Pokémon Scarlet And Violet’s Epilogue Is Foolish And Anticlimactic

After enjoying by way of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s epilogue I can definitively say I used to be principally let down by the Hidden Treasure of Space Zero DLC. Don’t get me flawed, the “Mochi Mayhem” episode is an hour of foolish enjoyable alongside among the greatest characters to grace the video games’ Paldea area, however it’s simply that—foolish, particularly when in comparison with among the video games’ extra memorable moments.

“Mochi Mayhem” is positioned as an epilogue to the DLC moderately than extra broadly Scarlet and Violet as a complete, so it naturally nonetheless facilities on characters and locations launched in The Teal Masks and The Indigo Disk, however fortunately clears some house for previous buddies. Rival Kieran, humbled by his losses within the DLC, invitations the participant and their Paldean buddies to go to him and his household within the small area of Kitakami, the place there’s a bizarre curse going round that has civilians doing what’s primarily The Rooster Dance and mindlessly proclaiming how a lot they like to eat Mochi whereas making an attempt to power it on others. Regardless of the silliness, the horror of a complete civilization being mind-controlled by an unknown power is performed fairly straight, which provides it a balanced tone of ridiculous and unsettling.

However all of this table-setting is a means for the video games to facilitate high-level battles in opposition to previous buddies. Nemona, Arven, and Penny from the bottom recreation play a distinguished function within the story, and as extra highly effective trainers succumb to the curse, you’ll should battle them to save lots of your self. Even for my stage 100 workforce, battling previous buddies was a bit of powerful. Properly, as powerful as a Pokémon recreation ever is.

The A plot is numerous nonsense culminating within the seize of maybe the least outstanding Legendary Pokémon within the collection, however it does fill in some gaps from The Teal Masks’s story and, extra importantly, provides the sport an excuse to deliver again the primary trio for another journey. As we talked about in our hopes for Pokémon Gen X, the solid dynamic of Scarlet and Violet was deeply underutilized in the primary recreation. When the crew lastly comes collectively within the finale, it’s actually particular to see these three diametrically opposed folks butt heads earlier than discovering frequent floor. The thoughts naturally wanders to what a recreation that leaned into that dynamic may appear like. Scarlet and Violet’s epilogue gives one other glimpse right into a party-centric Pokémon recreation, and a reminder that these video games don’t get sufficient credit score for his or her writing and localization. They’re humorous and heartfelt, and after they wish to be, they’re dwelling to among the most compelling worldbuilding Pokémon has ever had.

Sadly, “Mochi Mayhem” doesn’t obtain these unimaginable moments of readability, camaraderie, and end result. It’s only a foolish little romp with your pals that feels disconnected from most issues that got here earlier than it. Scarlet and Violet’s legacy goes to be its unmet potential, so the DLC sequestering its greatest stuff in secret endings it barely directs you to and principally dropping threads it unfold out in the primary story could be very on-brand. General, it’s tremendous. It seems like a principally forgettable, tangential episode of the anime and an excuse to hang around with my buddies once more. Not every thing needs to be as world-shattering as discovering out the professor is useless and has been changed by an AI-powered robotic, however it’s a reminder that our greatest days are most likely behind us. Onto no matter comes subsequent.