A great Pokemon game that puts an end to the performance struggles

Pokemon scarlet and violet It’s the most ambitious and forward-looking Pokemon game to date, but it suffers from some disappointing graphics and technical features. The new Pokemon games mark a transition into the ninth generation of gaming in the franchise and the first to truly feature an open world that can be explored however the player desires. It continues the nearly decade-long evolution of Game Freak’s Pokemon games, with each group of games deviating increasingly from the age-old formula set by the original. Pokémon red and green gaming for 25 years. but while Pokemon scarlet and violet Really surprising as a Pokemon game, it struggles to meet even the relatively basic graphical standards of modern video games.

located in Paldea district, Pokemon scarlet and violet It opens similarly to previous Pokémon games where the player meets a rival character and receives their partner’s Pokémon. However, within an hour or two of starting pokemon scarlet and violet, Players are unlocked on Paldea with a unique Ride Pokemon and can explore the area at their leisure. There are three unique “stories” for players to explore initially, with encounters with bosses and/or Pokémon gyms representing all 18 different types of Pokémon. While players are repeatedly reminded that this is an open world with no set path, players quickly discover that some areas are safe for low-level teams of Pokémon while others are meant to be dealt with at higher levels. There’s certainly something players will have to do with the various challenges in the Paldea region, but they’re not quite as on the rails as they were in previous Pokemon games.

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One of my biggest criticisms of Pokemon Legends: ArceusAnd the The first game to be played with a more open Pokémon world, is how empty Hisui’s area felt compared to other Pokémon games. There was little to do Pokemon Legends: Arceus Outside the basic gameplay loop to sneak in and either catch or fight wild Pokemon. While Pokemon Scarlett and Violet The world is still disappointingly missing the types of side quests and rabbit holes to explore in other action-packed open-world games, and that’s made up for by the plethora of new Pokemon to find and an array of trainers to battle. I forgot how much I enjoyed the excitement of discovering a new generation of Pokémon and figuring out how to fill every hole in the Pokedex while battling trainers all over the area.

The new Terastallizing gimmick is an interesting twist as well, though it seems surprisingly underutilized in the game. Terra’s raids don’t inspire the same level of awe as Gigantamax’s pokemon sword and shield, And the game’s NPC trainers are disappointingly easy when they take on team Pokémon of similar levels. Whitney’s Miltank is sorely lacking in the Paldea region, as there are very few battles that will test the strength of a Pokemon team.

The new Pokemon additions may be divisive (every generation of Pokemon seems to be subject to scrutiny and found smug by fans, only to be appreciated later) but I personally loved how weird and weird these additions were. There is a whimsy and quirkiness to this generation of Pokemon that was fun, and it was honestly a struggle to decide which Pokemon to put on my “ultimate” team. There have been very few missteps with this generation of Pokemon designs, and I hope they continue that streak of originality as they add more Pokemon over the next few years. In addition, the many Pokémon should have a positive impact on the ever-growing competitive Pokémon scene that seems ready to take off and enter the mainstream. I will say that it has never been easier to build a legitimate team of competitive Pokemon even if breeding Pokemon via eggs has gotten remarkably tedious.

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There is also an amazing amount of heart found in Pokemon Scarlett and Violet Basic story. Two of the game’s first three stories have shockingly poignant moments helped by the character models really show emotion and personality. It’s nice to have characters who show more than two emotions and a player character who shows personality more than a dead smile while they’re facing tragedy or misfortune. I’ve been surprised more than once by how…the sad parts of the story were with characters actually reacting to extreme events the way people should.

Game Freak has also shown willingness to make more quality-of-life improvements that take the tedium out of Pokemon. Some players might enjoy the grind of slowly leveling up their Pokémon and finding the only NPC who can recover lost Pokémon moves, but I liked how the “Let’s Go” mode allows Pokémon to quickly gain XP as the player crosses large distances and allows players to instantly switch out moves without hesitation . The only thing I didn’t like about the mods for the Pokemon systems was the new “X” menu, which felt illogical and unintuitive compared to Pokemon Sword and Shield And it was missing several key options that were instead tucked away in forgettable shortcut buttons.

Where the game stumbles and often fails is in the graphics, which is disappointing even for a Pokemon game. To be clear – I don’t think many people play Pokemon looking to be impressed by the smooth graphics or grandiose scenery. But there are times when a game struggles to keep up with its ambition. The game slows to a crawl at times when there are too many Pokemon on the screen (usually when paired with landscapes with water effects) and the game suffers from a disappointing popup issue. I didn’t mind the popup Pokemon Sword and Shield or Pokemon Legends: Arceus Equally, however, players can often run into pop-ups when riding on their Pokemon, leading to impromptu encounters when the player actually collides with a Pokemon that appeared a fraction of a second earlier. Ride Pokemon’s controls are as disappointing as they were in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, And there was also a strange permanent glitch in which Ride Pokemon virtually disappeared from the screen, leaving players to float on top of water or land for a few seconds.

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(photo: Pokemon)

The game also struggled when having Pokemon battles on cliffs, near walls, or near any kind of overworld scenery. It almost made me wish I could go back to the separate overworld map and encounter screens. It is difficult to say whether Pokemon scarlet and violet Let down by the Nintendo Switch’s technical limitations or if Game Freak just failed to bring a game up to par with its peers, but the rhetoric surrounding Game Freak’s inability to create a graphically mediocre game will continue for at least a few more years. Since I’ve been playing on a year-old Nintendo Switch OLED and the controller is docked for most of my gameplay, I feel like the problems are more at Game Freak’s feet than Nintendo’s, though I’d let the programmers and engineers focus more on people giving their opinions with more authority.

Compared to other modern open world games, even those released on Nintendo Switch years ago, Pokemon scarlet and violet Something disappointing especially in the graphics department. But for better or worse, Pokemon games are rarely judged by their massive fanbase against anything that isn’t a Pokemon game. pokemon game, Pokemon scarlet and violet is an absolute delight with a deeper than usual story, lots of fantastically designed Pokemon, and continuous quality of life improvements that make the Pokemon experience less boring without sacrificing any core parts. Pokemon fans will love it pokemon scarlet and violet, Even casual players or die-hard Pokemon fans will enjoy the appeal of “catch them all” provided they don’t put a premium on graphics.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Pokemon Scarlett and Violet go on sale November 18th for Nintendo Switch. Reviewed on Nintendo Switch OLED with a review code provided by the publisher.

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