Pokémon Scarlet and Violet coop is amazing, even with all the glitches

When we were kids, my twin brother and I wanted nothing more than to go on a Pokémon journey together, as a team, and we chased any approximation of it we could. This meant sometimes playing together the Game Boy original games. Other times it meant playing pretend on our childhood playgrounds, or writing stories about exploring the series’ expansive world. The dream of exploring Kanto’s forests and Hoenn in videogame format was not an option for us as children. That’s why it’s hard not to get swept up in the emotion of it all as I walk through the Paldea region alongside my brother in Pokémon Scarlet And Violet.

Pokémon Scarlet And Violet’s cooperative mode doesn’t Completely nail the feeling of undertaking a sweeping Pokémon journey with friends. Most of the games’ story content is walled off from cooperative teams, which means the big touchstones, such as overcoming a tough gym battle or becoming the Pokémon League champion, can still only be done in isolation. These omissions are disappointing, however. Scarlet And VioletMake up for this by the pure joy that comes with exploring Paldea’s vast wilderness together.

Scarlet And Violet, up to four players can join up in one continuous world, untethered and unimpeded by one another’s progress. As was the case throughout most of the mainline games, grouping up allows you quick access to staple multiplayer mechanics, such as battling with your friends and trading Pokémon. You can also download In Scarlet and Violet, you can also group up for Tera Raid battles, in which you take on rare Terastallized Pokémon. But even outside of its sheer utility, the ninth generation’s multiplayer is replete with joyful, fleeting encounters. My play increases Scarlet And Violet’s The more multiplayer I play, the more I fall in love with everyday, silly, and small moments of my group.

Image: Game Freak/The Pokémon Company, Nintendo via Polygon

As the series’ first “true” open-world game, Pokémon Scarlet And Violet are all about discovery, and when that discovery occurs communally, it’s amplified tenfold. My friends and I will travel to different corners of the map with our bikes, discovering secrets and sharing them via voice chats or private messages. So much of the previous Pokémon multiplayer experience has been almost exclusively about battling, trading, And minigames — but with Scarlet and VioletMy experience is enriched by the stories that we tell each other when we get together. The last week was spent playing with my friends and brother. Scarlet And Violet have become less about becoming Paldea’s champion or trekking through their endgame and more about showing off our evolving parties, letting our critters hang out around a picnic table, and staging photo shoots. Pokémon feels all the more inviting when it’s about building something together, rather than just min-maxing your lineup to overcome obstacles by yourself.

There are many factors that you need to take into consideration when playing multiplayer games. I wouldn’t recommend squadding up with randos, for instance — my enjoyment of the open world stemmed from communing within voice chats in Discord servers. It’s also not without little annoyances like lacking an easy drop-in/drop-out method without completely disbanding a room. This is not to mention all the technical difficulties that are remarkably worse. when you’re playing with other players.

But the Pokémon franchise Many people have shared stories of friendships coming together in face of great challenges. Scarlet And Violet I feel that this series is the closest to turning the ideal into reality. I spent both Pokémon Legends: Arceus’ And Pokémon Scarlet And Violet’s main quests fixated by how far the series has come as a single-player, story-driven experience — but traveling through Paldea alongside my brother and friends has been a reminder: The journey is best when you travel it together.