Pokemon Scarlet & Violet's DLCs

The Teal Mask is a little slow at first but it picks up really quickly storywise.

Story: I think it has weak spots like Kieran easily destroying the old tradition of the village worshiping the Loyal Three and seeing Ogrepon isn't evil after all without any real evidence that the Loyal Three aren't what they seem. It does have bittersweet parts and parts that make you feel conflicted like you butting heads with Kieran over who catches Ogrepon which I think is pretty cool. I hate Nemona, Arven, and Penny don't come with you but I get GF wanted it playable even if you didn't finish the main story.

Characters: Kieran fascinates me because he starts as a meek Wally-esque rival but the events of the story changes him into a power obsessed rival like Silver. I'll definitely be curious to see how he evolves in Part 2 because I like we're seeing a rival who increasingly resents you as the story progresses. Carmine is a little annoying at first but I like that in the beginning she's the immature one to Kieran's maturity but the two basically change roles by the end with Kieran being immature while Carmine is starting to have a rather mature outlook on things. I want Carmine to meet Nemona in Part 2 so bad I can't see straight. Perrin was a nice side character with some interesting new mechanics with photography. Briar I have little to comment on but I imagine she'll be more important in Part 2. The Glitterati were amusing and had a nice little story too.

Pokemon: Not a lot of new Pokemon. Ogrepon's gimmick is kinda situational to me. I hate that half the Kitakami Pokedex is just the base game dex but I liked seeing some classics like Vulpix and it gave me an excuse to try a new team so I used stuff I don't normally use. I might use the Crystal Pool as my spot to farm a shiny Glimmora.

Map: If you walk it it's not bad. If you use your mount a lot you'll quickly see the map is REALLY small and it shows really quickly. I don't think there's a lot of super memorial locations in Kitakami but it's probably not bad for raid farming purely because it's a smaller map than Paldea.

Overall: Decent DLC, GF's writing is improving in a lot of places but I wouldn't call it a VITAL experience but I might re-evaluate this once I play Part 2 and see the story in whole.