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Pokémon fans may have thought the series could not steep any lower following the release of the Let’s Go titles, however somehow GameFreak manages to top the lows of even those childish Kanto remakes. What’s worse, these were remakes of many fans’ favourite generation of Pokémon games, and favourite overall region, Sinnoh. The games took ‘faithful remake’ way too seriously, with absolutely no change to the original Diamond and a pearl formula. The games became boring after a few hours of play and could be categorised as the original games with a ‘lick of paint,. The one positive of these games is the ability to shiny hunt the mythic Pokémon, even that is being generous however. The games are utterly disappointing and upsetting as a Pokémon fan. Lazy, lazy instalments.

The best looking games Pokémon has ever produced coupled with new Pokémon and regional forms make Pokémon Sword and Shield a pleasant experience during the first play through. This is all let down however by a lazy, predictable and rushed story, following the same old pattern but clogged into the final section of the game. This is very disappointing. The post-game was also horrendous. The idea that the post-game’s biggest ploy is that you get to catch the heroic legendary which is on the cover of the game is just lazy. The final saving grace of the games were the DLC, which rectified the melancholy state of the game at the time, still however, the games were lazy and overall pretty poor, no matter how enjoyable they may be on first play through. Pokémon Sword and Shield are frustratingly generic as Pokémon games. The return of linear route design and typical battle mechanics revert Pokémon to its normal state, which shows no innovation from 3ds titles.

An encapsulating story filled with lovable characters creates an utterly fantastic campaign, followed by the best ending sequence of the Pokémon series to date makes Pokémon Scarlet an extremely enjoyable experience for Pokémon fans. This is in addition to a wide array of fantastic new Pokémon designs and new ‘Paradox Forms’ which are a great idea to switch up the norm. Unfortunately, this game is let down by the frustrating performance issues which are inescapable when playing, from the Windmill in Artazon to Pokémon lagging in the wild, the game is extremely hard to watch and is not as pleasing to the eye as Pokémon Sword and Shield. This being said, Pokémon Scarlet is a fantastic of example of how to structure a main series Pokémon game, but also of how important the performance of these games are. Overall however, the game is extremely enjoyable and is a worthy addition to the series.