Pokémon Scarlet &a; Violet

"Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are great games mired by a host of technical issues."

"It&s;s a smaller step than many may have hoped for, especially considering what Pokémon Legends: Arceus did, but it&s;s definitely one in the right direction."

"Pokemon Scarlet &a; Violet is more than the sum of its parts. Those parts include the woeful performance and optimization problems, which are a real drag – but much of the rest of the title soars so high that it …"

"Pokemon Scarlet and Violet take the long-awaited step into a fully open-world, but one poorly implemented and marred by frustration. A compelling story and characters are a saving grace in what is ultimately a fun game, but Pokemon&s;s attempts at …"

"Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are big and ambitious and bold, but it&s;s hard not to imagine what they could have been if they’d just been given a little more time to cook."

"Pokémon Scarlet and Violet capture all the magic of the past and merge it with the improvements of the future, resulting in two fresh installments with very good ideas. The graphics is still their biggest weakness, but they shine so …"

"Despite technical shortcomings and some filler content, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are chock-full of meaningful additions to one of gaming’s most popular franchises. At worst, these games are steps towards the Pokémon games for which players have clamored, but more …"

"The ninth generation of Nintendo&s;s popular series gives players a huge free-to-roam world brimming with weird little guys to catch. Read on."

"Slightly above average or simply inoffensive. Fans of the genre should enjoy them a bit, but a fair few will be left unfulfilled."

"Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are an ambitious attempt to take the Pokemon franchise open world, but they fail to live up to expectations."

"A significant advancement on Pokémon Sword and Shield and while it&s;s not hard to see how it could be improved further this is the most ambitious and entertaining Pokémon has been in a long while."

"Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are ambitious new entries in the franchise that are held back by abysmal performance issues."

"That’s where I stand with Scarlet and Violet. It’s got the trappings of a great Pokémon game, but I think this is most certainly a learning experience for both the players and the developers. Hopefully, the next generation will improve …"

"Slightly above average or simply inoffensive. Fans of the genre should enjoy them a bit, but a fair few will be left unfulfilled."

"Scarlet and Violet offer some great new ideas for the Pokémon franchise, ruined by a world that seems very rushed and unfinished."

"Pokémon Scarlet and Violet&s;s open-world pivot is exactly what the series needed, though poor tech holds back its true potential."

"Pokémon&s;s first fully open-world title has a lot of ideas but never quite manages to stick the landing with any of them"

"Pokemon Scarlet &a; Violet&s;s open-world approach reinvigorates the long-running series."

"Scarlet and Violet is a pair of obviously rushed products that look so much poorer for following an excellent refreshment in Pokémon Legends: Arceus. Regressive and outmoded, the ninth Pokémon generation still boasts some enjoyable content but I couldn’t in …"

"Pokemon Scarlet and Violet feel like the awkward second evolution of one of its starters. It&s;s growing into something resplendent, it&s;s showing signs of an exciting second type, but it&s;s got that weird vibe of a 20-something that hasn&s;t quite …"

"Unfortunately, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet didn’t get the development time they deserved. It’s hard to see a franchise that means so much to me finally start heading in the right direction only to come up short. I sincerely hope that …"

"Pokémon Scarlet and Violet give you more choices than ever before. In exchange, it expects you to adapt to its half-baked open world and mostly optional new features. These latest games aren’t the great leap forward from Pokémon Legends: Arceus …"

""The open world inherently changes so much for the series that it needed a total ground-up rethink of the mechanics""

"Every decision Scarlet and Violet make are good ones. The huge expansion and changes to the single player campaign are great, the size of the world and the joy of exploration are the best in the series, and the new …"

"Pokemon Scarlet and Violet is an audacious experiment toward the franchise&s;s future and hosts a lot of potential to grow into something that changes everything we know about Pokemon for the better. It has a lot of issues in performance …"

"While Pokémon Scarlet and Violet may not be a perfect experience, it&s;s still an absolute delight in almost every way."

"Pokemon Scarlet &a; Violet are a stunning glimpse into the future of the Pokemon video game series. Ambitious gameplay and thoughtful narratives create an experience that stands above prior titles. With performance patches to improve the games’ stability, this could …"

"An interesting reworking of the traditional Pokémon gameplay for an open-world setting brought low by its lifeless environments and graphics"

"Pokémon Scarlet and Violet adds a number of changes to the classic Pokémon formula, and most of them pay off, particularly the auto-battles, vast open world, and the three distinct storylines. The games do suffer from performance and stability issues, …"

"Ultimately, these games were the result of Game Freak and Nintendo taking a risk and giving the fans something they&s;ve been begging for over a long while. It tries to mix Legends: Arceus with the main series, and it half-succeeds. …"

"Pokémon Scarlet and Violet largely deliver the open-world RPG experience fans barely dared dream of for decades, with a huge, lively map and a surprisingly-engaging trio of stories nicely complementing the franchise’s rock-solid core mechanics. Yes, the game has more …"

"Graphics aren&s;t everything and buggy releases are nothing new, but for Nintendo to release its golden calf in this condition is a big disappointment. The foundation still entertains greatly, and a couple of new clever touches elevate the adventure above …"

"Pokémon Scarlet and Violet jump between future and past, like their cover monsters. A freely explorable Open World but unable to performing well and killing all the new good ideas. It&s;s a classic from Game Freak, a place where every …"

"How proud one feels to know that one belongs to a place that is seen with such beauty from the outside. Long live Pokémon... Long live Game Freak and the mother who gave birth to them."

"The open-world gameplay of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is a brilliant direction for the future of the franchise, but this promising shift is sabotaged by the numerous ways in which Scarlet and Violet feel deeply unfinished."

"Unfortunately, the performance is so abruptly bad that it completely ruins, to an infuriating extent, what otherwise could have been the best Pokemon game to date."

"Technical problems and an evident lack of development time take the shine off this ambitious new outing for the world-conquering critters"