This review contains spoilers
Despite the messy launch...this has been the most fun main Pokemon game I've played in awhile. Could not stop playing it lol The new Pokemon are mostly good, the starters are all cute/cool and the story was a breath of fresh air. I felt invested even if some parts were more developed than others.
Arven's story is touching and he feels like he's the protag overall and your trainer is the support to make the story happen. End game plot is some of the best its been in the series for years and the soundtrack is good (Are Zero is top tier).
Arven, Penny and Nemona are decent characters too and the trainers designs in the game are great like most Pokemon games. I wish they had more time to interact with each other but them all coming along for the journey to Aera Zero was a nice experience. Had a feeling of actual friends on an adventure that was bittersweet. I also did not expect to like Koraidon so much and I'm glad I chose Scarlet since I feel the plot works best with it and the ancient paradox Pokemon.
Team Star was okay, not super appealing at first and the bosses needed more development and the gameplay is repetitive (take out Pokemon with quick battle in a few minutes, take out the big truck stage--rinse, lather and repeat) but they were WAY more interesting than Team Yell and had some plot relevance.
I do miss puzzles Pokemon main titles used to have to progress through areas. With open world gameplay that is mostly gone thought there are minimal things to do like fight trainers, collect items for legendary encounters. And of course catch Pokemon!
The game took a step backward from Arceus imo by taking away what streamlined Arceus' gameplay to make it more concise and fast and I have no clue why lol Pokemon games having accumulative features never happens and it's one of the major flaws of the series as a whole.
Customization returns for your trainer insert from skin color to clothes but like stepping backwards from gameplay they also did with customization. You can only wear variations of your school uniform with accessories now which makes sense but also feels so lackluster and lame compared to XY and SwSh's customization.
Speaking of trainer insert, I feel like there were ways to make the main character you play more interesting narratively but the game refuses to do so lol The pique interest everyone has for your trainer feels very contrived af. They have to be drawn to you just because the story needs everyone to want to be your friend. There are reasons but nothing special, nothing that feels earned but it's Pokemon so not expecting a grand narrative but it did seem strange.
I also think this was a missed opportunity to have varying ages for the MC since the school has a large age range (even old people go to Paldea's schools). I do get why that didn't happen since the allies are still kids but if the game had more time maybe they would age based on the choice? Who knows.
I also did not have game breaking issues so that helped. Occasional weird camera in battle but nothing else. I still think despite that it needed another year or two. I think main titles have released too quickly, never got to even sink my teeth into Arceus and this one dropped.
If it had more time this would've been the best title to date. Though it does suffer from poor graphic fidelity. This is not me looking for TLoU2 graphics but it needed to be more polished.
Overall, this game is fun af and the gameplay makes up for it's extreme short comings. It's stepping in right direction but I hope we do not see a main title for the next few years so the next one can be polished and possibly have voice acting? It's 2023, there is no excuse for it missing with a company as big as the Pokemon Company.
Arven's story is touching and he feels like he's the protag overall and your trainer is the support to make the story happen. End game plot is some of the best its been in the series for years and the soundtrack is good (Are Zero is top tier).
Arven, Penny and Nemona are decent characters too and the trainers designs in the game are great like most Pokemon games. I wish they had more time to interact with each other but them all coming along for the journey to Aera Zero was a nice experience. Had a feeling of actual friends on an adventure that was bittersweet. I also did not expect to like Koraidon so much and I'm glad I chose Scarlet since I feel the plot works best with it and the ancient paradox Pokemon.
Team Star was okay, not super appealing at first and the bosses needed more development and the gameplay is repetitive (take out Pokemon with quick battle in a few minutes, take out the big truck stage--rinse, lather and repeat) but they were WAY more interesting than Team Yell and had some plot relevance.
I do miss puzzles Pokemon main titles used to have to progress through areas. With open world gameplay that is mostly gone thought there are minimal things to do like fight trainers, collect items for legendary encounters. And of course catch Pokemon!
The game took a step backward from Arceus imo by taking away what streamlined Arceus' gameplay to make it more concise and fast and I have no clue why lol Pokemon games having accumulative features never happens and it's one of the major flaws of the series as a whole.
Customization returns for your trainer insert from skin color to clothes but like stepping backwards from gameplay they also did with customization. You can only wear variations of your school uniform with accessories now which makes sense but also feels so lackluster and lame compared to XY and SwSh's customization.
Speaking of trainer insert, I feel like there were ways to make the main character you play more interesting narratively but the game refuses to do so lol The pique interest everyone has for your trainer feels very contrived af. They have to be drawn to you just because the story needs everyone to want to be your friend. There are reasons but nothing special, nothing that feels earned but it's Pokemon so not expecting a grand narrative but it did seem strange.
I also think this was a missed opportunity to have varying ages for the MC since the school has a large age range (even old people go to Paldea's schools). I do get why that didn't happen since the allies are still kids but if the game had more time maybe they would age based on the choice? Who knows.
I also did not have game breaking issues so that helped. Occasional weird camera in battle but nothing else. I still think despite that it needed another year or two. I think main titles have released too quickly, never got to even sink my teeth into Arceus and this one dropped.
If it had more time this would've been the best title to date. Though it does suffer from poor graphic fidelity. This is not me looking for TLoU2 graphics but it needed to be more polished.
Overall, this game is fun af and the gameplay makes up for it's extreme short comings. It's stepping in right direction but I hope we do not see a main title for the next few years so the next one can be polished and possibly have voice acting? It's 2023, there is no excuse for it missing with a company as big as the Pokemon Company.