It's been a little over a week since the Pokémon company released their newest set of games, Scarlet and Violet, for the Nintendo Switch. For those who don't know, the story of both games is the same, but if you want to catch all of the 400ish pokémon in the pokedex, you'll need a friend with the other version of the game to catch the exclusive ones. Shannon is playing Scarlet, and I am playing Violet, so that is what I am looking at today.
Now, this game is addictive. In contrast to previous games (disclaimer: I have only played Sword prior to this), this generation takes place in an open world format. That means there are things EVERYWHERE. Once you get off of tutorial island, you can complete the main story in any order you choose, meaning that all of the main quests are given to you at once. You can freely walk anywhere on the map, which means you can explore, get lost, find things on the ground (useful items, pokémon, etc)...you get the idea.
I don't normally like open-world games. They can be overwhelming, and I like being told where to go next. However, Pokémon games are easy enough that instead of feeling punishing, this feels freeing. In a normally linear and very easy game series, it can be easy to speed through the main story, finish it, and then get stuck in a sometimes-boring cycle of battling NPCs and scouring the world for specific Pokémon. The open world here adds a realism and a bit of a strategic challenge that exists outside battles.
The open world is very similar to the Wild Areas from Pokémon Sword and Shield but is much better done. Pokémon are everywhere and it looks a lot more like a natural habitat and less like some sort of weird outdoor mixer in a patch of grass. There are even some adorable groups of parents and babies, with one of the evolved form looking over a whole herd of its earlier evolution, and the babies give you a fierce staredown if you take their parent.
Catching seems to be less cruel than in previous games as well; I have been trying to catch each unique thing I see and have only had a couple that got frustrating. Given how many Pokémon are all around, there is a handy system to see what you have. It took a little getting used to, but if you hold down L2 and move the camera, it will provide hover-text with the species name and the poké ball image if you already have it. You can then click R2 to throw a poké ball at it and target the correct thing. This is especially useful if you are in an area that is densely-populated or that has some particularly aggressive species that wants your attention (looking at you, Veluza).
Another great feature of this generation is the convenience. A lot of things that use to require specific locations to complete are now doable from anywhere. You can change your outfit anytime with the left D-pad button. Fast travel is unlocked immediately to anywhere you've been. You can change the nickname of anyone in your party at any time from the X menu, as well as remember moves for them and teach them moves from Technical Machines (TMs = CD-roms that have moves on them apparently). You can also access your boxes to swap out your team anytime you aren't actively in a battle. There's an autoheal button for Pokémon in your party (you have to revive them first if they've fainted), that allows you to automatically use your potions and things. This is great if you aren't in a great spot for a picnic (more later), aren't near a Poké Center, or just have a ton of potions and don't feel like doubling back. That being said, given the number of fine things🦝on the ground, I don't really mind doubling back because it helps me feel more confident I didn't miss anything cool, so I don't use this feature all that much.
Speaking of TMs, you can now craft your own out of materials dropped by Pokémon when you catch or battle them. This adds incentive to keep a Pokémon out walking with you so that it can auto-battle and get materials for you. However, I haven't used this much because I don't want it to defeat something that I want to catch.
Picnics: like camping, but better. You can now collect a sandwichdex (which sadly you cannot access unless you are trying to make a sandwich), which all require different ingredients. Eating sandwiches gives unique benefits based on which recipe it is, and the game has you literally assemble it yourself. It's a little goofy but that's part of the fun, and you can also buy new equipment to play with, including decorative sandwich picks, cute cups to decorate the table, and different balls to throw with your pokémon. You can also wash your pokémon at the picnic, which is another cute and easy mini-game. It's quick enough that I enjoy it and is an easy way to make friends with them, which allows them to survive with 1 HP in battle, break through paralysis, and more. Finally, breeding now takes place at picnics. I have not successfully bred anything (or tried), but there is a basket there where you can check for eggs, much more convenient than having to run to the nursery every time.
Another thing I love about this generation is that they added local multiplayer. You can either join at a Poké Center or through the Union Center option in the X menu > Poke Portal (also where they keep link battles, trades - which are much less laggy than other generations, tera raids, and mystery gifts). It generates a link code for you (no more giving your friends your bank PIN), et voila, you are all set! You get teleported to a random (?) Poké Center (we haven't found any pattern) and can see each other in the world and interact with it in the same way. This is great if you want to go catch the same thing or if you want to just do a bunch of Tera Raids, because after you use a Tera Crystal (see below), it turns into your friend's before it disappears, so ideally I think you would physically run around together and each activate each crystal that you are going for.
Terastallizing is the Big Thing for this generation, replacing DynaMaxing from Sword and Shield. I was very confused by the trailer, but it is much more straightforward in the game. Basically, you can terastallize once per "charge" (you can charge by resting your pokémon or by interacting with a tera crystal), but it doesn't go away until your pokémon passes out. Some of them are gorgeous, and some of them are silly, but basically it bedazzles your pokémon into an ice sculpture with a hat that tells you its tera type, and this adds an extra type or an extra advantage for its existing type if it's the same. I sometimes do it even if I don't think there's a battle advantage because it's so pretty.
The tera crystals are what they sound like: giant crystals on the ground, pretty easy to see as you go by but also marked on the map. They seem to move around infrequently (like maybe every 12 hours? Not verified), and the tera type of the pokémon is marked on the map. It's nice because you can find some interesting combos of pokémon plus tera type, and they're a lot easier to catch than wild pokémon. If you interact with the crystal, you can join as a group, which lets you do the link code thing or just flat out invite anyone you're already connected with. We've done 1-4 star battles. 1-3 are pretty easy with 2 people. NPCs seem much smarter than last generation and actually help a good bit. Tera Raids are chaotic. They aren't really turn-based. There's no time limit to choose an individual move, but it's in your best interest to move fast, because there is an overall time limit. We found that 1-3 are so easy that it doesn't really matter who you bring or what you do. There is a steep increase in difficulty for 4-star raids though; we have had to try a few of them multiple times, bringing different pokémon, trying different moves, or changing up our battle vs cheer ratio. Speaking of cheers, this is where you can raise attack or defense of the team or heal people up. You each get 3 cheers per battle, so you want to time it right, but you can choose between cheers and battles interchangeably. When you faint, you can't do anything for 5 seconds (the time gets progressively longer the more times you faint). Unlike DynaMax Raids, there is no limit to the number of times you can faint.
Shopping is a great source of fun in the game. Personally, I like to reward myself with a new hair color and accessory after every completed quest. I recommend selling all your treasures each time you go to a Poké Center so you can have a lot of spending money to play with. So far, I have found 3 cities that are big enough to have shopping centers. There are little icons marked on the map to delineate boutiques (comb), accessories (t-shirt), general supplies (shopping bag), and sandwich ingredients (water bottle). There are also a lot of unmarked businesses, but you can tell which buildings you can go in without trying every single door because all the useable ones have a reddish chevron doormat. You'll drive yourself crazy if you try to talk to every NPC and go in every door, but check out the unmarked shops with a sandwich over the door and talk to the dude to the right of the counter whenever you pass by it (which is fairly often if, like me, you fly in to shop).
And how can I forget school?! Okay, who knew that going to school in a video game would be this much fun? This part reminded us a little of Persona 5. You can take classes and tests that get unlocked at various story points. They are a nice way to learn how to play the game if you are a beginner, but they also cover some of the new features from this generation and some background to the main story. Furthermore, they unlock side quests and provide some rewards. The school is also pretty large, but don't get overwhelmed: it's all a giant library with short book excerpts to read, marked by a nice green book protruding from the bookcase (so you don't have to click everything to find the interesting part). There is also a relationship mechanic with the teachers; they will be marked with an exclamation point on the school map and it's like a little cutscene scavenger hunt. I found these to be really fun. Overall, school provided me with a nice blast of nostalgia and helped me feel connected to the characters in the game. The little side plots were really fun and sweet. Of course, you can also buy sandwiches from the cafeteria, sleep in your dorm room, and shop at the school store.
Aesthetics: I was nervous the pokémon were going to be less cute since they were going 3-D, but I needn't have worried. Not only are they still cute, but the textures added in this game really enrich the experience for me. Take clodsire for example. The texture detail makes him look so squishy in a way that words cannot explain. The pokedex itself also got a makeover and now shows a beautiful screenshot of each species you have caught in its natural habitat and a 3-D animated rendering with movement and sound that you can stare at as long as you want, in addition to the fun flavor-text and habitat information that is usually there.
The characters in the game are all very nice, making this a quite pleasant game throughout. Shoutout to Larry, who is our favorite. Whoever decided to make the Normal-type gym leader a character straight out of The Office deserves an award. Additionally, aside from the the not-so-cute school uniforms, the fashion in the game is fantastic. Each of the main characters that you encounter has a very distinctive look that evokes their pokémon type but is so unique and cool, beyond the level of the thematic jerseys last game.
In-game selfies: Not a very important part of the game, but all the poses are very cute and I am definitely planning to study them for my own education.
People have complained about bugginess, but as an avid Simmer, I would say I'm used to much worse. We have experienced 3 crashes total between the two of us, but our places were saved each time.
Suggestions for improvement:
- Add access to the Sandwichdex when you're not picnicking, so you can see what groceries you want to buy.
- We have not yet unlocked a way to change out of our 4 basic school uniforms or to adjust our makeup. I'm grateful I had the foresight to give myself some lashes in the original edit mode, but be warned, you may wish to optimize a bit.
- The addition of a mini-map is clutch, but it could still use some improvement. See Spider-man for an example of my favorite video game map.
- The zooming is limited in that the most zoomed-out part has the main goals, but you can't pin in that screen and when you zoom in to do so, the cursor doesn't stay on the goal you highlighted.
- Adding recommended levels for the different quests on the map would be very helpful since the game is more fun if you're appropriately leveled. I am thinking of something like in the Assassin's Creed games.
- The ability to add stamps of some sort would be great; right now we only have a destination marker which goes away when you get there.
- There is no filter function, which I would add, including quests with a sub-category for type, side-quests, different types of businesses, the aforementioned stamps/pins, and your friends.
- Not all of the businesses are on the map. I would add them all with different levels of filters. Caveat: this might be a "careful what you wish for" situation, because there are a lot of duplicate stores, and going in all of them wouldn't be very fun. However, it would be nice to be able to turn on a restaurant filter and see all the places in the entire world I could buy a sandwich. Maybe with a list view and a little number in parentheses this could be a viable option because some of us (cough) like to use a random number generator to choose which sandwich place to eat at. (You don't need to optimize everything, okay? My Sprigatito likes surprises!)
- The camera lags sometimes and some of the cities can get a little dizzy because of this.
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