sure players had enough to keep them occupied and spent little time on anything else. New gameplay introduced like the BBQs are not a bad idea in theory, but they end up becoming grindy through lack of options for obtaining them. Defeat 10 pokemon through auto battle is not something I'd ever do, ever. Doing it 30 times in a row for what feels like a measly 10 points feels harsh.
The terrarium was very impressive at first glance, but over time I started to feel claustrophobic and very weary of the glass ceilings and blocky architecture. On paper I very much appreciate the love Unova gets here but walking through a savanna and having it suddenly cut off by these weird copy and paste mega exposure producing cubes makes the area feel enclosed and artificial. It is, of course, a terrarium but it gives off such an oppressive feeling... the map design itself is good I feel, but theres something empty about it and it doesnt help that the only thing to break the mold are the same old boring cube structures youll run into anywhere else on the map. Kitikami had a varied selection of different environments and things to see while still withholding its theme, but Blueberry Academy doesnt feel aesthetically strong or interesting enough.
The new characters you meet feel rushed and pointless. I want to appreciate them and like them, but you only get to spend a negligible amout of time getting to know them and then its off to Area Zero for more rushed development. And its so dissapointing how they drop Kieran on his head, especially after how he shined in the Teal Mask. Everything he goes through is absolutely streamlined and he comes out the other side not feeling changed at all. The story beats are so quick and its disheartening that this is what they were building up to since base Scarlet. What is Terapagos? Whys it important? Whys it there, how does it generate the terrestrial power? Dont know! They did not eleborate. I know they put more effort into things like the battles and the club, but the way the story is organized is such a let down for the finale of my favorite pokemon game. I was really hoping for more.
In terms of what I am enjoying, I think all the clubhouse stuff is my favorite part of the expansion. I never got a proper sendoff to all my Paldean buddies so its very nice that I can invite them over and see how theyre doing, refight them and whatnot. Im impressed that they have situational dialouge for if two characters are in the clubroom together, that is a lot of writing and a great deal of effort so im glad they spared some on this behalf. I also like the old pokemon added back in, its been fun seeing them again
Overall im pretty bummed with this final dlc. The terrarium area overall feels overbearing and I dislike being in it, on top of the Blueberry Academy stuff being notably grindy for a pokemon game. Its a sad way to send Paldea off, but hopefully the next game builds on the progress SV has made and is just as great, if not better.