Pokemon’s been shifting away from the “third game” formula for a while now. This change is old enough that I feel I need to explain: Pokemon used to release two versions of a game, and then a year or so later, bring forth a third version that combined elements of the previous two, along with some improvements. Red/Blue (Red/Green in Japan) was followed by Yellow, and the streak went all the way until Black/White saw direct sequels instead.
After that, X/Y failed to have an updated rerelease, and Sun/Moon tried a double-rerelease, but now Sword/Shield’s typical DLC offering seems to be the way forward, as Scarlet/Violet are following suit.
I loved the DLC for Shield, especially the Isle of Armor, and I hope an overhaul like that comes for Pokemon Scarlet. Because Scarlet needs it way more than Shield did.
A lot of people on Twitter like to call anyone who says something positive about Pokemon a “Gamefreak Apologist,” which is about as attention-grabbing as it sounds. Some of these people have moved on since Scarlet/Violet and Legends: Arceus were received well, although having to pay $8 a month to get attention anymore has probably helped thin the herd.
The funny thing is, I’m closer to an actual Gamefreak apologist than many who have had that term thrown at them. Up until Scarlet. I did not have a good time with that one. I’m big enough to admit I got a huge kick out of Let’s Go Pikachu and even Pokemon Quest, but we’ll be sticking with how I preferred Pokemon Shield for today, as I truly feel there are things it did that Scarlet failed to do, and with Scarlet’s DLC on the horizon, it’s a good time to admit those feelings and well as state my hopes for what these DLCs offerings can and should fix.
That also means this isn’t the place for to debate graphics. Scarlet’s busted framerate bothered me, sure, but we already have a piece on here about how inexcusably Scarlet runs on Switch, so I’m going to skip ahead to praising Shield instead!
Pokemon Shield gave you just a touch more free space in a world map than usual, still limiting which Pokemon you could catch based on your badges, and it had a much lighter focus on story compared to Sun/Moon, up until the climax. I was happy with all these things, aside from the twist villain, who felt like a copy-paste from Sun and Moon but far less effective. All Pokemon games have the same rough structure, but each game does try to be specific to itself, and Shield feels like a fun adventure more than anything else.
Some players missed the grander story, but as someone who also loved Black and Moon, I don’t need every Pokemon game to give me a story. My favorite bit of base Sword was how Leon would quietly handle the world-ending nonsense in the background, so much so that I wish it had stayed that way! Just imagine if at the very end before your final challenge, Leon told you, “Hey sorry for the wait! You won’t believe what I had to take care of!” instead of you having to save the world again. But players seem to miss how previous games felt like Gamefreak was crafting better stories, and the DLCs proved they listened to criticism.
The Isle of Armor contains the best-written rival and gives them a surprisingly effective story arc (Avery in my case; Sword players got the poison-type baddie). I got more attached to Urshifu than my whole original team. I didn’t expect too much from Crown Tundra, as I was tired of the nearly countless legendaries from previous entries, but the DLC streamlined that process while still varying the challenges to prevent boredom. Then there’s Peony and Peonia, who were just plain adorable, as well as giving a quick little secret look into the backstory of the twist villain for players who dived deeper.
Shield was a Pokemon game that I enjoyed, but the DLC bumped it up to one that I loved. This means the next DLC needs to be transformative for Scarlet; moreso in fact.
My main beef with Scarlet is how Gamefreak finally listened to the concerns that its games weren’t innovative enough. As a dirty Gamefreak apologist, Pokemon staying in its lane was fine with me, as the games provided a special something that only they could. I’ve played other monster-taming games, and even the ones I love just don’t have that je ne seis quoi. And Pokemon getting rid of that to be a basic vanilla open-world is not the change I wanted in this world!
The three main stories for Scarlet are all good on paper; Nemona’s positive yet bloodthirsty encouragement brings a new incentive behind the gym badges, Arven’s hunt for the Titans is emotionally powerful the longer it goes on, and the leaders of Team Star are, in all seriousness, the closest thing to something I did want, as I’ve felt Pokemon games don’t need real villains anymore for a good few generations.
But as an open-world game, these stories got juggled with each other, since you were supposed to drop one to move on to something else instead of finishing the strand, due to an uneven use of level capping. It’s disjointed and not helped by the game never fully telling you which way to go; you just rely on descriptions from the map. A map that felt like it needed more time in the oven.
I liked going to class and bonding with the teachers, but only some rewarded you, while others were just something to check off the list of things to do. And don’t talk to me about Professor Saguaro! Hours wasted for a Picnic Cup that isn’t even as cute as the Pikachu one!
But, DLC could fix these issues. A shorter story can mean something more contained and less disjointed. We’ve also already seen that the first DLC will allow you to change out of the mandatory school outfit that players got sick of, so again, whatever you may think of the developers, they are quick to listen to criticism. Framerate issues could be mitigated by these new areas being in a different map zone, and considering the framerate still isn’t fixed, that one’s needed. And the Indigo Disk shows a new academy, so more classes? Hey, sign me up! Just don’t utter the phrase “Sweet Herba Mystica”.
Am I excited for the DLC? Not exactly. I tend to only care about DLC when I like the main game. But I write guides over here and am a Gamefreak apologist, so I’ll be playing the Scarlet versions of the DLC and do hope that the quality will be as transformative as the Isle Of Armor and Crown Tundra were. I think there’s reason to be excited, as Pokemon is trying to stay fresh, and one massive bump in the road isn’t going to completely kill my interest in the future. I am hoping for a return to form, so I’m not hopeless at the very least.
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