Pokémon Scarlet and Violet (Switch) Early Impressions.

Hello everyone- I just got Pokémon Scarlet and Violet earlier today, so here are my early impressions from the first couple hours of play.

I started with Fuecoco in Scarlet and Quaxly in Violet; naming the avatars I created Sergio and Valentin respectively. The gameplay builds on what’s been done in recent titles; with the exploration and world design paralleling “Pokémon Legends Arceus” in particular. Not a complete surprise; as both titles were likely in development around the same time. It does make a nice bridge between the franchise’s past legacy, and makes a good blueprint for the future. 

I am well aware of the challenge that comes with taking a video game into an open-world sandbox design for the first time; but I can honestly say that Game Freak took away the right lessons from contemporaries in that area (with both Zelda: Breath of the Wild and games from Rockstar’s catalog of open-world games). Even at this early stage (I will be detailing more as I continue playing); I can tell I’m going to enjoy getting into Paldea well into 2023. 

Despite some of the talk I’ve heard online; I have no issues with the visual presentation or technical performance, definitely not any that negatively impacted play. The graphics definitely pull more from spinoffs like New Pokémon Snap and Pokémon UNITE for both the monsters and their human partners; but it’s still recognizably a title in this franchise. As a retro gamer who doesn’t put as much stock in visual fidelity as others; I can just remark at how far things have come since the original entries on Game Boy.

I will bring you more updates about my experience as time goes on, and will likely do a full review in the near future. Before I go, don’t forget what happened to the man who got everything he ever wanted: He lived happily ever after.