Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are fantastic, but the future of Pokemon games is a reason for worry

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are an interesting twist on the 26-year-old Pokemon formula, but this is the second game in a row plagued by release bugs.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet were released almost two weeks ago to eager fans and Pokemon trainers. Within three days of its release, it sold 10 million copies, making it the fastest-selling Pokemon game of all time. That said, there's no denying the game launched in a pitiful state, and players should be more concerned about the future of their favorite franchise.

Pokemon is the most profitable franchise in the world. With multiple TV series, a slew of films, near-annual video game releases, and a trading card game crammed with adorable pocket monsters, it's no surprise that Pokemon dominates markets in nearly every country on the planet. Pokemon, a 1996 franchise, has also been one of the best games for bridging generations; I can bond with 30-year-olds and 4-year-olds alike over how cute Pikachu is, or that heartbreaking time Ash was turned to stone. This franchise's ability to bring disparate people together is truly magical.

Pokemon is my favorite game. For years, I've been a fan of Pokemon. But Pokemon Scarlet and Violet frighten me more than any other release in the series' 26-year history. Pokemon Sword and Shield was not a fun time, but it performed well and was well received. Finally, I don't expect to connect with every Pokemon game ever created, and that's fine with me. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are an entirely different case, with fresh, innovative gameplay in a vibrant open-world that runs at 5fps, horrendous pop-in, and Pokemon 

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet shipping in this condition is a huge shame and a huge disservice to fans. Sure, Pokemon fans (including myself) will buy anything you put in front of them, and this isn't going to change anytime soon. But does that give the developer and publisher the authority to release a game in this condition? No.

It's concerning that Game Freak and Nintendo let a game perform this poorly slip through the QA cracks. Since the series' inception, we've gotten new mainline games every two to three years, with remakes and spin-offs thrown in to fill the gaps and give Game Freak time to work on the big generational leaps. Given how poorly Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's technical performance is (a trend that began with Pokemon Legends: Arceus), I believe Game Freak will struggle to keep up with this demand. Not without some significant changes.

The gameplay in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet is fantastic. The most powerful Pokemon in years. This gives me hope that future games will be as innovative and accessible to newcomers as they are to veterans. Introducing new elements to keep the series' heart beating, while retaining everything that red and blue kids adore. But, unless something changes with Game Freak's development process - or, possibly, Nintendo's release schedule - I'm afraid we'll see more broken games in the future. As if we haven't seen enough of them in recent years.

Scarlet and Violet aren't the only game that showed promise but failed to deliver; we all saw The Callisto Protocol's Steam reviews plummet last week, the state of Battlefield 2042 last year, and dare I say, Cyberpunk 2077 the year before that. Pokemon is an enigma in the sense that its reputation will hardly be tainted by Scarlet and Violet's performance issues, and that is the most frightening aspect of all of this: if Game Freak, Nintendo, and The Pokemon Company see no repercussions for this, will games continue to be delivered quickly, at the expense of their quality? If Arceus has taught us anything, it is that... yes.

Many players have blamed the Nintendo Switch's hardware for this, and I present to you The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. A visually stunning game with fluid, performant gameplay that runs flawlessly on the console. That was released no less than five years ago. Do you require additional proof? Consider ports of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and DOOM (2016), both of which run better on the console than Pokemon Scarlet and Violet - a native game!

I'm not urging for Pokemon fans to boycott the franchise; that would be unrealistic. After all, I paid for the game and have had a great time with it. However, I believe that everyone should be aware of the series' future and concerned about it. What incentive is there for Pokemon to ensure that its future games launch in a better condition if Pokemon Scarlet and Violet can release in this horribly broken state, sell millions upon millions of copies, and still receive rave reviews? What message is this sending to other developers?

Nintendo did release a patch for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet last week that allowed NPCs to run at a few more frames per second, but in my experience, it didn't make any significant differences in performance. However, the publisher stated that "we take feedback from players seriously and are working on improvements to the games." This is significant because Nintendo is notoriously quiet.

Let's hope that by taking player feedback seriously, the Pokemon game development team will put a little more time or manpower into the development of future games in the series, rather than continuing to push broken games into the mouths of hungry Pokemon players. The community has made enough noise this time around that maybe - just maybe - the next Pokemon game will learn from these mistakes, and Game Freak will do everything in its power to make the next entry in the esteemed series the best... like no one ever was.

Credit: vg247