Pokemon Scarlet & Violet players convinced patch 2.0.2 is “breaking” the game

Pokemon Scarlet & Violet Patch 2.0.2 was meant to be a step toward repairing the game’s major bugs. Unfortunately, that step was in the wrong direction according to some players.

Pokemon Scarlet & Violet was the biggest launch in Nintendo’s storied history when it released in November 2022. It was also quite possibly their least polished with an abundance of bugs present, and we don’t mean Caterpie.

The state of Pokemon Scarlet & Violet on release was so abysmal that the famously proud Nintendo even issued apologies. Since then a number of updates have been crafted to repair the damage.

The most recent Pokemon Scarlet & Violet update, Patch 2.0.2, was supposed to fix some lingering bugs and Pokemon Home compatibility issues. Since its implementation, however, a number of players are reporting new game-breaking bugs introduced to the games.

Reddit user u/Rancor8562 shared a clip to the Pokemon Scarlet & Violet Subreddit after installing patch 2.0.2 and thanked it for “breaking” their game. The footage shows erratic screen flickers and their character falling through the map immediately.

To make matters worse, other players in the comments are reporting a whole host of new bugs following the update. “Since updating, my picnic table is always invisible,” one user revealed. “I can still click it to make a sandwich but then my plate is invisible so I can’t tell where to drop toppings.”

“The update had made raids somehow worse for me,” replied another. “I’ve had raids immediately register 3-4 Pokemon fainting before I can select a move, and then keep fainting for the next 30 seconds ending the raid.”

Players in the thread bemoaned what they perceived as a lack of quality control from Gamefreak. Others criticized them for releasing DLC for Pokemon Scarlet & Violet before they had completely fixed the base game.

The Pokemon Company

Pokemon Scarlet & Violet’s launch bugs were the stuff of nightmares.

Interestingly, one Pokemon Scarlet & Violet player in the comments claimed that the particular issue that u/Rancor8562 encountered has been in the games since launch. They did concede that it appeared to be “more frequent” following the update.

While Pokemon Scarlet & Violet players may be used to bugs at this point, anecdotes like this may make them wary of Patch 2.0.2. Particularly as more examples of post-patch issues come to light.