I’ve been streaming lately, around 9-10PM EST.
I’m not really aiming for any specific goal with these streams. I’m just playing random games and consoles in my collection. It gives me a great excuse to play some old stuff on my retro setup and potentially hang out with friends so; win-win.
The wife and I picked up Pokémon Scarlet and Violet last summer, played them obsessively, and then… didn’t finish any of the three storylines.
My first play through attempt was a little unconventional; I was determined to catch and evolve every Pokémon possible, even in the early stages of the game. Unfortunately, this resulted in a team of wimp Pokémon that consistently lost battles.
Also, I couldn’t remember what the hell I was doing in the game after putting it down for a year, so I decided to jettison my save file (which I discovered is tied to the console and doesn’t even save into the Nintendo Online game save cloud) and start anew, consulting the IGN guide for guidance on the best order to tackle all of the different area missions.
I’m definitely having more fun this time around. While I’m not a big fan of actually playing handhelds, it’s been nice to throw random shows and movies on TV while we make our way through the game.
Why would I play handheld when I could just dock it to the TV? Because the game runs like absolute garbage when it’s docked. The amount of bizarre visual glitches and frame rate chugs I’ve encountered while playing docked was annoying enough that I’m playing it like most every other Pokemon was meant to be played: handheld. I mean, it still isn’t perfect, but it’s at least more stable.
Maybe I’ll actually finish the game this time!