Pokemon Scarlet Proper Review

Okay, so I have now finished the main three Pokemon Scarlet storylines and I'm about to embark on the post-game or whatever. My main take-away is that I've had fun. I haven't encountered many glitches and the game only shut down on me twice. Overall, the most frustrating thing is, as usual with every Pokemon title aside from Pokemon Legends: Arceus, having massively overpowered Pokemon to travel around with in order to complete the Pokedex. Either the Pokemon you want gets caught by the Quick Ball immediately or you pray you don't make it faint with your first and only attack before peppering it with other Pokeballs.

Speaking of Pokeballs, I enjoy how they float in the air when you're catching Pokemon that were flying or floating. I don't know why the mechanics of that just make me smile, but they do. I am also at the point where I might just sell off all the random Pokeballs in my inventory aside from Quick and Ultra Balls. Doubt I'll use any of them... though I guess they do come in handy for Tera Raids. Much shrugging.

So, I have found a real hatred for the battle music that starts playing when the Gym Leaders Terastalize their Pokemon. It's the same music that was used in Pokemon Sword and Shield for the Gigantamaxing. It's gotten stuck in my head, which is extra annoying as there, of course, aren't any words. I hate it and I hope to never hear it again.

Another aspect of game play that I've had a slight issue with is the Mass Outbreaks. I was expecting them to be closer to the Pokemon Legends: Arceus Mass Outbreaks and Massive Mass Outbreaks where the Pokemon would spawn in a clump and keep spawning until the outbreak was over. However, I've visited four separate Mass Outbreaks in Pokemon Scarlet and this was only the case once. In fact, I was confused by the lack of Pokemon at the Outbreak sites. If it wasn't for the map always being in the corner of the screen, I wouldn't have known I was even in the right place! In Pokemon Scarlet, a Mass Outbreak is over once you've defeated or caught (mostly defeated, let's be real) 100 of the Outbreak Pokemon... for which there is no counter and you basically have to either keep track yourself or just guess. You get four notifications during an Outbreak: 1) You've found the Outbreak of (insert Pokemon here), 2) The amount of Pokemon has gone down, 3) The amount of Pokemon has gone down, 4) The Pokemon from the original outbreak are gone. All on the right side of the screen in rather rapidly disappearing notifications. I would have really liked a counter and really liked not to have to run around waiting for respawns.

My last thing is the Champion Assessment Test you have to take before challenging the Elite Four. Thank the universe for the internet because apparently, the answers you give must be correct or you have to take the entire thing again. And lord forbid your answer to wanting to become Champion is "For fun, I guess." Because it is. I have no real convictions about becoming Champion or not, it's gonna happen because I'm the gamer and I know I can beat the Elite Four no problem... especially with ready access to the internet and my boxes. Heck, I prepped a Sylveon and Tatsugiri to battle the last dude right before I battled him. Easy peasy. Seriously, the fact that I had to take a dumb test three times in order to actually do the battling is stupid. I hate it. Hope it doesn't make another appearance in a Pokemon game.

But anyway, as much as this post is complaining about things, I really have been enjoying my Pokemon adventure. Can't wait to see what's in store for the post-game, and maybe actually finish a Pokedex for once... thanks to my brother-in-law. I will probably be doing more Pokemon Scarlet Image Posts as I finish the game. It's just so pretty and amusing at times.