I Already Hate Pokemon Scarlet & Violet's Far Cry-Style Enemy Outposts

thegamer.com:

I'm sold on Pokemon Scarlet & Violet. I've had my heart broken before, but I never learn. This Pokemon game looks like it has everything I want from a Pokemon game, and my heart is already all in. I'm just waiting for The Pokemon Company to call. I'm a lot more positive on Legends: Arceus than a lot of other Pokemon fans, and have always thought that Scarlet & Violet following on from Legends' open world sensibilities was a master stroke. The latest trailer shows off a lot of Pokemon busy work, but honestly, that kind of nonsense only makes me love it more. I filled the currydex in Galar. I can't wait to make Gardevoir a sandwich. There's one element of the latest trailer which puts a damper on my excitement though, and that's the Far Cry-style bases. Why on earth do they exist?

I had been so worried about Pokemon getting in its own way as it has done so many times before that I didn't stop to consider the fact that even if it does the open world thing perfectly, open world games just suck sometimes. They are crammed with a lot of menial tasks dreamed up in meeting rooms with pie charts tracking player engagement and hours logged. They don't care that most of us sweep up the tasks at the end of open world sagas out of obligation, staring at the screen with glazed, square eyes while drool leaks from our cracked lips.

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No one enjoys this busy work. Ubisoft, for a long time, has been the biggest culprit. So much so that map-clearing tasks are often dismissed as Ubisoft level design. I loved Far Cry 3 but I have slowly fallen out of love with the series, the magic breaking as the formulas are repeated, the maps stretched wider and our time ever