A number of main 3D Pokemon video games launched in the identical 12 months is kind of an unprecedented occasion. With Pokemon Legends: Arceus and Pokemon Scarlet & Violet each releasing in 2022, it is honest to say that Pokemon followers have been consuming fairly properly. Nevertheless, with these video games being launched in such shut proximity, you possibly can’t assist however surprise which one turned out higher.
Scarlet & Violet is the plain reply, given it is a mainline Pokemon recreation with new Pokemon and a brand new area, however Legends: Arceus additionally did lots to shake up the method in methods we have not seen in years. Within the title of science, we’ll examine each of those video games in plenty of areas, like graphics, gameplay, and story, to find out which recreation is healthier: Legends: Arceus or Scarlet & Violet?
Up to date October 1, 2023 by Jacob Whaling: We have up to date this checklist to incorporate comparisons between Legends: Arceus and Scarlet & Violet within the Shiny looking and endgame content material classes.
8 Graphics – Scarlet & Violet
Momentarily placing apart foibles about glitches and texture popping, each video games are the best-looking 3D Pokemon video games we have had thus far. Their extra open-ended designs led to huge, pure vistas, and lovingly rendered people and Pokemon. Nevertheless, Legends: Arceus appears to have reused some belongings from Sword & Protect, and sadly, it reveals.
Evaluating the 2, Scarlet & Violet’s Paldea area is a little more different in its terrain and biomes. Plus, it has greater than only one metropolis, which is a significant component. Most of all, although, the character fashions in Scarlet and Violet are a bit extra inventive and expressive. You may immediately inform simply how existentially exhausted Larry is from a single look at his face, whereas most of Arceus’ characters are in a near-perpetual state of lifeless shock.
7 Gameplay – Legends: Arceus
Each Legends: Arceus and Scarlet & Violet are notable for being much more open-ended than earlier, extra linear Pokemon video games. Scarlet & Violet’s design, specifically, permitting you to sort out no matter goals you need in any order, was a giant step for the sequence. Nevertheless, Legends: Arceus made some main enhancements that Scarlet & Violet constructed off of.
Arceus streamlined the catching and battling methods, permitting you to rapidly catch and safe Pokemon with no need to battle them. It additionally added extra nifty wrinkles just like the Noble Pokemon battles and transfer kinds. That is not even mentioning the assorted quick-deploy Journey Pokemon that have been condensed into Koraidon and Miraidon. Legends: Arceus walked so Scarlet & Violet may run, and it deserves recognition for that.
6 Story – Scarlet & Violet
It is a tough one as a result of each Legends: Arceus and Scarlet & Violet have execs and cons to their tales however in closely contrasting methods. Legends: Arceus’ story was a bit better-paced, correctly ramping up the stakes and steadily cluing you into the state of Hisui and the forces affecting it. As a result of its open-ended nature, Scarlet & Violet’s story is a bit disjointed, with a lot of the good bits not coming till the tip.
Nevertheless, on the flip aspect, Legends: Arceus’ story would not have as many truly cool beats or setpieces. The characters are likable sufficient, however they do not actually do a lot. Scarlet & Violet’s forged, significantly Nemona, Arven, and Penny, are way more fleshed out, and when issues begin getting good within the final arc, they get actually good. We particularly have to provide props to Arven’s surprisingly touching arc in making an attempt to heal Mabosstiff. It is a shut name, however we will give Scarlet & Violet the purpose on this one.
5 Efficiency And Presentation – Legends: Arceus
That is most likely going to be the controversial level, however let’s not mince phrases about it: each of those video games have been extraordinarily glitchy at launch. Each have been riddled with bugs, graphical glitches, body drops, and all that different disagreeable stuff that is admittedly fairly enjoyable to meme about. The query right here is much less “which recreation is extra damaged” and extra “which recreation is much less damaged.”
To that finish, we’re leaning extra towards Legends: Arceus right here. Whereas it definitely wasn’t excellent, Arceus’ efficiency was no less than principally secure; its graphical issues mildly annoying, however to not the purpose of being a gameplay downside. Scarlet & Violet, however… properly, if you happen to use just about any social media, you most likely noticed all of the movies and screenshots of weird, sometimes horrifying glitches. You do the mathematics.
4 Pokemon Selection – Scarlet & Violet
This one’s a no brainer. The Hisuian varieties launched in Legends: Arceus are fairly cool, particularly those with old-timey aesthetics like Hisuian Voltorb. Nevertheless, there are solely a handful of variants and completely new Pokemon within the Hisui Dex, with the lion’s share being holdovers from the Sinnoh Dex. It is thematically applicable, given Hisui is Sinnoh, however not particularly attention-grabbing.
Scarlet & Violet, however, give us a completely new Dex of Pokemon to understand, in addition to new regional varieties and Pokemon like Wiglett and Toedscool which might be, for lack of a greater phrase, spin-offs of present Pokemon. It type of goes with out saying {that a} Dex with its personal distinctive starters has a pure edge over one which has to tug its starters from three different Dexes.
3 Shiny Looking – Legends: Arceus
Shiny looking is a staple within the Pokemon video games. Chasing alternate coloration variations of your favourite Pokemon is thrilling, and eventually discovering the one which shines is all the time well worth the effort. Between Scarlet & Violet and Legends: Arceus, the latter does Shiny Looking a lot better.
Shinies are way more frequent in Legends: Arceus, which may very well be a draw back for some gamers as it might “devalue” the rarity of discovering them. Nevertheless, The glowing noise that performs when a Shiny has appeared makes the method of Shiny looking manner higher than Scarlet & Violet. It would not assist that lots of the new Pokemon launched in Scarlet & Violet have Shiny variations which might be solely a slight shade distinction, making looking them even more durable.
2 Endgame – Scarlet & Violet
Endgame actions in Pokemon video games typically revolve round both breeding a crew for aggressive battling, tackling the Battle Tower or comparable system, or Shiny looking. Sadly, Legends: Arceus has no aggressive battles, nevertheless it has the Everlasting Battle Reverie as a alternative for the Battle Tower, during which you face Pokemon of ever-increasing problem.
Scarlet & Violet have aggressive battling, however no Battle Tower. As a substitute, the primary battle-focused endgame exercise you may be doing is Tera Raid battles. These are drastically improved variations of Sword & Shields Max Raids, and supply nice rewards. General, Scarlet & Violet’s endgame content material feels extra replayable, so it wins this spherical.
1 The Verdict – Scarlet & Violet
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With a slim 4-3 lead, our final victor is Pokemon Scarlet & Violet! Regardless of its technical issues, Scarlet & Violet are nonetheless one of many best-designed Pokemon video games and a significant stepping stone for the franchise.
Legends: Arceus began laying the groundwork for these enhancements and deserves commendation for that, however Scarlet & Violet is the primary true step in enacting them on the mainline sequence, the place it issues most. If future video games can proceed to construct off the perfect elements of those frameworks, Pokemon may actually attain the subsequent stage of its evolution, if you happen to’ll pardon the pun.