Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Are a Wonderful Mess

This is my review of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, a mess of a game that I also happen to love.
If you like what I do, please consider supporting me on Patreon!
/ arlostuff
Twitter: @ArloStuff
This video was edited by the excellent Yoshiller!
‪@Yoshiller‬
"Reloaded Installer #11" by LHS.
/ @lhschiptunes

[@Pioxys]

This game taught me 2 valuable lessons: 1) Just because it’s fun, it’s doesn’t mean it’s not trash. 2) Just because it’s trash, it’s doesn’t mean it’s not fun.

[@Buglin_Burger7878]

It is also important to remember the people you see criticizing games are often those who love it. They are doing it because they want the future games to be better and people to not fall into the same holes. It isn't just blind hate, it is trying to get things to improve for everyone.

[@KidBowsur]

​​@@tartagliax804otta be honest this shit was a lot of fun but it's a piece of shit

[@tobymacdonald5893]

@@KidBowsur Yep I’ve been waiting and waiting for Pokémon home so I can take my sword ranked mons and hunt for the legendaries in SV with them. Games fun but it runs like shit and Nintendo have proved they don’t care about fixing that

[@Nicholasryan17]

And because idiots spent money on it, we will never get an actual quality pokemon game and Gamefreak will forever ship half-assed titles

[@futuregenesis97]

Nintendo and GameFreak are not at fault here guys, all the blame goes to The Pokémon Company, Nintnedo didn't make the games and while GameFreak did make the games they are forced to release a new pokemon game every 2 years, and an open world pokemon game takes longer to make than that, hell BOTW took 5 years to make. GameFreak don't have a choice, they are forced to release it because TPC needs the games out so their other products can be sold after the new Pokémon games.

[@kuroblakka]

1:16:20 When Rika asked me which gym leader I had the hardest time with I answered Larry and when he showed up I thought it was because I chose him and I was very impressed lol

[@okashiad6930]

Same thing happened to me haha

[@masalanicholoff3593]

Same thing happened to me.

[@Sircoochie]

Same

[@ekos8282]

Same!

[@riptidetube123]

That wouldve been really cool to have happen

[@Catspirit123]

Performance aside, my biggest issue was the lack of interiors. It makes the world feel like it’s just a diorama to me. I’m in a playground with fake houses everywhere

[@alejandraflores0880]

yes, I honestly love the game as the last game I played before this was the first Sun and Moon. I finally got the Nintendo OLED switch to get Pokémon Scarlet and my biggest disappointment was the lack of interaction with the NPC and that the houses were just fake houses with no interior. Another disappointment was the laggy PC boxes but as of the time I reply to your post, I think the boxes are fixed.

[@Gamelover882]

Thats how a lot of games make me feel tbh. I need at least a coule dozen buildings i can actually go in.

[@lavafighter3236]

​@@alejandraflores0880Bro Sun 1 was my last game before Scarlet! I have a habit of getting the newest console right after the last gen of Pokemon for that system.

[@ViciousFirearms]

@@alejandraflores0880 What about the performance issues and bugs? Has all that been fixed?

[@getthegoons]

There's just nothing interesting out in the world either. No dungeons with rare mons at the bottom. No weird random events, no reason to go back to most of the towns besides it just happens to be the closest item shop. The world feels like a theme park with no rides. Yeah it's pretty and Ricky Rat is here for pictures but after you walk around for a bit you realize you dropped way too much money for nothing

[@staroutofspace4986]

Scarlet/Violet is probably one of the clearest arguments for Pokémon's generation cycle shifting from 3-4 years to 5-6 years. So much potential and fun is undercut by a development cycle that needs and extra year or two. Just imagine a new Pokémon generation as a once-per-console occurence. Imagine how little they'd have to consider cutting in terms of features and content if they had more time. How much more polished could things be if they spread their releases out and let their already dense spinoff content have more time in the spotlight? It's frustrating to see these games almost held hostage by the constant need to churn out new content for the anime and merchandise.

[@AzureGreatheart]

They could add new content in spinoffs and the anime; they’ve done it before, and it works _significantly_ better.

[@miimiiandco]

They could also support the existing games through DLC and events, like how Sword and Shield did it.

[@nicormoreno]

there is absolutely no reason for them to do that... why would they get less money? its insane people even think that Gamefreak or whoever is in charge has any way of justifing a longer cycle, the game sell like gold, are extremely cheap to make compared to other games are insanely low quality for AAA games and they have the biggest ip (or second/third) in gaming industry... Quality wise they are in the realm of 2000's games (heck even in 2000 games usually came a lot more polished than this with a lot QoL, pokemon gets away with not even following the minimum standar the industry have (no voice acting, reusing assets a lot, poor performance, etc), they do know their fans will buy anything tho and they do not need to make any effort... When i compare pokemon to games like Monster hunter stories i feel like how is it posible that a game that is like 100x better than any of the latest pokemon games cannot beat pokemon in sales. So the answer is they will only make a shorter cycle when the quality start affecting their sales, and that wont happen.

[@AzureGreatheart]

@@nicormoreno People got a lot of refunds for this game. The sales didn’t get hurt as much as they really should have, but I think the odds of them finally are higher than they used to be. Remember that this is about maximizing profits, so even if the game doesn’t flop, they’ll notice if people get refunds or don’t buy as many copies. Whether this is enough yet is another question, but I feel like there’s going to be a point fairly soon where they have to take feedback into account if they want to keep their profits high.

[@nicormoreno]

@@AzureGreatheart i really hope you are right, i want a good pokemon game and that will be impossible for as long as people keep tolerating that low quality gamefreak is know for by now, saddest part is the people working in the games are probably extremely exploited by short dev cycles

[@HaughtyToast]

It`s weird that they don`t scale the gyms based on how many badges you have because that is canonically how it is supposed to work. That`s why Pokemon Emerald featured leaders with multiple teams and they actually showcase this exact thing with Brock in the Pokemon Origins anime. It`s clearly been on their minds for years now so why do they not implement it here where it would be perfect?

[@commonviewer2488]

Maybe level scaling was part of the plan, but GameFreak didn't have time to implement it

[@HaughtyToast]

@@commonviewer2488 Kind of feel like that`s a pretty big thing to just have on the backburner while they develop a sandwich making simulator.

[@KruelAidMan]

@@HaughtyToast you only get the badges once. Sandwiches are forever!

[@miimiiandco]

I can see a reason why they wouldn't have level scaling. They've never had level scaling in the past, and it could mess with a few things. You might not be able to make the game harder by going in underleveled, or challenging harder gyms first, or easier by doing the opposite.

[@IAmNotASandwich453]

​@@commonviewer2488Making levels scale is really not something that is overly complicated.

[@OneTrueNobody]

1:14:00 - One of the other fun things about Nemona that's kind of understated (you sort of have to see her post-game events in order to get this part) is that she herself is a really invested Pokémon-battling enthusiast surrounded by, for want of a less weighted description, utterly unenthusiastic casuals. She's that one kid at the arcade who really mastered Street Fighter but can't find anyone else who's willing to master it on her level, so she has to constantly hold herself back to have any fun fighting with other people, and even then they find her exhausting and don't often want to try their skills against her. The reason she becomes so invested in the *player's* progression as a Trainer is because she sees the same potential and the same spark in them, so she really wants them to reach a point where she can go all-out for a change.

[@raidenstokes1026]

In the Pokémon origins anime they explain that gym leaders have different teams based on how strong they’re opponent is, so the fact that the game doesn’t have teams for gym leaders based on your level was surprising for me considering it’s open world

[@jyoster6447]

And to make matters worse, this was introduced before Gen 6 was even released. So they have had 3 generations to implement this at the least, and yet they never even bothered.

[@Ceodore411]

I think I played some fan games that implement that, like Pokemon Crystal Clear.

[@The_MEMEphis]

​@@Ceodore411 is that an open world Rom hack I'm not to familiar with Pokemon ROM hacks but I really wanna start playing them it's part of the reason why I got a steam deck

[@BlueAizu_]

I feel like I should be surprised they didn't do that, but Game Freak

[@carlospacce593]

Remember when your pokemon actually needed to battle to lvl up these games are shitt lmao straight up

[@maxawesomo]

Arven's story hit me really hard because my cat was sick at the time, and we were incredibly close. Sadly, she didn't make it. If there were magic sandwiches that could've healed her, you bet I would've traveled the world searching for those herbs.

[@educampsrocks]

U made me cry :(. I’m so sorry for your loss, some people can’t quite understand how pets become a huge part of your life. I don’t know if this helps much, but I always find peace in knowing I gave them all my love. Your love is very evident and i’m sure they lived the best possible life by ur side :) I send a lot of hugs, stay strong🤍

[@ArrikKitsune]

I know how you feel man, I lost my cat in February to intestinal cancer, she was 12 yo and I was hoping for 4 more years... I feel your pain.

[@ArtzyZero]

I'm sorry about your cat, it's never easy to get over losing a member of the family. My dog died in my arms when he was still a puppy but I'll never forget him, even if thinking about how much he's missed always makes me cry. Arven's cemented a place in my heart, I didn't full on cry but it made me so happy to see his Pokemon get better to see the raw emotion Arven had in that moment. I know that pain, so my brain filled in the blanks and made those scenes hit a lot harder, especially when Mabosstiff is finally able to stand. Arven beat me when I first battled him and obviously the game doesn't let him win but in my mind he'll always have that win against my character, he and his team earned it.

[@sigmario859]

Damn dude, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what I would do without my Daisy kitty rn. I send my most sincere condolences to you for your loss 😢

[@xeveemon]

I was dealing with a major loss of my own around the time the games released. My father, unexpectedly, passed away from a sudden heart attack at his work back in late September, and I didn’t see my father before or after he left for work that day, so I didn’t get to say goodbye. So when I first played through Violet before playing Scarlet, I understood and connected to Arven a lot during his story. I now know what it’s like to lose a parent, yet alone an animal because last year, we also had two batches of newborn kittens and we lost one in the first batch, and lost all of them in the second one, and then after my father died (like a day or so afterwards) we lost the father of those kittens (but we still have the mama and rest of them and they are doing totally fine). So yeah, I had a lot of loss last year, and so Arven’s story did get to me majorly. He would be my favorite character out of this Gen if it weren’t for Rika being so lovely 😅 But yeah, sorry for telling my story, I just felt like I should to show I can relate to you as well. And I’m very sorry to hear about your loss and just know that wherever she is right now, she will always be with you in a way.

[@morganqorishchi8181]

Not having a shine/sparkle on Shiny Pokemon is basically a screw you to colorblind people. Thank you for bringing that up. A game in 2023 shouldn't be less accessible than Pokemon games that came out in 2000.

[@dingledyret8667]

Its pretty annoying

[@zephgraham2588]

Just curious for colourblind people is there a point to wanting shiny pokemon if it looks exactly the same to someone im all for accessabilitu where it makes sense but im not seeing it maybe someone could explain

[@JoshuaBublin]

​@@zephgraham2588There are different kinds of color blindness. For a lot of people, they just have trouble telling different shades apart. I'm red/green color blind so I have trouble with lighter shades of green looking like certain shades of red or in some cases (like emergency lights) yellow. But some pokemon that may have a subtle or small change in color in one form, can have a completely different look when evolved. Also, they make good trade bait and other people can see them in online battles and raid dens.

[@NigelGrab]

​@zephgraham2588 I'm not colour blind but maybe it's to capture the feeling of "I got the rare one" Tbf with some of the shinies the colours are so close to identical, there's no visual purpose to having the shiny and it's just to know you have something rare :)

[@ZerothAmendment]

The ppl who the color blind ppl show off their shinies too aren’t color blind 😉

[@DiamondAxeStudiosMusic]

This game broke my brain. Never before have I had such an incredible amount of fun with a game I was so embarrassed to be playing. To be clear, I love this game to pieces, it's honestly one of my favorite games on Switch and I have no regrets whatsoever about buying it, but... man, this is a WEIRD game to feel that way about...

[@EricDrinksWater]

Gamephreak just always makes me feel like "what if they gave the IP to someone who gave a fk"

[@KruelAidMan]

@@EricDrinksWater "phreak"

[@HunterSlingbaum]

that is such a good way to phrase it 🤣 like watching this video made me pull out the game and i was immediately torn between joy and nausea it’s such an interesting experience lol

[@shinkenrock]

@@HunterSlingbaum -_- even after this and yall still wonder why they don't give a fuck anymore

[@DiamondAxeStudiosMusic]

@EricDrinksWater That's the thing though... the people designing and coding these games clearly care deeply and passionately about them, and they know how to make them. It doesn't come down to lack of caring or competence, it's all corporate greed.

[@PyraXadon]

One of my fondest memories of S/V quite literally happened within the first 5 minutes of gameplay. I wondered to myself "Could I break the game somehow, in ANY WAY, in the starting room?" And the very first thing that happened was me being able to manipulate the camera in such a way that I could easily see outside into the void where the player's house is loaded in. And it was repeatable. And that was when I realized I was in for Masuda's wild ride.

[@strawdeath263]

I stumbled across that when I went back later to get Mum's sandwich recipes lol.

[@jayplay8869]

I just wanted to explore stuff and I noticed it. My sad face lasted the next 6 plus hours it took me to get thru the game. Having headaches and feeling nauseous the whole time. Fully refunded after beating my robo mommy.

[@cobaltordinaire5219]

"I wanna get off Masuda's wild ride"

[@Sairiui]

"This wild ride is worth much less than $60"

[@thatpenguindragon]

After playing Tears of the Kingdom it makes me depressed knowing how we have a truly well done and prepared game versus a rushed and disastrous release with Scarlet and Violet... truly a shame

[@clemenx]

Yep. This is the worst time to release a Pokemon Scarlet/Violet video lmao. Impossible not to compare with Zelda and see what's possible even in a very old system like the Switch.

[@houndofculann1793]

@@clemenx "very old system"? The Wii might just barely qualify for that but Switch definitely isn't "very old", it's not even been 7 years since its release

[@Yeref]

i just wonder if they give a good time to finish the game how they expected to arrive? i love when they give a lot of time do make a game, im glad they are just giving metroid prime 4 a lot of time to finish! Sorry if i something something wrong, i still learning english.

[@RunstarHomer]

Honestly I don't understand why people keep buying Pokemon games.

[@The_MEMEphis]

​@@houndofculann1793 yeah but the hardware was outdated even when the system was new it was using a mid tier mobile chip from 2015 and it was weaker than the current gen systems of it release year by a substantial amount it's closer to an Xbox 360 than an Xbox one

[@TrevorNickell]

Arven's story with his Mabosstiff didn't just "hit close to home" for me; it crashed through my roof. I lost one of my 2 dogs to lymphoma in Oct of 2020. Spent all of my savings before maxing out all of my cards with the medical bills to keep her alive & comfortable. The part that just sent me over the edge in that scene was that his Pokémon is a Mabosstiff. Ma[ -bos- ]stiff. My Luna was a Mastiff. Never thought a Pokémon game would turn me into a blithering sobbing mess in my 30s (or ever) but here we are! I've never been more invested in the well being of a fictional creature. Not like it was a surprise (no way Pokémon would go THAT dark) but I was so weight off my shoulders relieved that Arven had a better outcome than me. PLA is my #1 game in the franchise & I've been playing since Blue Version but S/V is probably my #2 or #3. [Oh & my pfp is my pug, Tenma; -he's doing great- he was diagnosed with a nasal tumor that turned into a brain tumor. He passed in his sleep Aug 5th 2023. He would've been 12 in October... Yeah, I'm not OK. Updating this comment as if anyone will see it or care like some weirdo.]

[@bethbockwoldt2834]

God dude im so sorry

[@aglet151]

I don’t know if you’ll see this, but I hope you’re doing okay these days. I hope you’re finding solace in playing Pokémon 🩷

[@pobbityboppity1110]

I’m sorry for your loss. I hope you recovered

[@pokelover02]

I’m so sorry for your losses, Trevor. That’s so heartbreaking. Even though it’s been a year, I know it’s still painful. Please take care ❤

[@nicklinn5731]

There definitely needs to be a 5-10 second immunity after leaving a battle, that was my biggest gripe!

[@hondaaccord1399]

Yeah! Leave the heart-pounding battle escape in the Legends series!

[@Lordodragonss]

No there just need to be multibattles like in Arceus. Mot only it would make better sense gameplaywise, it also adds chalenge.

[@MissRora]

The lack of that had me getting juggled between Pokemon for a solid minute (just running each time) in the cave where you find Chi-Yu. The encounter rate for that stupid cave is too high.

*Tauros flashbacks*

[@Yanaro-pi8pt]

My problem is with the rotating minimap, every other game allows us to lock north, except this one which makes it close to useless to me.

[@d3va383]

The terrible performance, draw distance. etc. is so weird now after Tears of the Kingdom’s release. Like it released only 6-7 months after and runs smoothly with a couple of framedrops when things get busy. The lighting is fantastic and you can literally go from being +1000 on the y-axis to -1000 without any loading screens. When Scarlet and Violet runs well it still runs worse then when TOTK runs bad

[@Gloomdrake]

Breath of the Wild predates ScV, which in my opinion is even more damning

[@ValeRoth9]

I imagine Monolith Soft's experience with open world helped ToK on that front. They would surely make a worthy pkmn game.

[@liun1390]

I could imagine that the pokemon running around drastically drop the fps, at least in ACNH it's mostly the moving items that cause the most performance issues.

[@PuhBark]

​@@Gloomdrake for real... Botw was developed on a Gamecube. I'm so tired of trash Pokemon games.

[@d3va383]

@@pannoncannon TOTK runs great 95% of the time mostly a smooth 30 fps. It SOMETIMES dips to like 20 when you're doing some ultrahand in a zone with a lot of things. aside from that, it runs great.

[@Archdornan9001]

SV had the potential to be the best pokemon games ever. Sadly TPC cutting corners in alot of areas (eg clothing customization, not being able to go in most buildings like past games, garbage frame rates, etc) really held these games back. If only Gamefreak had another 2 or so years to develop SV.

[@Buglin_Burger7878]

Pokemon is like Call of Duty, more years won't fix it it will just allow the blame for certain practices to be pushed onto the devs.

[@futuregenesis97]

Foreals and poor GameFreak is taking all the blame for TPC, because a lot of people don't understand GameFreak only has so much time to make the games, they need to spend atleast 3-4 years polishing and smoothing out everything, but unfortunately that will never happen with TPC needing a new Pokémon every 2 years.

[@tobymacdonald5893]

@@Buglin_Burger7878 That’s not true lmao you can absolutely tell the game was rushed.

[@BlueSparxLPs]

@@futuregenesis97 TPC isn't a separate entity pushing Game Freak to do anything. TPC refers to the partnership between Nintendo, Creatures, and Game Freak. They each have 1/3 ownership.

[@EricDrinksWater]

Metacritic castrated it. Any critic who gave this over 50% should have their opinion revoked.

[@nickioleary8577]

“A wonderful mess” is probably the most accurate description of Pokémon SV that I’ve heard

[@themangastand8475]

I think after you play it more the wonderful starts to disappear. The start is exciting.

[@Kinta02]

pretty accurate actually. just replace wonderful with " " and you got it down to a t

[@adrianleonce455]

​@@themangastand8475Kinda disagree. I think it disappeared by only a little bit. Overall, I still had a wonderful time from start to finish.

[@internetguy7319]

​@Logan McGlynn Nah game's fun

[@sythrus]

Varies from person to person, most ive played a Pokémon game in years

[@SARGE4268]

Could you imagine a Pokemon game with the creativity and polish of Botw or Totk? Would be insane

[@RonhozZ]

@Nightshade i really wanna listen to you tell me what is creative about pokemon in 2023 pls.

[@imaloony8]

And it's never going to happen. Gamefreak will never be given a long enough dev cycle to do that, and even if they were, I truly don't believe there's much talent at Gamefreak, and maybe never was. They're still Gameboy devs, unable to evolve their franchise beyond its roots.

[@totallynotaclone]

​@Nightshade Flamigo

[@totallynotaclone]

As long as people keep feeding them money, they have no reason to change a thing. And they need to change a LOT of things.

[@imtrashandimproud726]

​@@totallynotaclone Seal.

[@SharpEdgeSoda]

Arlo has a weakness. Picking up Garbage in an open world when 90% of it you will never use. I respect it. ScarVi is peak that.

[@Brandon_Hardie]

Arlo dropping a two hour video outta nowhere? Cant even be surprised anymore

[@mr.awesome6011]

It's cool. Not like my time isn't gonna be busy with something else this weekend. What's two more hours right?

[@artemis2121]

Yeah and we're gonna have another one in like a week because of tears of the kingdom

[@cookiesontoast9981]

​@@mr.awesome6011 Plus if you don't want to spend too much time then 2X speed option is always there.

[@FedoraKirb]

@@artemis2121 Two hours? For Tears of the Kingdom? The sequel to Breath of the Wild?? You underestimate this Blue Monster and his editors.

[@Gayd1]

​@@cookiesontoast9981 yeah and also it took them a good year at least to finish that 5 hour long review

[@mrshmuga9]

The Area Zero music REALLY sells it on its eeriness. A clear example of the power of music. Because the visuals don’t do a lot (except being overexposed).

[@swagmessiah37]

if the visuals where better, it might have been one of my favourite moments in gaming. it would feel like an alien planet

[@amazinglyshook]

I just wanna say Arlo captured the feeling of Paradoxes and Area Zero so well. I am not into sci fi horror at all but the way they presented the concept of paradoxes and not having any clue how it works was so cool! Area Zero was also unsettling for me considering I've never felt that way in a Pokemon game since I was a kid. Something about such a beautiful utopian nature preserve contrasted with these frightening creatures, abandoned buildings, and unsettling music was so jarring in the best way possible. And then having that absolute rollercoaster of a finale was enough for Area Zero to beat out Distortion World as my favorite place in Pokemon. I mean the lore of SV has birthed so many fan theories and speculation, I think GF did so much right this time with Paldea as a whole.

[@clouds2589]

Area zero was hands down the best part of the game. Such a fantastic feeling of uneasiness.

[@jensheilman4179]

@@clouds2589 I think it was the most disappointing part because they built it up so well, you gathered your friends, but they are not even fighting with you. Area Zero should had have a variation in game play. Was such a bummer to me. I genuily thought they gonna give us a rogue like experience or a boss rush or something similar. Something you can do after finishing the game.

[@clouds2589]

@@jensheilman4179 As awesome as that would be, you're expecting waaay too much from the studio that thought "hey, lets make pokemon animate in combat" was a groundbreaking update.

[@jensheilman4179]

@@clouds2589 Well... "Unfulfilled expectations" is not exactly a good description for a video game. I don't see how that makes Area Zero good somehow. I don't want to take away your excitement for it. If you liked the vibe, that's a whole different story and I will never question that. I was just not satisfied with it which spoiled my overall satisfaction with the ending, emotionally and how it wraps up the game play. I don't think that late game content should be exactly the same as early game content. I think it highlights how I think the game lacks as an open world game because for me there was not enough to do. I already finished most of my Pokédex at that point and all I had to do was to run through the level to get to the next "Laboratory". It was boring as heck. The old games had puzzles in all of their dungeons. It still felt like a challenge, even though you did the exact same thing as in the beginning of the game.

[@clouds2589]

@@jensheilman4179 that's fair. I didn't think the gameplay was particularly amazing down there, I was more invested in the atmosphere and uneasiness

[@thekingcoltonious]

I can't believe you didn't mention the most frustrating thing about the games to me! The fact that when you walk into a shop, it flips the camera so if you try to walk the opposite direction I'm leaving, you walk straight back into the building! I absolutely adored the game. I was able to put up with the frame rates in the crashing in the bugs, but that absolutely got me

[@HaughtyToast]

Same. Absolutely hate it when games do that. Especially with stairwells.

[@D3stinySm4sher]

For how long this review is, that's...actually a great point. It's one of many examples of where this game fails imo, but maybe Arlo enjoyed it enough where this didn't bother him? Or maybe he didn't even engage with the shops much?

[@hamiiham2985]

Oh my god dude, I forgot all about that until you mentioned it, but goddddddddd I hate it.

[@invertedname3099]

Finally! Glad someone said it

[@ThousandSunny918]

That shit was infuriating

[@cannedpaint]

My biggest gripe was the lack of gym scaling. I accidentally did the final gym third. It was a really fun and challenging fight. After that I steamrolled the last 5 gyms.

[@weebcraft6829]

I did this but with the Team Star bases. Got a bossfight that actually kicked my ass for once

[@AedraRising]

I agree that there should have been gym scaling, but if you're seeing a Level 48 Pokémon as your third gym, shouldn't that be an indication that this is supposed to be a late game gym?

[@wildbard4112]

I just used different teams

[@IntrovertMaxxing]

​@@AedraRisingright. Plus pokemon of a similar level will not obey so it will be an annoying experience to most

[@baguetto563]

@aedrarising2760 I just started playing a few days ago and did most of the titans first so iono and the bottom left gym felt appropriately scaled for where my team was at the time so I thought the lv scaling was more advanced than just counting gym badges. I proceeded to one shot every other gym leader

[@Aemulator.]

Scarlet and Violet feel like the exact median of Gamefreak/Pokémon’s quality - lots of great gameplay ideas, a massive step up from the last in series - and so super rushed and poorly optimized for its system.

[@bregowine]

Forgot how awfully unfinished this title looked. Nintendo needs to get Gamefreak in line

[@BananaReidy]

And cut content like the pokedex.

[@KruelAidMan]

@@BananaReidy it's been almost 4 years, don't you weenies have something else to complain about?

[@Kristiano100]

@@BananaReidy nat dex is not coming back ever again, aint cut content if it was never planned in

[@Phantasmen]

​@@bregowine Nintendo owns 1/3 same as gamefreak, they are as much part of this as them, in the end, both make tons of money and the Pokemon company and Nintendo profit off of the new merchandise for the new anime season and you cant have a new anime season without a new game where you can use the new Pokemon, so I guess we're stuck like this until they go back to 2d Pixelgraphics.

[@TheDjpwn3]

Based on what I've heard about Japanese game development in general, I would not be surprised at all if the L:A and S/V teams didn't talk to each other at all during development, or completely ignored what other games where doing

[@cccg838]

Honestly it could just be a measure to fight leaks

[@joshuaw8873]

This video really captures how I felt playing Scarlet. So much was done right creatively, just held back by technical problems. I told my friends after finishing this would no doubt be my favorite Pokemon game if it looked good and ran well. It's so unfortunate that they had to release it like this to keep the pokemon machine running unhindered.

[@marcosdheleno]

i feel like, even if it did, it would still have a mostly dead and empty world not really worth exploring.

[@maxonite]

@@marcosdhelenoDefinitely. The towns felt incredibly lifeless. The lack of NPC dialogue outside of main story events in these games is jarring

[@OrlandoAntonio7]

It hurts that the Pokémon Company has treated all of us to a terrible running game, I’m happy tho many people are enjoying the game, haven’t personally played it so I don’t have an opinion but it was nice hearing your insight!

[@pigzwigz8318]

You shouldn't be happy for people enjoying the game. Because this crap will be the standard and they will put little effort from now on. Broken, buggy and unfinished games that they don't have to work on because they will sell millions thanks to the people who enjoy this garbage.

[@darkmodeenjoyer3367]

​@@pigzwigz8318 I don't think the developers don't put effort I can really see the development trying so hard to make this game but being understaffed and if I had to guess crunched time with basically three devolpemt time to make an open world game. It does not help that when a pokemon game is being made, the next pokemon game is also being made as well. So the focus is also divided. So the devs are already working on the next game and just dear lord I feel sorry for the devs.

[@AwesomeMooseSmile]

@@pigzwigz8318 you know you can enjoy a game while also knowing and expecting for them to do better right?

[@sam_bamalam]

My friend and I had a much different experience with Toedscool. We were doing Tera Raid battles, saw the silhouette, and thought nothing more than, "Cool, a Tentacool that can change into a new type. Let's do this." When the raid started, those few seconds before the battle began, we were in complete disarray. We could not process what we were seeing, and we were in hysteric shock and confusion for what felt like a whole minute. Then the name popped up, and we knew. I have NEVER yelled at a Pokémon game so strongly in my entire life. That moment of revelation, shared between two 30-year-old grown adults who have literally played Pokémon together since Ruby and Sapphire, became the most iconic video game moment we have ever had. Nothing will ever compare to that experience. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

[@turtleanton6539]

Lolz😮

[@1000Tomatoes]

I feel like "wasted opportunity" really defines Arceus and S/V. It's like if someone served you a half baked cake and when you try it out of obligation if it still tasted decent, you're like "what if this was actually fully baked". And at the same time you can't recommend it or blame people for not wanting to try it.

[@jamesgratz4771]

If someone served you a half baked cake you wouldn’t eat it and demand your money back

[@thekiss2083]

The plus side to Gamefreak rushing out a game every other year is: If you're patient, it won't be long until they release a better version of the one you just skipped 😎

[@Cirex2118]

EXACTLY. Let the developers bake(Cook) 👏 That's all the company needs to do, LET THEM TAKE THEIR TIME, STOP RUSHING FOR SALES! 😭

[@livingstoner6250]

@@jamesgratz4771 The fanboy cope is so strong that the analogies they make involve situations where they could poison themselves LOL

[@noIies]

I just got a switch was thinking of getting this game. If it's thay bad which Pokemon game would you recommend?

[@HaughtyToast]

Rather than toggle the exp. share as a whole you should be able to pick which pokemon in the party receive the experience. In the old game you could get multiple exp. shares if you wanted even equip your whole party. This would simulate that option while keeping it convenient and straight forward.

[@Stratelier]

At least it balances out with nearly all battles in SV (even Trainer battles!) being optional. It's not like BDSP which maintained the old-school mandatory random encounters BUT with a permanent Exp.Share enabled... Also, if you frequent Tera Raid battles you get SO MANY Exp. Candies it can feel like cheating, but like most things in your inventory they, too, are optional.

[@houndofculann1793]

@@Stratelier Then again the game shouldn't effectively punish you for wanting to experience the content and rewards it has to offer by making it too easy to enjoy if you do. The game should include settings you can use to adjust the difficulty without having to lose access to content

[@ZorotheGallade]

The only big stumble Arven's story had was at the very end, where the robot kinda forces a happy ending saying "Oh by the way, your mom/dad actually loved you more than anything and only wanted to succeed for your sake". It would have been much better if the final message was just "Yes, your mom/dad made mistakes, but also did good things. People aren't perfect, and you can only make your good deeds count as much as you can". Much more bittersweet but an altogether good payoff for the central concept.

[@bad_atgames]

I honestly thought it was more bittersweet, it was pretty clear that they were obsessed with the time machine and weren't a very good parent.

[@adrianoctavio]

The "don't say that" right after that line kinda signified to me that he knows it was fake and just what the AI thought would lead to the most optimal positive outcome, but it's super hard to tell without voice acting

[@BJGvideos]

That was the message though. We KNOW that his parents screwed up. We know they also treated Arven terribly, despite their love. The AI stating that they loved him doesn't change any of that. It's all evident. Love on its own isn't enough, but it was still vital that Arven know that they really did love him in spite of everything.

[@GravityTheGhost]

It also hits hard when it was revealed that Arven's whole story is based off of the director's own experience losing their parents when they were young.

[@DrewCarrier]

I know this is a devastating and serious thing but when I read this my first thought was "so which parent was the futuristic android hellbent on unleashing chaos"

[@willajer]

The writing in this game is abysmal. Im sorry If you think this is good you really need to read a book.

[@caitlynmcmunn]

@@willajer Dude, it’s a kid’s game. Try finding a book for eight-year-olds that’s especially eloquent or powerful. They exist, sure, but they don’t appeal to a wide range of kids. You don’t come to Pokemon for breathtakingly beautiful dialogue.

[@zerjiozerjio]

Aww. No wonder it rang so true. I work with foster youth, and his story rang so true. He’s so similar to all the young people i work with who were neglected. Loveable but flawed.

[@sampds]

@@willajer There are so many layers of stupidity in this comment that I really couldn't keep myself away. First of all is incredibly pedantic to go with "this isn't real art, you need to open a book." Like I read it and I imagine some old dude who licks the boots of scholars and anything that isn't the classics is just trash. But the reason I found the pedantic comment even funnier is that advice is absolutely ridiculous. Not just for implying that if you want good writing you need to read a book; (after all if there isn't a way a videogame can bring a good story then why are you playing a game expecting one-) but the fact that the way they do story telling is compltedly different. An example of this would be Undertale, during the genocide route there is a point when the enemies take longer to appear, and the reason for it is because they are avoiding you, they are trying to avoid you the best they can because they know you are on the hunt and they are scared. This bit counts for storytelling because it's communicating said bit on the gameplay, which is something you can't do on a book. Appreciating the writing on a book is different to appreciating the writing on a videogame because there are so much more stuff in the air that you need to catch because no one is telling you otherwise. But fine, let's not get pedantic too; is not impossible to compare a story from a videogame to one from a book, independly that the mediums are different there is still a story and you can judge those merits regardless of how that is said. And...do you deadass decided to complain about the story of a pokemon game? Forget the argument that is for kids; its a pokemon game, since WHEN those games had an amazing story? Like I love the mainline games and these games too but it absolutely baffles me of people complaining about the story like Game Freak has ever cared too much about it. I am not saying that the story is perfect as it is or that we can't ask for more, I am saying is absolutely baffling to complain about the story of a pokemon game like it has ever been amazing. And at least the newer games try to do a story, the first generations had barely anything in it. Seriously how the heck do you complain that the writing in this game is abysmal when in gen 3 the evil team deadass was "I WANT MORE WATER" and "I WANT MORE LAND" and compledtly ignoring that doing so will kill them. But is not just that you make a pedantic comment that was stupid in multiple levels, is that you literally said it to someone who wasn't even claiming that. The comment you are replying is saying how it hits hard to know that Arven's storyline was based off the Directors. This person is not saying the writing was amazing and perfect without any flaws, they are saying that it hits emotionally to know that the reason a character had a specific storyline, was because it was based of a real life tragedy. That's not a comment about the writing in this game; if you go to see Ed Sheeran's "Happier" music video, you will see people in the comments who said they cried, and it wasn't because the video had ~amazing story telling,~ but it just used a trope that tend to make people emotional. So what truly kills me and makes me laugh about your comment, was how you decided to complain about the quality of the writing in this game, and yet you fail to have basic reading comprehension skills. So do yourself a favor, next time you try leave a comment like this, it would help you to actually do an argument rather than just making a pedantic comment that would make a 60 y/o thinks it's outdated, and maybe open a book about how to frame your own thoughts with reason rather than trying to appeal to some standard you don't even understand.

[@thewalrusclown]

Scarlett/Violet is a prime example of artistic vision and ambition outstriping the time and talent to actually make it happen, seriously HOW LONG HAVE WE BEEN WAITING FIR HOME COMPATIBILITY??? As a man with a walking Pokedex, I NEED to add the new ones to my menagerie, damn it!!!!!

[@salakasto]

there's a theory that it's taking so long because it's adding a pkhex style pokemon editor, at least according to credible leakers

[@ReddBoi64]

Do you enjoy the free with Natdex shiny Magearna we have that we currently can’t even use?

[@urm8matt156]

They don't add compatability straight away so people will have to pay for home

[@Joseph928100]

Dexit still in effect so why would home compatibility matter?

[@Joseph928100]

@ReddBoi lol even after home implementation there's no guarantee you'll be able to use it thnx to dexit😂

[@malmalfactor3544]

My personal opinion is that if Scarlet and Violet had been complete upon launch, they would hands down be the best 3D mainline pokmon games, possibly even the best mainline pokemon games in general.

[@snootydooty3543]

Let's not get carried away

[@Sairiui]

Right behind Gen 5

[@buffmywifi3839]

I absolutely agree, this game is at its core truly something special and is mostly held back by the sheer lack of polish

[@marcosdheleno]

no it wouldnt. the open world would still be completely dead regardless of how much more time they got to work on it. would some aspects be better? sure, but i doubt even with 2 years of extra dev time, the game wouldnt be a massive unoptimized mess.

[@yejing98]

​@@SairiuiThey said 3D, not 2D

[@melodiclogic9904]

I can't believe that breath of the wild, a 6 year old game with arguably higher demanding graphics can run better than the newest generation of Pokémon. edit: never thought I'd have spawned a "is Nintendo anti-consumer?" debate in a thread, but thank you guys for the entertainment nonetheless

[@David-ki2xt]

It's not just that botw runs better, it's also leagues prettier

[@JsYTA]

and it had 5 years of development with a (credited) staff of over 300.

[@kalanamalros]

It's not that surprising Pokémon is the highest grossing media franchise ever no matter what they do their games will sell

[@David-ki2xt]

@@JsYTAWell, given that it's quite literally the biggest IP in the entire world they could have given the game at least the same treatment. Especially if they are going to price it at 60 bucks too.

[@melodiclogic9904]

@@kalanamalros I think they've realised how much more they can make on merchandising over physical games. they've found a formula that consists of whipping a cash cow until a piece of shite falls out, asking a 5 year old to draw new pokémon designs and then sticking a £60 price tag. then making pokemon cards. then making plushies. then advertising them more than the new game.

[@pkmntrainermark8881]

I really appreciate what they did with the teachers. They all have their own names, designs, even stories... They didn't have to do that, but they did. They could've just had you set out and forget it. It's a great touch. When does the Trainer's School ever get this much attention? Certainly helps that when the player character actually attends it, I suppose.

[@Openreality]

I just wish the devs appreciated their fans more in the way we appreciate their games. This was a blatant insult to the franchise and the fanbase entirely. There are no excuses for that. This game only shows that they are willing to be greedy for their success. And i didn't include the DLC, yet that only further process my point.

[@annceres1204]

I feel like Alola’s school was more involved than most. You had to fight all the trainers in the school in order to complete a side quest, and the island’s challenge master was hinted a bunch since he’s a student there

[@Jeanssj98]

great touch? its literaly the basics of the basics, have you ever played other games?

[@pkmntrainermark8881]

@TheErojean You ever go to another Trainer's School? The teachers were lucky if they got a name.

[@Jeanssj98]

@@pkmntrainermark8881 thats the problem, the standarts for pokemon games is so low that a minor thing like that gets a big recognition

[@nelson-haha89]

I dropped violet pretty quick after release, but I just got back into it, and it's been fun. Performance is still exactly how it was, but I haven't really had any bugs to speak of. This game would have been killer with a delay + polish.

[@amateraceon5202]

I completely forgot that Arlo still had to review until just now, so seeing a notification for a two hour Arlo discussion video was the best thing I’ve seen all day

[@victorianelson3108]

Made my day

[@frsknsld]

I saw boobs today but this is a close second

[@QwixLF]

I would argue the people working at GF have been so chronically held to the schedule for so long that they've developed bad work habits out of necessity. There's been a paper trail of evidence since Gen 7 at least, but ScVi has the stunning example of putting a water orb underneath the whole of Paldea instead of an industry standard sheet, which is loaded at all times. A huge chunk of the slowdown is caused by this, as 99.5% of this fake planet will never be seen by the player unless you Boundary Break. I think there's also instances where instead of a call function for models from a singular storage location in memory, some models are just plain hardcoded into locations for cutscene purposes and never removed after the cutscene's done. An example is Lillie's model in SM being on the cartridge taking up space 8+ times. Because she's kinda everywhere in the plot. I worry this has metastisized into incompetence, in which no amount of extra time could fix. Only new blood will fix it, and they almost never hire more people because Masuda still thinks Pokemon should be run like an indie company.

[@Suavamente]

Ultra sun and moon isn’t bad. Stop bring a weirdo

[@masierity2917]

@@Suavamente you completely missed the point? he never said the games are bad. they're just badly made and are very unoptimized due to a lack of time and care.

[@cameronwilsey9334]

I noticed my slot 1 PokeBall being used as a placeholder object in the doorway of shops and in the middle of the giant Pokemons' caves

[@reniertorresii950]

In regards of Ultra Sun and Moon, if there is any remastered version that I so wish would become a reality in Nintendo Switch, it would be those versions as I considered them to be unfinished business.

[@pascalsimioli6777]

That was never the claim so stop being a troll or as stupid as a troll, go away.

[@foolipe1903]

i'm surprised so many of the comments seem like most people didn't watch the review and assumed it was all negative, most of it is pretty positive lol

[@netweed09]

People have either very low IQ or are simply based & ignorant beyond saving fella. The -ve & Mis-informative Influencers love preying on those loose types for easy clicks. Eg: the 'glitches': where they refuse to week 1 update their games. I totally agree on Arlo's criticism on previous Pokémon games but Scarlet & Violet & PLA are clearly much more substantial than the previous Switch & recent DS games. But they _really_ do need to lend development to Monolithsoft.

[@FranciscoTirado-v5v]

Man the game suck it loos horrible don4 care what arlo saids

[@raymiemiller1455]

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who doesn't usually get emotional from media but cried a few times during Arven's story.

[@teapottanuki5841]

Arlo’s reaction to Iron Treads is basically me with Great Tusk in Scarlet. Great Tusk is MASSIVE so when I was battling it all I had was a giant maw filling my screen. Legitimately terrifying.

[@Eluthane]

I really love terastallizing. I had this little blue shellos that put on that goofy hat. My pokemon looked so happy with it on. I felt like they had dressed of for Mardi Gra or Carneval or what have you, and haveing a great time. It didn't hurt that a lot of the battle music just sounded like a party.

[@Sir_Kibble]

The clothing system really is the best representation of how unfinished the game is, since it's so stripped down and barely worth having they might as well have gone back to just having two characters.

[@marcosdheleno]

what i dont get is why they didnt just have full body suits, which would be far easier to implement, instead of the half baked segmented clothing that is absurdly lackluster.

[@maxonite]

For half the game I was running around looking for clothing shops. I assumed you unlocked customizing different parts of your outfit in different towns, like in X and Y where you could swap out your bag and hat early on and then later got a wide variety of outfits as the game progressed. I was still holding out hope even as I approached the end of the game, I thought I’d perhaps have to wear my school uniform until "graduation". I couldn’t believe when I found out that there simply aren’t any outfits in the game. And even more dumbfounded how they didn’t add them with updates

[@BJGvideos]

I feel like that was INTENTIONAL, that it would have remained as limited as that even if they'd finished the game to completion.

[@maxonite]

@@BJGvideos Why would it be?

[@BJGvideos]

@@maxonite School setting. The game tells us repeatedly that we're still undertaking a school event. And idk how Spanish and Portuguese schools are with that, but the games are still made in Japan.

[@stealthlock6634]

The terror of paradox Pokémon, or something like it, set in for me when I saw Iron Bundle. Not for exactly the same reasons, but the design was so compelling. I’m like “Oh so it’s a robot….Delibird? Wait so, is it a Delibird from the future or an imitation? Did someone turn a Delibird into that thing? Is a Delibird’s soul trapped inside that thing? I can’t see any emotion in its eyes. I guess I should battle it….OH DEAR GOSH ITS HEAD POPPED OFF OH MY GOSH”

[@Kaenith]

You pretty muched summed up how I feel about Arven. I kinda hated him in the beginning but I couldn't stop crying when I learned his backstory. Great video!

[@superjew837]

On the exp share, I was really bothered they forced you to use it in BDSP, but like you I begrudgingly realized I liked it a lot. I did VERY little grinding in BDSP and still had a challenging run through the game. It was great, my team was fully stocked and it’ll I decided to change up my core 6, I could do that and have them become equally powerful to my other mons with very little grinding involved. However, I recently picked up Emerald again for the first time in years, and the lack of a full-party exp share made me feel so much closer to my pokemon. Something as simple as having the pokémon in the front of your party and swapping them out to get them exp makes you feel like you actually trained them! Even if there’s more grinding involved, it makes the game so much better (to me) and I really hope the next game lets you turn it off.

[@Stratelier]

There was a fundamental change starting in Sword & Shield where basically all wild Pokemon encounters are OPTIONAL (and in SV even NPC Trainer battles are optional) and this has an understated effect on how the player perceives battling. In older games, battling literally every wild Pokemon that appeared was the default, avoiding them (running away) was an exception, but in 8th-9th gen, you mostly only fight battles because YOU CHOOSE TO. Maybe it's a Pokemon you want to catch, maybe you are actually grinding for that XP, but it's your decision.

[@okagron]

@@Stratelier Who fought every random encounter in the older games? I highly doubt most people did, i know i and my friends never did it because it's a waste of time due to the fact that most wild pokemon give much less exp than a pokemon from a trainer. The only thing that felt mandatory was the trainer battles and that's because they were made with a level curve in mind and the route design actively pushed the player to battle those trainers. The problem with the modern pokemon games is that they have no level curve, the Exp. Share pretty much destroys any possibility of a balanced level curve.

[@KobeLoverTatum]

this video really helped me come to grips with the Silksong delay, it’ll eventually come out and it’ll be the quality we’ve come to expect from Team Cherry - and why? Because they will not release it before it’s finished under any circumstances, this is their art.

[@Hamza-qs7ez]

Art is so important. Unfortunately art and business are almost always diametrically opposed.

[@rajko15]

I'll happily wait and I'll happily enjoy the hell out of that game.

[@PerpetuallyTired171]

One could say they are diametrically opposed foes, bro.

[@DubiousDoom]

My favorite inclusion was the new Pokemon Capsakid and it's evolution Scovillain. We were overdue for a Grass/Fire type and making it a tiny pepper that evolves into a two-headed pepper plant was genius.

[@marcosdheleno]

makes you wonder if the next one wont just be a burning bush...

[@anothergamer112]

The whole "just jelly and a piece of fruit" thing for sandwhiches is actually a cultural thing. Paldea is based on Spain, and over there, they like to do sandwhiches of only a couple ingredients. Theres even chains with tons of options for a couple euros each. I've been to Barcelona on vacation and visited these places. Its actually pretty good, mostly due to the kind of bread they use.

[@treinadordeledian7540]

Actually the Treasures of Ruin have a really good backstory and if you listen to professor Raifort class she will reveal about Paldea past, and how they were sealed .

[@EricDrinksWater]

The fact that they dont have voice acting is so fking embarrassing imo.

[@KruelAidMan]

@@EricDrinksWater not as embarrassing as your comments-wide tantrum

[@marcosdheleno]

@@KruelAidMan not really. guy has a point. the games should've gotten voice acting back on the 3ds. there's absolutely no reason for not having them no the switch.

[@KruelAidMan]

@@marcosdheleno I can think of several reasons. You late?

[@MrKangorilla]

"A glimpse of what pokemon could be" *sigh* we've been saying that since X and Y

[@marcosdheleno]

and x/y was a much better put together game. as was sun/moon. much more inovative and daring than s/v.

[@luffa96]

I think if S/V had the visuals and performance of New Pokémon Snap but obviously kept the story, new Pokémon and all that, this could easily have been one of the greater games in the franchise. This was a huge step up from Sword and Shield.

[@KruelAidMan]

The reason the visuals for _New Pokemon Snap_ are so good is because it operates on a significantly smaller scale.

[@Duckverse]

​@@KruelAidMan And also made by Bandai Namco

[@enderallygolem]

Regardless of who made it, a game that forces you on a specific pre-planned track will require WAY less work to make look good than an open world game

[@ledemduso5827]

@@enderallygolem Work that I'm almost certain Gamefreak wouldn't have put in, especially now that they have the numbers telling them that they don't need to try. There are heaps of visually stunning open world games. It's pretty evident, that someone at Gamefreak doesn't deem that kind of effort necessary.

[@bri1085]

​@@ledemduso5827I'd say it's someone at the Pokémon company not gamefreak.

[@tsukihimeyfan]

25:45 y'know, they almost had it too. There's a mechanic where if you ask Nurse Joy at the pokemon centers, she can recommend a location for you to go. It would have been SO easy for them to recommend the best objective to head to based on your lead pokemon's level or something like that. Instead, she frigging sends you to *the closest objective, period*!! Like, you arrive to the pokecenter with your lv 20 starter after beating the Flying Titan, and she just casually says "oh you should try beating the Ground Titan next (lv 44), it's right over there ^^" 😒

[@7PMNewz]

I never realized that I did EXACTLY what you said in your comment and I thought Nurse Joy was just being really really mean to me.

[@Gloomdrake]

As if you can't already see which objective is closest on the map :/

[@ZorotheGallade]

@@7PMNewz She has been saying "hope to to see you again" when you bring her your beaten and bruised Pokémon since 1996. Of course she's being mean.

[@austinwood2470]

I’m starting to think the reason pokemon stayed portable so long was so that they could get away with putting less effort into graphics

[@otakumarcus]

But what about the console games they released?

[@camilosuarez6300]

Not this directly, but Game Freak employees have said that they don't really need to polish the games because they will sell regardless.

[@austinwood2470]

@@otakumarcus those are developed by different studios

[@paintingwithkarmiya6149]

I basically skipped the GBA as a kid, so I really never had a point of comparison, but now that I've been looking into some of the games released for GBA, it's shocking how basic Gen III feels in comparison? Harvest Moon for the GBA, Fire Emblem's super detailed character portraits, or all the Japan-only otome games from the PS1 that got GBA ports with insanely detailed pixel-art that looks like a frilly shoujo manga...they're gorgeous. And then you have the very basic little lego block houses in RSE, and I realise what people are talking about when they say that Pokemon has long been behind the times with graphics.

[@maxonite]

@@paintingwithkarmiya6149Sure, but not in the DS and 3DS eras. Those were some of the best looking games on those systems.

[@RioBlitzle]

Re: being glad you played Violet instead of Scarlet because you don't think those paradox Pokemon would have had as much of an impact on you- as a Scarlet player, I completely understand that feeling, but actually felt the inverse! I didn't feel it so much with Great Tusk, but upon entering Area Zero and seeing Nemona point out a Jigglypuff, only to be hit with the immediate chilling realisation that it WASN'T a jigglypuff- some uncanny creature that resembles something so familiar, but with this unknowable and dangerous presence to it- struck me so much more than I think the more immediately obvious and monotonous future Paradox pokemon designs would have. Really dug the juxtaposition with the futuristic and prehistoric elements too over Violet's more purely futuristic angle. I'm very glad to hear it has as much impact for other people and through the other version of the game as Scarlet did for me though, a Pokemon game's story hasn't hit me like this since... Explorers of Sky as a kid, I think

[@ArguablyTJJ]

Can totally sympathize with the kind of alien horror element that Area Zero and the Paradox Pokémon bring. There's so many tiny details that add to it, the uncanniness of both the designs and origins of the Pokémon, the feeling that the professor is hiding something that only deepens as you uncover more (then finally hits you in the gut as you realize that the real Prof. is dead and Arven isn't gonna get the closure he's looking for), and ESPECIALLY the music. They went and specifically made it so the Area Zero theme waits for you to go through all the conversation when you first descend and THEN hits you with this crazy, unnerving choir and a theme that just screams "alien." Probably my favorite part of the whole game right there. The game has ridiculously obvious flaws, but I think you put it best when you said that as soon as you stop *looking* at it and start *playing* it, it is so obvious how much care was put into it. I'm gonna be crushed if the DLC takes the same route as SwSh and completely ignores the lore of the main story and just does its own thing, because they set up so much emotional investment and intrigue with the main story.

[@HamOfJustice]

"there's no way you get a special invite to this advanced school and nemona doesn't, right" i say to myself every week, shaking in my chair

[@gabrielbraga7670]

9:42 Well, that aged poorly.

[@brainydiode]

Scarlet and Violet is so upsetting to me specifically because based on everything I've seen of it, I can tell I would absolutely ADORE it if it was actually finished. After watching a favorite streamer of mine finish up the Area 0 story, I immediately said to myself that I would definitely buy the next main-line game...and then had to pause and, "as long as it's actually finished, which it probably won't be". I remember shortly after release being driven crazy by people claiming that the performance issues were because it was a Switch game when earlier the same year we got Xenoblade Chronicles 3, a massive JRPG that looks great and has pretty fast-paced, flashy combat and, other than a few minor slowdowns in a single area, I can't remember any performance issues with. SV was not a victim of sub-par hardware, it was the victim of a completely unworkable production schedule. I would genuinely be really embarrassed to have my name attached to a game like this, and that upsets me so much because it's so obvious that so much love and care was poured into this game. To know that art like that can be so easily sabotaged in pursuit of profit like this game was truly makes me sick.

[@internetguy7319]

ngl I beat Xeno 3 and it doesn't look that good lol, but yeah it definitely performs leagues better

[@LuigiTheMetal64]

The 2D Pokémon games are great, and even those deserve more content. Even then, I would worry about how the possible Crystal, Emerald, and Platinum remakes will turn out. All the routes and cities open, and the Pokémon images and items images are great.

[@EricDrinksWater]

Im the same. Im in love with the franchise, but I cant support them anymore. If the game was finished, i think it would have sold 30% more.

[@miimiiandco]

@LuigiTheMetal64 Seriously, just simply removing every forced roadblock would improve the games a lot in my eyes.

[@oyeh8908]

@@LuigiTheMetal64 Platinum is never getting a remake since GF chose to make BDSP instead.

[@VikingBoyBilly]

52:37 "Knowing that future installments will undoubtedly improve on the multiplayer experience is very, very exciting". I present to the coutroom Exhibit A: The PSS system in X and Y, and Exhibit B, The Festival Plaza in Sun and Moon.

[@getthegoons]

Losing the PSS legitimately was the worst thing Pokemon has ever done. Every time I fail to join a Raid or get in a battle with a kid with 6 hacked mewtwos or whatever I just miss decent online play

[@Ceodore411]

The best part about Scarlet and Violet was being able to trade them in for $50 off of Tears of the Kingdom at GameStop.

[@johnjuandemarco]

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn

[@greenmenace9666]

So you went from bad to worse

[@Sairiui]

Not wrong though.

[@applenewmoon4402]

@@greenmenace9666 millions of people say otherwise lmao

[@LoneBokoblin]

@@greenmenace9666 You shouldn't believe this guy did any purchase. Scarlet and Violet looked as bad as it did before it released...so he's implying he bought it knowing how bad it looked and then was shocked it was real. This guy posting for likes, cashing in on the TOTK hype. No way he'd post that on TOTK's hype video because nobody would like it. Honestly, Arlo should have posted this review video much earlier than just after the release of TOTK...

[@kingditto5149]

As long as the shareholders want returns by the end of each year, they'll continue to rush unfinished products, because anything with Pokemon sells regardless of quality.

[@xlbthedemigod5662]

And the people defending them

[@PikaPhantomVG]

I don't know why this take keeps getting thrown around. Mainline Pokemon, yes. Spinoffs do far worse by comparison. New Snap didn't even outsell the original, and at around 3 million copies, it's the best selling spinoff in some time. Pokken and PMD didn't sell all that well, either

[@FishdipDeen]

I think the best part about Arven is that they were setting him up to be a villain in the beginning. He's a jerk to you and your ride pokemon at first, and after the first (or second?) Titan battle it shows him feeding a pokemon the Herba Mystica sandwich. "Oh jeeze, I wonder if it's another ride pokemon that you'll have battle for the climax of the story. How original". But then later he brings out his DYING DOG POKEMON and reveals his motivation isn't revenge or trying to best his parents; the dude just wants to save his doggo. That's the best twist in SV.

[@miimiiandco]

Reminds me a little of Gladion, how everyone thought he would be gen 7's not-so-friendly rival.

[@TheDapperDragon]

He's still a villain right at the end. Dude is such a scum-bag. Or does everyone forget him shoving your clearly panicking Raidon off a cliff when it doesn't do what he tells it, then insulting it the entire rest of the journey for not wanting to come out?

[@askyle]

1:12:50 There's a part with Clavell pretending to be a kid? Must be some super hidden sidequest; I never found that in my playthrough 🤔

[@HamOfJustice]

really appreciate this review and agree with almost everything in it, good and bad, but it was especially nice to see you really dig into the story and how leaps and bounds ahead of the past it is, how emotionally invested in it you got, how there are actual surprises and nuances and subtleties and sad hidden realizations to these kids. it just makes it sting more for me when there's nothing you can do with your "new friend group" after the game ends, not even your "rival for life", just replay your final battles with them in the academy tournaments and and read one line of dialogue in their dorm rooms. can't even take pictures with them anymore. hoping the DLC does something about that, but i have a lot of cynicism about it if S/V released in the state it did

[@HunterSlingbaum]

yeah honestly if they add some more little interactions with them w/ the dlc that’d be super nice

[@HamOfJustice]

welp they sure were not in the new footage today whatsoever huh

[@graydeotto2820]

This is your finest work yet. I almost never agree wholeheartedly with your takes, even if I respect them. But you hit so many nails on the head and explained why I loved this game despite the many issues, and portrayed it with love, attention, and nuance. Great work!

[@willcooper8028]

9:42 the sad thing is that Disney actually DOES release Marvel movies with unfinished effects and green screen issues. The difference is that Marvel movies suffer at the box office for their poor quality, while Scarlet and Violet seem entirely unaffected. Other companies do this same thing, but they don’t get away with it like Pokémon has.

[@otakumarcus]

Arlo really does live under a rock

[@pobbityboppity1110]

Not to the level of this game Pay attention to context next time, bro

[@mobilemollusc615]

I love when we have a arlo video featuring arlo the blue monster It's nice to not just have a voice over I know there are time restrictions ect. For some reaction and things. I just love seeing that beautiful blue face

[@xeveemon]

But why is he afraid of monsters and aliens? Does he not realize he is a monster? 😅

[@KruelAidMan]

@@xeveemon are you not afraid of humans?

[@xeveemon]

@@KruelAidMan Not really. No. I mean, I would be a little frightened by someone with a weapon, just because of the weapon. But as for humans, humans aren’t exactly scary. (Plus, if you are making a joke about my avatar, just note that Sora is a human who turned into a monster during the Monster’s Inc world, so even he isn’t afraid of humans because he is one)

[@KruelAidMan]

@@xeveemon I was making a joke about man's inhumanity to man. And someone doesn't need a weapon to harm.

[@xeveemon]

@@KruelAidMan Well, humans by themselves aren’t exactly scary. What’s scary is what they might do and whatnot. But if you look at someone at, let’s say, a Wal-Mart, you wouldn’t look at them and think they were scary. Now if you know they did something terrible in the past, then you would feel uneasy because of what they did. So humans aren’t scary on their own, it’s what they do or not do that can define that. So I could see Arlo’s point of being scared by what the monster might do, but just on its own, why would that bother him if he is a monster himself?

[@MrInternetHermit]

"A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad."

[@GamingintheAM0801]

It's crazy that Sonic Frontiers has been getting patches, fixes, and updates all throughout its first year while the current big-budget Pokémon game has remained completely untouched.

[@waywardlaser]

Thank you for reminding me I put this game down halfway through and never picked it up again. Legends Arceus was so much fun, despite its flaws, but Violet straight up gave me a headache from the visuals.

[@jamesgratz4771]

I mean they’re both garbage. Pokémon fans are just pathetic, accepting terrible games and coping hard

[@pigglesgoomshby7249]

Love when Arlo’s reviews are as long as feature-length movies

[@xeveemon]

His review is longer than The Super Mario Bros Movie…..think about that! 🤣

[@Wario1382]

​@@xeveemon ​​you wouldn't like the length of his Breath of the Wild review

[@xeveemon]

@@Wario1382 I never said I didn’t like the review. In fact, it’s the opposite, I actually really enjoy this Pokemon review. But what I was meaning was that this blue fella talks about Nintendo games longer than a Nintendo official movie. That’s a bit funny in hindsight 😅

[@maggiecelentano9927]

I feel like this is an underrated Arlo video (despite the high view count). Arlo, watching this was enjoyable from start to finish! I love when you speak so thoroughly and passionately about games (whether it's negative or positive points)

[@MercuryAlphaInc]

Also, hard agree on Arven's story. As someone who has pets of his own, and would go through Hell and back for them, seeing that... It made me cry as well. It made the Pokémon feel real too. Not just some computer generated critters that beat each other up, they could *die*. Sure, we've had hints at that before but man here... At the end I was praying that Mabosstiff wasn't gonna die because I don't know if I could've continued playing after that. That would've been heartbreaking had the Herba Mystica not worked.

[@solidskullz5736]

Scarlet and violet are weird games because despite the performance issues the writing is decent. The characters are nice, I like how it lets you go anywhere even though that could’ve been done better, it’s got 3 different paths, cool new Pokémon, actually challenging battles, and man the area zero part was something else

[@macuser7048]

Area Zero had atmosphere, but that's it. There's nothing else like it in the game. The music helped. But there's barely any story in the game itself. I just do not care about any of the trainers in it or the gym leaders. I just do not care at all. They've given me no reason to care.

[@truearea53]

Agreed it’s a well written story mode and things of that nature. But suffering bugs and glitches which they still haven’t fixed.

[@billydeano]

Everyone has different tastes, so of course this is completely subjective, but I'm shocked at how often people call these games "well written." Do people mean the dialogue? The themes? The pacing? Character development? I'm not sure what its being well written refers to. Some aspects are nice, but overall it seems as middle of the road as any other Pokemon game. Which is fine! I don't play them for the writing, personally. But this part of SV's reception is a real head scratcher.

[@awildmoose6541]

the writing is still bad, yeah its better than the last 3 gens, but its still awful writing

[@ilan_profile]

THIS IS THE FIRST POKEMON GAME WHERE I FELT CHALLENGEDDFF

[@Sullytheskelly]

I feel you. I've beaten the past few pokemon Games with nothing but bug types. I want to create the best bug catcher that is known through all out the pokemon world. I get very attached to my six legged friends

[@iamabucket13]

The shiny indicator issue is even worse because the Arceus and SV teams not talking to each other isn't an excuse! They perfected it in **Let's Go**. I'm not a huge fan of the sound because 99% of the time you will hear a shiny before you spot it, but Let's Go's sparkles would have worked perfectly fine.

[@starsartbar]

This is such a fantastic video Arlo, your work continues to get better and better. Love how much you focus on how corporate greed and a short term profit motive hurt something that could have been so much better given even another couple months of work from the artists working their hardest

[@GrimDMasterMind]

The Pokedex update from Arceus would work really well in the classroom context. The tests could have been centered around information you found out updating Pokedex entries.

[@enrique9925]

Also, loved the more mature atmosphere of the last battle. You are not challenged. You are forced to fight. And there is a glitched text that says the professor doesn't want to fight anymore. Could represents lots of mature topics (edit: topics as depression and such)

[@anyroad5455]

I’d love for Pokémon to do a little more mature story.

[@internetguy7319]

​@@anyroad5455 pokemon sun and moon was about child abuse and people said that game sucks

[@Corthmic]

@@internetguy7319 That's because every 10 minutes of gameplay was followed by 30 minutes of dialogue. Sun and Moon were slogs to play.

[@charliez077]

​@@internetguy7319SM has EASILY top-tier pokemon story, it's its pacing and handholding that's awful. It's a mixed bag (just like SV)

[@James-gj8rn]

For me, if a game is a mess, i don't give it the time of day, i'd rather spend my time with quality games (and ones that "just work" if i'm honest, unfortunately these are becoming a rarity these days)

[@thevenom2731]

That sounds rather close-minded.

[@James-gj8rn]

@@thevenom2731 well a lot of games come out in an unfinished state so forgive me but i don't want to accept that

[@Katie-hb8iq]

Only 3 games on Switch made me cry. Dimitri's story in Three Houses, multiple times in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - mostly with Poppi, and Arven's story in Scarlet and Violet. Same damn good writing on Switch this generation.

[@W.Gaster]

Yea

[@raycraft001]

Don’t forget chapter 5’s ending in Xenoblade 3… if you know, you know

[@Missiletainn]

I completely disagree with The points on Tera Raids, they are so much more frustrating, I have gone minutes waiting for the game to just let me select something as I wait for all these effects and shields and things to stop going off all while slowly watching the timer to tick down, it's so much more inconsistent, and it's where i've seen the most people talk about bugs.

[@mbcmechachu]

Not to mention in the regards to events where they pump out a Pokemon you can't typically get you need to build entire teams just for that specific Pokemon due to how broken their AI is otherwise you & your teammates will be hosed to oblivion. Max Raid battles might've been slow but at least you had a chance at winning against them.

[@Boredom-ds5yg]

Yeeeep! If I lose raids, it’s either because of those stupid pauses, or the nauseating amount of text. They aren’t very enjoyable… 😑

[@e1iteyoshi998]

The performance issues of the game can ruin all the aspects of the game that are a lot of fun. Tera Raids being one of the biggest examples. I cannot tell you how many times I've done tera raids with other people only for my commands not to register or how sometimes i have to wait a full 30 seconds before even getting to be able to do another move. And in that waiting time the enemy Pokemon will have erased all of its stats or even attack three times (yes that has happened to me twice).

[@smooshpopper2]

The map is the one thing I never got used to, I wish it were a topographical map or we at least had an option to make it topographical because this game’s map was difficult for me to read

[@teadrinkerfication9160]

I am SO with you about the impossible clean perfect towns - I feel the exact same draw to places like that

[@mellow8176]

Wow, this is a whole new kind of incredible for an Arlo review. I can't quite put a finger on it, but in the section where he really let himself get into retelling the stories feels like a whole new level of Arlo goodness emerging when I look back on some of the other great videos of the last year.

[@floorbored]

thank you for giving the performance the time it deserved. so many people just gloss over that as a standard negative, when it should be treated as something unacceptable

[@TheChildofAuraReborn]

Sadly, the acceptance of the crap performance is a sign that the games will never fundamentally change. They will ALWAYS be glitchy, ALWAYS be janky. Because people will just blindly buy the game instead of waiting it out.

[@internetguy7319]

​@@TheChildofAuraReborn why should it be the consumer's job to go out of their way to not buy a bad product, we should just have consumer protections where games aren't released this way- by law.

[@-lord1754]

@@internetguy7319 "The government needs to regulate it, people shouldnt have to make decusions and take accountability for their owns actions!"

[@TheChildofAuraReborn]

@@internetguy7319 Please tell me you're a troll.

[@lucasdude]

@@TheChildofAuraReborn they have ameribrained individualism so everything is the individuals responsibility, even if its something super inconsequential like actually punishing companies for releasing shoddy product

[@anubion42]

I’ve said it before. I’ll say it again. What is A Link Between Worlds, if not for the perfect merge of old classic linearity, and an open world where dungeons can be tackled in a number of orders. They’ve done it already.

[@sonicstarman9663]

The final nail in the coffin for me was when douschpan couldn't stay above the ground. I was already like "Okay the games bad but I can tolerate it" after I saw the choppiest frames ever at the beginning, but when I saw my Pokemon not even able to stay above the ground, that was the straw that broke the camels back for me.

[@miimiiandco]

Looks like they must've Skill Swapped Levitate or something, hehe.

[@Luciusem]

What the heck do you mean by "douschpan"

[@sonicstarman9663]

@@Luciusem I mean I can't spell lol. It's Fidough's evolution. If I spelt it wrong I'm sorry bro.

[@Luciusem]

@@sonicstarman9663 OH, I see! I seriously thought it was some weird new way of saying "douchebag" or something and I was _so_ confused Dachsbun, by the way.

[@sonicstarman9663]

@@Luciusem To be fair, Pan is the Spanish word for bread and and because the region was based on Hispanic culture I guess I kinda thought that's how it was spelled lol

[@JohnyX8881]

Besides performance the thing that bothered me the most is that the world feels empty. It feels like a massive grassland with some trees added on ocasion. It's not a believable world. It needs more detail.

[@StrangeWill97]

Arlo: "it's not like Disney is gonna release the next Marvel movie with terrible and shotty vfx and green screen issues" Marvel: *sweats*

[@samuelknytt9434]

With the performance, the key factor is that the game just has a RAM leak. The longer you play, the worse the fps gets. I'd say about 30-45 minutes into a play session it starts getting really bad. This also isn't reset by putting the system to sleep, or sometimes even closing the game. Sometimes it takes a full system reboot to make the framerate more stable; never a steady 30 mind you, just not a constant sub 15.

[@thevioletbee5879]

Have they seriously not fixed that? I know they’re rushed, but I think Game Freak’s programmers need some classes.

[@SlimeBlueMS]

That's insane lmao

[@samuelknytt9434]

RAM leaks are surprisingly common in games. Most AAA games these days seem to have them. Hell, Nintendo is no stranger to them. DK64 famously required the expansion pack, but seemingly didn't do anything with it. It was used to combat a RAM leak that caused a crash that the team just couldn't identify the cause of. So while the crash can still happen, it happens in around 50-60 hours of a single play session instead of 1-2 hours. And in regards to SV, I think it was fixed at one point. The patch that seemingly fixed performance only really seemed to fix the RAM leak in my experience.

[@Mattriix]

My problem with Area Zero was I got Violet and I have to say that story line is way more leaning towards futuristic vibes then both together, they use a MACHINE, your parent is a ROBOT, it's dark because the FUTURE is now nothing but robotic imitations of what life used to be Why didn't Scarlet get like an ancient tablet to open a portal, y'know use something from the past to get to the past and the crater is old ruins instead of large metal structures

[@lucasdude]

im glad i got violet for this reason, even though i love the scarlet designs for the paradox pokemon way more. i do wish theyd made more differences between them. using a tablet & all that would have been so cool. violet feels like its the "true" game & scarlet feels like it was kinda an afterthought to me, just so they had 2 versions as they always do

[@EricDrinksWater]

They could have just put that ugly filter fallout uses to make it look dirty and rusted. It was so easy.

[@miimiiandco]

@@EricDrinksWater I don't think old-timey decay works well with giant shiny crystals.

[@radmune5]

My thought is because gamefreak is still forced to continue to sell 2 “versions” of the same game for maximum profit and are losing the motivation to put the extra effort in when they have to make much more complex 3d games annually- and its especially hard to keep following through on that obligation when theyre trying to be more experimental with the formula overall. Thats just my theory though and im sure im possibly wrong lol

[@KGBookkeeping]

Great review Arlo! Well balanced, fair, critical, and thorough! @24:21 was one of the best critiques I’ve heard and should definitely be implemented and @25:22 is the solution they need to implement!

[@emtay7515]

You did such a good job describing all the wonderful elements of this game, especially what a great character Arven is

[@cmrobles]

You brought up that marvel thing and my first thought was the new ant man. They did exactly what you said they wouldn’t.

[@maestrogeicho]

ant man looked quite good though lol

[@Alkalion69]

Yeah I thought the same thing. A lot of popular entertainment has the same bar of quality that Pokemon has and that bar is undeground.

[@adriancazares205]

The level scaling arlo was talking about makes me want difficulty options back 😭

[@Accidental.Creation]

Weird how the brain works, I could SWEAR you already did a full review on the games, but I guess it was the Legends Arceus review 😂 Anyway, I love Scarlet / Violet. It sucks so hard that its performance is what it is because other than that it has so much to love! Like, it already feels nostalgic whenever I hear the OST, which is crazy 😂 Edit: Toadscool gang, let's gooo! Such a cool pokemon!

[@yamz1156]

The brain can create false memories

[@ANGELX55studios]

glitch in the matrix

[@Yarzu555]

Yea, definitely one of the more conflicting Pokemon games for me. It's way more broken and sloppy than any professionally designed game should be, its also the direction pokemon not only needs to be but should have been for a while now. It's fun. It's some of the most fun I've had with a mainline pokemon game in a long time. I remember thinking back during SwSh that the wild area was a good experiment and was looking forward to seeing it developed properly. It seems we're getting that, just in baby steps and rushed. I really did enjoy SV, again its the most fun I've had with the mainline games since it went 3D. But goddamn I just wish it was the quality we deserve.

[@jamesgratz4771]

You’re part of the problem, mindlessly consuming trash