The Pokémon mods are rolling in
Despite some glaring technical issues, the newest mainline games in the Pokémon series, Scarlet & Violet, have been smash hits. It’s likely that Game Freak will do their best to patch the most glaring of glitches out as soon as they can, but that doesn’t guarantee that the game’s abysmal performance slow-downs will necessarily be fixed. Thankfully, fans are stepping in with mods to make for a smoother Pokémon experience, even though Nintendo is particularly tough on those who modify their games. There are some brave soldiers out there doing Arceus’ work to help give us a better gaming experience even at the risk of being struck down by the powers that be, and we have to commend them for that.
The modder in question is called “theboy181,” and they’re creating a mod that allows players to take on the games at a silky smooth 60fps, which is a welcome change for those who have already given Scarlet & Violet a whirl. While the mod is not yet publicly available, and we don’t have any information on when to expect the mod’s release, theboy181 has posted some proof-of-concept photos to Twitter, and it looks absolutely amazing.
60FPS MOD for Pokemon Scarlet! pic.twitter.com/2jQwCB91uS
— theboy181 (@theboy181) November 27, 2022
If you want to give the mod a spin when it eventually comes out, you’ll likely have to play it on a PC emulator rather than a Nintendo Switch, as that’s how it’s being developed in the first place. It’s not impossible that theboy181, or another modder, could make it playable on a jailbroken console, and if you’re already looking to mod a Nintendo title, I’d bet you’re cool with hacking a Switch anyway.
I find it pretty amazing that players have figured out how to modify games so seamlessly, and while I would have preferred Nintendo release a polished, bug-free title in the first place, knowing that the modding community has our backs makes me feel a bit better about things.
