Have you heard of the fable of the Monkey's Paw? Or the idea of having one's wishes granted but not in a desired form or manner? That is probably the best way that I can describe my feelings towards Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: it does almost everything that I honestly wanted out of a mainline Pokémon game, but at the same time, I feel like there was a huge catch to my enjoyment.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is a well-balanced hybrid between the free-roaming of Pokémon GO app, the open world areas of Pokémon Sword and Shield, and the interface and speed of Pokémon Legends: Arceus. After getting through the initial tutorial and being introduced to the three main story paths of the game, you are more or less allowed to do whatever you want in the entire region of Paldea. You're given a cool legendary bike companion for fast travel, there are a variety of secrets scattered throughout the world, and you can fast travel to almost any area you've visited at least once.

Similar to the past couple of games, all the Pokémon are viewable in the overworld. Some travel in packs, some run away from you, and others will dash towards you with blistering speed as soon as you're noticed. It's simple, but there's just enough to make everything feel like an organic world you can interact with at your own pace. Similar to Pokémon Arceus, you can crouch and sneak towards a pokémon to surprise them, but you have to engage in a battle to catch them. This could have gotten tedious very quickly, but the game's battle speed has been fine-tuned to always keep the pace constant. Not only are battle animations pretty brisk, but the user interface also acts as a quick on-screen display that doesn't distract from the moment-to-moment engagement. There's even an option to send out your first pokémon to battle other wild pokémon in the overworld independently while you run and do your own thing.

Scarlet and Violet also introduce a new gameplay mechanic called the Terastal phenomenon, which gives pokémon a crystalline appearance, as well as changes a pokémon's type to match that pokémon's "Tera Type." It's honestly a pretty simple mechanic, but I think that works to the game's benefit. This ability can apply to all pokémon in multiple ways, but it's far from an automatic win button. The crystal effect suits a surprisingly large number of pokémon models. I can already see high-achieving players figuring out ways to use the mechanic to its fullest in the competitive scene. Speaking of character models, many of them were finally updated with new animations, and almost every pokémon in the game has been given new textures, whether simple fur or reflective surfaces. It sucks that we still don't have access to all the pokémon from past generations, but I feel the selection here was far more balanced compared to previous games.

While there are technically objectives to achieve (and we'll get there in a minute), you're not pressured to do any of them, and you can get a lot of mileage out of just exploring, catching, and battling at your own pace. There is nothing to stop you from heading straight to the other side of the map or climbing the largest mountain in the region after you complete the tutorial, except maybe coming across pokémon or trainers that are four times your level. Thankfully you can choose when you want to battle with others, but wild pokémon might be harder to run away from. Catching them isn't impossible, but it won't be easy if you're not prepared, and even if you catch a high-level pokémon in the first couple hours into the game, it still won't listen to you unless you have the appropriate badge.

Then again, it could be dozens of hours before you even take on a single gym since the same hands-off approach also applies to the game's story…or should I say stories. There are three main stories in Scarlet and Violet that you're introduced to after the initial tutorial, and you can go about completing them in any way you want. There's the Victory Road storyline which is the standard routine of collecting eight gym badges and becoming a Champion, there is the Path of Legends story, which revolves around you helping a classmate take on giant pokémon to gather ingredients, and there is the Starfall Street storyline which involves taking down the region's local gang. All of these parts have multiple steps to them, with objective markers scattered throughout the entire map. You could focus on one story at a time, complete objectives as they appear in front of you while you're exploring the map, or bounce between all three storylines in whatever order you want.

However, deciding how to tackle these stories is more complex than picking what you think is the best because all stories reward you differently. Collecting gym badges which will make it easier to catch and tame high-level pokémon, defeating Titans gradually increases your bike pokémon's ability to travel to more parts of the world, and beating members of Team Star offers currency and unique moves that you can teach your pokémon. The fact that Scarlet and Violet incentivize the completion of these stories with rewards that directly impact your ability to enjoy more of the overworld is brilliant. There's a satisfying feedback loop where your ability to roam freely is directly tied to your ability to form connections while getting stronger as a player. All of this feels organic, and there's a sense of agency in sorting out your priorities by yourself instead of having the game nudge you in specific directions.

But all of these routes are more than just satisfying a checklist; each of them has a small story accompanying them, and I would say this is where Scarlet and Violet get genuinely charming. It has been a while since I felt emotionally invested in characters' individual stories in a Pokémon game. The game never loses its sense of whimsy, and I don't think it gets nearly as dark as some of the things implied in earlier games, but there were legitimately touching moments that pulled at my heartstrings a little bit, as well as moments that made me laugh out loud. Though the game's musical score might have also helped with that, having a variety of themes that complement both high energy and quieter moments. Whether it's the gym leaders working secondary jobs alongside their gym duties, the local gang who is just looking for a place to belong, a lonely kid and his dog, or a rival who I'm convinced stalks you in this game, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is bursting with a lot of heart and charm.

So what's the catch? Well, even though Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is probably one of my favorite Pokémon games to have come out in the past couple of years, it pains me from the bottom of my soul to admit that it is also probably one of the worst performing games I think I've ever played in decades. I have PlayStation One games that run at a smoother and more consistent frame rate than this modern piece of tech. While I like the overall art style of the game and the designs of almost every pokémon, the fact that I cannot always appreciate them in the overworld is saddening.

The draw distance is horrendous, and the framerate plummets to as low as 2 fps when things initially enter your view, only running smoothly once you're right next to them. The game has issues with pop-ins, and there were a handful of times when my camera got stuck on things or clipped through objects. The latter mainly occurred when I entered towns or tried to visit shops, which was weird because most shops don't have interiors anymore; they just immediately load you to a menu. Textures sometimes wouldn't load properly, the hit detection on walls felt wonky, and even though I was fortunate not to come across any infamous/hilarious game-breaking glitches, the game crashed on me about three times after a couple dozen hours of playtime. I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but the fact that I had to worry about that at all is highly disappointing. Thank God for the game's autosave feature, even though keeping that on also causes the game to lag and stutter.

How did this happen? I hate that this game was released to the general public at full price without clearly being finished or adequately optimized. These issues may be patched out in the future, but I could just as easily see GameFreak ignoring players' complaints because the game is selling exceptionally well. This is the most challenging part about recommending Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, because while I do genuinely think it's one of the most fun Pokémon games to have come out in the past couple of years, the fact that it also runs the worst is a bitter pill to swallow. Some people can look past the performance issues, or in some bizarre way, those issues might add to the overall experience. But to others, it can still be highly distracting. Heck, I loved all of the gameplay mechanics and additions to this game, but there were still plenty of moments where the game's presentation constantly made me ask myself, “what if this game was given just one more year in development”?

I know that's not a unique reflection to have when it comes to video games. Still, it feels incredibly baffling when you consider that we are talking about the latest mainline installment in one of the most popular franchises in the entire world. 2022 has indeed been an excellent year for Pokémon fans between the card game taking off and the Pokémon: Journeys anime satisfying the desires of longtime fans despite its production issues. This game could've been the perfect capstone for such a year if it had been given the time and attention it deserved. It kind of breaks my heart. If you're a diehard Pokémon fan, then chances are you already own this game, but if you're having trepidations or looking to get into the franchise with this game, then I would highly suggest waiting for a patch or a price drop.