Pokemon Scarlet Review: The Game That Sells 10 Million in 3 Days
It can't be said that I follow every Pokemon game and have played them all. The reason I wanted to play Pokemon Scarlet was because I loved a Pokemon game I played on Nintendo DS (I don't remember which one) and had incredibly enjoyable hours without taking the console away from me. My only expectation from Pokemon Scarlet was that it would give me the same pleasure. I wasn't expecting great visuals, vast open worlds, or very in-depth quest chains. If I could feel that nostalgic taste even a little bit, it would make this a good game for me. So what was the result? I both got what I wanted and I didn't get it. I don't remember the last game I was this confused about.
A Pokemon Game from the Ground Up Before coming to the bad aspects that I think are said about it, I would like to say that Pokemon Scarlet is a pure Pokemon game and this is one of the good aspects of the game. I got that nostalgic taste I was looking for, the feeling of playing a Pokemon game to my heart's content. This made me find the game enjoyable. As we are used to in Pokemon games, we start the game at home, next to our mother. On the morning of our first day at an academy, we are getting ready for school, packing our bags, and going to register. As we go, we meet new faces and people that we will become familiar with over time. One of them is Nemona, an ambitious but close neighbor who is very interested in Pokemon battles. We fight our first battle with him and learn what and how. In this Pokemon game, we have a student ID.
We choose our starter Pokemon among Sprigatito, Fuecoco and Quaxly. Also, at the beginning of the game, we encounter legendary Pokemon that will provide us with transportation in the open world, but which we cannot activate in fights yet. I loved the cinematic of him joining the game. The game has a huge open world and we stumble upon a flock of Pokemon at every step. Thanks to the Let's Go system added to the game, our Pokemon can get out of its ball, explore the surroundings and fight automatically. However, we get half of the experience points this way. But it's still a good system. The game entertained me a lot and I felt that it was full in terms of content. It's the kind of game that satisfies me in these aspects and can keep me glued to the screen.
Let's Come to the Problems There are so many problems in the game that I didn't even know where to start. Maybe if you are a close follower, you may have come across many of them on the internet. To be honest, I watched those videos with a lot of laughter, but it is actually quite annoying that such a big brand is making such sloppy games just because its buyers are ready. The game runs as if it's one foot in the grave. While running in the open world, NPCs move and walk with low FPS if they are not in my close range, but a little further away. In fact, the game is full of living streets that I look for in many games, of course, it is impossible to ignore that these living people have low FPS. Even worse, I think, was when I saw my classmates with low FPS on my first day at the academy, that's how I know them now. When I play a Nintendo Switch game, I expect games that aren't great but hide that behind stylized visuals. Zelda or Animal Crossing are two perfect examples. I expect to encounter exactly such a visual and I enjoy it. Pokemon Scarlet looks really bad. I can't choose another word to describe it, this is exactly what a bad game looks like in my opinion. The grass I step on has no texture, the mountains look like toys made of very bad plastic. It's surprising to be so disappointed with so little visual expectations. Unfortunately, the game has problems that outweigh its good aspects. Despite this, it managed to sell 10 million units in 3 days. I will continue to spend time in the game, and I think the saddest part is that I can see and imagine in my head how good Pokemon Scarlet could be while playing. I can do nothing but stare at the misshapen Pokemon mountains in the distance and sigh.
