New gameplay footage was released for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet The Indigo Disk on Nov. 21 by various content creators and news sources, but some players still aren’t entirely sold on the upcoming DLC.
With The Indigo Disk DLC, we already know we’re getting a continued story from The Teal Mask, a long list of returning Pokémon, new additions like Iron Crown and Raging Bolt, and all the beloved Starter Pokémon. Thanks to early previews from sources like Serebii and YouTubers like PhillyBeatzU, we now have more details on what to expect from the DLC, including more double battles, a nod to the Safari Zone, and apparently fun school assignments.
Despite this news, some Pokémon fans are still feeling underwhelmed about the DLC release. YouTuber Lewtwo calls out the lingering performance issues that have been around since the release of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet one year ago.
Game Freak previously said it was working on making improvements to the game, but players remain skeptical that the performance issues will ever be fixed even after the new DLC is released.
In addition to concerns with performance issues, Lewtwo criticized how the DLC has been marketed so far. “Please show me something to be excited about,” the YouTuber commented. There’s been a strong emphasis on the return of all Starter Pokémon, for example, which is great for nostalgia, but players need to see something new to really get them hyped. What about the mysterious 19th Tera Type that was first teased during the 2023 World Championships back in August? Another teaser on that would no doubt spark more interest and hype ahead of The Indigo Disk’s December release.
Of course, there are also plenty of eager fans who are more optimistic about the DLC based on what they’ve already seen. In a Nov. 21 Reddit thread, players discussed one huge quality-of-life upgrade in the DLC—giving Koraidon and Miraidon the ability to fly freely in the air without gliding downward all the time. We get a glimpse of what this feature would look like through footage of the Flying Time Trial, a mini-game where Koraidon and Miraidon soar up and down through rings in the air. Hopefully, the flying feature isn’t exclusive to the mini-game.
Others are excited to have more double battles than we’re used to having in the story along with facing higher-leveled Pokémon in the Blueberry Elite Four. Players with a competitive itch are also hoping for the return of a Battle Tower or a similar facility to give them a nice challenge in even tougher NPC battles.
We’ll finally get to enter Blueberry Academy ourselves and see everything the DLC has to offer when The Indigo Disk is released on Dec. 14.
