Pokemon Fans Divided: The Highs and Lows of Scarlet and Violet

[@DuffCuts]

Alright, let’s settle this - Pokémon Scarlet and Violet… Did they live up to the hype, or did they miss the mark? What do you think about the evolution of the franchise and how it compares to Legends: Arceus? Drop your thoughts below!

[@ugn154]

I think they did miss the mark. They're too focused on repetitiveness and gimmicks. They need to start taking player feedback into consideration, but Nintendo/Gamefreak has never been known for that. Gimmicks need to stop, at least for a couple of generations, and a heavier focus on story, characters, and world building needs to be emphasized. They need to polish the gaming experience as a whole, they need to make sure their games are up to the standard that other gaming companies embrace. To me, Pokemon is like a shitty downtown diner that only cares about pumping out as many orders as fast as possible without concern for quality. Their only thought is: Give them the bill as soon as they eat half of their meal. This is what Pokemon feels like nowadays. A half baked, still raw, bland dish with little to no presentation.

[@DuffCuts]

@@ugn154 the sad thing is that Pokemon has near unlimited potential and practically a money printing machine but for some reason the games just don’t seem to be a priority for the three companies that own it. I get merch is a cash cow but I worry the franchise isn’t as unsinkable as they think.

[@Yoruel]

I guess I hoped for a bit more x) especially after playing Legends Arceus and Breath of the Wild I guess I thought it COULD have been more 😂 Like Legends Arceus was some sort of trial for what is to come but better lol And Zelda showed me how great switch games can be :') So I guess I was kinda disappointed...especially that the game didn't look n perform better.

[@DuffCuts]

@@Yoruel I think that’s how it should be. Use the side series as a testing bed and then improve for the main game. Seems to be backwards at the moment 😅

[@DrakeBaku]

Posted a seperate post that fit in here, but in short missed the mark. They failed to grasp what made arceus work and made a world too big for the system to handle while having too little to fill it with, the lack of a proper story plot and with it any incentive to keep playing and exploring killed it for me. Im like you, played since the first game, got every normal copy, every 3e copy (something i miss, 3e instalments) But if the next one is like SV, im considering giving up on main games till the next big change pops up and put the energy into making my own fangsme, even if it means i wont get to enjoy any new pokemons

[@cold_chaos]

Wait this is such a well edited video, I never would’ve guessed your channel was just getting started, you’ve got this man, keep grinding and I know you’ll make it

[@cold_chaos]

Ps scarlet and violet went unfathomably hard 😤🙌🏼

[@DuffCuts]

Thank you so much!

[@cold_chaos]

@@DuffCutsyeah ofc u deserve it, making a video like this takes a ton of hard work

[@erikmclennan3934]

Great video. I personally love ScarVi in spite of any flaws. I think if they take gen 10 further into the open world direction while polishing some of the rough edges, they could be really amazing.

[@DuffCuts]

Thanks so much! Excited to see where they take it.

[@akilcharles3473]

Scarlet & Violet is like my 2nd favorite Pokèmon game next to USUM. It isn't as super tedious having to run into wild Pokemon without repels nowadays and have a bigger exploration to traverse all over the region.

[@Perplexum]

Scarlet and Violet are the first main Pokemon games I skipped because I didn't see anything that really appealed to me. Even Sword and Shield, one of the weakest games with a lot of cut corners, at least had art design that made me want to be in Galar, explore the region and meet the characters. In comparison, Paldea looks so drab, like you're looking at the open-world equivalent of woodchip wallpaper. I really hope that if they continue with the open-world concept, they get better at designing it.

[@DuffCuts]

Yeah, it’s a bit of a shame the world is such an eyesore as I felt the same way initially and almost skipped it. I’m hoping this was just the result of them being inexperienced in open world design and it gets better from here. Also, I hope they take more design cues from older games with its almost retro futuristic look, I way prefer how unique the world looked in older games.

[@ernestomoreno4409]

I feel the same about sword and shield except for one town but i still enjoyed both. I mean sword and shield have a town thats basically 2d.

[@aerialdive]

im really glad that we're not going to get a new generation of pokémon until 2026. the extra time will be a tremendous help for the series, it means that the devs have way more time before they have to crunch and it means we can sit with the games we have for longer before they become obsolete.

[@DuffCuts]

Agreed! I just wanted them to take their time to get it right.

[@Slowrath]

Pokemon should never have gone open world, never dabbled in gimmicks, and never gone 3d. All of these have eroded game quality for aesthetic.

[@Ludra64]

First of all, this is SUCH a good video! Didn't expect you to have 'only' 500 subs. The animations are so well done. And the music... damn! Especially the lavender town remix at around 4:30 So, what I've been wanting to say... I've first noticed glitches, graphical issues and bugs in pokemon games only in gen 8, with the release of pokemon sword and shield. But they go back so much farther than that. Gen 1 is infamous for all the glitches, but it can be defended by saying it's their first game ever, so I'll reluctantly let it slide. Gen 4, especially diamond and pearl, are notoriously slow. Gen 7 was also extremely slow, it took like 10 seconds to load on my old 3ds, and going to the home menu is also sooo slow. The graphics were alright, I think. Gen 8 with sword and shield also had a few notorious glitches and quite bad graphics for the time, and especially for a pokemon game. That didn't stop me from having 550 hours and a ton of fun in that game though. Now, scarlet and violet. I can't say anything you haven't already covered yet, in regards to glitches and graphics at least. It's just such a mess. And that comes from a person who doesn't care about graphics at all lol. What i think would be extremely cool for gen 10 would be the ability to ride your own pokemon. Like in pokemon lets go. You want to fly? get a big birb. Or a dragon. You want to get around faster? get an arcanine or something. It would seem tedious that you'd HAVE to catch pokemon for these things, so I would also suggest including the same thing pokemon sun and moon had - pokemon that you could call for a ride. That way you could bond with your own pokemon while also not being forced to catch certain ones for faster progress. I could go on about this for hours haha so I'll just stop now. Again, great video!

[@DuffCuts]

Thank you so much! Really appreciate the kind words. 100% agree with you! Loved how they handled the follow/ride pokemon mechanic in Let’s Go. Made it every Pokemon feel useful and unique in their own way. Hopefully they decide to bring that back.

[@millkberry]

oh man your editing style is so sick !! you deserve way more subs :)

[@DuffCuts]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@raphaelkgh218]

Yeah!!! Like only 700-ish subscribers? Your work deserves way more!!! I just subscribed!!! Keep it up!! ❤❤

[@Eta_Hoyimi]

If you aren't a part of some film or writing class or doing so professionally then you're absolutely undervalued. Excellent editing, writing and pacing. You deserve 100 times the subs you have fam.

[@DuffCuts]

That’s a huge compliment, thank you!

[@zanders.7816]

This is such a great video! The editing and talking points are so quality. Keep up the great work!

[@DuffCuts]

Thank you! Appreciate the kind word 🙌

[@Suitednlooted]

Your editing is next level! Subscribed 👍🏼

[@DuffCuts]

Thanks so much!

[@RadimuxCisco]

You make great content. Not only the video, animation, transitions. Its also what you say and how you say it.

[@DuffCuts]

Wow, thank you! I was so worried to use my own voice for these videos as I have no experience doing voice overs so that means a lot.

[@Phye]

My biggest gripe with Scarlet and Violet was the perceived open world where you can do whatever you want in whatever order you want. In theory you can, but in practice you can't since there is no level scaling. Good Luck beating the ice gym first with your level 10s!

[@arikendo]

interesting analysis, was hoping you might touch more on the story because it did feel much more engaging than some previous titles. I'm glad gamefreak realized they need to spend more time on development, also amazing editing man! keep it up

[@DuffCuts]

Good point! I did enjoy the story quite a bit more than other Pokemon games and should have touched on it. I think it’s because I mainly play them for the gameplay loop.

[@EricClemente-s9z]

Stroy? Story sucked and it was so short

[@GreyarchVsTheWorld]

I kinda feel like, with Game Freak as they are, they should stick to what they can do best. Imagine an entirely new game with the art and world design of LGPE, but Bigger, Better, and in all new Region. Filled with hidden paths, nooks, crannies, dungeons, and all sorts of landmarks. That would be just ideal. Because I hate to say it, unless they invest a ton of money into expanding the team with veteran talent... ehhhhhhh. But I guess we'll see in Z/A!

[@DuffCuts]

100% agree! I think LGPE was the last game that looked really great from a style perspective. I think they nailed the overall look in that game. I would love to see that expanded on.

[@lman0089]

In a way, Scarlet & Violet are extremely similar to Red & Blue: an extremely enjoyable experience held together by duct tape and prayers.

[@DuffCuts]

Ha, so true! I am actually devastated I didn’t make that connection

[@skeptale]

Wow. This is some incredible production for such a small channel.

[@DuffCuts]

Thank you so much!

[@thatonepossum5766]

If you count Ultra Sun as replaying Sun, I have replayed every mainline Pokémon game I’ve ever owned, except for Arceus and Scarlet/Violet. Arceus just had so much content after finishing the story that I never felt the need to replay it. But Scarlet… I just couldn’t get into a second playthrough. I tried, I made a second save, but I didn’t even get to the first gym before realizing I was bored. The game feels hollow, like a movie set where they just put up the fronts of houses instead of full buildings. There’s nothing behind the facade. Other games felt like there was other stuff going on, people living in the world, little bits of lore that I could find sprinkled around… older games have literally smaller worlds, but their worlds are so much deeper that they don’t _feel_ smaller.

[@sideline.archive]

A wild snorlax appeared! More brilliant stuff unlike anything else on YT.

[@DuffCuts]

That’s high praise coming from you!

[@scentor8229]

Love the editing style of your videos!

[@DuffCuts]

Thank you so much!

[@otaviopalanca]

Love your editing style. 🎉

[@DuffCuts]

Thanks so much! I like to try and show gameplay in new ways 😁

[@bdletoast09]

I agree so much with everything you said. S/V was a huge disapointment on a technical standpoint (which is truly mind boggling from a company with such ressources) and they made many flawed design decisions but I can't help but be excited for the future. This, to me, shows that an open world pokémon game can absolutely work. They just have to focus on the core mechanics more, get right back at the root of what it means for the player to go an a journey with their chosen pokemon and not just a legendary sentient bike handed to them.

[@DuffCuts]

Absolutely, getting back to the core of the adventure with a Pokemon pretty much sums it up nicely. One small touch in Arceus that I loved was that you still controlled you character through out battles. Such a small things but made you really feel more like the trainer in a battle, rather than some hovering camera. I hope they lean into those little touches of immersion more in the future.

[@icecreamorc]

I think something not enough people consider is how little time GF realistically had to take what worked from Legends Arceus and put it into SV, so really ZA is going to be the first game to fully given a chance of implementing feedback from it.

[@Smolive_tree928]

This was a great video watched the whole way through keep it up!

[@DuffCuts]

Thank you so much! Lots more to come 🙌

[@Sillyyuno]

Seeing pokespe in a nonpokespe related video is so odd to me and I love it 🐈🐈

[@DuffCuts]

It’s just too pretty to not include 😆 also, I love how it represents the world of Pokemon

[@56ty_]

This is so fun. It’s like people have a difficult time separating the different aspects of a game. Scarlet and Violet are a technical nightmare. Everything else is probably the best it’s ever been. I’m not talking about the haters that make up 90% of the KZbin audience lol

[@yesteryearr]

I like what they did with Sword and Shield, adding wild area, along with the main formula. I wanna see this game, but taken a little more seriously. 2-3 different seperate wild areas, and the game would be MUCH less linear than SWSH. Perhaps by the time you get to the first wild area, there are multiple paths out the you can take which would lead to a different experience but still take you through the story.

[@cathallynch1]

If it wasn't for performance issues the games would be really good and provide a great framework for future open world pokemon games, and I still think they should persevere with this style of game.

[@DuffCuts]

Definitely! I hope they keep improving on it. Game Freak are just so unpredictable with gameplay elements 😅

[@thegreatbench]

funny to watch him use arcanine at all times even when its opponent is super effective against it

[@DuffCuts]

He’s a BEAST!

[@Nagatem]

I only have 4 issues with Scarlet and Violet 1. Violet got the lame swords of justice robots instead of mecha entei,raikou and suicune 2.Kieran didn’t put his hair back down after the bad boy phase 3 no shiny sounds 4 Terrapagos wasn’t a giant Eldritch horror like Necrozma and Eternatus

[@AkaiAzul]

Scarlet fans: Hahaha, YES!

[@nukachronic6211]

Confession time: I actually hate the Nintendo Switch for practical reasons. From it being very underpowered compared to other modern consoles, to the inherent stick drift that develops in EVERY SINGLE pair of joycons.. That being said, I have not played any of the Switch Pokémon titles except “Let’s Go” and I was less than impressed with it as well. I have exclusively heard negative things about BD & SP as well. Legends is the only one that really gets any praise, and even then the purists still hate it. As an old-school Pokémon fan, what they’ve done with the Switch has not been able to draw me in. Regardless, thank God for emulation. I still play and enjoy the GBA, NDS, and some of the 3DS Pokémon titles, and the first 5 generations will always be very special to me.

[@DuffCuts]

I definitely revisit Soul Silver regularly. That was the absolute peak of the series in my eyes.

[@blazie42069]

Scarvi while enjoyable feels like the devs went in over their heads and they realized it too late as they even apologized for the way it was released It seems like Generation 10 is a 2026 release so the game should be more polished than gen 9 at least

[@DuffCuts]

Hopefully they’ve learnt and it’s a bit smoother. I’ll be interested to see what kind of state ZA releases in

[@EnmaSatoru]

I personally never encountered any bugs during my first playthrough and i started on christmas of last year

[@DuffCuts]

Oh wow! I hit a few just in the first hour 😅

[@EnmaSatoru]

@@DuffCuts the only funny memorable bug i found afterward was when i was checking out a cluster of dragapult’s mid staged evo and my pokemon wouldny autobattle one of them so i went up to it and it did over 20 encounter signs with sfx before starting the battle lol, i was in union circle btw

[@DuffCuts]

Haha so good! Gotta love how Game Freak can even make glitches charming

[@TheDeathmail]

I'm going to be honest, but I actually don't like the over world battles as much. I feel moving to the battle world allowed better battle animations.... On the other hand, I actually thought it was cool that we could actually go around with our Pokemon and travel on them.....

[@DarkMagic-dx2vi]

I think they kind of ruined shinys because of how common they are now

[@DuffCuts]

I haven’t done any shiny hunts yet but that’s a shame

[@gligarguy4010]

This I couldn't disagree more on. It's good that the average casual person has an easier time getting a shiny, actually.

[@Nathaniel328]

Tbf, people said the same thing when they halved the odds in gen 6

[@ernestomoreno4409]

I agree. It meant something but now anyone can put a little effort into getting a shiny.

[@ernestomoreno4409]

​@gligarguy4010 the fact that it wasnt so easy made it more meaningful for a lot of casual players.

[@CamDaGR8X]

Scarlet and Violet, to me, were so bad and unpolished or that I get depressed when I think about them. I need to see if Z-A will be good, because I’m extremely frustrated with how TPC and Game Freak operate nowadays. From the Dex cuts to shoddy gimmicks to terrible gameplay and framerates. Mega Evolution coming back excites me a bit, but if it’s going to look and feel like Scarlet and Violet, I’ll be incredibly disappointed.

[@DuffCuts]

I think the saddest part is the potential that the franchise has with the resources Game Freak, Nintendo, and TPC have at their disposal.

[@fgteevfan1]

Good editing👍

[@DuffCuts]

Thanks so much!

[@ryanwood9313]

I personally dont think that game freak is entirely to blame nintendo as a company has been getting more and more impatient with its devolopers, wanting to push and sell every new release as quickly as possible, not to mention the issues that the switch as a console has, yes SV were incredibly buggy upon release and still do have some issues but i think its darn right impressive what they managed to do with the technology at their disposal, keep in mind the processors in the switch were a decade old when the switch was released all this to say; Nintendo get out of the kitchen if your not going to help cook.

[@DuffCuts]

Fair call! Good point about the switch hardware and agree it’d be difficult to developed for, especially open world. Still Game Freak are only around 200 employees, which is both impressive and a bit concerning. Hopefully with the new switch they can push the game and world further.

[@ryanwood9313]

@DuffCuts I agree completely and I'm currently replaying violet and a lot of the glitches I remember have definitely been patched and the game overall has a bit of polish on it now which only further proved to me that they just needed more time and nintendo didn't want to give it to them. The frame rate drops are still an issue but that's a hardware issue not a software issue.

[@Shaneicus1]

The return lets gooo!

[@DuffCuts]

Yessssss! Took a bit longer than I’d hoped haha 😅

[@BlackForceTrainer]

PC players now have their own GameFreak equivalent.

[@gioiacolli3407]

unpopular opinion: between a half-baked and poorly designed overworld where everything feels samey ,there's no reward for exploration, and cities are closed off and a good-looking well designed 2D space, I'd take the second anytime. I enjoyed some of the mechanichs, but I agree some of them are gimmicky

[@DuffCuts]

I’ve seen some really cool concepts of Pokemon in HD-2D which I think could be pretty cool for a middle ground.

[@sideline.archive]

You used the effect! Haha

[@DuffCuts]

Haha I had to try and squeeze it in!

[@ZingoBananaa]

The two things that actually made me dislike S/V more than any other game before were the art direction and exploration... imo, the world felt incredibly empty and boring despite being more wide and open than ever before, and the design of trainers and NPC's is hands down the worst in the series. Despite what previous games did well and not so well, it always felt fun to explore the region and seeing all the new designs for trainer types and gym leaders. This time i feel like only a few leaders were well designed, and all the NPC trainers looked just downright bad. Maybe it's because they only had 3D models and no artwork, but the design just looked lifeless and bland.

[@DuffCuts]

Agreed, I kind of miss the retro futuristic look of the older games. They had such a unique look. Hoping the next game has more rewards for exploring other than Pokemon and items.

[@Emily-lh6em]

As far as gimmicks go... i love terastalization. If i thought a Pokémon would be better as another type i can actually switch into that type. I have hundreds of hours on both versions because i love SV and the DLC. Then again, I'm a life long fan whose played every game and enjoyed them despite any flaws so maybe I'm easy to please lol 😅. I hope the dev team finally gives themselves the time they need to polish the games because performance is the main issue.

[@EvaSadana-dd7vs]

I'm definitely in the minority of S/V players that didn't run into many glitches personally. I adored the game for what it was but do echo a lot of the sentiment that the game was just to big for what it was. However where i diverge from folks is that I feel they did open world better then BotW or TotK. Though I feel most games that go open world in series that aren't historically open world aren't great in general. They just tend to feel hallow.

[@DuffCuts]

Oh, interesting! Yeah, I haven’t heard too many people express that. What did you find they did better than BotW and TotK?

[@EvaSadana-dd7vs]

​@@DuffCutsI do want to say it wasn't much more, but I don't think Zelda took open world as well as Pokémon did. Something for me specifically got lost in the translation from the tight more linear games like OOT, WW, and TLP. Something with the story doesn't feel whole and the world itself just feels empty. S/V meanwhile have multiple ways to make areas feel unique. In the most basic form, you have the Pokémon themselves. The snow area can have Ice and snow themed Pokémon, the ocean can have multiple types of fish and other unique water Pokémon, The fields are teaming with Pokémon from the mundane to the extraordinary/V also has more of it's run time interacting with Npcs which for the first time in a while were actually surprisingly well written for a Pokémon game. So the world just didn't feel as lonely because one of your main classmates was probably not far away from you to provide a fun story. The only issue i have with S/V was the lack of stakes in comparison to prior generations. Though I feel for anyone else that reads this I need to specify that I just don't think that the BotW and TotK are bad they just are not for me in terms of an open world game the same way Elden Ring isn't for me in terms of an open world. They just feel like an oversized slice of white bread with blobs of jelly that are the good content, but they are too far between for my taste. Also sorry for the kind of blob of text! Second aside as well just want to say the sheer quality of your video was amazing!! I thought I was watching a much larger channel.

[@Keaixiaoen0919]

I put this game on the same level i put games such as Final Fantasy XV Is it disappointing? Yes Is it clunky in a lot of areas such as story, graphics, and gameplay? yes. Do i criticize it? Most certainly. How many hours did i out into it? Probably about 60 hours, tbh

[@jibaontim8975]

Tbh I liked SV it’s actually my favourite games in the series so far there’s alot to enjoy for me at least , the story was great , the characters were great , quality of life changes like sandwiches and mirror herb egg moves,new methods to shiny hunting idc if it’s easier if you like a shiny you can get it got me a dudunsparce :) Things I didn’t like where the graphics but I kind of get why they look the way they do lol and no scaling which sucked but didn’t ruin it but it’s odd cause nemona’s rival fights do 🤷🏿‍♂️

[@DuffCuts]

Awesome to hear you enjoyed it! Hopefully it’s only getting better from ZA onwards.

[@gligarguy4010]

I loved Pokemon Scarlet personally. I don't agree with you that they should incorporate the Legends stuff into the main series though, because I just wasn't a fan of it at all and want the standard Pokemon experience. The best path forward is just to have 2 different Pokemon series, the standard one and Legends for people who don't like normal Pokemon gameplay.

[@DuffCuts]

That’s fair! I’m interested to know what you didn’t like about the changes in Legends? No judgement here, I just haven’t heard that much. And you’re right in that there’s nothing wrong with having two seperate series. I think my main concern is that we’re going to get two games with where they split out the cool features, but never the one ‘ultimate’ Pokemon experience.

[@gligarguy4010]

@@DuffCuts I just personally prefer battles, which standard Pokemon emphasizes, rather than the "catching" emphasis of Legends. That game had so few trainer battles it felt pointless to even catch things. Weirdly, it had the opposite problem of Let's Go Pikachu, which doesnt let you battle wild Pokemon but at least had plenty of trainers. I don't know if they can make a game with plenty of trainers scattered around while also throwing pokeballs everywhere (I can't imagine what an alpha battle would look like in this environment, at least). There were a few good things introduced in legends I would like to see brought into the main series, though. The sound that played when a shiny was around was very helpful. Also, replacing the pointless "freeze" condition with a new one called "frostbite" was such a smart move.

[@pokemonmusiclover5]

Here before 700 subs

[@EricClemente-s9z]

Hopefully they dont gut online battling again.

[@Samrules888]

having the dexit is an automatic F

[@DuffCuts]

Yeah, I almost added a section about this in the video which I regret now. For me, either there should be no new Pokemon, or all Pokemon are included. Otherwise it just feels like a merch machine.

[@DrakeBaku]

Beyond the fact that my chances to grt the money to get a switch2 is 1% at best, even if i do have it, im severely in doubt ill get the next main game if its like SV. This open world might hold some nice things here and there but it is made in such a way that there is no means to make a true story, no plot... just endlessly roaming to the next point of interest and... thats it... I do hope that legends Za will be like arceus and on the normal switch, the gameplay style there is way better made, there is a plot, yoi have areas to unlock and explore in dept, you sre truely prompted to get every pokemkm and futher fufill the dex. Basically i feel that if continue with open worlds, it should be done like arceus, cause now there was too much "world" yet too little content, both worldwise and story wise. Besides i really miss the sensation of exploring a new road as the older games had, it was often, if made well enough map wise, the same as stated above when it came to seeing something ahead and otherwise yoi always had the mystery of where yoi would step into next. SV had a interesting idea, but delivered it in the worst way possible

[@DuffCuts]

I am interested to see what a ‘Switch 2’ version of Pokemon is going to look like. I’m hoping now that they’ve had a bit of experience with more modern(ish) hardware that they can pull it off. But Game Freak are still a pretty small developer for what they’re producing so I’m a bit skeptical.

[@mobilenation1104]

NO MORE DEX CUT IN ALL THE FUTURE POKEMON GAMES!

[@DuffCuts]

Yeah, it’s a bit disheartening when they’re cut.

[@mobilenation1104]

@DuffCuts dexit/dex cut has no right to stay here forever!

[@DuffCuts]

I mentioned in another comment but I personally feel they either need to choose to stop having new Pokemon or include all of them. Otherwise, it just comes feeling more like merch machine than anything else.

[@TheDeathmail]

I love that you acknowledge that the reason people play the games are cause they are good games. Yes, the bugs are annoying, but that doesn't mean the game itself isn't good....

[@DuffCuts]

100%, I play a lot of retro games so I don’t get easily put off by less than ideal gaming experiences. There’s still a lot of enjoyment to be had

[@MahouPoint]

anyone who complains about gimmicks just sounds like they dont touch competitive or raids, both aspects i still keep coming back to each game.

[@Warlord_Megatron]

90% high 10% lows and that too just being technical ones, 10/10 games for me either way

[@mr.gamewatch6165]

Don’t the Battle Styles of Legends Arceus technically count as a gimmick?

[@DuffCuts]

Good point! I probably should have touched on it more but wasn’t a huge fan of the battle styles. I mainly liked the new features that made the game feel more immersive and flow better.

[@bonjouritsready]

I really don’t get why Arceus gets so many plaudits. It’s still an incredibly underwhelming, repetitive and boring. It still looks like it’s made out of pudding. I shudder at the thought of Pokemon abandoning its core combat mechanics for more ‘real time’ elements, it has the parts to still give varied and complex battles - but TPC insist on having the AI tailored to 5 year old difficulty. ROMs and fans banes have shown how battles can be challenging puzzles themselves. Moving the trainer around is…fine I guess? It doesn’t really change anything. TPC have shown their intention - remove all battle elements from the game and move it to a shiny catching sim. Online battles have been destroyed, trainer AI is awful, level scalling non-existent and a terrible new gimmick every game that reduces battles to parodies of themselves. If TPC committed to appeasing its huge fanbase that are all adults as well as children then the games would be better, but the same devs that thought a forced exp share was a good idea are still there so there’s little hope for the future I’m afraid. More slop incoming.

[@DuffCuts]

For me, moving around in battles is such a small thing but it makes it so much more immersive than being some floating, nebulous camera. I also like how smooth the transition is from the over world to the battles is. Just makes the whole experience flow better. But I agree, I wouldn’t say Arceus is a perfect game just that it’s closer to where I thought the series was going. Definitely still has its share of problems.

[@Emily-lh6em]

As far as gimmicks go... i love terastalization. If i thought a Pokémon would be better as another type i can actually switch into that type. I have hundreds of hours on both versions because i love SV and the DLC. Then again, I'm a life long fan whose played every game and enjoyed them despite any flaws so maybe I'm easy to please lol 😅. I hope the dev team finally gives themselves the time they need to polish the games because performance is the main issue.

[@DuffCuts]

That’s fair! I can see why people like them. I just feel like they don’t stick around for long enough for me to appreciate them. Like they’re just tacked on.

[@Warlord_Megatron]

90% high 10% lows and that too just being technical ones, 10/10 games for me either way

[@Warlord_Megatron]

L for the haters

[@Warlord_Megatron]

L for the haters

[@Warlord_Megatron]

L for the haters

[@Warlord_Megatron]

L for the haters

[@Warlord_Megatron]

L for the haters

[@Warlord_Megatron]

90% high 10% lows and that too just being technical ones, 10/10 games for me either way

[@DuffCuts]

Great to hear you enjoyed it!