Mony Faulk

It is a game that was shipped in an unoptimized state. With an unacceptable overworld render distance, framerate, memory leakage, and plethora of bugs, the number of QoL changes can not save it. Past the initial excitement of opening up a new generation with a variety of Pokémon to discover, it quickly becomes a slog dealing with game slowdown. I can’t imagine playing on a Lite or launch Switch. The illusion of freedom in where you can go in this open world likely becomes apparent after your first full play session. Much of the game will be locked off geographically or by level — there is no Gym, Team, Titan or wild Pokémon level scaling. There is an order to which you go about things on this disorienting map, regardless of if you ignore the game’s directional tips. The obedience level cap is still in place, after all. Nuzlocking and shiny hunting have become inherently much more difficult due to game limitations and oversights, hindering replay value even further. I had to heavily debate continuing the game with friends or trying to get a refund. My only commendations go to the OST, the continued fresh designs of Pokémon and NPCs, the ease of Pokémon collection and training for all 18 challenges, and the surprisingly functional multiplayer features. To me the situation can be described as Game Freak finally trying to play catch-up in an environment where time limitation and the last traces of stubborn traditions have crushed their chances of finding true success.