I've been play a ton of Pokémon Scarlet on the Switch and I will say, after reading and watching reviews, some of the reviews and remarks make sense. I'm going to list some pros and cons and then give a small opinion summary. Will make a note that I haven't completed the game completely. I've beaten every gym, got everything for Titans, and I'm up to the last antagonist base.
THERE MIGHT BE SPOILERS FOR SOME SO DON'T READ IF YOU DONT WANNA BE SPOILED
Pros:
- New Pokémon to catch and learn about
- Doesn't have a linear story, has like 3 Story lines plus catching/collecting them all
- (Major Opinion) I normally choose water pokemon because they tend to have a better advantage throughout the game but I felt more inclinced to chose either Sprigatito or Fuecoco (the Grass and Fire type starters). I ended up getting Sprigatito and named it after my cat (and learning why my cat's name is banned in the game LMAO so I had to change it slightly).
- Through the Auto Battling System, the pokemon WON'T defeat a Shiny. Easier way to find shinies if you are hunting for them mindlessly (and yes you can see if they are shiny in the overworld)
Total Pros: 4
I am putting this opinion in the center as its a pro and con (in my opinion). The new Tera Forms and such are just like Gigantamax form except it changes the Pokémon's type depending on what Tera Form they have (like a Pikachu, and electric type, with a fighting tera form changes it to fighting.) It's a cool idea but at the same time its like meh... In all honesty, my favorite form changing thing was the Mega Evolutions with Mega Stones. Though I find this better than the Sun and Moon thing with the stone that gives a powered up move.
Cons:
- Graphical Issues (shadows glitching, quality sometimes dip in, FPS issues, etc.)
- When in a Union Circle with a friend, I would have loved to see their Pokémon evolve, their battles, and such.
- Sometimes the sandwich making with friends glitches
- Another, slightly different, graphical issue is when you have friends in your game (or you're in a friends game) the Pokémon bike sometimes glitches when jumping down.
- This is a major opinion con but the fact that you dont get Ultra Balls in the Shop til much further in the game, as well as other balls like Dusk, Nest, Quick. (I might have not noticed the others sooner but it felt like forever until i could get them in the shop
- As of right now, you can't change/customize your clothes (you can only change your hat, glasses, gloves, backpack, socks, shoes, hairstyle, and facial features). [Previously in Sword and Shield you could do all that AND customize clothing/outfits. I am hoping it will be an update AND NOT SOME CASH GRAB DLC but it will probably be a DLC Cash Grab...]
- I wish there was a better way to see if you battled an NPC
- A graphical laziness is using floor patterns but not aligning them and hair that clips through the face
- The fact that if you wanna make a sandwich but are in a friends game, you have to open your own picnic, you can't use your friends unless your friend starts it
- Boxes (like where your Pokémon go when your party is full) takes a bit to load no matter how many Pokémon you have in the bank/boxes
Total Cons: 10
So as you can tell, there are more cons and pros. Even though there are more cons than pros, I am still having a decent time playing. I just try to avoid the areas that have major graphical issues, doing anything that can cause me to glitch through the world, and avoiding anything that would cause issues. I am not sure how many hours I have in game but it's a decent amount and most of the time I am enjoying it. Maybe its because, despite the issues, I like games that have character. For example, lots of people hated/disliked Mass Effect Andromeda. And I admit there were some graphical issues but they did eventually fixed them. And I actually really enjoyed that game.
HOWEVER, I will say they should have polished this game up before sending it to be released. Lots of games recently have been released even though they clearly weren't ready to be released into the world. Don't listen to the people that want games to be released now as they are. Like yea I want the next mass effect or dragon age game out now BUT im willing to wait however long it will take to get the game in pristine and non-buggy way.
So my rating for this game is: 7/10
Small Update 11/25/22
I got my first shiny the other day
It was a shiny Cyclizar
