Pokemon's ninth generation of games, Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet, were just announced in the annual Pokemon Day livestream. This livestream occurs every year on February 27, the day Pokemon Red and Green first released in Japan in 1996, and previews what's to come for the Pokemon franchise. Updates for the side games, Pokemon GO, Pokemon Masters EX, and Pokemon Cafe ReMix, were shown, as well as new content for both Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, as well as for Pokemon Legends: Arceus. The stream ended with a mysterious new trailer.
Starting with live action footage of a detective investigating a dark building, the buildup to Scarlet and Violet was mysterious. Many fans expected Generation 9 to be revealed today, but the footage could just have easily been for a sequel to 2019's Detective Pikachu film. At last, the games are fully revealed, showing off the three new starter Pokemon, as well as some of the game's areas and hints at gameplay mechanics. While the trailer is brief, it is clear that developer Game Freak is taking what has worked best from Pokemon's recent entries and putting it to use here.
Pokemon: Out With the Old, In With the New (Generation)
The time leading up to a new Pokemon game is always an exciting one for fans, especially now after the success and changes made by Pokemon Legends: Arceus. Theories circulate, fake leaks emerge, and every trailer is broken down in great detail. This trailer luckily gives fans a lot to talk about, beginning with the starter Pokemon. Starters represent an important choice for trainers as they will be the first Pokemon to accompany them on their journey, and Scarlet and Violet have a strong batch to choose from.
Sprigatito, the grass cat Pokemon, is described on Pokemon's official website as capricious and attention-seeking. Fuecoco, the fire croc, is laid-back and does things at its own pace. Lastly, Quaxly, in addition to having a perfect pompadour, is the earnest and tidy duckling Pokemon. All three have their own charms and are well-designed — many arguments choosing the best Pokemon are sure to break out on Twitter. The starters are the most obvious piece of information revealed in the trailer, but hints at Scarlet and Violet's gameplay are placed throughout.
Pokemon is Evolving as a Franchise
It is clear that the Pokemon games have been striving for change in the last few years, doing so iteratively. Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee, released in 2018, removed random encounters altogether, instead opting for Pokemon that walk around on the map. This is carried over to 2019's Sword and Shield, in which vast, open areas, filled with Pokemon and places to explore are added. Legends: Arceus takes this concept and runs with it, opting to only use these open areas. In addition, battling and catching Pokemon is now seamless and happen right where the player is standing.
Despite the great changes Pokemon: Legends Arceus made to the series, the game comes up short in regard to its story. It is interesting to see Hisui, an ancient version of Diamond and Pearl's Sinnoh region, as well as the ancestors of its current characters that inhabit it, but the story itself boils down to solving the same problem in each area in the same way. Scarlet and Violet's trailer indicates at a return to form for the game's story. Multiple towns are shown, in comparison to Legend: Arceus' one, hinting at trainers progressing through and taking on the gym challenge on the way.
On top of this, the official Pokemon website describes the game as fully open-world, with towns seamlessly blending into the wilderness. This is the next step from Legends: Arceus, which had five separate open areas that could only be accessed from the game's hub of Jubilife Village. The prospect of a truly open-world Pokemon game is an exciting one, for sure.
Pokemon Battles in an Open Area
The last bit of information that Scarlet and Violet's trailer shines light on is the battle system. One brief clip shows the player's Pikachu facing off against a Larvitar. This battle takes place right on a path leading up to some wind turbines, as opposed to every entry before Legends: Arceus in which battles take place on a handful of set backgrounds. This, as well as the many Pokemon shown roaming the landscapes, strongly suggest that the seamless battle mechanics will be returning. Legends: Arceus' ability to actively catch Pokemon in the wild is up in the air, though it will certainly be missed if not present.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet truly seem to be the next step in the Pokemon franchise. Building off of the groundwork laid by Let's Go, Sword and Shield, and Legends: Arceus, Scarlet and Violet will be the first completely open-world games in the series. One can only wonder what other gameplay changes will be made and what Pokemon will be revealed leading up to the game's release later this year. One thing is for sure though, that Pokemon fans will surely want to keep an eye on these games, as they can potentially be something huge for the series.
Pokemon: Scarlet and Violet are set to release in late 2022.
Source: Pokemon
