RPG Diary

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

My goal to replay the Final Fantasy series was interrupted by the real world — a new Pokemon game was released. Pokemon is a more social experience than the typical RPG thanks to its trading and battling mechanics, so there is some pressure to play it while everyone else still is. I played a lot of Pokemon during 2020-2021, but I did not follow any news about these games at all, so I went into this one fairly blind.

Title	Pokemon Scarlet Pokemon Violet
Year	2022
System	NS
Developer	Game Freak
Publisher	Nintendo

The biggest change from the previous games is the open world map and removal of random encounters. While Pokemon Sword and Shield had already started this with the Wild Area, this time there are no legacy style routes at all. I think this is a great improvement as you can choose which wild Pokemon to battle. Alongside this change is the non-linear progression: after the prologue, you can complete most of the game in the order you choose. However, both wild Pokemon and trainers do not scale with you, so you are still somewhat nudged to progress in a certain order.

The last few Pokemon generations have introduced stupid gimmicks to battles, and the latest gimmick is called "Terastallization". This changes the type of a Pokemon which adds some strategy, though the NPCs of course never use it an interesting way. However, I was relieved this was not as dumb and gamebreaking as the previous "Dynamax" gimmick.

Pokemon as a series has never been particuarly known for its plot. However, this game manages to feel even weaker than the average Pokemon game due to its non-linear nature. After the prologue, you are suddenly left to just explore and do whatever you want with little explanation or motivation. There are three storylines that occur in parallel for the majority of the game, but they feel more like sidequests than a main plot. The rival, Nemona, is particularly underwhelming. Thankfully, the game does end on a high note as the final story arc is easily the most interesting part.

The worst thing about this game is undoubtedly the various graphics glitches and slowdown. It's not uncommon for Pokemon or scenery to briefly disappear or jump to strange locations, particularly during battle. Even more frustrating is simply waiting for the game to render. The most obnoxious slowdown is in your Pokemon boxes of all places — it takes a few seconds after changing boxes to see what Pokemon are in there. This was never a problem in any previous game and it becomes a serious detriment to collecting Pokemon.

Overall, I was a little disappointed with this game. The gameplay is fairly standard (and perhaps too predictable) for the series, but the weak plot and graphical issues lowered my motivation to play. I hope the next game features more doubles battles since that is what the official PvP scene is focused on.

After completing a game, I add it to my overall enjoyment ranking which orders the games I've completed from those I most enjoyed to those I least enjoyed. I was a little disappointed with this game, but I never considered abandoning it, so it's easy for me to slot this one.