Scarlet & Violet First Impressions and General Reviews Thread

[Spurs1819]

Very fun. Best Pokemon game I've played. Looking forward to more iteration and experimenting in DLCs/future games.

Please don't go back to SWSH games.

 

[nickdt]

I did struggle against a few of them:

Tofu (the Water Gym Leader whose name I can't remember) because I was underlevel
Iono because of Mismagius

The rest I mostly swept. I didn't really do raids or trainer battles (I mean, I did, just not a crazy amount of them).

Its Kofu, but Tofu also fits btw. He is into food and all...

Dammit... Tofu is a far better name than Kofu is all things considered.

 

[RK9]

Despite performance issues (I sure enjoy clipping throuhg the ground of a cave, falling into the sky and then just respawning god knows where) and some other flaws, most fun I had with a Pokémon game since BW. The only one outside of BW(2) that also has a story (and it's good too). Best game since BW easily, no contest.

Shame performance issues will overshadow all of it, though.

 

[stunning_cyan]

The beginning was very promising, story wise!
Even though I was critical about the graphics, they are actually REALLY good and DO feel like Spain!
However...I WILDLY overestimated my enjoyment of open world. I have terrible sense of direction and feel anxious and bored without a clear goal in mind. Most of the time I feel lost. Pokemon feel sparse and overleveled at times. There are not enough trainers. The game is also grindy. I just beat the first gym and already have no desire to return to the game. Because I know that grind awaits. I know some better story awaits me in the future but the open world map is just too confusing. Nemona said 'We'll battle when we meet again!' but how do I know where we'll meet? (Okay maybe this one is on me because I don't like opening the map constantly)

 

[Greninjaman]

The beginning was very promising, story wise!
Even though I was critical about the graphics, they are actually REALLY good and DO feel like Spain!
However...I WILDLY overestimated my enjoyment of open world. I have terrible sense of direction and feel anxious and bored without a clear goal in mind. Most of the time I feel lost. Pokemon feel sparse and overleveled at times. There are not enough trainers. The game is also grindy. I just beat the first gym and already have no desire to return to the game. Because I know that grind awaits. I know some better story awaits me in the future but the open world map is just too confusing. Nemona said 'We'll battle when we meet again!' but how do I know where we'll meet? (Okay maybe this one is on me because I don't like opening the map constantly)

You can set waypoints on the map.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

I have terrible sense of direction and feel anxious and bored without a clear goal in mind. Most of the time I feel lost.

You can mark spots on the map, like towns and such, as destinations that your map will point you towards while you travel.

 

[stunning_cyan]

You can mark spots on the map, like towns and such, as destinations that your map will point you towards while you travel.

Okay, I CAN but why doesn't the game do that automatically? If any person does that manually the moment they game gives them the goal why force the player to do it at all? Make this stuff automatic. Also, my impressions are subjective and tongue in cheek, I hope you noticed. This game is just isn't for me and it's fine. Whether it's because I am dumb or the game is lacking, we just have a mismatch. You may argue that I didn't try hard enough but sorry, I am in my thirties so I'd rather try hard at different things. It doesn't mean you are wrong or I am wrong.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Okay, I CAN but why doesn't the game do that automatically? If any person does that manually the moment they game gives them the goal why force the player to do it at all? Make this stuff automatic. Also, my impressions are subjective and tongue in cheek, I hope you noticed. This game is just isn't for me and it's fine. Whether it's because I am dumb or the game is lacking, we just have a mismatch. You may argue that I didn't try hard enough but sorry, I am in my thirties so I'd rather try hard at different things. It doesn't mean you are wrong or I am wrong.

It isn't done automatically because it's up to you to choose where you want to go next. That is the driving force of the entire game: you're free to do things in any order you wish.

 

[Bolt Strike]

Okay, I CAN but why doesn't the game do that automatically? If any person does that manually the moment they game gives them the goal why force the player to do it at all? Make this stuff automatic. Also, my impressions are subjective and tongue in cheek, I hope you noticed. This game is just isn't for me and it's fine. Whether it's because I am dumb or the game is lacking, we just have a mismatch. You may argue that I didn't try hard enough but sorry, I am in my thirties so I'd rather try hard at different things. It doesn't mean you are wrong or I am wrong.

Because open world games are designed to let you go where you want and do things in any order you want. If you're having trouble figuring out where to go though, you can talk to the nurse at any Pokemon Center. They'll suggest where to go next and they WILL automatically mark the location on your map.

 

[stunning_cyan]

Yeah but I can just not do that... Okay? I think I already clarified that I am not criticizing your love for open world? I just realized it's not for me, via trying this game and wrote about it in case other people wonder if it's for them when they dislike open world. This game didn't change my dislike for open world, that's what I am saying

 

[Snowy.ninetales]

I’ve beaten most of the game (in 27 hours…) but here were my first impressions/ first hour:

1. Got mad at the long beginning
2. Battles Nemona with my grass cat
3. said “this game is really fun! And well made why do people hate this game?”
4. Then proceed to fall through the floor 3 minutes later

 

[Neo Blaze]

Despite being quite critical of the game at first and having trouble getting into it (almost considered getting a refund), I did end up enjoying Violet quite a bit, after I got the hang of navigating between the various storylines and the quite huge open world. However, I'd have a hard time giving it a glowing review. The game is just far too unpolished and technically flawed for that. While I did not encounter any glaring issues such as game crashes or disturbing glitches, I did encounter a lot of smaller technical issues (and no I'm not talking about framerate, I can live with that honestly) which probably annoyed me far more than they should.

But then again, I am someone who is probably far more easily bothered by those kind of things than most people. While playing I constantly felt I had to be alert for technical or graphical glitches and that hampered my enjoyment somewhat. Even now I sometimes encounter weird things in the overworld, like a blue grid appearing where landscape should be for a split second. I also keep encountering Pokémon stuck in (cave) walls or rocks for some reason. Those kind of things, while small, take me out of the immersion. My game's controls also acted extremely wonky for a big part of the game for no apparent reason, and I know for a fact it was not an issue with my Switch.

It's also because I've almost never had anything but smooth gameplay until now, when it comes to Pokémon. I've never played a Pokémon game this broken (and here I thought PLA was unpolished), and that just kinda makes me sad, even if I did enjoy the game overall. I should say though, I've seen some people call the game 'unplayable', and that is simply not true. The game is very much playable, even if it's full of (mostly small) issues. Though as I mentioned, I haven't encountered any crashes. I'd imagine those would make the game somewhat unplayable for someone if they happened frequently.

But because of the issues I mentioned, I personally wouldn't rank it over BW/B2W2, ORAS, Platinum, or Colosseum (which is flawed too) and especially XD (which I still think is a fantastic semi-open world Pokémon game). Despite being even more unpolished, at least I did enjoy Violet far more than PLA, which I thought was an incredibly disappointing experience for a few similar, but also a number of different reasons.

If I have to be totally fair and honest, I would grade Violet a 7/10, mostly for the good amount of fun I did end up having.

 

[skynerel]

I have felt underwhelmed by playing this game.

Pros

• The Sawsbuck family is back!
• There’s an actual storyline in this game as oppose to the previous one.
• Arven’s story is my favorite.
• Area Zero is the best thing in the game, from the music to everything else. I felt so many emotions by playing in that part of the game. It was exciting, full of wonder and got my attention the whole time.
• I prefer paradox pokemon. Love the concept of the ancient past.
• Titans remind me of totem pokemon and they feel like classic videogame boss battles, good!
• Levincia City and Casseroya lake.

Cons

• Can’t migrate pokemon yet, which means that I cannot use them in my playthrought unless I decide to wait until february.
• Too much green plain areas.
• Can’t enter most buildings, I loved exploring them and it makes the world feel less inmersive.
• There are pokemon that haven’t been available since gen 7, while others appear no matter what.
• I don’t like happy go rivals like Nemona. I don’t need them to be jerks, but please why are you happy that you lost lol.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Can’t enter most buildings, I loved exploring them and it makes the world feel less inmersive.

If you think about it, not letting strangers into your house is one of the most realistic bits in this game.

I don’t like happy go rivals like Nemona. I don’t need them to be jerks, but please why are you happy that you lost lol.

You can actually learn why she acts like that towards you doing the post-game interactions with her at school.

 

[skynerel]

If you think about it, not letting strangers into your house is one of the most realistic bits in this game.

You can actually learn why she acts like that towards you doing the post-game interactions with her at school.

Not to be rude, but I really don’t care for that kind of realism, but even if we are going to use that as a valid argument for not entering houses… there are shops, restaurants, malls and many other places one could enter that are not private spaces.

 

[NotAPassenger]

I’ve just finished and that was one of the best Pokémon games I’ve played. Hands down.

Buggy? Yes
Awfully annoying hand holding at the start? Yes
Did it need a better form of suggested structure to give you an idea of recommended paths to take? Yes

But it was just a joyful game. The connection it gave you with the box legend makes the climax of the story feel genuinely powerful. The themes the game explores surrounding past/future, death, life, hedonism and bullying are great new ground for the games.

I finished the game with the below team:
Quaquaval Lv 68
Espathra Lv 65
Rotom (fridge) Lv 65
Tinkaton Lv 65
Scovillain Lv 64
Dragonite Lv 62

I was expecting Koraidon to make it into the team much sooner.

Victory Road- familiar, grounding, made for good points of progression but the mini games were painfully annoying.
Path Of Legends- great bonding with Arven. His story is so beautiful and it really made me want to help. This gave the game a gravitas of fantasy and mystery.
Operation Starfall- Fun dynamic for the battling of the grunts, the outcome of the story was very interesting. Bold move for Pokémon to take in my opinion. The actual challenges themselves were a touch repetitive by the 4th Revaroom.


The Area Zero plot line was genuinely foreboding and emotional.

I loved it.

 

[Gengarzilla]

Had it not been for the ongoing performance issues and other bugs, I would have confidently called this the best main series Pokémon game of all time. As it is now... Well, it still beats everything after B2W2 and before PLA if I'll be honest. Even with the aforementioned problems this entry is satisfactory enough to trounce that motley band of predecessors.

Now if DLC were to come around at some point and expand Pokémon availability so I can pair Water Absorb Mantine with my eventual Hisui Arcanine...

 

[AngryBinacle]

How can it possibly be 'the best Pokémon game' if it doesn't have anything to do after you beat Area Zero except for buggy raid battles and multiplayer?

I'm really puzzled how people are okay with the increasing lack of things to do. Yes, the storyline was very entertaining, the world enjoyable, characters were awesome, too. The open world is still far from perfect, but a lot more enjoyable compared to Sw/Sh. But after you 'finish' the main storyline? There's such a sudden downturn in options compared to older generations.

I hope people aren't willing to just overlook that and are willing to take this game into perspective compared to other series and older entries. Because it still has major flaws, apart from the visual bugs and glitches.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

How can it possibly be 'the best Pokémon game' if it doesn't have anything to do after you beat Area Zero except for buggy raid battles and multiplayer?

I'm really puzzled how people are okay with the increasing lack of things to do. Yes, the storyline was very entertaining, the world enjoyable, characters were awesome, too. The open world is still far from perfect, but a lot more enjoyable compared to Sw/Sh. But after you 'finish' the main storyline? There's such a sudden downturn in options compared to older generations.

I hope people aren't willing to just overlook that and are willing to take this game into perspective compared to other series and older entries. Because it still has major flaws, apart from the visual bugs and glitches.

I think people are fine with it because 1) the main game is long and engaging, and 2) there's bound to be new content when the DLC comes.

 

[zoroarctic]

Even with the technical issues, this is probably the most fun I've had playing a Pokemon game since I got back into the franchise with White 11 years ago.

I think people are fine with it because 1) the main game is long and engaging, and 2) there's bound to be new content when the DLC comes.

And for a lot of us, the postgame is not what makes or breaks our enjoyment.