Since Pokemon's worldwide debut in 1996, the series has produced nine distinct generations of games, each featuring new additions to the series' world and gameplay loop. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet took the classic series in a new direction, allowing both Pokemon and people to wander the game's towns and open world. On paper, this should have led to Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's world feeling more alive and "full". However, commitment to this approach led to major performance issues, as well as a world that, surprisingly, felt more empty than in past generations. Pokemon Gen 10 can fix both issues by bringing back a classic feature that was missing from Scarlet and Violet: tall grass.
Pokemon games have a long history of random encounters. Ever since the series launch, players have encountered random Pokemon by traveling through the world's patches of tall grass. In Gen 9, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, the tall grass mechanic was entirely removed, due to developer Game Freak's commitment to having Pokemon wander freely throughout the Paldea region. However, this proved to be overwhelming for the Switch hardware and led to significant issues in both game performance and player experience.
Gen 9's Removal of Tall Grass Hurt the Overall Experience
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's removal of tall grass broke iconic traditions from past generations, leading to a shift in the game's overall gameplay loop. Players hoping to complete the Pokedex could now choose their battles, avoiding random encounters with Pokemon that they already had in their possession. However, it was those random encounters and lack of visibility that made the world of Pokemon feel more alive. In addition, the Paldea region ended up feeling altogether emptier without this element of mystery and surprise, as adding visibility for individual Pokemon led to the appearance that very few resided in a given region.
Despite the portrayal of individual Pokemon and NPCs already contributing to Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's world feeling empty, the number of sprites overwhelmed the Switch hardware, leading to significant performance issues. In an effort to fix these issues, Game Freak inadvertently made Scarlet and Violet's world feel even emptier by decreasing the amount of Pokemon and NPCs visible to the player. Had Gen 9 stuck with the tall grass approach, or even evolved it for the games' open worlds, these issues could have been largely avoided, a lesson that Gen 10 would be wise to learn from.
Gen 10's Tall Grass Can Kill Two Birds with One Stone While Evolving the Series
Given the perceived benefit of avoiding certain Pokemon in the open world, some players believe tall grass may not return in future Pokemon generations. However, a case can be made for tall grass to return to Gen 10, alongside Gen 9's wandering Pokemon. While some Pokemon can still wander the landscape, Gen 10 can feature patches of tall grass in which players encounter random Pokemon. This decreases the over-reliance on visible Pokemon, removing the threat of performance issues that Gen 9 experienced at launch while maintaining the series' commitment to evolving its open world.
By restoring tall grass patches to Pokemon Gen 10's region, the next iteration of the classic series can avoid the major pitfalls of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Not only will the mixture of wandering Pokemon and tall grass improve the overall gameplay experience, but it will allow Gen 10's region to feel less empty and predictable. Though little is known of Pokemon's next generation, some players believe that its region is hinted at throughout Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Those interested in searching for additional clues can look forward to the new areas featured in Gen 9's "The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero" DLC, launching later this year. Though unconfirmed, the mysteries behind these new locations may add further credence to fans' theorized location of Pokemon's next generation.
