Scarlet/Violet DLC

[Sakuraa]

I finished the Teal Mask a while ago and loved it! Carmine and Kieran are such great characters and the story with Ogerpon and the Loyal Three was not what I expected it to be at all! I'm excited for the Indigo Disk to see how things wrap up!

 

[Greninjaman]

I honestly hope it's true and they slow down the release schedule. I would legit wait for as long as possible if it meant getting a fantastic game instead of these clearly unfinished, rushed releases with hardly any content, and feature removals that aggravate some people like not being able to turn off the Exp. Share.

I share your thoughts about this. If these games are being rushed to the point that they need a day one patch just to add stuff and fix glitches and bugs, then I am not interested in getting new Pokemon games.

 

[Silktree]

"Always having these products able to be introduced and new experiences for our customers, and that's how we've operated up until now. I think we're still operating in that way, but there's more and more conversations, as the development environments change, about how we can continue to do this, while making sure that we're ensuring really quality products are also being introduced."

That doesn't sound like slowing down. They're probably expanding or outsourcing, which they've done before with very limited success. Above all, their mentality needs to change. A game isn't just about "new experiences."

 

[Bolt Strike]

"Always having these products able to be introduced and new experiences for our customers, and that's how we've operated up until now. I think we're still operating in that way, but there's more and more conversations, as the development environments change, about how we can continue to do this, while making sure that we're ensuring really quality products are also being introduced."

That doesn't sound like slowing down. They're probably expanding or outsourcing, which they've done before with very limited success. Above all, their mentality needs to change. A game isn't just about "new experiences."

Nah, I can see the logic. Games are entertainment, and if you're not constantly doing new things and changing people will get bored. So I can see why they constantly want the next big thing and want to reinvent the wheel to some degree with their games. And continuing to outsource is actually a good idea. If they can get 3 or 4 devs working on main series games and have multiple lines of games such as new subseries like Let's Go and Legends (although personally I don't think Let's Go should be a mainstay, that's just an example of a new style of game they can develop into a long running series), then Game Freak can focus solely on the new generation games and afford to lengthen dev times. Yeah, BDSP wasn't great, but I think Masuda had more to do with why BDSP was in the state that it was (it does share many similarities with other recent remakes like ORAS and LGPE) and the issue with BDSP is less about ILCA and more about TPC's philosophy with remakes.

 

[Silktree]

You say "nah," but your last sentence shows that you agree with me. Like with BDSP, the main problem with the DLC is due to philosophy more than resources. Outsourcing is needed to fix performance issues (hardly my main concern), but that is not enough for anyone who wants deeper (single player) challenges and discoveries.

 

[Daren]

I know I often sound like a downer and this will be no exception, but at the end of the day I suspect they just don't really like making Pokémon games anymore.
Look at Project Gear and just how much they wanted one of those games to take off. There has been other games since R/B, but they've been working primarily on Pokémon for over two decades now. Worse, the games baseline mechanics have barely changed since DP. Legends shook things up but most of those changes were dropped immediately.
Even the famously traditional Dragon Quest shakes things up significantly more than Pokémon has proven willing to.

Ed: Even going open world feels a lot like following current big trends.

In that regard I don't really suspect we'll get stuff like better single player focused challenges unless something major changes, like a bunch of younger devs take up the franchise after the old guard retire.

 

[Norzan]

I suspect they just don't really like making Pokémon games anymore.

In some interviews i swear whatever excitement or enthusiasm Masuda and company had for the franchise is just gone and you can see in their eyes. I vividly remember the interview they did to explain why Dexit was happening and they just looked like they were dead inside.

I know some people can point out a recent interview or presentation where they sound excited to talk about the new game, but deep down i wouldn't be surprised if they are sick and tired of this franchise. Like you said, they literally made a project solely to make actual new franchises so that they can be creative and not be tied to the pokemon conventions and none of them saw any critical and commercial success. And that must suck for them and make them even more tired of pokemon because they know they are stuck in the pokemon coal mines for basically the rest of their life or until they leave the company.

Anyone remembers Little Town Hero? Yeah, that game came out around Sword and Shield release time and it was a dud critically and financially.

 

[Bolt Strike]

You say "nah," but your last sentence shows that you agree with me. Like with BDSP, the main problem with the DLC is due to philosophy more than resources. Outsourcing is needed to fix performance issues (hardly my main concern), but that is not enough for anyone who wants deeper (single player) challenges and discoveries.

I mean that remakes specifically are the only ones with philosophy problems. I don't agree that the main games and DLC have a philosophy problem. The main games seem to have a good foundation, they're just lacking extras and I think that's more a matter of 3D console games taking longer for the basic stuff and not having the time to work on them. Outsourcing and extended dev times should fix that. The remakes are the only ones that all of the time and effort in the world won't make better because they're shackled to the script that they used to make the original games.

 

[nickdt]

To think, all of these problems with stuff like the Experience Charm and Experience Share could be solved if they added an on/off switch for these items.

They were in the gen 6 games, but i believe Gamefreak made a statement that out of their research, came that the majority of the players left it on anyways, they decided to ditch the on/off mode.

 

[Norzan]

gen 6 games

And Sun and Moon and Ultra Sun and Moon.

but i believe Gamefreak made a statement that out of their research, came that the majority of the players left it on anyways

They have this evidence where? How do you even test this? You had to go to each individual person and see if they did this, and good luck doing that with literally millions upon millions that bought the games. This is no different than them claiming people didn't used any of the battle facilities in an interview prior to ORAS when they had no evidence of such, all to justify not having the Battle Frontier in ORAS.

The true reason: it has reached a point that putting a very basic toggle in the options menu somehow it's too much work for the little time these games are given. It's why we lost the ability to turn off animations and play on Set. Either this, or they know they can get away with it because a lot of people will buy the games regardless which is depressing to me at least.

 

[Lucifer Morningstar]

I finished the Teal Mask in Violet and am working through it in Scarlet.

There is a lot of Kieran hate on Reddit that saddens me.
Sure, he's a bit of an obsessive brat but he's a child with social anxieties.

I suspect both Kieran and Carmine of being on the spectrum.
Kieran might have autism as I do and Carmine's almost complete inconsideration for others' perspectives and feelings presents Carmine as Aspergers.

The conflict of concealing Ogrepon from Kieran was engaging on an emotional level.
Carmine believed she was sparing his feelings because it would upset him to learn that we had encountered Ogrepon without him but I felt that logic was flawed because fixing and returning the teal mask provided a natural opening to include him that would allow him his chance to meet Ogrepon. So, I did not agree with lying about that much and felt the options could have at least been a bit kinder to this sweet kid who stepped out of his comfort zone help is with the assignment and make us feel welcomed.

The grandfather's request not to spread the truth of the legend was a bit different.
Respecting elders is a big thing in Japan, and as a minor who is a visitor to the village (regardless of our actual ages, the character is a child, something SV made easier to remember than past games because of the premise that we are in school) the Player is culturally obligated to respect the request of a resident elder and there was sound reason for this request. Even with evidence which no one has in this case, people will still interpret it and believe what suits them and we're talking about something these people have believed in for centuries.

The plot has flaws, such as how the villagers shunned Kieran and Carmine's ancestor as a heretic but somehow had no trouble believing a child who no doubt never engaged them before. I was expecting more drama there, and the legend itself lacked development. I wish there had been more about what the villagers judged as so different about Ogerpon's and her original partner's faces. Ogrepon is so adorable and we don't get a clear image of the man, but Ogrepon's trauma and isolation was so heartbreaking and as relatable as the main stories with Team Star and Arven were.

I am stoked for the Indigo Disk although I am worried for Kieran.

Since it is implied that the Indigo Disk will take us back to Area Zero, it would be awesome if it featured the respective other professor who as far as we know is still alive (the journals in the research centers in Area Zero establish that Sada and Turo worked together but that the respective other professor left not long after Arven was born).

 

[Bolt Strike]

The conflict of concealing Ogrepon from Kieran was engaging on an emotional level.
Carmine believed she was sparing his feelings because it would upset him to learn that we had encountered Ogrepon without him but I felt that logic was flawed because fixing and returning the teal mask provided a natural opening to include him that would allow him his chance to meet Ogrepon. So, I did not agree with lying about that much and felt the options could have at least been a bit kinder to this sweet kid who stepped out of his comfort zone help is with the assignment and make us feel welcomed.

IIRC, Carmine wanted to conceal Ogerpon from Kieran because she was worried he would do something reckless due to his obsession with Ogerpon, not because she wanted to spare his feelings. And that ended up being true because he stole the Teal Mask and accidentally ended up freeing the Loyal Three when he did find out. And it's not like they didn't want to tell him, his grandfather was going to tell him later. They just didn't want to tell him immediately to keep the matter discrete.

 

[Dr. Gro 3001]

To be fair to Kieran at this point, we don't actually know if he released the Loyal Three, accidentally or otherwise. Sure, he hit their monument in frustration. But, it seems lacking if only because of how would that actually revive them. Until we get further clarification on how the Loyal Three came back to life, I feel it a little unfair to 100% claim that Kieran revived them.

 

[Lucifer Morningstar]

IIRC, Carmine wanted to conceal Ogerpon from Kieran because she was worried he would do something reckless due to his obsession with Ogerpon, not because she wanted to spare his feelings. And that ended up being true because he stole the Teal Mask and accidentally ended up freeing the Loyal Three when he did find out. And it's not like they didn't want to tell him, his grandfather was going to tell him later. They just didn't want to tell him immediately to keep the matter discrete.

That's another plot flaw that I had forgotten to mention (I was in a bit of a rush because I had friends over for dinner), it's not actually established how the lousy three were resurrected. Kieran wasn't necessarily responsible just because he happened to bring the mask to the shrine at the right time.

To further my point, he probably would not have stolen the mask if we had included him in our plan to fix it for Ogerpon. I am sure he would have loved that.

 

[Eitarou]

To be fair to Kieran at this point, we don't actually know if he released the Loyal Three, accidentally or otherwise. Sure, he hit their monument in frustration. But, it seems lacking if only because of how would that actually revive them. Until we get further clarification on how the Loyal Three came back to life, I feel it a little unfair to 100% claim that Kieran revived them.

He was still in possession of the Teal Mask at that moment. The Tera shards are what revived them.

Carmine stated earlier they were rumored to allow people to see the deceased.

 

[RK9]

I do have to say that you can say about SV what you want but they can make Legendaries with expressions and personalities, at least. First the -Dons, now Ogerpon (though I guess that's what happens when it's Legendaries that actually aren't Legendaries/don't feel like Legendaries).

 

[JollyYoshi]

Spoiling this as courtesy for those who haven’t played Perrin’s part of the DLC. I’d advise you to play that part with sound.

One of the cooler parts of the DLC was the Blood-Moon Ursaluna part. The timeless woods theme had a bit of the Eterna Forest theme in it.

And, the blood-moon Ursaluna battle was pretty cool too. I was happy to hear to Legends Arceus battle theme here. I found myself a little cornered in the battle as the Ursaluna boosted its special attack all the way up. Didn’t face any fainting though.

I think the Eterna Forest reference is cool along with the battle theme though it definitely isn’t enough to make the DLC a legendary piece of Pokémon media or better than the main-game.

 

[Bolt Strike]

To further my point, he probably would not have stolen the mask if we had included him in our plan to fix it for Ogerpon. I am sure he would have loved that.

Maybe not, but he might've done something equally reckless in the process, such as running off to find Ogerpon or taking on the Lousy Three by himself. Kieran is very obsessive when it comes to Ogerpon, I'm not sure telling him earlier would've made much difference with his emotional state. Doubly so when what seems to bother him even more is that Ogerpon favors us and not him.

 

[Defiant]

A user on YouTube noticed an interesting detail regarding the resurrection of the Loyal Three.

Great spot, I'd long theorised it was Kieran freaking out that brought back the Loyal Three, those "toxic" emotions.
But had never noticed the aura.

 

[Nitro Indigo]

How do you activate the Blood Moon quest?