Another day, another bugged open world. That’s right: the latest disastrous release in the video game industry has affected none other than Game Freak, developer of Pokémon , which has released one of the worst installments in the saga: Pokémon Scarlet and Violet . The game is riddled with technical problems, including poor performance, GameCube graphics, and a hilarious gallery of bugs that have become a mine of memes for critics of the series: misshapen characters, cheeky pop-up, characters that sneaking out of bounds collision, and all sorts of surreal visuals reminiscent of the good old days of Assassin’s Creed Unity.
In short: Pokémon is the new Cyberpunk 2077. A release far in advance of the actual completion of the game, which has resulted in a poor quality and incomplete product, probably caused by the desire to release the game before the end of the year holidays. Things have gotten so bad, that for the first time in franchise history, Nintendo is offering refunds to angry gamers, although, this being Nintendo, the process is far from easy for the consumer. However, the real disaster is that, despite all of the above, the game has sold ten million units, and has positioned itself as a success for the company, which will simply result in the Pokémon games being this poor. in the future.
However, what is most concerning is seeing fans defending this poor work by Game Freak. It’s been all over the place, including people saying that, unlike Cyberpunk and Assassin’s Creed , Pokémon is for “real gamers” who don’t care about frills like graphics and performance. Others say that as long as the mechanics are right, the other details are secondary. This attitude of irrational fanboyism is not only wrong and ridiculous, but it can cause a spiral that ends up destroying the franchise.
Indeed, if one thinks of Game Freak’s past products, they were characterized by impeccable performance and the illusion of at least not having major bugs during launch. On the other hand, the problem with the graphics is not so much the technical advance, but rather poor and soulless art direction and design, as well as a generic design. The problem with focusing on criticizing AAA games and giving Pokémon a “free pass”for being a relatively small study in comparison consists of the fact that Pokémon sells numbers comparable to those of the big studies, so, at least, they do not lack money. In general, Game Freak is expected to sell simple titles with simple graphics, aimed at children and nostalgic, with classic and well-tested mechanics. Although Scarlet and Violet’s mechanics are still effective, every other aspect makes the experience unplayable. On the other hand, it is not that Pokémon Scarlet and Violet looks bad graphically against Cyberpunk or ELDEN RING . The game looks bad against The Legend of Zelda, Xenoblade Chronicle and Super Mario, games on your own console. It is a real disaster.
In summary, I personally believe that the real tragedy is that a part of the fans is giving up demanding quality, choosing a defensive attitude to differentiate Pokémon from other similar disasters that have occurred in the world of AAA titles. A defense that was to be expected, but that is totally harmful. On the other hand, there are rumors that The Pokémon Company and Nintendo will be forced to make a radical change in Game Freak, or look for a studio that does know how to make open world titles. Whatever the outcome, the only way to raise the bar for Pokémon is to be critical and demand upgrades. The alternative is for one of video game’s greatest franchises to become a mockery, as other disgraced properties have.
