Pokémon Scarlet and Violet have become a massive financial success for Nintendo, but it can also teach it how to improve the next game. Scarlet and Violet sold ten million copies on the opening weekend, becoming the fastest-selling Pokémon Switch, and Nintendo game. This was achieved despite the myriad of technical issues that the game launched with, showcasing the popularity the franchise still holds; however, this popularity could always diminish if the glaring problems of recent years are not appropriately addressed.
Scarlet and Violet brought fans to Generation 9's Paldea and introduced them to the most new Pokémon since Generation 5. Much of the gameplay and story have been well received, like the addition of the Let's Go feature and three different story paths to follow, as well as being the first in the franchise to let players choose how to progress through the game. Scarlet and Violet furthered the fast travel system and wild area from Sword and Shield and said map has Pokémon roaming around freely, thus eliminating tall grass completely; however, just because this game did take steps in the right direction doesn't mean the next one can't take more.
Cinematics In Pokémon Games Need Voice Acting
The lack of voice acting in Scarlet and Violet has been a highly debated topic, sparked by YouTuber Dr. Bonehead. According to the game's director Shigeru Ohmori, Scarlet and Violet lacked voice acting, so players could create their own voices for the characters. The YouTuber though, shows comparisons of cinematics from the game with and without voice acting, and the results seem to indicate that voice acting in Pokémon is better and brings more life into the character.
In the old games where cinematics were not included, that proved to be a good idea, but now where very lifelike and active cinematics are shown off, as well as promotional videos using voice acting, it would be the perfect time to change that. Scarlet and Violet is home to many enjoyable characters who add a lot of personality, and giving voice to them would only further the players' experience.
The Next Pokémon Game Should Have Level Scaling
Scarlet and Violet allow the player to do the gyms, Titans, and Team Star bosses in whichever order they want, but a set path is almost soft-locked for players. Pokémon can still only go to a certain level before they stop listening to their trainer, and many areas have set levels that will be hard for trainers to overcome. True freedom to do whatever a player wants without a Scarlet and Violet best gym leader order would be to enable level scaling across the board or at least for objectives like gyms.
This way, players could do the gyms and other objectives in any order they wanted, raising the level cap in the process. The sole caveat to this would be some system that requires a trainer to raise their level by a certain minimum before the next objective would have to be needed so low-level Pokémon can't just do all the objectives. If this kind of feature was also implemented into level scaling, then players would actually be able to complete the game in any order they desire.
Pokémon Games Need Longer Post-Games
Post-game activities have been getting shorter and shorter in recent Pokémon games. Scarlet and Violet's was longer and more interesting than Sword and Shield's, but still felt lacking upon completion. DLCs for Scarlet and Violet are likely on the way, but that does not excuse the absence of tasks to be completed after the main story. Heartgold and Soulsilver allowed players to travel and complete the entire Kanto region for its post-game, and future games could offer more story-based events locked from the main game.
Pokémon Needs Better Environment Graphics
To some extent, Pokémon is given a bit of slack regarding graphics as the Switch does somewhat limit it, but other games have managed to create spectacular environments within the Switch's limitations. Scarlet and Violet added good looking new abilities, Pokémon, NPCs, and cities, but the environments look bland and rushed. The colors alone almost all look low quality, and specifically mountain sides appear goofy rather than intimidating. Biomes seemed to have the minimum amount of trees, grass, and other environmental attributes that would've really helped bring them to life.
The solution to this problem is relatively simple; more effort needs to be put into the world the Pokémon live in. The Pokémon themselves and the gameplay that comes along with them are the priority, but the world around them needs to match up. If other Nintendo-exclusive games like Breath Of The Wild and Sunbelt Chronicles 3 can give players natural environments on the Switch, Pokémon can do the same.
Scarlet and Violet made many positive strides for the franchise, and outside of performance issues on launch has proven to be a huge success, which is significant given how many new aspects the game brought to the franchise. The following Pokémon game, which Scarlet and Violet may have revealed, will bring Generation 10 to fans and whatever Nintendo and Game Freak decide to do, it will be crucial that the next game not only builds upon Pokémon Scarlet and Violet but learns from its mistakes.
Source: Dr. Bonehead/YouTube
