Summary
The mainlinePokemonseries has long been a staple for Nintendo fans. Now in its ninth generation, the latest iteration ofPokemonRPGs –Scarlet and Violet– has shown that the series is an enduring force that is as popular as ever.
If recentScarlet and VioletDLC Pokedexleaks are to be believed, however, there is a slightly worrying pattern that appears to be emerging withPokemonDLC that starts with the previous game and its expansions. That pattern began inSword and Shield’s The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra.
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Not Enough New Pokemon in DLC
If one looks at the number of newPokemonadded across the DLC for each game, the amount of new creatures being added is in the region of 10 to 15, including regional variants of pre-existing Pokemon. While it is clear that a great deal of effort has gone into designingnew Pokemon like Poltchageist, the number of returning Pokemon can make the expansions feel hollow. They are beginning to feel more like vehicles for making old Pokemon available, and less like actual expansions of the Pokedex.
ThePokemon Scarlet and Violetdataminemight not paint the entire picture, but the logic here is simple.Pokemon Scarlet and Violetplayers are spending roughly half of what they paid for the entire base game and only getting a handful of new creatures to discover. There is a limitation to what can be expected of expansions to existing games. The lowest number of new Pokemon introduced by a mainline game is 72 withPokemon X and Y. Expecting this many from an expansion would be unreasonable, but the expansions would feel more like actual expansions if they introduced 20-30 new monsters across the DLC.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s Technical Issues
One has to acknowledge how detailed and rich the story elements to the new expansion regions have been thus far, and thePokemonexpansions have largely been acceptable additions, but it seems very much likeGame Freak is being plagued by technical issuesinScarlet and Violet. While the specifics about the game engine’s possible shortcomings, and whether this affects the amount of new content produced remain privileged information, the performance issues that players have been reporting withScarlet and Violetspeak for themselves.
Hopefully the transition between the current Switch and the new console that is rumored to be releasing in 2024 will be much smoother for Game Freak than the hop from 3DS to Switch. It could be that the next mainlinePokemongame will release on the newer,more powerful Nintendo Switch successor, so that might give Game Freak enough room to craft much more detailed and inventive expansions in the future.
Future Pokemon Games And Expansions Can Be Better
Pokemon Scarlet and Violethave the unfortunate distinction of being the lowest rated mainlinePokemongames in recent history. They have Metacritic scores of 72 and 71 respectively. This isn’t to say that they are bad games; the aggregate review score is merely a useful tool to establish thePokemonseries' performance over time. Still, The Teal Mask isn’t drawing impressive Metacritic scores either, which goes to show that Game Freak will need to improve its DLC model moving forward.
The biggest draw withPokemonhas always been the Pokemon themselves. Finding only a handfulnew regional Pokemonamong hundreds that are already known makes the expansions in particular feel diluted. Hopefully Game Freak will address this in futurePokemontitles and create future expansions that are worthy of greater acclaim with the help of a colorful cast of new Pokemon to discover.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violetare available for Nintendo Switch. The Teal Mask DLC is also available now.
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