The first thread will be immediately recognisable to long-time fans: you must tour the globe to defeat eight gym leaders, get their badges, and then compete in the Pokémon League to become champion. The others, on the other hand, are extremely different. One has you seeking for mythological “titans” throughout the area for research purposes, while the other has you storming the basecamps of a gang that seems to be behind some bullying issues at the school. Each has its own tale, and although they start off basic, they quickly become very intriguing – and strange. The game gets pleasantly bizarre by the time you reach the climactic final boss.
Violet and Scarlet are often amusing. One of the gym owners is a similar-obsessed streamer, while the other is a downtrodden salaryman. At one point, a lecturer will ask you to define cheugy. Later, there’s a rap fight with rhymes that rival Weird Al.
More essential than the tale, though, is that each of these songs provides you with something new to do. Of course, the foundation of Pokémon has not changed. Almost everything involves fighting or gathering creatures. However, the open-ended framework allows you much more flexibility and variation than in previous games.
Some of the adjustments are more effective than others. T the titan missions had a sense of mystery and peril to them, especially because they pitted you against some massive giant animals. The raids, on the other hand, seemed like a simplified version of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, where you had to entice clan leaders out of hiding by participating in some very primitive pokémon combat.
