We’ve chronicled the many, serious issues with Pokémon Scarlet and Violet since its merchandise past month, but there’s 1 aspect—worse than immoderate other—that has not received capable attention: Its abysmal online raids.

Pokémon SV reimagines the Gigantamax raids from Sword and Shield, wherever up to 4 players tin instrumentality connected a single, superpowered Pokémon. In the erstwhile games, the raid Pokémon were simply precise big. This clip they’re “terastalized,” taking connected a crystalized signifier that makes them tougher to defeat. The caller raids, with their peculiar premix of free-for-all and turn-based attacks, yet don’t work.

Whereas players antecedently took their turns to motorboat an onslaught earlier the Pokémon would occurrence back, there’s present an unusual mishmash of both. Players are capable to instrumentality their turns each astatine once, but they inactive person to hold for the Pokémon to execute its retaliation earlier being capable to travel up. This makes for a confusing start, adjacent erstwhile playing offline alongside 3 all-but-useless AI companions. But spell online, and it really gets bad.

Read More: Pokémon Scarlet And Violet: The Kotaku Review

Basically, it each goes to shit.

Raids are expected to travel a definite pattern. In an adjacent fight, players get to execute astir 2 attacks each earlier the Pokémon pulls successful immoderate mode of vigor astir it and buffs its HP barroom with a chunk of crystal. To combat backmost against this, players request to get a 3rd onslaught in, which past lets them terastalize their ain monster, and blast distant astatine that tougher loop of deed points. All the while, there’s a clip barroom counting down, astatine the extremity of which—should you not decision it—the people Pokémon unleashes each this energy, and everyone’s flung retired of the raid.

Should your Pokémon get knocked retired astatine immoderate point, you person a five-second punishment earlier respawning the archetypal time, 10 seconds the adjacent time, and it’s improbable you’ll ever person clip for a third.

It astir ne'er goes similar this. Instead, erstwhile playing online via the Poké Portal, should you beryllium fortunate capable to get past the dreadful lobby, raids thin to spell much similar this:

You motorboat your archetypal attack, and it knocks disconnected acold little of the Pokémon’s HP than you’re expecting. The Pokémon responds, but the onslaught takes ages to happen. Then, aft it does, the paper to bash your 2nd onslaught doesn’t appear. And inactive doesn’t appear. And past appears, but erstwhile you click connected it, thing happens, but a “Y: Check status” enactment starts flashing, though pressing Y does nothing.

Then, conscionable arsenic the onslaught paper yet reappears, the camera cuts to the people Pokémon, who’s present noisily shaking disconnected each effects from attacks. When it cuts backmost to you, you deed A to take an attack, but it cuts backmost to the Pokémon again, who’s present seemingly removing buffs that nary of you could person had clip to apply. You get your 2nd onslaught in, and past announcement the clip antagonistic abruptly leap from three-quarters afloat to nether halfway, for nary crushed astatine all.

(Oh, and if you got knocked retired astatine immoderate point, it won’t commencement your five-second countdown until after it’s finished this tiresome bid of lengthy interruptions, oregon often conscionable ne'er fuss to bash it astatine all.)

The Pokémon past terastalizes, earlier letting you spell done the erstwhile events erstwhile trying to bash your 3rd attack, truthful you tin terastalize back. Except astatine that point, it abruptly announces that the Pokémon has stolen immoderate of your Tera Orb energy, truthful you’ve got to get a 4th onslaught in. Except, the clip barroom conscionable jumped again from a 3rd near to each but nothing, and past earlier clip runs out, you’re blasted retired of the raid.

Or possibly you’ll person a precise antithetic mentation of this, wherever for nary understandable reason, the six-star Charizard you’re battling abruptly seems to suffer astir of its wellness successful 1 inexplicable leap, and you get to drawback it earlier it adjacent buffs its HP.

Or possibly my favorite: the 1 wherever you’ve got the Pokémon’s HP down to zero, but for immoderate reason, it doesn’t faint. So you each bash different onslaught against its bare HP bar, and past it blasts you retired of the raid arsenic losers.

To beryllium clear, this tin hap with a squad of level 100 Pokémon against the tera-beast. It appears to beryllium wholly up to the breached software’s mercurial whim.

As I say, immoderate of this cavalcade of tedium happens lone if you fluke your mode done the lobby. Here, you’re offered 8 raids to take from, but should you neglect to get into the archetypal you prime (which takes a afloat 45 seconds saying “Connecting...” earlier it’ll admit you didn’t get into the raid), each the others on-screen volition person been filled and started agelong ago. You past person to beryllium and hold for the “Check for caller postings” fastener to ping live, which takes a infinitesimal and 30 seconds (why?!), and repetition the process until you’re randomly lucky. Or unlucky, depending upon however breached the pursuing raid proves to be.

Given that you person to wage for a Nintendo Online subscription to beryllium adjacent allowed to instrumentality portion successful each of this, it’s outstandingly galling. This is specified basal stuff, conscionable hooking up a specified 4 radical to play unneurotic via the internet, and yet it’s intelligibly acold beyond the scope of the bundle and infrastructure being used. Sure, sometimes it works and you get what feels similar a “fair” raid (whether you triumph oregon lose), but successful my experience, that’s little than fractional the time.

Since specified raids are the lone mode to get definite Pokémon, not slightest Charizard, and a means to drawback monsters exclusive to the mentation of the crippled you don’t have, they aren’t conscionable a frivolous bonus. It’s an highly frustrating experience, from the sluggish menus, to the improbable accidental of getting into a raid, to the immense hold earlier you tin reload the disposable ones, to the tremendous chances of each that clip being wasted.

Oh, and I forgot however you can’t spot the levels of the different players you’re battling with, truthful you’ve nary thought if it’s a fruitless endeavor. And you get bounced backmost to the crippled satellite whether you triumph oregon lose, leaving you to spell done each the menus again. And, successful summation to the enemy’s HP barroom bouncing around, it sometimes disappears entirely, meaning you person nary mode to cognize wherever you are successful the battle.

I don’t person a solution. I conscionable privation you to cognize it’s not conscionable you, and it’s surely not bully enough.