Pokemon Scarlet & Violet
Games review
As of Oct 22, 2026, Pokemon Scarlet & Violet is rated 71/100 on OpenCritic (144 critic reviews).
Is Pokemon Scarlet & Violet worth it in 2026?
Holding an OpenCritic score of 71/100 across 144 critic reviews, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet introduces a promising open-world direction alongside compelling storylines and innovative additions. However, sampled reviewers report that these franchise evolutions are heavily compromised by poor performance, technical issues, and an unfinished design. Several critics note that jarring technical shortcomings and lifeless, graphically lackluster environments severely disrupt what could have been a standout entry. Players who prioritize smooth technical stability and polished world design should likely hold off, though series fans who can overlook deep flaws will find meaningful structural upgrades.
Series fans eager to experience an open-world format and compelling storylines who are willing to push past severe technical friction.
Sampled critics warn of severe performance drops, persistent technical issues, and lifeless, graphically dated environments that can make the game feel unfinished.
AI-generated editorial synthesis of the source scores and sampled review themes, not a hands-on test. Reviewer experiences and allegations are not independently verified facts.
Pros
- open world direction7
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- The open-world gameplay of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is a brilliant direction for the future of the franchise, but this promising shift is sabotaged by the numerous ways in which...
- Despite technical shortcomings and some filler content, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are chock-full of meaningful additions to one of gaming’s most popular franchises. At worst, thes...
- Pokemon Scarlet & Violet's open-world approach reinvigorates the long-running series.
- innovative additions4
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- Despite technical shortcomings and some filler content, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are chock-full of meaningful additions to one of gaming’s most popular franchises. At worst, thes...
- Pokémon Scarlet and Violet adds a number of changes to the classic Pokémon formula, and most of them pay off, particularly the auto-battles, vast open world, and the three distinct...
- Ultimately, these games were the result of Game Freak and Nintendo taking a risk and giving the fans something they've been begging for over a long while. It tries to mix Legends:...
- compelling storylines3
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- Despite my frustrations with its structure, mechanics, and the fact that it looks and runs like a middling GameCube game most of the time (there were several instances, even outsid...
- Pokémon Scarlet and Violet adds a number of changes to the classic Pokémon formula, and most of them pay off, particularly the auto-battles, vast open world, and the three distinct...
- Pokemon Scarlet and Violet take the long-awaited step into a fully open-world, but one poorly implemented and marred by frustration. A compelling story and characters are a saving...
Cons
- poor performance6
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- Unfortunately, the performance is so abruptly bad that it completely ruins, to an infuriating extent, what otherwise could have been the best Pokemon game to date.
- Despite my frustrations with its structure, mechanics, and the fact that it looks and runs like a middling GameCube game most of the time (there were several instances, even outsid...
- I know, I know, I’ve had my fun mocking the visual glitches and performance issues in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. But I really hope that the performance issues don’t ultimately def...
- technical issues5
see reviews +-
- Despite technical shortcomings and some filler content, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are chock-full of meaningful additions to one of gaming’s most popular franchises. At worst, thes...
- I know, I know, I’ve had my fun mocking the visual glitches and performance issues in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. But I really hope that the performance issues don’t ultimately def...
- Pokemon Scarlet & Violet is more than the sum of its parts. Those parts include the woeful performance and optimization problems, which are a real drag, but much of the rest of th...
- unfinished design5
see reviews +-
- The open-world gameplay of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is a brilliant direction for the future of the franchise, but this promising shift is sabotaged by the numerous ways in which...
- Despite my frustrations with its structure, mechanics, and the fact that it looks and runs like a middling GameCube game most of the time (there were several instances, even outsid...
- I know, I know, I’ve had my fun mocking the visual glitches and performance issues in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. But I really hope that the performance issues don’t ultimately def...
- lackluster graphics3
see reviews +-
- An interesting reworking of the traditional Pokémon gameplay for an open-world setting brought low by its lifeless environments and graphics
- Despite my frustrations with its structure, mechanics, and the fact that it looks and runs like a middling GameCube game most of the time (there were several instances, even outsid...
- I know, I know, I’ve had my fun mocking the visual glitches and performance issues in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. But I really hope that the performance issues don’t ultimately def...
- lifeless world environments3
see reviews +-
- An interesting reworking of the traditional Pokémon gameplay for an open-world setting brought low by its lifeless environments and graphics
- I know, I know, I’ve had my fun mocking the visual glitches and performance issues in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. But I really hope that the performance issues don’t ultimately def...
- Pokemon Scarlet and Violet take the long-awaited step into a fully open-world, but one poorly implemented and marred by frustration. A compelling story and characters are a saving...
Themes and quotes are drawn from 20 sampled reviews with text. Each score above uses its source's displayed count. Theme counts are how many of the sampled reviews mention each point.
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