BERLIN: With "Pokémon Scarlet" and "Pokémon Violet," the game series featuring the legendary pocket monsters is already entering its ninth generation.

Nintendo and developer GameFreak thought it was time for a change and have brought a breath of fresh air to the tradition-steeped series.

The new parts remain true to the familiar game principle. As a young, inexperienced trainer, you go out into the wide world, collect and train your Pokémon, and compete with them in the wild or against other trainers in turn-based battles.

A new feature is the so-called tera crystallisation, with which Pokémon can be temporarily transformed into a glittering, significantly stronger tera type.

For the first time in a spin-off of the main Pokémon series, the world is free to explore. The Paldea region, which is clearly based on Spain and Portugal, looks like the world of "The Legend of Zelda." It offers new possibilities such as sending Pokémon off into the wild, where they can go into battle on their own.

In addition to exclusive Pokémon, the editions mainly have cosmetic differences. While "Scarlet" is geared towards the past, "Violet" is aimed more at players who are enthusiastic about the future.

One example of this is the look of the Pokémon. While in "Scarlet" you fly as a dragon, in "Violet" it's a futuristic airplane-like creature.

Anyone about to buy should note that these games have had a mixed reception. While the shift to an open world has been praised, critics say it rarely takes advantage of the new freedoms.

Many reviewers have said the experience is marred by outdated graphics and technical errors, which were only partially fixed by later patches.

However, even if everything is far from perfect, Scarlet and Violet are still a lot of fun, not least because little has changed in terms of the almost infinite addictive potential of Pokémon games.

"Pokémon Scarlet" and "Pokémon Violet" are only available for the Nintendo Switch and cost around €60/$60 .

 - dpa