Pokemon Scarlet And Violet Being Slammed For Performance Issues
Hop on Koraidon or Miraidon, as it's time to open up a whole new Pokedex for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Gen 9 is here, and with the first reviews in, it sounds like the latest games might struggle to take on the Elite Four.
There's been a lot of hype surrounding the first open-world Pokemon game, while the starting three of Fuecoco, Quaxly, and Sprigatito have already set out their stalls as fan-favourites.
Sadly, as the critics get their hands on Paldea, it sounds like Pokemon Scarlet and Violet is being dragged back to the Stone Age by pitiful performance. Even Sonic Frontiers is doing better than this.
What Are Critics Saying About Pokemon Scarlet And Violet?
Although the first critical scores have praised Scarlet and Violet for living up to the promise of being the biggest Pokemon games ever, some have called them out for being "unplayable" at points.
Over on Polygon, the site reports that three different journalists got to play the games ahead of time, with all three calling out performance. Describing a "range of performance issues across 20-40 hours," the biggest problems included clipping and invisible Pokemon.
If this wasn't enough, Polygon called out "stunted performance, like rough, almost stop motion-like frame rates and infrequent crashing at key moments."
IGN's review in progress gave Scarlet and Violet a largely positive reception but cited "grievously poor performance that has come along with it significantly mars this otherwise exciting design evolution."
GamesRadar added that Scarlet and Violet is "impacted as it is by technical issues, mechanical oversights, and a lack of vision." The Guardian's Tom Regan gave the worst critiques and branded it "one of the worst looking and performing games I've ever played" - still, he awarded it 3/5.
Can We Fix Pokemon Scarlet And Violet?
It's possible these issues could be ironed out pretty simply with updates, although the day-one patch apparently doesn't do much to rectify Scarlet and Violet's already mottled debut.
Nintendo Life's Alex Olney says he isn't confident that Game Freak will deliver this, meaning Scarlet and Violet will likely remain something of a blot on the Switch's report card.
Elsewhere, others say the lacklustre performance specs of Scarlet and Violet will reignite those rumours of a Switch 2/Switch Pro. Well, let's be honest that it's probably overdue.
The problem is, if new-gen giants like Scarlet and Violet are outgrowing the Switch, does The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom face the same fate?
Since Pokemon Red and Green launched in Japan in 1996, we've had a steady release of titles. Unfortunately, Scalret and Violet only hammer home the fears we'll never return to highs like Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver.
