Spoilers for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet follow
APokemon Scarlet and Violetplayer has shared their negative opinion of one of the game’s primary characters, Penny, and has found that a sizable amount of the community shares this same view. The general opinion held by fans ofPokemon Scarlet and Violetseems to be that, while the games are a lot of fun, the inclusion of Penny is forced and unnecessary.
ThoughPokemon Scarlet and Violetimpress in many ways, fans have been disappointed with the lack of attention afforded to several key characters, such asGeeta and thePokemon Scarlet and VioletElite Four. While Arven and Nemona are well-developed characters with detailed backstories and a relationship with the player dating back to the beginning of the game, some players feel that Penny is shoehorned into the Area Zero exploration group as an entirely unnecessary and underdeveloped fourth member.
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Taking to Reddit, user LeatherHog shared their opinion on Penny as a character, stating that she feels fake and has a habit of acting like a victim. This post gained a lot of traction within thePokemoncommunity, with many others sharing this same view and feeling that Penny did not deserve to be treated like “one of the gang” in the same way as Arven and Nemona. While it can be noted that Penny was a victim of sorts, having been bullied prior to the formation of Team Star, the majority of the team’s backstory does little to detail this and thus fails to evoke much sympathy for her. It also doesn’t help that many players figure out Penny is the big boss of Team Star hours before the particularly unsurprising reveal takes place, which is shortly followed by an excruciatingly easy battle against her team of Eeveelutions that helped some better understand whyPokemon Scarlet and Violetare the lowest ratedPokemongames.
With one commenter going so far as to say “you could do the entire Team Star plot without Penny and not much changes,” it is clear that, not only does Penny’s backstory fail to elicit the intended feelings of sympathy and camaraderie from the player, but it also highlights her as an entirely unnecessary character the game could have functioned just fine without. In fact, the top comment on the Reddit post stated “I care for her [Eevee] bag more than anything” - suggesting that Game Freak leaned too much into the Eevee design for marketing purposes at the expense of better fleshing out Penny as a character. ThefirstPokemon Scarlet and VioletTera Raid eventrevolving around Eevee also suggests this may be the case, with the developer wanting to capitalize upon the critter’s massive popularity.
While Penny and Team Star may fall flat, fans have been outspoken in theirpraise for new rivals Arven and Nemona, with some going so far as to brand them as the best companion characters in the history of the franchise. In having Nemona already be an accomplished battler and Arven simply trying to save his dog from a cruel fate, Game Freak has reinvigorated the once-formulaic rival and companion characters, leaving fans eager to see what future titles may bring.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violetare available now, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.
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