However, amidst speculation that level-scaling won’t be implemented into the game, three storylines to follow, and a ridable Pokemon giving the player the ability to freely roam, an open world with no suggested direction could be detrimental for some. Players, particularly those new to the game, could easily find themselves in an area they aren’t prepared for, under-leveled and ill-equipped, and ultimately discouraged from playing any further. This is where Pokemon, including Pokemon Scarlet and Violet needs to embrace the Metroidvania model of game design if its new open world is to succeed.
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Pokemon’s Journey to the Open World
While Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are taking a stride forward into open-world game design, it hasn’t come without Game Freak first making some tentative steps. Its initial efforts began to Pokemon Sword and Shield and were later refined with its DLC, taking the ideas it started with its “Wild Area” and transforming them into larger open areas. In the base game, though, this open-world design was limited, as routes, towns, and cities were still separated, and the game still progressed linearly. While the DLC demonstrated Game Freak had learned from the base game, it hadn’t yet applied its new approach to a full game.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus, while a departure from Pokemon’s usual form, did a great deal towards developing a much more expansive if only semi-open-world design. There were still limits to this design though, since each area would only be made available to the player one by one through the course of the game, once more enforcing a linear narrative. But the open-world concept had at least grown, with each area being fully traversable, though only with the right Pokemon available to the player. This is where Metroidvania has its influence in current Pokemon games, and why it’s going to be increasingly important moving forwards.
Metroidvania Design in Previous Pokemon Games
To some extent, Pokemon has always utilized Metroidvania game design here and there. Whether through HM moves to navigate the world or key items helping overcome obstacles, player progression has always been guided by Game Freak. While this is trickier in an open world, it hasn’t stopped Game Freak from trying, even if it still relied on forcing the player through a set path. For instance, in Sword and Shield, the player is first unable to travel across water until they’ve had their Rotom Bike upgraded, keeping them away from certain areas full of high-level or rarer Pokemon.
Legends: Arceus would be the better example, however, as the gradual accumulation of various Ride Pokemon is indicative of true Metroidvania design. Players are initially very limited in where they can go, as they can’t climb walls nor swim, but when they gain access to Pokemon such as Basculegion or Sneasler, they are then able to access other areas of the open world they previously couldn’t. Better yet, creative players found means of subverting the need for Pokemon like Basculegion true to the Metroidvania spirit.
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Pokemon Metroidvanias Moving Forward
It would seem that Scarlet and Violet are breaking from tradition with their legendaries in an effort to grapple with the nuances of open-world game design, combining ideas behind the Rotom Bike and Ride Pokemon into two Pokemon: Koraidon and Miraidon. But after its third trailer showcased their capabilities, coupled with what players currently know about what Game Freak is planning with Scarlet and Violet’s design, this could present a new challenge to the games’ approach. If players are being given the mascot legendaries early on in the game, then the question is whether these legendaries have all their abilities right away.
While it would be freeing to allow players to chart their own path through the game as Game Freak seems to intend, this opens players up to the possibility that they find themselves in areas they aren’t ready for. Hypothetically, if players encounter trainers or villainous Pokemon team members in the open world who are too difficult for them, being unable to run away, they’d be forced to endure a stressful battle and likely a painful defeat. Such an experience could discourage players and leave a bad impression of the game.
In order to resolve this, it might be wise if Koraidon’s or Miraidon’s abilities were staggered throughout the game, leaving higher level areas in more difficult to reach places such as high up mountains or across rivers and seas. As per other 3D Metroidvanias, the intent is not to dictate where players go, but instead to figure it out for themselves. This already aligns with Game Freak’s current approach, so by offering players a means to organically “unlock” their legendaries’ abilities gradually, such as through the game’s stories, feeding into the senses of exploration, discovery, and achievement.
Whether this aligns with what Game Freak has ultimately planned will remain to be seen until Scarlet and Violet’s official launch, or until further information is revealed, but if the games are going to progress in this direction, then ther ninth generation is going to play an integral role in the series’ future. While Game Freak has shown it can adapt its design through Sword and Shield and again with Legends: Arceus, it seems that Scarlet and Violet will make the biggest changes and will likely be the most evolutionary game to date in the Pokemon series. If it’s to succeed, it will need to take on more of a Metroidvania inspiration than ever before.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are set to release on November 18, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.
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