Given that Pokemon Scarlet and Violet were series firsts for fully open-world games, the resulting shortfalls and oversights in its design have created all-new problems for shiny hunting trainers that go beyond missing jingles to outside the games' literal boundaries. Ever since their launch, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet have been hit hard by criticism over the games' poor design and optimization, made infamous by glitches shared across social media concerning basic performance issues such as lagging frame rates and bad lighting. Though these issues are bad enough on their own, it's also meant that Pokemon's tradition of shiny hunting has also suffered.
Even before factoring in Scarlet and Violet's technical problems, the introduction of certain new Gen 9 Pokemon made shiny hunting even harder, whether due to indiscernible color differences or the rarity of multiple forms. Made worse by the fact that the once familiar and vital sound that played when a shiny Pokemon appeared in Pokemon Legends: Arceus was now gone in Scarlet and Violet, shiny hunting in the open world was becoming increasingly difficult. But with technical issues from poor performance and Pokemon spawning out-of-bounds such as behind walls or in rocks, it has since become a near-impossible and seemingly unfair challenge.
A Missing Sound Was Just The First Shiny Hunting Concern
When it had been confirmed that Scarlet and Violet would be taking the next step beyond Legends: Arceus in introducing fully open-world games design to Pokemon, many assumed that the lessons learned from Pokemon Legends: Arceus could help make sure the upcoming Gen 9 games could succeed. But certain features that had helped make Legends: Arceus a favorite among players were nowhere to be seen in Scarlet and Violet, with the lack of a shiny sound being the most keenly felt among shiny hunters. Though it may have been a small feature, it proved to be an essential part of the greater whole in its open-world transition.
But the challenges facing shiny hunting in Scarlet and Violet went beyond just a missing shiny sound. With more time to play around with Scarlet and Violet, other issues facing shiny hunting started to become more apparent to which a missing shiny sound pales in comparison. Scarlet and Violet's performance issues such as bad lighting making shiny Pokemon even harder to spot or frame rate drops and Pokemon spawning during inopportune moments like picnics meant players missed out on shiny Pokemon because of inadequate game design.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Spawns Are Major Shortfalls
However, while it could be argued that Game Freak is only trying to make shiny hunting more challenging for Scarlet and Violet players as some call for future Pokemon games to make shinies rare again, there are other issues that are far less excusable. For instance, a recent update set to patch multiple bugs has made some major changes with new limits on Pokemon spawn rates, something which directly impacts players hunting for shinies. Though Mass Outbreaks and other current shiny hunting methods can bypass this for most Pokemon fans, others won't be so lucky, especially if they're completing a collection or after their favorites.
Worse still, with a limited spawn rate comes another issue that, like Scarlet and Violet's glitches, was shared via social media and shows the moment during RyanWasTaken's live stream when they finally spot a shiny Frigibax outside the game's boundaries. Since it's highly unlikely that this was a rare one-off given Scarlet and Violet's track record for buggy gameplay, other shiny Pokemon could be spawning out-of-bounds where the player can neither see nor even reach them. So even with a keen eye and the best luck imaginable, shortfalls in game design could still scupper a hunt for a shiny Pokemon.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are available now for Nintendo Switch.
