With Pokémon Scarlet/Violet, Nintendo put an open world on a classic franchise, just as it did with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Although I don’t know if the gambling will pay off in the end, I can say that it makes the Paldea area an attractive place to hang out for an hour or two.
Instead of walking through a patch of grass between town and town, you can hop on a motorcycle/Pokemon hybrid, climb mountains, slide through waterways and basically go anywhere within your line of sight. You can follow a character-driven storyline, compete with other Pokemon trainers, hunt down giant creatures, or do none of that at all.
In short, Pokémon Scarlet / Violet allows you to do whatever you want. And after decades of fairly linear Pokémon games, freedom will feel either liberating or intimidating, depending on your playing style.
I recently had a hands-on opportunity with Pokémon Scarlet at a Nintendo press event, and spent about an hour and a half with the game in total. During that time, I explored the Paldea region, battling and catching Pokemon as I went. I also got a hint of what the game’s three main story arcs offer.
While I don’t think Pokémon Scarlet will tell the greatest story in gaming history, I think it will give novice and veteran Pokémon trainers plenty of reasons to see this quintessential adventure through to the end.
Pokemon Scarlet / Violet Explore Paldea
I started Nintendo at the beginning of the game, but with a variety of gadgets and Pokemon at my disposal players will only gain later on. As such, don’t be disappointed if you have to work for some fun in the full version.
The first thing I noticed was that I had a very versatile base at my disposal: a strange-looking wheeled Pokémon called Corydon. (Pokémon Violet would have a similar mount called Miraidon.) Admittedly, I haven’t played Pokémon since the Red/Blue variants in the late ’90s, but Koraidon seemed to be a huge step up over a bike. In addition to dashing through the open world, Koraidon could also climb almost any vertical surface, then glide long distances.
(Zelda fans may also be keen to note that Koraidon doesn’t have a stamina bar, so you don’t have to worry about falling over when you’re halfway up the mountain.)
Although the press demo only covered the first part of the open world, the map looked massive, with grasslands, mountains, and towns explored. Due to time constraints, I spent most of my demo following the storylines, but the open world seems to have plenty of side quests and secrets, including Pokémon to catch, challenge trainers and resources to collect.
Speaking of catching Pokemon, the process is almost the same as it has always been. You can encounter a variety of wild Pokémon roaming the open world. Touching them will start a fight – although you can also send a single Pokemon to fight them automatically, eliminating the need for a prolonged battle.
You can have up to six Pokémon on your list at any time, and send them into battle one by one against wild Pokémon, or two by two against some trainers. Each Pokemon can learn four techniques, and the game will tell you whether your technique is strong or weak against the intended target. Reducing the health of the enemy Pokemon along the way will render him unconscious; Reducing the health of an enemy Pokémon most of the way will make it easier to catch them in the Poké Ball. This system hasn’t changed drastically in the past few decades, but probably doesn’t need to.
My only big problem while exploring was that the frame rate was usually not ideal – and at certain points, it was almost unwatchable. Out in the open world, the game has to render a lot of assets at once, making the camera shiver and shake every time I rotate it. During one sequence, when I had to get 10 Pokémon in a town for my followers, their animation looked more like a slideshow than a big budget video game.
The star of the team, the path to victory, and the path of legends
Pokémon Scarlet/Violet will have three main leads to follow. Victory Road is the traditional Pokémon novel, where you collect monsters, pit them against various gym leaders, collect badges and move on to the next area. Path of Legends is where you will hunt unusual Pokemon, such as the giant Klawf in my demo. (It was basically a mechanical crab; I suppose some later mythical creatures would look a little more scary.)
Team Star is where I choose to focus most of my energy. In a previous Nintendo briefing, a representative told me that Team Star arc would be like a school anime, where different factions of students work with and against each other to achieve academic excellence, popularity, or — in this case — Pokémon mastery. This seemed to be a little more character than some of the previous Pokémon stories, and it piqued my interest.
To start things off, I found Team Star’s base, just outside the city. These rogue students seem to be the “evil” faction in the game, although I didn’t have the context to figure out why. Before I could challenge local leader Mila, the All-Star Team members challenged me to defeat 30 Pokémon within a limited time. This is where the “Automatically send Pokemon out to fight” feature proves its worth. I imagine this will reduce a lot of busy work, especially for players who want to level up their Pokémon teams early on.
The fight against Mela herself was suitably tough, although veteran Pokémon trainers won’t find many surprises here. I have analyzed her Pokemon. I choose creatures in my own list that can take advantage of their weaknesses; I’ve changed things up a few times when I’ve changed fighters, or have particularly harmful posture effects.
I also had a chance to try out Scarlet/Violet’s new “Terastallize” feature, where players use Tera Jewel to make shiny, jewel-like Pokémon. Although I didn’t understand the specifics of how Terastallizing works, I did learn that Tera Jewels require recharging after each use, and this phenomenon makes Pokémon stronger for a limited time in battle. This might make the game a little easier when you use it, or it might make it more difficult if your opponents do it.
I can’t go into too much detail about Mila’s post-fight actions, but suffice it to say, she – and the star squad in general – seems to have a bit of a bow, rather than making trouble for her. The story might not be enough to entice fans of more Japanese story-driven RPGs, but it’s at least something that Pokemon fans can sink their teeth into.
Terra raids
The last Pokémon Scarlet/Violet I saw was Tera Raid. This multiplayer feature allows players to create impromptu teams to face challenging Pokémon, rewarding them with a chance to catch monsters.
In my demo, Nintendo representatives instructed each of us to capture a single wild Pokémon, and then get into a Tera Raid battle with almost no preparation. This may have been to emphasize how difficult Tera Raids can get – although it may also have been to show that the feature is relatively accessible, and not exclusive to a high-level endgame.
Me and three other players were able to jump into Tera Raid instantly from the game’s main menu, and our opponent was a powered Wingull. Normally, this Water/Flying type Pokemon wouldn’t seem like much of a threat, but the Tera Raid powered version showed no mercy. It can take out most of our Pokemon in a few hits, and it doesn’t seem to do much damage.
This is where coordinating our attacks comes in handy, as we can issue commands to each other via a simple in-game chat menu. Some of us attacked. Others have built up our defensive capabilities or tried to make effects on the condition. When our Pokemon have been kicked out, they will rebound after a few seconds – but the countdown to revival has increased each time.
In the end, we won the Tera Raid, and had a chance to catch Wingull for ourselves. Tera Raids is an interesting feature, but I imagine players won’t be able to stumble on higher levels either. However, I hope Tera Raids will remain accessible to more casual fans, rather than locking Pokémon or rare items behind a tough multiplayer challenge.
Scarlet/Violet Pokemon Predictions
After an hour with Pokémon Scarlet, I’m not convinced it will beat the series’ skeptics. I think returning players will appreciate the open-world features and gameplay improvements, however, I won’t say anything about all the new Pokemon they can catch.
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet will be released on November 18 for the Nintendo Switch, and they both cost $60. Tom’s Guide will have a full review as its launch approaches.