The announcement for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet had piqued my interest in a Pokémon game again for the first time in years. The previous installments were hardly innovative and were always basically the same game with an adjusted region, Pokémon, and story. With Pokémon Legends: Arceus*, they already ventured a bit further and created a 3D world, which was still empty and divided into zones.

This 3D world was beefed up with Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. A completely open world, Pokémon roam the landscape, and you can just explore freely. No more random encounters, but more targeted approaches instead. It has its technical and visual weaknesses, but for me, they’re forgivable. Even though I would have preferred graphics like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Xenoblade Chronicles. Still, I can live with it.

Full of excitement, I dove into the world. It’s somewhat based on Spain, and the new starter Pokémon are pretty… cute. I chose Sprigatito; the other two look a bit silly to me. The art style is also unfamiliar. On the other hand, it’s a logical evolution of the Pokémon style. You get used to it quickly, and after a first practice battle, you’re supposed to make your way to the Pokémon Academy. After a story cutscene, you get there relatively quickly.

One thing becomes clear: the open world isn’t actually that huge. You can run from one end to the other in 20-30 minutes. Tops. But that’s fine; I’d rather have an open world with atmosphere than an empty map filled with generic activities at best. Cyberpunk 2077 already showed me that. The open world is quite pretty so far, but also sterile and low on textures. But they cut even more corners in the academy city. They tried to justify a city with various shops and failed. They’re just the same shops with different names.

And the new villains in my edition are simply called Team Star. That sounds really threatening, and at least in my first encounter, they were only there to teach me about Terastallizing. The latter is completely new to me. Well, the last Pokémon I seriously played was the Crystal version. Of course, I immediately crystallized my Pikachu into a Flying type and won easily. But it was absolutely classless. My god, Pikachu looks so dumb in its Tera form. In general, I find the crystal forms to be poorly executed.

But that brings me to my problem. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet aren’t bad games. Sure, they could be better technically and graphically, but the games are finally the step into the right 3D world for Pokémon. Exactly what I always wished for as a 12-year-old boy. And now, this exact version exists, one that even somehow matches my dreams from back then. And I just can’t get into the game. It doesn’t grab me. Why? It took me a few weeks to find the answer:

I’m not 12 years old anymore, I’m 34. The story about the little boy or girl who sets out into the world to grow up no longer captivates me. I’m past that. But I go to the academy, read conversations between children, and experience the simplicity of their world. A simplicity that my world has lost and that I can’t immerse myself in. At least not right now.

But it can’t be helped; I’ll finish the game anyway. Maybe I’ll find a moment when I’m a bit more open to the story.