Pokémon Scarlet Violet worth getting?

[Seawolf1050]

I'm here to ask the community what you all think of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, and is it worth buying? I am thinking of getting it. I know there has been a lot of negative feedback with the release of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. I heard that there were so many bugs in the game that people claimed it was near unplayable, or impossible to progress. I feel like that might be exaggerating quite a bit, but as I have not played myself, I have no idea how true all these claims are. A lot of then were made by critics and popular youtubers, and I don't always listen to mainstream opinion unless my friends share a similar opinion. It's worth noting bugs generally DON'T bother me unless they crash the game on a regular basis. If the game is truly "unplayable" then it wouldn't be worth my money. However if the game just stutters and has loading in issues, then I doubt it'll bother me enough to stop playing.

So I have had a few of my friends say that the game was AWESOME! That the open world element made the game so fun to explore, and the behavior of the Pokémon was so realistic, it really made you believe that's how the Pokémon would move around. They cared about the characters and the story, so the game did a good job of immersing you into the world overall. So yes, I've heard some good things about it, but before I make a big decision and splurge $50 on it, I would like to hear what people here have to say about it. Were the bugs really that disruptive of gameplay, and did developers do anything to fix them? What did you enjoy about it, what did you hate? I just want a fair assessment is all, so I know if the purchase would be worth it, thank you!

[kiyoomi]

I just bought scarlet three days ago and I’ve loved it so far! c:

[lyney]

i got violet a few months ago and i enjoyed it a lot! the games get a lot of hate for the graphics, and i get why, but honestly? i think that the story is what pulls out on top. while it isn't as good as legends:arceus, the open world concept is still super fun. kinda sad they took the shiny noise out, but its still super fun. the bugs dont make it unplayable, i ran into almost none throughout my playthrough. people just love overreacting.

... buuut... if you're hesitating, i honestly recommend getting pokemon:legends arceus over scar/vio if you like open world things. the open world concept is super fun, and though it isnt updated anymore, its a community favorite. there is also a shiny noise in the open world that makes it easy to shiny hunt if thats ur thing.

[Darni]

Okay so I played Violet on release and I'm gonna be fully honest with you. The game as base price is not worth it to me.


Bad side:
There's a lot of jank you have to put up with. I was on one of the final story missions (dw I won't spoil actual story) and you are walking with some NPCs down a like trail that has a huge opening in the middle... WELL I saw a pokemon that I had been looking for and went to go get it. The NPCs one by one who were following me slipped off the side of the edge and went down the hole. They did not respawn at all and I ended up have to throw myself off a cliff to reset things because I was basically soft locked. I also had a ton of issues with frame rate going to under 10 and pokemon poofing in and out of existence because they will not load properly. Also they removed the shiny sound indicator unless you have all other volume at zero / mute then you might here a very very very low sound. The shinies also are not super clear sometimes (example: Armarouge, Ceruledge, and Maushold are some).

Edit: Yes I know they did a couple updates to "help performance", but it didn't do much that was noticeable and I still occasionally get on the game for cool raids and have issues. I just think they stopped trying to "fix" the performance thing because people will still give money even if the game is literally 1 fps and things are clipping into the ground

Edit 2: Also want to say I did not buy the DLC specifically because they showed that they won't actually "FIX" things. They just kind of band-aid over it or make it slightly better. I don't want to buy the DLC and have even worse FPS / bugs / ect so I will only buy the DLC in the future IF it isn't a mess on release.



Good side:
I found playing with friends feature can be really funny sometimes and you can create some amazing memories! The sandwich and camping feature is super fun especially when you have your favorite pokemon. The selfie mechanic is super cute for fun pics with friends or your favorite pokemon! Once it can be hooked up with Pokemon HOME you can have all your OGs come in from other games and that's really nice. Making the next part huge because important!
Has probably one of the best pokemon storylines I've seen and actually hits you in the feels


Summary for me personally: Buying full price is not worth it, but if you can get it second hand or on sale I would recommend it :3

[laughtracks]

oh boy here we go, this might be a long one

so for me, I've played at least one of every generation of pokemon (base line) games - meaning for example from pokemon pearl/platinum/diamond as an example, i had played through pearl originally. with that being said, i would say I've gotten a pretty good grasp on the main storyline of pokemon games.
i really liked scarlet and violet - in fact, i bought both games! pokemon violet is the first game I've completed the pokedex in without using some kind of action replay device, and i didn't feel like i was doing it out of obligation - i really wanted to! while the pokemon in this generation arent the most "creative", the pokemon i did like - i really liked. this is also one of (but not the only) games that i cared enough to get my party pokemon up to high 90s - i think my highest right now is 96... not important though.
as for the buggy-ness, i found from what I've seen, it really depends on how old your switch is. my boyfriend got the game before me and his game crashed maybe....10 times? it wasn't very high at all and he has one of the earlier models of the switch. i have the switch lite that i got in winter 2020, and it worked just fine. i think i crashed a max amount of twice. however, Nintendo is aware of this issue, and they've done plenty of revamps. does it work perfectly? no. but, most things on the switch don't run seamlessly anyway. since i did complete the dex, i haven't played much since but i did pick it back up after the home update and it does seem to run better, but again, i really didn't have much problems with the game in the first place. where you're buying it so "late" after release, i think the problems you run into will be very minimal - if any at all.
what i did like about the game: the open world at the forefront. i do think the gyms are scaled to wherever you are in the game (meaning, you don't have to worry about walking into a gym and being severely underleveled) because my boyfriend and i went in a completely different order of gyms and never had an issue but honestly it could've been a coincidence. having the ability to go and do whatever i want without following a rigid schedule was really nice - even if i was overleveled for most of the game. the story line is...good. i didn't really care for it, but i will admit that it is well thought out and worth paying attention to.
what i didn't like: some of the features. i really didn't care for terrastilizing or however you spell it, and i wouldn't miss it if it doesn't come back to the following games. but, that being my biggest complaint is still really nothing - its not crucial to gameplay at all i think i barely used it. additionally, it does get a little annoying sometimes where pokemon are walking around - some pokemon are more "hostile" and you have to open your menu or something because they just keep running into you and launching a battle. even if you run, they still spawn right there and will run back to you. its infuriating. the sandwich/picnic gimmick is alright too, i don't love it but i don't hate it either. has cool perks, but i wish it was more like the camping feature from sword and shield. oh one last thing, the post game objectives are pretty mediocre. usually post game is pretty mediocre, but once you've explored what is in post game (not spoiling it), the gimmick is pretty much up. you've seen it, and that's it.

overall - the bugs are nowhere near as bad as its made out to be. even when i started playing dec 2022, there were virtually no bugs and that's when everyone was still calling the game bad. the game has an autosave option, so you don't have to worry about losing a lot of data in the event of a crash, and a good rule of thumb is to save whenever something important is about to happen anyway. even if you haven't played pokemon before, i would say this is a good beginner game. i personally say go for it - even if you value the game at needing 1 hour per dollar spent, you could easily invest 50 hours into the game and still have a lot left in the main game. feel free to pm if you have any questions!!