If the QA and Test teams were set to Magnitude 10 instead of Magnitude 4, we would have an all-timer on our hands.
So far, it’s mostly been judged on Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Whether you’re prancing across the Pardea region on a motorcycle-like dragon, or laughing at the glitchy videos that are littered all over the internet. Does Violet have enough? Or do we have to put up with Blessed White and Wonderful Black for a good Pokemon experience?
The story of Pokemon Scarlet Violet basically consists of three parts. After enrolling in a version-dependent academy, choosing a starter, and possibly breaking in with a legendary Pokémon, you’ll be unleashed on the continent of Pardea. There are two stories, Trainers must defeat all 18 types of Pokémon in Gym battles, “Titan” Pokémon battles, and Raid battles. (Scoundrel?) Teamster’s base. That’s all guidance given, for better or worse, aside from pasting the locations of these battles onto the map. , to Legendary Pokémon locations and other Pokémon, there are optional classes that can be taken to explain game mechanics and rewards. Without spoiling it, the Pokémon series has never really been to these locations before, so it’s worth sticking through to the end. actually ran a game pass that was suboptimal and led to many late-game crushes: Titan, Base, and two gyms. When I had to defeat a lot of Shanzei and earn experience points, it was a bit painful that my levels weren’t balanced…
On Switch, various attacks took place in an “open world.” Sword and Shield had a wild area and some smaller zones were added via DLC. Legends: Arceus also had unlockable zones of open exploration. The world of Scarlet and Violet is basically what happens when Isle of Armor and Crown Her Tundra becomes the base his game. 95% of the continent can be explored as soon as it is released at school (or earlier for NWR staff). However, this threw a curveball at the classic Pokemon mechanic. Previously, Pokemon obtained by trade tended not to obey commands, so borrowing a level 100 Galchomp from a friend and destroying the game was not an option. could not. Both of their open predecessors (Sword/Shield, Arceus) had a form of level capping, making it impossible to catch Pokemon past a certain level that increased as the game progressed. Scarlett and Violet combine this. It’s possible to catch Pokemon above the cap, but catching them above the level cap will disobey them until you get a Gym Badge. What wasn’t clear, and was a point of contention for me, was that this doesn’t apply to Pokémon that are caught below the cap and leveled up – keep that in mind if you want to try Professor Oak’s challenge in your game. That’s what you should do. Take a guess.
The main new mechanics for Scarlett and Violet are Terrastal Battle Mods and Let’s Go Encounters. Terrastar, which is unlocked immediately after leaving school, will change Pokémon types until it is knocked out or the battle ends. This can be used to deal extra damage with your main type or to fend off existing weaknesses for defensive purposes. This is different from the previous mechanic, as it’s tied to an item that must be restored at the Pokémon Center before it can be used again. Not every fight is spammable or tied to the game’s “raid” fights or gym fights, like the previous tech worked. Since the type changes by collecting items, it has a balance that does not break the game while balancing strength and strategy. The “Let’s Go” mechanic sends the player’s first Pokémon out to battle wild Pokémon. This is essentially an auto-battle, and it’s nice not to remove any special Pokemon from the map, but other than his one in story mode and some new evolutions that require you to walk a certain distance, not much Not important. As a minor mechanical change, TM returns to being a single-use item, but can now be crafted through a combination of Pokémon materials and the currency you earn each time you defeat a Pokémon. If you need to have a set of quality movements available for teaching on demand, at least there is a reasonable way to make them available.
The Triumph Path story path maintains the traditional 8 Gyms and Elite 4 that are part of most major Pokémon games. Each gym has challenges that need to be completed, and frankly they are mostly lame mini-games. can be completed. Rolling a giant olive against a wall or playing hide-and-seek will have you wondering why you even qualify for a match against a gym leader. After playing Simon/Where’s Waldo/Slalom, the gym leader himself is a decent challenge, even if he’s a little obsessed with terastalizing out-of-type Pokemon into his trademark type to get a blow. Each gym also has 3 or 4 pokemon and does a decent job of avoiding type weaknesses – until the main pokemon comes out, of course. , double battles were used instead of standard 1v1 battles. Coincidentally, this was the hardest.
Path of Legends is an easy one to trip over. The Titan is big enough that even the game’s short draw distance in handheld mode is noticeable. The battle is a modified version of the Totem Battle of the Sun and Moon Generations. When one of your Pokémon fights a Titan alone and reaches a certain health level, he retreats to a cave, where you and another character double-team a Titan. Titan unlocks new navigation methods for mounted Pokémon. Eventually, you’ll acquire sprinting, swimming ability, high jump, glide, and mountain scaling. It seems to be intentional.)
You need 3 wins to clear Starfall Street. Once you beat the trainer outside the gym, which acts as a level check, you’ll need to use the Let’s Go feature on your team’s first three Pokémon to take out 30 Pokémon. I’ve noticed that is getting harder than it needs to be. Pokemon out is mapped to R, but recall defaults to ZR, and I thought it was calling something when it hadn’t been called back yet. After 30 KOs, standard Pokemon fights continue, even if one of the Pokemon is changed to a funny CAR. A simple mode, but featuring a lot of story and very bad disguises.
Now, you can’t wave a dead Litten around the internet without hitting a glitch video of Scarlet or Violet. I had one of the better experiences of any of us playing Pokemon. There was one soft crash that could have been a bridge.
I thought the lights in the game were also glowing when the snoms I found weren’t…of course that wasn’t apparent until I started fighting. I’ve seen reports from other staff members. Specifically, I checked the “debug team” in the credits and there were 5 people listed. Most of my play was based on the downloaded version, which is stored on the SD card by default, so when the idea of ”going to system memory” spread, I tried it and saw a small improvement. I had no issues testing the retail version of Violet, it played perfectly on Switch Lite. Online play was a big problem for me. I remember having online enabled in Sword and Shield dropping to roughly “lol no” framerates. It didn’t matter if the party was full as it wasn’t time to drop every NPC onto the map. I had some issues with the Terrastal raid battle because everyone attacked at the same time. I did some raids using moves after an enemy had 0 health on him.
As a Pokémon collector, I’m always excited to see what new Pokémon bring. It was worth more than just a box of new Pokemon that I wanted to use during the story before finally shifting to one team for the story’s conclusion. However, I’ve noticed a lack of new Ground types besides the Paldean Wooper, but it’s clearly a “What if Tentacool was a Grass/Ground type?” I was considering a ride or die with Sprigatito as a cat fan, but their trademark moves in their final form never miss and always crit on his hits. I chose *wisely* in consideration of what might happen. Some of the new evolution methods require you to shake your head. One pokemon evolves randomly after a certain level, another pokemon requires leveling in multiplayer his instance, and… remember Gimme Ghoul? Only after finding unique items (coins). So this is Korok Seeds 2: This Time It’s Personal The only thing that prevents them from being personal is that they can respawn, you can get more than one at a time, and there are functional rewards. Pokemon are kept. This made for a fun final pre-credits fight when he had to go up against an entire team that he’d only ever seen one of.
The Scarlet and Violet soundtrack has plenty of bangers, along with a special allotment to Toby Fox, who composed many of the battle themes. There was a lot of outrage about randomly licensing Ed Sheeran songs. I’ll admit that I actually like ‘Celestial’. Its use in games is appropriate given its context.
Despite the score, I spend a ridiculous amount of time in the world of Pardea. The game’s technical issues were eventually fixed, and all that’s left is a great Pokémon experience. I hope that at some point, everyone will get on board with me.
