Easily the best Pokemon game we have ever gotten, especially in terms of story. Pokémon's story has always been super simple with characters being memorable more so by their visual style rather than their personalities. SV manages to give us new characters and rivals that have defined goals that are independent from the main character.

Open world does end up suiting Pokemon well and I hope this game is essentially the blueprint going forward. What drastically holds this game back is the lack of optimization. It is plagued with framerate drops and unloaded textures.

It is in no way the worst Pokémon game we have gotten and people do judge this game too harshly. But the technical issues around the visuals and the clunky online Raid battles are unacceptable with a budget like Pokémon.

i played this game way after release, emulated, so i didn't really have technical issues too often. the game was a near steady 4k 30fps, so I can't speak to how the game launched. but oh my god, this game was so fun. the most fun pokemon experience i've since x and y (haven't played arceus yet) i love the mix of classic pokemon progression with a more open world. area zero was really cool and i liked seeing the story take some weird turns that i wasn't expecting. but please add voice acting, especially if you're gonna animate the scenes like there is. overall, a little janky, but i didn't have many issues that people dealt with on launch. this game was honestly such a joy, i was just happy to play a pokemon game.

I enjoyed my time with it, playing it for over 100 hours to complete the pokedex, but after that, it is so hard to get back to or replay. The technical flaws are awful, but honestly, the gameplay was sub-par too, with the nail in the coffin being the levels of story objective battles.

The flaws prevent me from enjoying it anywhere close to how much I had the first time. It had novelty, but will not stand the test of time. It's hard to be interested in the DLC at all. I had an incredible time with it on a first playthrough, and I think it's really a shame.

This might be the second best main series Pokémon game. Only behind B&W.

They took it in a fun direction, finally getting the open world the people have been begging for. The story is also sub-linear instead of just straight up same as the other games, which is a step in the right direction, but if they do this again I pray they just do level scaling.

The performance is very below average, I get that it’s an ambitious game especially for the Switch, it still runs poorly. Luckily at least for me, this barely hindered my experience and I enjoyed this game a lot.

You have heard of all the terrible aspects of this game already. The performance and graphical fidelity are terrible, the gyms don't scale, etc. In spite of all that, I genuinely really liked my time with this game. The music and visual design of a lot of landscapes are simply magical and it captures the homely and immersive feel of Pokemon as a series to the fullest. Seriously, the ambient music is absolutely amazing, simply exploring the world and its diverse set of towns is made so much better by these fantastic compositions.

While this is applicable to every zone in the entire game, Area Zero is a prime example and an extremely memorable one at that. Genuinely very innovative mission for Pokemon as a series and I really did find it to be a great time. From the Paradox Mons to the bizarre and open ended mission design, all on top of the aforementioned music, it just made for something more creative than nearly any other Pokemon games have to offer.

The new mons in this game are also just GREAT. Scovillain, all the starters, arboliva, armarouge, gholdengo and so many more are unique from head to toe. Fantastic visual designs to unique movesets and abilities as well as new methods of obtaining and evolving pokemon are where all the merit lies in the new dex for Paldea.

Story wise, it is certainly Pokemon, but it genuinely has far more heart than nearly any other generation. Is it ridiculously corny at times? Absolutely, which is part of the charm in my eyes. Team Star, Arven's dog and the main tale of rivalry between you and Nemona are all just very hearty tales and aren't as soulless as some other Pokemon titles.

This game has glaring issues that Gamefreak are completely capable of fixing, so to a certain extent I understand the hate. At the same time, however, people fail to recognise that these games have a lot of merit going for them and should be credited for what they do well. It certainly isn't a masterpiece by any means but it was an extremely fun and immersive Pokemon experience for me and there are many things it should be lauded for.

I really don’t want to hate a game just because the graphics are bad. Luckily, the game is unplayable too. This game is just embarrassing. Really. I want to spend more time in the game because I recognize that the gameplay is solid, but it’s genuinely keeping me from going back to it. The constant low frame rate of 5-10 fps on top of the awful geometry just disappearing all the time really takes you out of the game. It really sucks. I can see the potential of the game because of what new it brings to the series. I know that I would’ve had a great time completing my Pokédex and shiny hunting, but as soon as I was done with the game it just felt like a relief. I hate playing this game, and that’s the worst a game can be to me.

Pokemon Scarlet has one of the worst performance experiences I have ever encountered in my whole game career. I expected from this game that they would've upgraded from Legend Arceus which was a very good game and cool new concept but sadly that wasn't the case. Storywise it felt a bit underwhelming but the Arven storyline and Area Zero was pretty cool. The end fight also felt like the Maruki fight from Persona 5R.
Conclusion, if you are a big BIG fan of pokemon I would recommend it but otherwise I wouldn't recommend.

I've always considered myself unconvinced that the mainline Pokemon series was best suited for 3D.

Sure, it was very cool as a teenager to see the jump to 3D with 2013’s Pokemon X and Pokemon Y, with the crisp and clean visuals on the Nintendo 3DS showcasing the series’ future for the first time. Given that the system’s predecessor famously struggled with even simple 3D games, it can not be overstated that the next-gen leap to Kalos was impressive and alluring for many, including myself.

As the years progressed however, the honeymoon period with Pokemon’s 3D era definitely faded. 2014’s Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire were above average remakes of the series’ third generation, but lacked a true reason to upgrade over the originals, which were only just over ten years old at that point.

2016’s Sun and Moon were another step forward in many respects, but the emphasis on younger players and a more cinematic story that often took control out of your hands for ten minutes or more held back a creative new region and excellent soundtrack. 2019’s Sword and Shield, which I reviewed back in 2020, was a small step forward in many ways for the franchise, but was held back by some questionable game design choices and, in hindsight, an uninteresting story.

Meanwhile, throughout all of that, the visuals had only evolved in small steps since 2013, with many of the Pokemon models only being upscaled to 3D.

A resilient Game Freak then struck gold with 2022’s Pokemon: Legends Arceus. A fantastic open-world style game with an engaging story and fun exploration was a Breath of the Wild breath of fresh air. That said, the adjustments to the battle experiences were major rather than minor (somewhat more reminiscent of Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth than mainline Pokemon at times), and I found myself struggling to adjust away from a system that I didn’t think needed fixing. It was a truly great game, but I felt a little bit left behind in the hype, and I’d be lying if I said it was truly for me. Perhaps another playthrough will adjust my feelings on it - who knows.

Furthering my mixed feelings on the modern era was the release of 2021’s Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, developed by ILCA, a secondary team hired by The Pokemon Company International to manage the remake while Game Freak was busy with Legends: Arceus and Scarlet/Violet. Shining Pearl, the version I played, was a truly underwhelming experience that highlighted the issues with Sinnoh rather than fixing them. The lack of co-op gameplay in the postgame was disappointing, as was the remixed contest design. The new underground gameplay, which was featured massively in the game’s marketing, featured some interesting ideas but removed all motivation to make secret bases - the best underground feature from the original games. Meanwhile, much of the game looked worse than the DS originals, with underwhelming textures and flat colours. The soundtrack was extremely flat-sounding and uninspired, and the DS Sounds option thrown into the game was locked to postgame - no matter, as it sounds tinny and thin compared to the game’s OST on iTunes.

So you may forgive me, then, when Pokemon Scarlet and Violet were released mere months after Legends: Arceus, I was less so cautiously optimistic and more so cautious - truthfully, maybe cautiously pessimistic. Attention was given to the game’s uninspired visuals and horrendous framerate, both of which turned me off so much in my first session with the game that I put it back down for almost half a year.

When a Pokemon mood comes for you though, you want to play Pokemon - and to borrow a phrase I should’ve remembered from my Sword and Shield review - I should’ve remembered that “Game Freak is pretty good at this whole video game thing.”

Let’s start with the criticisms I have, because as the star rating suggests, it’s a shorter list. The game is not pretty, and the game is not stable.

The overworlds are pretty generic and bland feeling, with very little of the personality from previous routes returning. You won’t find nugget bridge, you won’t find biker roads, and you won’t find victory road. The winter area is a winter area. The desert area is a desert area. Nothing is straight-up bad about their design, and it’s easy to get immersed in them, but they’re still a step back from the bright, colourful routes in Sword and Shield or Sun and Moon. Pokemon appear in the overworld, and they mostly act natural, but sometimes they get stuck or disappear based on the camera angle. There’s an annoying amount of pop-in.

The towns are also pretty forgettable, with the exceptions being the main school town of Mezagoza and the big towns of Cascarrafa and Levincia. Towards the start of the game, you’re told that Paldea has three cities, and those are the areas with the most detail and care. Nothing’s as memorable as the gorgeous Ballonlea from last generation.

The framerate and performance stinks. While Sword and Shield mostly ran well aside from the wild area, Scarlet and Violet really struggle in every way performance-wise. It’s never consistent, dips frequently, and it genuinely takes time to get your eyes used to it.

Those sound like big asterisks for a five-star rating - and honestly, they are. But more honestly? It’s hard to dock points off the star rating when none of those issues really matter to me anymore.

Scarlet and Violet are easy to get lost in. They’re incredibly immersive, and they are easily, easily the closest to my childhood visions of a 3D Pokemon world that Game Freak has ever achieved. The Pokemon feel alive, and even with all the negatives I’ve stated about the world design, it feels genuine and authentic as a region. Exploration on Koraidon, my ride Pokemon, was exceptionally natural-feeling and addicting. Whether you’re battling traditionally or using the “let’s go” feature to auto-battle, it’s rewarding to relax and level up your Pokemon.

The game features two large campaigns and a small campaign, a surprisingly meaty amount of content compared to the rest of the series’ 3D era. The first one is a traditional gym quest, adjusted to work in an open-world game. Dynamic level-scaling would’ve been nice so you can truly go anywhere in any order, but it’s ultimately not necessary and the game’s map does guide you on a general order to complete the gyms in. The gym challenges return in a similar fashion to Sword and Shield’s, but feel more thought out and interesting.

The second campaign features the game’s antagonistic Team Star, and it’s the game’s absolute highlight campaign. It’s the most challenging, and it genuinely could have been the main part of the game without me complaining. The third campaign, featuring the “Titan Pokemon,” is more linear and the least challenging, especially if you completed it as the final one as I did - it also unlocks upgrades for your ride Pokemon. I recommend completing it last, as limiting your options to travel fast within the region helps you appreciate it more.

The story of the game is, without hesitation, my favourite Pokemon story to date. The writers mix in humour with genuinely heartfelt moments, and the characters are extremely memorable and well-designed. Following completion of the three main campaigns, the final chapter unlocks and makes for the best hour of Pokemon gameplay to date - avoid spoilers for it if you can. It’s all genuinely really special stuff.

Game Freak has also listened to feedback on lengthy tutorials and hands-off story elements - thankfully, both are kept to a relative minimum here.

Training and maintaining your Pokemon team is seamless in this game, and the best way yet to build your trainer’s collection. While not every Pokemon is featured in Paldea, the compatibility with Pokemon Home should allow most to build their teams in a way that suits them. Mints, hyper training, and breeding return as options for big fans of the series to create competitive teams, and they’re all welcome choices.

Difficulty-wise, I found the game fairly unchallenging. The Team Star bosses are the highlight of the game difficulty-wise, and they all give a good battle. I found the gyms somewhat less challenging than an average Pokemon playthrough, and I found the Titan Pokemon very weak - although I did leave them until last. The Titan Pokemon were most in need of dynamic level scaling. The Elite Four, returning in full for the first time since X and Y, were somewhat more difficult than average, but the Paldean Top Champion was far from the toughest in the series.

Your rival, Nemona, gives a series of challenging battles through the game. Everything feels more fun and engaging than the previous generation, but a little less tough. The story and exploration makes up for this, but you’ll probably want to look online for the biggest challenge. The postgame tournaments return from Galar, but are better for training up new team members than they are for returning with your champion team.

For the more casual audience, the individual Pokemon are the highlight of the game visually, as the majority of them have been given new textures and animations. They look really great, although it’s still fairly unflattering in general compared to Sword and Shield.

Some additional notes: Trainer customization returns, although that too takes a step back compared to the previous generation...The new era of Pokemon designs is as sharp as expected, although the roster feels a little small...The soundtrack is one of the stronger ones in Pokemon, with some great overworld tracks and battle songs. It’s not as great as Hoenn’s or Alola’s tunes, but it’s toward the upper tier of Pokemon soundtracks.

When Pokemon Sword and Shield released, a lot of expectation was placed on it to be the Pokemon version of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Super Mario Odyssey. Although a fairly good game, it decidedly was not.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are a lot closer - a game that features the best of the series in many ways, from story to exploration to immersiveness. Casual fans should enjoy the story a lot and find a team to enjoy. Big fans will really love the ability to build a competitive team and immerse themselves in the world - and they most likely won’t dislike the story - for the first time in a while.

The story and the addictive nature of the gameplay has thoroughly impressed me - Game Freak’s definitely still the team to put in charge of this franchise. In addition, this is the first generation where I feel that the switch to 3D is the right thing for the franchise.

Well done, team.

Obviously gonna jump in my bitching about preformance, god this game has issues with that. Ok, done bitching onto gameplay. For Pokémon, nothing revolutionary being done here. New gimmick for the reigion, great, to top it off you can throw your balls anddddd thats all. Raids are bugged and damn near impossible for you to do on your own so the many events that pass as of recently are basically unable to be touched unless you have online. Skill issue or not I just don't fw it. Story wise though, ok this is on the better end and the only thing keeping my opinion afloat. 3 split objectives, all are stife. Be the champ, collect some herbs, beat some leaders. Conjoin them big story event blah blah blah. It's good, except for the multiple champs thing. Why is Nemona the same rank as me, every reigion has the honor of one champ what kind of fuckass disgraceful system is this⁉️

It's perplexing the standards that we set on certain games while we give lee way to others. If this was something Bethesda made, the glitches, frame rate issues, and general problems most people encounter with extended play or playing with friends would be considered endearing. Because the franchise itself is one of the biggest in the entire world, I understand there is a certain problem with them consistently feeling like they under perform. I am not trying to cast aside the problems of performance this game had at launch and further beyond it's extended life. I am however saying, it doesn't really effect your actual experience with the game.

Pokemon Scarlet is genuinely one of the best Pokemon games I have played, and I say that whole heartily. The story beats it sets are great, the amount of characters they introduce are interesting, the structure of how they set up each quest is more than we've ever really gotten. I can't express enough that what Pokemon Scarlet gave us is what I want them to improve on and give us more. Like I know this game was sold as THE open world pokemon game, but the actual meat and potatoes of this game is setting up your own adventure. You have 3 objectives for the main campaign, and each one has you interacting with different characters and giving you a different experience to go thru. Not only does this help shake up the monotonous gameplay that Pokemon has gone thru, but it also empathizes more places compared to just towns of the previous games in the series. The game makes me feel like I am actually on an adventure rather than knocking off places on a list. Despite how empty the overworld can be, the actual towns and characters feel alive. The biomes feel fresh and populated with pokemon, and often there is enough in any given area to make it feel like that's why a pokemon would live there. On top of that the music and sounds are all consistently in place and help build the atmosphere. While pokemon certainly hasn't had a lot of misses, Scarlet's soundtrack is absolutely brimming with a lot of quiet hits.

As much as I want to continue to praise Scarlet / Violet, particularly their efforts into making pokemon better in the competitive format, what we really need to discuss is the failings of Scarlet / Violet. As mentioned before the graphics of this game can get a bit wonky. The level scaling in this game is non-exist despite being open world. The uniform selection is absolutely abysmal compared to previous games. The game does have a problem with freezing if you played it for far too long, or will encounter more bugs the more you play it. Aside from a few set pieces, you really aren't allowed to go in anywhere aside the school and gyms. The game has noticeable frame rate drops when loading the map, or if it's loading too many things at once. And that's kind of the majority of problems Scarlet has. I'm not even saying that these aren't problems that pokemon needs to work with, absolutely they do, there really is little reason aside from time constraints that this stuff shoudn't have been fixed. Ya, a lot of this is cosmic too or only shows up briefly, but I can see how that would break immersion for a lot of people. Do i think these problems ruin the game? No, not really, especially if you plan for some of these before hand, but that's also the problem. Unless you know when going in, these types of problems would absolutely deter people from experiencing this game.


Bottomline, Scarlet is still a bit messy, but a lot of that mess can be ignored for the vast improvements they had with it's mechanics, campaign, and character writing. Story wise this is one of the strongest Pokemon games out there. Difficulty wise the game will at least keep you on your toes every now and then. And for everything else, Pokemon Scarlet shows promise in how we are getting our pokemon now. If this trend continues, and we start getting more improvements in performance and higher end graphics than even those that can't ignore these cosmic issues would be singing a different tune. But from me, to you, I absolutely think this is one of the best Pokemon games we got in a while, so much so that it feels like a breathe of fresh air compared to the fart stain that was Pokemon Sword and Shield.

This game is a great game with new and innovative ideas held back by greedy requirements having to be met by corporations and restrictions placed upon it by Nintendo's hardware. Going into this game, be prepared to remain anywhere from 15fps to 30fps on a good day. The pokemon concepts in this game were cute, but not standout, and I actually prefer the previous gens new mons. The music is great and never outstanding at any point, and the new terastilization concept is cute but meaningless in the end other than the type change, which cannot really be taken advantage of until the post game. Honestly I felt this game was polarizing, because I enjoyed it due to it simply being pokemon, and sometimes I felt there were many poor decisions made, such as no level scaling or proper guide map on the overworld. Being able to tackle what you want when you want is great... until you realize that nothing is scaled to your level, meaning if you jump into gym 4 at some point you may be heavily over leveled or under leveled and sweep the match. I thought it silly that the game allows you to do anything, as it does not really. I would prefer if the game is still formulaic, and has a pattern of Gym, titan, star battle, gym, titan, star battle, to keep you at pace with the game. It is not fun to accidentally stumble upon a team star match, and get through 15 min of gameplay only to have a boss being 15 levels over yours and sweep your team. On the other hand, area zero was great, the conclusions to all three of the branches of the story were pretty touching, and the titan bosses were a great concept entirely! It was fun to see massive Pokémon taking over the overworld. The concept of ancient pokemon and the time machine was great too, with the new paldean versions of pokemon being pretty great. Koraidon is a much better legendary than the legendary dogs from the previous gen, and raid battles were a good time. Ultimately, its a great pokemon game, that is a decent game in general, held back by the lack of quality or polish placed in this game. Popins and screen tears are extremely common. I look forward to the dlc.