Paul RobertsJanuary 31, 2024Maxi Geek Review, Pokemon Scarlet, Pokemon Violet, Switch, NintendoComment

Pokémon Violet: The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero Part 2: The Indigo Disk - Review

Paul RobertsJanuary 31, 2024Maxi Geek Review, Pokemon Scarlet, Pokemon Violet, Switch, NintendoComment

Following Part 1 of the DLC: The Teal Mask, it’s now time to look at the conclusion in Part 2: The Indigo Disk. If you’ve already played Part 1 then you get Part 2 regardless, but if you’ve been holding out to see if the entire Hidden Treasure DLC is worth then read on.

Following on from the first DLC, your trainer has been invited on a student trip to the Blueberry Academy in Unova (The region in Pokemon Black/White) where your new frenimies, Carmine and Kieran attend. One of the main features of the Blueberry Academy is the Terarium, a dome that contains multiple different biomes for a wide variety of Pokemon to be found. You can explore the Savannah, Polar, Coastal and Canyon environments, filled with Pokemon from those ecosystems. The play on Terarium/Terrarium comes from the Terastal phenomena occurring within the dome, of course leading to more Terastallized Pokemon. It doesn’t really mean much except for why Terastal is a thing outside of Paldea.

Since the events of The Teal Mask, the shy Kieran has become a bit of a jerk. After Ogerpon chooses your player over Kieran, he has become obsessed with becoming stronger and becomes your rival in this concluding DLC. Given how the player is forced to treat Kieran (lying and shunning him for no good reason in The Teal Mask) it feels less like a rivalry between friends, and more of someone you hurt and then go on to embarrass again. The story does serve to wrap up the Hidden Treasures plot, but touches on the main game’s story also. It manages both well enough, while bringing in another legendary Pokemon to throw into the mix.

One of the main goals is winning against the BB League Elite Four, on the path to taking on Kieran. You’ll get to revisit the mysterious Area Zero with new Paradox Pokemon. You will also collect BP - Blueberry Points, earned through completing tasks/goals/and more accurately chores or as the game calls them Blueberry Quests or…BBQs. These points are currency you can use at the Blueberry Academy to purchase items and unlock cosmetic features such as pokeball throwing animation. You can also unlock access to more Pokemon or invite Gym Leaders for battle. Fortunately, the BBQs aren’t generally asking a lot of you, whether it’s pulling out the camera and taking photos or picking up items out in the open and defeating/catching Pokemon. The downside is that the points given for these tasks are often piecemeal. It feels like unnecessary grinding on a game that already relies on you grinding to play through the game as it is. If you want to get every bit of value and minute out a game, this will easily keep you around longer than the 10ish hours to complete the main story.

As with the Teal Mask, Indigo Disk brings back over 100 pokemon from previous entries, along with a few new evolutions and Paradox forms. With the two DLC combined this is a considerable amount of Pokemon to have available again. With over 1000 pokemon overall it is unrealistic to expect every single one to be added to the game, but it’s good to see some more return.

In this DLC there is very much a focus on more advanced Pokemon battles, with double-team battles being the norm. Battles are designed to provide a bit more of a challenge, the dual teams use actual strategies and hold items that can actually make it harder. If you’re already a Pokemon Master you’d potentially still swat these battles aside, but for more easygoing battlers like myself I did have to get more serious about strategy. It could be a bit of a shock following the main game and even The Teal Mask, where you could get through with stronger Pokemon without getting too deep with the ins and outs of competitive battle. However if you’re playing Part 2 you’ll at least need to be able to take on level 70 pokemon, so the barrier of entry is understandably higher if you want to see it through.

After having minimal performance issues during the main game, it felt like I encountered much less than others. Then with The Teal Mask I previously reported that the performance had definitely taken a hit, not only that but it was also impacting the main game. Now that The Indigo Disk brings another update and more content, the hope is that they would at least address the worst of the issues. Unfortunately that hasn’t happened. As cool as the large open world is, all of it feels like a waste if you can’t see most of it from a short distance, especially given the varied and distinct environments present here. It isn’t even just visual issues, after the first battle the game didn’t initially trigger that the battle was over and left lingering for around two minutes. Within the first 15 minutes of playing the game, it got hung up on opening the Pokédex, an issue I hadn’t encountered in my many hours with the rest of the game. Given I went on about the performance with the first DLC pack it’s a shame that the follow up updates and DLC have done nothing to even smooth these over. While the old Switch hardware doesn’t help, Nintendo can work wonders with this console/handheld, it’s so unfortunate with the extra time since the main release that the game feels worse off. The drop-off in quality continues to sour the experience, which sucks as a big Pokemon fan. But being a fan shouldn’t mean accepting broken games.

The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero Part 2: The Indigo Disk is an alright addition to Pokemon Violet (and Scarlet). It closes out the story started in The Teal Mask and delves back into Area Zero from the main game. The visual and performance issues serve as a regular distraction and disappointment from just enjoying a Pokemon game.