Nintendo apologizes for Pokémon performance problems, promises “improvements”
Enlarge / Portrait of the author learning that some of the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet performance problems might be fixed. (credit: Andrew Cunningham)
Our review of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet mentioned some of the game's pervasive performance issues, and we weren't the only ones. Even more mainstream outlets like The Guardian and CNN noted the games' performance problems. Eurogamer's Digital Foundry team, known for its in-depth analyses of game performance, called the games "comprehensive technical failures," also calling attention to their blurry and poorly tiled textures and "low-geometry" environments.
Players have noticed plenty of other problems, too; these include a bug that allowed players to run twice as fast by connecting two controllers to the Switch, bizarre animations and clipping problems, Pokémon that blast off into the sky like Team Rocket, and some evidence that online battles were using the same probability seed for every match, making it easier for attentive players to make low-accuracy moves hit 100 percent of the time. I captured a screenshot of a Hoppip that was casting three shadows simultaneously (though it's possible the Paldea region has three suns that I just don't know about).
I'm no scientist, but I don't think this is how lighting works. (credit: Andrew Cunningham)
Nintendo released a 1.1.0 update for both Pokémon games today that includes "select bug fixes" (though the company didn't specify which). But alongside that mostly routine post-launch update came a less-routine acknowledgment of the performance problems and a suggestion that the company would provide fixes.