Game On: Scarlet and Violet – Pokemon reimagined

By Aditya Deshbandhu November has been a great month for new games and as the dust of Ragnarök begins to fade I would like to quickly draw your attention to Pokémon Violet and Scarlet the latest games in the iconic franchise. Successors to 2019’s Sword and Shield, these games come at the heels of the […]

By Aditya Deshbandhu

November has been a great month for new games and as the dust of Ragnarök begins to fade I would like to quickly draw your attention to Pokémon Violet and Scarlet the latest games in the iconic franchise.

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Successors to 2019’s Sword and Shield, these games come at the heels of the open world experiment Arceus Legends and are expected to usher in an open world experience reminiscent of Zelda’s Breath of the Wild. Thus for a project this ambitious, I had tempered my expectations as the games were still to be played on the Switch and its aging Tegra X1 processor.

This review is being written after spending considerable time with Scarlet and Violet on a classic Switch from early 2019. I played the game in both the docked and non-docked states as I spent most of last Friday evening on a four and half hour train ride. The ability to play the game seamlessly both in my drawing room and then the confines of my rail seat with an almost identical quality is something that continues to astound me.

In the docked mode, the game’s resolution was predictably better and its environs richer and lusher. On the smaller screen the game resolution was lower but the visuals were just as spectacular. “Terastilizing” for example is quite an eye catching experience in both modes and there is a lot of good things in the new games that the developers achieve in terms of visual fidelity despite the aging hardware.

In terms of the game’s interface, this is a redesigned modern experience that is more focused on exploration and there are a lot of cool new implementations here. Things like menus, battle mechanisms, and health bars have all received a visual overhaul that smoothens the game and now you don’t have to tap as many buttons or shuffle as many menus as earlier. Even saving the game is a lot easier now and just takes two quick taps.

The gameplay too has received quite a significant change as elements like stealth and exploration are now actively baked in. The overall experience is a lot more meaningful and even an act as simple as choosing your starter Pokémon can get a lot more emotional this time around. I find a lot more soul and attachment in the classic Pokémon formula with Scarlet and Violet which is a pleasant shift from element type matchups.

These aren’t perfect games though as the mission structure while open is still remarkably similar to older games. You still do the same journey with gyms or beat up the rogue team rocket wannabes or search for legendary Pokémon and that is a bit disappointing.

Not as great as they could have been but then we are now used to their lofty standards. Strongly recommended.