First Thoughts on PKMN Scarlet

I have been playing Pokemon since the first Red, and Blue games arrived in America. My first game was technically Blue, but it was stolen from me at a KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken), and then I played through the Red version.

So in honor of my first Red Version (and because it has a female professor), I decided to play Pokemon Scarlet. 

Here are a 'Gen-Onner's thoughts on the new Pokemon Scarlet game. 

Initial Thoughts

So my nephew, who also bought the game, warned my husband and me about a few of the game's shortcomings while reassuring us that it was still pretty good. 

One of the things I was most worried about was the Day 1 "update" that almost all new Pokemon games come with now. It's almost as if they don't want to ship us a completed game and immediately need to patch it to complete it. 

But luckily, unliked Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, it took only 15-25 minutes to download the update. So good for them. I prefer to play my new game on the release date. 

This game is slow as heck! 

When the game first starts, you need to do more than mash the A button to get through the preliminary dialogue. You know the one, "welcome to the world of pokemon, blah blah blah."

The game has to finish its thought, and THEN it lets you move on to the next bit of dialogue. Speedrunners will have a blast with this (/sarcasm).

Yay, I get to customize my character!

Following the Alola games (and other recent Pokemon titles such as Legends of Arceus), you can pick out of six character models at the beginning of the game. 

The 'wow' factor came when the next option was to customize the hair of the character, which generally wouldn't be allowed until you get to the first town (or when you are 3 hours in). So it was a nice change to have such a large array of styles and colors to choose from to make your character your own. 

**You could also change other facial features, but I may have mashed the 'A' button past all the different customization options. After watching several let's plays, I realized that you can customize the eye color.

The settings for Pokemon Scarlet are weird.

One of the first things I do in Pokemon games is changing the settings. 

The obvious change I wanted was the text speed because if I can't button-mash my way through his game, I'll speed up the text to help me out. 

However, other settings were missing.

Why couldn't I change my game to 'set' mode?

Set mode is one of those settings you usually can always toggle on and off so that trainers don't loudly announce to you what Pokemon they will send out next. 

There also was no setting to remove in-game animations. 

They just wanted to make this game as unfriendly to speedrunners as possible, huh?

Why Do Mom and the Director Want to Kick Me Out?

After the introductory cut scene, you go downstairs and meet your in-game mom and your in-game pet Pokemon. 

Then the front door opens, and you meet the director of the Pokemon Academy you are enrolled in. I immediately take a liking to him because he has six Premiere balls strapped to him, which means he has excellent taste. 

And then he talks to your mom, and both encourage you to "go to your room" so you can put on your hat and get your things. This is low-key kind of hilarious because when you don't listen to them and go to the couch where they are talking, they keep nudging you to go upstairs so they can "talk" over a cuppa. 

The Obligatory Tutorial Section of Pokemon Scarlet

Once we finally get out of the house, it's time for the next section of the long tutorial section of Pokemon Scarlet. In which we choose our starter and meet our rival. 

This time, picking the starter takes longer than usual because you can't immediately pick one. You have to walk with them to your neighbor's house (and by the size of their house, is mega rich).

Suddenly You Can Run

The way this game introduces the running mechanic is clunky as heck. All throughout the beginning, when I was in my house, I was mashing on the 'B' button like a mad lad trying to speed up my character's walk. 

And then suddenly, almost without any warning (or good animation), my character is given the option to run. 

No change into Running Shoes (which would have been great with the 'putting on the hat sequence). No story reason as to why your character suddenly remembered that they can run; it's just BAM, "congrats, you can run now." 

So many hidden items!

After I unlocked the ability to run, I wandered around and collected the items on the ground. 

These items are noticeable to find due to the red light. This doesn't bother me since I have no time to play 'treasure hunt.' 

And a large number of the items, in the beginning, is great for me since I need all I can have to sell them into the PokeMart to get some Premiere Balls. Because if you didn't already know, for every 10 Pokeballs you buy, you get 1 Premiere Ball. 

Walking in the cave was so annoying!

When you meet the box art Pokemon at the beginning of the game, you must follow it in a janky walking sequence. 

If you get too close, your character awkwardly transitions from running to walking.

And it's a bit annoying to have to stroll behind it because if you get too close, your character's movements jitter and spazz out like they are allergic to the Pokemon. 

You get the Legendary Pokemon immediately?

After a couple of more scenes, you are suddenly given the box art Pokemon. 

And it's like too good to be true. Like even in Alola, when you encounter Cosmog initially, it's not like you get to have it as a part of your party. Or any of the other box art legendaries.

When you go to check your new Pokemon's stats, it doesn't show up as a part of your party, nor does your Rotom deck even acknowledge that you got a new pokemon. When you get the Pokeball, it's put as a Special / Key item. 

Kudos to the Pokemon team; I'm sure they intentionally made this Pokemon confusing as heck. Why else would anyone gift you a rare Pokemon if it wasn't a hot mess? And since the person who gave it to you is the professor's son, it makes sense why he has it. Or had it since he gave it away. 

School Feels like a Dating Simulator

If you played those dating simulator (dating sim) games in which the animation budget is so low, it would use a point-and-click menu for where you want to go... Then you may have felt the same way I did while playing this game.

The Pokemon Academy, Naranja Academy (Orange Academy for those who aren't fluent in Spanish), feels this way to me. You go to homeroom and are given a few options of where to go. 

Each location tells you that you'll meet with someone. Then you have a cutscene between your character and the character who will unlock one of the three available storylines. 

And then the world opens up

My following thoughts on Pokemon Scarlet will be much different than everyone else's at this point of the game onward. 

The reason is that since the region opens up, each person will start playing the game how they want to, and I'm no different. So know that the order I'll address, things I come across will be drastically different than what you will experience.

So in the meantime, I would love to know your thoughts on the latest main series games.

Do you love it? Hate it?