Pokemon Scarlet & Violet – How to Improve Screen Rate Drops & Lag

Every so often, the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet games are subject to some visual inconveniences like lag, frame drops, and severe slowdown. While these kinds of issues were more prominent in the initial version of the game, sometimes they pop up during specific gameplay scenarios. Having a lot of stuttering and lag can really invade the experience of the game, so if you find that your copy is lagging, there are a few things you can do to remedy it.

While there’s no avoiding the natural occurrences of the game that cause the visuals to lag, like Pokemon mass spawns and NPCs being present on screen, you can mitigate some of these issues instead of just hoping they go away naturally. In this brief overview, I’ll go over all the ways you can lessen lag and other issues in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.

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How to Improve Lag in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet

Fly somewhere

One of the best ways to stop lagging in its tracks is by resetting the area you’re in. Forcing the game to reload an area can help promote decent frames, or stop any lag if the game is starting to slow down. Any spawn point is acceptable; just open your map and fly to any location on your map to reset things. If you’re playing the DLC, consider relocating to an area on your local map rather than going back to Paldea. However, if you’re having continuous issues with playability, resetting the entire area by switching maps and then switching back may help.

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Go to the home screen

Another way you can keep your game from bugging out and becoming too laggy for enjoyment is by going to the home screen temporarily. Doing this can give the game some pause, and if the situation that’s causing your lag is too many Pokemon, then this can despawn those for you. Bear in mind, if you exit the software and come back again, you’ll sever your connection to the internet. So if you’re doing any trading or online play, maybe keep this method on the backburner.

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Close the game

Closing the game entirely is one of the best solutions to lag you can do for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Sometimes the game may lag due to too many Pokemon on the screen, or too many NPCs in one cutscene, or by driving too fast on your Legendary Pokemon Moped. If the game is deciding to lag for you no matter what you do, closing the game and giving it a chance for a full refresh is a good call. One aspect that’s unfortunate about Scarlet and Violet is that even during cutscenes the game has a tendency to lag. Closing the game and restarting the session can help for gameplay lag, but sometimes Scarlet and Violet can lag no matter what you do.

Enter a building

Another way to help keep lagging in check is by entering a building. There aren’t as many buildings in Scarlet and Violet as there are in previous Pokemon games, which can make it difficult to reload an area on command. If you want to stay in the same area without fast traveling, entering any kind of building can do the same reset but with a shorter loading screen. Buildings like the university can help with this; those that have a fully dedicated inside, unlike most food stalls and shops, which don’t reload the area fully. Anything with a dedicated loading screen counts as a reset, and can help reduce lag throughout your playthrough.

Open photo mode

A quicker way to mitigate lag is by opening your camera. It doesn’t matter where you are; most places you can activate your camera to snap a quick selfie of your team, or perhaps the environment around you. Either way, what opening photo mode does is help despawn Pokemon that are in your immediate area. Pokemon rendering from a distance also stop loading into the game during photo mode, which can help lessen lag if the game is reaching its natural threshold.

Start a battle

If you start a battle in the middle of the wild Pokemon around you tend to despawn. This can help ease the load on the game since the battle is the focus instead of travel and Pokemon spawning in and out. Pokemon in your immediate area won’t go away, which can make for some hilarious instances where you have a herd of Gogoat watching you battle, but the major issue of every Pokemon being accounted for does go away.

Have a picnic

Another gameplay element you can use to your advantage is having a picnic, which almost accomplishes the same blockades to loading as battling or photo mode does. Setting up your table and having a picnic prevents wild Pokemon from spawning in your area, which can ease the console a little bit. However, consider the fact that all of your Pokemon from your party do spawn in during that time.

Generally, the game doesn’t lag very much if it only has to load in your party to a setting. Considering the fact that the area you and your team are allowed to wander is limited, stopping to have a sandwich and give some Pokemon a bath can help your game run a whole lot smoother.