The sad part about Pokemon Scarlet & Violet is that the tradeoff for finally getting freedom in a Pokemon game is getting shackled back down by an abysmally unoptimized experience. This is the single worst optimized video game I’ve ever played, and that’s saying a lot because I own Fallout: New Vegas on PS3. The core gameplay is alright, though even playing through it is excruciating at times due to the choppiness. Game Freak pulls a first in the franchise by telling a story with some semblance of emotion towards the end, which is certainly a breath of fresh air (even if it is shallow). Overall, however, S&V are severely held back by performance issues that almost entirely wash away any positives.