The Pokemon Scarlet and Violet story finally comes to a close - barring a one-hour epilogue which I'm baffled as to why they'll be releasing as a limited-time event. But to tell the truth, there are a lot of baffling decisions with the Indigo Disk.
First, the story. The first half I think is great. Huge fan of the Terarium, loved battling and completing the trials of the Blueberry Elite Four, working my way up to the new and improved Kieran. The final Champion battle is probably one of my favourites in the franchise. Maybe we should just let Double Battles be the norm going forward?
The problem is everything after that. So far, Scarlet and Violet have masterfully developed the mystery of Area Zero. It's been fascinating watching the build-up, seeing the community theorize, and this DLC promised to answer all our questions while delivering a satisfying final chapter of this story.
I personally found it to be neither of those things. Even from a gameplay perspective, the return to Area Zero was a huge letdown for me. It is, in essence, a one-trick pony. In contrast to the base game's portion of Area Zero, it's a highly linear area with very little variety or new/interesting Pokemon to see, with few secrets to come back and discover.
I'm so mixed on how I feel about it. There was so much potential for more here. When you make the Teal Mask look like a more complete and fleshed-out story, you've gone majorly wrong. That said, a postgame cutscene that rewards a different title screen did help me come around a little. I really love that scene, and it does feel like a great book end to this tale.
As for the gameplay, I feel like I've put enough time into it now to get a feel for it. As I said, love the Terarium, along with all of its Unova references. Flying feels like the natural extent of our movement abilities, and it just feels good. Grinding BP is pretty fun in multiplayer. It's a real neat gameplay loop, and there is, surprisingly, a lot to do with these points. The Synchro Machine basically fixes my problems with Auto Battle, and makes it feel genuinely engaging.
However, the lack of a battle facility just feels like levels of incompetency that I can't fathom. A school that's described as having powerful trainers, with a club that mimics the Pokemon League, which reintroduces BP (though renamed as Blueberry Points), does NOT have a battle facility? Kinda absurd.
I have enjoyed my time with Indigo Disk, though. There's a ton of content and a lot of it makes me smile. If there's anything it does right, it's making me realize just how much I've loved this journey, very messy as it has been. Despite their problems, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, the Paldea Region as a whole, now holds a very special place in my heart.
First, the story. The first half I think is great. Huge fan of the Terarium, loved battling and completing the trials of the Blueberry Elite Four, working my way up to the new and improved Kieran. The final Champion battle is probably one of my favourites in the franchise. Maybe we should just let Double Battles be the norm going forward?
The problem is everything after that. So far, Scarlet and Violet have masterfully developed the mystery of Area Zero. It's been fascinating watching the build-up, seeing the community theorize, and this DLC promised to answer all our questions while delivering a satisfying final chapter of this story.
I personally found it to be neither of those things. Even from a gameplay perspective, the return to Area Zero was a huge letdown for me. It is, in essence, a one-trick pony. In contrast to the base game's portion of Area Zero, it's a highly linear area with very little variety or new/interesting Pokemon to see, with few secrets to come back and discover.
I'm so mixed on how I feel about it. There was so much potential for more here. When you make the Teal Mask look like a more complete and fleshed-out story, you've gone majorly wrong. That said, a postgame cutscene that rewards a different title screen did help me come around a little. I really love that scene, and it does feel like a great book end to this tale.
As for the gameplay, I feel like I've put enough time into it now to get a feel for it. As I said, love the Terarium, along with all of its Unova references. Flying feels like the natural extent of our movement abilities, and it just feels good. Grinding BP is pretty fun in multiplayer. It's a real neat gameplay loop, and there is, surprisingly, a lot to do with these points. The Synchro Machine basically fixes my problems with Auto Battle, and makes it feel genuinely engaging.
However, the lack of a battle facility just feels like levels of incompetency that I can't fathom. A school that's described as having powerful trainers, with a club that mimics the Pokemon League, which reintroduces BP (though renamed as Blueberry Points), does NOT have a battle facility? Kinda absurd.
I have enjoyed my time with Indigo Disk, though. There's a ton of content and a lot of it makes me smile. If there's anything it does right, it's making me realize just how much I've loved this journey, very messy as it has been. Despite their problems, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, the Paldea Region as a whole, now holds a very special place in my heart.