Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

[Laserman]

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Finally a name for the region and cool new Pokemon.

[DelRey]

i like the gem motive, it looks pretty. So the two legendaries do not feel that legendary after all.
but the flying and riding further supports my opinion that it looks like Wii Sports Resort Pokemon, just new.

[Skull]

Okay, now that the trailer is up separate from the Presents, I'll go through it and summarise my thoughts.

• The start of the trailer mentioning that the voice-over isn't in the actual game is annoying, why have it at all then? I'm already seeing people getting confused if voice acting will be present at last.
• The Legendaries being reduced to your mode of transport is still kinda wack, I'm not sure if I'll get used to it.
• Not a fan of the new gimmick. If it were just gaining a crystal sheen it would be one thing, but the giant flower/balloon/gem things sticking out of their heads just looks ridiculous. I can't imagine how dumb it'll look in the anime.
• So, the school academy thing was legit after all. They don't go into much detail about what this "treasure hunt" assignment is actually supposed to be though.
• Three storylines, one of which is the Gym Challenge which feels worryingly like an afterthought coming so late in the explanation. The non-linear nature of the Gyms being confirmed is cool, but no explanation on level scaling or anything sadly. Given the ominous presence of the truck with the sound speakers on, I'm guessing that's the evil team or something?
• We get a bunch of new characters, most of whom are staff and classmates yet aren't that interesting at first glance. Introducing the first Gym Leader via the Ice Type specialist was an interesting choice given how late-game Ice tends to be, presumably just to emphasise the non-linearity.
• New Pokémon! Brown Wooper doesn't do much for me, "Fidough" is an extremely lazy name but I don't hate the design, Cetitan looks kinda cool but I will have to see if it evolves into anything since it feels very larvae-esque.
• I sleep when it comes to Multiplayer.
• Raid Battles are back...hopefully they've fixed the AI.

Overall, I am cautiously optimistic. They're really trying a lot of new things, but it looks like there might be a lot of growing pains as a result. I wouldn't say I'm super "hyped" after the incredible news drought since most of the trailer was dedicated to introducing the Region and cast which should have already been done by now.

[Ismail2002]

With the region name. I am tempted to name my character Ritsuka and name every pokemon I caught after Fate Servants

[Comun]

Pokémon Master Sujimaru from Paldea, accompanied by their starter Pokémon Zash Xyrielight.

[Skull]

As is common, a lot of information is hidden away on the official website. The fact that it mentions there are objectively "stronger" Gym Leaders that are in harder to reach places is extremely disappointing, was it really that hard to code in a level scaling based on how many Gym Badges you have?

Also, a lot of people seem to think that the Ice Gym Leader Grusha is a girl but the website confirms that he is a guy.

[pinetree]

Why does Koraidon have wheels if he's just going to run anyway... Why did they make the PAST pokemon a bike for no reason???

The gimmick looks great, actually. Visually the type crowns are awful but changing the type of your pokemon opens up so many strategic avenues, great idea.

I like that there are still gyms that are stronger than others and I hope there's an obvious predetermined path through them. Honestly not too kin on just being able to go anywhere and tackle them at my leisure, I want more purposeful design than that.

[Deathhappens]

The newest Presents is up with a new trailer for Scarlet and Violet.

Looks like bad choices all round:

-Tripling down on new mechanics with this Tearalize thing rather than focusing on expanding the old stuff
-Transport is handled the Arceus way but using one multirole "Pokemon" (can you even still call it that) rather than many
-the single player experience is again shafted by making multiplayer content like these Raids semi-mandatory

I like some of the other stuff, like making gyms/championship only one of 3 avenues of story and how you can basically choose your own path rather than follow a fixed line , but we'll see.

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As is common, a lot of information is hidden away on the official website. The fact that it mentions there are objectively "stronger" Gym Leaders that are in harder to reach places is extremely disappointing, was it really that hard to code in a level scaling based on how many Gym Badges you have?

Also, a lot of people seem to think that the Ice Gym Leader Grusha is a girl but the website confirms that he is a guy.

Level scaling sucks, trust me, we're better off this way.
That was a guy?! Hopes and dreams Grushed.

[Comun]

That was a guy?! Hopes and dreams Grushed.

Size

[pinetree]

I'm still baffled by the design decision with Koraidon. What.

I can't get Scarlet anymore. I don't think I can handle looking at this thing ignore its literal wheels and run around for 60 hours.

[TomPen94]

Lol they plopped La Sagrada Familia in Madrid's geographical location. That oughta rustle some jimmies.

As for the trailer, I'm not blown away really. Nothing here wowed me.
- New gimmick is whatever, with the raid thing it just feels like a rehash of Dynamax, which itself was a rehash of Mega-evolution. I always advocated for dropping the flashy gimmicks that will be gone in no time and this trailer has done nothing to sway me on that.
- Using the Legendary for this generation's HM replacement feels... surprisingly normal to me. PLA made use of the flute for this so the act of traversal through the region has already been given a more mystical edge to it, so the Legendary being the one doing all these things kinda plays into that. IMO they should just have the HMs as overworld-exclusive abilities that don't take up slots in the moveset and have you assign them to one of your Pokémon, but this isn't the worst take on it.
- The Treasure Hunt thing is mildly interesting to me. Im down for there being more than the Gyms as a main motivator for progress. I think they tried this with Contests before but the problem there is I think it was a bit inaccessible or invisible. Hopefully they can make something good with this.
- I really like the map tho. With a bit of everything in places they ought to have those features. The Pyrenees are the snow section, Andalucia has a desert section, the beach areas make sense. With the open sequence approach I really am looking forward to exploring this map, it looks absolutely sick.

Also watch the big hole in the middle to be a temporal rift which is what enables transfers and pvp battles across versions.

[Reign]

Cetitan my beloved.

[Laserman]

Honestly not too kin on just being able to go anywhere and tackle them at my leisure, I want more purposeful design than that.

Yeah, I at least want a suggestion in which order to go at them.

[Reign]

I'm not a fan of the crystal visuals but Pokemon changing types is neat.

[Skull]

Why does Koraidon have wheels if he's just going to run anyway... Why did they make the PAST pokemon a bike for no reason???

I dunno, I kinda like it. It reminds me a lot of the Flintstone's car. I'm tempted to nickname my Koraidon "Fred" when I get him.

I like that there are still gyms that are stronger than others and I hope there's an obvious predetermined path through them. Honestly not too kin on just being able to go anywhere and tackle them at my leisure, I want more purposeful design than that.

I would be completely fine with a pre-determined order. But the fact that they have been banging on about the non-linearity in advertising, yet the fine print indicates that I could end up finding a LV50 Gym Leader with my LV15 starter means I'm being soft pressured into doing certain Gyms first unless I grind, it just rubs me the wrong way and feels like false advertising.

[bassgs435]

Watch some crazy challenge people (like the people who do nuzlockes or other type of challenge runs) find a way to beat that lvl 50 gym without grinding

[Deathhappens]

I dunno, I kinda like it. It reminds me a lot of the Flintstone's car. I'm tempted to nickname my Koraidon "Fred" when I get him.


I would be completely fine with a pre-determined order. But the fact that they have been banging on about the non-linearity in advertising, yet the fine print indicates that I could end up finding a LV50 Gym Leader with my LV15 starter means I'm being soft pressured into doing certain Gyms first unless I grind, it just rubs me the wrong way and feels like false advertising.

While the comparison doesn't really have merit and I'm sure people have gotten tired to death of it, the freedom of going up against an impossible boss right from the get go is very Dark Souls-y. Or perhaps Elden Ring-y. I like it. Besides, Pokemon is meant to be at least in part about exploration, waltzing around the map only to randomly walk into a level 60 Alpha Alakazam was one of the best parts of Arceus. Granted, assuming these games stick to the usual interpretation of Pokemon stats the chances of succeeding with weaker Pokemon are dramatically lower, but the lure of just barely succeeding "out of order" is certainly there.

[pinetree]

I dunno, I kinda like it. It reminds me a lot of the Flintstone's car. I'm tempted to nickname my Koraidon "Fred" when I get him.

It's modern wheels though. My boy got two TIRES. What

I would be completely fine with a pre-determined order. But the fact that they have been banging on about the non-linearity in advertising, yet the fine print indicates that I could end up finding a LV50 Gym Leader with my LV15 starter means I'm being soft pressured into doing certain Gyms first unless I grind, it just rubs me the wrong way and feels like false advertising.

At least from the trailer it seems the freedom actually comes from juggling the three storylines at your own pace, though the lack of scaling does make me wonder how they're going to balance THAT.

[GDB]

I like the concept of the crystallization thing.

Guess I'll get Violet, because I absolutely just cannot with the 4-legged running motorcycle.

[Mattias]

I liked the "open world RPG, a first for Pokemon" line. Way to throw Arceus under the bus. Then back over it a few times just to be sure.

I also kind of love the stupid that comes from having a motorcycle pokemon who just runs. Combine that with Professor Ayla and I know which I'll get, if I pick up this gen.