Ryan Hunt

MINOR SPOILERS (most shouldn’t matter after you’ve played past the first hour) First off, I played Violet. Pokémon is making a great step in the right direction with this game. It’s almost like they’re trying to make legends arceus style games fit into the Pokémon formula, which I’m all for. The colors were bright and the cast was pretty likable, despite the lack of development. For those who do not know, there are 3 different routes and paths that you can take in the game. Each one can be done at the same time and accomplish different things. The first is the victory road path with 8 gyms, the elite four, and a champion. The second path is a boss hunt style path to get special herbs which grant certain abilities to the box art legendary. The final path is the evil team story route which involves defeating the whole organization of Team Star. The paths are all fun and interesting in their own way, each with their own benefits, but there was a lack of cohesion in my opinion. If you look at the levels of the trainers and Pokémon in each area, there is definitely a set order that they wanted you to play them in. This order was not very well enforced because of the open world aspect and the removal of random tall grass encounters. You could simply avoid battling and go to areas that are much above your level; plus, certain path points are required for others. Each path ends with opponents in the high 60’s, and your Pokémon will be under leveled or unresponsive if you didn’t complete the gyms to increase your level cap. That issue with the flow is my only problem though. The company is still working out the kinks with this style of game, and some issues were bound to arise, alongside the rushed finish because of deadlines. The visuals, while repetitive and shocking in some areas, were still a huge step up from sword and shield, and the bright and lively colors made it feel alive. The ever present glitches that everyone complains about rarely occur and they require very specific circumstances (I for one have only had a visual bug once in the entire game). Despite some minor flaws, the game is pretty enjoyable and the new Pokémon, as well as tera types, made for a great time and some good fun. I would definitely recommend playing the game.