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Reviews Pokémon Scarlet & Violet | Review Thread

Is this more sarcasm I'm missing or?
I think he's just salty from back when PLA was out and he had a twitter thread not exactly praising the game's visuals and map design (what he could see of it from screenshots at the very least). Some people obviously did not agree and he had a back and forth with some of them.

Just salt. He clearly does not give a shit about the games.
 
These games look terribly optimized and embarrassing for a 2022 Nintendo Switch title

But I know I'm going to be having a blast running around completing my Pokedex and adding to my Pokemon Home living dex
 
sonic frontiers pc version with only 5 critic reviews has a higher MC score than pokemon scarlet and violet
 
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Game Freak is like kid in school that has a bad home life distracting them from being able to engage in their schoolwork but no one understands that and instead gives them hell for it so they grow up to perpetuate the cycle and in this essay I will

GF is the college student who works two part time jobs and an internship and never shows up to group assignments so everyone hates them and thinks they're lazy, but they're actually out there making them money and paying them bills
 
People are obsessed over graphics like there is some law that requires devs to do better than -insert an arbitrary benchmark- and we are contractually entitled to outrage if they don't.
No, I think people just want games with experiences that aren’t hobbled by underlying tech issues.
 
No, I think people just want games with experiences that aren’t hobbled by underlying tech issues.

I'm not happy with the performance issues reports either, but I was quoting a tweet that was talking about visuals only and which I, personally, find very arbitrary and exaggerated.
 
These games look terribly optimized and embarrassing for a 2022 Nintendo Switch title

But I know I'm going to be having a blast running around completing my Pokedex and adding to my Pokemon Home living dex
yep

its time for my annual redownload of pokemon go, this is my version of the super bowl. I don't know who's playing but the commercials entertain me enough
 
Haven’t Game Freak also moved into Nintendo’s offices? So should really be in a better position to get assist from Ninty on tech for the games.
 
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I'm not happy with the performance issues reports either, but I was quoting a tweet that was talking about visuals only and which I, personally, find very arbitrary and exaggerated.
Honestly I feel the same. The game visually looks fine for the console it's on (lack of AA notwithstanding), and can look quite pretty at times. Same deal with PLA.

Now the pop-in, jank, npcs everywhere animating at half the framerate, etc.. is another thing. But purely talking visuals SV is perfectly good.
 
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Speak for himself, I find SV very pretty games.

People are obsessed over graphics like there is some law that requires devs to do better than -insert an arbitrary benchmark- and we are contractually entitled to outrage if they don't.
I appreciate where you are coming from, but I think you should reconsider. gamefreak continues to release games with substandard visuals and performance, but its reached a point where people don't find it acceptable anymore, as noted by these reviews. As pokemon fans, we should want more, the franchise deserves better. If you’re able to look past the graphical and performance issues than thats great. But if people outright ignore them, then gamefreak/nintendo will never have incentive to improve things.

Edit: my apologies, I dont mean to sound like im saying your opinion is wrong. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and I know this is a divisive topic
 
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Anyway I'm happy that despite the whole review debacle we are able to discuss the topic in a civil and not toxic manner here. Famiboards really is a special community, it's probably the only place on the internet where you can discuss Nintendo without it diverting to the usual tired discourse.

I'm sure when the game comes out we will also be able to discuss the game itself and not be trapped in a neverending spiral of complaining about graphics and performance which is also something that used to bother me a lot. So thanks to everyone for that :)
 
Honestly, I am going to play and most likely love these games based on what I've read in the leak thread, but maybe these 7-8/10 review scores calling out the technical issues will reach their ears and have them make improvements in the future. I would really like to be able to play these games with solid performance without needing to emulate it, and it's a genuine issue when it distracts from an otherwise solid and enjoyable open world.
 
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Yeah I predicted 80-84 simply because of the last two Pokemon games. However, I did hedge down to a 78 because the game does look like it runs like trash and it's a new gen of Pokemon. The standard needs to be higher.

Yes, the switch hardware is old but Game Freak looks like they are just incapable of making HD games. I don't know if it's the engine or the lack of in-team talent. Maybe both. At the end of the day, this is the biggest IP in the world and their games division is underfunded and under resourced. I don't care that they hire hundreds of people to outsource work. It's clearly not working. Game Freak is working on multiple games at any given time.

With that said, I've preordered Scarlet. I will not cancel it. I'm going to play the heck out of the game and enjoy it for what it is. Even if I know it should be better. I always set my expectations low for Pokemon. I have to. Which is why I never really get angry about the games. My bar is set so low it is impossible for GF to not meet it. Well, except for BDSP but whatever lol.
 
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I appreciate where you are coming from, but I think you should reconsider. gamefreak continues to release games with substandard visuals and performance, but its reached a point where people don't find it acceptable anymore, as noted by these reviews. As pokemon fans, we should want more, the franchise deserves better. If you’re able to look past the graphical and performance issues than thats great. But if people outright ignore them, then gamefreak/nintendo will never have incentive to improve things.
Think about what you're saying though - you're asking someone to straight up change their opinion for the sake of those with a differing opinion.
 
Think about what you're saying though - you're asking someone to straight up change their opinion for the sake of those with a differing opinion.
Your right, my apologies, I didn’t consider that before I posted it. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and I know this is a divisive topic.
 
Your right, my apologies, I didn’t consider that before I posted it. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and I know this is a divisive topic.
Hey no worries, I know it's a difficult topic. I too wish Game Freak's games performance and visuals were up to par.

For me, the top Pokemon experiences on the Switch are Pokemon: Legends Arceus, and New Pokemon Snap.
 
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Getting increasingly annoyed with reviews blaming Switch hardware for the lackluster performance and graphics. The performance issues aren’t a hardware issue, it’s a development issue. This is the same console that has games like Xenoblade 3. The difference is that game got 4+ years of development time (and was delayed to iron out performance issues) and this game got 18-24 months. Sorry, but that’s simply not enough time these days for AA let alone AAA games.

I heard a rumor that the anime series might be winding down and god I hope it’s true. Maybe that will ease the pressure off the merchandising cycle and these games will finally get more time in the oven. I honestly hope we don’t see gen 10 for another 3-4 years at minimum.
 
I appreciate where you are coming from, but I think you should reconsider. gamefreak continues to release games with substandard visuals and performance, but its reached a point where people don't find it acceptable anymore, as noted by these reviews. As pokemon fans, we should want more, the franchise deserves better. If you’re able to look past the graphical and performance issues than thats great. But if people outright ignore them, then gamefreak/nintendo will never have incentive to improve things.

When Legends Arceus came out and everyone was bashing the graphics I thought about this. My personal conclusion was that the graphics were fine for what they were and I think SV is the same (in fact, SV looks even better than Arceus). The games don't look amazing, no, but they do have a very strong art direction that holds everything together. If GF's art team wasn't so talented they would have a real problem.

Still, I can understand the complaints up until SwSh and also BDSP (which I also find ugly as sin exactly because it doesn't benefit from GFs great art direction, now that's an ugly game) because they are very linear and unambitious games so they could look better for sure.

But when it comes to Legends and SV I feel like the visuals are honestly very reasonable all things considered. First of all, these games are open world on the Switch, that's not an easy thing to do. Aside from BotW, we don't have any open world games that look objectively better than SV I don't think. Some have different strengths, but it's not like SV are running leagues behind in everything, it's all arguable. We've just seen Sonic Frontiers and it looks bad. People often mention DQXI and I love that game but it had dramatic levels of pop in and looked extremely blurry, besides not being open world at all. Xenoblade isn't open world either and 2 had its fair share of technical problems.

But sure, even if you compare it directly with BotW and Xenoblade, you also have to consider that 1- these games had much longer dev cycles, 2- they are made by some of the best on the industry and it's not realistic to expect every other dev around to match their genius, 3- they both still have performance issues too. So, considering all these points, I think SV and PL look fine. You won't find many games similar in scope and developed in a short time that look much better. They could absolutely be improved, but considering the scope of the games, the dev time and who is making them, I honestly think they look good, they could look better, but they don't look that terrible to warrant so much negativity imo.
 
If there’s ever a time for GameFreak to return to the “third version” formula, this is it. Fix up the performance, add some new content, and release it as Pokémon Crimson or whatever they want to call it next year.
 
Disappointing to hear so much about the performance issues. Hopefully Gen 10 will have a 4-year development cycle. They probably don't care about the reviews, but maybe they'll want it timed with the 30th anniversary in 2026 at least.
 
If there’s ever a time for GameFreak to return to the “third version” formula, this is it. Fix up the performance, add some new content, and release it as Pokémon Crimson or whatever they want to call it next year.
I don't see why they would bother when they will continue to patch the game and very clearly have plans for updates and DLC.

I mean, the reason to bother would be "Free Money", but they don't seem to be keen on making third versions again.
 
I appreciate where you are coming from, but I think you should reconsider. gamefreak continues to release games with substandard visuals and performance, but its reached a point where people don't find it acceptable anymore, as noted by these reviews. As pokemon fans, we should want more, the franchise deserves better. If you’re able to look past the graphical and performance issues than thats great. But if people outright ignore them, then gamefreak/nintendo will never have incentive to improve things.
Maybe for reviewers but we all know, their opinions don't matter at all. The general public does not care for reviews. A ton of people will ignore all of those things. It sounds super grim but thats the reality of a multimedia franchise.

The difference is that game got 4+ years of development time (and was delayed to iron out performance issues) and this game got 18-24 months. Sorry, but that’s simply not enough time these days for AA let alone AAA games.
While I agree they should get a lot more time, please dont spread misinformation about dev cycle. For one this game was not dev in 2 years, that is insane. We don't know their pipeline, at best we know who is working on what based on the credits.
 
I captured these videos with visual glitches that bugged me. I didn't do it when the camera clipped through the ground during a battle and I could see the "underworld", but that one has been documented by others:

The shadow turning on and off as I clicked through the menu:



The shadow turning on and off as I just moved the camera:



Klefki appears for half a second before actually being sent by the trainer:
 
I appreciate where you are coming from, but I think you should reconsider. gamefreak continues to release games with substandard visuals and performance, but its reached a point where people don't find it acceptable anymore, as noted by these reviews. As pokemon fans, we should want more, the franchise deserves better. If you’re able to look past the graphical and performance issues than thats great. But if people outright ignore them, then gamefreak/nintendo will never have incentive to improve things.

Edit: my apologies, I dont mean to sound like im saying your opinion is wrong. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and I know this is a divisive topic

Some real deja vu here. In all likelihood this game is going sell gangbusters and potentially even break series records, not unlike how BDSP easily cruised to the series bestselling remake, albeit the legs aren't great, but no other pokemon title has had to deal with another game launching 3 months later.

This is part of the problem I mentioned earlier ; pokemon is too big for it to be financially sensible to skip release years even if it means the products don't reach the standards they otherwise could/should.
 
I don't see why they would bother when they will continue to patch the game and very clearly have plans for updates and DLC.

I mean, the reason to bother would be "Free Money", but they don't seem to be keen on making third versions again.
I seriously doubt they’ll give SV the patches needed to make it remotely acceptable. They’ll probably fix a couple things, but I don’t see them really going in and fixing the game up unless they’re repackaging they whole thing in a third version.

With that being said, I’m not expecting them to do that, nor do I ever expect them to return to that formula. I’m just saying that this would be the perfect time to do so.
 
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If there’s ever a time for GameFreak to return to the “third version” formula, this is it. Fix up the performance, add some new content, and release it as Pokémon Crimson or whatever they want to call it next year.
Isn't this the worst time to do it? Cause I swear if they do I'm gonna be pissed ahah.

A third version would feel insulting. Give the game a next gen patch and DLC next year, don't resell me the whole fucking thing full-priced for it to actually run well.
 
Critic reviews of Pokémon games are just generally all over the place and often not super reflective of reality, so I'll have to see the quality of the game for myself, but it does seem that my concern over the game's release date was at least somewhat justified. Hopefully that investment GF has been starting to do in their tech starts paying off soon.
 
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Isn't this the worst time to do it? Cause I swear if they do I'm gonna be pissed ahah.

A third version would feel insulting. Give the a game next gen patch and DLC next year, don't resell me the whole fucking game full-priced for it to actually run well.
My point is moreso that GameFreak is never going to meaningfully patch it. If this game will ever run decently well on console, it would have to be through a third version, because otherwise there’s no monetary motivation on GameFreak’s side.

Scummy as hell? Yeah. But pigs will fly before GameFreak actually puts in the effort needed to fully patch the game, free of charge.
 
If there’s ever a time for GameFreak to return to the “third version” formula, this is it. Fix up the performance, add some new content, and release it as Pokémon Crimson or whatever they want to call it next year.
Third versions are dead and that's very much a good thing, because it's a terrible way to distribute new content in 2022. Anything that that could offer should come in the form of patches and DLC.
 
My point is moreso that GameFreak is never going to meaningfully patch it. If this game will ever run decently well on console, it would have to be through a third version, because otherwise there’s no monetary motivation on GameFreak’s side.

Scummy as hell? Yeah. But pigs will fly before GameFreak actually puts in the effort needed to fully patch the game, free of charge.
I don't know. I feel like a Drake patch that does the bare minimum and actually prompts them to work on the base code of the game would be enough to "salvage" it. I understand the skepticism though I don't feel like it's necessarily warranted.

I think a Switch Drake sales boost coupled with DLC is enough incentive. I hope at least.
 
I’m gonna feel like I’m insane forever because I think Arceus is a really good looking game.
Arceus isn't a great looking game IMO but I think its artistic design is fantastic and helps it out in the areas that it struggles the most.
 
I’m gonna feel like I’m insane forever because I think Arceus is a really good looking game.
Ultimately my visual tastes differ so much from the norm that I don't really take most visual complaints into account. Like, I think the best looking game this year (that I've seen) released on any platform is probably Harvestella, which I'm pretty sure is a baffling take to most

So yeah I also think Arceus is a pretty good looking game
 
I don't know. I feel like a Drake patch that does the bare minimum and actually prompts them to work on the base code of the game would be enough to "salvage" it. I understand the skepticism though I don't feel like it's necessarily warranted.
But would they do that? The game will sell gangbusters regardless. There's no motivation for them to actually dive into the code and fix it, because doing so isn't going to meaningfully move the needle on sales numbers. Game Freak is on such a tight schedule that I don't see them being willing to devote the manpower needed to actually do so, because they need that manpower elsewhere.

That's why I'm saying that a third version would be the only instance where actual performance improvements could be expected, because that's the only situation where Game Freak would have the incentive to actually improve the game itself, now that there's significant profit to be had. It sucks that that's the only reasonable way for the game to actually receive the attention it needs (at least, that's the way I see it), but that's just the state of affairs at the company right now.
 
I can't believe am reading online that this is a hardware issue, the same thing that people were saying in 2019 with SwSh.
Publicly blaming Game Freak is a bad look since it makes you tangential to the Dexit crowd.
 
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One thing is for sure - if I ever set up a game dev company (if I win the lottery lol) I will definitely set it up as three companies so that one handles the IP, one handles the game development, and one handles marketing / scheduling.

That way if things go wrong responsibility is diffused to the point that no one is ever actually to blame.

But would they do that? The game will sell gangbusters regardless. There's no motivation for them to actually dive into the code and fix it, because doing so isn't going to meaningfully move the needle on sales numbers. Game Freak is on such a tight schedule that I don't see them being willing to devote the manpower needed to actually do so, because they need that manpower elsewhere.

That's why I'm saying that a third version would be the only instance where actual performance improvements could be expected, because that's the only situation where Game Freak would have the incentive to actually improve the game itself, now that there's significant profit to be had. It sucks that that's the only reasonable way for the game to actually receive the attention it needs (at least, that's the way I see it), but that's just the state of affairs at the company right now.
Nah, the DLC will be a clear incentive to have people enjoy the game.

Easier to sell 20m copies of DLC if the discussion is "Wow, Scarlet plays so much better now than at launch thank you based Game Freak" vs "DLC for that busted game? lmao!"

There's definitely incentive to fix the game imo.
 
Easier to sell 20m copies of DLC if the discussion is "Wow, Scarlet plays so much better now than at launch thank you based Game Freak" vs "DLC for that busted game? lmao!"
Feel like it's easiest to sell DLC if the discussion is "I like Pokemon, I will buy the DLC".

Just like the base game, the DLC will sell fantastically regardless of performance. The casual audience is too big.
 
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But would they do that? The game will sell gangbusters regardless. There's no motivation for them to actually dive into the code and fix it, because doing so isn't going to meaningfully move the needle on sales numbers. Game Freak is on such a tight schedule that I don't see them being willing to devote the manpower needed to actually do so, because they need that manpower elsewhere.

That's why I'm saying that a third version would be the only instance where actual performance improvements could be expected, because that's the only situation where Game Freak would have the incentive to actually improve the game itself, now that there's significant profit to be had. It sucks that that's the only reasonable way for the game to actually receive the attention it needs (at least, that's the way I see it), but that's just the state of affairs at the company right now.
Then why didn't we get a third version for SwSh? It would have sold well regardless right? Of course TPC is a company and wants to make money, but other than that? GF is making bank anyhow, DLC or 3rd version. They barely have any more incentive no matter how much bigger the profit margin. They could ship a busted 3rd version next holiday and it would sell.

With a next-gen patch + DLC you get a very sizable boost for sales legs. It's Pokémon after all. Moreover, while 3rd version don't really sell spectacularly well, we don't have numbers for SwSh's expansion. If TPC deemed it a valuable alternative to third versions who are we to decide it's not.
 
Does anyone remember how long did it take for them to patch BDSP post release?

I don't think any game from GF themselves had so many glitches at launch, so I think they will patch it soon.
 
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Then why didn't we get a third version for SwSh? It would have sold well regardless right? Of course TPC is a company and wants to make money, but other than that? GF is making bank anyhow, DLC or 3rd version. They barely have any more incentive no matter how much bigger the profit margin. They could ship a busted 3rd version next holiday and it would sell.
I've already said in this thread that I don't think Game Freak will ever go back to making third versions. I'm not saying this as any sort of prediction; I'm saying a third version is the only realistic chance I envision these games having any shot at decent performance, and even then it'd just be a chance. You're absolutely correct that they could still ship a busted third version, but that's the only chance I see where Game Freak might actually take the time to fix things up. Otherwise, they're just gonna patch the most basic of issues and tape the DLC on top.

With a next-gen patch + DLC you get a very sizable boost for sales legs. It's Pokémon after all. Moreover, while 3rd version don't really sell spectacularly well, we don't have numbers for SwSh's expansion. If TPC deemed it a valuable alternative to third versions who are we to decide it's not.
I highly doubt a next-gen patch would really move the needle all that much. DLC, sure, but the audience that will really care about the perfomance is pretty small. As I said earlier, I don't really envision Game Freak devoting the manpower needed to patch the game up; they'll make some DLC, ship it out, and leave the game as it is.
 
I've already said in this thread that I don't think Game Freak will ever go back to making third versions. I'm not saying this as any sort of prediction; I'm saying a third version is the only realistic chance I envision these games having any shot at decent performance, and even then it'd just be a chance. You're absolutely correct that they could still ship a busted third version, but that's the only chance I see where Game Freak might actually take the time to fix things up. Otherwise, they're just gonna patch the most basic of issues and tape the DLC on top.


I highly doubt a next-gen patch would really move the needle all that much. DLC, sure, but the audience that will really care about the perfomance is pretty small. As I said earlier, I don't really envision Game Freak devoting the manpower needed to patch the game up; they'll make some DLC, ship it out, and leave the game as it is.
I get your point; I just don't agree with it ahaha. It feels a tad needlessly negative. Though as always, agree to disagree I guess!
 


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