Pokemon Scarlet & Violet is out, and while it’s an enjoyable experience with the same fun gameplay mechanics and new creatures to discover, some players have hangups about how it runs. Scarlet & Violet have some highly documented technical problems, running a poorly-optimized, badly-rendered open world which, while ambitious, doesn’t cover up a frustrating lack of polish. But Nintendo has had a trend of having its developers collaborate with great synergy to create wonderful projects in the past, and one comes to mind for rendering a potentially gorgeous world even on the Nintendo Switch: Monolith Soft.
Xenoblade Studio Monolith Soft Would Be a Great Collaboration to Prevent Technical Issues Like in Scarlet & Violet
Monolith Soft has had a history of lending development support to Nintendo’s in-house projects including Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Breath of the Wild, and they would be great to help smooth out the technical problems like in Scarlet & Violet. Their style has been especially notable on their own projects, with Xenoblade Chronicles 3, in particular, being the strongest and most visually impressive exclusive JRPG the Switch has to offer.
But this isn’t any random suggestion, but rather, one to strengthen the aspects found lacking both in Pokemon Legends: Arceus as well as Scarlet & Violet: the overworld’s technical problems need serious help, and Monolith Soft would be the Nintendo studio to do it. It wouldn’t even need to be a massive overhaul, but just more attentive to optimization and polish, because Monolith has proven over and over again that it is possible.
While The Pokemon Company isn’t solely a Nintendo property, being jointly owned by themselves, Game Freak, and Creatures, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to want this collab. Other studios, like Intelligent Systems, have worked well with Koei Tecmo to create one of the best games on the Switch, Fire Emblem: Three Houses. This partnership was surprising as the two studios produce games with a different flow and pace, yet they complemented each other well.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3, released the same year as Scarlet & Violet, is remarkably more polished and runs with greater stability while still being an incredible experience. The worlds are lush, diverse, and visually impressive while maintaining a diverse array of creatures. Oh, and there wouldn’t be nearly as many awkward, unintentionally hilarious, broken bugs like this:
The Pokemon designs could be left to Game Freak’s designs for the most part. But Monolith Soft’s particular ability to optimize well for Nintendo’s hardware to create a smooth experience is something any Pokemon fan would be happy to see.
Nobody should have to see their beloved franchise struggle to keep the camera from clipping through the floor. Do right by the fans, especially with a property as popular as Pokemon.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet released on November 18, 2022, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.
