Jeremy Gallen's Game Reviews

Tears of the Pokémon Region

Nintendo and Game Freak's Pocket Monsters, known as Pokémon outside Japan and the brainchild of developer Satoshi Tajiri, has steadily evolved from its roots on the Game Boy system, each new generation attracting multitudes of players, and I'll admit I didn't get into the series until it reached the Nintendo DS. Despite being on the autism spectrum like the series creator, I found significant issues with the gameplay that in my mind made the franchise generally inaccessible to mainstream audiences, although the developer would somewhat make effort to refine these shortcomings in future generations. Arceus on the Nintendo Switch featured a huge shift in the gameplay to being open-world, similar to the Legend of Zelda franchise, with the latest mainline entries, Pokémon Violet and Scarlet, continuing this trend.

Both versions of the latest Nintendo Switch Pokémon games occur in the region of Paldea, beginning, akin to most of their predecessors, with the player's character and their mother moving to the area, with the protagonist tasked with traversing the land and collecting monsters while attending school. Team Star serves as the main adversaries as in prior generations; players, however, gradually unravel their backstory as they battle the organization at their various camps scattered throughout Paldea before battling the Elite Four and investigating a crater in the center of the region with certain secrets about the vehicular 'Mon that helps the player traverse the game’s setting.

Violet does admittedly have all the makings of a generic Pokémon narrative but features enough deviation from the typical storyline formula to make it somewhat shine above those of its precursors, such as the motives of Team Star and its various leaders. One character also has paternal issues with which I can sympathize, and Paldea has its backstory, with the narrative well-paced despite its formulaic disposition. The translation is one of the better efforts of the series, with the names of opponent trainers and their titles this time rendered as "(name) the (title)," but Nintendo America still seems obsessed with the use of the acronym OK.

As earlier implied, Violet and its crimson brethren build upon the open-world formula with which Arceus experimented, in their case, better. Players can choose one of three beginning 'Mons, with elements bequeathed from prior generations such as the elemental strengths and weaknesses of whichever monsters the player acquires through Poké Balls, successful capture succeeding better if an opponent is low on health, sleeping, or whatnot. In the case of whittling down enemy health, a move the player acquires from school for catching a certain number of 'Mons allows one of the protagonist's units to keep an opponent at 1 HP instead of killing it.

Like Arceus, all catchable 'Mons are visible on the various open-world terrains the player traverses, and in these cases, different options can initiate combat. The protagonist can throw their frontend encapsulated 'Mon at an opponent to begin the battle, with a preemptive strike should the player catch the targeted monster off-guard. Alternatively, players can instantly summon their lead Pokémon onto the field for auto-attacking, effective if opponents are of a type the 'Mon trumps in the elemental system. However, this earns monsters less experience than if they faced their opponents in standard combat.

Speaking of which, keeping at least one "tank" Pokémon, preferably whichever starter the player selects, is ideal since using them to score OHKOs against opponents is a quicker way to raise experience for all six active ones the player can have at any given moment. Each subdivision of Paldea has several trainers whom the player can approach for a battle against one or more of their Pokémon, victory netting the protagonist money in addition to whatever experience they score from triumph; total defeat in any battle costs money and a trip back to whichever Pokémon Center they used last. Centers also allow the player to purchase consumables, which diversify whenever they win at one of the Gyms; players can also create new moves from whatever materials defeated Pokémon drop alongside League Points sporadically rewarded throughout the game, potentially substituting for standard currency as well.

Violet and Scarlet have three primary types of plot advancement points: Gyms, where the player must face a minigame challenge and battle Gym Leaders to gain badges; Team Star Camps, where players can deploy three Pokémon in auto-battle against whichever enemy 'Mons the camp leaders send against them before facing the big boss in traditional combat; and Titan Pokémon, whose defeat nets the player's vehicular 'Mon new abilities for traversing the game world. Fortunately, the player can see indications as to what types each of these entail, allowing them to plan as necessary for taking them on; however, it's up to players to find out themselves which elements work against which, and only seasoned series veterans can take full advantage of strengths and weaknesses.

Players can tackle plot points in any order, but this can lead to unbalance regarding enemy strength; I found instances where I could easily OHKO enemy 'Mons, but other times, they could do the same in return. Many issues from prior generations recur as well, such as switching Pokémon wasting turns, getting caught in "healing loops," and the absence of in-game indication as to how certain 'Mons can evolve (although players can get an idea of which ones can do so from the Pokédex). Another issue absent in recent generations is that the player has to sit through ability animations in standard combat without being able to skip them if they avert auto-battling. The core mechanics do have positives, but there are ways they could have worked better.

As with prior Pokémon generations, the player can save anywhere outside combat alongside autosaving after battles and healing at Centers; the in-game map also indicates points of interest and objectives. Autoheal is further available for Pokémon outside combat (saving some time healing), players can fast-travel between visited locations, there is no need to visit Centers to change the active party, and the menus are not overly convoluted. However, there is lag regarding said menus, and one can find tedious navigating among captured Pokémon in the player’s Boxes, but otherwise, the game generally interfaces well with players.

Music has been a highlight of the Pokémon series, with Violet and Scarlet continuing this trend, the sound effects being good as well, and the near-death alarm being significantly less annoying akin to modern franchise entries, although there are occasional silent moments.

This particular generation proves weakest graphically akin to Arceus, with many of the same positives and negatives recurring from that spinoff title. While the art direction is generally good, as are the battle animations and colors, and there are no reskinned Pokémon designs, there are many technical issues such as slowdown and visible popping up of environmental elements and character models, the latter appearing "robotic" in animation from a distance, and in the end, Violet and Scarlet could have fared better in the visual department.

Finally, both versions of the game are of modest length, twenty-four to forty-eight hours, with the goal of "catching 'em all" naturally enhancing lasting appeal, along with the postgame content, seeking and battling every trainer, and the different ways of going about tackling the main game content. However, as with previous mainline titles, those new to the franchise will likely need to rely on the internet to achieve absolute one-hundred percent completion.

On the whole, Pokémon Violet largely succeeds in Game Freak's apparent open-world direction of the franchise, similar to what Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda series did with Breath of the Wild, the newest generation of titles in the monster-collecting franchise an improvement over Arceus, given the refinement of the formula introduced by that particular spinoff title. It also has other positive aspects, the story being meaningful, and each new generation's soundtrack has mostly remained solid, both versions continuing this trend. However, there are fumbles regarding the potential lack of balance and technical visual issues, but it will be interesting to see how the franchise advances with subsequent generations.