Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's The Teal Mask review: Lackluster characters and poor performance mar the latest DLC

As the reviewer for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, I was curious about The Teal Mask. It’s the first of two DLC drops for this generation of Pocket Monsters, and I have to say, I’m very conflicted. When I inspected the game initially, I didn’t encounter much, if any, of the lag and delays that most reviewers faced with their time playing.

That said, this changed markedly in the first DLC offering from Nintendo. I didn’t find game-breaking bugs, but the slowdown and lag pockets were egregious.

While I loved the little region it was set in, the DLC has some pretty serious flaws I hope the developers look at before the second content drop happens later this year.

I still love Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, I want that to be clear. There’s neat stuff in The Teal Mask, but it just performs very poorly.

The story for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s The Teal Mask is nice, but the characters lack

Carmine's first appearance isn't terrible, but it goes downhill fast (Image via Nintendo)

The prospect for The Teal Mask’s story in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet is, at the very least, one that makes sense. You’re going to head to another region for a field trip. It’s an exclusive group, but you, as the protagonist, get to join. You accompany the snake-eyed Mrs. Briar as she takes the group to Kitakami.

Even though the graphics didn’t wow me, I liked how the map was designed, for the most part. It was still quite scenic, and when you climbed up the mountains, you could see some beautiful views of this region in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.

Nonetheless, the first major hurdle of the Teal Mask is the hardest one to get over. Upon arriving at the first town, you’re greeted by your two rivals: Carmine and Kieran. Carmine is, in my estimation, the most unlikable character in Pokemon history. She’s prickly, mean, and a bully without any real explanation.

Carmine and Kieran's relationship is a really awkward one to endure for most of the DLC (Image via Nintendo)

Her brother Kieran is meek, dour, subservient, and shy to the point where it’s irritating. Cramine's attitude at least makes sense, given who she has to deal with in the context of this story. She bullies him relentlessly.

These two are either dealing out incredibly emotionally charged outbursts or challenging you to eminently simple Pokemon battles. However, I will say it’s a pretty realistic portrayal of siblings - at least in some of my personal experiences.

I ultimately realized why she was so pushy with Kieran, but her desire to see him improve should have been made clearer earlier.

It’s also remarkably predictable. I won’t spoil anything, but it covers all sorts of generic anime bases for ancient spirits in rural villages. We even go to a cute little festival with an admittedly fun mini-game.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet isn’t all negatives for The Teal Mask - The side content is enjoyable

The story for The Teal Mask isn't terrible, but it is fairly predictable (Image via Nintendo)

While the main story is weak as far as I’m concerned, it’s not all bad things for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s The Teal Mask DLC. You have quite a few fun side quests to participate in, as an example.

You also have a new Dex to complete, which rewards the amazing Bloodmoon Ursaluna. I’m a really big fan of the extra content in this DLC; I just wish the main story wasn’t such a letdown. You battle against Titanic versions of The Loyal Three, acquire new meals, and, of course, have over 200 Pokemon to capture for your collection.

Perhaps my favorite part of it is the Sinnoh Egg if you find Jacq. The reward is a random Sinnoh starter, and as all three starters from that generation were pretty incredible, there’s no downside. You still have to hatch the egg, which takes a little time but is worth it.

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So it’s not all negatives in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s The Teal Mask DLC. I just wish there were more things to like than dislike. It’s incredibly hard to get over just how poorly it performed on my Switch when this did not happen in the base game.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s setting and music for The Teal Mask delivered

I'm a huge fan of these designs (Image via Nintendo)

I have to say, I loved the Rural Japan setting for The Teal Mask. The DLC itself was pretty scenic, and for the most part, I really enjoyed traveling around this area. When I moved at full speed, it was wonderful.

The music was solid and did a lot to set the scene of where we were and what we were doing. The new Pokemon designs were solid, and I really loved The Loyal Three in particular. While there were some major performance issues, the visuals didn’t let me down at all.

In Conclusion

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's first DLC is not bad, but it's held down by performance and writing issues (Image via Nintendo)

While I love Pokemon Scarlet and Violet as an entry to the franchise, I was not enamored with The Teal Mask DLC. It performed worse than the base game, and I cannot get over how little I liked the cast of characters until very late in the DLC.

The story was very predictable, the gameplay was decent, and I really loved the Pokemon additions brought to the game. I wasn’t thrilled about the price of the DLC, but at least it grants you both parts of the content - that’s not so bad.

I do not relish giving this score, but I expected more out of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: The Teal Mask. I sincerely hope that by the time the Indigo Disc is out, these performance issues will be addressed.

From characters glitching in and out, lag, and other unfortunate problems, this DLC felt more like a chore than something I could enjoy playing for a few hours.