Twitch streamer Disguised Toast expressed his frustration over Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, saying that the games and their graphics had "zero effort." He's one of many players who have experienced the Pokemon games' performance issues.
Since launching on November 18 worldwide, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet have received negative reviews from critics and players due to their seemingly subpar performance and graphics. So far, they are some of the lowest-rated Pokemon games, despite being two of the most anticipated titles this year.
One complaint came from Disguised Toast, who played the game on stream recently. While exploring the school, he immediately noticed the poor animations and drastic frame drops with the students and Pokemon's movements. He questioned whether the developers couldn't render at least 30fps to make the animations look smoother, adding that "they make zero effort" in optimizing the game. Toast also pointed out that The Legend of Zeldia: Breath of the Wild looked much better when it came out almost six years ago. He noted that the Nintendo Switch "is not that weak" to handle Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.
Toast doubled down on his frustration as he criticized Nintendo for getting away with releasing "technically terrible" Pokemon games. He claimed that as long as the company was breaking sales records with Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, it would continue making games with performance issues.
As mentioned, the streamer is not the only one who have experienced performance issues in the games. Many players have since shared their less-than-ideal playthroughs, including hilarious glitches in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Based on social media posts about the game, many fans have the same frustrations as Toast. The consensus among gamers online seems to be that Pokemon Scarlet and Violet were poorly optimized, but they could still be fun if Nintendo and Game Freak offer a fix. Although, as of writing, the companies have not addressed these concerns.
Meanwhile, some Pokemon Scarlet and Violet players still seem to be enjoying the games. One expressed that while there are various issues and bugs, it's still "the most fun" they've had with a Pokemon game. Problems aside, Scarlet and Violet do have various elements that longtime fans and new players would love—from the Generation 9 Pokemon to exploring the Paldea region and facing off against new gym leaders. If Nintendo and Game Freak could patch the game, then players would perhaps be more motivated to complete their Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Pokedex.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet is available for the Nintendo Switch.