A Lifetime of Happiness: Movies, TV, and Video Games

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

November 30, 2022 Steve Bennet-Martin, Stephen Martin-Bennet Season 1 Episode 147
A Lifetime of Happiness: Movies, TV, and Video Games
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
Show Notes Transcript

The Steves discuss the newest Pokémon games, Scarlet and Violet, along with what's making them happy in pop culture today.

What's Making Us Happy?

  • Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin (HBO)
  • Gossip Girl 2.0 (HBO)

Pokémon Discussion

  • The character and story
  • The execution of it's open world aspirations
  • Favorite new Pokémon of the gen
  • The games technical performance
  • And more! 

Ending- Any music or audio clips were borrowed from the original source material.

Support the show
Steve:

Hello, returning Happys and new listeners. This is Steve Bennett Martin.

Stephen:

And this is Stephen Martin Bennett, and welcome to a

Steve:

lifetime of. The podcast where we take you on our journey through some of the movies, shows in other bits of pop culture that are helping to keep us happy, while hopefully bring a smile to your face along the

Stephen:

way. And this November we've been reviewing some of our favorite Pokemon games and regions, and the moment has arrived Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Has been released and we've played

Steve:

it just a little bit. Yes, yes. And so grab your P balls and your sandwiches, because today we're finally discussing the Appal DI region from Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.

Stephen:

But before we get into that, my love, what's been making you happy?

Steve:

Secrets. Secrets, secrets. Secrets everywhere. Starting with Pretty Little Liars original sin. The reboot of the show that. Fell in love with and put you through and you enjoyed. I

Stephen:

very much enjoyed it because we watched the original series and the spinoff series. And now we're watching this and it exists in the same pretty Little Liars universe.

Steve:

Yes, it does. And they did have some clever nods to the old as we get into the new, but I, I think it was great having a very diverse cast of liars. Yes. and. It was really like the shift to being on hbo let it be a little darker and a little creepier and scarier than the original. And I think that like it was a really interesting way that they did it. So I'm excited for it. Coming back for summer

Stephen:

camp. Yes. And it went like, there were no filler episodes, like it was very tight.

Steve:

Yes. I think that that's what you get with a lot of these more premium shows, or even Netflix shows that are about a dozen episodes rather than the usual 24. Is that. They get down to the point a lot quicker, and it was really tight and really nice. Similar to our other favorite group of Secret Keepers, xo,

Stephen:

xo,

Steve:

gossip Girl and Gossip Girl is Back. It came back last year. Yep. And the new season starting soon. So we finally got a chance to binge the reboot or remake, or however you would call it. I would call it

Stephen:

Reboot because it also exists in the same gossip Girl.

Steve:

Yes. And again, they were very fun nods to the

Stephen:

original. Yes. And a couple original cast members like Blair's family. Yes. And you know, talking about Serena and Blair and the original Gossip Girl and Dan and Lonely Boy and all of that kind of stuff. And the best part is they got the voice of the original Gossip Girl, Kristen Bell back, so that she could do the. Hello, upper East Side. Did you miss me? You know I

Steve:

missed you. Yes. And the answer is yes, we missed them. And I think that one thing that's really interesting for those of you that liked the original to come back to the the new one, is that there is a big twist right from the get go. And that's that we know who Gossip Girl

Stephen:

is. Yeah. I was really shocked that they went that route. But

Steve:

it's nice. It is nice and leads to some really interesting storytelling about what goes on behind the scenes because at the end of the original gossip, You know, when you find out who it is, it's not like every person's gonna go back and watch every episode to see how it all adds up. Right. And you don't get to see like what they were going through trying to get it done. Mm-hmm. and to keep the secrets and balancing it all. And I think that it, it really is a nice touch and I can't wait for the new season to start.

Stephen:

And again, this one also much more diverse with the cast where the original cast was very ho. Yes. This one is

Steve:

not. And it's nice. It is. But what's even nicer is our latest journey to pea. Now, why do we

Stephen:

like

Steve:

pea? Well, it's the newest entry in the franchise and it had a lot of promises to live up to, like having a freedom to explore a mostly open world. Mm-hmm. while being fully loaded with new Pokemon and challenges. And I would say it's lived up to pretty much everything that I promised pretty well.

Stephen:

You know, me and my lack of enjoyment. Surprise battles. Yes, I guess you would call it. Or they probably have a better name for it. Random encounters. Random encounters. Thank you. Not a fan. I love this because the Pokemon are existing in the world, and so you get to pick who, for the most part, who you are encountering.

Steve:

Yes. And. So this kicks off generation nine. It was released worldwide on November 18th, 2022, whereas I called it Pokemon Day Not, not the official licensed Pokemon Day, but enough reason to take off work. Yes. It's on our favorite system of all time. The Nintendo Switch and. They actually, when I was planning it, they had unspecified records for the highest number of pre-orders, but it's also been said that it sold 10 million copies in three days, making it the largest Nintendo game launch ever, ever.

Stephen:

And so that was just in three days and that was before. Black Friday when a lot of parents do their Christmas shopping.

Steve:

Yes. So we're gonna jump into the game. Fair warning, we will be discussing spoilers for the game. So if you have not played it yet or are not very far along, you may wanna skip the episode till later. Of course, we won't spoil past a couple of the Titans and things like that because I'm a little bit further than Steven is. Yes.

Stephen:

I have not been playing it for as many hours as you have. I am I have not completed any of the three arcs.

Steve:

Yes. But I would say that this could be a good idea of what the first 20 to 30 hours of gameplay is like. Yep. And as you mentioned, there are arcs, so most Pokemon games that we've talked about in the past, there's one story Yes. Or kind of two stories going on at the same time where you have the villains and you have the gym battles

Stephen:

and the villain thing is more of. Side story that just seems to happen. And then right at the very end takes precedent after you're the champion. Yes.

Steve:

Or as you're about to become a champion. Yeah, depending on the game. But yes, in this one there are three different arcs that you can tackle in any order. What do you think of that as a concept? Love,

Stephen:

love, love, love, love. Like this is how it is supposed to be. I didn't realize I needed this until we started playing in it and I was like, oh my goodness. It's three different stories. So you know, I can hit a gym if I want to or, and so like first, let's say the three arcs are the Pokemon League. Yes. The team star who are our villains this time and the Titan path. Yes. So, Like I can say, oh, I want to do all the gems. Okay, that's great. And then you can go back to Team Star or the Titans later, or you can explore the world. Kind of like how I did with Breath of the Wild, where I'm like, I'm exploring this entire area until I've set foot on every inch of grass. I'm not moving along. And so you may get some from each of the arcs you get to pick, unlike before the paths don't open. Like re like you can't get past this until you get this gym. You can do the gyms in any order. You can attempt them in any order. Yes. I found that out with the psychic gym. Is tough.

Steve:

Yes. While, while it is open world, it is worth noting that they do not scale to your levels. So that's one thing that maybe in a future game would be nice to see, is that whatever area you're in, you're always encountering Pokemon around your level. They didn't scale. So there certainly are places that are meant to be more challenging than than others in a set order that the game would recommend you to go in, but at least it gives you the freedom to go in any order that you. And as you mentioned, it starts with the Pokemon League arc, where you're inspired by your rival and neighbor pona to fight through all eight gems to face off against the elite for and become a champion. What are your thoughts on pona, your arch

Stephen:

rival? Yeah, she's not an arch rival. It's more of a friend who wants the best for you, wants you to be just like her. Also a champion and. She has no desire to beat you. She just wants to battle you. Whoever wins like this is somebody who is a true friend and just wants the best for you and to have fun. So I know that the term is always rival. I don't feel it's like

Steve:

arrival. Yeah. And even, even she says like you're arrival. And the fact that like we're like all she wants is for you to be are equals so that she has an equal that she feels on par with. Cuz she, she does talk later, not getting into too many spoilers, but about like her feelings, about how like so many people don't want to battle her because she's a champion and how she finds trouble finding that challenge. And

Stephen:

speaking of that, so you're introduced to. The champion at the beginning? No. How, how is this? Yes.

Steve:

I was gonna say, normally in games there's a champion and when you beat the champion, you become the champion and they're just back to being a regular old Joe Schmo, schmuck. Right? This one champion is more of a title or a level of class. Mm-hmm. where there are multiple champions in the game. And so what do you think of that change? I

Stephen:

like this a whole bunch because so many of your classmates or your friends and things. Are doing this Pokemon League arc and so they've turned champion into like getting a PhD in battling rather than a title to only be obtained by one person until someone else comes along and beats you. I like this change. I think it's an appropriate change. Yeah,

Steve:

I do as well. There was something about like Leon being the champion and undefeated and everything, and then you finally got to defeat him in sort and shield. Mm-hmm. being cool, but the idea that like it's just, you could fight multiple champions and it opens up for like the DLC and stuff like that for like more champions and I'm okay with more challenge. So

Stephen:

speaking of Jim's leaders and things like that, Like for me, I found like the gym leaders are always interesting cuz they're, pardon me, many villains. Mm-hmm. like, but not really villains because they don't really wanna take you down. Especially in this one. It's just somebody that you have to battle. Two of the ones that stuck out to me were. Iona who is the streaming streamer? The streamer. And she's the electric type? Yes. And rhyme, who is the rapper And in terms of characters, they're the ones that stuck out to me. Yes.

Steve:

I also really liked brass from artisan, the grass Sky. I thought that he was pretty cool. And yeah, I think that the, the, just the switch up of like having it be, you could tackle them in any order. So some feel more powerful than others. Like, I mean, the reason why I think I like brass is like, not only cuz like the, the personality but also just cuz I found that one probably a little bit before I was meant to. And so it provided a little bit more of a challenge. And a healthy challenge is always a

Stephen:

good thing. So before you can face off against a gym, Usually you would have to walk through the gym beating underlings in the gym, just different battles to get to them. that's all changed.

Steve:

Yes, it has. Now they have like little mini challenges that are different for each gym and I really like some of them. And some of them were clearly like thought of in the last minute. Well,

Stephen:

and some of them I also enjoy, have nothing to do with battles. Yeah. Like

Steve:

the, where's Waldo one? Yeah,

Stephen:

that one was really neat. A as well as you're gonna push this giant olive olive around and. You can battle people if you want, or you can take the long way and not battle anybody

Steve:

or you like me. Don't realize that if you talk with the people that you'll battle in and they'll open up shortcuts. So you take the long way not knowing what to do. Yeah.

Stephen:

So that was really neat. I liked the gym challenges in this because they felt unique. They felt new and fresh. And with the changes that were. In this game, which I felt were a lot. Yeah. Like some people have said that they don't feel like there were many changes in this. I feel like. Is a whole new universe

Steve:

for Pokemon. Yeah. It's a, it's a bigger jump up between generations than I think we're used to and for the best. Yes. It, it takes, you know, I think a lot of people were butt hurt after archus, like opened things up, but it, that wasn't a mainline Pokemon game and it never was meant to be. It was meant to be an imagining kind of what if this is what a Pokemon game was like. Mm-hmm. And so I think that they adapted what they could of it while still leaving it true to.

Stephen:

Now in this one you are not your mom doesn't kick you out and you have to go fend for yourself. No, you're going to boarding school. You're going to boarding school, which is a nice change as well. You've got classes you have to attend, and you're getting close to the teachers. And the side quest. Were there any of the teachers that you really liked?

Steve:

I really liked the history teacher. Me too. And I really liked the home ec teacher cuz he was family

Stephen:

Yeah. He's totally gay. I also really liked the art teacher like, because that was all about. You, you know, you're probably developing student teacher relationships that are inappropriate in some ways where it

Steve:

feels very persona for those who have played the series before.

Stephen:

But I really liked it. I liked how big the school was, but besides you being a boarding school student, You actually take classes?

Steve:

Yes. And what's interesting is that it provides pretty much an extended optional tutorial of sorts. I mean, it's not optional if you wanna a hundred percent the game. Correct. But it is optional that like, I waited until I finished all a gyms and then went and took all my classes all in a row. I did not. While you did like half of them Halfway. Yeah. And then went back. And so again, it lets you do them when you want to, but it is helpful, especially for newcomers to the series because a lot of things that have been. known very well online. Like for instance, the shiny rate is like one in 4,028 on average. Yeah. Give or take or maybe I'm exactly right. Yay me But it's never been said before. That's something that you would have to look online to figure out like what are shiny Pokemon, how often do they occur in this game? And like it explains that it has you thinking about battle types and matchups and, and.

Stephen:

Things you can use to make a Pokemon easier to catch. Yeah. And you know, the different things with eggs also, your history teacher is unnecessary exposition about the area, but also adds to the mythology of palade. Yes, that was fantastic

Steve:

and it has a great history. And then also kind of adjacent to the school is you have the team star route where you're dealing. While you're tasked by a mysterious hacker and a guy who's definitely not your headmaster to deal with, the school's alleged bullies, team star. And so it's interesting that, again, they take the school aspect to kind of make the villains that it's not like they're bad or they're out to destroy the world. It's just that these are people who have left school because they didn't feel welcome. And trying to figure out how to get them back into school without making it like forced and. What are your thoughts on the main two characters of that route? Penny and Clive.

Stephen:

So Penny is really nice and we met her our first time in the you know, heading the hog. Yeah. And we saved her from the bullies and, you know, she may not have a lot of the talents like the other gym battlers and things like. But she definitely has talents in other areas, so it's nice unpacking. Yes. And then of course we have Clive who, you know, he's dressed in punk rock clothes from the eighties, and he totally thinks you can't see through his disguise whenever, if you give it a second, you're like, I know

Steve:

you. Yes, exactly. And one thing I thought you'd especially appreciate is Penny is an EV enthusiast.

Stephen:

Yes she is. Cuz she has the EV backpack. Immediately you're like, girl, you're cool. I like

Steve:

you. Yes. And one interesting mechanic of the game is the Let's Go feature, which is different than. You know, in the, let's Go Pikachu in EVs, but it is similar where you let a Pokemon out of its ball to roam the world where you could send it to a tack Pokemon. What do you think of that feature by itself?

Stephen:

Love this because, you know once I've caught, you know, one or two of each Pokemon that I need, the rest of them are just there for experience points and sometimes it's nice to just. okay. Crocodile, go kill'em, earn us some experience points and pick up anything you see along the way.

Steve:

Yeah. And then how do you feel like they executed that for the Team Star rates where you go into their base and have to beat 30 Pokemon using the Let's Go feature in 10 minutes or less. I think

Stephen:

it's also really nice because if you hadn't used it out in the world, it's a way that makes you learn how to do it, which Nintendo loves to do in their games as. That, you know, here's a feature. You may not have used it, but here we're gonna make you use it, and then you're gonna realize how useful it is.

Steve:

Yes, certainly. And then thirdly, we have the Titan path where you're helping your new friend Arvin, collect the mystica herbs to help him heal up. His partner Pokemon Mastiff was well as restoring your legendary Pokemon's abilities. Now what are your thoughts on Arvin? Himself. I

Stephen:

thought he was going to be the secret villain of the game when you first meet him. I was like, you're sus Yeah. Yeah. You're shady. You're suss, you're mean. You're team star. Yes. I was wrong.

Steve:

Yes. He, he ends up being a professor sat of this region's Pokemon professor's son who laments about his absentee. but also I feel like as two dog dads, we just, I instantly, like my heart melted when he starts and it, I, I know that you've only beaten the two, so you just found out that his goal is to heal ma stiff. But like there were parts of that story where I was getting chills and emotions in a way that I don't normally get with Pokemon games. Right. And so I, I really appreciated the arc for the story. The titans themselves were just really big Pokemon, right? But you know, that's cool. People love, they're really big things. Size queens out there. Hello And,

Stephen:

but I also like that with this you have your legendary from the beginning.

Steve:

Yes, you can fight with him and they explain in the story because he's afraid, but he is there for you for transportation and.

Stephen:

Yeah, it's your transportation and it's a very metroid type of thing that as you go further in the story, you get more abilities and you can explore more areas.

Steve:

Yes. And so I really enjoyed the way that they did that. I can't wait for you to fully unlock yours. Yeah. And so we could talk about the story in all the fields, but that'll be

Stephen:

a few more weeks. Yes.

Steve:

But out of the three paths, do you have a favorite so far that you're enjoying more?

Stephen:

No. Because. For once. It feels like a fully complete game. And I like being able to do all three. Like I was exploring an area and all of a sudden I got a phone call from Arvin and he is like, yeah, there's a Titan nearby. I was like, really? I didn't know that. And I was like, well, I, as soon as I get all the Pokemon in this area, I'll go look for that Titan. Like, I enjoy that. This is like, I. that this idea is successful enough that they use it in future games, however they decide to do it. But breaking it up into three specific things was fantastic.

Steve:

Yes. And you wouldn't be able to start your Pokemon journey if you didn't have a partner of your very own. Yes. Here you had three options. Spa, the grass cap, Pokemon. Who who evolves into Mara, who's a bigger cat, who loves magic tricks and critical hits. Yep.

Stephen:

There's Huy Coco who just wants to sing and set things on fire who later becomes Skelet Dge. His middle evolution is awful. I'm not a fan, the final evolution made up for it, but aesthetically, this is my least favorite fire starter from any of the Pokemon games I played. Like it's so aesthetically bad except for the final that it was the first time where I was. Do I just pick another one? Because I hate how much this looks. Yeah, but you know, I'm fine with Ske. Dge. It's still not my favorite. Like, yeah. What if I

Steve:

told you a shiny version was purple?

Stephen:

I'd be sad that it wasn't purple to begin with. I

Steve:

know. And then lastly, we have Coley who evolves into qu qual, and he's just a gay samba duck that loves to kick things and Sasha around.

Stephen:

So what's interesting is when I've played with him and his constant movement where he's like sobbing back and forth, it makes me honestly anxious. Yeah. And uncomfortable to watch. I want him to stay still for a second please. Because I don't think I could play with him as my main, because I don't know what it is about him constantly moving, but it honestly made me

Steve:

anxious. Yeah, I can imagine. And see that because he definitely doesn't like to stay still. But then again, neither do I. So I can't throw a stones And not only did we get a new set of starters, but we have a whole new polka ds Yes. Filled with returning favorites as well as many new one. We've talked in the past how almost every new Pokemon game of recent generations since Sun and Moon has regions regional variance. Mm-hmm. here we get whipper and toros. What do you think of them?

Stephen:

Toros gets on my nerves because you see toros out in the wild. It spots you and charges at you. Dude, I'm just trying to look around. I don't have time for you.

Steve:

Yes. I do think that it was a cool redesign and and it also

Stephen:

makes sense that a bull's charging you. Yes, exactly. I don't care for it, but it's a great idea.

Steve:

Yeah. And I love the Paul Whipper design. Just taking a Pokemon that was you know, just another water type and making it poison and ground. Mm-hmm. was pretty cool. I had higher hopes for its evolution instead. big Derpy drp. but Clai, I think is his name is, yeah. And not my favorite, but I really enjoyed them. And then in addition to, just because it doesn't feel like a lot, only having two pian forms, but we also have Paradox Pokemon Think regional forms, but massive and either ancient or futuristic, depending on your version. And so my favorites from those, I've gotten to know them a little bit better, having Beat the Game involve Scream Tale, which is like an Uber jiggly. Flutter Maine, which is an Uber mistress and roaring moon who's like a Uber solo.

Stephen:

And allegedly I have things like iron

Steve:

thorns, which is a Uber Tyran Atar or iron valiant, which is a Uber gale. Have not seen them yet. You will though. And you'll love them. Yeah. and we talked about how you get your main legendary either Karate on for.

Stephen:

Or Murdon for me, which I actually prefer my murdon over your Choon.

Steve:

That's okay because I prefer my choon over your Mira, even though I would like to travel on yours more than mine. I like mine for, its like coolness and battle.

Stephen:

Now I like mine for how

Steve:

it travels. yes, there is also a legendary foursome based off of Chinese legends, which is weird. Weird for being in Spain, Spain, Spain. But you have wo chin, pow tlu and Chiu, and I caught them but haven't played around with them yet. So all I have to do is say I really love the look of the, the little firefish.

Stephen:

So we have some other new, of course, new

Steve:

Pokemon and highlights include Tinker Tough. The Internet's favorite new Pokemon. Agreed. It's awesome. Yes. You have a new trio of dogs, Fido, Machi, and graveyard. Fido

Stephen:

is the Princess Leia Pokemon. Yeah. And Greenard is a cool ghost puppy with a candle on its head.

Steve:

Yes. I also love Laora, who's a beautiful rock poison type with some competitive possibilities. I was very iffy when I saw, like the picture of it standing still cuz it just like looked like a little, like closed in rock. But it's cool when you see it in motion, how it opens up and is flowy. And it also seems to be like tied closer to the terrestrial phenomenon than any other Pokemon. So I, I like. You also have Bcal, our pseudo legendary and ice dragon, which looks

Stephen:

like an ice Godzilla. I

Steve:

love it cuz it became my false swipe user. So it helped me complete my polka decks as much as I can for now. Yeah, you have Sato, the cutest baby. Whale Pokemon. Yeah,

Stephen:

it's very cute. But for me it would go in a box. I know,

Steve:

but it is just adorable. Like that's one that I like. I was surprised after seeing pictures of it online, of how big it was in the game. I was expecting like a cute little baby and I'm like, no, you're a big old baby And then you have Gimme goal who's previewed right before its release. And the idea is it's. Treasure chest. Yeah. And it evolves when you collect 999 coins. Yep. It's

Stephen:

an interesting concept. And it's kind of like the ox in breath of the wild.

Steve:

Yes. And warning for those playing through it. Once you get your 999 gimme gold coins. Once you evolve one GI goal, it does. Take all the coins, which I guess makes sense. But I had a, I, for whatever reason, I thought once I have 999, then any sort of gimme goal I level up will evolve. And it did not work that way. So I should have been a little more selective in which one evolved.

Stephen:

Finding shinies is interesting this time around because they're just out in the wild. And I found too, without trying,

Steve:

I wouldn't. I found one and it was a male Laz and for those poke freaks there out there know how disappointing that was cuz it doesn't evolve. Yeah.

Stephen:

I found one like my first ever shiny and it's a drowsy and it was a drowsy and so I found it just by chance. I was like, that color looks odd.

Steve:

Yeah, it shins as well too. I

Stephen:

have a, I

Steve:

have a shiny shins. Yes. Which is cool cuz once it evolves, we'll both have shiny looks, right? Yep. And yeah. I mentioned when speaking about laora, the battle gimmick of this generation is stereotypes. Now any Pokemon can ize and get a new type. What do you think of that?

Stephen:

I like it. It's fun and it feels more like Z type, which I prefer other than mega evolutions in the past. This feels more like an extension of your Pokemon and. We're doing this just to take up screen space.

Steve:

Yeah. And I like how it worked in with the story very well, especially in the, the final act. wouldn't know. I know, but it's something that you don't, at least for me, like, I don't use it very often in the main game, like battling in the over worlds or with regular Pokemon trainers, but it is helpful in gym battles and 100%. Yeah. And I think that it can really cause like a whole new level of strategy and online battle. In a way that like other ones haven't, cuz you never know, like most of these gimmicks, you can only do one Pokemon per battle can ize Correct? So you'll never know which of your opponent's six Pokemon is gonna randomly get a new typing where it defensively gains all the benefits of that new type while keeping its offensive strength to its original types as well as either boosting one of them up even more, or giving it a new type. It's strong against. And so I think. Provides a lot more layers. Not that I do online battles, but it makes me a little more like tempted to, to maybe dip my toe in. And what, what do you think of the terror raid battles? So,

Stephen:

Terror raid battles are this gin's version of the max raid battles. and they are faster, smoother, and I'm more likely to do a teade battle when I see them on the map. I'm like, oh, I'll go do that because you know it's three minutes of your time. Where some of the Max Raid battles felt like they were longer. They weren't as enjoyable, and this is just, you choose to do it. You choose not to. One nice thing if you successfully complete the max raid battle, you always catch the max or the terror raid if

Steve:

you, which is very nice. Yes. And yeah, I just love that it's smoother before you add to like do your move and then wait for another person do their move, and then another person, everybody does it at the same time. Now everyone does it at the same time and it makes it a lot. Cleaner. Mm-hmm. It is interesting how it's like an entirely different level of strategy. Like the Pokemon that you'll take into Teade battles aren't the same Pokemon that you'll take out into the real world as you get. They get harder. You have to make unique strategies, but I almost like that. Mm-hmm. you're more likely to have, like, they make it easier. A lot of the quality of life improvements to this game, like being able to remember any of your moves at any time. So you can have a whole set of moves that you use for teade battles and then you switch up the moves for competitor play without having to have two separate Pokemon. But it's just, I love the layers behind. and the map and region itself is based on Spain. Could you tell?

Stephen:

Very much so. But I also thought it was very interesting that it is based on Spain, but your language teacher speaks French,

Steve:

so Oh yes, it might be a transplant. I

Stephen:

thought that was a choice. And also as we just talked about, the special Pokemon are based on Chinese. Not Spanish thing, so also a choice. Yes. One of my favorite improvements is outdoor Pokemon centers that are randomly around the map. Not always. In cities and things. Yeah, it

Steve:

certainly makes it easier to heal up on the go and gives you more places you can fly to. I also loved tag tree thicket which is like their, their forest version. They've been really doing forest well the past few generations. Mega doso, your main kind of home city is really impressive. And then while you haven't gotten there yet, there's, they even hint in history class at the beginning that there is an area zero and I think that they You're not supposed to go there though. I know. I broke the rules. I'm a bad, bad boy. You can punish me after we're done recording. Okay. But what about you? I

Stephen:

liked artisan and the flowers. I thought that was pretty cool. Yeah. Valencia and all the electric lights and signs only at night. During the day it's blah, but at night it's very, Yes. And I also liked all the windmills as a wonderful nod to Don Quixote, the Spanish conquistador that was tilting at windmills. Oh, so you're

Steve:

right by bomb beard, the legendary type. Probably yes. Other changes, as we mentioned, there were a whole lot of quality of life improvements that we won't get into in depth, but let's just say it's easier to raise your Pokemon and give them better stats and change their nature. The mints are everywhere, and rather than having a battle tower that you're forced to participate in, in order to get a lot of the items, they're just available now with your P dollars. You also, rather than making curry, you make sandwiches.

Stephen:

Yeah.

Steve:

That's fine. It's fine. Yeah. It's a chance to bond with your Pokemon. That's fun and useful. It nice that you can heal anywhere without going to a Pokemon center by making a sandwich.

Stephen:

Oh, see, I also, I actually preferred. The picnic things, less about the making sandwiches and more about washing the Pokemon and talking to them and throwing a ball and doing all the play things. Yes. And

Steve:

also now, rather than having one or two nurseries in the game, you can just breathe your Pokemon at any camp, which is cool. So I really think that they took a, like a mostly surface level mechanic and really incorporated into the gameplay in a really cool way.

Stephen:

Now we would remi. We would be remiss if we did not talk about some of the glitches that everyone is experiencing while playing the game. Yes. Are

Steve:

they as game break, as the trolls claim? Not

Stephen:

at all. They're annoying. Sure. But like it's graphical things, it's fine. I have not had So sometimes the frame late rate will slow down temporarily? Yes. Sometimes whenever you're battling, you see through the ground texture. Okay. In the grand scheme of things, does that ruin the game? No. No. I have not had anything where people are like, Oh, I fell through three layers and ended up in a whole other, and I haven't had that.

Steve:

I haven't had Pokemon, just randomly protrude out of your groin like they were penises. I haven't

Stephen:

had my character turn into 50 feet tall on a giant tricycle, which part of me believes that that was done and not intently. Yeah. Yeah. And. I think people are making a lot more out of the glitches than is real. Yeah. I have had more fun with Pokemon Violet than I have with any other Pokemon game, and that includes the glitches. Do I hope that there is a patch in the next few weeks that speeds up the frame rate. That fixes the glitches. Sure. That would be excellent. Is that going to stop me from finishing the game and trying and being like, no, I'm waiting for the patch. Not at

Steve:

all. Not at all. And another note, if we had the same play styles, we could be playing through the game together because they do offer co-op play, but we played very

Stephen:

differently. We played RPGs entirely

Steve:

differently. Yes. So final thoughts on the game?

Stephen:

It's excellent. I. I would say it is my favorite Pokemon game to date. Yep, mine too. I hope that the changes that we're seeing with the multiple storylines and the freedom to explore things and no more random encounters. I hope that all continues for future generations. I still appreciate that the Pex is achievable number, like 400. Yeah. So I have no issue with that. I think this is an excellent game. If you're a Pokemon fan, hopefully you're already playing it. If not, go get it. Yeah,

Steve:

and I would say that this is also a great entry point if you're not a Pokemon gamer, but we've peaked your. First of all, if you listen to this whole episode and you're not a Pokemon gamer, we love you very much for loving us very much, Yeah, thank

Stephen:

you very much. Because yeah, this is not your typical horror movie comedy or whatever. Yes. But

Steve:

we will be getting back into the scheme of things next week, focusing on movies as we get into the Christmas season with our not so Christmas e Christmas

Stephen:

month. Yes. We'll be doing things such as. It's Batman Returns Die Hard and last holiday.

Steve:

Yes. So let us know what you're looking forward to hearing through them and what you think of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. You can always email us at happy life pod gmail.com or

Stephen:

you can get in touch with us on all the socials, whether that is Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok. Happy Life Pod

Steve:

and until next to everybody, stay happy and catch'em all.