(I had a longer article planned for this week, but its length combined with less writing time than I would’ve liked have seen it pushed to next week. In lieu of it, enjoy this shorter look into the Pokémon world instead!)
I was late to the Pokémon party (not playing my first mainline game until they’d already started the 4th generation), but I religiously watched the shows and movies as a kid, and played hours of Pokémon Stadium and Pokémon Snap. Suffice to say, but I’m still a pretty big fan of the series, even if I don’t chomp at the bit for each new installment. Instead, I tend to wait a bit.
So wait I did, and now a year after their release (and with both post-game DLCs launched), I finally started digging into Pokémon Scarlet and Violet (specifically, Scarlet).
And it’s really fun?
See, if you were around online back when Scarlet and Violet first launched, you’d be forgiven for assuming that these games were, in actuality, an affront to all of man-kind. It seemed as if you couldn’t go a minute scrolling on Reddit without bumping into more and more hate-posts about the game. People screaming about the performance issues, the crashes, the graphical glitches, and the lag. Commenters raging about the lack of innovation in the Pokémon formula. And the inevitable storm of people crying over how the game still earned like a bajillion dollars.
Obviously, some of those complaints were valid. The game did launch in an extremely buggy and un-optimized state, and even a dozen patches later, some of those issues still persist. The game is, in some regards, a re-tread of the tried-and-true Pokémon formula that has been chugging along since the very first installment. And the games did earn a bajillion dollars, and there’s reason to believe that Game Freak (the developers of Pokémon) won’t learn their lesson and improve before the next entry.
These issues are, as I said, valid to an extent. It’s reasonable enough to expect a $60 video game to function properly without crashes, bugs, and glitches. It’s also a bit embarrassing how poor Scarlet and Violet can look at times, given the Switch is home to games like Xenoblade Chronicles 3 that look and run utterly stellar on the Switch’s older hardware. And, again, it’s not hard to see why passionate fans might be upset at the sales figures and think that Game Freak won’t learn their proper lessons (and to be a bit cynical, they probably won’t).
And yet, underneath all of that, why did no one tell me that Scarlet and Violet are still fundamentally super-fun games, and arguably the most entertaining the series has been since Black 2 and White 2?!?
The biggest reason for this outpouring of fun and (in sharp contrast to all those complaints I heard about online) a surprising amount of freshness is owed to the single largest change in this game: the open world.
Open worlds may be all the rage now, but the Pokémon series has never truly embraced the concept until now. From the moment you complete the roughly two-to-three hour prologue (exploring the initial area, getting through all the introductory cutscenes and tutorials, and visiting the school that you are a student of), the entire vast world of the Paldea Region is open for you to explore at your leisure.
And I mean that as literally as possible.
You can go anywhere you want right as you’re let out of school (in-universe this is seen as a big self-discovery field trip of sorts), from the tallest mountain peaks to the frigid outskirts to the wide ocean. You can do the gyms in whatever order you want, take down the meddlesome members of Team Star in whatever order you want, and solve the mystery of the powerful Titan Pokémon in whatever order you want. All the freedom is in your hands.
Yeah, like most open world games, there’s areas you are intended to go to first and areas you’re intended to save for later. But nothing (save leveling up your favorite ‘mons) is actually stopping you from forging your own path through the world…and boy is it a LARGE world. I’m over 15 hours into the game, and I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of the nooks and crannies stuffed with secret items and Pokémon on this island region!
While not quite as exquisitely designed as something like Xenoblade Chronicles X or Tears of the Kingdom, there’s a real sense of purpose in the structure of the open world’s geography. None of it feels like lazy copy-paste work, because around each corner there’s a new structure, geological formation, or unique assortment of Pokémon and items to find. It’s super addicting to just run around and explore and collect stuff, which is a huge boon to all good open world games.
The past few Pokémon games played around with some of the ideas Scarlet and Violet would refine, but it’s only now that the long-held dreams of a fully-fleshed Pokémon world truly feel realized. There are no wild encounters, as Pokémon instead wander the grassy plains and open waters visibly on the map, interacting with each other and the environment in sensible and creative ways. This pulls some amazing double-duty, as it cuts back on the tedium of unwanted battles while heightening immersion.
Cities also benefit hugely from this, as they are packed to the brim with wandering NPCs with fluff dialogue, some stationary and some walking around the streets and shopping stalls. Yes, the prevalence of NPCs leads to some slowdown in the larger cities, but I’ll take a few frame drops when it equals an impeccable level of exploration and immersion, making each city feel visually and mechanically distinct and fun to discover. Random NPCs out in the world on their own journeys are also a joy to encounter.
The school setting isn’t just to act as a thinly-veiled justification for this open world journey, as you truly are a student and can explore the school, hang out with fellow students and teachers, and even take classes and bond with your professors. I know it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea to sit through the plethora of optional little lectures and lessons, but I found it a blast, a nice change of pace, and just a really neat bit of commitment and immersion (I sure am using that word a lot here).
Very broadly on the topic of teachers, we come to the characters themselves, who are another unexpected highlight. The Pokémon franchise is no stranger to memorable gym leaders and champions, but it’s not often that a game has this big of a cast size, and yet somehow almost everyone ends up with a unique and stand-out design and characterization. From the teachers, to the gym and elite four trainers, to the Team Star bosses, and especially your core group of friends, everyone is in top-form!
It helps that Scarlet and Violet have an above average story too, something Pokémon has historically struggled with. While it still won’t win any awards, the three separate storylines (Gym Challenge, Team Star, and Titan Pokémon) all have their own involved characters, defined arcs, and satisfying conclusions. Then, all three sync up together for the grand finale, with what might be some of the most unexpected plot twists and villain reveals in the franchise.
I won’t be the first to say that the new batch of Pokémon are my favorite generation ever designed (though there are some real highlights), but the vast swath of new and returning ‘mons is sure to include a lot of fan favorites. The number has climbed even higher now with the release of both DLC expansions. Trading is easier than ever, and there’s a lot of variety to be found with the new mechanic of certain ‘mons coming with unique secondary types (called Tera Types). The raid battles involving these Tera Types are a highlight of the gameplay loop for me.
It really just boils down to how fun these newest games are. They may be flawed, sure, but they never once stop being fun. And though I was being a bit cynical earlier, it’s equally as engaging to hope that Game Freak truly does learn the right lessons here, and improves upon this formula for the next entry. There’s the basis of the greatest Pokémon game ever created with Scarlet and Violet, and I really hope we get to see that dream come true next time!
9/10
The Contrarian Corner 