Day 103

Day 103:

Now that I know that this isn't going to be published in a book, I do feel I have more freedom over what I can actually write. We may even be able to cover some more controversial topics. With that in mind, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet! Yes, I'm really pushing the boat out here. I'm going to spread this piece over two days; one day discussing the bad, and the other discussing the good. Let's start, as it's always best to, with the bad news.

I don't recall the release of a game that has divided both critical and fan opinion as much as the 9th generation of Pokemon. I will keep this spoiler-free for those who haven't played it, but try to phrase things so that people who have played it will know what I'm talking about. Some outlets and many fans have said that this is the best Pokemon experience ever released: it's fundamental changes to the linear formula of the last 26 years have propelled the franchise into the modern age of gaming, as well as showcasing one of the best stories ever told in a Pokemon game. Meanwhile, others have slammed it for being so glitchy, broken and unfinished that any chance of it reaching this new audience is gone, and for irreparably damaging the reputations of Game Freak and Nintendo. This view is the one that has made most of the headlines, with huge numbers of fans demanding that Nintendo give them refunds for selling them a faulty product, and then actually receiving them. To put into context just how large the backlash has been, IGN (one of the largest video game review platforms in the world) gave Scarlet and Violet a 6/10 rating. Granted, the numbers don't mean much, but they make a statement, and are the thing that everybody at least glances at. For a main series Pokemon game, an 8 would be seen as a huge disappointment. A 7, that would be an insult. 

It was not all that long ago when Pokemon Scarlet and Violet were first announced. My first reaction was excitement, which was quickly overshadowed by concern. "Sword and Shield was only a few years ago, and the released Legends: Arceus so recently that I haven't even gotten around to it yet*. I hope they aren't rushing it out, the quality will suffer, and that would be awful." This fear was shared by those I spoke to about it, but I chose to believe in the teams working on the game. "It's Nintendo, it's Pokemon. They can't screw this up." So I placed my pre-order. I saw pre-release footage, and my fears grew. It didn't look great, in the edited pre-release videos. What would the actual game be like? But I chose to believe in them. Knowing who 'they' are is an important distinction to make, one which will likely be missed by younger and more casual fans. The company that develops (most) Pokemon games is 'Game Freak', and they have been doing so since Red and Blue in 1996. Nintendo are the publisher of Pokemon, but their brand recognition is so great, that they are inextricably linked to Pokemon. They have also worked so closely with Game Freak for so long, that they almost certainly have some role in development. In any case, to a vast amount of people, 'Pokemon' games are 'Nintendo' games.

When our pre-orders arrived on release day, me and my boyfriend fired up our respective games together (I had Scarlet), and our worst fears were confirmed. My first vivid memory of the game was attempting to walk down the stairs in my character's house, only to be met with an ugly and stupid-looking animation, in which the character didn't bend their knees to take the steps. Instead, they were leaning forward at a near 45-degree angle, and walked down them in a way that defied gravity, anatomy and reason. Unfortunately, this set the tone for the graphical quality of the game. We walked outside, seeing sweeping wide shots of trees that were made up of about 4 textures, people that juddered like some A.I robot as they walked down the half-rendered street, and almost pitiful framerates. We both agreed, it was awful, almost unplayable. We spent a lot of the evening reading the pre-release reviews, and being baffled by the people who had given it perfect scores. "How can they claim it's the best Pokemon game ever? It doesn't even work!" I imagine that, for many, this is as far as their experience with the game went. They got a refund or traded it in, and turned to something else.

While I don't believe Nintendo has said anything publicly on the matter, I'm confidently speculating that Nintendo pushed Game Freak hard to meet this deadline, and knowingly sacrificed technical quality in order to meet it. It would have been impossible for them to not know how bad the problems were, no matter how blinded by love or commitment they were. In turning a blind eye, they have tarnished a reputation for technical excellence that they had spent more than 40 years building. The 'Nintendo Seal of Quality' seems to be a distant memory, and I've even seen a serious outlet show concern about the quality of the next Zelda game, which isn't even developed by 'Game Freak'. In recent years (and especially since Reggie Fils-Amié stepped down as President/COO of Nintendo of America), there have been more cases where Nintendo has dropped the ball on delivering the quality that it is known for. But this isn't a "Whoops, I just released Nintendo Switch Sports!" 

This is on a whole new level. This is genuinely, financially damaging, and the full impact of it won't be known for years. It has damaged the company's brand, and the image of the biggest-selling media franchise of all time. After the storm has calmed down a bit, I wouldn't be surprised to see a few senior heads at Nintendo quietly stepping down. Spare a thought for the Game Freak developers, who know that they are better than this, and probably were capable of releasing a game of this size in a far better state. Of course, there are other problems, like questionable builds for major bosses, environments full of people that you can't talk to, among many other things. However, these are all issues that could've been addressed if they had more time. But they never got the chance, which is a real shame. 

Because they have created, in narrative, thematic terms, what might just be the greatest Pokemon game ever made...

(To be continued)

*It's important to remember that I had not, and have not, played Legends: Arceus. From what I hear, it was far more polished and had better technical performance. Not having seen what Game Freak can do may be causing some bias*.