Pokémon Scarlet & Violet Reviews
I’m really stretching for things to criticise though, because overall I have had such a wonderful time with Pokémon Violet and Scarlet. None of the issues that I have with these games are anything but the most mild and forgivable irritations. Meanwhile, the promise of a big but blissfully uncomplicated world, filled with adventure and monsters to collect, brought me right back to what drew me into the whole Pokémon franchise in the first place. Is Scarlet and Violet a technical mess? Sure. Do I care? Not in the slightest. I’m here for the pokémon. Not to count frames.
By and large, Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet are fun. It's telling that I had a lot of fun with them despite the absolutely unforgivable performance problems. The basis for an extremely strong and engaging Pokémon game is here, but it's out in the wild without the extra months of development that it still needed to improve performance issues. If you're willing to forgive some jank for an otherwise great Pokémon experience, then you'll have a great time. Otherwise, it's probably worth skipping until it gets some patches. Even die-hard Pokéfans might have trouble getting past seeing their favorite Pokémon crawling along at five fps.
Pokémon Scarlet & Violet manages to deliver a sense of freedom and has gone from being a traditional JRPG to a genuine open world game. It's nice to choose a path on this adventure, but the game maintains his linear approach through the experience. Unfortunately, it has several technical problems in that do not let it stand out. However, its is the first step of the renewal that the franchise sorely lacks.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Pokemon Scarlet is the most immersive Pokemon installment yet thanks to its seamless open-world, heartfelt story, an interesting new battle mechanic, and fun raid battles. Whether you're in it to speedrun, for the competitive online scene, or you just want to catch 'em all; Scarlet and Violet have you covered. Let's just hope that it'll be patched soon.
A janky, broken nightmare that nobody should have to experience.
Review in Finnish | Read full review
Pokémon Violet is the most fun I’ve had with a Pokémon title in many years, but you have to allow yourself to look past its many flaws. Flaws that don’t get in the way of the enjoyment, but that are understandably scrutinized by fans of the series. We deserve better.
Despite worrying performance issues and graphics, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is a large leap forward for the Pokémon franchise. The many additions to the gameplay make this iteration one of the most reinvigorated and entertaining Pokémon games to date.
Pokemon Scarlet is a conflicting experience to say the least – like a confused Pokemon. While it’s certainly the least polished Pokemon game to date, most fans of the series will still find plenty to enjoy in Paldea. The open world formula and fresh gameplay, even riddled with visual glitches, is clearly a step in the right direction for the franchise. Scarlet also treats players to not only a heartfelt story, but some of the best battle themes heart across the entire series. This is still a must-play for Pokemon fans, even if at times it hurts itself in confusion.
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are extremely difficult titles to evaluate. We are faced with a production that has evident issues, especially concerning world-building and technical aspects, yet it manages to captivate the player in a mesmerizing vortex, despite all its gameplay limitations, thanks to the immense sense of freedom provided by its open world. Had they been released 20 years ago, our reception would have certainly been much more positive. In 2022, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are "only" a haphazard realization of a dream for a generation of thirty-something kids who deserved more, but who, all things considered, can still feel somewhat satisfied.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Pokémon Scarlet and Purple are an interesting proposition that brings together everything that fans of the game had dreamed of for years. It is the biggest, riskiest and most innovative adventure of the franchise to date. Unfortunately, it is overshadowed by some technical glitches, which damage the immersion experience.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet along with their DLC’s are such an amazing and wonderful action packed experience that it’s easy to ignore the performance issues that most players would complain about.
There is no denying how Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are ambitious games, with Game Freak clearly attempting to reinvent the Pokémon formula with new features and fresh ideas. Although the studio certainly succeeds in some aspects, such as the open world design, new Pokémon, and multiple intertwining storylines; they certainly fail in others, such as the technical performance, graphical fidelity, and subpar sound design. As such, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are enjoyable games for newcomers and Pokémon fans alike, featuring a lot of potential and equal amounts of disappointment.
"...if you don’t mind what often looks like stop motion animation, painful jaggies, and just weird polygonal issues, you’ll find a Pokémon game that’s generationally unrivaled, which is a big statement in its own right."
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet is a great game, that shakes up the standard Pokemon formula to incredible success. Despite all the good, there are some glaring issues that were definitely avoidable.
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet dares to venture into open world exploration, a decision with a lot of potential and which by itself is praiseworthy. However the game's difficulty balance - or lack thereof - causes unexpected problems on what is supposed to be a free world and ends up recreating an informal hierarchy of choices. Pokémon fans have many things to enjoy here, and co-op gameplay is one of the game's best assets, but the overall performance and technical issues end up creating frustrating moments for everyone. If Scarlet and Violet make use of good ideas, they needed more work before getting released
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Before picking up Pokemon Violet, I had heard a lot of negative comments and the bad press seemed to be piling up. I don’t think this is the best Pokemon title I have played, however, it still offers that Pokemon experience that we all know and love.
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet represent multiple steps in the right direction with equal trips and falls. Whilst it implements some fantastic gameplay mechanics and provides one of the best narratives in years, it needed more time and polish. It’s a must-play with a patch on the way, so let’s hope Game Freak gets some development help next time.
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet takes the familiar trappings of the mainline series and overextends them while supporting its structure and foundation with duct tape and silly putty. Scarlet and Violet promises to add more to the core Pokémon formula, but all it truly adds is more square footage. It’s a game that invites unflattering comparisons to other open-world video games, current and past, and even ones from Nintendo itself.
The definitive experience to enjoy the Pokémon franchise. At the level of exploration, story and freedom the saga takes a huge leap and of great importance for the future. Sadly, the performance tarnishes on numerous occasions the final result and the player experience, but it is still an installment in the franchise that will be remembered (and played) for many years to come.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet you can wander around in an open world for the first time, but unfortunately you sometimes run into areas with much too strong opponents. In addition, there is a lot to criticize about the game on a technical level and it feels like it was released while it was not yet finished. Too bad, because the game is also full of good innovations, nice new Pokémon and has no fewer than three main missions. Fortunately, the positives outweigh the negatives. All in all, it is a very entertaining game that is good for many hours of fun.
Review in Dutch | Read full review