Pokemon Scarlet and Violet (Switch, 2022)
An underbaked pile of jank that squanders an otherwise great Pokemon game design.
Nostalgia Factor: Medium. I’m realizing that my love for the series has contributed to this generous score.
Difficulty: Easy to medium. More possibility for challenge than most recent Pokemon games.
To quote Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Pokemon Scarlet/Violet really is a tale of two games. I can see the game that this team clearly wanted to make, but the game that they released seems to be something different entirely. This is both one of the best and one of the worst Pokemon games I’ve ever played, in different ways. The core gameplay changes they’ve made are a huge step in the right direction for the modern era of Pokemon games. Simultaneously, the visuals are not just bad, they are outright embarrassing. I just can’t fathom that Nintendo put their stamp on this game. It’s one of the jankiest and worst looking games Nintendo’s ever published on any of their platforms (even fully patched).
Let me explain my theory (put on your tin foil cap for a moment, or skip the next three paragraphs).
<theory>
I’m not the first to conjure up this theory. I believe Pokemon S/V was initially developed for the Switch’s successor, not the OG Switch. I have no hard evidence to support this, just some logical leaps and wild speculation. Pokemon Sword and Shield runs and looks just fine on the Switch (though I did complain about some underdeveloped sections in my review). It utilizes a visual style that seems to work well with the Switch’s limited power – flat, vector-like, cel-shaded graphics. Tears of the Kingdom utilizes this style as well. Sw/Sh was released in late 2019.
S/V was months in development before the massive chip shortage hit in early 2020. This shortage most likely delayed the original release plans for the “Switch 2.” Interestingly, S/V utilizes HIGH-detail textures instead of the simpler vector/cel-shaded graphics. Zoom in on any of the major characters in game and you can see so much texture and detail in their school uniform. It’s when you zoom out that these high detail textures automatically change to low-res garbage (this is called dynamic resolution scaling, DRS). The level of detail they use on some of the character and Pokemon models is extremely ambitious for the Switch but would be a welcome visual upgrade for a “Switch 2” Pokemon game utilizing a beefier GPU and DLSS.
Who knows how deep into development they were and how many high-detail 3D models they’d finished when this call might have been made, but I can imagine a Nintendo executive calling up (game director) Shigeru Ohmori saying, “So, the Switch 2 isn’t happening due to the chip shortage. You need to make this game work on the original Switch, and it needs to be ready by Christmas 2022.” This would explain the poor performance, why the DRS is so aggressive, and why some of the textures look so terrible. They had to spend a big chunk of development time trying to downscale this game into a workable state, and they had limited time for fixing bugs and optimizing the game for Switch. Lastly, a leaker at one point claimed that there was a S/V “graphics update patch” for the Switch 2 in the works. I’d imagine this would reverse a lot of the aggressive DRS they applied, and we’d enjoy a full resolution game.
</theory>
With that out of the way, let’s talk about the amazing gameplay (some mild gameplay spoilers ahead). This is the most fun I’ve had with a Pokemon game since Gen 3. They’ve taken the best part of Sw/Sh, the wild areas, and applied this great concept to the entire game map. I had so much fun just riding around on my “bike”, collecting items, looking for new Pokemon to catch, more trainers to battle, etc. “Hmm, I wonder if I can go out to that island off in the distance…” Why yes, yes I can. This is the freedom that Pokemon gamers have been wanting for years. The terrain is well designed, with lots of varied elevation and even a few maze-like sections and caves. This is so much more fun to explore than the brutally linear paths in Sw/Sh.
“Terastallizing” is the new region-specific feature that replaces dynamaxing, z-moves, or mega-evolution, etc. It adds some welcome strategic depth to the battle system by allowing you to temporarily change a Pokemon’s type in battle. On the map, the Pokemon are wonderfully lifelike. Some will leave you alone or even run away in fear, some approach but stop short just to observe, and some are aggressive and initiate battles. You’ll occasionally find Pokemon of the same kind gathered in packs, or being shepherded by an evolved form (ie: a pack of Mankeys being led by a Primeape).
The Pokemon animations and movements add a lot of character to the game. Croagunk walks with a sassy strut. Psyduck has a distinctive waddle. I love how you can hold ZL to target, identify, and see if you’ve caught a Pokemon already. You can also engage from a distance this way. Having full control of the camera during battle is a huge plus. They developed battle animations and running animations for the “Let’s Go” feature for a whopping 400 Pokemon. That alone is an impressive feat. Pokemon auto-battling saves loads of time, and S/V is generous in doling out rare candies and experience candies. The game is well balanced. I caught pretty much every new Pokemon that I saw, I battled every trainer I could find, and I was only 3-5 levels above the gym leaders throughout the game. I decided not to use any of my rare candies etc. The new Pokedex reward system adds a nice incentive. I was actually motivated to catch new Pokemon in this game.
The TM crafting machine is a nice addition. Even though all TMs are now single use, you can use the machine to make more (in addition to those you find on the map). As you progress, you unlock more craftable TMs. It requires a new currency called “LP,” and the required TM materials are earned by defeating or catching Pokemon of a certain type. For example, TM163 “Hyper Beam” requires 14,000 LP, 8 Dratini Scales, 5 Goomy Goo, and 3 Tauros Hairs. You feel like you’re earning these TMs, and it encourages additional exploration.
The picnicking feature replaces Sw/Sh’s camping. You can make sandwiches that provide temporary benefits, and having the Pokemon play with the ball is super cute. Giving Pokemon a bath makes the process of raising a Pokemon’s friendship level much easier (Sylveon fans rejoice). I wasn’t crazy about the Team Star auto battles. It’s nice that they’re trying to break up the RPG monotony with something different, but this particular feature just felt very underbaked. You just mash the R button and watch your Pokemon one-shot enemy Pokemon that have been lazily scattered around the Team Star base. Many of the gym test mini-games also felt like an afterthought.
The visuals are where this game takes the darkest turn. S/V looks like a shell of what it could have been. They’ve released multiple patches, but I still encountered very noticeable frame rate drops, animation stuttering and resets, visual artifacts, and egregious pop-in. Assets pop in and out of existence almost constantly. It’s like some kid is playing god with the delete button. The pop-in is so bad that when you use the boost mode on your “bike,” you often run into Pokemon accidentally. They suddenly pop into existence in front of you before you have a chance to react. It’s very frustrating and sours the otherwise excellent experience of cruising around the map.
The textures are atrocious. If you zoom in and isolate a character or Pokemon, the textures look great. Zoomed out, as multiple assets try to render, everything looks garbo. You can often notice the aggressive DRS at work, drastically dropping resolutions as you move through the world. “Hmm, where are all the trainers in this area?” Let’s climb up to this high peak so we can get a better view… of a massively res-derped low-poly landscape that looks like a mobile game from 2009. You can’t actually see anything from a distance. Cutscenes range from OK to terrible. The opening cutscene looks so bad, I think they’d be better off just cutting it from the game. It’s a poor first impression. The shadows are so bad it’s a distraction. Instead of simple circular gaussian blurs, they have these blocky chunky shadows that shift and “blink” into different positions, almost like pixels in a Playstation 1 game.
Something that bugged me the entire game: when a Pokeball snatches up a Pokemon and makes the “dink dink” landing sound (before it starts to shake) – it still appears inches above the ground? This can’t be that difficult to fix. The camera would occasionally clip through the ground and the ground disappears? Also, I often noticed low quality repeating texture patterns, especially some cliff faces. Check out a few screenshots of the poor visuals below. I did experience a game breaking bug. After battling the Dragon Titan, I got stuck on a black screen multiple times. I had to hard reset the game and replay the Titan battle while undocked, then it worked fine (thanks internet sleuths).
On a brighter note, there are plenty of moments of Pokemon magic in this game. Many of the characters are well designed and very memorable. I was absolutely delighted with the three starter Pokemon and the interactions you share with them. They really come to life. Quaxly’s hair alone is worth the price of admission. The “Let’s Play” feature is a joy. Clavell, Nemona, Iono, and Larry are some of my favorite characters. There are LOADS of great new Pokemon in S/V. All three starters are fantastic (though the evolutions for all but Sprigatito look very goofy IMO). Miraidon’s weird wheel belly and butt-jets took some getting used to, but he grew on me with his cute animations. Lechonk, Pawmi, Tandemaus, Charcadet, Bellibolt, Tinkatuff, Greavard, Cetoddle, and Gimmighoul are some of my favorites. Fidough! Tatsugiri is literally a piece of sushi (nigiri). 10/10.
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Also, to be honest, there were a few rare moments when I thought, “OK, this game doesn’t look that bad.” There were at least a few sections that looked fine, once I got used to the low-poly environments. The lighting and the water visuals are solid. The minimal HUD was clean and worked just fine.
I love the Iberian themes. Paldea is based on the Iberian peninsula (Spain, Portugal, and Andorra). I was so excited to explore the boarding school (Pokemon meets Harry Potter?), but I was disappointed to find that you can’t actually roam the halls. You just warp between isolated rooms. You can take classes and interact with teaching staff to gain their trust, but don’t expect a full school sim. The Tera battles (replacing the Dynamax raids) are some of the best looking sequences visually. The crystallizing effect is impressive, in spite of the texture issues. I must say though, the Tera type “hats” look really goofy. Not sure I’m vibing.
The story is serviceable. There were some good moments that really shined for a Pokemon game, but there were of course some cringey lows as well. I found it very difficult to get engaged with the Team Star flashbacks. Not surprisingly, there’s another heaping dose of “Pokemon plot” with this release. At times it feels like you’re in the middle of a Saturday morning cartoon. At other times they venture into some unfamiliar territory with rather mature themes. They explore abandonment, family strife, workaholism, and human death via Pokemon attack (!). The game has a satisfying ending sequence, but I was a not at all prepared for the “jump the shark” levels of sci-fi absurdity they mixed in at the very end. Some moments were interesting, others were cringe. This is par for the course with recent Pokemon games though.
A welcome change is this game’s non-linearity. Even though all the storylines converge together at the end, you have three main story paths that you can pursue. Because of the way each challenge is leveled, it’s best to tackle all three paths simultaneously, bouncing next to whichever challenge is closest to your level. Interestingly, Pokemon Scarlet has a different ending sequence than Pokemon Violet. Major story beats are flipped, somewhat similar to Gen 3.
The music has really grown on me. S/V has a very eclectic soundtrack. You’ve got your standard orchestral tracks, which sound great. You’ve got some jazz/rock/pop fusion akin to what you’ve heard in the Sw/Sh soundtrack, and plenty of gorgeous Spanish themed tracks that utilize traditional Spanish instrumentation like nylon guitar, trumpet, accordion, congas, castanets, and more.
My only gripe is the odd addition of a few country western tracks that seemed very out of place. They muddle this “Paldean sound” that they’ve shaped with the other tracks, and they instead sound like something you’d hear on an episode of Pawn Star or American Pickers. A few of my favorite tracks include Elite Four Room, Clavell Battle, Area Zero, and Inlet Grotto.
Overall, once my eyes became fully calloused from the horrible visuals, I was able to get a lot of enjoyment out of this broken mess of a game. There’s so much jank here, but there’s also a lot of great new ideas and fantastic Pokemon gameplay. As it stands, I was generous to give this one a 7.5 score. However, if they fixed all the issues and re-released it on a more powerful console, this would easily be a 9/10 in my book. If you can stomach the jank, I highly recommend this one for fans of the Pokemon series.
