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.