QS stands for “Quickshot”, a series of short form review/preview/opinion articles.
(All photos in this article, save for the Cover Photo, are taken directly as snapshots from my own playthrough.)
After a rather considerable amount of playtime, I have finally brought my journey with Pokémon Scarlet to a close (more or less, as there’s plenty of optional content I can still dive into).
Now, I’ve already done a QS article about this game before, so why do a part two? Well, that’s a two-part answer. Firstly, there’s so much content jammed into the DLC (which I hadn’t played at the time I wrote the last article), and it’s worth exploring in more detail. Secondly, I wanted to expand further on some of my past comments, and come to a slightly startling conclusion!
Let’s get into it!
First, let’s get caught back up to speed. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet take place in the Paldea region, and the main game focuses around trying to best the gyms and become the champion, trying to oust the delinquent rival team, and unravelling the mystery of the massive crater in the center of the region, Area Zero. It’s great fun, and an incredible journey all on its own.
But, like most Pokémon games, the adventure does not end when you hit the credits. The world continues moving forward, and your progress in the plot is saved. As in, you’re the champion, you conquered Area Zero, and you’re now living out your life to the fullest. There’s plenty of post-game content to sink your teeth into included right on the disc, but for those aching for more, that’s where the DLC comes in.
The DLC is split into two (kinda three) parts, and is collectively known as the Hidden Treasure of Area Zero. The first part is the Teal Mask, and the second part is the Indigo Disk (and the much-smaller third part epilogue is called Mochi Madness). These parts are played sequentially, and tell one big interconnected story that stands on its own from the main quest, while also tying into Paldea and its quirky cast of characters quite beautifully.
See, you can never exactly be sure how a DLC addition to a game will turn out. Some games get overpriced DLC that gouges you of money and adds nothing of substance. Some games get stellar DLC that is sadly completed in the blink of an eye, barely taking much time commitment at all. Other games rarely produced truly outstanding DLC that elevates and heightens the experience of the total package.
Scarlet and Violet are one such game. In fact, I’d genuinely go so far as to say that this DLC is one of the best I’ve experienced in any video game. I cannot stress enough how much incredibly high-quality content is included in this bundle, and a journey through Scarlet and Violet is truly not complete without experiencing it for yourself. It’s 100% worth the purchase.
I’ll briefly summarize the breadth of content of the DLC, then get into my thoughts a bit more.
In the Teal Mask, you journey to the land of Kitakami to attend a festival, and end up having to help an unfairly maligned Pokémon fight off the terrible trio of beasties who framed it for foul deeds years ago. While there, you meet up with two students on a home visit for the same festival, Carmine and Kieran. Carmine’s icy-exterior takes awhile to melt through, but eager Kieran quickly becomes a close friend…until things start getting a bit tense.
This DLC introduces a brand-new map to explore set in Kitakami, which is packed with secret caves and Japanese-countryside-inspired vistas not seen anywhere else in the Pokémon universe. As to be expected, there’s also trainers galore, a whole new slew of returning Pokémon (and a few freshly-introduced faces) to catch, a multiplayer balloon-popping minigame, and expanded customization options for your player avatar’s appearance and photo-mode filters.
The characters and story are the biggest highlight of the Teal Mask expansion. Carmine and Kieran are both exceptional additions to the world of Pokémon, and the way their character arcs ties into the central plot of the mysterious Ogerpon is very fun to watch play out. Carmine is a constant source of impeccably hilarious quotes, and Kieran’s descent from a happy friend to a jealousy-fueled rival is strikingly original for this long-running franchise. Ogerpon is also a brilliantly memorable legendary ‘mon to frame the story around.
In the Indigo Disk, you’ve been selected to join an exchange student program and visit the prestigious Blueberry Academy, wherein you enroll in their BB League and try to prove your Pokémon-battling-prowess against the best of the best. This is the same school that Carmine and Kieran attend, so you’re wrapped back up with them alongside a slew of other students and faculty. Kieran’s gone on a bit of a power trip, and it’s up to you to snap him out of it and also tackle the deeper mysteries of Area Zero once and for all.
Like the previous expansion, this one also introduces an even bigger all new map to explore. Thematically it treads similar ground, but there’s still no shortage of crazy locales and secrets around every corner. Several hundred more Pokémon from across the series are tossed into the mix, and every legendary ‘mon ever becomes capturable after the credits roll. There’s a new side-quest system that encourages completing objectives for points, even more player customization options, and a front-and-center double-battle system to shake up the standard formula.
Deserving special attention is the League Club Room, wherein you can engage in a truly baffling amount of refreshingly exciting optional content. There’s a few minor things, like re-decorating the room, changing your Pokéball throwing style, and using a luck-based item generator to hope for rare goodies. But then there’s the special coach system, which lets you invite characters from the base game into the DLC! All your old friends and rivals can come and be rematched with harder teams, wherein you’ll receive bonus exclusive rewards the more times you invite someone. Characters can even be invited in groups of two, with some pairings unlocking extra dialogue or unique scenes! It’s an amazing amount of content!
The story and characters are good in this DLC, for sure. Carmine is still a gem, and the conclusion of Kieran’s arc is a joy to witness. Newcomer Drayton is also a highlight, and by golly he might even be more charming and funny than Carmine. But, for sure, the highlight of this DLC is the gameplay. The side-quest system really keeps things addicting, and the double battles throughout the map are a nice change of pace. It’s also hard. Like, genuinely difficult. Many of these trainers are using full teams with high-end movesets and tricky patterns. A few are even based off of actual real-world Pokémon tournament winners!
And finally, in the Mochi Madness epilogue, your old friends from the base game and your new pals from the DLC come together to try and figure out the cause behind a strange disturbance in Kitakami that sees innocent townsfolk possessed by an evil dancing spirit! Your friends from the base game (Nemona, Arven, and Penny) collide with your new friends (Carmine and Kieran), and crazy antics ensue as one-by-one your group falls victim to the dance-ghost! There’s a bit of intrigue, a few battles, and then a new legendary ‘mon for your collection!
It’s silly, and it’s pretty short (clocking in at about an hour), but it’s still a very fun experience more than worth it for the character interactions alone. Also, the surprisingly catchy music that plays when someone falls under the thrall of the dance-inducing Pokémon! It’s a sweet little way to end off Pokémon Scarlet and Violet…but also, in a way, a bit bittersweet.
Why is it bittersweet? Well…it’s because I didn’t want this journey to end.
For the first time in the history of Pokémon, a mainline game in this franchise truly and completely feels like going on an adventure in a world of pocket monsters, and becoming the very best like no one ever was. If you carefully remove your nostalgia goggles, the OG Pokémon games on Gameboy are quite quaint. It’s funny to think of how much adoration and love comes from the way your child mind filled in the gaps that the technology of the time couldn’t keep up with.
Every Pokémon game is fun, truly, but for literal decades the creators of this mega-hit-franchise have refused to grow and adapt in meaningful ways. I mean, we didn’t even get our first true 3D entry until 2013’s X and Y. And even that game played and felt like any other entry, just with 3D models. For almost the entirety of its lifetime, Pokémon has, at some base level, failed to live up to the promise of what living in a world of Pokémon could really be like.
And while I’m not saying that Scarlet and Violet are perfect, I am saying that they are easily the closest we’ve ever gotten to realizing that dream. The creator’s took some big swings with this entry (a huge focus on characters on a journey, the open world, free-roaming Pokémon, consistent focus on stories and arcs about growth, etc.) and every single one of those risks has paid off. If future Pokémon games do not continue in a fashion like this, I think we’ll really end up regressing.
Which is why (and I am utterly shocked to find myself admitting this), Scarlet and Violet have now dethroned Black 2 and White 2 as my favorite games in the entire series.
I will always love Black 2 and White 2, but I just can’t ignore how magical Scarlet and Violet are. How much fun they are around every corner, how absolutely bursting with content they are. How they really do make you feel like a kid again, exploring the world of Pokémon in an immersive manner we’ve never before achieved. And I cannot stress enough how engaging the cast of characters is. It’s been a long time since I’ve been this attached to a game’s cast.
I can’t ignore the graphical missteps or the performance issues. It’d be disingenuous to pretend they don’t exist. I couldn’t, in good conscious, declare these games perfect. But, now that I’ve completed the entire full-package that Scarlet and Violet have to offer, I’m bumping up my initial review score and proudly declaring them as my favorite games in the entire series. You seriously need to check them out if you have a Switch!
9.5/10
The Contrarian Corner 