@Hinade Nah I completely agree with the review, battles in Scarlet/Violet are often excruciatingly slow with a ridiculous amount of useless (often duplicated - 'Your opponent fell asleep.' - 'Your opponent is asleep.') text boxes instead of fast modern design. And Legends: Arceus already did it pretty well!
@TimeGuy you are missing the point - it's not that turn-based system should go away, it's that it's SUPER slow and tedious here, much more so than in Legends: Arceus where everything was modern and swift. You want the worst example? Use Leech Seed on the oponent, make him fall asleep and give your Pokémon Leftovers or Shell Bell. You will wait legit 30 seconds until your turn is finished. (Modern 2023 game design my a**)
I would give this 5/10 but otherwise completely agreed with this review, good job Nintendo Life.
Story is fine, Ogerpon is legit cute as hell and the new designs are all nice.
However.
1) Difficulty for anyone with boxes full of Lv100 mons is utter CRAP. Every single good DLC makes sure the difficulty curve increases a bit - but Pokémon's rigid insistance not to cap Levels below 100 until DLC get released (which would be a perfect solution here) destroys any sense of difficulty unless you self-restrict (which you should NEVER have to do at a well-design game, all of you Poké-apologists).
2) Gameplay in the wilderness is just very samey and boring, consisting in 95% of collecting trash on the ground and running into pokémon most of which don't even attempt to run. There need to be actual challenging/fun ways to catch pokémon, bumping into everything on a superfast Miraidon is just mindless.
3) Performance is still crap, sometimes even worse than in the base game.
(*One minor positive - they suddenly gave Shiftry and Empoleon new, very useful abilities - this is actually very nice and we need much more of this stuff to improve older, weaker pokémon in fun ways!)
Alola is way too low, should be Top 3 tbh - many fresh, creative designs, the number of outright bad ones very low (i don't share the Bruxish dislike, imo it's a really cool tropical fish), even the controversial Ultra Beasts grew on me. (And Rowlet is not the only fantastic starter, so is Litten!). Regional forms = great idea too tho only Alolan Exeggutor and Marowak were truly awesome ideas.
Unova - a clear issue of "we have to make new 151 mons", so many forgettable/bad ones but also so many greats, especially towards the end of the Dex - Hydreigon (including its stellar evolution German-origin names ein-zwei-drei which correspond to the number of heads) is fantastic, so are Haxorus (is the author of the article drunk? Also one of the most badass shinies of all time), Volcarona, Mienshao, Chandelure, Bisharp, Scolipede, Braviary, Excadrill...
Kanto is honesty a bit similar case - so many iconic mons (no matter what anti-genwuners say), but also so many meh ones or too plain ones (a seal.)
Kalos is fine imo, tho imo behind Alola due to a very low number of new mons, also most of the new Fairies are just pink blobs (tho i don't hate them, both Aromatisse and Slurpuff are more interesting than something like Indeedee). Aegislash (Stance Change is one of the most creative Abilities/mechanics to date), Hawlucha, Greninja or Noivern rock tho (and what's the issue with Inkay and
Malamar? A good design including its evolution mechanics)
Galar - alright, mixed bag with some greats/goods (Dragapult, Toxtricity/ Urshifu, Frosmoth, Centiskorch, Barraskewda, Duraludon, Coalossal..) but also quite many meh or too-out-there ones (Eiscue, Indeedee, the fossils, humanoid starters like Cinderace/Inteleon) where the phrase "jumping the shark" comes to mind. Middle-tier Dex for me.
Johto... yeah pretty well-described in the article.
Hoenn is really good overall - some duds but soo many today-iconic mons and strong designs (starters, legendaries, Metagross, Flygon, Milotic, Gardevoir, Salamence, Shiftry..) and very few of these are downright bad.
Imo top 3 should be some mix of Hoenn, Alola, Kanto and Sinnoh (which has a low number of new mons but most of them have aged very well - average Legendaries tho).
@BulbasaurusRex USUM is obviously better than SM as a standalone title. However, many of us were fairly disappointed playing it after SM feeling like it was a cashgrab - WAY too few changes to justify full pricing. BW2 is an older game and it easily had more new stuff.
Not a bad list.
Notes:
1. HGSS deservedly number 1
2. BW2 should be higher
3. Legends: Arceus a bit too high imo BUT it does deserve high placement for how MUCH improves on the tired pokémon formula
4. BDSP deservedly last. VERY deservedly so, sadly. We all wanted a great remake of Gen 4 at least like ORAS. We got SO much less it's not even funny.
5. Let's Go deservedly second to last.
6. USUM... deservedly low. It should actually be considerably higher if you did NOT play SM. But if you did? It's quite a big cashgrab. Way too few changes for the full price.
PS: Someone mentioned Ace Attorney which is a fine fun game in its own genre, but when it comes to immersion, interactive gameplay and feeling like you are truly DOING the detective work, Crimes and Punishment (tho not perfect) is by far superior.
Definitely one of my fave adventure games of the past decade, one that really made me feel like the genre is 100% not dead. Can't say whether it's worth getting on Switch or PC, but for any fan of the genre (or detective games) I thoroughly reccomend it.
Comments 8
Re: Review: Pokémon Scarlet & Violet - The Teal Mask - DLC That Offers More, But Not Enough
@Hinade Nah I completely agree with the review, battles in Scarlet/Violet are often excruciatingly slow with a ridiculous amount of useless (often duplicated - 'Your opponent fell asleep.' - 'Your opponent is asleep.') text boxes instead of fast modern design. And Legends: Arceus already did it pretty well!
Re: Review: Pokémon Scarlet & Violet - The Teal Mask - DLC That Offers More, But Not Enough
@TimeGuy you are missing the point - it's not that turn-based system should go away, it's that it's SUPER slow and tedious here, much more so than in Legends: Arceus where everything was modern and swift.
You want the worst example? Use Leech Seed on the oponent, make him fall asleep and give your Pokémon Leftovers or Shell Bell. You will wait legit 30 seconds until your turn is finished. (Modern 2023 game design my a**)
Re: Review: Pokémon Scarlet & Violet - The Teal Mask - DLC That Offers More, But Not Enough
I would give this 5/10 but otherwise completely agreed with this review, good job Nintendo Life.
Story is fine, Ogerpon is legit cute as hell and the new designs are all nice.
However.
1) Difficulty for anyone with boxes full of Lv100 mons is utter CRAP. Every single good DLC makes sure the difficulty curve increases a bit - but Pokémon's rigid insistance not to cap Levels below 100 until DLC get released (which would be a perfect solution here) destroys any sense of difficulty unless you self-restrict (which you should NEVER have to do at a well-design game, all of you Poké-apologists).
2) Gameplay in the wilderness is just very samey and boring, consisting in 95% of collecting trash on the ground and running into pokémon most of which don't even attempt to run. There need to be actual challenging/fun ways to catch pokémon, bumping into everything on a superfast Miraidon is just mindless.
3) Performance is still crap, sometimes even worse than in the base game.
(*One minor positive - they suddenly gave Shiftry and Empoleon new, very useful abilities - this is actually very nice and we need much more of this stuff to improve older, weaker pokémon in fun ways!)
Re: Feature: Which Region Has The Best Pokédex? Every Pokédex, Ranked From Best To Worst
Alola is way too low, should be Top 3 tbh - many fresh, creative designs, the number of outright bad ones very low (i don't share the Bruxish dislike, imo it's a really cool tropical fish), even the controversial Ultra Beasts grew on me. (And Rowlet is not the only fantastic starter, so is Litten!). Regional forms = great idea too tho only Alolan Exeggutor and Marowak were truly awesome ideas.
Unova - a clear issue of "we have to make new 151 mons", so many forgettable/bad ones but also so many greats, especially towards the end of the Dex - Hydreigon (including its stellar evolution German-origin names ein-zwei-drei which correspond to the number of heads) is fantastic, so are Haxorus (is the author of the article drunk? Also one of the most badass shinies of all time), Volcarona, Mienshao, Chandelure, Bisharp, Scolipede, Braviary, Excadrill...
Kanto is honesty a bit similar case - so many iconic mons (no matter what anti-genwuners say), but also so many meh ones or too plain ones (a seal.)
Kalos is fine imo, tho imo behind Alola due to a very low number of new mons, also most of the new Fairies are just pink blobs (tho i don't hate them, both Aromatisse and Slurpuff are more interesting than something like Indeedee). Aegislash (Stance Change is one of the most creative Abilities/mechanics to date), Hawlucha, Greninja or Noivern rock tho (and what's the issue with Inkay and
Malamar? A good design including its evolution mechanics)
Galar - alright, mixed bag with some greats/goods (Dragapult, Toxtricity/ Urshifu, Frosmoth, Centiskorch, Barraskewda, Duraludon, Coalossal..) but also quite many meh or too-out-there ones (Eiscue, Indeedee, the fossils, humanoid starters like Cinderace/Inteleon) where the phrase "jumping the shark" comes to mind. Middle-tier Dex for me.
Johto... yeah pretty well-described in the article.
Hoenn is really good overall - some duds but soo many today-iconic mons and strong designs (starters, legendaries, Metagross, Flygon, Milotic, Gardevoir, Salamence, Shiftry..) and very few of these are downright bad.
Imo top 3 should be some mix of Hoenn, Alola, Kanto and Sinnoh (which has a low number of new mons but most of them have aged very well - average Legendaries tho).
Re: Best Pokémon Games Of All Time
@BulbasaurusRex USUM is obviously better than SM as a standalone title. However, many of us were fairly disappointed playing it after SM feeling like it was a cashgrab - WAY too few changes to justify full pricing. BW2 is an older game and it easily had more new stuff.
Re: Best Pokémon Games Of All Time
Not a bad list.
Notes:
1. HGSS deservedly number 1
2. BW2 should be higher
3. Legends: Arceus a bit too high imo BUT it does deserve high placement for how MUCH improves on the tired pokémon formula
4. BDSP deservedly last. VERY deservedly so, sadly. We all wanted a great remake of Gen 4 at least like ORAS. We got SO much less it's not even funny.
5. Let's Go deservedly second to last.
6. USUM... deservedly low. It should actually be considerably higher if you did NOT play SM. But if you did? It's quite a big cashgrab. Way too few changes for the full price.
Re: Review: Sherlock Holmes: Crimes And Punishments - A Superb Port Of The Best Sherlock Holmes Video Game
PS: Someone mentioned Ace Attorney which is a fine fun game in its own genre, but when it comes to immersion, interactive gameplay and feeling like you are truly DOING the detective work, Crimes and Punishment (tho not perfect) is by far superior.
Re: Review: Sherlock Holmes: Crimes And Punishments - A Superb Port Of The Best Sherlock Holmes Video Game
Definitely one of my fave adventure games of the past decade, one that really made me feel like the genre is 100% not dead. Can't say whether it's worth getting on Switch or PC, but for any fan of the genre (or detective games) I thoroughly reccomend it.