Pokemon Violet

 Switch
User Score
4.0

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 2050 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 635 out of 2050
  2. Mixed: 205 out of 2050
  3. Negative: 1,210 out of 2050
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  1. ChainsawMcConel
    Nov 28, 2022
    6
    A Step in the right Direction! You have a Open World which feels quite good even tho it feels quite empty sometimes. The Pokemon variety is overall alright, especially at the begining. Trainer Battles are mostly very easy as usual but sometimes you can find harder ones, always a small highlight. The Battles against Main Characters are actually Difficult! Not the Gym Leader Battles butA Step in the right Direction! You have a Open World which feels quite good even tho it feels quite empty sometimes. The Pokemon variety is overall alright, especially at the begining. Trainer Battles are mostly very easy as usual but sometimes you can find harder ones, always a small highlight. The Battles against Main Characters are actually Difficult! Not the Gym Leader Battles but Battles against the The Team Star Leaders or like the Battle against the Academy Director. Some Trainer can One shot you with ease. The 3 Main Storys are a welcomed change, The Bullying-Topic in the Team Star Story had a good Message in it. The Character Designs, Dialogues and the new Team (Team Star) are way more "normal" so you wont have many Cringe-Situations at all and especially no annoying Characters like you had a Ton of in Sword/Shield. Like our Rival is not an annoying Kid, but a nice looking and kind Teenager Girl, also the Game isnt to Childish, by which i mean not too Colorful in a wrong way. When i think of Pokemon Sun/Moon & Pokemon Sword & Shield i have to say that Pokemon Violet Purple is a much better Game.… Expand
  2. Fer010
    Nov 25, 2022
    6
    Since their debut in 1996, finally, Pokemon has been shown to be capable of delivering a story with more layers around the characters and the world of the game. Besides providing new mechanics, and a new wonderful way to play Pokemon that was just tasted with the Pokemon Legend: Arceus, sadly this wonderful franchise has shown to be in the wrong hands. The game is shown to be in worstSince their debut in 1996, finally, Pokemon has been shown to be capable of delivering a story with more layers around the characters and the world of the game. Besides providing new mechanics, and a new wonderful way to play Pokemon that was just tasted with the Pokemon Legend: Arceus, sadly this wonderful franchise has shown to be in the wrong hands. The game is shown to be in worst technical condition than its predecessor, full of bugs, glitches and game-breaking mechanics (like the pokemon cloning). It seems that the game needed more time to correct all these errors (like usual from Game Freak) this game for me is able to reach a 6 only for the features and not for quality, the game shows mechanically, shows, to be below average besides the name and the legacy that continues to have.… Expand
  3. QUIICKCLAW
    Dec 5, 2022
    7
    Pokémon Violet is a step in the right direction for GameFreak and the Pokémon Company.
    The first ‘truely open-world’ Pokémon game delivers on the expectation. Enjoyable world traversal, interesting locales to explore and unique Pokémon to find makes the Paldea region a joy to simply wander.
    For the first time in a while, GameFreak has also stepped up its character writing. Each of the    Pokémon Violet is a step in the right direction for GameFreak and the Pokémon Company.
    The first ‘truely open-world’ Pokémon game delivers on the expectation. Enjoyable world traversal, interesting locales to explore and unique Pokémon to find makes the Paldea region a joy to simply wander.

    For the first time in a while, GameFreak has also stepped up its character writing. Each of the prominent characters are a treat to deal with, Arven in particular, and Nemona is one of the first ‘Rival’ characters in some time to feel like a genuine rival to the player.

    Despite these excellent improvements to the series, Violet is not without some significant issues holding it back. Game slow-down is a major flaw in the Generation 9 experience, noticed in many areas across the game, sometimes to extreme degrees, quickly breaking immersion and gameflow.
    The game’s ‘Tera Raid Battles’ also suffer serious desync issues that result in buggy fights, confusion in what is happening and even serious glitches, such as being forced to sit on a white screen for up to a minute while battle sounds continue to play in the background.

    Pokémon Violet is 100% a step in the right direction for the Pokémon franchise, but its lack of polish is worrying as it seems to be becoming a bit of a norm.
    Had Violet been a polished experience on launch, it may have been lauded as the one of the best Pokémon games in a decade…    … Expand
  4. epeternally
    Dec 10, 2022
    5
    Rather lovely at its best moments, but hilariously buggy and shamelessly unfinished. This is one of those games that didn't need another 6 months of development, it needed another 12-18. The core gameplay loop is still fun - there's only so far you can screw up Pokemon, but none of us should have put up with this level of disrespect from Nintendo.
  5. Eleiyas
    Dec 6, 2022
    6
    Pokémon Violet is a good Pokémon game - but it is not a good game, if that makes sense.

    It's arguably one of the most fun and most modern Pokémon experiences we've had, which is why everyone is giving this a 10/10, however it is marred by technical issues; poor graphics, poor performance, scummy marketing practices that are a decade-outdated and more. Despite the Switch supporting    Pokémon Violet is a good Pokémon game - but it is not a good game, if that makes sense.

    It's arguably one of the most fun and most modern Pokémon experiences we've had, which is why everyone is giving this a 10/10, however it is marred by technical issues; poor graphics, poor performance, scummy marketing practices that are a decade-outdated and more.

    Despite the Switch supporting 1080p, 60fps, this game runs (docked) at 720p, 30fps - yet the thing is, you'll barely ever get those 30fps, because of the constant stuttering and assets loading in in the background.
    In certain areas and cities, you will be lucky to get 20fps, let alone 30fps.
    The graphics, despite being much better than some past titles, still pale in comparison to nearly any other modern game - heck, Breath of the Wild still looks better and that game is a good few years old now. Anything in the distance becomes a blur of muddy, tiled texture-work, while when you get close it just slaps the higher-fidelity texture on, with zero fade-in. It's incredibly jarring.
    One of the most crazy things is that this game makes Legends: Arceus look fantastic - and although they were developed at the same time, Arceus did come out first, meaning the older game does look better.
    It's also still debateable whether they should have settled on Let's Go: Pikachu/Eevee art-style and graphics, rather than this semi-realistic look they are currently going for (and kind-of failing at).
    This doesn't even cover the terrible coding this game seems to have, with NPCs and Pokémon dropping to 3fps when they go more than 1 metre away from the player, while when entering a city, the models will pop into existence mere centimetres from the player.

    In terms of other cons, the National Dex cut does still affect these games, so be prepared for scummy DLC that re-adds a bunch more mons in.
    There's also the topic of the dual-version release, which is still just as scummy as it always was.
    Scarlet and Violet, just like Sword/Shield and Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl, are the exact same game, just shipped with 2 lines of code differing between versions.
    As many dataminers have proved, you can actually get Violet to run as Scarlet using an extremely quick memory edit - which is ridiculous.
    This practice should have ended when the internet became accessible (DS era) - but it still exists in full force, to get unknowing/hardcore fans to pick up the dual pack and dual-DLC-pack for the extra $$$. Not to mention the Pokémon Home and Switch Online subs as well.

    Now, as I said, these games are fun and are arguably the best Pokémon games in a long time.
    For once, the story is actually darn good. Like, really darn good.
    Finding Pokémon in the overworld and such is also really nice and exploring Paldea on-top of the box-legend is a neat feature - although I would have preferred the Let's Go version where we could ride any Pokémon we owned.

    A big issue concerning the story elements though, is that there is no level-scaling. You can do everything out of order, which is a fresh-take on the formula, but the lack of level scaling means that if you do do things out of order, you might find yourself with level 30 mons against the "8th" gym with level 45-50s, or you could have level 60 mons against the "1st" gym that has level 14-15 mons.
    Essentially, if you don't want to get stomped, or don't want to do the stomping, you need to look up a "recommended guide/path" - which then makes the game extremely linear, just like every game before it. Also, because Gym Badges only work based on the caught-level, there is a high probability the player will take their level 5-10 starter and a couple of "route 1" mons and power-level to 50+, simply by exploring the map and catching/battling higher-level mons.

    I know I keep going kind of back and forth between pro and con here, but that is ultimately what the game is like. For every step forward, there are 1 or more steps backwards. Getting competitive Pokémon and power-levelling to 100 is easy with Raid Dens and such - but then you find out that certain options that were staples, like "battle mode" or "battle animations" have been completely removed for no apparent reason. Finding nearly the entire Pokédex, either in the wild or in Raid Dens is amazing, but then, due to the terrible pop-in and draw-distance, you will be zooming around on the box-legend and getting into so many tedious and unwanted wild battles, because you will not see the Pokémon you slammed into, before you slam into it.

    Overall, I'll rate Pokémon Violet (and Scarlet as they are the same game) a 6/10 on my end. They have potential, but should not have been released in this state - and for how long do we have to keep saying "it's a step in the right direction" before we get the game we actually should have on the Switch?    … Expand
  6. MentosFreshner
    Nov 29, 2022
    7
    Would be an easy 8 for me if it ran a bit better, maybe a 9 if the world was a bit more realised and polished. Can’t say I’ve encountered any major glitches, mostly just slowdown/frame rate stuff. I honestly have been loving my experience but I do think Pokémon deserves more time and care. They have such an amazing history of groundbreaking games and this one just seems to be scraping byWould be an easy 8 for me if it ran a bit better, maybe a 9 if the world was a bit more realised and polished. Can’t say I’ve encountered any major glitches, mostly just slowdown/frame rate stuff. I honestly have been loving my experience but I do think Pokémon deserves more time and care. They have such an amazing history of groundbreaking games and this one just seems to be scraping by in some places. That being said, the characters, story, music and Pokémon are all sweet as, the open world is fun to traverse too!… Expand
  7. xSpOokie
    Sep 1, 2023
    6
    after the realease we all know that the game had controversies , because of its poor performance and because of the game optimization , is by far the worst point about the game but there are a lot of other negative aspects .

    1. the first negative aspect that you realise just in the beginning of the game is that the variety of the first pokemons you encounter is SUPER blank , in terms of    after the realease we all know that the game had controversies , because of its poor performance and because of the game optimization , is by far the worst point about the game but there are a lot of other negative aspects .

    1. the first negative aspect that you realise just in the beginning of the game is that the variety of the first pokemons you encounter is SUPER blank , in terms of looks , choice and even powerfull pokemons , the pokemons that generally we are looking for in a new gen is of course the new pokemons , but the first couple of pokemons in the route makes that impossible and every person you see playing the game ends up leaving the first route with a fletchling and hoppip.

    2. the poor performance of this game is what it makes almost impossible to enjoy , at the beginning everyone who played the game thinked for themselfs " ah this isnt to bad , clearly has some graphical issues but i can deal with it" but all of us thought about it before getting into the academy , after that we can see how lame the graphical issues and the performance are even 3ds pokemons games had better performance than this game .

    3. the concept of Crystallization at first look it looked interesting and fun but after playing the game for a while you see how useless and boring it is , was something just to "had" since shield had dynamax version but tbh it would be better without it .

    4. the story , it is good , i saw some people saying that the game was probably one of the best stories in pokemon and could compete with black and white but that is the biggest lie anyone could tell you about this game , the story is good? debatable , why you ask? because the only thing really good about the story of the game was the final who gave us a little bit of more emotion about the story and nice little flavor like " this was a interesting experience , not the best , not the worst , but it had potential" but the final apart the story is like a 6/10 .

    yeah overall its not a good experience just for the fact that any possitive aspect will be almost unrelevant because of its performance , makes it almost impossible to enjoy , its not the worst to tho its a experience that you end with mixed feelings , but majority of your walkthrough will depend of how much you love pokemon.    … Expand
  8. Wushall
    Nov 30, 2022
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I'm 30 years old and I played all the games in the franchise, and after being disappointed with Sword and Shield, I came with a lot of hype for this game.

    Yes, the performance of the game is terrible, the game is clearly not finished and gamefreak shouldn't have released this as a final product, the deadlines have clearly been cut so that it could be released this year, which I don't think was necessary as it had the remakes last year and Legend Of Arceus at the beginning of the year, you could have waited longer for these games to be released.

    As for the game itself, it's amazing. Open world exploration makes you lose hours walking around the map and forgetting to do the game's main quests, the variety and number of pokemons is also incredible and for the first time in the franchise, we had more serious stories with a heavier background and not just someone wanting to conquer the world. Team star's story is great and that of Arven and his father/mother and his dog brings tears to any pokemon fan. And the ending with Ed Sheeran's music hits the nail on the head.

    Finally, if you are going to analyze the game technically, it is a 7 because I can't ignore the low performance that gets in the way and irritates at times, but in terms of grandeur and history, this game, on a scale of 0 to 10, receives an 11. the best pokemon story and when you finish the story of area 0 after the league, it's a wonderful feeling that I've never felt in any pokemon game after all these years.    … Expand
  9. Danelius216
    Dec 1, 2022
    7
    Pokemon Violet was the first game I've been able to complete since Pokemon Y or Omega Ruby. I have purchased and failed to complete Pokemon Moon, Sword, Brilliant Diamond, and Legends Arceus. I do want to eventually go back and finish them, but I struggled to maintain focus. Pokemon Violet (and Scarlet are riddled with graphical glitches, bugs, and frustrating mechanics, however the corePokemon Violet was the first game I've been able to complete since Pokemon Y or Omega Ruby. I have purchased and failed to complete Pokemon Moon, Sword, Brilliant Diamond, and Legends Arceus. I do want to eventually go back and finish them, but I struggled to maintain focus. Pokemon Violet (and Scarlet are riddled with graphical glitches, bugs, and frustrating mechanics, however the core of the gameplay, story, and characters kept me there for the entire game. Pokemon riding my ass while battling something else and immediately getting me caught in unwanted battles was real frustrating. The "Let's Go" feature is pretty rough around the edges. Feeling unresponsive at times. The pop in is really bad, and frame drops sometimes make me want to turn the game off with how bad it can get. But that was only twice and never did I get a crash or bug that broke my game. To be honest it didnt sour my experience much because I was just happy that the core game was good. Great even. The new Pokemon are wonderful, the story is the best in the series in my opinion. The region is stellar (when it doesnt chug at 10 frames per second with pop in and such) but that didnt really kill my excitement. I felt like a kid again. I think people are too cynical about performance. This felt like a real Pokemon game and I hope with patches and bug fixes that it will just continue to get better with time and DLC. When the problems get fixed I can easily see this as a 9/10, but for now 7/10 is my score.… Expand
  10. Devashish623
    Dec 5, 2022
    7
    Pros: Amazing Soundtrack.
    Truly open world.
    When completely still/no bugs, game looks amazing! Heart touching story. Cons: Though I have not got any major bug, it might be cause I play offline solo, the game does run slow, which is to its detriment. Heck, a single player only person like me is giving this otherwise amazing game a 7 due to how bad the fps can be, and how slow and sluggish    Pros: Amazing Soundtrack.
    Truly open world.
    When completely still/no bugs, game looks amazing!
    Heart touching story.

    Cons:
    Though I have not got any major bug, it might be cause I play offline solo, the game does run slow, which is to its detriment. Heck, a single player only person like me is giving this otherwise amazing game a 7 due to how bad the fps can be, and how slow and sluggish it feels.
    The soundtrack does get boring soon due to repetition.    … Expand
  11. LysanderAG
    Dec 10, 2022
    5
    This game feels very rushed, doesnt even feel like an actual pokemon game because of how much bugs it has and the gameplay it has aswell, the graphics and sounds are some points, ill give you that, but id rather play pokemon yellow than buy and play this.
  12. VinceTrousers
    Dec 29, 2022
    5
    Overall, a shockingly disappointing downgrade from Legends Arceus in almost every regard. The world may be open, and you may be able to tackle objectives in any order, but the whole ordeal is so lifeless. It's like looking at a table with various slices of cheese laying about, not on plates or anything, just kinda sitting flat on the table. Some slices are slightly moldy, others have catOverall, a shockingly disappointing downgrade from Legends Arceus in almost every regard. The world may be open, and you may be able to tackle objectives in any order, but the whole ordeal is so lifeless. It's like looking at a table with various slices of cheese laying about, not on plates or anything, just kinda sitting flat on the table. Some slices are slightly moldy, others have cat hair on them, and the rare few that are clean were left out of the fridge for too long and taste somewhat passable, but are a little too soft and dubious to truly enjoy. You can eat the slices in any order you'd like though!… Expand
  13. StarterBordlord
    Feb 3, 2023
    7
    Pretty fun game, only reason I'm giving it a 7 is that I got softlocked because I kept on crashing in the 7th gym. Took me a literal month until it worked again.
  14. drseven
    Jun 30, 2023
    6
    A change is needed in the Pokemon saga. The low performance and the level of bugs that the game presents is frustrating, the draw distance is nil. The game is fun and the open world is a good implementation in the saga, but one of Nintendo's pillars like the Pokemon saga deserves better treatment and standards, since all the good ideas they raise are clouded by their technical section.
  15. Mene0
    Nov 25, 2022
    5
    Pokemon Violet(and Scarlet) is a clearly unfinished product. There is a very fun game beneath all the catastrophic performance issues, ugly graphics and animations and terrible design decisions, but these are very hard to overlook. If this wasn't a pokemon game it would have been bashed to hell and back by everyone, but apparently it's just "taking steps in the right direction" despitePokemon Violet(and Scarlet) is a clearly unfinished product. There is a very fun game beneath all the catastrophic performance issues, ugly graphics and animations and terrible design decisions, but these are very hard to overlook. If this wasn't a pokemon game it would have been bashed to hell and back by everyone, but apparently it's just "taking steps in the right direction" despite being a 30+ years old franchise that makes billions of dollars. The worst part is that this will never change, given the game's absolute sales success. Gamefreak will keep pumping out terrible products and holding a series dear to many hostage to terrible development. The amateurish is display here is staggering, and it saddens me to see a good game squashed by terrible decisions.… Expand
  16. kringle
    Nov 24, 2022
    5
    The game is fun, but with all of it's performance issues and glitches, it's barely passable. The best aspect of this game is the mixture of free open world exploration with the classic Pokemon formula, but even that isn't perfect. Gym battles strongly encourage the player to challenge the gym in a set order, and the three stories consist of battling, battling, and battling, with very fewThe game is fun, but with all of it's performance issues and glitches, it's barely passable. The best aspect of this game is the mixture of free open world exploration with the classic Pokemon formula, but even that isn't perfect. Gym battles strongly encourage the player to challenge the gym in a set order, and the three stories consist of battling, battling, and battling, with very few changes to make each story stand on its own, making the choice to focus on certain paths less engaging. Like most Pokemon games, this one introduces new features, but also lacks ones that made older titles appealing. Most new Pokemon are cool, the soundtrack is catchy, and QOL upgrades enhance the open world exploration, but for all good features, there's several aspects of the game that make it hard to enjoy these. The game looks more or less better than the previous title, Pokemon Legends Arceus, but at the cost of the framerate costantly chugging and Pokemon constantly popping up frustratingly clise to the player. Another downgrade from Pokemon Legends is the lack of any ability to catch Pokemon without battling. One would think Legends style catching would be a priority to make the open world experience more convinient, but the feature is unfortunately absent. As of writing this post, I have around 50 hours clicked into the game, with the three stories close to completion, but I don't find myself playing the game as much since the cons of the game are starting to wear me down. If Pokemon Scarlet and Violet get performance patches that fix various issues in a reasonable amount of time, I would love to return to review this game with a more positive outlook, but if these issues remain unaddressed, I can't see myself return to this game, or even the series if The Pokemon Company sweeps these issues under the rug and start development on another rushed game. I'm sorry if my writing style came across as sloppy, I haven't written any long posts in a while.… Expand
  17. twinmannequin
    Nov 22, 2022
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Ahh, Pokémon Violet. Where to even begin...

    I feel like there are two sides of this game to discuss: the actual game, and the performance.

    So, first off, for those of you who are of the opinion that the majority of the reviews being negative is indicative of some trolling or review-bombing, that isn't what this is about. At least for me personally, the only reason I would be so passionately frustrated by this game in the first place would be because I love this series. Pokémon is a staple of my childhood, and like a parent, I've been waiting for the day my child would finally mature and become the beautiful person I knew they could. That has... sort of happened here.

    If you're like me, then this is the first game in the mainline series you've played since X and Y, though you've watched the series through a window for the past decade, wondering when it would change. If we ignore all the technical stuff (which we definitely will come to), then this really is the best Pokémon game I've ever played.

    The combat is actually difficult now, where a super-effective move doesn't just one-shot your opponent, there are many new moves that incentivize more strategic plays that aren't just about doing the most damage as soon as possible. The story is actually enjoyable??? The narratives in these games have always just been "I love Pokémon so much :))", "I want to steal Pokémon >:)))", "Nooo!! Stop right there Mr. Mean, Pokémon are our friends", and while it's still no Breaking Bad, I have actually found myself smiling and laughing at the dialogue and being genuinely intrigued by some of the concepts. The first Team Star boss battle where I get to the final opponent and realise it's the CAR ITSELF, really did make my jaw drop - I never thought a Pokémon game would be capable of giving me those sorts of memorable and unique moments.

    The designs of this generation are honestly some of my favourite ever, especially since you see them naturally walking around in herds in their natural habitats - it's really immersive and helps ground this series in a way it's been begging for for years now.

    But, but, but, but, but, BUT. MY. GOD. The performance of this game is just awful. It's PLAYABLE. But that is literally the lowest possible bar for any game to pass let alone POKÉMON, the largest entertainment franchise in the entire world, and it frustrates me to see the fans who are willing to defend this at any cost. I'M A FAN! We're all in the same boat here! I agree that this is a fantastic game! But dude could you imagine what a memorable masterpiece it would be if it looked beautiful too? Imagine if all the NPCs further than 5 feet from you moved at more than 2 frames per second, what if the city off in the distance didn't look like a school science fair model of itself made out of cardboard and paper mâché, what if the lighting from the Terra crystals didn't make the ground become pixelated like TV static? And this isn't me saying I need this game to have more conventionally "good" graphics, which nowadays basically means "realistic", I'm just saying that so many games of this caliber have pulled off this simple, cartoonish, but vibrant and engaging style in a way that looks amazing on this same hardware: BotW, Xenoblade 3, Dragon Quest 11, Animal Crossing, Splatoon, Mario Odyssey, MH Rise, etc. etc. etc. I'm not sure what exactly lead to the game releasing in this state, but I really don't believe it was due to a lack of passion on the part of the developers, because this game shines in that regard in every other aspect: the music, world design, Pokémon design, characters, activities, narrative, the UI - specifically the PokéDex which is just super neat and fun this time around - the picknicking with your team, the slapping music, the interesting new gyms, the Titan encounters.

    I absolutely adore this game, it really is amazing, but it's just such a terrible shame that I'm essentially ignoring how bad it looks and feels in order to enjoy it fully.    … Expand
  18. edta_na
    Dec 5, 2022
    6
    The story of this game, is one of the better ones since the days of B/W and B/W 2. But, the performance issues are atrocious. It would have been better, if Scarlet and Violet were scheduled for a late 2023 release instead.
  19. Joogz
    Nov 23, 2022
    5
    I am disgusted as a life long Pokemon fan. How is this game the same $60 dollars that say BoTW is or Cyberpunk 2077? I feel cheated. This should be a $20 game. I am not sure that the devs even care or are trying. I think the Pokemon franchise is just a cash cow at this point that fans will mindlessly purchase. This will be the last time I preorder a Pokemon game.

    The Good: - New    I am disgusted as a life long Pokemon fan. How is this game the same $60 dollars that say BoTW is or Cyberpunk 2077? I feel cheated. This should be a $20 game. I am not sure that the devs even care or are trying. I think the Pokemon franchise is just a cash cow at this point that fans will mindlessly purchase. This will be the last time I preorder a Pokemon game.

    The Good:
    - New Pokemon Designs
    - The attempt at shaking up the formula.
    - The gimmick. A nice compromise between Z-moves and Dynamax.

    The Bad:
    - Graphics and performance. The game looks and runs worse than games on the switch that came out 5 years ago.
    - The game has significantly less trainers than prior Pokemon games and the great majority of them only have one Pokemon to battle you with, which you almost always out level by 20 levels or so.
    - No level scaling, which means even though its open world, there is little variation you can take from the planned route, and the fact that you are gate kept by the HM Pokemon that you ride on.
    - I didn't think it would be possible to make a Pokemon game even easier than the Let's Go games or Sword and Shield, but here we are. This is by far the easiest Pokemon game due to lack of level scaling minimal trainers, and very simplistic and easy trainers. For the Team challenges you have 10 minutes, which would be easy even for one who had significant intellectual disabilities, and provides zero challenge or reward to the vast majority of the population including children. The gym battles are the easiest in the franchise. I wish they had some respect for their audience and at least made it as difficult as Black and White or Sun and Moon. Considering adults make up the great majority of the video game player base.
    - Androgynous character models. They made it so that all characters have the body of a boy. They got rid the ability to change your clothes. There is no skirt or feminine clothes for the character model. They went full woke gender neutral, which was a huge disappointment for most of the population.
    - The "three stories" that were so heavily marketed are a variation of the same three stories (Pokemon gyms, team whatever, and legendary Pokemon) all Pokemon games have, except they are now told in a jarring and asynchronous manner that doesn't do the lackluster story any favors.
    - No voice acting in a $60 dollar game. Seriously, still?
    - Lack of endgame content. Most boring endgame of any Pokemon game.    … Expand
  20. Turambar501
    Nov 20, 2022
    6
    Although a step forward in certain aspects, they are also some steps back in many other ways.
    - The Pokemon designs not only are the most forgettable in the franchise, but they feel out of place, incoherent, even BAD.
    - Not that Gigantamax was great, but Terracrystalization simply isn't well implemented, like other new mechanics. Once you use it, you have to go back to a Pokemon center    Although a step forward in certain aspects, they are also some steps back in many other ways.
    - The Pokemon designs not only are the most forgettable in the franchise, but they feel out of place, incoherent, even BAD.
    - Not that Gigantamax was great, but Terracrystalization simply isn't well implemented, like other new mechanics. Once you use it, you have to go back to a Pokemon center and recharge it, so you'll end up using it around 10 times in the whole game.
    - About the story and structure, one cannot help but compare it to Fire Emblem Three Houses with its multiple paths, the academy, etc., but it looks GameFreak just forgot about a good cast, memorable situations and a good story. And let's obviate the tehcnical optimisation.

    However, the new region finds some charm here and there, inspired by the Spanish and Portuguese cultures (as Sword and Shield so well did), mainly in the interior designs and the exterior of houses. The bigger size of the region, helps the game feel more immersive at times, although at the same time, the lack of coherence and engage makes it also feel more inert than ever. It feels rather empty.

    Overall, they are fine game. If you're expecting a Pokemon game, these are Pokemon games. But their inspiration and polish leave a lot to desire. It tries more than Sword and Shield. Fails much more than Sword and Shield. Better than Legends Arceus? Sure. Some additions are welcome, but the thing is that for each one of them there are 5 mistakes or downgrades.
    With great potential, Scarlet and Violet fall near the bottom of the franchise, but still make for a decent game.    … Expand
  21. JadenSpooky
    Dec 6, 2022
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This review is based on my complete experience of the game up until the post-story game sequence.

    I am absolutely absorbed in the game. After BW 1/2, I thought every main title game left something to be desired (mainly Speaking: SM, and SwSh). At least, this game tried to be a little different.

    Was going to write a megapost review, but I'll keep it to a few sentences.

    Tera transformations are a nice addition to the game. It changes the pokemon's type, and boosts moves of the same type. I wish they had used something besides the den system, but making it time based instead of knock-out cap was a welcomed change.

    The big bad didn't really connect the plot points together imo. It really only resonated with one story line, and the rest feels tagged along.

    The gym challenges are just okay. I didnt enjoy pushing the bean to the goal.

    Team Star challenges are pretty repetitive.

    Titans were silly.

    Breeding makes you play an active role, which I feel neutral to.

    The boss fight was pretty cool. I very much prefer it to SwSh's chairman bossfight.

    You all know about the framerate issues and glitches. I don't like them. Buuut Despite the issues i had with the game, I don't think SV doesn't deserve an initial score less than SwSh or BdSp.    … Expand
  22. VanguardSoul
    Dec 7, 2022
    5
    The Good: Fantastic new Pokémon and evolution mechanics. Game Freak hit it out of the park as far as those are concerned. Decent story too.

    The Bad: The most extreme frame rate and visual glitch problems I’ve ever seen in a Nintendo game. It becomes downright unenjoyable to play at times. Additionally, I’ve rarely played an open world game such as this one that leans so heavily on the    The Good: Fantastic new Pokémon and evolution mechanics. Game Freak hit it out of the park as far as those are concerned. Decent story too.

    The Bad: The most extreme frame rate and visual glitch problems I’ve ever seen in a Nintendo game. It becomes downright unenjoyable to play at times. Additionally, I’ve rarely played an open world game such as this one that leans so heavily on the structured story. Half the point of an open-world game is the exploration and “making your own story”. This game doesn’t really do that too much, as the open world feels fairly shallow without much mystery or wonder in it. Also, the game is far too easy. I’m not expecting a Nintendo game to be too difficult, but this game is like a light stroll at the park, even for most children. Lastly, there is almost no postgame content. Once you beat the game, there’s very little to do, which has not been the historical case for Nintendo games which usually try to provide a replayable activity or series of particularly difficult challenges unlocked after beating the main game. This game doesn’t truly have that. All-in-all I would not recommend this game to almost anyone. Children may highly enjoy it, but anyone older than 12 years old is going to be frustrated with the lag, glitches, and ease of the “challenges” and bosses.    … Expand
  23. BatLB
    Nov 19, 2022
    5
    The Game itself is fine. Its fun to go out and hunt different pokemon, catch and collect them. The EXP Share from level 1 is a welcome feature to make it possible to actually evolve Pokemon you arent constantly using and to complete the Pokedex as good as possible.

    The Story is classic Pokemon for 9 year olds. The Open World is nice. You can explore, catch different pokemon, find    The Game itself is fine. Its fun to go out and hunt different pokemon, catch and collect them. The EXP Share from level 1 is a welcome feature to make it possible to actually evolve Pokemon you arent constantly using and to complete the Pokedex as good as possible.

    The Story is classic Pokemon for 9 year olds.

    The Open World is nice. You can explore, catch different pokemon, find Items, do what you like - Hunt Badges? Follow the "Team Rocket look-alike" storyline? Go on some quest to hunt some mysterious pokemon? Your choice.

    HOWEVER: The technical issues are a BIG problem. I would have given this game a 7,5-8/10 without the technical problems, even with the bad graphics, but the state of the game is NOT release ready.
    I am not sure how this game made it through Nintendos normally very strict QA.    … Expand
  24. FreeRunner29
    Nov 19, 2022
    5
    For starters, I love Pokémon, therefore this is far from a review bomb. It's just the truth...people stating they have experienced no frame drops or slow downs in the games current state are either bots or blind..As of right now the slow downs, and choppy frame rates are worse than anything I have ever experienced since W2K18 on Switch. (I only played that to see how awful the frame rateFor starters, I love Pokémon, therefore this is far from a review bomb. It's just the truth...people stating they have experienced no frame drops or slow downs in the games current state are either bots or blind..As of right now the slow downs, and choppy frame rates are worse than anything I have ever experienced since W2K18 on Switch. (I only played that to see how awful the frame rate and slow down was.) Game freak clearly needed an extra year to work out the bugs, considering they were also working on Arceus. (Which I feel is the best Pokémon game I have played since Sapphire version) As of right now the game is virtually unplayable, lighting disappears at times, Pokémon clip through the environment and constant skips and jitters plague cutscenes...whoever optimized Arceus needs to help with a patch on Scarlet and Violet..underneath all of the crippling tech issues could have been the best Pokémon game yet.… Expand
  25. Vidril
    Nov 20, 2022
    7
    If Game Freak patches the game to fix the pop-in and frame dips the score bumps to an 8.
    This is the best game in the series by a relatively large margin otherwise.
    The already refined, fundamental gameplay of Pokémon gets so much out of being able to go wherever you want to find the Pokémon you want to use. The new Pokémon this gen introduces are all really well designed and the    If Game Freak patches the game to fix the pop-in and frame dips the score bumps to an 8.
    This is the best game in the series by a relatively large margin otherwise.

    The already refined, fundamental gameplay of Pokémon gets so much out of being able to go wherever you want to find the Pokémon you want to use. The new Pokémon this gen introduces are all really well designed and the returning ones are all fan-favorites. The story, while dumbed down for the absolute youngest audience, kept my enjoyment and the final section was a marvel for Pokémon. The music is fantastic as always, with the addition of Toby Fox returning for the best tracks in the game.
    The pure gameplay is the best the series has to offer, if only they learn what the hell software they're using and actually fix the pop-in and nauseating frame issues.    … Expand
  26. Reasonableguy
    Nov 20, 2022
    5
    The game is not as bad as the drones on this website say. YES theres problems and glitches, but the game is crazy addicting. I've not enjoyed a region like this in a WHILE. NEED a patch tho, the frame rates are def not good, but the content is MOSTLY solid. **** the sandwiches tho
  27. Yang738
    Nov 19, 2022
    5
    It would be a really nice game if there weren't these graphical issues and bugs. It feels like the development was rushed.
  28. jamsbat99
    Nov 21, 2022
    6
    I feel like people are a wee bit too hard one this game. I think this game is fun, I enjoy the gym battles, the new team star battle system is breath of fresh air, and the path of legends. I really like some of the newer pokemon design and the openess of the world and how it is truly your adventure. However I feel like I need to adress the elephant in the room the graphics are bad and theI feel like people are a wee bit too hard one this game. I think this game is fun, I enjoy the gym battles, the new team star battle system is breath of fresh air, and the path of legends. I really like some of the newer pokemon design and the openess of the world and how it is truly your adventure. However I feel like I need to adress the elephant in the room the graphics are bad and the developers need to fix the pop in and the frame rate issues. This game is jank it feels like the team for legends Arceus and this game are two completely different studios that never even spoke to each other . Game freak almost had it perfected and could only go up but they some how mangaed to take 3 steps foward and 4 steps back. Gamefreak needs to take their time with their next installment, I feel the open world can work just they have to actually put the effort and work unto making it a great success.… Expand
  29. eye-zitt
    Nov 23, 2022
    6
    10/10 gameplay, 0/10 technical capability. Averages out to a mediocre experience overall.

    I personally had a lot of fun playing through all of the stories of Pokemon Violet, but I want my score to reflect that this game squandered its potential due to all of the bugs and glitches I’ve experienced and have seen other experience while playing. Truly sad to see.
  30. Officialalexj7
    Nov 19, 2022
    5
    This game would be so good if the performance and graphics were better. They rushed this game and in my opinion you should wait to buy this one until they patch it.
  31. i_mush
    Nov 23, 2022
    6
    I'm giving 6 instead of 5 just to offset some excessive criticism, although it is impossible to be kind towards this release.
    The game is fun and the open world aspect of esploration and progression is really interesting, giving the player the freedom to explore allowed me to find myself just a little underleveled for the next challenge, giving me the necessity to actually train my mons    I'm giving 6 instead of 5 just to offset some excessive criticism, although it is impossible to be kind towards this release.
    The game is fun and the open world aspect of esploration and progression is really interesting, giving the player the freedom to explore allowed me to find myself just a little underleveled for the next challenge, giving me the necessity to actually train my mons before bringing it on, this was a great feeling.
    Also, new pokemon models are great, you can actually see more details like furs and scales, and overally the design of new mons is great and not awkward as in the previous releases.

    The bad thing of this game is is that you're constantly reminded that it has been rushed just to meet xmas sales. Textures look ugly, the framerate is low, animations are poor and there are bugs every now and then, and this is a big setback that ruins what should have been an otherwise great adventure.    … Expand
  32. Simone010
    Nov 20, 2022
    7
    Kinda disappointed even if there are so many interesting features and coil scene
  33. Ilbinishtok
    Nov 20, 2022
    5
    Techniquement c'est un scandale, le jeu est moche même pour une Switch, ça on est habitué. Par contre des bugs et des lags a foison des qu'il y a 3 pokémons a l'écran et c'est encore pire dans les villes. Après ç'est addictif comme à chaque fois, même si e trouve que le système de capture instauré dans Arceus était bien plus intéressant.
  34. danieljp93
    Nov 20, 2022
    6
    Pros:
    - The Tera mechanics add a new dimension to battles. The Tera battles themselves also look fantastic.
    - The sandwich-making mechanic is a pretty nice feature, allowing you to boost certain aspects of your playthrough (higher catch rates, more exp. gained etc.) - Battles look good, and run smoothly. - Good selection of Pokemon from previous generations to add to the new ones. -    Pros:
    - The Tera mechanics add a new dimension to battles. The Tera battles themselves also look fantastic.
    - The sandwich-making mechanic is a pretty nice feature, allowing you to boost certain aspects of your playthrough (higher catch rates, more exp. gained etc.)
    - Battles look good, and run smoothly.
    - Good selection of Pokemon from previous generations to add to the new ones.
    - Different branches of the story to play through in whatever order you want to.
    - Pretty standard Pokemon experience.

    Cons:
    - FPS... Oh boy. The game feels like it's falling apart right from the start. Even walking around your house, a small and finite area, was a huge chore. The game stutters along while your Switch cries out in pain from start to finish.
    - The open world... I love open world games. They should be full of secrets and rewards for exploring. Pokemon SV has none of that. They've created a fairly standard open world with standard terrains, but other than more Pokemon and more Pokeballs/Potions to find, there's not really any point straying off the main path. It's a huge disappointment.

    Overall, is it better than SwSh? Probably. Is it better than PLA? No.

    6/10.    … Expand
  35. Phiroth
    Nov 20, 2022
    5
    No es lo mejor pero tampoco lo peor que he jugado, hubo cosas que estaban bien pero otras no.

    Pero para cuando el parche? Ya en serio, si gamefreak tiene dignidad, debrian arriesgarse a mas, como poner actores de voz, salirse de la historia clasica, dejar de lado este semi-realismo en el apartado grafico y TESTEAR, porque el framerate va y viene y muchos bugs. Porque si bien hay cosas    No es lo mejor pero tampoco lo peor que he jugado, hubo cosas que estaban bien pero otras no.

    Pero para cuando el parche? Ya en serio, si gamefreak tiene dignidad, debrian arriesgarse a mas, como poner actores de voz, salirse de la historia clasica, dejar de lado este semi-realismo en el apartado grafico y TESTEAR, porque el framerate va y viene y muchos bugs. Porque si bien hay cosas que parecen interesantes, otras son mas de lo mismo.

    Tanto dinero en su poder y poco tiempo (o interes) al parecer, el juego sera recordado por ser uno de los productos mas divisivos que han salido en los ultimos años.    … Expand
  36. N64ftw
    Nov 19, 2022
    7
    The open world combined with 3 storylines is entertaining, but the horrific programming cannot be over looked. This game has great potential, but I cannot recommend it in this state unless you are a die hard fan.
  37. kingcobra69
    Nov 19, 2022
    7
    Ignore the people that talk about graphics they dont realize the hardware the switch has let alone gamefreak and how they work as a whole the games amazing im still gonna play it the only 2 gripes I have is performance and we cant have custom clothes like pants skirts shirts etc I personally wouldn't recommend buying it right now but once they fix the constant stuttering and lag I highlyIgnore the people that talk about graphics they dont realize the hardware the switch has let alone gamefreak and how they work as a whole the games amazing im still gonna play it the only 2 gripes I have is performance and we cant have custom clothes like pants skirts shirts etc I personally wouldn't recommend buying it right now but once they fix the constant stuttering and lag I highly recommend it… Expand
  38. Cesarantony
    Nov 19, 2022
    6
    I played 2 hours of the game and in the first minutes i had a problem with the fps, i'm sure that the game is a evolution in the franchise but they have some problems in making it, if the game had more time i think that the game would be so much better
  39. Starlord
    Nov 19, 2022
    6
    Playing nonstop since playing the game while the performance issues and they really need to fix that in the areas that have performance and glitch issues. BUT! If you can get through those issues the game is completely amazing with a performance patch this is a 10/10 game, as it currently stands it's a 6/10. Please Game Freak put out a performance patch!
  40. Starfree
    Nov 19, 2022
    6
    Pokémon has always had performance issue, but this is a new low. The game renders the entire map at once making game slow down and many other problems. There’s a lot of lazy things in this game that is just insulting. But it’s still Pokémon, and the open world actually works, not as well as it could. But it is nice to see change. The game is good, it’s just all the glitches and bugs andPokémon has always had performance issue, but this is a new low. The game renders the entire map at once making game slow down and many other problems. There’s a lot of lazy things in this game that is just insulting. But it’s still Pokémon, and the open world actually works, not as well as it could. But it is nice to see change. The game is good, it’s just all the glitches and bugs and performance problems really bring down the experience.… Expand
  41. CodeOfDarkness
    Nov 21, 2022
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This review will contain minor spoilers about plot elements and certain Pokémon environments. No NPCs will be named, so you should be able to read without much damage to a blind gameplay if that’s what you are looking for.

    Where to begin… Scarlet and Violet are a first for the franchise in multiple aspects, be them good or bad. A main game is finally open world and somewhat non-linear, something players have always asked for, but we’ve received a product that should not have been released in its current state. A mixed review is inevitable with the day 1 state of gameplay, and I shall now name the pros and cons of this controversial piece of software.

    THE GOOD: + an open world, full of freedom experience. Scarlet and Violet encourage you to explore and play at your own pace. The level curve is quite balanced and catching all mons in an area should make you leveled enough to proceed to the next. + the cities are actually interesting in their depiction of the Iberian peninsula and are full of references in that regard. The characters also have a nice, unique design most of the time. You interact with multiple NPCs and the university/school setting is interesting, even if obviously limited in a few areas (like “classes“ with 3 lines of dialogue).

    + avatar customization is the best the franchise has ever seen, albeit limited to a child playable character, so no age customization yet. + the plot has included a few more mature/emotional themes that stray far from the typical “bad organization wants to destroy the world”. + the competitive is fresh as ever with the new mechanics and a new, hard to predict way to bypass a Pokémon’s weakness with terastalize and it’s unique “hidden power”. + the Pokédex descriptions complement the habitat and enviroment of the Pokémon really well. Seeing a garchomp gliding on top of a snowy mountain is nice. One male pyroar surrounded by 5 females is cool as well.

    THE NEUTRAL: = a highly subjective topic, the designs are kinda… bland. The starters are not the greatest and some Pokémon look very strange, but that will vary from person to person. Iron Threads looks silly and out of place. = it’s not clear what the level curve is for a certain location. One gym you are fighting level 40 mons and the next is at 24. It’s usually related to the level of the wild mons in the area, but if you intend to go through the “intended” order of gyms, you will need to do a lot of fast traveling/backtracking. A progression based on your number of badges would be better and feel more natural. That’s actually what happens with one of your rivals, and that makes it even more strange depending on the gym you just faced. = The limited number of Pokémon in the game make some of them appear in a very large amount of areas, which feels unnatural and repetitive. This doesn’t happen very often, though. = Pokémon in the wild don’t interact with other species. You’d expect Tauros and primeape to chase other Pokémon, but they just don’t care. That’s a missed opportunity, but nothing major. THE BAD:

    Sigh… here we go. This game is a COMPLETE performance mess and was released in an unfinished, unoptimized state that’s unforgivable considering the size of the franchise it’s in. - Frame Drops are absolutely everywhere and very noticeable, reaching sub 20 in multiple instances. If you thought XY/Sun and moon triple/double battles were bad, brace yourself… - textures are extremely low resolution in a lot of overworld surfaces, further contrasted by high textures in NPCs, poke balls and some Pokémon (looking at you, magnemite). They look really bad and dated. - visual glitches are everywhere with out-of-bonds/seeing through walls, texture pop-ups, slowed down movement for NPCs that aren’t very close, etc

    - field of view is horribly short and you will bump into Pokémon that were invisible a second ago if you are going fast. Ambient details like grass will pop up close to you and feel like you are playing an old game on minimum settings, still struggling to reach more than 24 fps (let alone 30). - camera is awkward during battles and your character may get warped to the edge of a cliff depending on where you engage a wild Pokémon. To summarize, this is a game with great ideas and a step in the right direction of GAME DESIGN, but was released in a clear UNFINISHED state that screams “this game should have been delayed for further optimization/debugging”. I really hope these problems get patched, but no excuses can be made for the state we have right now. The Nintendo switch is a very old piece of hardware and game freak has made more than one Pokémon game for it before, so it should never delivered such a messy performance for a mainline game. A solid 8.5 to 9 is, unfortunately, a 6 at best due to these reasons, and I can’t recommend Scarlet and Violet to you if performance is a major point of your enjoyment in a game.    … Expand
  42. kaelmato
    Nov 21, 2022
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game sure is a mixed bag, for every step forwards, 3 steps have been taken back.
    After beating the game I thought I might as well post an honest review here which isn't just another 0 or a 10. My review will contain some spoilers but I will try to keep them as vague as possible.

    Lets start with the good:
    -The game is semi open world! You can at any point go anywhere which is a massive leap forwards for the franchise going forward.
    -The battle gameplay is as fun as it's ever been, still good old pokemon.
    -The raids are back and they're much better and in SwSh, you no longer need to wait for your turn if someone decides to go walk their dog in the middle of a raid, and overall the flow of the raid battles is much faster.
    -Some of the music is super awesome and memorable, and I will be listening it on my headphones.
    -Story spoiler, keeping it as vague as possible, look away now if you don't want to be spoiled in any way: The last 2 hours were geniunely the most amazing pokemon experience I've had in years, maybe ever, it's still fresh so I will need to mull it over. The tone was completely different from what I would've ever expected from a pokemon game. The tone was more like something I would expect from a xenoblade game, and I loved it. The ending singlehandedly raised my score from 6 to 7 for this game, if it weren't for the glaring issues the game has, it would easily be a 9 for me.

    Now the bad:
    -The game runs atrociously, at times you will reach single digit frames, shadows, lighting, objects, everything pops and unpops into existance in front of your eyes.
    -The textures are horrible, even by pokemon standards.
    -Everything that is more than 8 meters away from you reverts to simple 4-6 frame animations. This includes people walking.
    -The same happens if there's a lot of people in an area at the same time, only 6-7 of the people are actually 30 fps (or whatever your current fps is at the time), while others are reverted to 4-6 frame animations, I can only assume this is a conscious choice to preserve switch computing power, but I know switch is capable of much more than this, looking at xenoblade.
    -There are bugs, you can fall through the floor, clip through things, get stuck in animations, spaghettify in multiplayer (This funs actually funny).
    -While the OST as a whole is great, there are some serious oddballs at pivotal moments, such as the elite 4 battle theme which are just horrible. The elite 4 in this case sounds like a songs intro, but the song never starts, it just feels off, and completely ruined the vibe of the elite 4 for me. Edit: Scratch that, my game was apparently bugged (because of course it was) and the song actually only looped the first 10 seconds, just looked up the song on youtube and turns out there's more to the song than I gave it credit for.
    -There is no battle tower.
    -The open world at times feels empty and there is no scaling so you still kinda have to do things in a set order or you'll be severily underleveld or overleveled.

    In conclusion, do I recommend this game?
    Sure, if you're a serious pokemon fan like I am, just be aware that the game runs like a turtle.
    If you're not a super fan like me, or you're new and just thinking of getting into the franchise, I personally would probably skip this one, or maybe wait for a patch that fixes things, no guarantee there will be a patch though.

    TLDR:

    7/10, it's a great game plagued by performance issues and bugs.    … Expand
  43. BloodMutt
    Nov 21, 2022
    7
    There's bound to be bugs and glitches in a new open world game and there are. But otherwise it's a decent game if a little lacking story-wise with a big but mostly empty world. The "bad guys" get weirder and less menacing with each installment, their motivation is also getting downright silly. I'm hoping for updates that'll fix most of my complaints.
  44. ChefoMaestro
    Nov 23, 2022
    6
    A fun story, great new Pokémon, cool new features, and good characters. The main problem is that the optimization is absurdly bad. I think it's definitely a step back from Arceus. Another point against is that the cities feel a bit empty.
    If you are a fan of the saga, you are going to enjoy it a lot, but even the biggest fan notices the game's technical deficiencies
  45. Dillium
    Nov 22, 2022
    5
    The game is fun but the sheer number of glitches and graphical errors are impossible to ignore.
  46. CloudXz
    Nov 24, 2022
    5
    I really liked the open World and the Story was pretty good for a Pokémon Game. But the Graphics and Bugs are absolut awful. I would give it a 8/10 but it is not possible to ignore the Problems. A great Game that get overshadowed from to much Problems. What is pretty sad because it was fun.
  47. Arcanjojr
    Nov 21, 2022
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Se tivesse nas mãos da netmarble sairia um jogo 10/10, estou jogando o Violet e dou 7/10 e me divertindo pelo vasto mundo aberto para exploração e sair um pouco dos pokémons tradicionais e ir para o mundo mais tecnológico✌… Expand
  48. DolphinReviews
    Nov 23, 2022
    5
    There is a good game here, but Pokémon Scarlet and Violet make it actively difficult to enjoy it with the abysmal performance. The actual world is a blast to explore, or would be if I wasn't able to see through the ground and hit more than 15 frames per second. There are a good amount great new Pokémon designs this generation, but there are quite a lot of bad ones as well. If you're goingThere is a good game here, but Pokémon Scarlet and Violet make it actively difficult to enjoy it with the abysmal performance. The actual world is a blast to explore, or would be if I wasn't able to see through the ground and hit more than 15 frames per second. There are a good amount great new Pokémon designs this generation, but there are quite a lot of bad ones as well. If you're going in completely blind to the game I can easily see you being disappointed in your starter Pokémon's final evolution. The character animations of the humans are awful, lifeless husks being puppeteered with view frames. The actual Pokémon's attack animations are somewhat improved. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet should have been delayed an extra year in order to fix the performance issues and the character animations. I can't recommend Scarlet and Violent until there is improvement to the performance so it becomes at least playable.… Expand
  49. CaiqueDeodato
    Nov 20, 2022
    7
    O jogo é bom e é uma evolução em relação a Sword/Shield, mas considero um retrocesso a Legends: Arceus, onde tudo era mais dinâmico e fluia bem. A performance desse jogo é ruim, o grafico é inferior ao Legends, as cidades apesar de serem abertas no mapa, são mais mortas e sem nada pra fazer, a customização do personagem sofreu um retrocesso gigantesco, onde além de não poder trocar aO jogo é bom e é uma evolução em relação a Sword/Shield, mas considero um retrocesso a Legends: Arceus, onde tudo era mais dinâmico e fluia bem. A performance desse jogo é ruim, o grafico é inferior ao Legends, as cidades apesar de serem abertas no mapa, são mais mortas e sem nada pra fazer, a customização do personagem sofreu um retrocesso gigantesco, onde além de não poder trocar a roupa, os acessórios são espalhados em muitas lojas sem necessidade. O ponto forte do jogo é a liberdade, pois você pode escolher o que fazer e em que ordem fazer (apesar que o nível de seus Pokémon restringe bastante essa liberdade). Se não tivesse existido Legends: Arceus, provavelmente eu veria esse jogo como um avanço absoluto na franquia.… Expand
  50. Javichuxd
    Nov 20, 2022
    6
    Terrible graphics, but worse optimization. Also, It's so enjoyable, great story, and more complete that any last pokemon on switch.
  51. WispDum
    Nov 20, 2022
    6
    It’s good. A lot of people are talking about bugs and glitches, but I haven’t run into any, and I’ve been playing undocked. A lot of people are talking about graphics, but it’s a switch title. It’s not about the graphics, it just lacks stylization, and I wish they would consider that.

    This one has decent story telling, and in my opinion, is a fundamentally better game than sword and    It’s good. A lot of people are talking about bugs and glitches, but I haven’t run into any, and I’ve been playing undocked. A lot of people are talking about graphics, but it’s a switch title. It’s not about the graphics, it just lacks stylization, and I wish they would consider that.

    This one has decent story telling, and in my opinion, is a fundamentally better game than sword and shield. It comes with a lot of content, and it doesn’t deserve to be considered bad by any means, if you’re a fan of Pokémon games.

    However, there are better ways to spend $60. Xenoblade 3 is great, give that a try if you don’t like Scarlet and Violet. Regardless, it’s not a terrible way to spend your money. It’s a good 30 hours of enjoyment if you speed through it, and probably like 80 to 100 hours if you take your time and play the game.    … Expand
  52. none1195
    Nov 20, 2022
    7
    The gameplay and writing is amazing, but the host of technical issues is insane.
  53. IlPodd
    Nov 22, 2022
    6
    This game could be SOOO MUCH MORE.
    Despite serious graphical issues and a clearly rushed test phase (which probably has been skipped...) the game its self is enjoyable and can provide good entertainment. Some in-game areas are clearly intended to provide some features that have not been implemented due a rushed release. This game is a what-could-have-been went bad.
  54. SkittlesHD
    Nov 22, 2022
    5
    The Variety of new and Powerful pokemon is great. The story was perfect all around 10/10 all pokemon fans need to give this game a chance.
  55. lizardpants
    Nov 23, 2022
    5
    I'll start by saying this isn't a "bad" game but man it's got some issues.

    tl;dr version PROS: Exploration, Good Sense of Progression, Music, Gameplay CONS: Poor QA & Performance, Uninspired World, Questionable Game Design in some spots Review: Relatively standard faire for pokemon, you collect the badges, stop the "evil" team and fill the pokedex but thanks to the open world    I'll start by saying this isn't a "bad" game but man it's got some issues.

    tl;dr version
    PROS: Exploration, Good Sense of Progression, Music, Gameplay
    CONS: Poor QA & Performance, Uninspired World, Questionable Game Design in some spots

    Review:
    Relatively standard faire for pokemon, you collect the badges, stop the "evil" team and fill the pokedex but thanks to the open world nature of the game it's a little more conducive to the the longevity of the experience; the main storyline(s) had me clock in at around 50% longer than my average playtime for a pokemon game. Using your legendary gradually to traverse and explore more of the map feels satisfying as you unlock more of its abilities over the course of the game. The pokemon designs themselves are hit or miss, even moreso than last gen. I find it a bit funny that the gen that gave me my new favorite starter also gave me Shutterstock Flamingo Clipart #4337

    While the game itself is pretty expansive, the environments themselves are actually relatively bland for a pokemon game; a lot of expanse but a whoooole lot of empty. It's lacking those cool landmarks you got in previous gens like the Abandoned Ship, Dragonspiral Tower and the Whirl islands to name a few. There is one area (hint hint) that stands head and shoulders above any other locations in this game and I'm sure you'll recognize it when you reach it and it only highlights that much more how uninspired the rest of Paldea feels by comparison. I just find it somewhat of a shame the world can't seem to match the whimsicality of the pokemon themselves.

    The quality control on this game pretty much gamefreak saying "Well, at least they can make it through the game without it catching on fire. Probably." Worst performance of any pokemon game, bar none. It can be smooth in a few areas but the majority of the time you're gonna be dropping frames pretty hard. The switch itself isn't the paragon of gaming performance but a lot of games on the switch fit the same criteria of SV while looking and running better. On occasion you'll be encountering various visual glitches that find their way in your adventure. A lot of people are willing to laugh them off but they can be pretty immersion killing.

    An extra year in the oven and this game probably could've been a 7 or an 8, but for whatever reason the devs and their overseers refuse to re-evaluate their production pipeline for these games. These games make billions but it would be nice if they could take a little more pride in their work instead of just rushing the games out of max profits.    … Expand
  56. Pixelman030
    Nov 23, 2022
    6
    It's alright in my opinion, but it's definitely not at the quality of the older gamesm
  57. Firem23
    Nov 24, 2022
    5
    The game itself has really fun gameplay. I'm genuinely enjoying the actual style of it and I want more pokemon games to use this gameplay style. The pokemon being their correct sizes and the freedom to explore the world are nice. Unfortunately, the game is held back by the well known performance issues. It has crashed on me multiple times for seemingly no reason. The frame rate is droppingThe game itself has really fun gameplay. I'm genuinely enjoying the actual style of it and I want more pokemon games to use this gameplay style. The pokemon being their correct sizes and the freedom to explore the world are nice. Unfortunately, the game is held back by the well known performance issues. It has crashed on me multiple times for seemingly no reason. The frame rate is dropping constantly. The people move in choppy and stuttery movements even if you are directly in front of them. You can phase through your pokemon when you are walking with them. I know the developers did what they could in the extremely limited time that Gamefreak and the Pokemon Company gave them to get this game done, but in the end it feels like a it's an indie game in early access and not a AAA first party fully finished game.… Expand
  58. tom_mio
    Nov 24, 2022
    5
    I want to rate this game a 9 or a 10, becase from how fun and ambitious it is, it would deserve it.

    The open world works perfectly and encourages exploration. The newly added pokemons feel unique and better designed than the past few generations. The 3 stories are very different to what we usually get from a pokemon game and the characters feel human and are way more likeable than the    I want to rate this game a 9 or a 10, becase from how fun and ambitious it is, it would deserve it.

    The open world works perfectly and encourages exploration. The newly added pokemons feel unique and better designed than the past few generations. The 3 stories are very different to what we usually get from a pokemon game and the characters feel human and are way more likeable than the usually very annoying characters we get. This is in lot of way the pokemon game I always hoped for.

    But the technical issues are present and really aren't excusable. The games desperatly needs more polish and I hope a patch comes out as soon as possible. If these issues are fixed and the game gets expanded on though good DLC content it might redeem itself.

    With this game and the recent Legends Arceus GameFreak / TPC have proven they can make ambitious titles and that gives me hope for future games. But they absolutely need to give more time to developers or hire more to be able to deliver a finished product.    … Expand
  59. Smoogey
    Nov 24, 2022
    7
    pretty good game but the issues with it are undeniable. there is no way the game is a 3.5 user score, but its not perfect. the gameplay loop is enjoyable and i always found myself super happy and exited to get back on but there are a whole lot of laggy and performance based issues and i know they will most likely be patched but come on you cant just release a game like that today. this ispretty good game but the issues with it are undeniable. there is no way the game is a 3.5 user score, but its not perfect. the gameplay loop is enjoyable and i always found myself super happy and exited to get back on but there are a whole lot of laggy and performance based issues and i know they will most likely be patched but come on you cant just release a game like that today. this is the highest grossing media franchise and it needs to be treated better.… Expand
  60. EngameX86
    Nov 30, 2022
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Technical issues aside ( which there are plenty) I've spent a good amount of time with this Game ( Violet and scarlet) and the issues go far deeper that just glitches here and there. to keep it simple.
    Design: the lack of customization options in this partially online game is not only far less then previous games but also bland and lifeless.
    The majority of the "new" Pokémon designs feels nothing more then lazy.
    The overall design of the gym leaders seam purposefully lackluster. this is in comparison to the Team Star crew that all sport a far more unique design.
    That final 4 battle was inexcusably bad following the most pointless and boring mandatory segment in Pokémon history the "final four exam".

    Between the technical issues, Lazy design, poor special additions and overall lackluster story.. I'm only left Disappointed.. This game feels like Gamefreaks put as little effort as possible...at a premium price.    … Expand
  61. MrEmpee
    Dec 2, 2022
    5
    "Pokémon ha toccato il fondo e non contento si è messo a scavare" ... Questo è il commento più sincero che posso fare sui videogiochi di nova generazione, problemi di game design evidenti, world building grezzo, bilanciamento della difficoltà rotto, zero contestualizzazione delle creature nelle mappe, nessun interno di negozi o abitazioni, grafica da pre-alpha ps3, trama interessante ma"Pokémon ha toccato il fondo e non contento si è messo a scavare" ... Questo è il commento più sincero che posso fare sui videogiochi di nova generazione, problemi di game design evidenti, world building grezzo, bilanciamento della difficoltà rotto, zero contestualizzazione delle creature nelle mappe, nessun interno di negozi o abitazioni, grafica da pre-alpha ps3, trama interessante ma raccontata come se il pubblico avesse sei anni e tutto questo pattume è condito da bug e glitch di ogni tipo. Un prodotto nel migliore dei casi molto lontano dalla forma finale e nel peggiore perfettamente conforme alle scarse abilità dello sviluppatore, sicuramente il punto più basso della saga.… Expand
  62. Lillix225
    Dec 5, 2022
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It is an very nice game with nice Storys bit the Grafic is very bad, many gliches in the wall or under the map......You can go with 2 fps… Expand
  63. DukeOfKings
    Dec 6, 2022
    5
    While the games do have glitches, my copy had essentially none, and actual game quality wise, it's loads better than the slog Pokemon's put out recently. Normally I'd give 4/5, but I'll give leeway due to review bombs from people who haven't played it.
  64. Pyrobound
    Dec 6, 2022
    7
    This would honestly be the best pokemon game since black and white if based on story alone, however this is a modern pokemon game so it's filled with issues. Mainly performance issues. I won't claim the graphics themselves are bad (for pokemon), but the absolutely abysmal performance is unacceptable. Frequent slowdown, lag, and outright crashes from memory leak is NOT acceptable in theThis would honestly be the best pokemon game since black and white if based on story alone, however this is a modern pokemon game so it's filled with issues. Mainly performance issues. I won't claim the graphics themselves are bad (for pokemon), but the absolutely abysmal performance is unacceptable. Frequent slowdown, lag, and outright crashes from memory leak is NOT acceptable in the current day in age of games. It really does take away from the experience when you're trying to immerse yourself in the story and the npcs move at 5 frames per second. I am aware you can SOMEWHAT fix these issues by closing and reopening the game to reset memory leak, but I shouldn't have to jump through hoops to make the game playable in the first place. Your average player who does frequent internet discussion about the game won't know that they need to do this in the first place and more than likely experience terrible performance and glitches from memory leak. It's a shame because gameplay wise, this is the most solid modern pokemon game in years. The open world is vast and entirely explorable, right from the moment you get you ride pokemon. Though I do wish they had level scaling and team scaling specifically for the gym leaders, it's still incredibly fun to go off the beaten path and fight something 20 levels above you and win. You can just go straight to the final areas and catch the pseudo legendary of this gen right away if you want. I won't spoil anything, but the ending of the game is the best one we've had in forever. Finally the ability to play online in real time with your friends is a major plus and something we've needed for a while. Despite my thorough criticisms, I still think this is a good but flawed game. I had fun and I think you can too. I'm just warning you that the performance issues are vast and I can only hope they update them out because it's a shame that such a good pokemon game is bogged down with these kind of issues.… Expand
  65. Bobbythekai
    Dec 6, 2022
    5
    Greatest pokemon game in a while, this is the first pokemon game with like full actual Co-op and I can't wait to see what happens with the franchise now
  66. SolarEclipse
    Jun 8, 2023
    6
    PLEASE STOP CALLING ME MISS ECLIPSE IM NONBINARY

    Other than that it’s fine but the “Miss Eclipse” and the She/her pronouns are driving me insane
  67. TJD2
    Mar 5, 2023
    7
    The game is fun to play and the Pokemon designs are pretty good. That said, the game is marred by technical issues and poor performance. The framerate will stutter and the game will slow down to a crawl even when nothing is going on. It feels like a power point at times. The open-world ambition is offset by these issues and they are too glaring to overlook. I wanted to absolutely loveThe game is fun to play and the Pokemon designs are pretty good. That said, the game is marred by technical issues and poor performance. The framerate will stutter and the game will slow down to a crawl even when nothing is going on. It feels like a power point at times. The open-world ambition is offset by these issues and they are too glaring to overlook. I wanted to absolutely love this game, and I like it enough not to return it, but Pokemon Legends Arceus is a much better game that does not suffer these problems. If a patch is not released soon I may not even end up beating this one.… Expand
  68. Tubey
    Feb 3, 2023
    5
    Pokémon Violet is the first game in the series where I've thought "you know, maybe it's not for me anymore." Not because of the technical issues, but because the game is so dumbed down with Exp. Share and auto-battles and the 'open world' aspect is so half-arsed that it just all feels... wrong.

    I loved Arceus, I had high hopes of Violet/Scarlet after seeing it being pitched as a hybrid    Pokémon Violet is the first game in the series where I've thought "you know, maybe it's not for me anymore." Not because of the technical issues, but because the game is so dumbed down with Exp. Share and auto-battles and the 'open world' aspect is so half-arsed that it just all feels... wrong.

    I loved Arceus, I had high hopes of Violet/Scarlet after seeing it being pitched as a hybrid of a traditional game and the new introduced in Arceus, but... while it actually DOES do that to a large degree, it just doesn't work.

    To touch briefly on the technical troubles, yes, it runs terribly, objects and people in the distance are extremely off putting as they half load into existence, and I had one complete system crash at one point, so it's an unoptimised rushed mess. But it's Game Freak, it's what they do, Sword/Shield was similar too, so as a series veteran I basically expect semi-broken games at this point, so it's not as big a factor to me as it would be for someone coming in fresh.

    I like the new Pokémon, no problems there, and the academy system is OK. But... yeah, the game just feels all kinds of wrong and the series is moving in the wrong direction. Yes, your target audience is younger, but you don't have to treat kids like idiots, they know how to play games, they don't need everything to be baby mode.    … Expand
  69. Hesht
    Dec 29, 2022
    6
    The Good;
    The characters are arguably the deepest the series has introduced. Each of the players’ friends have strengths and flaws, and are even relatable in ways previous games missed.
    The new Pokémon designs are great. There’s a few who stand out above the rest, but it’s definitely one of the better generations for new Pokémon. The map is great, and the open world was implemented in the    The Good;
    The characters are arguably the deepest the series has introduced. Each of the players’ friends have strengths and flaws, and are even relatable in ways previous games missed.
    The new Pokémon designs are great. There’s a few who stand out above the rest, but it’s definitely one of the better generations for new Pokémon.
    The map is great, and the open world was implemented in the best possible way. Where Legends Arceus walked, Violet and Scarlet ran.
    Team Star we’re a nice change of pace from the usual evil team.
    Telling part of the game’s story through going to class and befriending teachers was a good idea. I originally dismissed the school classes as unnecessary until I tried them, and found them very worthwhile in the end.

    The bad;
    Game performance. You’ll be lucky to maintain more than 20 fps in the open world. The longer the game remains open the worse the performance. Closing the game and reopening helps to a degree, but not for long. The performance is the only thing I marked the game down for, so believe me when I say it’s bad. I haven’t played a game with performance this bad since I tried playing Crysis on a Windows Vista laptop with less than a GB of RAM.    … Expand
  70. jljosue
    May 12, 2023
    7
    Pokémon Violet presents many interesting and fun ideas, but unfortunately many of them are poorly executed. The premise of three routes or plots in this game seems unique to me, but the ease of many mini-games or challenges presented in Gym Leaders or Team Star discouraged me a bit. While many Pokémon are well designed and recreated in their habitats, the lousy performance of the gamePokémon Violet presents many interesting and fun ideas, but unfortunately many of them are poorly executed. The premise of three routes or plots in this game seems unique to me, but the ease of many mini-games or challenges presented in Gym Leaders or Team Star discouraged me a bit. While many Pokémon are well designed and recreated in their habitats, the lousy performance of the game terribly affects that sense of immersion with the Pokémon you encounter and the gameplay. All of this gave me the feeling that the game definitely needed more time, something Pokémon has been having a lot of trouble with lately, and their recent games speak for themselves. I hope that this in the future will change, and that these Pokémon Scarlet and Violet games will allow the Pokémon Company to rethink their priorities; where quality is above the amount of money they generate by wanting to release games on specific dates so as not to lose the economic business model they have. This business model, by the way, is affecting the company's image regarding the quality of their games. I, as a veteran fan of the Pokémon saga, know that they can do better and give more, and get out of that comfort zone.… Expand
  71. jonantlew
    Nov 29, 2022
    5
    It's fun to play but very buggy and crashes. I wish they'd have taken more time to really make an IMMERSIVE open world experience.
  72. gamerguy78
    Nov 28, 2022
    7
    I had a ton a fun with the game but it dosent take away from the issues. This optimization is horrible and the glitchs are bad. But with that being said it's still a ton of fun and what I wanted from a pokemon game and I think this game is overhated (Also how do I change my username on this site)
  73. Ert0426
    Jun 11, 2023
    7
    Pokemon Violet could have been a fantastic game and a great leap forward for the Pokemon franchise, however, numerous bugs, graphical errors and oddities, framerate issues, a continued lack of voice acting, some weird omissions of features from previous games like catching pokemon without battling in legends: arceus, and an open world that, while vast and greatly detailed, can sometimesPokemon Violet could have been a fantastic game and a great leap forward for the Pokemon franchise, however, numerous bugs, graphical errors and oddities, framerate issues, a continued lack of voice acting, some weird omissions of features from previous games like catching pokemon without battling in legends: arceus, and an open world that, while vast and greatly detailed, can sometimes feel empty and lifeless. Fortunately, its new quality of life features, like auto battling, the unique designs of the new pokemon, the amount of freedom given to the player, and the new open world can at least keep Pokemon Violet on the level of being a good game, just not what it could've been.… Expand
  74. Syhlcam
    Dec 1, 2022
    7
    Pokémon Écarlate / Violet sont des jeux incroyable à deux doigt d'être des équivalents à Breath of the Wild pour Pokémon. Mais ces jeux souffre d'un manque de travail cruel sur la technique, qui pénalise l'expérience de jeu. Des textures horribles, des ralentissements et bugs, des choses évitables mais qui l'ont pas été.

    Et c'est dommage car derrière, les jeux offre un bon open-world    Pokémon Écarlate / Violet sont des jeux incroyable à deux doigt d'être des équivalents à Breath of the Wild pour Pokémon. Mais ces jeux souffre d'un manque de travail cruel sur la technique, qui pénalise l'expérience de jeu. Des textures horribles, des ralentissements et bugs, des choses évitables mais qui l'ont pas été.

    Et c'est dommage car derrière, les jeux offre un bon open-world qui pousse à l'exploration. Un monde ouvert qui est généreux en objet, en Pokémon et en environnement. Un jeu qui offre également plusieurs quêtes intéressante, apportant parfois des nouveautés pour la série principale. Et qui se fini sur une quête très narrative qui nous transport dans une ambiance originale pour la licence. Le tout sur une bande sonore exceptionnelle et avec l'utilisation intéressante de la téracrystallisation.

    Mais on peut également noté que la personnalisation est certes bien amélioré mais déçoit sur certain aspect. Que la difficulté non basé sur le joueur facile l'expérience de jeu. Et que les cinématiques manque de doublage pour qu'elles soient plus impactante.

    En clair, Pokémon Écarlate / Violet sont de très bon jeu, qui propose un vrai pas en avant pour la licence Pokémon avec un bon open-world, mais c'est aussi des jeux qui souffre de leurs techniques.

    FULL TEST : https://www.geekexperience.fr/jeux-video/avis/avis-pokemon-ecarlate-violet/    … Expand
  75. RevUBrah
    Jan 29, 2023
    7
    I've been one of GF's biggest critics since the Gen 6 Battle Frontier fiasco, and if not for the rushed development I'd call this a step in the right direction. Good mon variety (aside from some uninspired designs like "Flamigo") and freedom to catch & explore like Legends Arceus shows that they've learned from some of their mistakes. However, the lag and removal of Megas/Nat Dex ensuresI've been one of GF's biggest critics since the Gen 6 Battle Frontier fiasco, and if not for the rushed development I'd call this a step in the right direction. Good mon variety (aside from some uninspired designs like "Flamigo") and freedom to catch & explore like Legends Arceus shows that they've learned from some of their mistakes. However, the lag and removal of Megas/Nat Dex ensures this game will never stand among the greats like SoulSilver or Emerald.… Expand
  76. xionthedark
    Dec 7, 2022
    7
    A better step up than the previous title. Fun game and good story. The game definitely should have been delayed and worked on further. No excuse on the state this game is in when launched. Would be a 8 or a 9 but right now. its a 6 for me.
  77. ElSmasher
    Apr 5, 2023
    7
    Before I start, I would like to congratulate Game Freak for taking the risk of having released for the first time a TRUE openworld (just like Sonic Frontiers) in such a short time. Pokemon Ecarlate and Violet are games that are unfortunately made "hastily", and this is felt with a technique that is excecrable, worse than that of Arceus. Bugs, clipping, aliasing, everything goes; TheBefore I start, I would like to congratulate Game Freak for taking the risk of having released for the first time a TRUE openworld (just like Sonic Frontiers) in such a short time. Pokemon Ecarlate and Violet are games that are unfortunately made "hastily", and this is felt with a technique that is excecrable, worse than that of Arceus. Bugs, clipping, aliasing, everything goes; The artistic direction however saves the furniture, and is better than LPA in my humble opinion. Apart from this "technical" part, the game is excellent. It is true that we can note some rhythmic problems because of the long pokemons captures, missing or weakened features in favor of the openworld or a weak post-game. But, its main frame is varied and is a pure pleasure, so addictive. RPG Codes are still as well retranscribed coupled with a lively openworld as air, we are free!!! The lifespan is impressive: 20-30h in rush, 60h if you take your time. We are a long way from Sword and Shield’s failure to take risks or the LPA’s broken promise. Pokemon Ecarlate and Violet is excellent, yes but unfortunately outdated by today’s technique, which makes it ugly.… Expand
  78. irai16
    Mar 28, 2023
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Yeah...this is a hard game to review. Even though I have enjoyed my time with it overall, I really can't give it a higher score due to its pathetic graphics and performance. The main story is alright, but the best part of the game is definitely the post-game in Area Zero which shockingly might have the best story in the entire series (RIP Turo!). The multiplayer as always is very fun, though they really need to add some guidance on stuff like EVs and IVs in the game itself, all the info is still only online. If you're a Pokemon fan, well, you probably already have this game, but if you're not, don't feel bad about skipping this.… Expand
  79. ND-Bringer
    Jan 3, 2023
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. To kick off Generation Nine, we have Scarlet and Violet. And man, I wish this game did so much more. Because this is the most fun I've had with a modern Pokemon game in a long time. Of course I can't deny its obvious flaws, but out of all the Pokemon games I've played on Switch, I find this to be the most enjoyable one.

    In this world, you have been accepted to join a prestigious Pokemon Academy to learn how to become an expert trainer. It reminds me of Kaiba's Duel Monsters Academy from Yu-Gi-Oh Gx. But before you can start that, you come across a mysterious motorcycle dragon Pokemon injured on the beach known as Miraidon. And at the start of the game Miraidon really reflected my current mood.

    Seeing the poor performance rate mixed in with the sprite glitches I feared that this was the new norm for Pokemon any many other future Switch games. Unenjoyable game design that spits at the legacy of the past titles. I thought I was in for the same old predictable formula that returned in Sword and Shield. And then I was given a delightful surprise.

    I was tasked with completing three different adventures. One involving the traditional Pokemon League challenge, one involving duels with giant boss Pokemon to collect rare healing herbs for Arven, and one for dismantling the bases of the peer-pressure group known as Team Star. And what's really great about these challenges is that you can take on each individual stage in any order you want. This feature feels incredibly refreshing.

    The large world acts like the Wild Area from Sword and Shield. In fact, this is what I wanted from Sword and Shield originally. This open world style of gameplay that's popular in titles like Super Mario Odyssey has finally arrived in the core series. It has evolved from the simple spin-off game experiment that it was in Legends Arceus.

    The only thing limiting exploration is the locked abilities hidden with in the dragon motorcycle, that can only be unlocked by completing the Titan Pokemon challenges. But thanks to the fast travel system, backtracking is anything but a pain. Just make sure you pay close attention to the terrain on the map.

    As for the levels themselves they're pretty nice. Plenty of secrets to discover, aggressive Pokemon ready to force you into battles, rare Technical Machines to fine, the works. My favorite part of the game was climbing up the steepest mountain in the area and admiring all the surroundings as the moon rose with my dragon motorcycle.

    This dragon motorcycle by the way, is a legitimate character in the story. I have never bonded this much with a Legendary Pokemon before. It loves to beg for sandwiches, it licks people like a dog, it's just packed with personality. As for the characters and story in general, they feel refreshing too in comparison to the past Switch games.

    Sword and Shield had a rushed climax mixed in with villains that are designed to insult your intelligence. While Legends Arceus had an obvious villain and some poor storytelling elements in the final act. But here in Scarlet and Violet, the story is really enjoyable. You learn about Arven's sad childhood, interact with plenty of fun gym leaders, and learn about Team Star's misfortunate tragedy. Which is the most interesting part of the game.

    Team Star are not generic villains with the sole purpose of fulfilling the villain trope of the Pokemon universe. They are a group of students that banded together to stop the bully infestation that plagued their academy about a year ago. It is revealed that the academy was once a more ruthless place. It was such a poor learning institute, that the former instructors erased the data about the bully war to escape the blame.

    The Team Star bases were really entertaining to take on. You are tasked with using three Pokemon to auto battle the majority of the grunts. It's more of a survival challenge than a dungeon challenge, and while I still miss those challenges, this is an acceptable substitute.

    There are signs of quality game design regarding the new exploration, battle, and catching mechanics. And with much more polished storytelling that rivals Sun and Moon's, it seemed that GameFreak would be developing a Switch game that was a cut above the rest. You'd think that despite its performance issues we would get a solid game. Well, that's almost true.

    The biggest problem of this game is Champion Geeta. It's a good thing she isn't the real final boss, because her team is pathetic. It's full of holes and mediocre advantages. She is a disgrace to the title Top Champion.

    But being the highest level trainer to rematch in the post game, she represents the only ultimate battle challenge right now. With the lack of a Battle Tower and Downloadable Content, there is no real challenge to take on after the main story is complete. I enjoyed the main game thoroughly, but there is nothing left for me to do right now.    … Expand
  80. BleedingJester
    Nov 27, 2022
    6
    The game isn't bad just really mediocre I didnt experience any game breaking bugs just a few graphical ones that didnt really matter

    The game is really easy to the point that its a detriment to the game making it really boring to battle and grind The games story is predictable and feels unfocused and doesn't begin to get interesting until the final hour of the campaign This game    The game isn't bad just really mediocre I didnt experience any game breaking bugs just a few graphical ones that didnt really matter

    The game is really easy to the point that its a detriment to the game making it really boring to battle and grind

    The games story is predictable and feels unfocused and doesn't begin to get interesting until the final hour of the campaign

    This game has two major the first problem is that it took to much from Breath of the Wild you can do almost any of the games story (Gyms, Team Star, Titans) in any order which hurts the story and the second problem is with the switch itself the switch just isn't powerful enough to properly handle what game freak is trying to do with the games and there are other pokemon games on the console that prove the switch is partially at fault for the issues

    overall, the game isn't bad but it's not good either its just really mediocre    … Expand
  81. magerehein666
    Feb 5, 2023
    7
    The framerate issues and glitches took away a bit of how fun the gameplay is. I have been a fan of Pokemon for over 20 years so I am a bit biased to like the game. But I found the storyline nice, better than Sw/Sh. Postgame is fun as well. Excited for the DLC
  82. grimreapersims
    Dec 6, 2022
    7
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  83. mepphy
    Nov 22, 2022
    7
    cool game,hope dlcs and next one can ACTUALLY evolve the formula also fixes were appreciated, would be cool to enter in houses
  84. Degia24
    Feb 12, 2023
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The game has a good potential, but it's too glitchy and with a lot of FPS drops (and certain wild Pokémon hordes makes the framerate more lower)
    Plus, the game could crash very easily in certain cases ("The software was closed because an error occurred") - especially during rainstorms, playing co-op or in some areas where FPS drops are common.
    Plus again, why gave to the player characters an absurd suit-and-tie 1960 style school uniform instead of a complete customizable set of clothes?

    Peccato!    … Expand
  85. Daniel1516
    Feb 24, 2023
    7
    esta culero mazizo lleno de errores en ocaciones ni se puede disfrutar Puntos(3)

    Nueva reseña el juego con las actualizaciones esta bien ya no estan tantos problemas tecnicos pero se ve la verdad muy mal a comparacion de otros de la misma nintendo yo en lo personal se siente algo vacio la idea es buena pero como que le faltaron ganas para que este bien implementad    esta culero mazizo lleno de errores en ocaciones ni se puede disfrutar Puntos(3)

    Nueva reseña el juego con las actualizaciones esta bien ya no estan tantos problemas tecnicos pero se ve la verdad muy mal a comparacion de otros de la misma nintendo yo en lo personal se siente algo vacio la idea es buena pero como que le faltaron ganas para que este bien implementad .    … Expand
  86. ILIKETHEGAME
    Jan 3, 2023
    7
    i beat this game and the game is fun. but the graphics are... horrible HOW NINTENDO CAN PUBLISH A GAME LIKE THAT
  87. Rhex98
    Jun 24, 2023
    7
    El juego es divertido, cuenta con buenos nuevos Pokémon, tiene buenos personajes y una buena historia, además de ser el primero en tener un mundo completamente abierto sin tiempos de carga, el GRAN problema viene en su rendimiento, dios GameFreak como puedes sacar un juego en estas condiciones, tiene tantos bugs y un rendimiento terrible a 20 fps, horrible en todos los sentidos. Si eresEl juego es divertido, cuenta con buenos nuevos Pokémon, tiene buenos personajes y una buena historia, además de ser el primero en tener un mundo completamente abierto sin tiempos de carga, el GRAN problema viene en su rendimiento, dios GameFreak como puedes sacar un juego en estas condiciones, tiene tantos bugs y un rendimiento terrible a 20 fps, horrible en todos los sentidos. Si eres capaz de tanquear todo eso y eres fanático de la franquicia no te lo puedes perder, igualmente dudo que lo hagas.… Expand
  88. GlassesGamer55
    Jan 17, 2023
    5
    This is simultaneously a really fun pokemon game and the biggest embarrassment Gamefreak has ever made. I played through the entire thing with a friend and I might not have gotten through it otherwise.

    The open world is super fun to explore and the story has some good moments especially toward the end. The new pokemon designs are also amazing. This is balanced by **** gym puzzles and    This is simultaneously a really fun pokemon game and the biggest embarrassment Gamefreak has ever made. I played through the entire thing with a friend and I might not have gotten through it otherwise.

    The open world is super fun to explore and the story has some good moments especially toward the end. The new pokemon designs are also amazing. This is balanced by **** gym puzzles and the entire team Star questline being uninteresting.

    It's quite hard to recommend this game in its current state while it's full of glitches, crashes and poor performance issues which will probably never be fixed.    … Expand
  89. Christian_TV
    Apr 15, 2023
    5
    This is the worst Pokemon game. The plot is boring,worse than Sun and Moon.The Graphic,the framerate and the bugs make this game an absolute torture.The worst thing are the buildings,not explorable and monotonus
  90. Aetherreal
    Apr 5, 2023
    6
    Despite having lots of good qualities, the game is a slog to go through due to lack of polish and slow pacing. Arceus is a much more rewarding experience.

    Pros: 400 Pokémon in the dex, 100 new Pokémon! New regional variants slap. The quality, detail, and originality of designs for characters and Pokémon is fantastic. The battle animations are great. The new mechanic provides a nice    Despite having lots of good qualities, the game is a slog to go through due to lack of polish and slow pacing. Arceus is a much more rewarding experience.

    Pros:
    400 Pokémon in the dex, 100 new Pokémon! New regional variants slap.
    The quality, detail, and originality of designs for characters and Pokémon is fantastic.
    The battle animations are great.
    The new mechanic provides a nice change for competitive players.
    Lots of different things to do (3 big "questlines")
    Fully open world and the freedom to do things in any order.
    New auto-battling mechanic reduces grind.
    Accessing storage boxes from the inventory is beautiful.
    Auto-heal and quick party reorganising are lovely.

    Cons:
    Bugs, visual glitches, corners cut all over.
    Various performance issues and one crash to date.
    Pacing is incredibly slow.
    Textures in the natural overworld are very lackluster.
    The legendary Pokémon is very low-quality in cutscenes. Very cringe.
    EXP share is still obligatory. Why no player agency?
    Music is fine.    … Expand
  91. MechGundam13
    Dec 1, 2022
    7
    Pokemon does one step forward and three steps backwards.

    I'm not going to talk about the countless glitches, bugs, performance issues because I'm sure they are going to get fixed. Lets address the Elephant in the room, the graphics, the graphics even for a switch game are really bad and it's not like the switch couldn't handle better graphics, SMT, Monster Hunter, Zelda and even    Pokemon does one step forward and three steps backwards.

    I'm not going to talk about the countless glitches, bugs, performance issues because I'm sure they are going to get fixed.

    Lets address the Elephant in the room, the graphics, the graphics even for a switch game are really bad and it's not like the switch couldn't handle better graphics, SMT, Monster Hunter, Zelda and even Pokemon Lets Go are graphically way more impressive and that's what Pokemon should at least look like.

    The new story ,,paths'' are all nice and bring something new to Pokemon, but they are not executed perfectly well.

    Also while the game has cut scenes, they are in silence, they should have at least voice actors for the cut scenes.

    Archiving major accomplishments like beating the Pokemon League are not celebrate like in other games and is basically nothing special in this game.

    The new Pokemon's are all nice and I like the new Forms of certain Pokemon's.

    The new Tera transformations dosnt't look really nice and while it bring something to the competitive multiplayer, they don't bring anything to the main game.

    Also new mechanics like ,,auto-battles'' don't really work well, the path finding of your Pokemon screws up a lot.

    If we are also going to talk about the new open world, there is basically nothing to explore or see, it's just a empty world.

    Another thing I didn't like was you can't go in every building, you can't talk to every NPC and trainer battles are optional.

    Visual customization of your own character was cut in content a lot in comparison to sword and shield.

    I still had fun exploring the new Pokemon and I did like the Zone Zero area in the game, so that's why I still give the game a decent rating.

    Game Freak should take some time off there normal release schedule and really work on a good Pokemon Game.    … Expand
  92. aizee121591
    Nov 27, 2022
    6
    Though enjoyable the game suffers from alot of glitches and frame drops. Its a shame because this could have been the pokemon game everyone hoped for.
  93. nzmetacritic
    Dec 9, 2022
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Hi Guys. I am enjoying this game so far. However, I have Mix reviews on this game. Technically I would rate this a 6.5/10 however I am a bit nostalgic and I still love Pokemon even if it wasn't to my expectations.

    The Storyline is great, its actually really enjoyable. However it is bit of children storyline and too simplistic for me. it doesn't give me a wow factor for sure. The Characters are great, full of personalities and great design. The animation is much better than the old, old Pokemon games.
    The open world is great for exploring but the design element is very, very poor. The interior design inside the buildings are amazing! But the outside world is lacking any innovative designs. Its basically just snow, grass, some trees, same cliffs, and water. It doesn't make me feel connected to the world that I am in. Monster Hunter World is one of the few Switch games that I have actually felt mesmerized by the world. But I love the fact that you can explore the world with 1-4 players in the same party, battle and watch your friend get beaten by your other friend, do raids together, ride mounts together etc.
    I like how I can change some of my clothing accessories but unfortunately you can't change your uniform which is a shame.

    Definitely performance issue. When moving around to the next place you can see the screen glitch a little, its minimal but noticeable. This means its running very low FPS. This is bad for a triple AAA game company. Why does Zelda and Immortal fenyx have better level designs and environment and still retain good FPS. Strange ?? The Sunflora animation is a good example of BAD FPS. The lighting and the shadows can be very poor or not optimized properly.
    Please optimize Gamefreak. I do miss the fishing rods and the tall grass. I wish they could have still implemented this idea and have more foliage, plants, forests, reefs, rock pools. more terrain, caves with crystals, gemstones or something to give more life to the Pokémons we love. This is a very low bar expectational game. The original addictiveness of the game still remains and still fun catching and battling. Tera Raids is ok, not my taste. Gamefreak you should always take your time developing and spend at least 4-5 years. Its not a bad game but it's not great either. This i why I give it a 7/10.    … Expand
  94. Divad27
    Dec 17, 2022
    7
    What a shame game, one of the most fun in the saga that is affected by how bad it is, apart from being ugly it looks really bad, with exaggerated drops in fps and textures that make you dizzy. If you try to forget about all that, it is very very entertaining and has a story that is possibly the best in the series (After BW and BW2)
  95. XEclipse360
    Feb 4, 2023
    6
    I like this game, but I despise the tera raids.
    I feel like they are way too hard. Why does the timer go down during an animation.
  96. Super_Oshawott
    Feb 8, 2023
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. After the review bomb that happened on the day of the release and playing it all the way through, I can say that everyone that reviewed negatively docent know what fun is.

    It's not perfect, especially with the stability of the game, but this is way better than Pokemon Sword by a long shot. The story is fun, Arven is a great character and the connection your character has with the main legendary is a lot more unique than anything Nintendo put out for the series since Black and White.

    It's has its issues, but it's fun. And that's all a game really needs.    … Expand
  97. bremensberg
    Dec 9, 2022
    7
    A Pokémon game with many new ideas. The open world, different story paths the way of catching. They took many good things from Legends Arceus in the game and it makes fun. But you can not play the game without realizing that it is un unfinished game that was rushed in the developement. All those bugs and glitches, clipping through the floor, game crashes, low frames and all the bad stuff.A Pokémon game with many new ideas. The open world, different story paths the way of catching. They took many good things from Legends Arceus in the game and it makes fun. But you can not play the game without realizing that it is un unfinished game that was rushed in the developement. All those bugs and glitches, clipping through the floor, game crashes, low frames and all the bad stuff. The game would have needed half a year more in developement, the old attention to details, Pokémon ever had.… Expand
  98. DarkQuill
    Mar 1, 2023
    6
    The game is actually pretty dang fun. Most of the bugs and glitches are visual-based, and those that affect gameplay aren't too big of a deal and usually correct themselves.

    The problem is that fans were promised a high-quality polished game in exchange for cutting Pokemon out, and now we've got neither of those. If this was the demo release it'd be another story, but it's a full-priced    The game is actually pretty dang fun. Most of the bugs and glitches are visual-based, and those that affect gameplay aren't too big of a deal and usually correct themselves.

    The problem is that fans were promised a high-quality polished game in exchange for cutting Pokemon out, and now we've got neither of those. If this was the demo release it'd be another story, but it's a full-priced game with a day1 patch and it's ridiculous how bad things are.

    I played this for a few hours but ended up returning it after finding out my favourite Pokemon was cut. Losing the motivation to find your favourite Pokemon coupled with the constant stuttering and camera glitches was too much, and not worth continuing. Gamefreak rushed this game out in such a poor state, and still can't put Pokemon in a Pokemon game, so why should anyone be anything but critical of them.

    6/10, because the game is a lot of fun, you can very easily see that when you play it. The problem is that what you see runs at 5FPS.

    01/03/2023 - After the v1.2 patch, the game runs significantly better. Hopefully there are still more optimization updates to come, but it is shaping up to be a better game now. The biggest thing the game has going against it is how extremely slow battles are, which unfortunately will probably never be updated. 6/10 for now, this is what the game should have at least been on launch.    … Expand
  99. Sahassawat
    Nov 26, 2022
    7
    rpg style game, open world, no​ turn break
    Please​ graphics issus​
    Let Pokemon fight by himself.
    No​ trainer​
  100. blackbird0628
    Nov 27, 2022
    5
    I mean no cap, the story itself was crazy as ever. The plot and the way the game naturally makes the player fall into each character were amazing. I kinda feel like Gamefreak finally understood that their main customers are definitely older than in the past. So 10 points on the game itself.

    However, the graphics optimization was hard to see with my eyes open. Frame drops were occurring    I mean no cap, the story itself was crazy as ever. The plot and the way the game naturally makes the player fall into each character were amazing. I kinda feel like Gamefreak finally understood that their main customers are definitely older than in the past. So 10 points on the game itself.

    However, the graphics optimization was hard to see with my eyes open. Frame drops were occurring almost every moment, and screen stuttering, lagging, and immersion greatly disrupted my gameplay. It was unpleasantly severe, especially in rainy or polygonal sea fields. It felt like I was playing an online game with a very bad internet connection. They shouldn't have released the game like this.

    To sum up, out of all the Pokémon games they've ever made, it was so fun and interesting that no doubt, I would call it a "masterpiece" in terms of story, game ability, and convenience. That's why I was even more angry and sad that the other parts were ****    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

3
#3 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2022

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
71

Mixed or average reviews - based on 118 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 55 out of 118
  2. Mixed: 61 out of 118
  3. Negative: 2 out of 118
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Jan 24, 2024
    60
    Not a bad game. It still has its solid core, new Pokémon, and what's worked for years continues to work. The open world is a questionable addition in my opinion. [Issue#324]
  2. VideoGamer
    Dec 14, 2023
    70
    Pokemon Scarlet and Violet take the long-awaited step into a fully open-world, but one poorly implemented and marred by frustration. A compelling story and characters are a saving grace in what is ultimately a fun game, but Pokemon's attempts at modernising continue to fall disappointingly short.
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  3. Het Nieuwsblad
    Jul 31, 2023
    20
    A square wheel spins more smoothly and fluidly than this game. If three Pokémon or characters come into view at once, the whole game creaks and falters. Edge-off unplayable. And that's a shame. Because the addition of an open world is "on paper" a puffy idea to refresh the franchise. No more linear walking that takes you past gyms and ever stronger and different Pokémon, gotta catch 'em all. You can go wherever you want. With some tactics, you can take on some very tough challenges with Pokémon that aren't nearly strong enough. Fun! Except this game just wasn't ready. It's shameless that Nintendo and Game Freak are still throwing it on the market. Nevertheless: 10 million games sold in just three days.
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