Pokémon Scarlet & Violet Reviews
One thing Game Freak does have working for it is that people want to play this game. People want open-world Pokémon. Game Freak may be struggling to get there, but it’s been really cool to be able to see it getting closer with each new generation.
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet capture all the magic of the past and merge it with the improvements of the future, resulting in two fresh installments with very good ideas. The graphics is still their biggest weakness, but they shine so brightly in everything else and they are SO special games... that they get our A's.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
How proud one feels to know that one belongs to a place that is seen with such beauty from the outside. Long live Pokémon... Long live Game Freak and the mother who gave birth to them.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet feel like the awkward second evolution of one of its starters. It's growing into something resplendent, it's showing signs of an exciting second type, but it's got that weird vibe of a 20-something that hasn't quite figured out who they actually are. Add that weirdly stretched feeling to the constant technical oddities and you've got a game that's undoubtedly good fun, but it's still not even it's final form. I can't wait to see what Pokemon becomes, but it's not quite there yet.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are ambitious new entries in the franchise that are held back by abysmal performance issues.
A significant advancement on Pokémon Sword and Shield and while it's not hard to see how it could be improved further this is the most ambitious and entertaining Pokémon has been in a long while.
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet's open-world pivot is exactly what the series needed, though poor tech holds back its true potential.
Scarlet and Violet is a pair of obviously rushed products that look so much poorer for following an excellent refreshment in Pokémon Legends: Arceus. Regressive and outmoded, the ninth Pokémon generation still boasts some enjoyable content but I couldn’t in good faith say it’s a quality experience. The utterly shameful performance issues hammer home how crudely made it is. It’s staggering just how terribly it runs. We’ve pilloried games for less, but we’re supposed to just accept it here because it’s Pokémon.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet is an audacious experiment toward the franchise's future and hosts a lot of potential to grow into something that changes everything we know about Pokemon for the better. It has a lot of issues in performance which could do with some tender love and care, but that doesn't stray from the fact it's a solid, wholesome Pokemon game down to its core.
The ninth generation of Nintendo's popular series gives players a huge free-to-roam world brimming with weird little guys to catch. Read on.
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet give you more choices than ever before. In exchange, it expects you to adapt to its half-baked open world and mostly optional new features. These latest games aren’t the great leap forward from Pokémon Legends: Arceus that fans were hoping for, but it is a small step.
Pokémon's first fully open-world title has a lot of ideas but never quite manages to stick the landing with any of them
Every decision Scarlet and Violet make are good ones. The huge expansion and changes to the single player campaign are great, the size of the world and the joy of exploration are the best in the series, and the new Pokemon and battle mechanics introduced all sing. However, it’s just impossible to shake the thought of how much better the game would feel if it was on more powerful hardware, or simply ran acceptably on Switch.
Technical problems and an evident lack of development time take the shine off this ambitious new outing for the world-conquering critters
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are big and ambitious and bold, but it's hard not to imagine what they could have been if they’d just been given a little more time to cook.
Graphics aren't everything and buggy releases are nothing new, but for Nintendo to release its golden calf in this condition is a big disappointment. The foundation still entertains greatly, and a couple of new clever touches elevate the adventure above its predecessors. But when lots of both big and small flaws constantly make themselves felt, it's hard to appreciate the pocket monsters' latest adventures.
Review in Swedish | Read full review
That’s where I stand with Scarlet and Violet. It’s got the trappings of a great Pokémon game, but I think this is most certainly a learning experience for both the players and the developers. Hopefully, the next generation will improve on both the pacing and the technical issues found here. In the meantime, players can get a lot of enjoyment out of this outing, just remember, even though this is a choose your own adventure style game, it doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want when you want.
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet largely deliver the open-world RPG experience fans barely dared dream of for decades, with a huge, lively map and a surprisingly-engaging trio of stories nicely complementing the franchise’s rock-solid core mechanics. Yes, the game has more than its share of technical issues, but its shortcomings are largely cosmetic and the folks most excited to play probably aren’t going to be that bothered about its pixel count or performance. This Pokémon may be humble-looking, but it brings the fight where it counts.
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet jump between future and past, like their cover monsters. A freely explorable Open World but unable to performing well and killing all the new good ideas. It's a classic from Game Freak, a place where every step forward is followed by some steps backward. And maybe is not enough anymore, it's time to force the best-selling franchise in the world to grow up.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Pokemon Scarlet & Violet are a stunning glimpse into the future of the Pokemon video game series. Ambitious gameplay and thoughtful narratives create an experience that stands above prior titles. With performance patches to improve the games’ stability, this could be one of the most important generations yet. For now, though, it’s simply a very good one.