I’m not sure how satisfied I am that Pokémon Scarlet’s first wave of DLC, The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero Part 1: The Teal Mask is already upon us. On the one hand, more content is exciting, and the teaser visuals alone had me pretty excited for this DLC, more than what was teased for the upcoming Part 2: The Indigo Disk, which is set to release this winter. I like the Momotaro references, I like stories about misunderstood creatures, and with my favorite Pokémon, Koffing, set to make a return, I felt pretty confident this was going to be a slam dunk for me. On the other hand, a lot of the technical issues I ran into on my initial playthrough are still present in the game, and it feels strange to add additional content to a product when it still feels so buggy. Ultimately, this was going to be a question of whether the gameplay was more fun than the problems were distracting.

Starting up the DLC was a strange experience; I’ve spent enough time with Pokémon Scarlet to have several kitted out level 100 Pokémon, so what should I bring to the new content? I didn’t want to steamroll through the new challenges, so I elected to only bring one of my hardened fighters, and develop a new team in the new Kitakami region. Stepping onto the new map, I felt a microcosm of what I felt playing through the main game; if I wanted to, I could have explored the entire map from the start. Having played a few games that have felt as open as the core game now, I’m not sure this is a strength for Pokémon. So much of this map feels empty when you explore it on your own. Generally, I didn’t feel rewarded for exploring areas before I was directed to go to them, although I appreciated being able to hunt for a shiny Koffing so early on in my experience.

The main story focuses primarily on the siblings Carmine and Kieran, two students from our sister school, Blueberry Academy. I was pretty put off by Carmine’s standoffish attitude. I didn’t find it charming in the way I think the writers intended; Carmine is actively cruel to her brother, and brusk when talking to the player, and spending more time with her didn’t make her personality shine any brighter. I mostly just felt sorry for Kieran. His family lies to him and he knows it, and their reasoning for why is a pretty uncharitable assessment of his maturity. Maybe I’m giving him too much credit, but Kieran seemed like a shy but friendly new ally. I really didn’t like the false choices presented by the dialogue options; I didn’t want to lie to Kieran about meeting Ogerpon, and some of his responses were clearly geared towards options I didn’t choose. I’m cautiously looking forward to seeing how his character changes in the next installment, but I felt his fall here was pretty forced. Kieran’s jealousy that he can’t beat the player in a Pokémon battle is a fine hook for a villain arc, but the story didn’t have to strongarm my character into mistreating Kieran to make it happen.

Despite my gripes about those two, there’s a lot about the story I enjoyed. The festival aesthetic that permeates this zone is unique, and I liked the twist on the Momotaro myth: that the ogre was misunderstood and the dog, pheasant, and monkey are actually villains. The Loyal Three have really goofy designs that remind me of old school manga, and the way they interact with people really illustrated how, to people in the Pokémon world, they seem almost human. Munkidori’s design in particular really gave me Dragon Quest vibes, but they each have a lot of character. Ogerpon is really cute too, although having her run around behind me felt pretty janky, and it didn’t really feel like she was with me in any tangible way. Because players aren’t able to catch Ogerpon until the end, I didn’t really get to use her before her whole toolkit of masks was unlocked, so when she finally joined my party I wasn’t really sure how to best utilize her. I like the sad blue mask though! This generation might be one of the best in terms of aesthetic, and Ogerpon’s design is maybe my favorite entry into Scarlet’s Pokédex. I love that it hides behind a mask, and I love how ferocious some of those masks make it look. It’s cute, it’s cool, it’s everything a legendary Pokémon needs to be. 

After collecting enough Kitakami region Pokémon, players earn the attention of Perrin, the photographer. She introduces the new Blood Moon form Ursaluna, and a Pokémon Snap-style minigame. It’s an ambitious little demo, but it felt like it was stretching the engine to the limits of what would run on the switch. It was a bit stuttery and it felt unfinished, but it was a neat distraction. Perrin has a very cool character design. It feels appropriate to compliment the character animations for the main three cast, but I wish that every NPC looked like they had the same attention. Collecting all the new Pokémon and finishing the side adventures felt like a substantial addition to the game. Since this is only part one, time will tell if the price is worth the bundled DLC, but this is a solid start.

While it isn’t exactly related to the DLC, I also wanted to touch on how enjoyable Tera Raid battles have been while waiting for this update to come. Game Freak has made quite a few enjoyable challenges, with my particular favorite being the Mewtwo event that recently ended. Using my Mew, which was given away via distribution codes a few weeks prior, on a matching team with other players online felt almost like a celebration. Building counters to the challenging type combinations and catching exclusive Pokémon is always a satisfying reward. I also noticed Terra Raid battle connectivity issues improved in the months following the game’s release. The UI does glitch sometimes, particularly when bosses make multiple attacks on their turn, but otherwise, it’s improved considerably.

I wish this review ended there, but I have to once again call attention to the technical issues of this game. During gameplay sessions, primarily in docked mode, I experienced framerate drops that triggered my motion sickness, and resulted in me needing to take regular breaks from the game. Nintendo has always been good about reminding us to take a break from our screens, but I don’t think this is what they had in mind. On top of that, textures and NPC models popped in regularly, and while playing undocked, textures appeared noticeably jagged. The disparity between what’s polished and unpolished is on display more than ever in this content, and it demands attention. I hope that Game Freak will continue to support this game, hopefully resolving these technical quirks.

The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero Part 1: The Teal Mask adds a lot of gameplay to Pokémon Scarlet. As endgame content, I think it makes for a challenge even for a fully outfitted trainer, but the technical issues that plague the base game are present here too. It definitely makes me excited to see what comes next, if a little apprehensive at the prospect of feeling motion sick while playing it. Let’s be real though, I already got Koffing. That’s a hard act to follow.