Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are the worst Pokémon games I’ve ever played from a technical standpoint. The world is ugly, with textures of such low quality that they ruin vistas and cities alike — and that’s if they manage to avoid popping in. The framerate tanks frequently, particularly when water is involved, but even something as simple as walking around a classroom can result in noticeable slowdown.
The camera often clips through the ground in battle. The animations of distant NPCs and Pokémon look as though they are in a stop-motion picture. Cutscenes take ages to load; sometimes, they even fail to load entirely.
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is a mess. And yet, despite all of the above, this is the most fun I’ve had with a mainline Pokémon game in years.
Set in Paldea, a land based off of the Iberian Peninsula, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet put you in the shoes of a student attending the Naranja/Uva Academy just as its annual Treasure Hunt gets underway. The Treasure Hunt is a self-study lesson where students can explore the entire region in order to find their own personal treasure, whatever that may be. And apart from a mostly guided tutorial that takes around an hour or two to complete, you have free reign to explore the open world in whichever way you choose. You even have your own Pokémon to travel with: Koraidon in Scarlet, and Miraidon in Violet, each of whom can be ridden and used to dash across the land.
Some objectives need to be completed — beat all the Gym leaders to become champion, defeat all the Titan Pokémon to collect Mystica Herba, and take down all of Team Star’s leaders — but these can be done in any order. If you want to abandon all sense of safety and rush toward the big lake filled with level 50 and above Pokémon, you can absolutely do that. Your freedom makes it feel like you are taking your own personal journey, one that is different from your friends even though you are all doing the same thing.
“Exploring the world of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet avoids feeling like a checklist…”
Exploring the world of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet avoids feeling like a checklist because of this. Often you’ll stumble upon the story beats just because you happened to be in that area. Progression always feels natural, with the only thing limiting you being what traversal abilities you have unlocked. Even though every objective is marked on the map from the start, how you get there is an adventure in and of itself. Alternate routes are plentiful, and the allure of catching new Pokémon has brought me down many places off the beaten path.
I wouldn’t neglect the story, however. Not since Pokémon Black and White has there been as well written a Pokémon game as Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet. It lacks surprises for much of its runtime; how can you make collecting gym badges unique nine generations in, after all. But the culmination of every storyline, coupled with fantastic rival characters and some genuinely shocking moments, makes it all hit surprisingly hard by the time it reaches the climax.
“The story of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is enhanced in no small part due to the excellent soundtrack…”
Beyond the writing, the story of Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet is enhanced in no small part due to the excellent soundtrack supporting every aspect of the game. From the field music to the impressive amount of battle themes, the music in Scarlet and Violet is a delight to listen to. In particular, Toby Fox does great work, as he has composed multiple themes that make the battles an absolute delight to partake in.
Speaking of, battling returns to the traditional Pokémon formula after a slight deviation in Pokémon Legends Arceus. It holds up as well as it always did, though there are two twists this time around. The first is auto battling, whereby you let your lead Pokémon out into the world to fight wild Pokémon on their own without needing to start a traditional battle. This allows them to gain experience passively, though there is a risk they could faint if they face a poor matchup. It’s a neat system, but one that I barely used in my time playing.
The second, and more important addition in Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet is Terastalization. In short, this is a mechanic that can be activated in battle that changes a Pokémon’s typing by giving them a crystal hat. It’s a bit silly initially, but it adds more strategy to combat in ways I didn’t think would be essential before. For example, you can take a Fuecoco and change its typing from Fire to Grass, completely negating its weakness to Water. Furthermore, Terastalization enhances a moves effectiveness, making it a useful tool for both offense and defense.
Terastalization also forms a core component of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s multiplayer. Tera Raids are battles where up to four players can fight against an enhanced Tera Pokémon in order to catch it. These are found in abundance in the overworld, and playing with either strangers or friends is easy all things considered. In fact, accessing multiplayer is fairly straightforward. I appreciate that joining co-op with friends allows you to explore the world and progress without being near others physically in-game or in terms of objective completion. Ironically, because the game performs so poorly already, I did not notice much of a performance change when playing with others.
Which brings us back to the technical issues. Playing Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet is rough at the best of times. Blurry visuals and low frame rates are the norm, not the exception, when exploring the open-world game world. Regardless of whether I played docked or in handheld mode, the visuals were messy, muddled, and lacking in detail. Pokémon themselves frequently disappear while moving, and a frequent problem featured Pokémon spawning or moving onto my position when finishing a battle, which prompted another battle to start.
These are but a few of the issues I encountered while playing, and I won’t waste time and words writing more because I think the point has been made. I reviewed Pokemon Legends: Arceus earlier this year, and while that had its fair share of problems, they pale in comparison to the kind found here. About the only kind things I can say performance-wise are that the NPCs and Pokemon do look good, with many great designs for the new Pokémon, and that the game did not crash.
Despite this, I find myself wanting to play more of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. I’m having a genuinely good time with it even with all the issues plaguing its performance. I want Game Freak to continue down this open-world road for future installments, and I hope that Nintendo and The Pokémon Company allow them enough time to actually polish the game. Because if they do, I suspect that game would be the best in the franchise. For now, if you can forgive the technical problems even somewhat, I think you’ll have a fun adventure in Scarlet and Violet.
