Pokémon Scarlet and Violet review - the ambition is betrayed by the performance

As a young fan, my dream Pokémon game contained three important features - returning to an old region like in Pokémon Gold, Silver and Crystal, destroying buildings with Mewtwo and escaping the chains of the route system, so I could explore a region to its very core. While I'm begrudgingly coming to terms with the fact that an instalment containing two regions may never occur again (still holding out hope for the Mewtwo dream), an open-world Pokémon game has finally arrived in the form of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

Gone are the days of neatly organised routes funnelling you from Gym to Gym, for, after completing the games' opening chapter, you're free to venture anywhere. Paldera is the largest region the series has seen so far - ranging from green fields to a windswept desert to a bamboo grove - and, upon leaving the city of Mesagoza for the wilds, it does feel like you're on the cusp of a grand adventure.

All of the locations you can glimpse in the distance are reachable and, while you can set a destination on the overworld map, the mini-map will only show a marker pointing in its direction. How you reach your destination is up to you; creating the sense of carving out your own journey, rather than following a set path like in previous Pokémon titles. Though you will often find yourself being distracted by the siren call of a new Pokémon to catch or an item to collect and, before you know it, you're wandering through a new location.

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