THIS SANDWICH SIMULATOR IS TRUBBISH

MITCHELL MADAYAG - Editor-In-Chief, 3rd Year, Japanese and Economics

"And no, Trubbish cannot be found in the Paldea region."

I think by now, anyone who is an avid Pokémon fan is aware of the same cycle of emotions the online Pokémon community at large goes through with each mainline release:

1. Current gen is not well liked and older games are seen in a better light.

2. The next Pokémon game is hyped up despite one or two massive changes that evoke controversy.

3. The new game is then welcomed with overwhelming positivity upon release, despite the earlier backlash.

4. However, a bitter minority voices that while the new game has its merits, there is much room for improvement, yet those opinions are drowned out.

5. Finally, this iteration of the game doesn’t age well and becomes viewed with great disdain, triggering another cycle within the community, with the hope that significant improvements will appear in the next game.

This cycle began with Gen V where for Black & White, the aforementioned controversy was forcing players to use a new generation of Pokémon exclusively, many of which got hate for their designs. For X & Y, there were too many forgettable characters and a surprising lack of substantial post-game content for the franchise’s debut in 3D. For Sun & Moon, an excess of cutscenes plagued the early parts of the story. Additionally, the removal of gyms felt alien as it strayed from the traditional formula. For Sword & Shield, it was the extremely linear routes, as well as the upsetting announcement that even with the move to console, there would be incompatibility for a full national Pokédex. And now, in Gen IX’s Scarlet & Violet, the main controversy doesn’t even stem from any intended feature but from the plethora of in-game bugs that outnumber the amount of catchable Bug-type Pokémon in this unpolished game. From character models clipping with the environment to severe framerate drops, the bugs in SV are inconsistent among the playerbase, making each copy “personalized” for all the wrong reasons. Although a patch that fixed some of the glaring issues was implemented three weeks after release, it’s nowhere close to a definite fix. PC boxes still take a while to load and certain water areas still feel like you’re traversing a swamp for example. Sure, the bugs aren’t exactly game breaking and some are ironically hilarious to play around with, but they really break the immersion of a game that is supposed to be revolutionary for the franchise. If anything, they expose the culmination of Game Freak and The Pokémon Company’s lack of care for Pokémon as a video game series to even the most casual of Pokémon fans. You can’t necessarily remove the fun from the basic engine Pokémon has adopted since Gen I, but what is hardly excusable is choosing to not build upon beloved features and changes introduced in past games. It feels like every generation of Pokémon games presents some brand new gimmick at the cost of what we liked from previous generations. One step forward, five steps back. Of course, every generation has its own share of flaws and criticisms, yet SV is awfully foreboding for the quality of mainline Pokémon games to come. Perhaps I’m late in coming to this realization that Pokémon “ain’t what it used to be,” but SV has been the final straw in the stream of Pokémon Switch games that have disappointed me one after another.

I could recreate this scenery in Roblox and it would still look better.

Even if this article ends up feeling overly critical and pessimistic, I would be lying if I said the new Gen IX games had nothing going for them. I really think that if Game Freak was given another year or so, Pokémon Scarlet & Violet could have been in contention for the greatest Pokémon games of all time. There are a lot of interesting elements, but they are held back by its rushed development (sound familiar). I’ll even admit that I initially felt a great rush of dopamine running around Paldea catching every single Pokémon in sight to fill my Pokédex, with random items and trainer battles filling in the time spent in between these brief moments. It was also refreshing to be able to tackle any of the three different storylines at my own pace instead of being restricted to a single route like in past games. The more I progressed, the more I was able to upgrade Miraidon and then access places I wasn’t able to before, which felt rewarding to revisit old locations and see them in a new light. I still can't fathom why they removed basic features like Set Mode or an EXP Share toggle, or the fact that we’re forced to wear a school uniform at all times, but it didn’t necessarily take away from the overall experience. As always, the soundtrack, albeit quite short this time around, was full of many catchy tunes, some of which were composed by the legendary Toby Fox. My favorites include the Gym Leader Battle Theme, Koraidon/ Miraidon Battle Theme, Academy Ace Tournament Battle Theme, North Province Wild Battle Theme, and Naranja/Uva Academy Classroom Theme. On the topic of the main appeal of Pokémon, being the actual Pokémon, you can’t really complain about most of their designs as there are always bound to be hits and misses like in every gen (though the Paradox Pokémon are lazily named). Skeledirge, Cetitan, Annihilape, Ceruledge, Amarouge, Toedscruel, Klawf, and Gholdengo were particularly cool. It is amazing how we finally reached over 1000 total Pokémon after 26 years worth of games, though it’s a shame only a quarter of these lovable creatures so far can be caught.

But what truly astounded me the most about SV were the converging storylines and the profound deuteragonists that joined us on our journey. I won’t talk about it too much now though as I’d like to discuss it again in further detail once the inevitable DLC releases and expands upon the leftover plot points, such as the third legendary hinted in the Scarlet/Violet Book. “The Way Home” was the perfect end to the main story as all the friends you made along the way gather to uncover the mystery of the beautiful but eerie Area Zero. Observing Arven, Penny, and Nemona undergo their own personal trials was interesting enough, but having them all together brought a whole slew of fun interactions and developments that I wish to see again. These engaging characters and storylines were honestly the main things that kept me playing, and I’m glad I stuck around to see the end.

I can't tell what the heck I'm looking at, but it looks terrifying.

However, this is where the scant amount of praise I have for the game ends. Ignoring the performance issues and subpar visuals, my main gripe I have with SV is that outside of being open world, the game is surprisingly devoid of any meaningful content. The overworld itself is decently fine as there are many different environments to explore, yet it feels like Game Freak put in minimal effort in most other areas. Shops are reduced to mere menus and you can’t even enter most buildings, making every city seem soulless and forgettable. The cities vary in terms of architecture and size, but each are nearly identical in terms of use as they lack any additional facilities or side activities that made cities in past games feel memorable (ex. Pokémon Contest halls, Game Freak HQ, Battle Maison). Even buildings with no real functionality or plot relevancy like hotels and museums brought these cities to life. Instead, we’re stuck with an overabundance of clothing stores, restaurants, and food vendors. I’d say that touring brand new cities is also part of the Pokémon experience, yet it feels like a downgrade to the exploration process if the only reward you get from adventuring through deserts, lakes, and mountains is another restaurant-infested cardboard cutout of a town. Somehow tying this all back to the general theme of this issue, it is almost peculiar how much Game Freak prioritized working on this in-game sandwich simulator, Gen IX’s version of the Curry Dex from Sword & Shield. It feels like a different game altogether as the textures of the ingredients are more refined and realistic than the overworld, though that’s not a high bar to pass. There is so much detail put into the variety of sandwich ingredients and the effects they’ll yield, yet the map function, a tool more essential than sandwiches, is rather unintuitive. I didn’t bother with the Picnic feature despite some of the sandwich effects being useful for shiny hunting and breeding as I came to the realization 5 hours in that the game itself was really not that fun, and I focused only on completing the story from then on.

Although I thought Scarlet & Violet were fun at first, I noticed that the games aren’t actually groundbreaking for a Pokémon game. I’ve already experienced an open Pokémon region in Pokémon Legends: Arceus (more on that later) and the battle system is not much different from what we’ve seen for years now except the new Terastallizing gimmick that I also didn’t bother with. I quickly grew bored of SV, though it’s not exactly the fault of the repetitive battle system that has been a staple in Pokémon games. It’s more so that there is a problem with the dumb AI, as well as a lack of level scaling for a game that emphasizes that there is no linear path. Pokémon has never really been known for its difficulty, but the hand holding has only gotten worse. Pokémon’s target audience has always been children, yet stuff like the stupidly simple gym trials are downright insulting to the intelligence of 10 year olds across the world. It’s also a shame that I can’t use a team of my favorite Pokémon the whole duration of the game without them no diffing everyone we meet. Even if I’m not involved with competitive Pokémon at all, I found SV so easy that I had to implement my own rules and restrictions to make the game a real challenge. For a JRPG, there isn’t much going for SV’s gameplay that I wonder why I continue to let myself get disappointed by these modern messes. Although they lack the adorable and cool creatures known as Pokémon, there are plenty of other JRPG series on the Switch I get more enjoyment out of like Octopath Traveler, Shin Megami Tensei, Fire Emblem, and now the long-awaited Persona.

Pokemon with Octopath Traveler’s graphics would be a dream come true.

But let’s not compare oranges and grapes here, and instead look into how Pokémon Scarlet & Violet fares against the other ambitious Pokémon project that is Pokémon Legends: Arceus. We can speculate that the two games being developed at the same time led to both games suffering from quality issues, but only one of them unquestionably stands out by making the effort to experiment with truly brilliant ideas I want to see improved on in future games. Some may remember my slightly scathing article on PLA, but my opinions on the game have changed as PLA looks like a gem in comparison to SV. I really took PLA for granted, and expected it to be the norm for Pokémon games, but SV backpedaled away from the swift pace of PLA for some unknown reason. In PLA, you can catch Pokémon without the need to battle, and even if you initiate one, text and battle animations play in tandem, which makes the battles much less slower. Back in the overworld of Hisui, you can easily scroll through your items and party on the fly to prepare for whatever wild Pokémon awaits you. Speaking of which, there are so many neat interactions involving the dangerous wild Pokémon from them attacking you to intruding on battles that the world feels genuinely alive.

Meanwhile Scarlet & Violet are like watered down versions of Pokémon Legends: Arceus that can often be infuriating to play. While Miraidon is easier to maneuver with than Hisui’s ride Pokémon, going from battle to battle in Paldea feels like a slog. The process of sneaking on Pokémon isn’t the same in SV as doing so initiates a battle anyways. Additionally, being forced into battle just by touching a Pokémon is so annoying to the point that I have to weave around them carefully to not start off a five second time waster. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve run into a small Flittle or Tadbulb, or been immediately sent into battle with another wild Pokémon just because their model was overlapping mine after finishing a previous battle. I could go on and on about how much less immersive SV is than PLA, but the fact of the matter is that so many substantial quality of life features are absent in SV that you would think it’s a beta test for PLA. Like I discussed in my previous Pokémon article, I don’t necessarily agree all of PLA’s changes are great, but the game takes real risks experimenting with the battle system and Pokémon lore. It’s a sign that Game Freak may actually be open for change, and I’m all for it. I’m hoping that Game Freak takes notes from the innovations of PLA rather than SV, though I’m not so sure anymore given the recent success of SV’s sales.

As it stands, Scarlet & Violet have now become the fastest-selling video games in Nintendo’s history despite their obvious flaws. The animations are still incredibly lazy, textures are downright criminal, and post-game content is practically nonexistent compared to what the DS games had to offer (most likely reserved for future DLC to make money). These complaints aren’t anything new as people have been pointing out the same faults for so many years that it feels like they’re beating a dead Mudbray. Furthermore, these same people who carry genuine criticisms for the games and voice them online only make up a miniscule portion of Pokémon fans. I echo the same resentments they carry towards the direction Game Freak and The Pokémon Company have been taking with the Pokémon franchise. We want the best for the games, but not like this.

At this point, nothing will ever discourage Game Freak or The Pokémon Company from pumping out game after game if they’re able to get away with publishing a game with the most technical problems I have ever seen in any AAA Nintendo title. Why should they implement any quality of life changes if the vast majority of consumers will purchase anything Pokémon related without a second thought? Pokémon is no longer just about the games as the brand has become too massive to fail. The depressing truth is that we are stuck with this annual cycle of unoptimized Pokémon games, a cash Miltank that will forever be milked, which promote the anime and merchandise that follow.

I find it hard to believe that this is the same Game Freak who once developed Platinum, HeartGold & SoulSilver, and Black & White—some of the best the series has to offer— in three consecutive years. Having been an avid Pokémon fan since Emerald, I am not happy in the least having to write about the sad state of the Pokémon franchise, but it’s painfully clear that a year’s time is nowhere close enough to develop Pokémon games for modern hardware. These development restrictions have been plaguing the Pokémon game series, and the passion for producing actually fulfilling games seem lost in favor of corporate greed. It may have been like this since the beginning as there are always two—and sometimes three—very similar games released each generation, but I feel it should be said that this is the lowest Game Freak and The Pokémon Company have stooped by releasing the technical embarrassment that is Pokémon Scarlet & Violet

At least Scarlet & Violet gave us the beauty that is Dudunsparce.