With the newest release by the Pokémon company, players enter the beautiful land of Kitakami, a mountainous region inspired by real-world Japanese culture. 

“The Teal Mask” is a downloadable content for Pokémon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet. This DLC is part one of “The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero” game expansion. 

While Scarlet and Violet had a bit of a bumpy start, which saw glitches and graphics issues, “The Teal Mask” game expansion seems to elevate the player experience and bring the series back to its more traditional Japanese roots. 

Examples of this include the clothing, which resembles Jinbei-style loungewear, and the setting featuring a conventional Japanese summer festival. The character designs also connect heavily to Japanese myths and legends, with creatures inspired by Oni and Japanese folklore. Even the human characters feel like people that actually could have come from Japan.

This sense of realism and authentic character design really helped me feel connected and engaged in a way I haven’t felt in a long time with the franchise. For once while playing a Pokémon game, it actually felt like these creatures and myths could truly exist in our world.

Another thing I liked was the new Pokémon Polchageist. This little ghost was inspired by matcha tea powder and the Japanese tea ceremony. This touch was very fitting given the setting of this game content. 

More added features include a fun side quest and a mini game you can play with up to three friends. 

The side quest is similar to another Pokémon game called “Pokémon Snap,” in that the main goal is to take pictures of Pokémon in their natural habits. This fun call-back to a classic game was nice to see and was very heartwarming for me. 

I also really appreciated the multiplayer functionality. While in the base games you can play with others, it was nice to actually have a mini game to play. I hope they add more in the future because playing with friends always makes the game more entertaining. 

The DLC also had many old Pokémon returned from previous games that haven’t been available in the current generation which added some nice nostalgic moments. It was refreshing being able to see the old Pokémon on a more powerful system with better textures and graphics.

The follow up to “The Teal Mask,” called “The Indigo Disk,” will include more Pokémon returning and will add new mini games and trainer battles. Both parts make up the overarching DLC referred to as “The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero,” with the second half tying back to the main games and revealing the mystery of the legendary Pokémon Terapagos. 

“The Indigo Disk,” will also shed light on a new game mechanic called the 19th Tera type. In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, Pokémon can transform into a new type in battle, this gives them new advantages and weaknesses against the opponent. What exactly the 19th type will be is yet to be seen. 

Overall, “The Teal Mask” was a huge step up for the franchise. My only hope is “The Indigo Disk” keeps the momentum with the additional content we’ll be getting.