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Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: The Teal Mask expands upon Paldea’s vast area with the addition of the Kitakami region in Unova. The Teal Mask DLC takes you through a new adventure that begins with familiar faces like Jacq and introduces us to a cast of quirky characters.
The Teal Mask is only part one of the DLC package, The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero, with Part Two: The Indigo Disk completing the story. With more returning Pokemon, a new mini-game, added trainer battles, and a host of TMs, there’s a fair bit of content to sink your teeth into with The Teal Mask DLC.
Updated January 12th, 2024, by Andrew Scariati:With both The Teal Mask and The Indigo Disk available, we take a look back at Part One of Pokemon Scarlet & Violet’s DLC. We’ve updated the Scarlet & Violet DLC bundle price to reflect the new cost and updated our review section to include further context. Read on to see if the new price and release of The Indigo Disk make this Pokemon DLC worth it.
Review
While our protagonist starts a fresh story in Kitakami, unfortunately,Scarlet & Violet’s performance issues still linger. Despite assurances from Nintendo, the performance has not received the promised improvements that have marred Generation Nine’s reputation.
Each patch so far seems to introducenew framerate stutters and other jarring issues.
If you’re holding out hope that this issue is somewhat mitigated in Part Two, The Indigo Disk, then you’ll bedisappointed to know that it gets worse still.
As far as The Teal Mask is concerned, many details have changed, but fundamental issues remain. OurFeatures Editor, Ben Sledge’s review of The Teal Maskhighlights that new places and features aren’t always a guarantee of improvement:
There’s basically two new Pokemon to catch, and the story is dull, but at least the new region’s great, right? Wrong. It’s small and uninteresting, traveling across it is boring, and there are no iconic locations…There’s one magical, glowing pool that is close to greatness in The Teal Mask, but it suffers from the same issue as Area Zero in the base game: I walked through saying, “Imagine if this game looked good”.
Even when you are a stone’s throw away from one of the Loyal Three, their choppy motions and animations are disheartening, especially considering you only get to see them in the wild a limited number of times.
What should be an exciting hunt capped off by epic moments of anticipation as you approach the legendary Pokemon are instead glorified slideshows. As you approach, you’re able to see them awkwardly announce themselves asa bunch of awkwardly bobbing pixels masquerading as legendary Pokemon.
When it comes to the story,you might find some enjoyment in the unexpectedly adorable talecentered around Munkidori, Okidogi, Fezandipiti, and the Teal-Mask-donning Ogerpon.
However, the majority of the story’s action unfolds viaan albeit beautifulCutscenethat reveals the true story of Ogerpon and the Loyal Three. Unfortunately, the rest of the story beats fail to live up to this moment, which sets the stage for what should have been a more fleshed-out segment.
There are plenty of things to hunt down for collectors though, fromthe returning roster of Pokemonto new TMs, new evolutions, and new items to go along with them.
Time Expenditure
If you play through the story with a strong party and don’t take any detours, you willfinish The Teal Mask’s story in about four hours.
If you take a few detours, stopping to check out a battle or two and some new Pokemon encounters, then you can expect something closer toa six to eight-hour experience.
If you’re a completionistand want to master the Ogre Oustin' mini-game, then you can easily expectupwards of ten hours of contentto enjoy, depending on how much you explore.
Cost
While The Teal Mask is only Part One of the DLC, it cannot be purchased individually;you must buy The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero for $34.99 in the eShopto play the DLC.
The Teal Mask and The Indigo Disk arebothincludedin the DLC package,The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero.
However, you’re able to save on Pokemon Scarlet & Violet’s DLC priceby buying the physical version,which includes thebase game & DLC bundle for $89instead ofthe usual $95 cost ($60 base game + $35 for both DLCs).
$34.99
$89
Still, considering the price of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, $35 is a hefty amount for DLC – particularly one that contains two experiences that fall far short of performance expectations.
While it is difficult to evaluate the $35 cost when focused on one DLC, it would be fair to say that The Teal Mask costs roughly $17.50. Given that, the amount of content in the DLC is decent, but certainly not a bargain.
The story is short, and the performance is still lacking, butif you love collecting Pokemon and a cute story, then the cost is justifiable. If you can’t handle the performance issues, then you may not be satisfied with your purchase, discounted or not.
What People Are Saying
Some Great Characters, But Not Much Else – Hilton Webster
The Teal Mask makes up the first part of a two-piece story for Scarlet and Violet. Where the Indigo Disk focuses more on the battling side of things, Teal Mask instead asks you to invest in the world and characters. While performance and graphics face no improvements (and in Indigo Disk even seems worse in places), the characters and legendary Pokemon Ogerpon steal the show. Kieran and Carmine are some of the strongest Pokemon rivals in a while, with Kieran especially showcasing some impressive character growth (or regression, in his case). That said, not much else impresses from the new land of Kitakami or the Teal Mask as a whole. Unless you are trying to catch more Pokemon or face some new challenges, the Teal Mask is only one to get if you’re already invested heavily into Pokemon Scarlet and Violet
The Teal Mask Aims High, But Underdelivers – Santi Leguiza
Once you land in the new region of Kitakami, you find a place with vibrant life and new Pokemon to capture, only to find yourself tangled in a folktale that seems to be more real than it looks at first glance. You will meet the siblings Kieran and Carmine, and they will quickly become your allies in this adventure. However, a poor performance that carries from the base game only gets worse in this DLC. From very low frames per second and inconsistent rates to a myriad of bugs of all kinds, it is a disappointment to witness this decrease in quality in one of the most beloved video game series of all time.
[The] Teal Mask expands on Scarlet and Violet’s strengths – such as a great story and characters – as well as its weaknesses – glitches and slow downs. (It also commits the cardinal sin of requiring you to have friends to be Ogre Oustin' and get a free shiny Munchlax.) If you liked the original game you’ll like it, but if you want a mind-blowing improvement you won’t get it here.
