Pokemon Scarlet and Violet - Area Zero / Area Zero Wild Battle | Reacting To Video Game Music! 

I love your reaction to these- I was hoping they'd catch you a bit off guard, and I'd say they seemed to do that and more. Really glad you enjoyed. Man, these songs stopped me in my tracks the first time I heard them. It was like a feeling of "am I still playing a Pokemon game?" They're wild. They also really capture the feel the feeling of being in a strange place you're not meant to be. And absolutely feel like they belong in the endgame. Thanks for reacting to one of my requests! Also, don't forget your glasses on the floor lol 😎

I love that the message of the Area Zero theme is: "You are in a place that you should not be in. You are messing with forces beyond your comprehension." Toby Fox conveyed that message incredibly.

For a very summarized in-game context: Area Zero is a massive crater in the center of the game's map that you're repeatedly told not to go into though the entire game, then when you finally get in for the final dungeon and this starts playing, it is very effective at giving a "maybe the adults were right I shouldn't be here" vibes.

In spite of its flaws, S/V is the most fun I've had playing through a Pokémon game. And reaching this part of the game really dropped my jaw to the floor.

Going through Area Zero for the first time with THESE tracks playing in the background was an otherworldly experience that no other Pokemon game has given me.

This song is mean to represents both past and future, and it does it so well

I love- and I mean LOVE this game to death, but “The Pokémon devs cut no corners” is definitely a statement you wouldn’t hear anywhere else lmao. These devs are ABSURDLY passionate, and talented to a degree that goes woefully overlooked. The world, story, characters, gameplay, map design, QOL, ect ect- This game’s probably my favorite of the entire series. They went lengths with this game that SHOCKED me to my core. Excuse my French but Scarlet and Violet has BALLS, and for days. This is the most innovative game this series has ever seen… but it was RUSHED. Pokémon is the largest multimedia company on earth. It is a machine, they gotta align every pillar of this series- The games, the anime, the TCG, the merch- to fire at full blast for the launch of each new generation. The problem? They have NOT slowed down to account for how much larger and more complicated modern game development has became. They rush these games out to meet their deadlines. Where Sword and Shield and Legends Arceus, the other Nintendo Switch Pokémon games, are pretty good experiences, notably held back by this fact, just never game-ruiningly so… Scarlet and Violet got REAL ambitious... Im talking, the worst preforming framerate of any game I have ever played, no exaggeration. Visual bugs so baffling, massive portions of the map will just pop out of existence on occasion. The art direction is good, great even, but every technical aspect of the game is held together by duct tape, and its only gotten slightly better with post-launch updates. You will not have a technically sound experience with this game, that is impossible. And yet, I struggle to tell people to steer clear of this game. It is THAT good. By all means, if that is a dealbreaker for you, there is nothing wrong with your standards- But if you want something fresh, something different, something ambitious, something that feels meaningful, such an unabashedly fun evolution of the standard Pokémon formula that it gives me all the hope in the world despite these glaring flaws- Tamper your expectations, and you’ll have them blown to the heavens. And yes, there are FAR more bangers here, what a godly soundtrack.

"My glasses fell, it's okay i have another pair." Loool

Yeah, so these were composed by Toby Fox and then arranged Go Ichinose, the main Pokemon composer. I absolutely love these songs, and Im glad you finally got to them! (Im Visorelle, btw) In regards to your no-corner cutting... SV have a pretty good story, very very good music, but corners were definitely cut in the programming, lol. Lots of bugs and performance issues. Oh well. I still had and continue to have a ton of fun with the game. Ive been playing Pokemon avidly since Pokemon Silver. Ive had so much fun with the series. Its been a huge part of my life. Not just the main series, but the side series as well, Pokemon Mystery dungeon especially. But yeah, there's a reason Pokemon is such a successful series in spite of rushed development on the last few titles. It's just always such an amazing time. Thanks again for getting to this reaction, it was everything I was hoping to be.

Now we need the Underdepths theme and then Terapagos to complete the Area Zero experience for him. MAKE IT HAPPEN PEOPLE

These themes are indeed Toby Fox, but Go Ichinose, who was in charge of a lot of other amazing Pokemon tracks, arranged it as well. As for where this plays (aside from being a final dungeon), if you're familiar with the science fiction novel Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne... it's pretty much like that. Area Zero is this sort of lost world deep inside the earth where these fierce wild Pokemon displaced in time dwell, and it's at least as cool as it sounds. This final area has this alien and otherworldly quality to it, both in visuals and music, and it is _so_ different in atmosphere from the rest of the story that you'd be forgiven for thinking you stepped into a different game upon entering it. Of course, that's the intended effect, as the whole endgame experience can be described as entering a rabbit hole that gets crazier and wilder the deeper you go in. The final boss, of course, is fought in Area Zero as well, and their theme, which you've already listened to, has Area Zero's lietmotif in it. Just something to listen out for if you decide to hear that one again. I chuckled a little when you mentioned how the developers don't cut corners, because that's one of the main criticisms of the company by a lot of fans. With a fanbase as old and as massive as Pokemon's, there will always be arguments and differing opinions, but the quality of the games themselves (with graphics, performance, content, and so on) have been a source of heated debate for quite a while. As someone who's been with Pokemon since Gen 2, I stand... somewhere in the middle. I do think there are a lot of things Game Freak can do better, but I almost always enjoy the world and the Pokemon they designed, and I do believe they've gotten better at handling story and character arcs. And obviously, the music's always going to be incredible. That is one of the few things I can see fans agree on when it comes to Pokemon. By the way, I think that high-pitched instrument may be a theremin, but I'm not 100% sure. And that blue bird Pokemon with a yellow beak you were talking about is probably a Cramorant (maybe a Ducklett or a Quaxly). Goofy little guy.

!The craziest thing is that this is not even my favourite wild battle theme in gen 9! Scarlet & Violet add EIGHT new wild themes and you'd think that the sheer quantity of them would impact their quality, but half of them are some of the best wild themes in the franchise, and the other half are pretty cool in their own right still. I feel no shame in saying that gen 9 has the highest standard of battle themes in the main series.

Oh I wish he hears the team star grunt battle theme someday. I'm sure Jesse would be shocked!

Area Zero is the type of fantasy I love, and it is a Fantasy that is very real. We have an ancient past (and a mysterious future, thought personally I prefer the past), and despite all of it being on our own planet, it is so very alien at the same time. We can only ever peek at fragments left behind by our past. I am just dying to know what our past was like. How alien was it? How advanced did it ever get? What kind of creatures roamed our planet who failed to leave behind a clue? I get chills just thinking about these things, and these Area Zero OSTs excites my very soul as it invokes these feelings, thoughts and fantasies!

I love how you're now using the Queen's Blood song for every video since Rebirth came out. It's such a fantastic song.

The Nier Vibes are spot on with this one Especially since this takes place in an area long forgotten by time

Going to Area Zero the first time was such an adventure! The whole place, the story, the Paradox Pokémon and then this music!! OMG.. This still gives me chilles.

FOUR MINUTES AGO More Pokémonnn, thank you so much Jesse and the person or people that requested this! ^^ I hope you had fun reacting to these! I already see Area Zero, nyuhuhuh X3 That is awesome I hope you're having a great day, whoever's reading this!

“Pokémon developers cut no corners.” Lol. LMAO, even.

The Area Zero theme tells you that the place is a full pokémon paradise that was untouched by humans, that you are not meant to be there and are not welcome. But also tells you that something that also doesn't belong there also made that place its home, something that is dangerous since when you arrive for the first time your seventh partner, koraidon/miraidon doesn't want to get out of its pokeball out of fear of something there.

10:15 I think this is the first time I've ever seen/heard anyone on the internet have that opinion, but I really like the fact that someone thinks that way XD

These tracks really are amazing imo. Toby is so versatile. He can create electro, metal, rock, symphonic orchestral, mono-instrumental music, and add so many other feelings to his tracks. But always adding his own style in the mix. You can always tell if he's participated in creating the music.

Im so glad this was requested. Its an awesome set of themes

13:42 this is why I followed your channel since you started music reactions. It's awesome to see someone finally truly appreciate video game music. I started playing music myself 25 years ago entirely inspired by Nobuo Uematsu, an absolute legend who goes completely underappreciated in the mainstream.

The descent into Area Zero is one of the best experiences i've had in pokemon...in a very long time. A lot of it is due to this theme, the atmosphere here is unmatched

Also I forgot to mention, video game music is definitely underated. Agreed. 😅

''This is unlike any Pokemon song I've ever heard'' The area is unlike anything from Pokemon. A crater, filled with derelict research facilities and archaic ruins. It has light piercing through the clouds, no matter what time of day it is, and its filled with crystals, which are growing on the base of trees. It only gets worse when you get lower; crystals growing on the walls, and a large one in the middle. Once you get to the Zero Lab, you learn a dark truth...something that Pokemon would never do.

I don't know why, but to me, Area Zero music has a very Metroid vibe. Probably the choice of instruments that make it sound alien-like.

Jesse! I was like you, a Millennial who only played Gen 1. But I got Scarlet for Christmas 2022 and it ignited this newfound love for Pokemon since, I've finished the pokedex for Scarlet, both DLCs, Arceus, Let's Go! Eevee, I still play Scarlet to this day, and I recently got Pokemon SNAP! 2 (never played the original-it slaps!!) - I want to get some of the other titles on Switch soon, like Diamond/Pearl and Sword/Shield. It's not too late to get back into it bud! I'm 37 fwitw. The games are super fun and you can definitely still get into them even if your Pokedex knowledge stops at Mew, its actually kinda fun learning about "new" Pokemons.

His reaction to the music quality and knowing the games are filled with love in however possible is exactly how it feels to play it if you overlook the issues, or they arent so important for you.

Loved your commentary on longterm fans of pokemom and how it has evolved. I started playing in '97 at the age of 3 years old. I've played every mainline entry at release. This particular theme and area was wonderful to experience and a great experience. Yes, Scarlet and Violet have... a lot of problems. But this particular bit of the games was... incredible. This and the Sada/Turo theme were some of my favorite bits of music from the series. Thanks for sharing your experience with it. :)

"Pokemon developers cut no corners"? Man, the music is absolutely sick. that bassline in the battle theme is fucking amazing, but, oh if only you knew... "Things have downgraded, products get less and less; things just go down in quality". And yup, that is sadly Gamefreak in a nutshell. They've just been riding the brand name for years at this point. :/

Scarlet and Violet have a lot of problems but they've still landed a spot as my fifth favorite of the "mainline" games. (Out of like, 21, but I still consider it "S-Tier"). Some other Pokémon games I would describe as like, a full on steak dinner, or like, a large banana sundae like you'd see in cartoons from your childhood. 95% of Scarlet and Violet are like, ***really f---in' good junk food.*** Like a bag of your favorite chips that you just can't help but keep sticking your hands into for another chip to eat, But the ***finale*** of Scarlet and Violet is one of the biggest, tallest, juiciest steaks that Game Freak has ever put on a plate and the tone shift from "haha im goin on an adventure catchin funny critters" to this music playing at the start of the finale, making you wonder "what the heck have i gotten myself into" its just such a pleasant finale, i live it so much sgdksgdkshxkh

Man...hearing Jesse speak of such praise and wonder. It's hard. Yes, the music is great, and there are some really neat unique things that Scar/Vi do well. But- man. I really hope there's some good change in the games going forward.

Yesss!! The song that made me question if I was still playing Pokemon 😂!

stuck around super fan, had a great life eating pokemon music for my life and alot of fans are excited for new games because of the music and brand new ideas, it's like a different genre, amazing stuff

Area Zero past-future vibes theme really reminds me of the Liber Ark theme from Sora no Kiseki.

Pokémon devs definitely cut a LOT of corners. They have a tight schedule of at least one game a year and don't really do delays. Scarlet/Violet is my favourite gen of games right now, but performance-wise, it barely functions. Bugs and glitches are everywhere, and somehow they got worse in the year since release (I last played around January). Pokemon music hits pretty good though.

I LOVE your videos so much, hope you do some more Nintendo because honestly you’ve only scratched the surface, also best of luck with your music career❤

Wait how have I missed all of these BANGERS you've uploaded?? Like somehow I've been missing your videos on my feed. These songs are like the BEST THING from the latest Pokémon, I could just stay in area zero forever. I don't know if you've ever heard of The Epic of Zektbach before, it's a Bemani series of music videos that tell a story, and these two tracks specifically feel VERY Zektbach inspired to me. It's a very unique style of composition.

To be honest, it was kinda rough in my opinion from 2013 to 2021, but I think it came back nowadays with Legends: Arceus and Scarlet/Violet

If S/V wasn’t so rushed and the execs let the devs take their time with the performance, it honestly could’ve been the best Pokemon game to come out. But yeah I had to stop for a second when I entered Area Zero after hearing the initial vocal because I was NOT expecting that from a Pokémon game, then when the main melody came in after the intro I’m like “Toby absolutely did this track” and was vibing the whole way down. I forget the name, but the waterfall area theme in Undertale was the first thing I thought of when I heard the Area Zero track.

"the game looks beautiful, damn" HAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA YEAH RIGHT 💀💀💀

Yea such a fantastic series. Despite flaws and shortcomings that other comments have mentioned, the series is undoubtedly going strong. Still consistently a top seller and while we wish the games were better in some regards, it still continues to have that Pokemon heart and charm that makes it fun to play regardless of how we wish it could be more and better. Their moving on thin ice and might start to lose some fans if it doesn't start being more careful with their releases, but there's hope that they're listening to community feedback. Regardless of Scarlet and Violet's shortcomings, it had some excellent moments especially when this music shows up and it was such a fun experience for me.

your thoughts at the end are really interesting, if you know what the popular fan opinion is on the series’ direction right now. i think it speaks to the talent of the creatives behind the series. regardless of time constraints and programming issues you can tell the people who actually make the game clearly care

No matter how rushed or messy a pokemon game might be, the music and at least some of the character designs will always be amazing.

Pokémon is such a fascinating franchise :D With sooo many different experiences, opinions & values flying around and so many people having tons of emotional investment in it, it has become effectively impossible to decipher the "general audience opinion" without it contradicting itself constantly. So I stopped listening to that and just focused on what I like and what I don't like. My conclusion is that it's still easily my favorite franchise and it still makes me extremly happy connecting to similar minded people and exchange opinions. The games are neat, but Pokémon is sooo much more than just the games. It's a lively culture that's constantly changing and evolving. That's what makes it so fascinating^-^

Really hope you react to more Pokemon music. Its like the one consistently good thing about this series lol

This truly alien, otherworldly sound is one of the most ominous Osts I vibe with from Pokemon. They put the elbows and feet into ScarVio's music.

I'm that pokemon fan that's been playing since it gen 1(yellow was my first game) and god it's been fun. Like growing up with a great friend.

I love that you thought about 2B INSTANTLY Area Zero has some serious Automata vibes to it lol

this game is incredible if you can look beyond the glitches and unoptimized performance of it like others have said. I’m personally used to it as j have played buggier games in the past (I’m a minor Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow glitchologist and I am obsessed with Spore [spore is here because dear god there are so many game breaking glitches in there]), but this is definitely not the smoothest game in existence. still, get this game, play through it, listen to the jams, and fall in love with this series again

I have a *lot* of issues with Scarlet and Violet, but the final Area Zero section of the game is my favorite part of any Pokemon game

Regardless of game quality generation to generation, the composers consistently do great jobs

Yeah everyone’s first time here (and mind you, if people made it this far is because they consciously went ahead and above the game’s problems to see the pretty interesting mechanics and story), and got mindblown by this last story segment. The ending is also leaves a lot of impact.

Fun Fact: Touhou is technically older than Pokemon, with its first song being made in '95

Oh the Pokemon developers cut corners whenever and wherever they can get away with it, except for the music. That is the only corner they don't cut. For all that Scarlet/Violet did right, there are at least four times as many things they did so very wrong.

Area zero's theme reminds me a lot from Astral Chain OST

Bro the queens blood song in the background ❤

This finale was so gooooooood. Helluva trip through Area Zero.

Despite the current state of pokemon if theres one thing they absolutely do NOT miss with, its the OSTs

Toby Fox is honestly the best thing to happen to the Pokémon games in terms of music. Pokémon music has always been top tier, but having him on board adds a whole new level!

Your reaction to the Area Zero theme is pretty much the same as everybody that played the game. The mood this area sets is entirely different from the rest of the game and you'd never expect Pokémon to go there.

So I've been a huge fan with the franchise since I was and started with gen 1 (granted it was the remastered FireRed/LeafGreen when they just released) and have played through all of them, but uh yeah big oof to Gamefreak not cutting corners. I genuinely loved Scarlet/Violet and the entire area Zero arc is one pokemons best, but lord the games were ROUGH. While I never had too many issues myself, there were bugs everywhere, performance is just unbearable in some places, and sometimes it could be very crash heavy. HOWEVER, there are still spots where you can see GF's passion and what they wanted to do. As always the new mons designs are great, really good characters, and the OST absolutely killed it, plus GF is starting to try and take the franchise in the direction fans wanted for a long time, being full open world. Even if with scarlet/violet it's kind of hit and miss right now.

15:34 This is true for me in more ways than one! I've enjoyed listening to you and this music during my lunch. ...But yes, I do tend to really enjoy these games a lot. Even the more divisive ones! (Usually!)

So happy for more pokemon music! Have you done the dlc ones like Kieran and Ogerpon? I recommend

Area zeros music was so vastly different than the rest of the game that it makes you feel like you stepped into a different game, very nier esqe though ye, the final boss theme is so good too

Pokemon Scarlet/Violet basically went 3 steps forward, 4 steps back. It did a lot of cool things but also had a lot of issues.

Scarlet and Violet are rough around the edges, which makes sense honestly because the concept of what it is (an open world Pokemon game) is definently a bit ambitious considering what these developers are used to, and I think there's still a lot of growing pains stemming from the switch from being a handheld series to something that can be played on a TV. People expect more fidelity now understandably but they're slowly catching up. The environments in SV are lacking in graphical polish but the Pokemon themselves have never looked better, especially not since the series switched to 3D graphics. SV is a good game with flaws but, as is tradition, the sound track is NOT one of those flaws at all.

What I think is the best part is how the battle theme for Sada/Turo mimics the melody in Area Zero.

pokemon music

I'd love to see you do an LP or a livestream of these games someday. By the way, for your next reaction, could you react to the Mortal Kombat theme? It's such a classic tune.

I love Pokémon alot especially music

The 2 song wombo combo: Queen's Gambit and Area Zero

Some other people mentioned (and provided forewarnings for) spoilery stuff relating to the songs, but here's some background info that **is not** so spoilery, in case you're interested: This area - Area Zero - is at the center of ScVi's map, and is inaccessible to the general public. The games' professor (the professor differs between versions) is down there performing research, and it's that research that resulted in this generation's gameplay gimmick. The whole zone is supposedly very rough and dangerous, so you can't even consider asking about it unless you're a Champion-ranked trainer... and even then, you either need someone to vouch for your character (personality-wise, I mean), or you need to actively be invited in (by the professor, naturally). The area is tied into a lot of the region's history, lore and mythology, so throughout all three main story-branches, the mystery of Area Zero is constantly hanging in the back of your mind. The whole game is spent subtly building up to your expedition into the unknown, which is part of what makes these songs so strong. They're honestly some of my favorite pieces of music in the franchise, and that's coming from someone who's been playing since Red. :u

"The game is beautiful" I don't know about that but this section and the music really impressed, it felt more like something out of Persona or Undertale (for obvious reasons).

Yay another for the playlist to go back and see your reactions to!

1.Area Zero, and the battle theme for it were great. So for context, this theme is supposed to sound both ancient with the drums, but also futuristic. 2. There’s even more Area Zero music that came with the dlc back in December that you should really listen to. They are called Area Zero Underdepths, Keira+Terapagos theme, and the last one is called Terapagos theme.

“Pokemon developers cut no corners” ……….who’s gonna tell him? 😢😢😢

Probably showing my age here but the Area Zero theme kind of gave me Chrono Trigger vibes when I first heard it.

I listen to VGM 90 maybe 98 percent on a daily, majority basis. Saying that it’s underrated validates that. I’m currently binging Gradius / Salmander / Lifeforce Remixes. Thank you so much for saying at you’re pissed off that video game music is underrated. ❤❤

There is actually a considerable amount of tracks from this game composed by Toby Fox, you should probably check in the request list if there are more of them if you wanna give priority to those.

They definitely cut a LOT of corners and yet you can see it's still a product of passion, just one that was SQUEEZED from them as they gave them no time, clearly.

There’s actually one more battle theme to area zero it’s a variation of the regular area zero battle theme called “area zero (Paradox Pokemon)” and the difference is actually very noticeable

I need to go back to these games, it's been over a year since I've played scarlet/violet, DLC should get me back in.

Scarlet/Violet's pretty good, with the only real issue being some framerate/slowdown stuff that they never could get fixed. Game's still a blast to play, though, plus as you've experienced, Area Zero has a mindblowing track that really hammers in the whole "We probably shouldn't be going down here..." vibes.

Champion Iris theme goes hard. Give it a listen for a good adrenaline rush 💃🏼

I also thought of NieR the first time I heard this track!

I have been playing Pokemon since Red Blue and Yellow but i never stopped playing them, I do think Pokemon these days do cut corners but i still love playing Pokemon, Music is amazing in every game and i'm hyped for Pokemon Legends ZA music now in the future in 2025 :)

Scarlet/Violet had some corners cut, but not in the music department. You should for sure try the game. It’s so much fun and the music slaps so hard

18:28 Well, you see... GameFreak's and the overall series's reputation have been in contention for a good while. But, I'd argue it's currently on a recovering trajectory. It's not been all rainbows with Pokémon, though. The series has been dealing with notions of being samey and formulaic, uninspired or even downright lazy (made particularly worse with some truly awful PR around Sword&Shield), arguably starting gen 6 (X&Y on 3DS), and "hardcore" fan opinion really only grew worse from there and didn't really bounce back somewhat until Pokémon Legends: Arceus by breaking the mold in a pretty big way for the first time in what feels like forever. Since Arceus, however, I'd say the series has been bouncing back somewhat. Scarlet/Violet definitely still suffered from lingering fan frustrations mixed with a substantial number of bugs and a plethora of other technical problems, but manages to be a genuinely good game in spite of that and does make a number of important changes and improvements. Area Zero is a real standout segment in this game and the series as a whole, too! And now, they very recently announced a new Legends game and the initial reception seems very positive and hopeful. It's genuinely refreshing to have some Pokémon discourse that isn't dominated by such negativity again.

FINALLY I knew these would show up eventually

when the mobile game "pokémon masters" came out i filled out a player survey. i spoke of TES3 Morrowind 👑 with its red mountain 🌋 and of an 🌿 herb master quest. that was the game i received through S/V. they won me well before reaching area zero and it's the hardest shit they've ever thrown down. fantastic game fr

LMAO, they cut no corners in the music that's for sure The corners are gone everywhere else though 😂

Pokemon really is a series that releases frequently and gets better over time, but most lifelong fans have gotten used to that and take it for granted.

I've played every generation so I understand what you mean

Oh I've been waiting for this reaction

You gotta listen to the Terapagos battle theme from this game!

I hope you stream a playthrough of some of these games.

"Pokemon developers cut no corners"