User:DecafPotato/drafts/Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

Pokémon Scarlet (ポケットモンスター スカーレット) and Pokémon Violet (ポケットモンスター バイオレット) are 2022 role-playing video games developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for the Nintendo Switch. Like other Pokémon video games, Scarlet and Violet see players catching and training creatures known as "Pokémon"—the games also introduce new Pokémon and mechanics to the Pokémon gameplay. They are set in the Paldea region of the Pokémon universe, an open world environment in which players can play together in groups of up to four.

Announced in a February 2022 Pokémon Presents, the games released on 18 November 2022.

Gameplay

 * https://www.gamespot.com/articles/pokemon-scarlet-and-violet-everything-we-know/1100-6503795/


 * The player is aided by either Koraidon or Miraidon, legendary Pokémon that are upgraded throughout the game with new abilities—such as swimming and flight—used to aid the player in traversal.

Setting

 * https://www.nintendolife.com/guides/pokemon-scarlet-and-violet-the-great-crater-of-paldea-what-is-area-zero
 * Scarlet and Violet are set in the Paldea region of the Pokémon universe, which is inspired by Spain and Portugal.

Plot

 * https://kotaku.com/pokemon-scarlet-violet-elite-four-rika-fail-league-1849866198 – League interview
 * https://kotaku.com/pokemon-scarlet-violet-how-to-beat-elite-four-larry-1849925183 and https://www.nintendolife.com/guides/pokemon-scarlet-and-violet-how-to-beat-the-elite-four-and-champion – Elite 4 and Champion
 * https://www.eurogamer.net/how-to-beat-nemona-pokemon-scarlet-violet-9015 – Victory Road has regular battles against Nemona
 * https://www.eurogamer.net/how-to-beat-arven-pokemon-scarlet-violet-9015 – battle against Arven during the Path of Legends ending
 * https://www.nintendolife.com/guides/pokemon-scarlet-and-violet-how-to-beat-cassiopeia – battle against Cassiopeia
 * https://www.eurogamer.net/how-defeat-professor-ai-sada-turo-pokemon-scarlet-violet-9015 – AI Sada and Turo

Development

 * https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/12/random-pokemon-scarlet-and-violets-professors-were-designed-by-james-turner – James Turner designed Sada and Turo

Marketing and release

 * https://www.ign.com/articles/pokemon-scarlet-and-pokemon-violet-announced-for-late-2022
 * https://kotaku.com/pokemon-scarlet-and-violet-announced-here-are-the-new-1848599518

Tie-in media

 * https://www.gameinformer.com/2022/12/09/pokemon-trading-card-game-announces-changes-improvements-and-price-increase-for-scarlet

Critical response
According to the review aggregate website Metacritic, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet received "mixed or average reviews".

overall
CNET said that Scarlet and Violet were "the most exciting mainline Pokémon games in years" aside from Legends: Arceus, calling the games "a substantial leap for a franchise known for small steps", and saying that they are "rock solid, but lack the fine-tuning of an all-time great".

gameplay
CNET said that the Gym Tests weren't "[weren't] egregious, but [weren't] satisfying either", and that the Star Barrages were "not the worst, but not particularly fun either". They said that while Terastallization was "dazzling", it failed to make Pokémon battles significantly more interesting.

open world
CNET favourably compared the experience of Scarlet and Violet 's open world to that of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017), saying that while the ability to complete certain objectives out of order caused "slight issues", the freedom of the open world was "worth it".

story
CNET disliked the game's dialogue, calling it "dry" and saying that it "reliably halt[ed] momentum", and that the "plodding interactions [...] induce correspondingly larger groans" with more interesting exploration.

characters
CNET said that while "some of the Gym Leaders are cute, [...] the vast majority of [characters] have the depth of cardboard cutouts", and that the lack of voice acting made certain cutscenes "almost comically ineffective".

performance
CNET said that the Nintendo Switch was "seemingly not powerful enough to handle the scope of what Game Freak envisioned", leading to a variety of technical problems. They felt that the frame rate in certain areas was "bad enough to make the player want to spend as little time as necessary in these locales". They said that while the performance did not prevent the games from being "a net positive", it "came close".


 * https://www.metacritic.com/game/switch/pokemon-scarlet
 * https://www.metacritic.com/game/switch/pokemon-violet
 * https://www.gamespot.com/articles/review-roundup-for-pokemon-scarlet-and-violet/1100-6509235/
 * https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/pokemon-violet-is-now-the-lowest-rated-main-pokemon-game-on-metacritic/
 * https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/11/round-up-the-reviews-are-in-for-pokemon-scarlet-and-violet


 * https://www.cnet.com/tech/gaming/review-pokemon-scarlet-and-violet-is-too-much-for-the-switch-to-handle/
 * https://kotaku.com/pokemon-scarlet-and-violet-review-nintendo-switch-1849843125
 * https://www.polygon.com/reviews/23462736/pokemon-scarlet-and-violet-review-release-date-nintendo-switch — https://www.polygon.com/23473921/pokemon-scarlet-and-violet-co-op-multiplayer (multiplayer)
 * https://www.eurogamer.net/pokemon-scarlet-and-violet-review-the-ambition-is-betrayed-by-the-performance — https://www.eurogamer.net/digitalfoundry-2022-pokemon-scarlet-and-violet-are-comprehensive-technical-failures (Digital Foundry)
 * https://www.ign.com/articles/pokemon-scarlet-and-violet-review — https://www.ign.com/articles/pokemon-scarlet-and-violet-are-full-of-glaring-technical-problems (technical issues) — https://www.ign.com/videos/pokemon-scarlet-violet-performance-review (performance review)
 * https://www.engadget.com/pokemon-scarlet-and-violet-review-growth-and-growing-pains-140048933.html
 * https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/nintendo-switch/pokemon-scarlet-and-violet
 * https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/pokemon-scarlet-violet-review-a-braviary-new-world/1900-6417994/
 * https://www.gameinformer.com/review/pokemon-scarlet-pokemon-violet/the-struggles-of-evolution
 * https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/pokemon-scarletviolet-for-nintendo-switch
 * https://www.digitalspy.com/tech/a42219724/pokemon-scarlet-violet-review/
 * https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/62271/pokemon-scarlet-and-violet-switch-review
 * https://www.shacknews.com/article/133137/pokemon-scarlet-violet-review-score
 * https://www.gamesradar.com/pokemon-scarlet-violet-review/
 * https://www.videogameschronicle.com/review/pokemon-scarlet-and-violet-are-the-most-feature-rich-entries-in-years/
 * https://www.siliconera.com/review-pokemon-violet-and-scarlet-are-some-truly-rough-gems/
 * https://www.vg247.com/pokemon-scarlet-violet-review-a-super-effective-new-vision-with-painful-performance-woes
 * https://www.cnn.com/cnn-underscored/reviews/pokemon-scarlet-violet
 * https://www.theguardian.com/games/2022/nov/17/pokemon-scarletviolet-review-poor-performance-holds-an-exciting-game-back
 * https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/reviews/pokemon-scarlet-violet-review/ — https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2022/11/18/pokemon-scarlet-violet-graphics-glitches-problems/ (technical issues)
 * https://www.theverge.com/23462858/pokemon-violet-scarlet-review-nintendo-switch — https://www.theverge.com/games/2022/11/18/23461245/pokemon-scarlet-and-violet-rotom-phone-review-pokedex (Rotom Phone)
 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gaming/features/pokemon-scarlet-violet-review-colourful-confusing-creature-catching/
 * https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2022/11/pokemon-scarlet-and-violet-deliver-a-fully-open-world-beset-by-technical-problems/
 * https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/26/23516981/pokemon-violet-scarlet-less-weird-pokerus

Sales

 * https://www.ign.com/articles/pokemon-scarlet-and-violet-sell-over-10-million-units-in-their-first-three-days-and-set-a-nintendo-record


 * https://kotaku.com/pokemon-scarlet-violet-broken-bugs-refund-patch-1849814765
 * https://kotaku.com/pokemon-scarlet-violet-bugs-best-seller-nintendo-switch-1849818749
 * https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/24/23476617/pokemon-scarlet-violet-fastest-selling-nintendo-games