Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Review - A Noticeable Lack of Polish
451If you are able to look past how janky and buggy they are – and I know many, if not most, players will eventually be able to do that – then what awaits here is an incredible adventure that represents some of this franchise’s strongest moments yet. But the fact that that brilliance is buried under a literal mountain of crap is heartbreaking and infuriating.
What should have been a victory lap, a triumphant return to form and glory for Pokemon, is therefore another frustrating half step, besot by unforced errors and caveats. If you can get over the general jank, a very great game awaits you. And if you can’t, well, I can’t really blame you. The Pokémon Company and Game Freak need to rethink their release cadence. It is clearly no longer excusable. And it is starting to impact what should be these excellent games, and making them much less than that.
In the here and now? Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are great games that look ugly as sin and almost totally lack polish and optimization. If they ever get polished, they will be as close to an effortless recommendation as this series has ever gotten. Right now? They’re just good games buried under a mountain of caveats – caveats that you must decide for yourself whether or not they are worth putting up with.