If you’ve played the start of one Pokemon game, it’s safe to say you’ve played them all. A kid wakes up, says hello to their mum, gets their first Pokemon, meets their rival, and sets out to become the best there ever was. This might unfold in a different region with a new culture and other surprises, but the formulaic approach has remained untouched for decades now. Legends: Arceus has you dropping into the past through a magical portal, but that is both an exception and not a traditional entry in the series - so suck it. Even then, you still meet the Professor, get a Pokemon, and start your journey with a rival by your side.
Scarlet & Violet is no different. While the cutscenes are fancier and better directed, you are still a little boy or a girl being introduced to the concept of Pokemon in a world filled with them, before waking up and going through the same old song and dance. I understand this franchise is for kids, and each game will be someone’s first, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t allowed to change things up or surprise us - if anything, that will help make your initial foray so much more memorable. Do some cool shit, since right now, the opening hour is like pulling teeth. All the bugs and performance issues this time around make it worse.
I’m still early into Scarlet & Violet as I barrage through everything I can before Game of the Year season, but even now, almost everything about it is strangely familiar. I mean, it looks and performs worse than almost every other Pokemon game I’ve ever played, but the broad strokes are present and accounted for. Paldea is especially egregious because it tries ever so hard to appear grandiose and ambitious. Yet you are still forced to walk through locales at a snail’s pace and move through dialogue that is self-explanatory to anyone who has played a video game before.
Yes, I know how to catch a Pokemon. Yes, I know they have moves I can use. Yes, I know the world is filled with strange creatures that have learned to coexist with humanity. The biggest shock this time around is the existence of an actual education system instead of all the children being sent off to take part in a regional cockfighting competition. After learning the obvious, I’m taken to the top of a lighthouse to view the splendorous horizon, except none of the detail has loaded in, so I’m basically staring at a mess of environments running at half their intended framerate. There is no magic being given off here, no gradual teasing of the possibilities that await me in the adventure to come. Instead, it feels like an awkward waiting room before the training wheels are taken off and I can tackle things on my own. Scarlet & Violet gets ever so close to changing up the formula with its well-directed cutscenes and early introduction of a legendary creature, but it’s still so egregious in its mundanity.
It’s weirdly inconsistent too, with a small level of freedom being offered even as I’m being railroaded. I can gather random items and fight with low-level enemies to figure things out, but I know a long line of dialogue awaits the second I turn the next corner, or a gimmick will be introduced the next game will no doubt end up ditching. Pokemon has always focused on the fantasy of being the very best like no one ever was, and that dream requires you to start from nothing, learning to become a better trainer, explorer, and protagonist who can save the world. Reaching the end feels like a true victory, but it’s also one we’ve experienced so many times before. Each new generation could be considered a blank slate much like Final Fantasy, with tropes and ideas carrying over as we introduce a new region and characters.
Show me a fanciful flashback sequence or even have me play as an older protagonist, or even an original character entirely. Hell, an ancestor of that character with a history I can aspire to would be sufficient, just give me some inspiration in the main series that we haven’t seen so many times before. Scarlet & Violet might introduce a vast world to explore and a bunch of new mechanics, but after crawling through the opening it still feels like I’m going through the motions, and aside from the added freedom I already know what to expect. Part of me is ready to be surprised given everything I’ve read from my colleagues, but a more experimental opening would have sparked that fire so much sooner.