Pokémon Scarlet and games like it

The WhatsNext verdict

For Players who want an open world to wander, a huge creature collection to fill, and a friendly entry point into team battling.: You can head toward most visible areas in any order, and each new creature you meet adds to a collection that is fun to chase. Tradeoff: Busy open areas can stutter and pop in, and the pace drops when you stop to manage your team and battles.

What it does best

role-playing (rpg)
turn-based strategy (tbs)
fantasy
kids

The setup

What you are walking into

The Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet games, the newest chapters in the Pokémon series, are coming to Nintendo Switch later this year. With these new titles, the Pokémon series takes a new evolutionary step, allowing you to explore freely in a richly expressed open world. Various towns blend seamlessly into the wilderness with no borders. You’ll be able to see the Pokémon of this region in the skies, in the seas, in the forests, on the streets—all over! You’ll be able to experience the true joy of the Pokémon series—battling against wild Pokémon in order to catch them—now in an open-world game that players of any age can enjoy.