Written by TheChoujinVirus
Note: The following review may contain some spoilers to the game in general.
Happy Wednesday! It’s ya, boi Choujin. Another year, another Pokemon game was released, as always. Though this time, it’s a whole new ballgame. No, seriously, it is surprising. Released on November 22nd, 2022 for the Nintendo Switch. We’re talking about Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, or Generation 9, for the Pokemon franchise. It’s known to have its issues, but can they be overlooked for the game in general? Well, then, the only way is to find out.
Gameplay and story summary
Like all Pokemon games, to give a ballpark (to understand the mechanics of Pokemon, refer to my old Sword and Shield review) but to give a recap about the game’s story. You are a trainer in the region of Paldea and a student of the Uva/Naranja Academy (Uva is Violet, and Naranja is Scarlet) during their yearly event known as the Treasure Hunt that takes you all over Paldea, from fighting gym leaders to fighting titans and even a rival gang. You do this adventure with one of the newest starters: Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly.
. This is the game’s feature: Three Stories intertwined instead of one. One story as old as the series is: Traveling Paldea collecting gym badges while battling Nemona on your quest to be Champion. The other stories have a unique take: One has you helping a student named Arven learn the secrets of the Violet (or Scarlet) book and the connection to the Herba Mystica: herbs that can create Titan Pokemon you fight. The last one has you dealing with a gang of student delinquents called Team Star for someone named Cassiopea and their assistant Penny, in which you learn more about the team and their founding. Throughout each of the stories, which can be done in any order and in between, you’re accompanied by a strange Pokemon named Mirridon(Violet) or Korridon (Scarlet), who serves as your mount and mode of transportation throughout the game’s journey. Over time, they can gain unique powers like swimming in water, climbing cliffs, and flying across the skies. There is one final story that explains the origin of the gimmick, but to figure that out, you’ll have to complete the three stories to find out.
Which now moves us to the newest gimmick in Scarlet and Violet. While Gen 6 has Mega Evolution, Gen 7 with Z-Crystals, and Gen 8 with Dynamax/Gigantomax. Generation 9’s new gimmick is called Terastallization. You can activate this feature during the battle and change the Pokemon to its “Tera Type.” For example, a Pikachu with the Flying Tera Type, when Terastallization is activated, will become a Flying type instead of its usual Electric Type, which can override Pikachu’s original weakness and resistance. Also, it becomes more potent if said Pokemon uses the move Terra Blast or a move tied to the Tera Type. In short, Terastallation is useful for offensive or defensive reasons.
But battles aren’t the only new feature introduced. Another feature is the “Let’s Go” feature. Your lead Pokemon can follow you when pressing the LR or R button. They will also automatically attack any Pokemon around them. It makes battles instant and boils them down to Pokemon-type matchups. If the matchup favors your lead, it won’t lose much health; if it doesn’t, it’ll lose health. They can continue until they run out of energy, which they won’t fight anymore. It’s helpful in quickly gaining experience and resources for crafting TMs. Still, in the Team Star fight, dealing with the Star grunts who will send hordes of Pokemon against you is a core feature.
Another exciting feature improved on from Gen 8 is the ability to set up a Picnic. Like in the last gen, you can set up a small area for a picnic where you can wash your Pokemon and two things. First, you can make sandwiches to provide bonuses to your exploration, like a better chance at finding items, gaining more rewards, hatching eggs faster, or even finding shiny Pokemon. It’s also the method of Pokemon breeding. No more days of having to go to a Daycare; your picnic is the daycare. If you also have the Mirror Herb item, one can teach a Pokemon moves it may not learn through TMs or leveling up.
The final new feature introduced is Tera Raids. Throughout the world, you’ll see crystal dens erupting out of the earth. They are known as Tera Dens, which contain rare or valuable Pokemon (usually with a different Tera type). You battle this Pokemon with up to 3 AI-controlled players (or human-controlled players) against this Pokemon in real-time (Which means there’s no turn-based combat in a Tera Raid) as you fight the creature. However, don’t think the battle is easy, as the Tera Raid Pokemon will employ tricks like applying a barrier that requires Terrastation, attacking multiple times, or even removing negative stats from itself while debuffing the whole party. Beat the Pokemon before time runs out to have a chance to capture said Pokemon to your party. There’s so much content that it’s hard to go through much of it, but the game.
Treasured Positives: The good Features
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet has many good features, making it a great introduction to Generation 9. One such is evident in the new Terastallation feature. It reminded me of the original gimmick attack from the Gold and Silver games of Gen 2 called Hidden Power. It’s a creative nod to that old move and makes the gimmick more open compared to things.
Another benefit, though not mentioned before, is the Union Circle in the game. You can join up to three other people in your game to have your friends travel with you in Paldea, which, by the way, the open world of Scarlet and Violet allows you to have an authentic Pokemon experience that isn’t railroaded as well as being able to find Pokemon in other versions if your friend has the opposite version. Also, the Lastly the three stories are fascinating. Without going into spoilers, they fit well into the lore of the Paldea region. They can be tackled in any order with the free roam, though sometimes that leads to some problems in the game.
Not so Treasured Issues: The bad
Though the game is fun, the game has some issues. The obvious Snorlax in the room is the game’s performance issue. The game has moments where performance can flare up, like in some areas of water or environmental things like rain and wind. I’ve had only two crashes in the game so far.
The second issue that feels backward is the lack of customization for the Player Character. In older games up to Gen 6 (with some exceptions), you could customize your trainer in various clothes that made your character stand out. Scarlet and Violet only give you limited choices in uniforms and clothes. No dresses or custom garments. You’re stuck with one uniform with four “Seasonal outfits” as the main, with maybe customizable stuff like hats, glasses, hair, phone case, socks, and shoes. Beyond that, there is nothing much there.
Lastly, the big issue is that there’s not much post-game.
Spoiler alert aside, after beating the game, there’s barely anything beyond Tera Raids, rematching with Team Star’s Admins and the Ace Trainer Tournament. Nothing much outside of that, and it can be annoying.
The upcoming DLCs will add more content to the game, so a review of that will be planned in the future.
Conclusion
Scarlet and Violet, though with some bugs, isn’t a disappointment, in my opinion. Sure, The Pokemon Company may need to slow down the releases. Still, otherwise, the game is a solid addition to this generation.
Note: I will review the gameplay of the DLC when they arrive, so do keep an eye out when it’s done.
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