The upcoming Pokémon Scarlet and Violet RPGs will debut many ambitious features that could make or break Generation 9 for many players. In June, Nintendo released a Pokémon Scarlet and Violet gameplay trailer that announced that Gen 9 would be the series' first open-world games with seamless borders. From the new Terastal battle gimmick to the version-exclusive Pokémon Professors, the Paldea Region's extreme design changes from previous generations could end up making Pokémon Scarlet and Violet the series' most important title in years.For the first time in franchise history Pokémon Scarlet and Violet will feature three separate story campaigns that can be completed in any order. Compared to past Pokémon titles, Gen 9 is really leaning on giving players freedom of choice to shape their own adventure. Just like previous iterations, Paldea will largely center around the traditional Pokémon League storyline, where players will face off against Pokémon Scarlet and Violet's Gym Leaders. But players will also have a second storyline facing off against giant Titan Pokémon, and a campaign to take down the region's antagonists Team Star.Pokémon Scarlet and Violet will make major changes to the series gameplay as well, with the new Terastal Battle mechanic allowing trainers to change their Pokémon's elemental type. Although every generation has introduced a battle gimmick, this is the first time that Game Freak has given players the potential to mix and match the battle types of their Pokémon. Further moving away from Hidden Moves, Paldea Legendary Pokémon Koraidon and Miraidon will now act as vehicle mounts that will allow trainers to swim, climb and even fly. While most of the new generation's sweeping changes seem exciting, they also have the potential to misfire and hamper the new region. Below is a list of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet changes that will make or break Gen 9.
Pokémon Scarlet & Violet's Open World Map
For years, players have been begging Game Freak to release an open-world Pokémon game. Since the debut of the Pokémon Red and Blue RPGs in 1998, every generation has stuck to a linear map design. While fans got a glimpse of what an open-world Pokémon RPG would look like with Gen 8's Pokémon Sword and Shield Wild Area and 2022's Pokémon Legends: Arceus, both games limited their maps by breaking them into sections. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet will not only ditch loading areas or borders, players will actually be able to explore the entire map from the very beginning of the game with no restrictions.
Gen 9's seamless experience could be brought to a halt however due to character scaling. According to several prominent leakers, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet will not scale stats in the game. Since the game can be completed in any order, this means some players could end up in a scenario where their final Gym will be level 10, despite their entire Pokémon team being level 70 or higher. Conversely, new players may find themselves in a situation where they end up stuck at a Gym or section of the map where the Pokémon are much higher level and unbeatable. If the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet leaks are true, then trainers may be forced to stick to certain sections of Paldea anyway, which undermines the promise of Gen 9 being a seamless open-world adventure game.
Another hurdle the new open-world design faces is how the map itself is laid out. In August, a major leak allegedly revealed the Gym Leader locations in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. Based on the leaked information, trainers are reportedly going to have to zigzag back and forth across the map due to how the area levels are set up. For example, a player may have to travel across the entire map after defeating a Level 10 Gym due to the next Gym Leader in the area being level 50. New players who want to complete the Pokémon League in the correct order, could end up having to to do a lot of backtracking in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet's Paldea Region. Pokémon outlet Centro Leaks created a map to demonstrate the potentially confusing layout.
Pokémon Scarlet & Violet's Terastal Battle Mechanic
In the June Pokémon Presents update, Game Freak revealed that Gen 9's battle gimmick is called the Terastal Phenomenon. Players will be able to transform their Pokémon into a new gem-like forme, which boosts their attacks and the effectiveness of their battle type. Where the new mechanic gets interesting is that every Pokémon in the game can be caught with a different Terastal type, which means fans can change their element-type when terastallizing them in battle. For instance, a Charmander can become a Water-type which makes it resistant to water-based attacks.
The new feature could be a game changer, as trainers will now have many typing combinations they can pull off to get an upper hand in battle. However, the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Terastal battle mechanic may end up being extremely limiting. While not shown in the June trailer, The Pokémon Company revealed on its website that players will only be able to Terastal a single Pokémon in battle. After using the feature, trainers will actually lose the ability to do it again until they recharge their Tera Orb with more Terastal energy. In order to charge up the mechanic, trainers can either visit a Pokémon Center, or they can touch Tera Crystals which are scattered across the Paldea region.
Because the Terastal mechanic has to be recharged every single time it's used, the Gen 9 battle gimmick may end up being tossed to the side by fans who find it too tedious to deal with. This is a major departure from previous games such as Pokémon Scarlet and Violet's Dynamaxing mechanic, which was automatically available during Gym Leader battles. Depending on how much time it takes to get Terastal energy some players may end up skipping it altogether and only using it during boss battles. Still, the Terastal Phenomenon has a lot of potential, especially with the newly announced Terastal raid den boss battles which are shaping up to be epic.
Pokémon Scarlet & Violet's Let's Go Automatic Battle System
Another major feature coming to Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is the new Let's Go mechanic which allows players to have automatic battles. In the Gen 9 RPGs, trainers can throw a Pokémon into the wild and have it go off to battle other Pokémon without the player even being present. The nifty feature seems to be partially aimed at younger players, as well as an accessible way for fans to earn XP and collect items that are on the map.
However, the Let's Go feature is also tied to Pokémon Scarlet and Violet villains Team Star. In the game's third story campaign "Star Street", players will face off against the Paldea region antagonists by infiltrating their base hideouts. After entering the enemy's territory, players will then be thrust into a hoard mode where they will have to take on and defeat a wave of Pokémon within a certain time limit. According to The Pokémon Company, the new automatic battle system is meant to be used to help trainers with the new Pokémon mob battles.
The feature has the potential to make the major storyline feel easy or dumbed down depending on how it's implemented. In a larger sense, the Let's Go mechanic might also make gaining XP a little too easy. Not every player has been a fan of the EXP Share function which has been made automatic for a few years now. The automatic battles feature could end up making the Gen 9 games too accessible, depending on how much it's integrated into the game. On the flip side, if players are able to choose when to use it, the new battle style could actually become one of the franchise's best features in years.
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