Paul RobertsDecember 23, 2022Maxi Geek Review, Pokemon Violet, SwitchComment

Pokémon Violet - Review

Paul RobertsDecember 23, 2022Maxi Geek Review, Pokemon Violet, SwitchComment

It’s hard to feel there is much of a gap in Pokémon generations anymore - between the Pokémon remakes/remasters last year and Pokémon Legend: Arceus giving players a fresh take on the series. Now the new gen of Pokémon for the next few years is here, in the form of Pokémon Violet. It’s time to catch ‘em all again.

Welcome to the Paldea region, the new expansive part of the Pokémon world. The new region takes the Wild areas in Sword/Shield and Arceus’ fairly open world, and presents an expansive open world that fans have been waiting a long time for.

No longer directed by paths, there are fewer limitations on where you can get to (depending on the abilities only gained by following the story). Violet provides three different story threads and essentially lets you go and determine your own path.

You start the game as a new student at the nearby academy. Each version goes by a different name, for my copy of Violet it is the Uva Academy. The school will send you and the other students on a ‘Treasure Hunt’, essentially a reason to get out into the world, catch some Pokémon and explore the region.

There are the Gym leader battles across the region, earning badges and getting to take on the elite four. There are the mysterious titans who may be gaining extraordinary strength from mysterious herbs. Then there is Team Star, the new antagonistic group for this game, seemingly composed of students who want to disrupt and cause mischief. Unlike previous games, there is no set order of gyms to tackle - you can take them on in any order you want. As long as you can get somewhere, you can attempt the challenge. You can find yourself wildly underleveled if you try to get too ambitious. Also, the battles don’t scale for your party’s levels. You can accidentally find yourself taking out the opposition with little or no effort. You can look up suggested levels of the different challenges if you want to keep some degree of difficulty throughout, but nothing is stopping you from doing it all your own way.

While there are different storylines to follow, you can just follow the traditional gym leader battles for the badges and leave the rest behind. I wouldn’t recommend it as the game is best enjoyed seeing each path through, especially towards the end. Each storyline is interesting in its own way, and it is quite well written to keep you following these stories unfold. I can’t remember the last time a Pokémon game told stories that were as touching or thoughtful about the world of Pokémon beyond the battles.

Overall I enjoyed exploring the region as I either stumbled upon the next part of the story or saw something on the map and tackle it on the way to where I wanted to go. I love the freedom this game gives you, it’s similar to what made Breath of the Wild so special to so many people. The adventure is no longer just following the same old path. The adventures are now how we experience the world, how you get to the next part of the story is your unique path. Sword and Shield both gave players a taste of this with the Wild area, Arceus then showed off what happens when you change up the formula even further, and it all culminates in Violet/Scarlet.

With a new generation of Pokémon games, it also means new Pokémon to catch! With Violet/Scarlet hitting 1000 Pokémon all up. There of course are only so many completely new Pokémon, and there’s plenty of Spanish/Portuguese influence, just like the region. There are also new regional variants that keep old designs fresh with new element types. The new designs fit in well with the previous gens of Pokémon also throughout the region, plenty with their interesting and kinda macabre Pokedex entries.

Like with Mega Evolutions and Z-crystals, Gigantamax is now out and the new mechanic for Violet/Scarlet is Terastal Phenomena Pokémon. Terastal Pokémon are Pokémon who have a crystalised layer over them, changing their appearance to show what type of element the phenomena takes on. It isn’t as cool as the changes Mega Evolutions or Gigantamaxing made to Pokémon designs, but it can make for some tricky battle combinations. The basic Tera changes are just the same elemental type, effectively supercharging their preexisting type. Then you have your Terastal Pokémon with completely opposite types - such as Rock types with Water Tera, or just unusual combinations to throw the spanner in the works for anyone hoping they could stomp all over your Pokémon’s type weakness.

Like with Gigantamax raids in the wild areas for the previous gen, there are Terastal raids all over the region offering the chance to get some fun type combinations and a lot of handy rewards from completing the raid. There has already been one event for post-story players, so expect ongoing raids to introduce rare combinations that only the toughest trainers will be able to take down.

Another change that tends to vary between generations is the TMs; or Technical Machines, discs collected that are used to teach your Pokémon new compatible moves. Traditionally they’ve been one-use items, so any time they’ve gone and made them multiple uses it has been a positive step forwards. In Scarlet/Violet a lot of TMs are one-use items, but you can also find multiple-use TMs as well. I found myself coming across TMs out in the field regularly, the reusable ones too. However, you can also craft TMs if you’re after a particular one you’ve already used. You need League Points (LPs) and items you get from Pokémon. The LPs also work as an alternative currency you can use for purchases if you don’t do much crafting. I’m not usually one to mess too much with the TMs so it’s not a system I engaged with outside of review purposes. It still feels like a step back to have to jump through new hoops after it was taken away.

Instead of setting up camp, you now have picnics with your team. Throughout the region, you’ll come across many stores which sell fillings for sandwiches you can make to give your team a temporary boost. It’s a fun mechanic which lends itself to some pretty silly sandwich designs, but for the more serious there is enough customisation to make sure your team has the edge they need to win. Each town also has restaurants and food carts that offer meals or snacks to give your team similar boosts, there’s a fair variety of places to order from.

Online/multiplayer/co-op returns, only taking about an hour or so to get access to once you start. You can travel around the large open world with your friends if you desire, whether it’s going on Terastal raids, helping each other with version-only Pokémon, or just having fun. I’ve never really gotten into the online aspect of the Pokémon multiplayer much so I can’t speak so much to what’s been left out from last time, I am aware it does change from game to game.

A new Pokémon game means a new discourse into the game's performance. Straight off the bat, the frame rate can be rough throughout, even in places you wouldn’t expect. However, it was nothing that disrupted my enjoyment of the game and for the majority of players, I can’t imagine they’d be up in arms about it either. Since the game's release, there’s been plenty of bugs and glitches shown off, once again in my own experience I encountered very few. It’s possible with my copy being completely downloaded onto the internal HD that it runs the best there. Since release, there has also been at least one patch to begin to address issues players have been having. If consistent frame rate really bothers you then you might want to wait and see if they can ever fully address it, but honestly, you’d be missing out on one of the most enjoyable Pokémon games in a while.

Ever since Pokémon Gold/Silver, GameFreak started a somewhat frustrating tradition of adding great immersive features that help make the world feel alive, then dropping it for the next game. For some reason managing your menus has become a real mess, navigating them is unpleasant and after many years of these games, it’s unclear how these missteps happen. TMs I already raised, at least HMs aren’t all dumped onto a Pokémon active in your team and the world is largely accessible as soon as the story gets past the intro.

Pokémon Violet/Scarlet has moved the main series into an exciting new direction. Storylines that go beyond just becoming a champion trainer, while also giving players more control over where they go and when. While there is still no doubt an expansion to add even more to the game, I look forward to seeing how the series can soar with some fresher hardware. If you love Pokémon games this is a must-get game. If you want to finally see what all of the big deal is about, it’s worth checking out