#Assessment: Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: The Indigo Disk
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Assessment: Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: The Indigo Disk
Let me clarify: right here at Destructoid, we’ve performed scorching potato with Pokémon evaluate duties. CJ Andriessen and Eric Van Allen reviewed Pokémon Violet and Scarlet respectively, every arriving on the similar “6/10” rating. And later, the impeccable Chris Carter took the reins on the primary DLC pack, The Teal Masks, who concluded that it wasn’t pretty much as good as The Legend of Zelda: A Hyperlink Between Worlds and likewise gave a 6/10.
We’re not essentially certain to one another’s scores as an outlet, however typically issues simply line up that approach. And for that cause, I actually needed to throw my very own soak up on Technology IX earlier than we transfer on to no matter GameFreak has lined up subsequent.
With The Indigo Disk, I anticipated to offer these Pokémon video games a day within the solar and perhaps even give a barely extra beneficiant rating. In any case, this second DLC clearly presents greater than The Teal Masks did. There’s no approach that The Indigo Disk could possibly be worse than The Teal Masks, proper?
Effectively, the excellent news is that, sure, The Indigo Disk completely is the superior DLC pack in comparison with The Teal Masks. It additionally fumbles in ways in which wound up making me really feel probably the most pissed off I’ve ever been with the Pokémon franchise so far. It seems even I’ve my limits.
Pokémon Scarlet & Violet: The Indigo Disk (Nintendo Swap)
Developer: Recreation Freak
Writer: Nintendo
Launched: December 14, 2023
MSRP: $34.99 (Season Cross with Teal Masks and Indigo Disk)
Blue are the folks right here
As you would possibly count on, The Indigo Disk continues the story threads launched in The Teal Masks. As a part of your dealings with the Blueberry Academy, you obtain an invitation to hang around on the college and do enjoyable battle issues since, you understand, Pokémon. However there’s one small downside: Carmine and Kieran have returned, and the latter nonetheless feels tremendous upset about that point he realized you’re the protagonist in a Pokémon recreation. And thus begins your quest to battle some new trainers, work out how one can assist Kieran cope with his teen angst, and even dip again into Space Zero to uncover a hidden treasure.
That’s proper, keep in mind how this DLC bundle known as The Hidden Treasure of Space Zero? The Indigo Disk is the place we lastly get some comply with by way of on what meaning. If you happen to’re apprehensive that I’ll get upset about how Space Zero was dealt with later on this evaluate, you have to be!
Anyway, the story is actually simply window dressing for The Blueberry Academy itself. It seems this college is on an island that has an underwater terrarium full of volcanoes and it’s lovely. Sorry, Terarium, as a result of, you understand, Terastallization. And this, actually, is the star of the present. The Terarium is a brand new open world with distinct biomes, and that is the place you’ll see most of what The Indigo Disk presents. As a result of not solely does it comprise a plethora of latest Pokémon to catch, however some tougher coach battles as effectively.
Put together for hassle, and make it double
Early in The Indigo Disk, you’ll study that Blueberry Academy is stuffed with hardcore trainers preferring double battles. Seeing as how Pokémon’s formally sanctioned aggressive scene focuses on double battles, I loved seeing the principle recreation prioritize this format.
The Indigo Disk does a very good job pitting you towards frequent methods in high-level play. For instance, various trainers will incorporate assist Pokémon into their groups, utilizing stat boosting strikes or throwing in a Shield to dam your incoming harm. Moreover, enemy trainers aren’t afraid to equip impactful held objects on their Pokémon. Assume you’ll be able to simply nuke each enemy you see with glass cannons like standard? Not in case your opponent’s Focus Sash has something to say about it.
At its finest, The Indigo Disk does a good job of including some chunk to Pokémon’s sometimes tepid issue. Double battles forestall you from getting these free monster swaps in between KO’s, and the strongest trainers really come at you with full groups of six. I went into this DLC with my story group of max degree however in any other case unoptimized Pokémon, and not less than one battle in right here surprisingly got here right down to the wire since I wasn’t taking the content material terribly critically. It was a pleasant feeling to have for as soon as, particularly for the reason that enemy group was solely within the degree 75-80 vary.
That sadly leads us to a little bit of a difficulty on this DLC: the extent vary.
Stage the enjoying area
As our personal Chris “Grasp Coach” Carter talked about in his evaluate of The Teal Masks, Pokémon DLC has a leveling challenge. And whereas The Indigo Disk fares higher than its predecessor right here, it suffers from the identical downside. Wild Pokémon are degree 60ish, boss battles are degree 70ish, and the postgame breaks into degree 80ish content material.
Sadly, the devoted Pokémon fanbase most curious about DLC almost definitely has a max degree group already. And whereas battles towards the Elite 4 fare decently, that’s solely a single digit variety of battles that stand out. I can perceive balancing the DLC in a approach that’s accessible to individuals who didn’t do any postgame grinding. However ideally, the DLC ought to provide methods to please each crowds.
I’ve seen some counsel that gamers ought to begin their groups over if they need the DLC to be difficult. And positive, the thought of catching and elevating the brand new Pokémon to benefit from the content material sounds good on paper. The issue is that the problem doesn’t escalate in a approach conducive to this playstyle. It begins at a excessive degree and doesn’t do a lot to climb larger than if you entered it. So regardless of seeing 100+ “new” Pokémon return to Scarlet & Violet, there’s little motivation to make use of them. I imply, in the event you catch a Pokémon that already is aware of all its essential strikes and may evolve in a single degree, is there any pleasure in elevating it?
It’s awkward for positive, however I’d forgive this if there was a cool endgame to take pleasure in. And right here’s the place issues go off the rails.
Throw out the BBQ
So in principle, The Indigo Disk provides a number of cool options to Scarlet & Violet. These embody encounters with legendary Pokémon, further scenes with Paldea’s health club leaders, and even the power to catch starter Pokémon from previous generations. Nevertheless, unlocking these options includes partaking with the brand new Blueberry Quests, or BBQs for brief. The Blueberry Quest system is basically like an offline Battle Cross that provides you a foreign money referred to as BP, which you employ to entry these acknowledged cool options.
Now, what makes Blueberry Quests tough to finish is that they’re… dangerous. I can’t even sugar coat it, they only suck.
Regardless of the countless quest potential inherent to an open world Pokémon recreation, Blueberry Quests largely include aimlessly strolling round, taking photos of Pokémon, catching a Pokémon of a sure sort, and making TMs and sandwiches. One would possibly suppose these quests will escalate in complexity as you go, however… nope. It’s critically only a rotation of generic open-world busywork that begins repeating virtually instantly. And as soon as once more, this method is the place The Indigo Disk places all its playing cards.
Look, I like grindy video games right here and there. I imply, I play Pokémon, it’d be bizarre if I didn’t. However that is so clearly and transparently filler content material that I can’t name it the rest. I imply, it takes literal hours simply to make a dent in unlocking all of the stuff The Indigo Disk presents. I can perceive spacing your essential unlocks out, however there’s a sickening lack of creativeness within the quest selection. Let’s not neglect that Pokémon Legends Arceus – whereas imperfect – had far superior quests and non-obligatory duties to pursue. And that recreation’s about two years outdated now!
It’d be one factor if Blueberry Quests had been their very own supplemental system. I’d perhaps chase them down right here and there if it was simply one other strategy to grind for stuff. However any enthusiasm I had for partaking with The Indigo Disk past its core story was rapidly killed as soon as I noticed these quests.
Oh yeah, Space Zero
And so far as that core story goes, it… exists. I’m not going to faux like I count on literary excellence from a Pokémon recreation. That mentioned, Scarlet & Violet tried this bizarre factor the place it offered usually likable and endearing characters. Nemona, Penny, and particularly Arven changed into an awesome celebration of associates, and seeing how the ultimate story arc of the bottom recreation unfolded made me actually need to see extra of this world and forged.
So you’ll be able to perceive how upset I really feel that each DLC packs have little to do with the core video games.
The Indigo Disk primarily continues the narrative surrounding Carmine and Kieran launched in The Teal Masks, and I simply… don’t care about it. I don’t hate this brother and sister duo as a lot as some did, however the writing right here is completely plain. It doesn’t meaningfully discover the subjects it touches on, and you’ll guess the way it’ll finish from a mile away. It’s advantageous by Pokémon requirements, nevertheless it’s a bummer to go from genuinely attention-grabbing ideas to banal business-as-usual.
Even worse is that Space Zero – the namesake location for the DLC – winds up feeling like an afterthought. Space Zero was probably the most memorable factor about this era, and I actually seemed ahead to studying extra about Pokémon’s spooky abyss. However lengthy story quick, Paldea’s crater merely places a cap on the siblings’ story and abruptly reveals a remaining boss. Space Zero was arguably the excessive level of your complete recreation, but it’s only a place in The Indigo Disk. What an completely disappointing strategy to ship off one of the distinctive narrative dangers the Pokémon franchise has ever taken.
Missed alternatives
Typically talking, it’s a fake pas to guage a recreation based mostly on what it isn’t versus what it is. However The Indigo Disk feels so padded that I can’t assist however consider what might have been. The tipping level for me was earlier than one of many Elite 4 battles, during which you’re tasked with coaching a brand new group of Pokémon to battle three trainers earlier than the large boss battle. A advantageous sufficient gimmick, however the process giver in query says, and I quote:
“I do know, I’m asking lots. However what enjoyable wouldn’t it be in the event you simply dipped into your vault of beefy Pokémon and cheesed your approach by way of?”
Sure, wouldn’t that be a tragedy? I’d be a disgrace if gamers spent a yr partaking with an onslaught of tremendous arduous raids and limited-time content material solely to seek out they’re wildly over-leveled now. I recognize the self-awareness, however who says Pokémon DLC should be arrange like this?
Pokémon has such a wealthy basis that could possibly be taken in so many alternative instructions. What’s extra, there’s clearly a market hungry for that. Take one have a look at YouTube, and you’ll discover problem runs of basic Pokémon video games with tens of millions of views. Followers are longing for inventive methods to play Pokémon. So why does the official DLC provide “take an image of a swimming Pokémon?”
There are such a lot of prospects to discover with Pokémon, but The Indigo Disk does valuable little to get inventive. Think about if the 2 DLC packs had been mixed into one standalone journey that was balanced round coaching and leveling the brand new Pokémon? Or what if the DLC centered round a roguelike expertise the place you by no means knew which Pokémon you’d use every run? I’m not saying these are good concepts, however they’re concepts. I’d moderately see a swing and a miss than the busywork we’ve got now.
It’s extra Pokemon
I’d perceive if, by this level, you suppose I utterly hate The Indigo Disk. However regardless of all these misgivings, I did have some enjoyable with this DLC. Exploring the brand new Terarium and catching Pokémon put a smile on my face, and people battles the place every little thing actually clicked had been enjoyable to play. I do nonetheless suppose Scarlet & Violet are pleasant, and neither DLC pack essentially adjustments that. Heck, if I used to be feeling beneficiant, I’d say the give attention to double battles here’s a step in the correct route.
Nevertheless, at this level, I’m so bored with seeing Pokémon “take a step in the correct route”. As a reminder, that is the very best grossing multimedia franchise in your complete world. But that is not less than the second era in a row that’s left me hoping the group will get it proper subsequent time. As it’s, Pokémon Legends Arceus was an enormous “step in the correct route,” however Scarlet & Violet realized valuable little from it. DLC like The Indigo Disk might have rounded out the bottom video games in areas they initially lacked in. As a substitute, it’s simply extra. An inflow of sheer content material, as if we’ll neglect Pokémon even exists if we don’t have one thing shoved in entrance of our faces yearly.
Prior to now, all these things may need bothered me much less. However Pokémon’s longevity has made it one of many principal methods I can join with my youthful relations. Seeing even them surprise why Scarlet & Violet carry out like they’re hanging by a thread on the Swap over a yr later is inexcusable to me. And with how a lot The Indigo Disk tees up a Technology V remake, I’m actually dreading how arduous Unova will get butchered at this fee. I’d like to be confirmed mistaken, however at this level, I’m probably not relying on it
The Indigo Disk is extra Pokémon Scarlet & Violet, for higher or for worse. If you happen to’re nonetheless deep into Technology IX, you’ll not less than get mileage out of exploring the brand new areas and seeing the brand new Pokémon and TMs. However past that, The Indigo Disk neither presents a compelling problem for longtime followers nor a chill grind for extra informal followers. Gamers can not less than take solace in that this second half of the DLC is mostly higher than the primary. However for these pissed off by the rushed yearly cycle of Pokémon video games, The Indigo Disk will solely reaffirm your misgivings.
