I was surprised to hear about the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet announcement especially since Pokemon Legends: Arceus had come out in the same year. However, it seems as though these Pokemon games have taken the roots from Pokemon Legends: Arceus and expanded on them to make the region of Paldea feel more fluid and together.
Story: 6/10
Pokemon Violet does more this time than the traditional beat 8 gyms and become the champion. There's also a nefarious team called team star that have built bases throughout the region along with titan pokemon to defeat that act as sort of a boss battle. These new features give the game some fresh ideas making it feel like more than just another Pokemon generation. It also helps make the region feel more full as you look around Paldea.
Score: 7/10
The music in the game fits the settings you find yourself in. Some classic pokemon music makes an appearance but other than that there are only a few notable songs.
Characters/Character Development: 7.5/10
There is a pretty good chance that there is at least one character in this game that you will enjoy. The characters you interact with feel real enough to make you want to hear their story, but there is a small chance it's going to make you really feel anything. Some characters look cool while others just look beyond ridiculous. Needless to say, Pokemon has never really been about deep and meaningful character so for this game, the characters work and are mostly fun to interact with.
Graphics: 5/10
While a lot of the world looks good, the frame rate in this game is way below par. Characters around you move very robotically until you are almost right next to them. While this doesn't impact the fun you'll have with the game it really makes the game feel unfinished
Gameplay: 7/10
It's a Pokemon game. The battling system here is the same it's always been with a few new features. However this isn't a bad thing since people play these games for the battling and pokemon has always seemed to take the 'If it isn't broken, don't fix it' mentality. It would have been nice to see more ways to interact with your pokemon outside of battle but that's a minor complaint.
Difficulty: 5/10 (0 being the easiest, 10 being the hardest)
Difficulty is a tough score to give for this game because depending on your choices of how you traverse the world, the game can be either very easy or very tough. The world is open to you so choosing to go to a more or less difficult area is entirely up to you.
Fun: 9/10
Just like Pokemon Legends: Arceus, exploring an open world Pokemon game is definitely a thrill. Uncovering and finding new Pokemon, especially one you want to use is endless excitement and using a rideable pokemon and fast traveling can get you where you need to go quickly.
Recommended for-
- Pokemon fans
- Fans of open world games