With The Teal Mask, I am finally enjoying Pokémon Scarlet & Violet

Pokemon Scarlet & Violet were not good video games. Or they were not good video games. Are these pairs of Pokemon referring to the plural or a single entity? This question is just one of many frustrations about Pokemon, and Scarlet & Violet have only amplified most of them.

The outdated formula of the game felt even worse as Game Freak attempted to mix it with an "open-world" approach, but only made everything worse. Pokemon games have increasingly felt outdated, and the poor graphics, slow pace of battles, and excessive hand-holding have further highlighted this. Playing Pokemon after a great turn-based title like Persona 5 makes one realize how bad Pokemon is. Unlike many defenders of the game, I couldn't even get excited about the writing or the plot - a repetitive and overly predictable story that played it too safe. And yet, I played The Teal Mask.

The biggest problem with Pokemon is not its graphics, release cycle, or its failure even when it tries to be innovative. It's me. It's me and all the people like me. Too many of us accept low standards, maybe even celebrate them, because there's no other game that allows you to create a team of little freaks like Pokemon does. And, God help me, I enjoy The Teal Mask thanks to these low standards.

When I played the base game, regular readers may recall that I tried something new to spice things up. Knowing that Pokemon games are disgustingly easy, I attempted to play the game as a Gym Leader. I started with Sprigatito and built a team of Grass types from there. I did something similar for the Sword & Shield DLC, paying homage to the additional challenges. It felt more like playing a video game, whereas Pokemon often feels more like a visual novel where the only option is victory.

It started off well as I needed clever strategies for catching, movepool, and Tera types to have a diverse enough selection of Pokémon. It challenged me to explore further and motivated me to seek out Tsareena. It provided the desired challenge. However, at a certain point, it simply became a roadblock. Scarlet & Violet wasn't good, so it wasn't a good strategy to prolong my time with it. I wanted to play it through to the end to see if the open-world ever truly came alive, if there was a purpose beyond just selecting the Gym Leader (even though their difficulty was set). Scarlet & Violet didn't deserve the chances I gave it.

Yet, I gave it another chance with The Teal Mask. So far, it's not great. I've already written about how the beginning highlights Pokemon's biggest problem - its lack of trust in its audience. But following the advice of my colleague Ben Sledge, I finally abandoned my team as a Gym Leader and assembled a more balanced team that I enjoy from my boxes and a bit of catching. I'm overleveled, at least for the initial battles, so I can progress a bit faster.

It's not exactly a glowing recommendation. However, I have to admit that after removing a source of self-inflicted frustration, I'm slowly thinking more positively about Scarlet & Violet as a whole. Maybe it was the perfect game to push to its limits until it breaks - better than tarnishing my first experience with Arceus or HeartGold, right? I still don't think Pokemon is in a good place right now. It claims that Scarlet & Violet is a risk due to its open world, but from the tutorial to the protagonist, the gyms, and the storyline, there are too many factors that Pokemon refuses to change.

Nevertheless, despite everything, when I play in my own way, I can still find enjoyment in Scarlet & Violet. Perhaps that's the worst part about Pokemon - no matter how bad it gets, it still manages to feel good.