ScarVio Review

SPOILER ALERT for those wanting to go in blind to this game.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet have been out for a few weeks now, and I’m working on Pokédex completion, so I’m ready to give a review of it. I am a big Pokémon fan, have been all my life. I remember my brother playing Red, which was just before an age where I could grasp video games, so I went into Gold very excited and ready to own Johto. Every subsequent generation, my love and excitement for this series has only grown and matured. This generation is clearly a big new step for the series, and it’s safe to say it’s a giant leap. Short review: These are among the best games in the whole series. Long answer to follow.

Main Review

First off, I want to address the glitches. They’ve dominated the narrative of these games on social media, and I get why. I personally didn’t have too terrible of an experience with them; I got stuck in a rock wall a couple times and had to call a flying taxi, I had three crashes, with one making me redo the Academy Ace Tournament, and I’ve seen a few Pokémon just sort of inside rocks. I feel bad for anyone who experienced worse, and I get that having a game you’ve been anticipating so much from such a beloved series come out full of bugs that ruin your good time would hurt quite a bit. It’s one of the bad sides of the DLC era that game companies in general think it’s ok to treat paying customers like beta testers because they can patch it later. I didn’t want Game Freak to do it to us. And if anyone says I’m too rosy about this because I didn’t have any truly awful experiences, then that’s fair; I’d probably be a lot more bitter if my whole game was ruined by a glitch. That said, knowing myself, I’d probably still come out of it with a similar mindset I have now, which is that anyone complaining that these glitches make these the worst games ever, as like a permanent stain on their identity and quality, are being dramatic and shortsighted. For as much as I would have been happier had Game Freak delayed release to fix ScarVio up before release, I also know that the glitches and bugs will be patched, likely in the near future. Once they are patched, everyone giving these games a failing score because they were released early will play them and be like, “Wait, these are some of the best games of the series,” because they are. Basically, I don’t blame these games as products for the faults of the gaming industry in releasing unfinished products.

One of the biggest reasons these are some of the best games ever is the story. Truly a next level story altogether for the franchise. It’s so refreshing to get a coming of age tale, with no clearly evil antagonist. By now, we’re all really familiar with the Gen VII trick of the evil team not being the evil team, and anticipate it as soon as the new team is introduced. The rollout for Team Star was really interesting, because they were so committed to being like, “We’re not telling you anything ahead of time,” so going in for me, I didn’t know quite what to expect other than them being a red herring. Starfall Street is a great example of how the separate threads of story really work to make the game stronger. Each storyline has its own moral, always tying back to the idea of what’s important to you, and they were all very satisfying in their own ways. It really enhances the open world approach they took with everything. Getting to experience a version of the game that’s specific to your choices and interests is really fascinating and a really meaningful experience in a way that wouldn’t have been possible before.

The characters are also really great. I love Nemona so much, she is the perfect rival. She’s everything I am when I play these games; the battling is the best part for me, and one of my favorite things about the Gen V games was that you had two full rivals to battle all the time. I feel like a lot of the flack she gets online is unearned, and if she were a guy, people wouldn’t be so put off by a person who’s basically Goku, but a Pokémon trainer. “Oh, she’s so obsessive, she’s a stalker,” how about she’s just passionate and excited and wants to compete with the only person on her level? I don’t see any other academy students on the Victory Road, like how you saw other trainers taking the League Challenge in Galar; of course she’s going to run into you a lot. Back off my perfect queen. Arven has grown on me quite a bit over time, and I get why he’s such a fan favorite. He’s not my favorite archetype, but it’s hard to be mad at someone with a sick dog. The one thing I don’t get is people saying he’s secretly the strongest trainer in the game; I fought him before the Elite Four, and while he’s clearly meant to be challenged after becoming Champion, I got him in one go. It does emphasize that he’s the Bianca of the game, though, always comparing himself to the prodigies in his midst instead of taking stock of his own talent. Of course, Penny is also a perfect secret Demon Lord. She’s so relatable, the quiet person people overlook or belittle because they don’t know how to express themself acceptably. I knew there was something up with her even before the game came out because she wasn’t mentioned once after her debut, and I’m so happy with everything about her. I’d love for her to meet a certain group of maidens in Johto. And then there’s Sada/Turo, or should I say their memory. Like, Sada/Turo is basically the strongest parts of Lusamine and Volo, I think. Lusamine’s stated philosophy was the whole radical compassion thing for the Ultra Beasts, and Volo’s whole vibe until the final reveal was a mad scientist type who wants to know everything, even if it breaks the world. Sada/Turo make good on those premises, with a radical compassion bolstered by scientific curiosity to create an obsession that could bring about disaster, and none of it comes from a bad place. It’s hard to ask for a better end to a game about finding what’s truly important than someone who ended up in a bad place because of it. Clavell is a great overarching voice for the game, and I’m glad he’s the real Pokémon Professor. Geeta is truly a gem and quite possibly the best Champion ever (more on that in a bit). So many of the teachers and Gym Leaders and the Elite Four are all great, too, no complaints. Larry, Rika, and Raifort, obviously the standouts for me. And the designs, right? Everyone in this game is so hot, I feel like they’re doing it on purpose.

In a similar way, the new batch of Pokémon are all great, as well. I guess I don’t have as much to say about this, just a really good generation of new Pokémon. All the designs and concepts are solid and well executed, and unlike most generations, none stand out to me as particularly bad. There’re no Chimechos in this bunch. Even Flamigo is a really great ‘mon, despite some not getting its charm. It all feels so modern, and yet very much in the spirit the series has always had. I saw some fanart of Baxcalibur in the style of a Gen I or II ad, and it looked like they could have been designed in 1996 for Crystal, you know?

One thing I will say here is that I love Wiglett and Toedscool. I’ve seen a lot of people online gripe that it’s silly or confusing, because, “It should just be a regional form, make new things,” but I think that’s missing the point. First off, the Galarian Legendary Birds were already Wiglett before Wiglett, except they don’t even have the background of convergent evolution since they’re immortal god birds; get off your high horse about how Wiglett is lazy. Second, it opens up a lot more new avenues than regional variation gives you. Pokémon still operates by the rules of ecology and nature; sometimes they do just give a horse fire, but they can’t just make a mole a Water-type, because they don’t swim. And third, they’re really fun. I love Wiglett’s stretchy body, I love that fans called its hypothetical evolution Wugtrio before finding out it’s actually Wugtrio, and I love the awesome comparison Toedscool makes between cnidarians and fungi, both of which go against many of our preconceived notions of what kinds of organisms they are. And much like how, even in Jacq’s biology class, the game has always insisted there’s no clear idea where Pokémon eggs come from, I don’t desire or expect any greater explanation for how these convergent ‘mons are different than regional forms other than the stated, “They’re different, they just look similar,” idea.

I was also wondering how battles were going to be in this game, after Legends: Arceus. Like, not in that I didn’t think they could just do another game with the traditional battle system, nor did I expect the fighting styles to make it out of Hisui. It’s more that I wasn’t sure how exactly they were going to make it seem exciting or immersive like they did before, after having a whole other game with a new and exciting format. And they did really well. I think the battles are where you can see how much work and care went into the curation of the Pokémon in this region, and the considerations for which new Pokémon would be included. It’s not trying to reinvent the wheel, it’s just a really interesting and solid game that emphasizes the great strategizing that has always gone into Pokémon battles. Which brings me back to Geeta, everyone’s Top Champion in life and love. This is the first main series game, at least as I can remember, where none of the prominent trainers – none of the Gym Leaders, none of the rivals, none of the Elite Four or Champions – used a single healing item. It’s not often commented on, but it’s always been a central idea that having healing items is a unique advantage you have as the player over the rest of the game. The prominent battles felt more challenging because your opponent could heal one of their Pokémon once (ah!), which sounds small but could really change your calculus, especially if you’re having to revive people left and right. But Geeta was as hard a battle as any League Champion, and she never once had to heal her Pokémon to make you sweat. Makes me feel like a coward for keeping a bag full of Full Restores, you know? I do feel cheated by the continued use of the built-in Exp. All system and the comparative dearth of trainer battles, as my ideal region would have at least five trainers on every route and you’d be forced to slog through a bunch with improperly matched team members to keep their levels evened out, but that’s not a complaint specific to this game; I’m just an old head who wishes the series weren’t trying to make it easy for these young’uns and I could battle more trainers.

Terastalization is an interesting new mechanic. I love that it’s introduced as just a thing you can do, instead of as a central part of the story. Being able to change a Pokémon to another type, potentially, or emphasize their power in one type is pretty cool. I think ever since Mega Evolution, they’ve been trying to find the right balance in terms of how to do special features. Mega Evolution is cool, but arguably overpowered and is too limited to “special” Pokémon only. Z-Moves are a real great strategy to play, giving you one big shot, but arguably that makes it too limited for what you’d want, and you don’t need them just to have a strong move that turns a battle around. Dynamax was a great way to split that difference, and it certainly made terrain a relevant factor in my life for the first time. I think Terastalization is probably the best they’ve done in terms of the basic “power boost” premise while also adding a completely new and more interesting dynamic to a battle, and its accessible and available the way it needs to be for success. The one drawback is that I don’t think it’s impactful enough to warrant forcing people to the Pokémon Center after every use to recharge; maybe it should recharge with footsteps, or you get three uses before recharge. Then again, I’m pretty confident saying that Terastalization isn’t going to leave Paldea, just like with Z-Moves and Dynamax. They’ve branded it a Paldean thing, and it certainly makes Paldea a unique experience in the series, in a good way. It fits the story, by making it about using the Pokémon you like the central logic of it. Previous special features all had some variation of there being special Pokémon to focus on, with Mega Evolution, signature Z-Moves, and Gigantamax forms with unique G-Max Moves; Terastalization is truly for everyone in a way those others don’t fully embrace. I hope that remains the case and we don’t see some form of special Terastalization for certain Pokémon in DLCs.

But of course, no game is without its flaws. I think the biggest weakness of ScarVio is how the open world is handled vis-à-vis the level of the Gym Leaders and such. They let you tackle all the challenges of the game in any order you want, but they also lock in all these challenges at set levels. There’s clearly a certain order to do these things in, but they’re not telling you. As you go through the region, you have to figure out when a good time would be to face each Gym, Titan, and Star base. The trainers left in the region after I’ve become Champion that I’m cleaning up are all low level basics; one side of Glaseado Mountain can have Pokémon in the fifties, and another in the thirties, within a few steps of each other. I love the idea and the experience of taking things at your own pace, but I also would like it if things scaled with you no matter when you arrive, so there’s no dip in challenge or wall of failure waiting for you. There are context clues, like town descriptions on the map or the levels of wild Pokémon, but maybe you don’t visit each area in order to find that out, you know? I’m sure it’s more complicated and difficult to build into the game than I’m thinking, it just sounds so simple. Gym Leaders fight you with a team the League deems you ready to face; Star bosses have been training, and the longer you take to get to them, the stronger they get; the Titans get nervous when they sense their fellows fall and eat more Herba Mystica to beef up. I felt disappointed in that way in all three storylines, when I challenged Titan Bombirdier, Giacomo, and Tulip at times when my team was above them in power. I hope they try to address this in the next generation; either make it clearer what order these things are meant to be done in or make it to where it’s always the right order no matter what you choose.

Another thing I generally didn’t like, and this isn’t exactly a weakness, is the TM Machine system. I was a big fan of the TM/TR system in Galar, and I think that is the best way to manage the whole move teaching thing. If anything, I would have reduced the number of TRs to fifty to concentrate their importance. Moving back to all classic style TMs feels like a step backwards and having close to 200 of them is overboard. I also think it’s strange that they looked at Legends: Arceus, decided to bring a mechanic from that game into the modern era, and chose item crafting through TMs over having the Pokédex require more legwork to fill. I was actually looking forward to having to catch more Pokémon to get more detailed info and having to spend quality time with everyone to fill those pages, because it looked like the future. I would have liked it a lot more than I like using bits of fur and sweat (ew) as ingredients for a CD-ROM. It doesn’t even make much sense, mechanically; why would the soot of a Charcadet always contain information on how to do Aura Sphere when they can’t learn it through level up, aren’t Fighting-types, and keep their knowledge in their brains and not their soot? I do see how it works out from a practical standpoint, in making TMs limited and valuable while still available repeatedly. It serves that purpose well enough. I just don’t think it was the right move for TMs, I can’t get my head around it mechanically, and I think it’s a missed opportunity compared to what else Hisui had to offer a main series game.

Prediction Time!

Now, it’s time to look forward and make predictions! Obviously, we haven’t seen the end of these games already. Though unannounced at this time, I fully expect at least one DLC campaign to continue the story of Paldea, as most of the internet does. I think the general idea of DLC campaigns will replace third versions, which they haven’t really done since Gen IV (RIP experiences like I had with Emerald and Platinum). There are already hints of what that could look like in the Scarlet/Violet Book, and it does seem inevitable that we’ll find out how true Heath’s words were, and how little he understood about Area Zero. The big disk thing and the fun mashup legendary seem like big candidates, and the phantom memory is definitely the most interesting hint for what the rest of the story will look like. I am wondering if, like Deoxys and Mega Evolution, Necrozma and Z-Moves, and Eternatus and Dynamax, if we’re going to find a Pokémon that causes Terastalization. It seems likely that’ll be the case at this point, but I also hope it’s not a Pokémon; like, just having it be a big chunk of space rock would be ok if it still leads to the potential of imagination or whatever, but it could also be a living thing. A big goal in the original games was to make boss Pokémon that you couldn’t catch. Seeing as how Primeape’s death by anger finally happened in Paldea, that could also be a dream we see come true in Generation IX. For as much as they said Ultra Beasts and Paradox Pokémon may not even be Pokémon, they turned out to be other kinds of Pokémon from a different time or place; the great disk of Area Zero would be their first chance at a truly non-Pokémon entity that you have to face and cannot catch in the series, and that would be pretty cool.

I also noticed some things that I think could be hints about the future. In Salvatore’s language class, he most often used French phrases, which could be a hint about adventuring in Kalos, or some other Kalos connection. I honestly think the odds are low they’ve redone the entire Kalos map in a Gen IX friendly way and would add that to the game’s engine, and since they already shunted Zygarde’s story to Alola, I don’t think we’re seeing anything big from that part of the world. Still possible, though, and quite frankly, Kalos needs it. X and Y were bottom-tier games for me and felt half-baked, even if they’re strangely satisfying to replay; getting a chance to go for a fully-formed Kalos experience would be enjoyable. Or maybe the Kalos connection is going to be a Legends game in Kalos? It’s possible, though not what I would want for the second entry. We already know a lot about the Ultimate Weapon, so I would hope we don’t go to that time, and I’m not sure if there’s another more interesting period in the region. In any event, something in Kalos would be fitting, since its neighbors with Paldea and we already can go to the cliff border with it.

More importantly, Salvatore also consistently brought up German and Chinese phrases in his class. Germany is right near our other European regions and represents the next big cultural hub in Europe they could jump to in Generation X; there would be a logic to it. There’s also the Treasures of Ruin, a group of completely prefect legendaries from “the Far East,” which usually means China in a Western context. It would certainly be a lot of fun if the next region we see were based on China, and it would be the first Eastern region we’ve seen outside of Japan. Perhaps the Treasures also give a hint about a possible Gen X aesthetic for legendaries, if it’s based in China? The politics of it would be dangerous for them, like whether or not to include areas based on Taiwan and Tibet in the region, so idk if I should hold my breath. It just comes to mind for me as a possibility.

And in terms of hopes for the future that I can’t confirm or point to hints for, there’s the possibility of a Gen V remake. It is their turn in the order. I am so down for that, it’s not funny. It’s my favorite generation of the bunch, my favorite region, and I cannot wait for any sort of revisit of Unova. While a remake would be really cool, and I’m all in favor of introducing these games to new kids, I also think a sequel would be even better. What would be more appropriate for the only generation that had direct sequels? It would be amazing to go back to find Cheren as an Elite Four member and Bianca as a full Pokémon Professor. We’d have an excuse to say that they’re starting to see Unovan forms of Pokémon, and their evolutionary emergence is why you need another Pokédex survey. We could learn what Kyurem was originally like before they were split apart by the heroes, and the truth about their nature. Of course, that last part is also something we could do with another hope of mine, to have the next Legends game take place in ancient Unova! It would be so cool to see that world and what it was once like. As an American, I’m very interested to see a story detailing the arrival of Galarians (one presumes) and how they interacted with the native Unovans. Unova is still one of the best constructed regions in the entire series, and combined with the rich history laid out across both pairs of games, you have a perfect candidate for the next Legends game.

Conclusion

So yeah, overall ScarVio are really strong games. Their premature rollout did hurt their reputation, but ultimately that’s a temporary problem, one people will forget about as soon as they’re done patching. The story is top tier, the characters and Pokémon are some of the best in the series as an overall group, and the new and much hyped open world concept is a real selling point that paints a rosy picture for the future of the franchise. I highly recommend it.