In Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, there are three storylines for players to choose from. However, if players want to make any significant headway, focusing on one storyline at a time isn’t an option. If players want to catch and battle with higher-level Pokemon, challenging Gyms is a must. Likewise, if players want to fully explore Paldea, they need to complete Arven’s quest to unlock more of their Legendary Pokemon’s traversal methods. In the end, none of the storylines are really optional – they must be completed concurrently instead of consecutively if players wish to make significant progress.
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The Open-World Freedom of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet
Scarlet and Violet innovate the series in various ways. The new region players explore is Paldea, which is inspired by the Iberian Peninsula. Unlike past games where there are set routes to travel through and a predetermined order to beat all the Gym Leaders, Scarlet and Violet promise more freedom than ever. Players can roam freely, ignoring routes altogether. Furthermore, players can battle Gym Leaders in any order.
The increased freedom does not stop there. Players are also given three separate storylines that they can complete at their leisure. The first storyline is Victory Road, which follows the typical journey of defeating all Gym Leaders and becoming a Pokemon Champion. The second storyline is Starfall Street, and it is concerned with Team Star, which is the main villainous gang for this generation. Lastly, there is the Path of Legends, which has players teaming up with Arven to take on the mighty Titan Pokemon and collect the mysterious Herba Mystica.
Scarlet and Violet’s marketing material highlighted a sense of freedom, as players can tackle the storylines in any order that they choose. Furthermore, once the introduction is done, Paldea is free for players to explore in any direction they choose. However, in practical terms, the amount of freedom players have is somewhat limited, and it forces players to tackle the game in much the same way as they would older titles in the series.
The Limitations of Scarlet and Violet’s Free Exploration
One of the issues that arise is that different areas of the map have Pokemon of various levels. Paying attention to the levels of the wild Pokemon players encounter gives them a good idea of whether they are underpowered or overpowered for the current area they are in. Regardless of what a player has achieved prior, these high-level Pokemon are free to be caught. However, just because a player has them, it doesn’t mean that the creatures will listen to their battle orders. As is the case with older titles, higher-level Pokemon will occasionally ignore the commands of a Trainer that does not have the appropriate number of gym badges. Hence, although it is not explicitly highlighted, there is an ideal route in Scarlet and Violet that allows players to complete the appropriate tasks at the best pace.
As a result, players don’t have as much freedom as initially expected. If players want to tackle the Path of Legends storyline in its entirety first, it is going to be hard to do with no Gym Badges and a team of Pokemon that ignore orders. Consequently, completing Gym battles is a must. Beating Gym Leaders is also necessary to unlock more items at the Poke Mart, including all Poke Balls in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, which make catching higher-level critters easier.
On the other hand, players that may have wanted to focus on the Victory Road storyline exclusively will find that it is difficult to do without doing quests from the other storylines as well. This is because the Path of Legends unlocks upgrades for Miraidon and Koraidon. Some of these abilities, including the ability to ride on water, make huge swaths of the map accessible, giving players access to more Pokemon.
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Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Act as a Springboard for More Freedom in Future Games
There can’t be too much criticism thrown in Game Freak’s way for these limitations, however. It is quite difficult to design a balanced open-world that provides freedom without revealing all its secrets at once. There aren’t many games that get it right, and compared to past Pokemon titles, Scarlet and Violet manage to do a fairly good job. Nevertheless, making it difficult to focus on one storyline without worrying about the rest is a limiting move because it prevents players from carving out their identity within the Pokemon world, which is evident due to Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s issues with customization.
For most of the franchise, the central aim of the protagonist has always been pretty one-note – be the greatest Pokemon Trainer. With diverging storylines, players are given the choice to decide to be something else, whether it’s someone who stands up to bullies in the Naranja or Uva Pokemon academy or someone who just enjoys exploring a region and catching the rarest Pokemon.
There needs to be a balance struck where different storylines are truly separated, and a single one can be completed without forcing players to complete quests from the others. This has to be balanced with the fact that each of the storylines needs to provide unique benefits and rewards. It is a difficult balancing act to pull off, but it can be done if Game Freak learns from all the advancements made in Scarlet and Violet.
Despite all the welcome changes Scarlet and Violet bring to the series, they are currently one of the lowest-rated Pokemon mainline entries on Metacritic. This is in part due to performance issues that are plaguing the games. While Gen 9 lays a good foundation for the franchise’s future, there are still several improvements that can be made, including how the games weave their stories into their open-world setting. Ultimately, this new formula will probably take a while to perfect, and fans shouldn’t expect easy fixes starting with Gen 9’s DLC.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are available now on Nintendo Switch.
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