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Pokémon Scarlet & Violet · Game Freak · Image source
Paldea threw out the route map. Scarlet & Violet let you ride Koraidon or Miraidon across a seamless open world and tackle three full storylines — gyms, Titan hunts, Team Star raids — in whatever order you like. It is the most ambitious Pokémon has ever been, and the ambition shows in both directions.
The good stuff
True open-world freedom: no fixed gym order, the map is yours from hour one. Three story paths, and the finale is genuinely one of the series' best stories. Terastallizing — change a Pokémon's type mid-battle; a real strategic shake-up. Co-op open-world exploring with up to three friends.
Your first few moves
- Don't rush the gyms in listed order — scout badge levels by the Pokémon around each town.
- Make sandwiches. The encounter and shiny-rate buffs are not a gimmick, they're the grind engine.
- Titan battles (Path of Legends) unlock your ride's abilities — do them early.
Before you jump in
No sugar-coating: at launch this was a technical mess — frame drops, pop-in, bugs everywhere — and players said so loudly: the Metacritic user score is 3.6, the series' lowest, against a critic score of 72. A free Switch 2 update improves resolution and frame rate, and that's now the best way to play. The game underneath the jank is beloved; the jank is real.
Explorers who want Pokémon with no route map, and players patient enough to love ambition with rough edges.
Questions before you play
Scarlet or Violet?
Same Paldea; Scarlet gets Koraidon and Professor Sada, Violet gets Miraidon and Professor Turo, plus version exclusives.
Is it fixed now?
Patched and much better on Switch 2 via the free update; on the original Switch it still shows its age.
Is the story really that good?
By Pokémon standards, yes — the three-path structure pays off in a finale players still talk about.
Details checked against the official source · 17 October 2026.
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