Since their launch on 18th November 2022, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet have gone on to promote report numbers, surpassing a number of the most beloved entries of the long-running franchise regardless of the moderately lukewarm reception they obtained in some corners resulting from poor optimisation and efficiency points. With The Hidden Treasures of Area Zero, the video games are persevering with a development began with the earlier technology in delivering DLC post-launch moderately than re-releasing the titles with some minor modifications and extra content material. The Teal Mask is the primary half of this, with The Indigo Disk resulting from be launched later this 12 months. But is that this providing a worthwhile funding, and does it do sufficient to offset the varied points current within the video games?
The Teal Mask tells a brand new story through which your character goes on a area journey to the area of Kitakami, a extra rustic and conventional land that celebrates a trio of Pokemon referred to as the Loyal Three, who in historic occasions are stated to have defended them from the Ogre. After arriving in Kitakami and assembly two locals, Carmine and her youthful brother Kieran, you’re tasked with an orienteering train of visiting three signposts throughout Kitakami that inform the story of the area.
To keep away from spoilers I received’t be going into any additional element, however The Teal Mask advantages enormously from having just one story to concentrate on, which is devoted fully to exploring the lore of the area and the 2 new characters, Carmine and Kieran. Kieran specifically receives a number of character improvement because the story progresses, being of an analogous age to your character in addition to your assigned associate for the orienteering train. Other characters will even seem from time-to-time to put some very primary groundwork for half two of the DLC, The Indigo Disk, however The Teal Mask tells a narrative that’s fully unconnected to the three quest traces from Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, and is straightforward to comply with.
It’s unlucky that regardless of having a robust and self-contained story, The Teal Mask fails to ship a correct conclusion, with a moderately abrupt ending and a “to be continued” display screen closing out the proceedings. Time will inform if The Indigo Disk can decide up the place this left off and supply a satisfying conclusion, however regardless, this looks like a disservice to what’s introduced right here. The small story beats scattered all through the sport arrange hints for The Indigo Disk (and doubtlessly past) with out compromising the story because it unfolds, and because the second half of the DLC might be set in a special location with a brand new forged, it’s disappointing that they couldn’t conclude this a part of the story in a extra particular trend.
The Teal Mask provides you a completely new area to discover with Kitakami, and it’s introduced in the identical method as Paldea; the minute you’re off the bus, the world is yours to discover, and it’s simply as simple to overlook about the primary quest and lose your self within the area right here because it was within the base recreation. The smaller scale makes the world really feel much less empty and extra dense, with environments extra akin to Hisui from Pokemon Legends: Arceus as a result of lack of human settlements. This helps Kitakami to really feel like its personal distinctive area, moderately than only a scaled-back Paldea with its personal Pokedex.
Landmarks function quick journey factors this time round, and these are maybe a bit too few and far-between to make traversal as handy because it may very well be, notably for those who’re coming into the DLC with out the skills you’ll acquire doing The Path of Legends questline. However, Kitakami is unquestionably a area greatest explored from as near the start of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet as attainable. Level scaling within the recreation coming from a recent save state feels fairly balanced, with Pokemon and trainers being at a stage that may really feel prefer it naturally progresses with your personal until you’re taking day trip to grind.
Unfortunately that is offset by the extent disobedience mechanic, that means that for those who catch a Pokemon above a particular stage comparable to the badges you personal, it would disobey you when battling. If you’re coming into the DLC with a brand new save file, you’ll have to usually go away Kitakami to return to Paldea for Gym Badges, in order that wild Pokemon you encounter and need to use that you just catch above stage 20 will obey you. The Teal Mask was clearly designed to be a self-contained expertise from a narrative perspective, and needing to go away the area to progress the Victory Road story of the primary video games may disrupt the tempo of the expertise for newcomers.
Playing with an already current crew, particularly for those who’ve already accomplished the bottom recreation, lacks any sort of problem, as a result of wild Pokemon and coach battles will nearly definitely be a number of ranges beneath your personal. This is an issue that was current within the DLC from the earlier technology titles, so it’s not stunning that it’s current in The Teal Mask, however it’s unlucky that no effort has been made to make the expertise right here tougher for returning gamers.
The Teal Mask can also be disappointingly quick, with a narrative round 5 hours lengthy for those who don’t take the time to discover Kitakami, which doesn’t provide a lot in the best way of significant content material. Exploration is meant to be its personal reward, which is not going to go well with everybody, and there’s little or no content material to actively have interaction with exterior of the primary story and transient put up recreation story. There are a complete of seven new Pokemon to catch, with 4 of those being tied to the primary story, and 102 getting back from earlier generations. The Teal Mask additionally has a brand new minigame, Ogre Oustin, which entails popping colored balloons for meals to hold again to the purpose throughout the time restrict, being conscious of the Greedent that may come to steal it. This might be satisfying briefly bursts with buddies on-line, however the gadgets you’ll get for doing it don’t make it really feel notably rewarding as a single-player exercise.
The efficiency points current in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet have additionally carried over to The Teal Mask. Despite being significantly smaller in scale, Kitakami suffers from the identical issues that plagued Paldea; it continuously drops beneath 30fps and has a noticeable quantity of pop-in, making traversal a nightmare as you’ll continuously stroll proper into wild Pokemon and have to take a seat by means of a noticeable pause earlier than a battle you most likely don’t need to have interaction in ensues. It is just not unusual for this to occur a number of occasions in a row, as exiting one battle will see you instantly thrown into one other one with a Pokemon that has spawned subsequent to your character; with the identical awkward pause as the sport hundreds again into fight.
Pokemon fashions in battle stay crisp and top quality, and transfer animations can at occasions look beautiful and be very satisfying to observe. But that is offset by the blocky, murky visuals of Kitakami itself, with poor lighting results and low decision a relentless presence as you discover, with the overworld fashions of Pokemon and NPC characters displaying some moderately janky animations. However, there are glimmers of upper high quality visuals right here and there, as draw distance is surprisingly good (you may typically simply see the sunshine of raid dens lengthy earlier than you see the den itself, though at occasions this will also be as a result of the den has didn’t load till you’re nearer to it) and there are a pleasant number of biomes to discover throughout the area.
It is value noting that at no level throughout my playthrough did I expertise any crashes or game-breaking glitches, however the recreation stays as poorly optimized because it was when it was first launched. This is just not sudden, however it’s disappointing. With Kitakami being a a lot much less bold area than Paldea, and the video games having been out for nearly a 12 months now with quite a few patches, it’s turning into tougher to miss these points, and with different first-party Nintendo franchises delivering rather more bold worlds and gameplay experiences – The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Pikmin 4 each spring to thoughts right here – the sort of high quality on show right here feels as disappointing because it was when the video games first launched.
The Teal Mask is, for higher and for worse, extra of the identical. It tells an satisfying story with some glorious lore that makes Kitakami really feel as alive as any previous area, and gives the identical freedom of exploration that made Paldea so charming. Unfortunately, it additionally comes with all of the efficiency points and poor optimisation that made Paldea so irritating, and its quick size, poorly-designed stage scaling, and failure to ship a correct conclusion to its story make it a much less satisfying expertise than it may have been, notably for those who’re coming into it from an endgame save state with a robust crew. The worth of The Hidden Treasures of Area Zero as a package deal will in fact be decided by each components of it, however The Teal Mask is just not as robust of a begin because it may have been.
6/10
A duplicate of Pokemon Violet – The Hidden Treasures of Area Zero Part One: The Teal Mask was offered by Nintendo UK for the aim of this overview
