191: Pokémon Scarlet and Violet (with Kate & Emily - No Small Games)

Support my work on Patreon- https://patreon.com/realdavejackson Join the Tales from the Backlog Discord server- https://discord.gg/kAqSBb6jH2 Buy me a coffee on Ko-fi- https://ko-fi.com/realdavejackson Modern Pokémon games are divisive, but rarely due to technical performance. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet (Game Freak, 2022) released in an embarrassing state, and are hoping for a comeback with their recent Switch 2 editions. So now that the bugs are squashed and the framerate is stable, what kind of game was lurking under all of those issues? Listen in to find out. Guest info: Kate Hunter (she/any) and Emily Merritt (she/her) Check out the No Small Games podcast and website https://nosmallgames.com/ Follow Kate on BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/katerblossom.bsky.social Follow Emily on BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/aspecificegg.bsky.social TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Title Card 0:16 Intros 5:53 Our Personal Histories with Pokémon 12:52 Opening Thoughts About Pokémon Scarlet & Violet 21:44 World and Story Setup 36:07 Nonlinear Design 42:50 Is the Story Actually Good, or Are We Grading On a Curve? 54:25 Visuals/Presentation 1:01:37 Open World Design 1:17:28 New Quick Battle System 1:22:28 Combat, Team Building and Challenge? 1:41:08 Closing Thoughts and Recommendations 1:47:16 No Small Games 1:54:07 Spoiler Wall and Patron Thank-Yous 1:56:55 Spoiler Section- Our Teams, Area Zero, Ending 2:28:06 Spoiler Section- DLCs Music used in the episode: Title Screen (Junichi Masuda, Go Ichinose) Home (Junichi Masuda) Poco Path (Junichi Masuda) Battle! (Trainer Battle) (Junichi Masuda) Area Zero (GAME FREAK) Pokémon Center (Junichi Masuda) Welcome to the Paldea Region! (Minako Adachi, Toby Fox) Check out Dave on Geeks & Grounds in November and December- https://www.geeksandgrounds.com/ Check out Dave on the Character Issues podcast- https://www.buzzsprout.com/1306474 Check out Dave on Nostalgium Arcanum- https://nostalgiumarcanum.fireside.fm/ Social Media: BlueSky- https://bsky.app/profile/tftblpod.bsky.social Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/talesfromthebacklog/ Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://linktr.ee/JackAllenCaricatures