I mentioned last week that I started Pokemon Violet. I tried to get into it again this week. After getting the Platinum in Bloodborne, I thought I would have time to get into Pokemon. Well, I had the time, and with some long days at work, the basic RPG elements of Pokemon should have been a nice relax.
Truth is though I can’t get into Pokemon Violet. There is a bunch of buzz about ‘terrible’ graphics, poor frame rates, and other quirks. none of this is causing me issues in getting into the game. I wish I could put my finger on what the issue is – I just start playing and kind of mentally shrug.
The start of any RPG is the most dangerous time. Designers can’t throw you in too far in the deep end, or only a small percentage of players stick around. Hold the player’s hand too much though, and almost the same number of players walk away. It’s a balancing act. Game Freak and Pokemon have had their formula down pat for almost three decades! I knew what I was getting into, and Pokemon Violet was exactly what I expected.

Pokemon Violet is a very different game from the old-school Game Boy and DS versions. Newer games such as Pokemon Let’s Go and Pokemon Legends: Arceus started playing with the set formula. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are the results of feedback from these games, and I like where Pokemon is going.
Here is the thing though. I have run around, done a couple of tutorial sections, but I haven’t had any urge to make progress. The story starts with essentially your first day at school, and I haven’t made it there yet.
Not because I am being distracted by side quests or hunting Pokemon early on. I just play for about 10-15 minutes and feel like putting Pokemon Violet away.

I want to play Pokemon Violet. Nothing about what I have been playing has put me off at all. There is even now a patch to help smooth out some of the complaints.
When I want to play visually impressive games, I don’t go to Nintendo games. Their hardware doesn’t push that particular envelope. I am not saying that Nintendo games haven’t looked good, only you can’t do God of War-style graphics on Nintendo hardware, and people seem to forget that.
I play Nintendo games because they tend to be fun and relaxing games to take my mind off the world. And I hope that this week, I turn some magical point in Pokemon Violet to get me invested.