10 things you Need to Know about Pokemon on Scarlet and Violet

[Falcon] Pokemon is a large looming presence over all of gaming, and three words, new mainline Pokemon, and this time around there’s a lot of new stuff.

Hi folks, it’s Falcon and today on Gameranx,10 things you Need to Know about Pokemon on Scarlet and Violet.

We’re not gonna mess around,we’re just gonna get right into it.

Starting off at number 10,

this is the first actual open world title

of the franchise, period.

Now we can say, like,

this is the first mainline
Pokemon game to be open world,

because Arceus is kind
of, but here, hold on.

So, everything connects
together seamlessly.

There’s no borders for towns,

the world is open, free
entirely for you to explore,

battles take place on the
open world map, et cetera.

Arceus had these very
large zones to explore,

but they actually were all separate maps.

Now it functioned very much

like an open world game, and
also Pokemon Sword and Shield

had a large wild area, but again,

there were more traditional
routes and towns,

and it was all enclosed
like a regular Pokemon game.

In this one, that’s not the case.

Everything is just out
there in the open world.

It’s one big interconnected map, or maps.

I don’t know if it’s 100% seamless,

but from everything that we’ve seen,

it sure looks like it is,

and it’s incredibly
ambitious for a Pokemon game,

and we’re excited to see

just exactly to what
extent this world is open.

The game takes place in a new
region, the Paldea Region,

which is based on the Iberian Peninsula.

It’s kind of the Pokemon version of Spain,

which is gonna make for an
interesting change of pace.

The trailers have shown some
pretty picturesque locations,

and I have a feeling this is

gonna be a great place to explore,

and you’re gonna be able to
explore it like never before.

Moving on to number nine,

you’ve gotta talk starters

if you’re gonna talk a Pokemon game.

There are also some other
notable Pokemon as well,

but it’s another Pokemon game,
so that means new starters.

This year we’re getting

a grass-type cat Pokemon named Sprigatito,

there is a fire-type crocodile
Pokemon named Fuecoco,

and a water type Duck Pokemon named…

I mean, the other two have, like,

vaguely Spanish sounding names,
and this one’s named Quaxly,

but, I mean, look at the
pompadour on this duck.

He has got style for days.

I like all the starters actually,

but I think Quaxly is
getting the top spot from us

just for the hair helmet.

As usual, there’s gonna
be new regional variations

on some classic Pokemon,
like the Paldean Wooper,

which looks a little more poisonous

than its standard version.

Like previous games,

there’s also some version
exclusive Pokemon,

like this fire warrior
Pokemon called Armarouge

who’s exclusive to Pokemon Scarlet,

and Ceruledge, a blue fire Pokemon

that is exclusive to Violet.

One guy that’s new that has
people really curious is

this humble creature called Wiglett.

It’s Diglett, but more worm like,

and interestingly enough,
it’s not a regional Pokemon,

it’s just a new one.

One last standout, at least to me,

is the ghost-dog Pokemon, Greavard.

I don’t know exactly how to say it yet.

Apparently if you hang out
with this guy too long,

you slowly lose life force,
which sucks obviously,

but it’s probably just another one

of the Pokemon company’s
weird descriptions.

I find it hard to believe

that they would actually siphon health

off of you if you have him.

Of course, there’s also the legendaries,

but we’ll get into those later,

because there’s a lot
to talk about there too.

And number eight, there’s
three story paths.

Scarlet and Violet embraces the open world

in some pretty radical ways.

Instead of having a simple linear story

like pretty much every other Pokemon game

up until this point,

this game has three different
story paths you can take.

You can do them in
whatever order you want,

there’s nothing stopping
you from walking away

from one to do another, and this is

an exciting level of freedom
for the Pokemon series.

We’re pretty interested to see

how this is all gonna work out.

The three paths are Victory Road,

Path of Legends, and Starfall Street.

Victory Road, what you would expect.

You face off against the
region’s eight gym leaders,

and become the new Pokemon champion.

What makes it different is

that you can tackle the gyms
in whatever order you want.

There’s no set path to completion,

and they’re all available,

and you decide which
ones to take on first.

Along with the regular gym battles,

there are also gym tests
you have to complete

before you’re allowed to enter the gym.

They kind of seem like
mini games or side quests,

similar to the stuff that you
had in Pokemon Sun and Moon.

The Path of Legends is actually

about taking on gigantic Titan Pokemon

in a quest to find the
legendary Herba Mystica,

a special healing herb.

Instead of being city focused,

it’s more about exploring
the wilds, and sounds similar

to the types of things
you were doing in Arceus.

The final path is Starfall Street,

and in this one, you’re taking on

the Team Rocket of this
game, Team Starfall.

These guys are split into various groups,

have their own leaders,

and it’s up to you to take ’em down.

Right now we don’t know exactly

how much story content each of

these different paths is gonna have,

but there’s two non-gym stories,

and they could be glorified side quests,

or they could be full on campaigns.

We don’t know, and we are
very excited to find out,

and number seven is
four-player multiplayer.

This is huge.

Obviously, Pokemon has
dabbled in multiplayer before,

but with Scarlet and Violet
you’re gonna explore the world

with three other players if you want to,

like, there’s the regular
trading, and battle features

that have been with the
series since the beginning,

but you can literally explore the world,

and do pretty much
everything there is to do

in the game in four-player multiplayer.

It’s another feature that
sounds really ambitious,

so we’re really interested to
see how this gets implemented.

We don’t know a lot about it yet,

and I have a feeling like
it’s not gonna make full sense

until the game’s released.

And number six is gonna
be rideable legendaries.

Okay, so like normal for Pokemon,

there are two legendary Pokemon,

with each one being exclusive
to each version of the game.

There’s Koraidon, a wild
looking lizard Pokemon,

exclusive to Scarlet, and Miraidon,

a futuristic purple
creature, exclusive Violet.

That’s standard, but you
can actually ride them,

similar to Pokemon mounts in Arceus.

Both of these can go pretty much anywhere.

They have, like, a standard bike form,

but they can also travel

over water, and even glide through air.

Like, the level of freedom
they offer as mounts is,

it seems to be basically the best way

to get around, in terms
of what’s in your way,

so, hopefully, unlocking them
isn’t too much of a pain.

It’s possible they’re unlocked

at the end of the Path of Legends story,

which would be great for
completing the other two.

And number five, the
new Terastal phenomenon.

Whether it’s Z-Moves, mega
evolutions, or Dynamax forms,

Pokemon games love their unique mechanics,

and Scarlet and Violet’s no different.

This time, it’s about the crystals,

and the new Terastal phenomenon mechanic.

This boosts the stats, and
changes the types to a Tera Type,

which also gives them a
snappy new piece of head wear.

Apparently, if your does a move

that matches their Tera
Type, you do extra damage,

so there is a bit of strategy
involved with this too.

Like a lot of these kinds of mechanics,

you can only use it once per battle,

and it ends when the fight ends.

To transform, you’ll need
to fill a special meter

that can be recharged at a Pokemon Center,

or from collecting gems
out in the open world.

Raid battles are backed from
Pokemon Sword and Shield,

but with a slight twist.

They’re called Tera Raid Battles,

which you can team up
with three other trainers

to take on a big, Terastallized Pokemon.

Like with previous raids,
you can play with NPCs,

or with other players online,

and like the previous raid
modes, there is a time limit.

One big change is

that you don’t have to wait your turn

to choose the next move.

The battles are still turn based,

but you can pre-select your next move.

So, hopefully there’s
a little less downtime

during the raids this time around.

It seems interesting.

And number four, they’re small,

but some pretty significant
quality of life features.

Scarlet and Violet sounds like

it’s a pretty generational
leap forward for the series.

The game wants to modernize
the classic formula a bit,

and you can see how
they’re trying to do that

with some small, but
important gameplay changes.

For instance, there’s a
new auto battle command.

If you’re just running around,

you can command your
fight Pokemon, “Let’s go,”

which sends ’em out to attack

whatever wild Pokemon is close by.

They’ll complete the
fight all on their own.

So, the entire fight’s done
without your involvement.

Basically, a super streamlined
auto battle technique.

You can use this command to send Pokemon

out to collect items as well.

I don’t know if there’s a
downside to this, or what.

Like, does it leave you short one Pokemon

if you run into a fight
after sending them out?

We’ll just have to wait and see on that.

Another even smaller thing

that should be a big deal
to Pokemon fans out there is

how trainer battles work.

Now instead of running up to you

when they have line of
sight, trainer battles

are only triggered when you
go up, and talk to them.

So, yeah, no trainer
ambushes, you heard right.

You’re just free to engage
with trainer battles whenever.

That’s a promising change,

but hopefully it doesn’t
make the game feel too easy,

although I just would prefer that.

Like, it’s so much better

to be able to choose when you do that.

And number three, classic TMs are back.

While the game is innovating
in a few key areas,

when it comes to TMs,

it looks like it’s going full old school.

These items which are
used to train Pokemon

with new moves are back, but
they’re back as one use items.

Now this presents a
couple of possibilities.

Hopefully, the TMs end
up feeling like rewards,

rather than things you have
to grind resources to get,

but I actually think this is a good idea

if it is the former.

So, to make up for the
limited use aspect of it,

Pokemon Centers now come
with Technical Machines,

which you can use to craft your own TMs,

using league points and materials.

Now, hopefully, crafting
isn’t a lot of a chore.

It’s a little iffy there,

because we don’t know
the implementation yet,

but otherwise, I like this change.

Making TMs one use makes each
one feel like a bigger deal.

So, they feel a little
more rewarding to use,

but again, hopefully they
end up feeling like rewards,

and you’re not spending a
mindless amount of time on them.

And number two is version differences.

There’s the usual, two legendaries,

and different Pokemon
depending on the version,

whether you chose to play
Pokemon Scarlet or Violet,

but that’s not where the version
differences end this time.

I’ve already mentioned some
of the different Pokemon,

and the different
legendaries you’ll encounter,

depending on which version of the game,

but there’s some other
major changes as well.

For the first time in the series,

depending on which version
of the game you pick,

you actually get a
different Pokemon Professor.

Pokemon Scarlet gets you Professor Sada,

while Violet has Professor Turo.

Each one embodies the style of the game.

Sada wears a throwback,
almost caveman costume,

while Turo wears a futuristic outfit.

The theme of the game
is past versus future,

with Scarlet containing the past stuff,

and Violet containing the future stuff.

Depending on which version
of the game you have,

it affects the school that you belong to.

If you choose Pokemon Scarlet,

the character attends Naranja Academy,

“naranja” meaning orange in Spanish,

and, of course, having an orange symbol,

wherever if you pick Violet,

you go to Uva Academy, which is purple.

Your starting uniform matches
with the school you attend,

and your enemies, and Team Star

also change their uniform depending on

the version of the game as well.

And, finally, at number one,

the release date, and everything
else you need to know.

So, Nintendo Switch, as
you probably know already,

as an exclusive on November 18th.

There are some purchase bonuses too.

There’s an adventure
set, which is basically

just a bunch of items,
not terribly interesting,

but if you buy the game
before February 23rd, 2023,

you get a special Pikachu that
somehow knows the move Fly,

which it’s never been
able to learn before.

You’ll be able to access that

through the mystery gift feature,

which is nice for early
adopters of the game.

There’s also a double pack

that contains both versions of the game

for a whopping 0% discount.

That’s $119.99 in US dollars.

I know this has been the standard forever,

but, like, would a 10% discount

to buy both games at
once really kill them?

I don’t think so.

Anyways, we’re really looking forward

to sitting down with this game.

What do you think?

Leave us a comment.

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I’m Falcon.

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