Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet take players to a new region in this ever-expanding world. Players hop in the shoes of a new student at a prestigious academy, which is different between each version. Once they join they get to choose a new Pokemon, attend some classes, and then they are set off on a globe-trotting quest.
There are three major quests in Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet from the start actually. One involves fighting Gym Trainers, as usual. Another focuses on finding ingredients for an epic food dish and the other is about taking down Team Star, the new Team Rocket of this region. It’s getting some bad press due to some glitches, but it’s not all doom and gloom for this latest Pokemon game.
8 Best: Autobattles
Among the best new mechanics in Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet are the autobattles. Players can send out their top Pokemon to run around with them in the field. If they encounter a wild Pokemon, the two creatures will face off for a second at most before victory is decided.
Unless the player’s Pokemon is woefully under-leveled or their type is off, chances are they will come out unscathed. There is also a sort of base capture mini-game wherein players can send out three Pokemon to autobattle Team Star members.
7 Worst: Backtracking On Mechanics
Autobattles in the field are great, but autobattles during the turn-based segments would have been even better. This series has to catch up to modern RPGs that have implemented autobattles for at least a decade now if not more. This mechanic has always been missing from the series but staples are missing from these new entries too.
Players can no longer skip animations which elongates the whole process. Also, the developers backtracked on catching Pokemon in the field which was one of the best things about Pokemon Legends: Arceus.
6 Best: A Big Open-World Adventure
Except for about an hour or two of tutorials, Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet open up players to three major quests which can take them in all directions. From the school, players can initially go left or right, but from there these areas branch off in big ways. It has to be the biggest entry in this series to date in terms of landmass.
It’s a shame the catching mechanics were backtracked on, but at least players can still see Pokemon running around. That at least helps the monster-collecting process.
5 Worst: Balancing Issues
The problem with some open-word experiences is that they have nothing to do with them. While Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet are certainly more populated with cities and landmarks than their predecessor, Pokemon Legends: Arceus, they have balancing issues. The games are perhaps too open, leaving players with odd challenge conundrums.
For example, Pokemon will be around the level of the player whether they go left or right at the school. However, once players go back and do that side next, they will be over-leveled, making that second chunk less exciting and having players long for the days of the more linear classics.
4 Best: Legendary Exploration
The most exciting part about exploring the open world are the Legendary Pokemon players will encounter. Pokemon Scarlet players will get Koraidon while Pokemon Violet players will get Miraidon. They cannot battle with them at first and are instead the new bikes of these games.
They can run and jump initially but as players progress through a side quest, these Legendary Pokemon will unlock new abilities such as swimming and gliding. Each new power unlocked will open up more areas of the map sort of like a Metroidvania but on a grander scale.
3 Worst: Gym Challenges
To change up the formula, the developers started implementing mini-games around gym battles. Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon were the two biggest switch-ups in the series and these new games take things further.
One mini-game has players roll a giant olive through a maze while another is about finding Sunflora all over a city. These quests are tedious and aren’t fun in any capacity. It almost feels like the mini-games were put into these games to punish fans for wishing there were changes.
2 Best: The Pokedex
The Pokedex remains a classic tool in this franchise even though players now use an app on their ghost phones. The coolest thing about this classic gadget is that it looks like a library of tomes dedicated to every Pokemon in these two games. It might feel like an extra effort to take these virtual selections off of the shelves, but it is a nice touch aesthetically.
It would be a cool idea if Nintendo or Game Freak decided to release monthly issues of these entries one Pokemon at a time. The character design is stronger than ever in these games as well even though other aspects of the graphics aren’t as spectacular.
1 Worst: The Bugs
The graphics are far from these games’ worst issues though. The games struggle to even be on the Switch with some players reporting frequent crashes. Whether that is an issue with the coding of these games or a case of the platform being too old is a mystery.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus also had issues as far as glitches and bad frame rates went. These games are on a whole other scale though. It’s like Cyberpunk 2077 all over again and now Nintendo fans get to see how the other console players were affected back in 2020.
Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet were released on November 18, 2022, and are available on Switch.