The Nintendo Switch 2 finally lets the world see what many Pokemon fans already knew: Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are the definitive best games in the series’ history.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s very real performance and stability issues at their launch overshadowed the radical gains they made from a gameplay perspective. For some, the bugs and poor frame rate were just too much to handle. For others, they were a mere speed bump on the path through the game’s story.
Regardless, all of those issues have been ironed out on the Nintendo Switch 2. That means that it’s high time for Pokemon fans that avoided or tapped out on the latest mainline installment to give it a fresh look and see it for what it is: the best game in Pokemon series history.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s gameplay have always been the best of the series
From a gameplay perspective, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet was the best offering in Pokemon series history, even at launch. For those who dodged the internet discourse regarding the game, that was fairly obvious.
Pokemon YouTuber and pro player Wolfe Glick has discussed this, and he’s not alone. While crashing, glitches, and visual bugs were an unfortunate and distracting part of the experience at launch, the iterative approach to series norms hooked many. Each of the core gameplay facets was radically improved in some way.
The pivot to a true open world was transformative, and made progressing through the game satisfying and more challenging. The core mechanic of catching rare Pokemon was improved with expanded live game elements. Battling was transformed by Terastalization, leading to an incredible spike in the popularity of competitive Pokemon.
By almost every measure, the game was a triumph on day one. This is despite some prominent influencers concluding that Game Freak was lazy and that Pokemon games were blending together.
Admittedly, the game wasn’t perfect. Stability issues, bugs, and glitches detracted from the game but were patched out in relatively short order where possible. The online random matchmaking experience unfortunately remains an issue, but it’s workable.
The game’s performance is one aspect that was dreadful at launch and didn’t significantly improve on the Nintendo Switch despite multiple patches. It was enough of a drag that many players simply couldn’t see past it to appreciate the games themselves.
The Nintendo Switch 2 has now fixed those troubles with its improved specs. Now, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are impossible to deny as the best games in the series.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet on Switch 2 are the definitive Pokemon experience
The Nintendo Switch 2 offers performance improvements for a variety of major Nintendo Switch releases. While they’re paywalled in most cases, that’s not the case with Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Players simply need to pop in their cartridge or download the game from the eShop to enjoy the improvements.
The frame rate is significantly more stable, draw distances are improved, and more Pokemon can appear on-screen at any given time. While Pokemon Scarlet and Violet were still playable and even on the enjoyable original Switch hardware, the Switch 2 irons out almost all of the game’s troubles.
What’s left is the definitive and overall best mainline Pokemon game experience. Anyone skeptical of the game following the discourse after its launch would be well-served checking it out anew on Switch 2.
