Pokemon Violet was one of my favourite games of the Nintendo Switch era. I said as much in my original review. But even in my judgement, I knew the game, and its sister title Pokemon Scarlet, had flaws. While the games share a novel and touching plot, as well as a raft of cool new Pokemon, they performed very poorly on Nintendo Switch.
Patience was required in many parts, as a low frame rate and overall poor performance meant you travelled through Scarlet and Violet slowly, occasionally clipping through objects, and consistently being frustrated by how slowly Miraidon could run, fly, or climb walls. At launch, there were plenty of complaints about how these games performed, with many suggesting a “Switch 2” (then unconfirmed) would be able to better run them.
Now, all these years later, that Nintendo Switch 2 has officially manifested – alongside a new game patch designed to improve image quality in handheld and TV mode, as well as frame rate, for smoother movement. It felt too good to be true, but like a prayer answered, Pokemon Violet (and Pokemon Scarlet) looks absolutely fantastic on Switch 2.
Pokemon Violet and Scarlet deserved a refresh
Getting hands-on with the game after all these years, I’ve been consistently impressed by the visuals on show, and just how butter-smooth gameplay has become. Where previously, riding Miraidon would cause the game to groan, and any sudden movement would inspire frame rate drops and stutter, there’s no drama at all.
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You simply summon Miraidon, and you’re off at a clip, with player movement smoothly tracked, and no judder at all. It feels odd to praise a game for being restored to its intended state, but it’s worth acknowledging when a problem is fixed, and when finally, a game is made playable.
If you’re somebody who bounced off Pokemon Violet or Scarlet the first time, the barriers to enjoying gameplay have been lowered immensely.
Travelling through towns, you’ll be greeted by all sorts of new details, rendered nicely and crisply as they weren’t before. The update refreshes all models in the game, from individual characters you meet, to Pokemon out in the field, trees, and more. As an added bonus, the Nintendo Switch 2 doesn’t compress screenshots nearly as much as the original Switch did, so you can see these changes better represented.
The patch seems to prove definitively that what Pokemon Violet and Scarlet really needed (and deserved) was simply a more powerful console. That said, this core problem is more obvious when you travel further afield.
It’s not all perfect, however…
As much as I’m enjoying the revisit, there are still some areas where Violet proves its age – notably, in the small draw distance that surrounds you as you roam. The newly-released patch for Violet and Scarlet can really only do so much. It’s transformative, but it doesn’t “remake” the game for a new console.
As you travel, the game will only render as much as the Nintendo Switch’s hardware was capable of – so you’ll be wandering a field in a bubble of detail, and you can see when Pokemon in the distance, and even textures on trees and grass, pop in. You’ve only got a small cone of vision, so approaching Pokemon can still be jarring. One moment, there’s nothing on the horizon. Then suddenly, you’re facing down a giant Gyarados, or a tiny Tatsugiri.
It’s a flaw that remains obvious, but one that serves as a reminder of the origins of Scarlet/Violet. These aren’t games for Switch 2, and with another Pokemon game on the horizon, Nintendo is now moving on from these dual releases.
That the game was patched at all, and its biggest flaw addressed so well, remains a big deal.
After years of quiet, Pokemon fans who saw the potential in Violet and Scarlet have been somewhat justified by the game’s newly-released Switch 2 patch. It’s not perfect by any stretch, and it certainly reveals the limitations of these games, and just how much can be fixed by a performance enhancement.
But for me, it’s refreshed Pokemon Violet enough for me to enjoy diving back in, finally filling out the blank pages of my Pokédex, and travelling to Blueberry Academy to finish up the remaining stanzas of the game’s bright story. Violet certainly looks and feels much better on Switch 2, and for that, I’m very grateful.
Justice for Pokemon Violet and Pokemon Scarlet, at last.
A Nintendo Switch 2 was provided to ScreenHub by Nintendo for the purpose of news and reviews.
