The reviews are in for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, with many critics noting that the Nintendo Switch clearly struggles to run the game properly. But it’s one thing to read about performance issues in the abstract. It’s much funnier to see how badly the character models clip through each other in the game while the framerate lurches.
The scenery randomly starts disappearing when you throw the Pokéball
Pokéballs are powerful enough to digitize Pokémon inside their fist-sized capacities, but I didn’t know that they were also capable of distorting the space around them. Well, they did in this instance at least, and also caused the framerate to spasm as if in pain.
oof the reviews arent kidding about the terrible performance #PokemonScarletViolet #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/0oDvYQmMqV
— cherrim @ pkmn scarlet (@Cherrim) November 17, 2022
People clip through each other
There’s PDA, and then there’s literally being inside of each other while walking down the street. Jesus, these two need to get a room. Or better rendering. One of the two.
Pokemon Scarlet has major performance issues on the actual hardware and this is too funny. Running around in the world I get major frame drops. Entities just popping into existence. This is a joke pic.twitter.com/R6Oc5VNhi9
— Penten | Gold (@GoldilocksP4) November 11, 2022
The sandwich doesn’t even go inside of her mouth
I’m not an expert, but I’m fairly certain that a sandwich is supposed to go inside and not beside your mouth when you eat one. I don’t ask for much out of a sandwich-eating animation. Yet Pokémon Scarlet and Violet managed to let me down anyway.
This is the tackiest animation I have ever seen… the off kilter sandwich, whilst the trainer bites the air with no easing on the tweens…. the floating Pokemon in their idle animation staring at nothing😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/NFdclx8spT
— Starjeti (@Starjeti) November 16, 2022
A trainer’s arms go through the…eye sockets?
Twitch streamer “Patterrz” sums it up best:
This is the correct way to ride a Koraidon. If you are not doing it in this way then you are not playing Pokémon Scarlet version and Violet version correctly. If your arms and your fists are not coming through your eyeballs, then you are riding a Koraidon in the incorrect manner. And you should probably fix that. [breaks down laughing]
pokemon scarlet working perfectly as intended pic.twitter.com/8EpjbMtIHz
— Patterrz (@Patterrz) November 17, 2022
The camera occasionally loses the player
There’s so much to unpack in these videos, like NPCs randomly appearing out of nowhere. Since that was something that also happened with wild Pokémon in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, I’m not too shocked about it. Same with the terrible framerate. What does surprise me is the second video, where the camera is struggling to keep up with the player while they’re riding a Koraidon. And it doesn’t even go that fast.
Since Pokemon Scarlet & Violet released today.. 😌
I’d like to present to you.. A SAMPLE OF PERFORMANCE ISSUES IN #PokemonScarlet #PokemonViolet LMFAO 💀 pic.twitter.com/j5bRgneoxg
— TM06💿: Exploring Paldea 🍇🍊 (@trsrpc) November 17, 2022
Schrödinger’s Pokémon
So these Pachirisu sure are blinking in and out of existence. Oh, and your Koraidon motorbike gets stuck in the middle of some crates.
Secondo le recensioni Pokémon Scarlatto e Violetto sono una delle migliori generazioni Pokémon distrutti da una performance tecnica abominevole con cali di frame rate assidui non mi aspettavo altro insomma pic.twitter.com/Qnjxw2Lu2r
— Conrad_956 (@conrad_956) November 17, 2022
Pokémon are stuck in a wall
It’s a good thing that shiny Pokémon have animated sparkles, because some of them are stuck in walls. (You’ll have to use your imagination a bit, but that’s a Deino.)
Actually no, this is my favorite bug in Scarlet and Violet
encountering a Pokemon stuck in a wall pic.twitter.com/tBCQLrVoxE
— 🌊 Fuz ✨ (@AquaticFuz) November 17, 2022
Characters’ bodies stutter as they walk
So I included this video for the stuttering. But what really blew me away was how ugly this waterfall background is. This is a background that you’d expect from the PlayStation 2, not a modern machine like the Nintendo Switch.
these new pokemon games are graphically so pretty! my favourite features are the 600 missing pokemon and framerate stuttering. the graphics are a bonus! 🥰 79.99$ plus tax totally worth it ❤️ #PokemonScarletViolet #PokemonViolet #PokemonScarlet pic.twitter.com/KPiNFra4zX
— mansterzs (@mansterzs) November 17, 2022
Pokéballs make the camera clip into the ground
In this instance, the pokéball somehow causes the camera to fly right through the ground before it finally hits the wild Pokémon. Of course, as we’ve seen in prior Pokéball footage, the framerate is busy dying a terrible death as well.
How is this acceptable enough for a release #PokemonViolet #PokemonScarlet pic.twitter.com/NS5cduKVco
— Yuria of Ailurus 🎋Angel’s Sword (@YuriaVT) November 17, 2022
If you’re looking to start your own collection of worst glitches in a mainline Pokémon game, you can grab Pokémon Scarlet or Violet starting tomorrow.
Update 11/18/2022 at 11:55 A.M. E.T.: Pokémon Scarlet or Violet is now out for the general public, and players have found even more funny glitches. Here are some new ones for your enjoyment.
All trainers T-pose during a cutscene
To be fair, you had to fiddle with the contrast on the original video to see it properly. But according to the player, this was 10 minutes into the game. Only 10 minutes! This isn’t some random cutscene in the middle of the game, but one of the earliest impressions players would have gotten of Scarlet and Violet. It’s not a good look for a game that already had a lot to prove.
had to fudge the brightness/contrast but: pic.twitter.com/REjCRVwbUK
— @Auri@meemu.org (@auribirb) November 18, 2022
The player rides on an invisible legendary motorbike
You probably were probably pretty psyched to ride the legendary Koraidon and Miraidon like the rest of us. These motorbike Pokémon are the fastest way to travel across Paldea. There’s just one problem: they sometimes turn invisible. So it looks like you’re just zooming around in an awkward seated position.
ポケモンバグったんだがwww
私のミライドンどこいったw pic.twitter.com/Go4JroYPFn— なぎさ🌽🚑🌸 🧪🎋 (@nagisa_Vzuki39) November 17, 2022
Background characters or ghosts? You decide
This NPC seems to run into an invisible wall for a bit, and then disappears completely. Spoopy. This actually would have been a pretty cool thing to see in a haunted house, just not in broad daylight.
Just a clip of Pokemon Violet working as intended pic.twitter.com/beKVzMnSuF
— jacob alpharad (@Alpharad) November 18, 2022
Schoolchildren’s legs distort the space time fabric of the universe
Children in the Pokémon series are so powerful. Not only do they embark on dangerous adventures and take down adult villains by the age of 11, they can also cause significant frame stuttering.
Guys I know theres been a lot of backlash with the fps of the new Pokémon games but oh my word…. pic.twitter.com/FtJEM0pGsK
— JoeB (@SOliveli) November 18, 2022
The lighting changes in the middle of a cutscene
I assume that the lighting was changed so that you could better see the Quaxly in the next video cut. Unfortunately, it happened too soon.
THEY ROTATE THE DIRECTIONAL LIGHT TO FRONTLIGHT THE POKEMON BUT IT HAPPENS BEFORETHE CUT WHAT IS THIS GAME #PokemonScarletViolet #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/PBotvh07Lu
— Narry (@smellyfeetuhave) November 18, 2022
Pokémon stand hovered during battle, then fall out of the screen
I smiled when I saw that your Pokémon could stand in the air while they battled a flying opponent. Flamigo is a bird, so I suppose it’s plausible that it could float? I burst into laughter when the Flamigo suddenly fell straight down the cliff.
For those who haven’t worked in game development—colliders are what level designers use to make sure that game objects make contact with one another. It seems that the floor collider for battles randomly decided to turn off for no reason.
Editor’s Note: I went to pull this embedded tweet over, but it appears the OP has deleted it. Apologies — David.
Pokémon can duplicate when they evolve
So when you evolve a Pokémon, you could get another copy of it. The player notes that the duplication is purely visual, but it’s still funny to think about evolution becoming a “buy-one-get-one-free” deal like a fried chicken shop.
So if you evolve at the wrong time your pokemon clones itself?
(it’s only visual but it’s pretty strange) pic.twitter.com/sdBT20uG8P— HopCat (@HopCaterpie) November 18, 2022
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