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. Madbert
    Dec 5, 2022
    9
    Es el mejor Pokemon hasta la fecha sin lugar a dudas, un avance grande para la saga. Por supuesto tiene margen de mejora, pero solo juzgo este tíitulo con los anteriores y es el mejor. El hate de Pokemon es aburrido ya, para mi no cuenta.
  2. jeffthekiller13
    Nov 22, 2022
    8
    I haven't finished the game yet so take this with a grain of salt.
    The game itself is enjoyable, but the graphics and framerate issues really hold it back from being higher than an 8, I don't have the highest standards so I have been enjoying myself a lot with Scar/Vi, but come on how can you hate collecting funny little creatures and training them to kill things. Overall if you can look    I haven't finished the game yet so take this with a grain of salt.
    The game itself is enjoyable, but the graphics and framerate issues really hold it back from being higher than an 8, I don't have the highest standards so I have been enjoying myself a lot with Scar/Vi, but come on how can you hate collecting funny little creatures and training them to kill things. Overall if you can look past some of the bugs, framerate, and graphical issues I would recommend the games.    … Expand
  3. Wagnerwnc
    Nov 22, 2022
    10
    Apesar dos erros gráficos e bugs, o jogo é muito bom! A história é sensacional e o pós game é muito bom! Se vc é fã dos jogos, não pode perder este!
  4. Xyzzys203048
    Nov 22, 2022
    0
    **** game runs pretty bad the final questions make me angry. Overall don’t buy this game
  5. OyvindM123
    Nov 23, 2022
    10
    I'm very happy with my game, and I don't understand why people keep on complaining. The story line is great, and I love that I can choose what I want to do and in which order.
  6. SMFGunz
    Nov 24, 2022
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Reading through the negative comments has been hilarious to me. People comparing the bugs in S/V to colossal failures like Cyberpunk is like comparing stubbing your toe to being mauled to death by a bear. Most of the bugs are optimization issues that can be patched up without much issue, meanwhile it's not like the game is saddled with game-breaking bugs that softlock your game into an unplayable state, delete your save data or brick your console leaving you with a paperweight of wires and circet boards.

    If you can get past the superficial issues people claim to be franchise-ending, you get a stellar open world and a self-driven adventure that puts you in control of the flow and pacing. There is no wrong way to approach the game and taking on the major objectives.

    The lack of world scaling never struck me as a problem; if you wanted some hardcore uber-challenge, you came to the wrong franchise. Pokemon was never that difficult in the first place.

    The icing on the cake is how the story weaves together and culminates in the depth of its characters, rather than just being an arbitrary power fantasy that exists only to put the player on a pedestal.

    Ignore the shallow and pedantic "0/10" scores from people who couldn't get past the opening menu in their arrogance, and enjoy what a life-long Pokemon player believes is the greatest Pokemon adventure of all time.    … Expand
  7. rowlett
    Nov 24, 2022
    8
    Excellent story with terrible graphics... i'm rather angry they're making such a bad quality with such good content but well i definitely recommend it to pokemon lovers.
  8. ninjythecat
    Nov 24, 2022
    10
    es un juego el cual comparando con xy espada y escudo es un juego muy bueno y que dejen de venir los fans de pelijuegos a criticar a los de Nintendo
  9. ChaoticLights
    Nov 24, 2022
    10
    I love this game! So much fun! It starts off buggy but keep playing and you’ll see it worth it!
  10. Elwoodwrap
    Nov 25, 2022
    10
    The best Pokemon game so far. The graphics can get slow, but the story and gameplay are extremely fun.
  11. Real_Chris
    Nov 24, 2022
    10
    I don't usually write reviews on games, but Pokemon Violet is worth doing so now! Pokemon Violet is a very good Pokemon game, which I enjoyed a lot. After about 30 hours of play, over 300 Pokemon caught and the end of the story, I can only say ... I am totally happy that I played this game. The storylines were consistently good and fun, the animations and videos were great, and the battlesI don't usually write reviews on games, but Pokemon Violet is worth doing so now! Pokemon Violet is a very good Pokemon game, which I enjoyed a lot. After about 30 hours of play, over 300 Pokemon caught and the end of the story, I can only say ... I am totally happy that I played this game. The storylines were consistently good and fun, the animations and videos were great, and the battles and dialogue were amazing.
    For the first time in a Pokemon game, you finally had the feeling that the character you're playing is evolving and growing up. Yes, you even finally had the feeling that the playable character makes friends and these became more and more solidified over the course of the game. That's something I've wanted in a Pokemon game for a long time. The huge open world and the freedom you have there rounded out the whole thing. I can very well overlook small points of criticism, such as the rarely occurring FPS drops, as these did not affect the gameplay at all.
    I simply cannot confirm that this is an unfinished game, as many write. I don't know where the **** comes from, but from me the game gets a very clear thumbs up. Thanks for that!    … Expand
  12. Hibiscus_Bosch
    Nov 25, 2022
    10
    This game suffers from some lag and at times glitches. The lag is not 'game-breaking' and the glitches tend to be rather comical, as opposed to infuriating. The only other negative is that the camera angles could be a little better in certain cases and the controls could feel a little bit more fluid. All of these negatives CAN be fixed with time.

    Let me start by saying that I have given    This game suffers from some lag and at times glitches. The lag is not 'game-breaking' and the glitches tend to be rather comical, as opposed to infuriating. The only other negative is that the camera angles could be a little better in certain cases and the controls could feel a little bit more fluid. All of these negatives CAN be fixed with time.

    Let me start by saying that I have given a 10, when I might have given a 9, because I feel that the game should have some compensation against the really unfair and highly critical reviews which mainly highlight the same negatives which I have.

    I have played pokemon since the beginning. I have followed the journey of every version of this game, and I need you to know a few things about what sets this game apart from its predecessors.

    I am going to skim over the usual stuff, which relates to the game's openness and how it brings a fully realised interactive 3D environment. This is good, but it is not what sets the game apart.

    What makes this a GREAT game, is the story and character development, the likes of which we have never seen so well developed in previous pokemon games. With the exception of some slightly tedious cut-scenes, Pokemon Violet and Scarlet have really compelling characters and pokemon, and the lore building is absolutely night and day different than we're used to. Let me say, without spoiling anything, that finding out more about Arven's father, Professor Truro and Area Zero was a storyteller's delight. I am absolutely thrilled to see pokemon taking a grittier tone with its storytelling which doesn't shy away from difficult themes such as loss, illness, bullying, friendship, and growing up. To see such richness in character development and a serious and compelling story with so many themes which are really pertinent to what it means to be a human being, this was a treat that I didn't expect and propels this version towards the front of the line as one of the best pokemon games of ALL the series.

    Yes, bugs, yes, glitches, but these are minor flaws when you can see genuine heart, soul, and life in a long-lived franchise. This alone makes Pokemon Violet and Scarlet and experience to remember. If you love story driven games, you'll easily love this, and with the same tried and tested pokemon frame-work that made it the name it is today? What are you waiting for? Dive in!    … Expand
  13. Safari_xl
    Nov 25, 2022
    8
    This game may have some bugs however I have not struggled with them they did the open world in this game amazingly and the story is truly good which surprised me for a Pokémon game honestly the post game is the best post game in a Pokémon game in a long while I liked the small touches like being able to take classes and things like that it truly made me feel like a student which was a niceThis game may have some bugs however I have not struggled with them they did the open world in this game amazingly and the story is truly good which surprised me for a Pokémon game honestly the post game is the best post game in a Pokémon game in a long while I liked the small touches like being able to take classes and things like that it truly made me feel like a student which was a nice twist on a Pokémon game however I’m aware that bugs do exist even if I have not really experienced them and a lot of the new Pokémon are not the best designed but with that out of the way I really really enjoyed this game… Expand
  14. Ahlu
    Dec 4, 2022
    10
    Ja der Zustand des Spiels ist absolut unschön. Aber für mich war es problemlos Spielbar und ich hatte super viel Spaß aufs Neue alte und neue Pokémon zu sammeln! Mehr möchte ich von einem Pokémon Spiel nicht :)
  15. moonblastx
    Dec 4, 2022
    9
    Despite releasing with bugs and poor performance, it somehow managed to be by far and away the best Pokemon title to date with an interesting and unobtrusive story, well written characters and a huge open world to explore, with ton of different things to do.
  16. Johnnyw121
    Dec 4, 2022
    8
    The best Pokémon game except for the performance that will hopefully be fixed in the games lifespan.
  17. emransr
    Dec 5, 2022
    8
    Very great game, this is what most fans wanted over the years a open world turn based rpg pokemon game. I get that the graphics are underwhelming but aside that it has a phenomenal 3 side story line leading to the climax of area zero. I just hope that there is voice acting in the next game to make the game somewhat impactful and add much more stuff like level scaling to make the game moreVery great game, this is what most fans wanted over the years a open world turn based rpg pokemon game. I get that the graphics are underwhelming but aside that it has a phenomenal 3 side story line leading to the climax of area zero. I just hope that there is voice acting in the next game to make the game somewhat impactful and add much more stuff like level scaling to make the game more challenging since the company doesn't support nuzlockes playthroughs. Other then that this game was really enjoyable to me and that's about it for my review… Expand
  18. TwilightGamer
    Dec 5, 2022
    10
    Definitely one of the best Pokemon games ever made. I played for 2 weeks and came across minor framerate issues and 2 random crashes but other than that it was amazing.
  19. sendout
    Dec 5, 2022
    8
    As a product this is a bad title, Game Freak should have postponed its delivery until the graphical problems were more refined.

    As a Pokemon game the BEST ever. Great soundtrack (only disappointing on the victory route). Great pokedex. WONDERFUL story, emotional and risky as it has never done before. An open world full of: gyms, raids, legendary relics, team star, titans, temporary    As a product this is a bad title, Game Freak should have postponed its delivery until the graphical problems were more refined.

    As a Pokemon game the BEST ever. Great soundtrack (only disappointing on the victory route). Great pokedex. WONDERFUL story, emotional and risky as it has never done before. An open world full of: gyms, raids, legendary relics, team star, titans, temporary invasions, apart from a large number of pokeopn that interact with the world.    … Expand
  20. M1CH431
    Dec 5, 2022
    8
    Pokemon SV is fun. I'm sorry, I know there are performance issues. I know the devs were pushed to an impossible date and were forced to release the game in an unfinished state. I realize these things and I know they made the experience bad for a lot of people, but Pokemon SV is filled with so many good ideas and makes for a very fun and refreshing Pokemon journey. Many have listed itsPokemon SV is fun. I'm sorry, I know there are performance issues. I know the devs were pushed to an impossible date and were forced to release the game in an unfinished state. I realize these things and I know they made the experience bad for a lot of people, but Pokemon SV is filled with so many good ideas and makes for a very fun and refreshing Pokemon journey. Many have listed its issues so I'm not going to bother retyping them here, we've all seen them; I never had any gamebreaking issues, but its not an acceptable state for a huge game like this to be released in.

    However I think SV shows promise of what Pokemon is now and where it is going. There's a lot of creativity and enjoyment in these games, and I know I'll personally look back on them very fondly. I wouldn't recommend them to a non-Pokemon fan in the state they were in at release, but they're filled with awesome character arcs, great story, cool new Pokemon, and fun mechanics. I find myself excited for new mainline Pokemon when I was really dreading new installments after SWSH. This new direction is something I'm very excited for and can't wait to see more of, I just hope we don't slide back into BDSP-type games. Even beyond just pointing a new direction for the games, SV are genuinely fun to play in a "I can't put this down" way that I havent gotten for a while, save the first few days after came out. For me, this is the most important thing. I genuinely enjoyed these games, I genuinely want to return to them, and I genuinely fell in love with another Pokemon region. The games are... definitely not in their ideal form and there's no getting around that, but I also love what we were given. I only wish corporate deadlines would allow art to flourish instead of releasing it in an unfinished state.    … Expand
  21. Massmada265
    Dec 5, 2022
    10
    I was very hesitant to buy and play because the last 2 gens were not to my liking, but after playing Arceus and loving the open world, I decided to give it a try. Its an amazing game with a solid core and expanded storyline, with lots of collectibles and mini quests around the open world. Some of the environments can be repetitive with endless plains, mountains, oceans, etc. The pokemonI was very hesitant to buy and play because the last 2 gens were not to my liking, but after playing Arceus and loving the open world, I decided to give it a try. Its an amazing game with a solid core and expanded storyline, with lots of collectibles and mini quests around the open world. Some of the environments can be repetitive with endless plains, mountains, oceans, etc. The pokemon act as the detail as they horde up with different species abound. Overall it feels like the exploration of BOTW mashed with a pokemon game, which is what I loved. Completing the pokedex is even made easier as evolved forms of pokemon are readily available so you don't have to spend time grinding for evolutions through level up and can just catch them. The new pokemon are varied and have some unique feature that makes fighting with or against them memorable, and the dense pokedex makes sure there are few "filler" pokemon. As much as I would love to have all pokemon, its literally too much for a base game option-wise and I do enjoy the previous gen pokemon getting new forms or variants to make them fresh without recycling. The storyline actually has some interesting moments and some real tragic emotions, although it is tame compared to other games to make a better experience for younger players. The worst part of the game is universally the performance issues and bugs, which range from jittery pokemon, to game crashes (auto save feature is a lifesaver), and even skipping cutscenes. On my playthrough they were reigned in and really didn't impact me at all as lag, objects loading slow and jittery pokemon were barely noticeable as it was fixed within a few seconds. With how infrequent it occurred for me and how little I actually cared about losing a few seconds occasionally, it wasn't that bad. Overall a great game with lots to do and see, and is a must pick for Pokemon fans that loved BOTW. Beware performance issues and watch for patches, but if you're on the fence I recommend just doing it and giving it a try for a few hours, as it can likely be resold for a small loss if you dislike it, but it may also open the door to hours of fun with pokemon.… Expand
  22. Sasir
    Dec 5, 2022
    10
    Technical level aside, perfect story and almost perfect gameplay, with fun ambiance and good designs and music
  23. Ryoura
    Dec 6, 2022
    10
    Incredibly fun and a huge leap from the previous game, I can see myself playing for weeks and months more and am excited to see where the series goes from here!
  24. SrVictini
    Dec 6, 2022
    10
    I have nothing to complain about this game. It's an amazing open world that lets you go wherever you want whenever you want, with no restrictions at all. And let's not talk about the story... It's probably the best story ever
  25. ACGWander
    Dec 6, 2022
    10
    The game is fun. Much better than gens 5 to 8. Stop crying about performance.
  26. AccmAmac
    Dec 6, 2022
    9
    Despite the frame rate issues the game is fine. I personally have not ran into any of these glitches that some complain about. It is the best story in the franchise and a lot of fun.
  27. Cratthew
    Dec 6, 2022
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Scarlet and Violet mark an incredible step forward in the Pokémon franchise. In a series that’s been stale for years now, Scarlet and Violet finally changes the main Pokémon formula in a significant and meaningful way. A change for the better. The addition of a three storyline structure comes to mind as one of the more significant changes from past games in the franchise. Allowing the player’s attention to be split between conquering Titan Pokémon, taking down “Team Star”, and the traditional eight badge gym storyline, gets the player comfortable with the idea of exploration, even incentivizing it. And unlike past games in the series, there is so much reason to explore. Between finding a plethora of collectibles both new and old, battling trainers to unlock recipes for TMs and other handy items, unlocking new fast travel points, and just discovering the region for the sake of it, players will have no shortage of things to do throughout the game. All that, not even to mention catching new Pokémon. Everywhere you go in these games, there is something new to discover. The game world is littered with ruins, towns, watch towers, and shrines. These small environmental details do a lot to make the world feel lived in, and get the player interested in its inhabitants and history. But these locations do much more than just spark the player’s curiosity. Every single structure has something new to find housed in it. There are five(ish) main things to collect. Pokémon drops, TMs, “Ominous black stakes”, Gimmighoul coins (which are technically Pokémon drops, but I’ll elaborate on why they’re distinct), and, of course, the Pokemon themselves.

    TMs are found in set locations, and used to teach Pokémon new moves. However, TMs are single-use in this game, which is where Pokémon drops come in. Once a TM is discovered, more of that same TM can be crafted using a few specific Pokémon’s drops. “Ominous Black Stakes”, as they’re called in-game, unlock a sort of secret legendary Pokémon once you’ve collected all eight of a single color. Gimmighoul coins are a bit of an outlier. You can obtain them by either finding and battling Gimmighouls in their chest form, or interacting with them in their roaming form, which nets a smaller amount of coins. I mention these separately from the drops, only because the only way to evolve Gimmighoul is to level one up while in possession of 999 Gimmighoul coins.

    And lastly, the Pokémon themselves. All of these collectibles, while distinct, allow the player to obtain more Pokémon, or make the Pokémon you have stronger. This decision by Game Freak makes all collectibles this game has to offer feel worthwhile, as they all aid the player in their journey to complete the Paldean Pokédex.

    And on that topic, while completing the Pokédex tends to be closer to the core of Pokémon games, in Scarlet and Violet, completing the Pokédex takes somewhat of a backseat. The Pokédex is always there, and completing it even grants rewards, such as rare types of Pokeballs, TMs, or even raw experience in the form of candy. But the player is allowed to complete the Pokédex whenever they see fit, or not at all. And if the player decides they want to complete some of the Pokédex, they’ll still be rewarded.

    All of this is improved even more by the fact that the movement in these games is the best in the Pokémon franchise, hands down. The mascot legendaries act as the mounts of the game, and they handle better than any mounts previously have. Which is good, as the world is huge. But, while Scarlet and Violet breathe some much-needed new life into the series, they are far from flawless. There are numerous areas where the game’s performance suffers, especially areas with large amounts of water or grass. There are lighting errors constantly, Pokémon and people pop in and out of existence, and many animations run at a low frame rate until (and sometimes even after) the player gets close to the object. If not for these issues, the game would easily be a 10. But it’s impossible to go a whole playthrough without coming across one or more of these issues. While most of these issues could very well be fixed with patches, in its current state, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are an 8/10 for me. The game is phenomenal, but incredibly poorly optimized, which can at times ruin the experience.    … Expand
  28. SilkyRobos
    Dec 6, 2022
    9
    Alright, the game's a mess, let's be honest here. There's performance issues and many graphical bugs people have memed about. But if you can look past it, the game is superb, with a surprisingly mature storyline (especially the climax) and it feels like a step forward. I've not been able to set this game down since it came out, at the expense of my freelance work, even. The game's justAlright, the game's a mess, let's be honest here. There's performance issues and many graphical bugs people have memed about. But if you can look past it, the game is superb, with a surprisingly mature storyline (especially the climax) and it feels like a step forward. I've not been able to set this game down since it came out, at the expense of my freelance work, even. The game's just sublime with well-designed characters, a killer soundtrack, and a frankly ambitious level of worldbuilding (even if i'd have preferred it not being open world personally, or at least let it have level scaling)

    Taking a point off because yeah, the issues are egregious, if exaggerated, but aside from the performance problems the game's just plain damn fun with some incredibly unique designs that I quite like. It really feels like the company saw the backlash from Sword/Shield and BDSP and pivoted in a new direction where they try to take themselves more seriously and it shows, even if it's rough around the edges.

    Should TPCI have looked for a secondary development team to make the world run better on the limited hardware? Obviously. Should they maybe try to migrate away from such a cutthroat yearly release schedule? Absolutely. But what we have here is still a fantastic game at its core and the negative reviews are very clearly overblown and will balance out as more genuine fans have a chance to write reviews, and as promised updates help to stem the performance issues. The game has had a single post-release update and people are already condemning it as the worst entry in the franchise, and when people are saying that somehow BDSP are better games than this it becomes obvious most of the negative reviews aren't made in good faith.    … Expand
  29. Espioo
    Dec 6, 2022
    10
    The glitches aren't even that bad. The open world experience is incredible, and absolutely worth the little bit of ugliness.
  30. cattens
    Dec 6, 2022
    8
    While it doesn't excuse or make up for the various bugs, glitches, and performance issues, the actual gameplay and story are some of the best I've seen from a Pokémon game, definitely would wait for a patch if you are going to buy, but I had a very good time with this game.
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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.
    Read full review
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