Due to work and being an adult, I've only really had about 5 hours to play the newest Pokemon game: Pokemon Scarlet. It's been fun, so far. Not gonna lie, I spent a good chunk of that time customizing my character's face and trying to figure out how to change clothes (spoiler: you are stuck with the core outfit, pretty much). I also spent a good chunk of time in the first area building a team of all new Pokemon, cuz who wants to play a new game with completely familiar Pokemon? Long story short: I'm having fun, which is ultimately the point.
The Long Story Part
So far, I have got two issues with Pokemon Scarlet: the way the wild Pokemon behave and the clothes.
In previous Pokemon games, the Pokemon would jump out at you while you're walking through the tall grass and/or at random depending on where you were in the game. This rarely happens in this game. In fact, if you walk past a group of Pokemon, they will notice you and either run away from you or just continue going about their days. Sometimes Hoppip will be drawn toward you while you battle and they'll just kinda float there, but not engage with you at all. The only Pokemon I've seen to actively run toward you are Maschiff and, like, one Terastallized Scyther. This is a little annoying for me because honestly, I'm more of the collecting gamer than the battling gamer so I'll just avoid wild Pokemon all day long if I'm not trying to catch them... which then leads to my team not being leveled up because I haven't been battling. I have found that I run into Pokemon more when I'm riding Koraidon around, mainly because of the speed aspect. Either I can't turn fast enough to avoid Pokemon or they can't move fast enough to avoid me. I find I much prefer the Pokemon Legends: Arceus route where the Pokemon mostly try to kill you and therefore you're engaged in battles much more often whether you want to be or not. I don't want to be deluged in battles, but, ya know, the occasional forced battle would be nice.
In a game where the main point is battling Pokemon and having a custom team, the clothes you character wears really shouldn't be an issue, especially given we were stuck with the default outfits for years and years. However, the last couple of Pokemon games have spoiled me into wanting a range of clothes to choose from. Pokemon Scarlet seriously disappoints in this regard by having you stuck to the school uniform. Granted, there are 4 different uniform types to choose from, but it's still super boring as compared to previous games. The customization options for clothes basically come down to glasses, gloves, shoes, socks, bags, and oversized hats. Seriously, all the hats are oversized and look weird. I know this is just me being spoiled by Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Ultra Moon and Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Legends: Arceus, but I would really like to change out of these stupid red-orange pants and into some jeans.
The Good Things
I liked being able to customize my character immediately upon starting the game. I spent way too long looking at all the face and hair options, but it was honestly worth it to me. I like having a character that actually looks like I want her to look immediately upon starting a game. It's nice.
I love the open world. The reason I've only gotten to the first gym after five hours of playing is testament to how big this world is. I might have spent too long customizing, but I've spent an equal amount of time just running around collecting items and Pokemon. I probably have more Pokemon at this point in the game than I would in any previous generations. There are a lot of familiar Pokemon and new ones to play with. I'm actually surprised at the amount of familiar Pokemon. Was not expecting that.
Just Kind of Meh
So, I'm not really sure how I feel about having the three different storylines to follow at random. I kind of like being able to just follow a storyline from Point A to Point B. It's not bad, exactly, just a little confusing at times. Luckily, the internet is here to help with that if I ever have a hard time making a decision regarding the best order to do things in. Ultimately, it's up to me, but... yeah... I'd like a little more than "Here's all the places you should visit to do this quest line and this one and this one all at once. Have fun!" At least a toggle would be nice. There might be one, but I haven't found it yet.
Terastallizing, Pokemon Scarlet/Violet's battle gimmick. Hmm... I feel like I'm going to be using this gimmick maybe a tad more than I did the last gimmicks, and only because of the different typings you can end up with. Most Pokemon you meet aren't going to have a different Tera-type anyway, so it's mostly just a shiny, tiny-cut-scene power up. I almost got one-shotted by a fricking Teddiursa with a Bug Tera-type (that's the one at the "first" gym, by the way). It has its uses, but I feel like it's another not-strictly-necessary gimmick to try and shake up the Pokemon formula.
The crafting. In Pokemon Scarlet, you have the ability to craft TMs from bits of Pokemon that apparently just drop off them after a battle. Literally things like Igglybuff Fluff. The thing is, I never really use TMs. Like, maybe once in a while. Maybe. I don't remember using them in the recent games at all. So... basically I'm just gonna have a bag full of Pokemon parts for no reason. I'd really like to craft something OTHER than TMs.
In Conclusion
The 5 hours I've sunk into Pokemon Scarlet have been fun. I look forward to my first day off since getting the game. It's gonna be fun to actually immerse myself without much of a time limit.
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