Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are a new technical low for Game Freak

Did they think no one would notice..?

Welcome back! It’s another Tuesday, which means tonight there will be a new episode of Spot Dodge: A Live Nintendo Podcast exclusively on Destructoid. Topics: The crew discusses Pokemon Scarlet and Violet‘s extremely poor performance and optimization. Aside from that, we wanted to have a dedicated episode to talk about the games we’re playing.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet finally hit the market last week. In the time since then, gamers everywhere have been experiencing the first true open-world Pokemon games. Unfortunately, that’s not the only thing fans are experiencing. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are riddled with bugs and glitches. Not only that, but the games look several generations behind in the graphics department, and the performance is abysmal. All culminating into an ugly, bizarre, and somewhat hilarious experience.

There are several things that could have caused this. But the likely answer is that Game Freak and The Pokemon Company didn’t want to miss this holiday season with new games in the series. Opting to rush out blatantly unfinished products. It’s a shame, really. The state of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet is unacceptable.

Thankfully, I’m noticing way more fan backlash than usual with these releases. My hope is that these valid criticisms force Game Freak and TPC to reevaluate the short time between Pokemon releases. Maybe even expand the studio or partner with a developer more capable of creating a well-performing open-world title.

Our lovely cast from around the web: Brett Medlock (me) and Mary Stowe from Destructoid, John Friscia from The Escapist, Greg Bargas from PC Invasion, and Brett Larsen, our extra special guest. Behind the scenes, Gamurs’ Eric Weichhart is live-editing this week’s show.

Spot Dodge is a weekly Nintendo Podcast here at Destructoid where we dedicate an hour or two to go over the latest Nintendo news and discuss the games we’re playing. If you’re a fan of Nintendo Switch, RPGs, or having a good time, Spot Dodge will be a great addition to your podcast rotation. So be sure to subscribe!

Spot Dodge is streaming live every Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. PT / 7:00 p.m. ET on Twitch channel. ICYMI: We now have a dedicated Spot Dodge YouTube channel! All future episodes will be live-streamed and uploaded there. Let us know in the comments!

Afterward, the show will be available on-demand for audio listeners via Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more. The live video version will remain on both YouTube and Twitch (don’t forget to follow and subscribe). So many options!