{"id":19071,"date":"2022-11-26T16:46:16","date_gmt":"2022-11-26T16:46:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/11\/26\/pokemon-scarlet-and-violets-technical-issues-are-inexcusable\/"},"modified":"2022-11-26T16:46:16","modified_gmt":"2022-11-26T16:46:16","slug":"pokemon-scarlet-and-violets-technical-issues-are-inexcusable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/11\/26\/pokemon-scarlet-and-violets-technical-issues-are-inexcusable\/","title":{"rendered":"Pok\u00e9mon Scarlet and Violet’s technical issues are inexcusable"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Last week\u2019s launch of Pok\u00e9mon Scarlet\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Violet\u00a0<\/em>was\u2026 rough, to say the least<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Quickly, players took to social media to report all kinds of technical issues with the games, including low-quality textures, choppy framerate and game-breaking glitches.\u00a0As the tech gurus over at\u00a0<\/a>Digital Foundry\u00a0<\/em><\/a>put it,\u00a0Scarlet\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Violet<\/em> are \u201ccomprehensive technical failures.\u201d<\/p>\n

And yet,\u00a0Scarlet\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Violet\u00a0<\/em>sold 10 million copies in their first three days<\/a>, setting a record for a Nintendo game debut. What\u2019s more, many have said they simply don\u2019t care because they\u2019re enjoying the open-world games. Honestly, this has all been incredibly disappointing to see because, quite frankly, it\u2019s inexcusable that these games are in such an abysmal state.<\/p>\n

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oof the reviews arent kidding about the terrible performance #PokemonScarletViolet<\/a> #NintendoSwitch<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/0oDvYQmMqV<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 cherrim @ pkmn scarlet (@Cherrim) November 17, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Since the games have come out, I\u2019ve seen a few excuses thrown around. The most common one has been to blame the Nintendo Switch itself. After all, the nearly six-year-old console is underpowered compared to other gaming hardware. But that\u2019s only part of the picture, and two things can be true at once.<\/p>\n

Yes, the Switch is dated, but that also doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t still do impressive things on it. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild<\/em>, a Switch launch title, had a big open-world yet didn\u2019t suffer from the same technical issues. Or look at Xenoblade Chronicles 3<\/em><\/a>, which launched earlier this year on Switch, features a sprawling explorable setting and while looking and running far better than Scarlet\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Violet<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe Switch isn\u2019t powerful enough!\u201d<\/p>\n

Pok\u00e9mon vs Xenoblade: pic.twitter.com\/zoagXN32bI<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Marquiz (@marqui_zzz) November 17, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Digital Foundry <\/em>even wrote extensively <\/a>about how impressed it was with developer Monolith Soft\u2019s optimization work on the Xenoblade <\/em>threequel, which is also up for Game of the Year at The Game Awards. Ultimately, this isn\u2019t even a question of being some sort of graphics snob \u2014 it\u2019s simply expecting a game that plays decently well. You know, buying something and having it actually work properly. And that\u2019s the thing \u2014 Nintendo is, on the whole, one of the best in the business for that. Part of the reason why games like Mario<\/em>,\u00a0Zelda\u00a0<\/em>or even, say, this year\u2019s Kirby and the Forgotten Land<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>are so well-regarded is that they\u2019re incredibly polished. When you buy a Nintendo exclusive, that normally means high-quality \u2014 except, it seems, when it comes to Pok\u00e9mon<\/em>.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also the fact that Game Freak should<\/em> be better than this. If you didn\u2019t know, Pok\u00e9mon<\/em> is the\u00a0highest-grossing media franchise\u00a0of all time<\/em><\/a>. We\u2019re talking bigger than Marvel, DC, Star Wars or Harry Potter. It\u2019s not unreasonable, then, to expect better. In fact, it makes it all the more embarrassing that we see smaller developers with far less in the way of budgets or resources working on Switch exclusives who are nonetheless able to avoid releasing Scarlet<\/em>\u2013 and Violet<\/em>-level of broken games.<\/p>\n

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I fuckin wheezed, what is happening #PokemonScarletViolet<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/aY42izsV6A<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Phoenixrave (@PhoenixRaves) November 18, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019ve also basically seen excuses like \u201cwell, it\u2019s fun<\/a>\u201d or \u201coh, it\u2019s a kid\u2019s game and my daughter likes it, so it\u2019s fine,\u201d which are likewise baffling. So many games are both fun and for kids that also just work<\/em> \u2014 see practically every Nintendo first-party game, like the aforementioned Mario. Part of the brilliance of the company\u2019s games is also that they have universal, all-ages appeal, so trying to diminish that only for Pok\u00e9mon\u00a0<\/em>simply makes no sense. It also ignores how many adults no doubt still play the series. That\u2019s also to say nothing of the many other \u201cfun kids games\u201d that simply aren\u2019t as sloppy as Scarlet\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Violet<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Only with Pok\u00e9mon<\/em> do we get these sorts of caveats. For months, Sonic Frontiers\u00a0<\/em>was lambasted for looking rough-around-the-edges<\/a>, but that\u2019s okay since the hedgehog is everyone\u2019s favourite punching bag. People may have disappointingly forgotten it<\/a>, but CD Projekt Red was rightfully mired in controversy over a disastrous Cyberpunk 2077\u00a0<\/em>launch. The little indie team of Hello Games was eviscerated for mishandling\u00a0No Man\u2019s Sky<\/em><\/a>. I could go on. But with Pok\u00e9mon<\/em>, people don\u2019t seem to care. Why do we hold other developers, even indies, to a higher standard than the company behind the literal biggest media franchise of all time? And because people looked past Scarlet\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Violet<\/em>\u2018s issues and gave Game Freak record-breaking sales, it sends the message that such shoddiness is acceptable. Why even put in the work to polish something when you\u2019ve been told it\u2019s unneeded?<\/p>\n

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\u308f\u3089\u304b\u3059\u306awww #\u30dd\u30b1\u30e2\u30f3SV<\/a> #NintendoSwitch<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/snIvUiuIZa<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 RHG\/\u30ab\u30e0\u5b50\u306e\u751f\u8db3\u7f8e\u811a\u30c9\u30ea\u30eb\uff01? (@namaashibikyaku) November 17, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

To be clear, I\u2019m not calling individual Game Freak developers lazy. They no doubt work very hard on these games and developers would obviously want to release the best game possible. Instead, it would almost certainly be, as is usually the case, an issue on the business side of things. I have no insider knowledge, but it certainly reminds me of a similar issue that we\u2019ve seen with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where the content is being churned out at such a fast rate that individual titles suffer. In the same way that VFX studios simply can\u2019t keep up with that pace<\/a>, it seems as though Game Freak \u2014 which has maintained an annual release pattern and also had Pok\u00e9mon Legends: Arceus<\/em><\/a> this year \u2014 might have been spread too thin.<\/p>\n

I also absolutely don\u2019t fault anyone for liking Pok\u00e9mon<\/em>. While the series has been far too creatively stagnant for me, personally, there\u2019s nothing wrong with playing and enjoying Scarlet\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Violet<\/em>. What I find troublesome is that people so willing to go to bat for a billion-dollar corporation. You can simultaneously have fun with this first true open-world Pok\u00e9mon\u00a0<\/em>game while also not excusing its issues. The nostalgia some have for Pok\u00e9mon<\/em> is almost unparalleled, and it apparently prevents many from even remotely criticizing any of the series\u2019 games.<\/p>\n

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The bugs in Pok\u00e9mon Scarlet\/Violet are amazing. pic.twitter.com\/0awP4jA4bR<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 David Toons (@DavidToons_) November 19, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That said, it has been nice to see some people more appropriately critical of the games. On top of Digital Foundry<\/em>, it was nice to see\u00a0IGN<\/em>\u2018s Rebekah Valentine<\/a> both praise the core design and call out Game Freak for the \u201cnumerous ways in which Scarlet <\/em>and Violet<\/em> feel deeply unfinished.\u201d And some people on Twitter, when they\u2019re not excusing the issues or simply laughing at them<\/a>, have expressed similar statements. I just hope people remember all of this come next year\u2019s inevitable\u00a0Pok\u00e9mon\u00a0<\/em>game and hold Game Freak to even a slightly higher standard.<\/p>\n

Image credit: Nintendo (via @t_a_b_e_r_u<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n