Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, brand new Gen-9 entries in the ongoing Pokemon series, are coming soon. The latest entry in the Pokemon franchise promises an open world first in the main franchise, with three unique quests to pursue as you explore the Paldea region. The game’s new structure promises some big changes to the entire franchise, along with the usual new additions you’d expect from a Pokemon game, like a bunch of new monsters to collect.
Ahead of the launch of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, we’ve received a ton of new information and insight into how this new open-world Pokemon approach works. In preparation for the release, here’s everything we know.
Release date
As part of a new gameplay trailer shared in June, it was revealed that Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will release on November 18, 2022, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch. Pre-orders for Scarlet and Violet currently streaming live. Nintendo is also producing a Nintendo Switch special edition There are two game icons, Koraidon and Miraidon, on the dock, along with school symbols on the Joy-Con controller. For more details, see Instructions for pre-ordering Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.
New area
Every new mainline Pokemon game has a new area, and often these are loosely based on real-world locations. For example, the first Pokemon game took place in the Kanto region, modeled after Nintendo and the Pokemon Company’s hometown of Japan. Other regions have been inspired by France (Kalos), Hawaii (Alola) and most recently the UK (Galar).
The new area in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet is Paldea, based on Spain and surrounding areas. That cultural influence shows up in some of the Pokemon names, as well as elements of the new cooking mechanics. Based on released artwork, the full map looks a lot like the shape of Spain.
New and Return Pokemon and Beginners
In the first trailer, we only see three Pokemon: starter Pokemon that players will choose at the start of their adventure. As usual, they fall under the core elemental categories: Grass, Fire, and Water. This has been the case since the first Pokemon game, so it’s no surprise to see Game Freak stick to tradition.
The three starting out are Sprigatito, the Grass cat; Fuecoco, the Fire croc; and Quaxly, the Water Duck. We’ve only seen their starter forms, so we don’t know how they’ll develop. Sometimes, as Pokemon evolve, they acquire new types based on their original elemental attributes.
Subsequent trailers showed off even more Pokemon, including returning favorites like Pikachu and Psyduck, and even a Hisuian variant of Zoroark first introduced in Pokemon Legends: Arceus. We’ve also seen lots of new additions like the Klawf cliff crab, Mega Man looking two-legged Amarouge, and the adorable Fidough.
At this point, there are too many Pokemon to list here, so for more information be sure to check it out Every confirmed Pokemon for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet so far exhibition room.
Three missions
Traditionally, Pokemon games have told a rather linear single story campaign. With the new open-world approach in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, that structure has also changed. Instead of a linear story, you can pursue one of three main quests: Victory Road, Path of Legends, and Starfall Street.
Victory Road is the most recognizable and classic quest in Pokemon, as you scramble to become the best (like no one has ever been) by conquering regional gym leaders and perhaps is the Elite Four. However, this time you can choose the order in which to challenge the tops of the gym, which means this time the balance difficulty can be very different. In one gym challenge we saw, you didn’t even fight a bunch of NPCs in the gym – instead, you played a short game of hide and seek with some Pokemon and then which challenges the head of the gym to a one-on-one match- 1. This could mean gyms based on themed activities rather than matches.
The Path of Legends revolves around the study of giant Pokemon. There are a large number of Pokemon roaming around and you’ll need to follow the clues to track them down and defeat them in battle for research purposes. This might be the path we least know, because even in our actual preview we were limited to seeing the end of the battle against a giant Klawf.
Finally, Starfall Street is a new way to challenge the new villain, Team Star. These encounters are no longer woven in and out of the story. Instead, Team Star has set up their own outposts and you’ll need to enter a special area to challenge them. During our time with the game, Team Star’s only challenge was to take out a certain number of enemy Pokemon within a certain time limit, which then led to a fight with the leader of the Team Star outpost. there.
It remains to be seen how these three paths will fit together throughout the entire experience.
New features
A major new feature promised by the brochure so far is that this will take place in an open world environment. According to the official website:
“Various towns blend seamlessly into the borderless wilderness. You’ll be able to see the region’s Pokémon in the sky, in the sea, in the woods, on the streets – everywhere! You’ll be able to Experience the true joy of the Pokémon series – battling wild Pokémon to catch them – now available in an open-world game that players of all ages can enjoy.”
Note that, Game Freak has also promised that you can explore the world with up to four players. This would make for a true open-world multiplayer game, as opposed to Sword and Shield, which only features multiplayer raids on the basis of traditional combat and trading features.
Exhibition room
Finally, the second trailer debuted two different professors, Professor Sada and Turo. Those two characters will be exclusive to Scarlet and Violet, marking the first time professor characters in a Pokemon game have been version-exclusive. It could also mean that we’ll see the story deviate between the two versions. There are some indications in the visual design of both legendaries and professors that the two versions represent one conflict between nature and technology. As usual, you’ll also encounter a friendly opponent, this time a girl named Nemona.
The game also features a cooking minigame that, similar to Arceus, allows you to purchase finished dishes or cook for yourself. Then you can eat food in town or out in the field by organizing a picnic. These foods will give you passive effects, such as increasing your chances of finding a specific type of Pokemon. As you explore the game and compile recipes, you’ll find a number of foods that can help you catch the specific Pokemon you’re hunting.
Scarlet and Violet also introduce a new power-up Pokemon, known as Terastal forms. These give your Pokemon a crystalline appearance and enhance your moves, making them more powerful. Better yet, you can find rare Terastal Pokemon that can equip types beyond their standard assortment. This will help you cut down on opponents who don’t expect a knockout based on your own Pokemon and will shake up the competitive meta-game. It seems that these special Terastal Pokemon will mostly be obtainable through special events and raid battles, but any species of Pokemon has the ability to become a Terastal form.
How does the open world work?
To describe how the open world works in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, let’s take a moment to recap the differences between the open structure of Pokemon Sword/Shield and Pokemon Legends: Arceus.
In Pokemon Sword and Shield, there are open areas, most notably the new “Wild Areas” where Pokemon can roam freely. But there are still tough payloads between certain areas, and battles are their separate battle screens that are loaded separately from exploration.
In Pokemon Legends: Arceus, there are several open world regions that will load individually when you choose to explore an area. But in those areas there is a lot of flexibility. You can throw Poke Balls directly at Pokemon to catch them without having to do a battle, and once you’re in a fight, you can still move around freely.
So which version Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are most similar to? Our hands-on preview shed some light on the subject, and the answer is that it takes cues from both games but is more recognizable than taking parts of Arceus.
In the open world of Scarlet and Violet, you can see wild Pokemon roaming like in Arceus and the wild areas of Sword and Shield. You can’t simply catch a Pokemon by throwing a ball in the open world, but you can start a battle that way for a bonus. In a more stark-than-usual twist, you can even skip battles altogether by letting your own Pokemon roam the landscape with you, taking care of your enemies’ Pokmeons with care. passive and accumulate a reduced amount of experience. In fact, in the Team Star battle zone mentioned above, we were able to have our Pokemon complete the time element of the challenge passively.
The new Legendary Pokemon appears to act as a mount to navigate the open world, allowing you to glide, climb walls, and run faster. Also as a result of this open world approach, NPCs will no longer stop you from starting the battle. Instead, you’ll get a visual indicator that they’re interested in a battle with the trainer, and you can go to them and accept the challenge if you want. Since the entire world is now basically made up of Wild Areas, towns are safe havens for wilder Pokemon.
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