Pokémon Scarlet & Violet Reviews
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is a step in the right direction. Game Freak successfully reimagines the formula in an open-world format and improves on its previous experiments with this design. The ability to tackle any gym is refreshing and the three distinct story paths give more reason to explore. Unfortunately, the number of performance issues cannot be overlooked and these hinder what could have been a highlight of the series.
Scarlett and Violett, in all their hicupps and issues, try to do something new for the franchise. We can't definitely say that they are good at everything they do (not at all) and they still run pretty bad on Nintendo Switch, but some of their ideas are way more entertaining than what we saw in Sword and Shield. And, maybe, in Sun and Moon, too.
Review in Italian | Read full review
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 and Violet are great games mired by a host of technical issues.
The open world sparks a sense of adventure and the typical Poké collecting fever, but also has playful but hardly any exciting ideas.
Review in German | Read full review
Summing up the new Pokémon game always means triggering a conflict between heart and head.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Whilst there's still stumbling missteps as Game Freak try to find their footing in the future of Pokémon, Scarlet and Violet is an endearing, and enjoyable attempt at a fundamentally different Pokémon experience. New ideas, some quality of life improvements, and some excellent new Pokémon designs make the trip to Paldea worthwhile.
Pokémon Scarlet & Violet takes the next step for the franchise thanks to the lush open world. Even the new Terastallizing mechanic is great fun, although it is kinda a reskin of an earlier mechanic. Amazing music and some smart design choises make it a game you can't miss. At least, that is what we would've said if the performance wasn't as bad as it is.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
On paper, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet sounds like a Pokémon fan's dream come true. Paldea impresses with a very extensive game world, different storylines and new gameplay mechanics. Unfortunately, the poor technical and optical quality of the ninth generation throws a big spanner in the works. Game Freak has a lot to do here, especially given the fact that only 400 different Pokémon have made it into the game.
Review in German | Read full review
Pokémon Scarlet doesn't have the level of polish one would expect, yet still offers another fantastic evolution of a franchise that continues to give fans new ways to catch them all.
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
Overall, Pokémon Crimson/Purple captivated me despite its many bugs and performance issues. The gameplay and its mechanics are simply successful in my eyes. I can overlook the many stutters and glitches. Only with the breeding, which is a central part of the game series for me, I haven't really warmed up yet. Although it's faster to get a good number of eggs and hatch them, you have to prepare the Pokémon you want to breed, which takes up an unnecessary amount of time and resources. Before, I could simply swap out the "target monster" to boost stats. Now, no eggs appear in the basket unless the Pokémon has been previously nurtured and leveled. Whether this is a bug I can't say, but I was still surprised. You can tell that the developer wanted to make an effort to tell the stories as nicely as possible and has also included many dialogues and events. However, some passages repeat themselves so often or always run identically, so that at some point you just click and hope that it will finally continue. It is also a pity that especially the top four were much too easy. In the first run, these are fixed in level, so you can "overlevel" them super easy. This also applies to the tournaments in the "post-game". All in all, the game still has many construction sites and shows once again that Nintendo urgently needs a new hardware generation to be able to display better graphics. If the in-house or flagship titles like Pokémon or Bayonetta look so bad, Nintendo should have noticed that. It also didn't matter whether a Switch or Switch OLED was used. Still, despite its negative criticisms, the game is the right approach to pick up fans like me. It's a lot of fun and has finally kept me glued to the Switch for a longer period of time, well beyond the test phase. Rarely in the past have I accumulated so many hours of play (60+) in such a short time.
Review in German | 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.
Scarlet and Violet offer some great new ideas for the Pokémon franchise, ruined by a world that seems very rushed and unfinished.
Review in Italian | Read full review
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.
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's open-world pivot is exactly what the series needed, though poor tech holds back its true potential.
It's a smaller step than many may have hoped for, especially considering what Pokémon Legends: Arceus did, but it's definitely one in the right direction.
With routine patches and dedicated bug fixes, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet could end up being a transcendent moment in franchise history. The ambition of its branching paths, the size of its open world, and the selection of different Pokemon available are all massive, signaling that Game Freak and The Pokemon Company wanted this to be a flagship moment for the series. Unfortunately, all of that ambition is marred by the technical trials left in its wake, creating some truly infuriating moments during a game where I should be adventuring with a smile on my face. The foundation of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet is strong, but there are too many technical shortcomings in the experience to truly call it great.