It’s odd. I thought I had written a post about Pokemon Violet, but apparently, I never finished it and just ended up putting all the screenshots in a game summary page. So, before I get to the DLC, I guess I’ll talk a little about the game itself.
Overall, the short and simpleness of it is that I’ve mostly been mixed on it. I don’t dislike it and I do find it a less overwhelming than I found Arceus (even if most people prefer the latter), but I don’t like big changes in plot based off version and this Pokemon went a lot of… unique directions story-wise that were pretty depressing.
I like the cutscenes, but the lack of any voices makes them feel somewhat flat as even the music doesn’t really make up for it which at least Silent Pictures usually had. At the very least, I always appreciate when my character shows actual emotion during scenes and isn’t smiling the entire time.
The uniform system is so frustrating, and it blows my mind how one game can have a lot of options and the next can be a downgrade in some (or in this case, many) ways. I think I’d be less frustrated if there was at least a more feminine option? I hate that it’s all pants and shorts.
I’m also not one to shiny hunt or anything, but I’m not entirely sure why the whole… sparkle effect was made so mundane in this version.
Finally, it blows my mind that we have our own Dorm and can’t customize it at all, especially when we can visit our friends’ dorms and they are all decorated to some extent for them and it feels like a missed opportunity.
Overall, I still did have fun with the game. I like the picnic customization options we have (and we even can customize chairs now with the DLC) and I do find the characters interesting. I also really love the commemorative photos after each milestone.
Regardless, onto the DLC! There will be spoilers so if you don’t want any details of what to expect, maybe stop reading here.
It took me a while to figure out how to actually start it since I… uh… expected it to be our usual teacher and ran past the NPC by the entrance. Oops. In my defense, Jacq did call us so I expected to see him.
Anyway, there is a special field trip, but for whatever reason students are only chosen by raffle, only four were even chosen from your school (including yourself) and two from another school– Blueberry Academy from Unova and the other three going with you are three students you’ve never met before and are barely even named.
Regardless, we made it safely to Kitakami.
Unfortunately, Hat Kid ended up getting motion sickness from the bus ride and so we’re send into town where we run into the Blueberry Academy kids, Carmine and Kieran. In all honesty, I think I would’ve preferred sticking with our unnamed friends. Carmine rubbed me the wrong way from the start and while she gets better later, she’s still kind of a lot?
Kieran was a bit of the reverse being a lot more mellow and he just gets… weirder as the story goes on and that’s putting it lightly before his whatever kind of meltdown happens at the end leaving the story on a cliffhanger. Of course, we’re getting a bit ahead of ourselves so…
After battling Carmine, we finally get to head to where we’d be staying and met the Caretaker who went to check on poor carsick Hat boy.
It turns out that Carmine and Kieran are actually from here so instead of staying with everyone else, they’re going to be living at their Grandparents’ house for the trip instead. Despite the split, our big field trip activity is Orienteering– we need to find three signs in pairs of two and to get everyone better acquainted, we need to pair up with one of the Blueberry Academy students. We ended up getting paired up with Kieran who really likes us at the moment which I mean, if I had to pick at the time, I was going to pick him because Carmine has been kind of… rude to say the least.
My favorite part of this was getting the cute photo spots again. It’s also kind of fun seeing Kieran slowly warm up to us as we get each spot.
The big plot of the DLC is that Briar, the field trip organizer, is looking into information in regards to the mysterious legendary mentioned in the Violet Book which crosses over to the next DLC and specifically with this DLC is the story of the legendaries here: An ogre caused havoc to the town and the “loyal three” chased it off and took the masks it stole. Kieran sympathizes with the Ogre and feels bad for it, thinking maybe it wasn’t so bad.
One of the things I was really excited about were some of the new customization options introduced with the DLC such as changing certain menu screens based off your phone case and/or location and meeting this guy who let me customize my picnic table’s chairs.
The next sign was near the festival area and we even made our way to the Ogre’s home. Alas, they were not there.
It was then time for the Festival! Carmine and Kieran’s grandparents kindly gave us an outfit and did our hair which is… fine. I kind of wish we could’ve chosen a color. I also don’t know why this game has to have everything have pants. Let me have a skirt. Even if it’s over the pants.
I decided to keep the hair, but I just… I need to be in pink, okay? Regardless, this is also one of the few times you find out about Carmine being more considerate of you… Just not to your face.
Alas, you do not have a mask and the mask salesperson is MIA (also when you do get masks, you have to wear them on your face– you can’t wear them on the side of your head like Carmine and Kieran :( ).
Regardless, you still get to check out the festival and even play a new minigame.
I actually had some fun with the minigame for a point… until they added in Pokemon that will eat everything you gathered up when there is already a timer stressing me out and then it wasn’t fun for me anymore.
You then run off due to noticing a unique figure and Carmine ends up coming after you. Turns out you’ve run into the Ogre! And they’re adorable.
While running away, our poor Ogre friend runs off and drops their mask in the process.
Unfortunately, we are not able to return it :( We end up bringing it to Carmine and Kieran’s Grandpa in hopes he can repair the mask as it was damaged when it fell.
It is here we learn the truth– the Ogre’s real name is Ogrepon and it was actually the victim of the story. Ogrepon and a friend were initially not welcomed due to being seen as scary so they wore masks to blend in better and make friends. The “loyal three” stole the masks and Ogrepon got revenge due to the three hurting the friend. Carmine is very upset about this, but Grandpa says we shouldn’t tell anyone because it could cause an uproar.
To make matters worse, Carmine also doesn’t want us telling Kieran anything because she thinks he’ll get upset that we saw the Ogre without him. Kieran, who overhears things to some extent but us being sworn to secrecy just makes him feel left out anyway. I really wish we could’ve either told him the truth or at least explained why Carmine didn’t want us to and that he should ask her about it versus flat out lying to him.
Meanwhile, in my constant tendency to get side-tracked, I noticed Mr. Jacq followed us anyway. He invites us to a picnic and gives us an egg. (I hatched it eventually– I got a female Piplup)
It was then time to head to our final sign. Unsurprisingly, our pair finished first even with us taking a long break between the second and third signs.
We then meet back up with Carmine to try and find the crystal to prepare Ogrepon’s mask.
We then head to the Monument of the “Loyal Three” which Carmine is pretty upset about and then for whatever reason… The three come back to life, destroying the monument in the process.
With the Teal Mask fixed and out of concern for Ogrepon, we rush off to Ogrepon’s home and just look at her adorable face:
It was here when I noticed that Purrin was hanging out in town. I’m not sure how soon she gets there, but we were a little short of her requirements (need 150 in the Kitakami Pokedex) and still in the middle of the story so her quest would have to wait.
Regardless, going back to the main story, our next goal ended up being to get those masks back for Ogrepon as unfortunately, the Caretaker at the Shrine gave them back to the “Loyal Three” due to not knowing they’re the villains of this story. Kieran decided not to join us to re-get the masks so it was just Carmine, Ogrepon, and I doing our best as we took on the Evil Three to retrieve the masks.
While we were busy on mask retrieval duty, Kieran decided to tell everyone Ogrepon’s true tale despite his Grandpa’s worries. In the end, it all worked out thankfully.
It was then Ogrepon wanted to stay with us due to all the help which Kieran did not take well. After losing yet again, he was… not happy to say the least. But look at how cute Ogrepon is.
And after a bit more battles and things, our story was over… for now. After credits, we also see Kieran slowly going evil which feels like a lot to worry about, but nothing we can do about it now apparently.
Of course, there were still various post-game things to do. For one, we had to apparently earn a million pokedollars to rebuild the monument…
I then headed to catch the other three legendaries. 2/3 I managed to get with Quick Balls (even if I accidentally knocked one out multiple times) while one required loyal health and a lot of ball throwing attempts.
It was then off to meet back up with Perrin. She wants to try and find a special version of Ursaluna who… honestly, looks like they’ve gone through some stuff and need some hugs? I don’t know what happened, but Blood Moon Ursaluna is kind of terrifuing.
The photography was actually really fun and I’m kind of sad it ended up being a short one-time thing. I really would’ve preferred more of that than the other minigame.
With that done, my next goal was finishing up the Pokedex here.
Of course, that left one goal still undone… Finishing up the Monument Pokedollar raising. And that’s where Billy and O’Nare come in– an eccentric rich couple who refer to themselves as Glitterati and will end up giving you more than enough to rebuild the Monument and still have quite a bit left over.
You’ll have to find them various places across both maps, but it’s definitely an interesting side quest.
With that done, it was time to fix up the monument which uses the exact same assets was even rebuilt with all the pre-existing scratches and everything! What a dutiful job. I honestly was kind of bummed with this– I really would’ve liked to see it get upgraded and also add Ogrepon in :/
Anyway, you earn this for completing the monument and that’s it.
I’m really excited for the next DLC and to see everything left hanging in this one get resolved.