This is the prime example of why GameFreak needs more competent staff, more time, and more polish.
It runs badly, it's full of bugs, camera crops through terrain and hills mid battle, it stutters, models break all the time, framerate goes to shit on important moments, and a lot of the world just looks terrible. It's by far the worst Pokémon game in terms of performance and feels like they didn't even have a QA team working on this. To add insult to injury, Legends Arceus came out 9 months ago and was better in every aspect even if it looked a bit rough and the texture of characters' clothing was straight out of a PS1 game.
It's absolutely inexcusable that GF released this game in this state.
I'm aware Pokémon games are yearly, but 9 months is the shortest window I can remember, and I'm confident 3 more months of polishing and optimizing (outsourced if you had to) would've helped.
However, the actual content in this game is fantastic.
The soundtrack is phenomenal, a massive step-up from Sword and Shield's lackluster (in my opinion) tracks. Some of the endgame tracks remind me a lot of RSE, DPP and even XY music.
The characters are (mostly) fantastic as well. They're surprisingly well-written, and not just for a pokemon game. The gym leaders all have distinct personalities and approaches to why they're a gym leader, which not only makes them believable but it also makes them feel like more than just a person you have to beat.
The open-world structure also works surprisingly well, although not without its flaws.
You have three plotlines to do, those being Gyms+Elite Four, beating giant Pokemon to get a mystical item, and beating Team Star, this game's "villains".
You can do these in any order, meaning you can walk into a lv50 gym and die at lv10, and also beat a lv10 gym at lv60 because you left it for last. I would've personally preferred level scaling, but it didn't detract from my experience as I don't play these games for the "challenge".
After doing all three, you unlock the final plot of the game, related to the Legendary Pokemon and some things they tease during the other plots.
I enjoyed that area and section a lot, as well as the story and seeing how the characters reacted, but the frame drops were horrendous and left me disappointed that they released the game in this state. And then it crashed before the final battle, making me redo the whole thing again.
The optional + post-game content is also pretty nice. You get to take some boring classes that reward you by getting to know the teachers more, unlocking four new legendary (?) pokemon to hunt down, rebattling Gym Leaders and getting to know them better, and finally the Ace Tournament where you get to battle the teachers and then rebattle the Elite Four and the Champions.
It's more than what SwSh had, but that's not saying much. I enjoyed hunting the four pokemon of ruin and loved their designs and lore.
Overall, the content in the game is amazing and the best that Pokemon has had in years, but the game itself is riddled with bugs and until they're fixed (if they ever will), I cannot recommend it.
I would love to say "it's a step in the right direction" like I did with Arceus, but they've clearly regressed. I would love to say selling more than SwSh in 3days means they'll use the money to get more staff, but I have a feeling they won't.
I would LOVE to say "Pokémon is finally getting back to greatness" but I don't have any faith in the quality of these games anymore.
And it hurts that they don't seem to care as long as it makes money.
It runs badly, it's full of bugs, camera crops through terrain and hills mid battle, it stutters, models break all the time, framerate goes to shit on important moments, and a lot of the world just looks terrible. It's by far the worst Pokémon game in terms of performance and feels like they didn't even have a QA team working on this. To add insult to injury, Legends Arceus came out 9 months ago and was better in every aspect even if it looked a bit rough and the texture of characters' clothing was straight out of a PS1 game.
It's absolutely inexcusable that GF released this game in this state.
I'm aware Pokémon games are yearly, but 9 months is the shortest window I can remember, and I'm confident 3 more months of polishing and optimizing (outsourced if you had to) would've helped.
However, the actual content in this game is fantastic.
The soundtrack is phenomenal, a massive step-up from Sword and Shield's lackluster (in my opinion) tracks. Some of the endgame tracks remind me a lot of RSE, DPP and even XY music.
The characters are (mostly) fantastic as well. They're surprisingly well-written, and not just for a pokemon game. The gym leaders all have distinct personalities and approaches to why they're a gym leader, which not only makes them believable but it also makes them feel like more than just a person you have to beat.
The open-world structure also works surprisingly well, although not without its flaws.
You have three plotlines to do, those being Gyms+Elite Four, beating giant Pokemon to get a mystical item, and beating Team Star, this game's "villains".
You can do these in any order, meaning you can walk into a lv50 gym and die at lv10, and also beat a lv10 gym at lv60 because you left it for last. I would've personally preferred level scaling, but it didn't detract from my experience as I don't play these games for the "challenge".
After doing all three, you unlock the final plot of the game, related to the Legendary Pokemon and some things they tease during the other plots.
I enjoyed that area and section a lot, as well as the story and seeing how the characters reacted, but the frame drops were horrendous and left me disappointed that they released the game in this state. And then it crashed before the final battle, making me redo the whole thing again.
The optional + post-game content is also pretty nice. You get to take some boring classes that reward you by getting to know the teachers more, unlocking four new legendary (?) pokemon to hunt down, rebattling Gym Leaders and getting to know them better, and finally the Ace Tournament where you get to battle the teachers and then rebattle the Elite Four and the Champions.
It's more than what SwSh had, but that's not saying much. I enjoyed hunting the four pokemon of ruin and loved their designs and lore.
Overall, the content in the game is amazing and the best that Pokemon has had in years, but the game itself is riddled with bugs and until they're fixed (if they ever will), I cannot recommend it.
I would love to say "it's a step in the right direction" like I did with Arceus, but they've clearly regressed. I would love to say selling more than SwSh in 3days means they'll use the money to get more staff, but I have a feeling they won't.
I would LOVE to say "Pokémon is finally getting back to greatness" but I don't have any faith in the quality of these games anymore.
And it hurts that they don't seem to care as long as it makes money.