Performance analysis agrees: Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are ugly and run like crap

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Your eyes don't deceive you

Pokemon Scarlet Violet Koraidon Miraidon abilities path legends surf fly glide climb sprint jump
(Image credit: Nintendo)

An in-depth performance analysis of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet has confirmed that, yes, these games actually do look dated and run Crysis on a Tiger Electronics handheld.

Reviews for the last Pokemon installments are generally favorable, but there's been near universal criticism for how the games look and run. GamesRadar's 3/5-star Pokemon Scarlet and Violet review called the graphics and performance "bad, often painfully so" and noted frequent crashes, bad frame rates, lag, pop-in, long loading times, unimpressive textures, and sprites not appearing.

As for performance, DG notes some of the same issues we had in our review, determining that Pokemon Scarlet and Violet have "severe problems and should not be sold in this state."

Of the many examples of inexcusably shoddy performance, the video highlights something you might've noticed in Pokemon Legends Arceus (although that game compares favorably to the more recent Scarlet and Violet): the frame rates of objects in the distance lowers the further the object is from the camera. As an example, DF looks at a windmill up close and notes that it's updating at 30 FPS, but standing further away from it, the frame rate drops to 7.5 FPS, and then to 3 FPS, and all the way to 2 FPS at a considerable distance.

Jordan Gerblick
Jordan Gerblick

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.