Why Pokemon Scarlet and Violet have worst user scores on Metacritic within series

If one were to gauge Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's reception based on the average user score on Metacritic, they would feel disheartened. Depending on which version players look up, they will see an average user score ranging from 3.3 to 4.0 on the site.

It's worth mentioning that the two game's critic scores are solid, as both have a 72 Metascore out of 100. The disparity between users and critics begs the question: Why do fans rate Pokemon Scarlet and Violet so low?

There are several reasons which will be explained in this article.

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Many gamers have review-bombed Pokemon Scarlet and Violet on Metacritic for various reasons

Scarlet has it the worst in the series (Image via Metacritic)

Just for reference, here are the user scores on Metacritic for the mainline Pokemon games (not counting remasters or a sequel in the same generation like Yellow, Crystal, Emerald, etc.):

• Scarlet: 3.3
• Violet: 4.0
• Sword: 4.7
• Shield: 4.7
• Sun: 7.6
• Moon: 7.6
• X: 7.5
• Y: 7.5
• Black: 7.9
• White: 7.8
• Diamond: 8.2
• Pearl: 8.2
• Ruby: 8.5

Sapphire and the Gen I and II game don't have Metacritic pages for their original platforms. Nevertheless, players can still see how Pokemon Scarlet and Violet seem to be disliked more than the rest of the series by a vocal fanbase.

It's not as if all the recent games in the series have been review-bombed by users. For example, Legends: Arceus sits at a comfortable 8.1 out of ten on Metacritic's user score average.

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Why some fans hate Pokemon Scarlet and Violet on Metacritic

It's common to see random zeroes clogging up the user scores (Image via Metacritic)

Unsurprisingly, many reviews that give 0/10 to both games aren't helpful for analysis as they don't present actual criticisms. Here is a list of the most relevant issues that many have with Pokemon Scarlet and Violet:

• Poor performance, especially for games from one of the most successful franchises in the world
• Many glitches, like the Save File Bug that has affected some players in Version 1.2.0
• Misleading open-world concept since enemies' levels don't scale
• Some players don't like the graphics
• Some parts of the game feel unfinished to some users

Everybody has different opinions, meaning some players love these two titles and won't understand why they get all the hate.

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Are Pokemon Scarlet and Violet actually that bad?

The two main legendaries (Image via Game Freak)

While the two titles' performances can leave a lot to be desired, they still have the classic Pokemon charm many gamers know and love. Neither game is a masterpiece, but they're also certainly not irredeemable, as many users on Metacritic would state.

There are some genuinely bad flaws. The worst aspect of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet is the game-breaking bugs that delete a player's entire save data. But not everybody runs into that problem. Not to mention, Game Freak could always patch the worst glitches in the future.

Everything else is subjective regarding how much a player would hate or love the two games. Both titles have definitely been divisive since launch, although it's worth mentioning that they're among the top ten most successful Nintendo Switch games of all time.

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Note: Some aspects of this article are subjective.