Summary
The public criticism aimed atPokemon Scarlet and Violetwill influence future games in the franchise, an industry insider has said. This claim is likely to be welcome news for the vocal section of the fans who repeatedly expressed skepticism about whether theircriticism ofPokemon Scarlet and Violethas been heard.
The past several generations ofPokemongames widened the gap between their sales success and long-time fan perception. Namely, while the games themselves continue to enjoy strong commercial momentum, withPokemon Scarlet and Violetselling around 23 million copiesalone as of summer 2023, the most vocal subset of the fandom driving the online buzz surrounding the series is no longer unilaterally infatuated with Game Freak’s RPGs.
The Pokemon Company Is Taking the Response to Scarlet and Violet ‘Seriously’
Although that demographic isn’t lacking in pessimists who believe their efforts topoint out flaws withPokemon Scarlet and Violetare an exercise in futility, that isn’t necessarily the case, according to VGC’s Andy Robinson. Taking to Twitter, the industry insider recently said that the response to the 2022 games is going to inform the development of the future series entries because The Pokemon Company has taken it “seriously.”
What that actually means remains to be seen, as not even Robinson himself appears to be privy to that information. One obvious area of improvement for the (mainline) series concerns its performance on Nintendo hardware, which has gotten progressively worse ever since Game Freak started developing for the Switch. But while a lot has been said aboutPokemon Scarlet and Violet’s bugs and performance problems, that is far from the only issue that portions of the fandom had with these games.
Common Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Fan Complaints
E.g., many other long-time players have repeatedly criticized the barebones nature of the game’s environments, arguing that the shift to open-world gameplay wasn’t worth it if it meant sticking them into largely empty areas with nothing to do but catch pocket monsters, something that they were already able to accomplish while playing the more linear entries. Meanwhile, others have bemoaned the fact thatPokemon Scarlet and Violetare missing many series featureslike the Battle Tower and national dex, or the ability to remember pre-evolution moves.
How many of these points of criticism Game Freak ends up addressing remains to be seen. But even if the company would like to deal with all of them, doing so is ostensibly going to be difficult if thePokemonfranchise has to stick with its exceedingly short, three-year development cycle for mainline games moving forward.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet
WHERE TO PLAY
The school that you’ve enrolled in as you playPokémon ScarletandPokémon Violethosts a special independent study project. The theme of this assignment is “A Treasure Hunt.” Explore the world and seek out your very own treasure!Three stories will be woven into your adventure while traversing the sprawling Paldea region. Along Victory Road, you will go to Gyms in different locations to to achieve Champion Rank. On the Path of Legends, you can join Arven in search of rare ingredients. And in ★ Starfall Street ★, you’ll challenge Team Star, a group of delinquents causing trouble for the school.These stories are set in an open world, so where you go is all up to you. A world teeming with Pokémon and people to meet is waiting for you—traverse the Paldea region wherever you heart desires.
