Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Predictions/Speculation/Discussion Thread

[Yuunagi]

I am deeply frustrated with the technical performance of these games. I think it is unacceptable and that the criticism directed toward TPCi and its member companies is fully warranted. We must demand better because they can do better.

At the same time, there is beauty and love in these games. Something that was striking to me right away is the number of things you can interact with in your character’s home - all the furniture and art pieces and everything. That’s something I missed in some recent games and that I remember being called out by players. It struck a chord within me immediately to see that - such a simple thing, but it resonated with me deeply enough to shift my perspective on these games a little. It tells me the developers themselves, outside of the draconian timelines imposed upon them, still really love Pokémon. I was touched by a that and it will inform the rest of my journey through Violet.

 

[UxieLover1994]

Reddit is bad for that and often a lot of people who are making these criticism/comments are basing it off gameplay footage and not actually playing the games themselves (which TLOU2 is a game that comes to mind that this happened to).

I have seen entire Reddit communities devolve into groups of angry, toxic, entitled jerks who make unspeakable threats against developers and producers for the most minor of reasons (hence why I left TheSilphRoad, which no longer allows positivity). I don't think even a major update to fix all the problems in SV will appease them. In fact, nothing ever appeases these people, to be honest.

 

[MrMeowPuss]

I have seen entire Reddit communities devolve into groups of angry, toxic, entitled jerks who make unspeakable threats against developers and producers for the most minor of reasons (hence why I left TheSilphRoad, which no longer allows positivity). I don't think even a major update to fix all the problems in SV will appease them. In fact, nothing ever appeases these people, to be honest.

That’s society these days, people are quick to criticize but reluctant to praise. For me say what you will about a product or item, but don’t attack the people behind it. I know I can’t develop a video game so who am I to criticize others when I don’t have a clue what work goes into it!

 

[nickdt]

So the only issue i have experienced so far (And its a bad one)... is that if you encounter a Pokemon/are in battle... that you can sometimes see under the world (Which only seems to happen when you are on a slopey angle).

 

[King Shuckle]

Has anyone found a Slakoth yet, besides a Tera Raid? If so, was in a tree, on the ground, and in what area?

 

[Funnylion]

Has anyone found a Slakoth yet, besides a Tera Raid? If so, was in a tree, on the ground, and in what area?

I remember seeing a slakoth on the ground in a grassland in a trailer once but I don't know which one

 

[Pulsaro23]

I'm just annoyed that all reviews I keep reading do nothing but bash the game because of the graphic and performance issues.

Meanwhile, from NintendoLife's Reviews Round Up:

• "GameSpot gave Scarlet and Violet an impressive 8/10 in its review"
• "Metro gave the games a similarly positive 4/5 in its review"
• "The Guardian [...] thought that the games showed good improvements"
• "GamesRadar+ gave the title 3/5 in its review"

And that's not even bringing up Metacritic, where a majority of the critic reviews are positive and the rest, so far, are mixed at worst.

So can people stop acting like the games are getting ganged up on and review bombed by critics? Seriously, if reviewers were really "doing nothing but bashing the games" you'd expect 1s-2s/5 and 1s-4s/10 from most of the reviews, rather than what's actually happening. Them bringing up a (major) issue the games have is not bashing, especially when the games are still getting 8s and 7s out of 10.

 

[AngryBinacle]

Meanwhile, from NintendoLife's Reviews Round Up:

• "GameSpot gave Scarlet and Violet an impressive 8/10 in its review"
• "Metro gave the games a similarly positive 4/5 in its review"
• "The Guardian [...] thought that the games showed good improvements"
• "GamesRadar+ gave the title 3/5 in its review"

And that's not even bringing up Metacritic, where a majority of the critic reviews are positive and the rest, so far, are mixed at worst.

So can people stop acting like the games are getting ganged up on and review bombed by critics? Seriously, if reviewers were really "doing nothing but bashing the games" you'd expect 1s-2s/5 and 1s-4s/10 from most of the reviews, rather than what's actually happening. Them bringing up a (major) issue the games have is not bashing, especially when the games are still getting 8s and 7s out of 10.

Yup, the strawmanning is frustratingly real.

 

[SamurottMan]

Having seen the Starters final forms now...

Spoiler

I do wonder what shall become of the Fire-Zodiac fan theory now that Fuecoco's final form is quite blatantly still a crocodile and not either a snake or Quetzcoatl like creature that can be argued to fit.

I'm guessing it'll go like:

Spoiler

"Gen 9 was the exception, I'm sure [Insert Gen 10 Fire Starter Name] is going to evolve according to the zodiac!"

 

[Dizzard]

Does anyone know if it's possible to change the time of day in these games? (like in Legends: Arceus)

I'm looking for a pokemon and I just realized it's more common during the day.

 

[RileyXY1]

Having seen the Starters final forms now...

Spoiler

I do wonder what shall become of the Fire-Zodiac fan theory now that Fuecoco's final form is quite blatantly still a crocodile and not either a snake or Quetzcoatl like creature that can be argued to fit.

Spoiler

It was hard to fit Cyndaquil and Fennekin into the theory. The Fire Zodiac theory didn't have a lot of legs to stand on, and neither do the other two starter theories.

 

[hanecco]

Now that I've watched a playthrough by Scykoh, I'm struck by how colourful the region itself is. I genuinely like Paldea! As @Yuunagi said, the interior of the player's house is packed with so many cool artefacts ~ the character's animations have been reworked too and they feel so much more fluid & expressive than the 3DS games or SWSH. It's a shame that it's dragged down by shadows flickering, low fps, and the odd choice to make most interiors inaccessible + a lack of level scaling. (not to mention irritating things from previous gens remaining; looking at you, no option to turn off EXP share...)

I wouldn't complain about it looking like an upscaled PS2 game if there were no graphical issues and the gameplay was up to modern standards for open-world games too. Had Game Freak taken another year, they would have had time to at least improve the game's performance, though I'm not sure we'll see a game as packed with features as HGSS again, considering the mobile-esque direction they're taking.

 

[Aulos]

Minor spoilers for new Pokemon:

As a dog person, I'm very pleased with how many dog Pokemon we have in S/V. We were shown two new ones pre-release, but it turns out there is (at least) one other new line, including the return of older dog Pokemon like Houndour, Growlithe, Rockruff. The three new dog Pokemon are pretty good, too, if I may say so myself. I wasn't in love with Fidough at first, but I do like its evolution.

 

[Dizzard]

It's something really small but I just discovered that the games have a traditional evolution screen. (my Pokemon evolved after defeating the normal type gym leader)

I wonder if the battle being inside a building had anything to do with it.

 

[nickdt]

It's something really small but I just discovered that the games have a traditional evolution screen. (my Pokemon evolved after defeating the normal type gym leader)

I wonder if the battle being inside a building had anything to do with it.

That might be... since they can have made it so the building is too small to properly show the SV screen and as such used the traditional way, just like you cannot picnic in cities because there isn't enough space to set up the equipment.

 

[MrMeowPuss]

It's something really small but I just discovered that the games have a traditional evolution screen. (my Pokemon evolved after defeating the normal type gym leader)

I wonder if the battle being inside a building had anything to do with it.

Would definitely be the building. All the Pokémon I’ve evolved in the wild have done the evolution out there and not a dedicated screen.

 

[Kallyle]

Does anyone else find it odd that despite Tauros and Miltank being more associated with each other officially as of Generation VII, Miltank seems to be entirely absent from Paldea? Or are they not actually considered gendered counterparts?

 

[Emmy]

Any word on any patches to tidy up some of the issues people have been having?

 

[RavenRaziel98]

I was doing a terra raid and crunch missed 3 times in a row, without any lowering of accuracy or increasing of evasiveness I didn't land a hit during the entire rate, what the hell?

Edit: Also I just discovered that it's possible to retreat from started trainer battles (which makes sense), glad they thought about that

 

[nickdt]

Does anyone else find it odd that despite Tauros and Miltank being more associated with each other officially as of Generation VII, Miltank seems to be entirely absent from Paldea? Or are they not actually considered gendered counterparts?

tbh, Scyther is in the game, Onix is not (Despite them being obvious counterparts). Same applies for Heracross (In the game)... while Pinsir is absent.

So... i have a feeling that the mons of counterparts that aren't in the game (But their counterpart partner is), are gonna be DLC mons.