@PokemonNewsUK has tweeted that Pokémon Scarlet and Violet will be an open world adventure. They had this to say about it:
“In Pokémon #ScarletViolet, the first open-world RPGs in the series, you’ll experience a world you’re free to explore at your leisure—not in an order dictated by the story.“
The games website goes a little deeper and states :
“Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet offer an open-world experience that only the Pokémon series can deliver—one welcoming even to newcomers to the series. You can experience a new style of adventure, with a world that you’re free to explore at your leisure and not in an order dictated by the story. You will, of course, journey to hone your skills as a Pokémon Trainer, but many more discoveries and stories await you. Meet a variety of people and Pokémon, and adventure in the world of Pokémon the way you want to.“
With the huge success of Breath of the Wild, it’s not hard to see why games are trying to capture a little bit of this stardust and are moving in this direction. However, Pokémon has always been a very linear game. You get your starter, you level up in level appropriate areas, you go to Gyms in a certain order where the difficulty is gradually increased and then you become the Champion. This leaves me to wonder how they are going to incorporate all of these elements so that it still feels like a Pokémon game.
The first thing I wonder is how they are going to tackle increasing levels of spawned Pokémon. In previous games you’d know that each area had a different level of Pokémon which would spawn. The levels would move linear to the storyline. Will weaker Pokémon still spawn in certain areas or will the Pokémon spawn with a level that matches yours no matter where you go?
Secondly, how will Gyms work? Will there still be the traditional Gyms? Will they each still have a set difficulty or will it be determined by your level and the order in which you approach them? At the moment it’s difficult to say how Pokémon might handle the new open world style and the difficulty progression within the game.
It would appear the game has taken some elements from the successful release of Pokémon Arceus. In the trailer you can see all the spawned Pokémon clearly in the open world and at one point note the trainer sneaking up behind an unsuspecting Pokémon, a technique used widely in Legends of Arceus to gain an advantage, allowing you to get off a quick move before your opponent. You can also see clips of the Pokémon battles which appear to follow previous games patterns.
This leads me to wonder if they will bring over anything else from Arceus. Will there be strong and agile style moves that you can use? Will the Pokédex take a leaf from Arceus’ book and be more than just a simple “I’ve seen this Pokémon, I’ve caught this Pokémon”? With the new open style game will we see the return of side quests? Something that I found enjoyable in Arceus as it seemed to breathe life into the world and add character depth to NPCs. It would be great to see side quests in Scarlet and Violet. What will be this region’s gimmick? We have had Mega Evolutions, Z-moves and Dynamaxing, so what’s next?
One exciting thing about the new game is the multiplayer exploration option. It would seem that you can explore the world as a team of four with your friends. I can’t wait to see how that is going to play out.
Lastly there has been speculation and theories floating around various parts of the internet that the new Legendaries will have a rideable form. Think along the lines of Transformers. The new Legendaries do have a motorcycle look about them, which has led many theorists to believe that these Pokémon will have a different rideable form. Whether that is the case or not is yet to be seen.
What do you guys think about the reveals so far for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. Is there anything you do or don’t want to see in the new game? How do you think the open world will be tackled? Let me know down in the comments!