Pokemon Violet Review

After Game Freak flirt with the open world in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, now in the two new iterations of the franchise, he gets fully into this genre. Pokemon Violet, is the official game of the main series, in which we explore the new region of Paldea, based on the Iberian Peninsula.

Without a doubt, it is a step forward in the main series, in which the freedom available to the player is greatly expanded. He would come to be a Skyrim but with pokemon, instead of dragons and Draugr. Added improvements that fans have been waiting for for a long time. However, not everything is rosy, there are certain technical problems that make the adventure ugly.

For more details about the Scarlet version you can click here.

The new one from the academy

As in all the beginnings of the story, of Pokemon, in Pokémon Violet We started as a boy who will enter a prestigious academy. We start by choosing our first companion who could be sprigatito, of the type Plant, fuecoco (my choice) Fire-type and lastly, Quaxly, of the water type. Once the first hours are over, and the new added mechanics are known, we realize that the plot is divided into three fundamental arcs.

First we have the victory road, which is the traditional adventure of becoming a true Pokemon master and we will face eight gym leaders. Then we have the Via Stardust, in which we must face a kind of Team Rocket, called Team Star, made up of the most foolish of the academy. And finally, the Legendary Path, in which we must catch five legendary Pokemon.

Each plot line has its own set of characters, plots, and plots. In Road to Victory we just go to each area and defeat each gym leader and the next one. However, both the Stardust plot and the legendary path have richer and more varied themes.

However, it is good that other topics have been touched on in depth, beyond gym leaders and our path to the top.

A peninsula of possibilities

Once they give us free rein, we can do and go wherever we want. Many of the basic mechanics of old generations are maintained and others are adapted to the times. We will visit towns with their respective Pokemon centers or stores. On the way between one town and another we will see wild Pokemon swarming the map, and it is up to us to engage in combat or not.

Once we engage in combat, it is done immediately without loading screens involved. The mechanics are the same we know from all Pokemon games, turn-based combat determined by our statistics and the Rock, Paper, Scissors system. There isn’t much science on it, and veterans will feel like a fish in water. A stealth component is now added to catch Pokemon by surprise.

Paldea has many biomes, and as such, we will see different creatures according to their nature. For example, we will see water Pokemon near areas like rivers or coasts. The map has a considerable extension and therefore we can explore how and where we want, however, there are areas in which we are limited by our level and if we access them we will have a very hard time. Also, the map feels empty at times, due to its sheer size, which is a sin many open world games commit.

As I already said, each path has its own challenges. For example, the path of legends will have fights with different stages. Another detail is the fights with gym leaders, they involve participating in tests in the form of mini-games that once passed, we can challenge the leader.

crystallized evolution

Now we will talk about some new mechanics included in Violet. We start with the teracrystallization, which turns our creatures into crystallized versions, which increase their stats and changes in their attacks. Teracrystallizing a Pokemon has several repercussions, in addition to giving us a boost, it can change our elemental attacks for others.

However, so that we don’t abuse this mechanic, it is only allowed to be done once with one of our Pokemons. Teracrystallization recharges between breaks or cooldowns in Pokemon Centers. The ideal is to leave the option for those battles where we must give everything.

The “Let’s Go” mechanic returns, allowing the main Pokémon in the party to automatically battle wild Pokémon. Although it does not give as much experience as a normal battle and since these automatic battles are decided in seconds, we can fight many Pokémon in a short time.

The Battle Tower, a key piece in the post-game, is dispensed with, although it has some challenges once we finish the game. However, they added the cooperative game in which up to three of our friends can explore the Paldea Region together. Although it allows some interaction, this is limited, since we will not be able to exchange creatures or start friendly fights.

Another minor but useful addition is the possibility of having a picnic with the Pokémon, this allows you to cook food for them that will give us additional benefits. The already traditional Photo Mode in which we can even take selfies with our creatures.

nice but slow

We come to one of the parts that will annoy fans of the series the most, its technical section. On one hand, the game looks good visually, with bright colors and lush landscapes. The designs of the new Pokemon are very colorful and interesting. In addition to the enormous effort to create a new map so full of details.

However, it seems that the Switch cannot handle such large worlds, we will constantly be witnessing frame drops below 30fps, even pauses and stops. Fortunately, during combat these problems are not appreciated as much, but they are present. Not to mention the appearance of sudden elements. God, the draw distance is fatal, in fact, it can be seen in one of the introductory cinematics.

Sawtooth is sometimes visible on some edges, and some textures look like something out of the GameCube era. In addition, the camera is located below the stage, allowing you to see below the surface.

Verdict

Pokémon Violet is the game that makes the definitive leap into the open world genre, along with the expected change that this entails. It further expands the player’s range of action by granting them a freedom never seen before in the franchise. It’s a much more accessible game than other installments, and it’s still a lot of fun hunting Pokemon. However, it has very obvious technical flaws, which although they do not influence the gameplay, are very obvious. Even so, it is a very fun game, with the occasional innovation as the main series.

Note: This review was made for Nintendo Switch and the code was provided thanks to Nintendo.