Things in Scarlet and Violet you were pleasantly surprised by?

[Sheep40]

These models and animations were built for a far more dynamic camera than what malinline pokemon games use anyways (we're dealing with some 3D assets and animations from freaking stadium here). Give us a battle-revolution style dynamic camera and fixed movement planes for some extra flair and people would complain less about the jitter.

 

[LightningTopaz]

The items out in the wild having beacons! It was so much fun running around the world looking for beacons, and sometimes getting lost (in a good way) along the way.

 

[ZekromMahDad]

an out of pocket rival

 

[Sheep40]

Interior pseudo-dungeons like caves. I do wish there were some building ones.

 

[michichu]

I was doing a breeding egg grind (to get a shiny Applin) and noticed multiple shooting stars across the night sky in the game.

I initially thought it was a glitch because there were SO many zipping all over the night sky but I think it was intentional?

Has anyone else noticed this in their game?

 

[Lucifer Morningstar]

I was pleasantly taken off guard by how challenging the Team Star battles were the first time around. I almost lost to I believe Mela and Atticus.

 

[beryllium]

i know this is a popular opinion but i went in completely blind and the story just... slayed me. i loved the friend group, i loved team star (and found them immensely relatable), i loved area zero. the ending nearly made me cry, nothing in the series was that emotionally charged since n's goodbye in bw imo

 

[Sheeer]

Adding on with stuff from Teal Mask, I'm impressed with some of the extra tweaks and improvements beyond the just the campaign. Boxes loading faster is neat, and I've already sung my praises about the more in depth photo stuff plenty haha.

When first announced, I really thought they were just gonna give us a new story, but these extra stuff that just flesh out the game outside of the dlc story is a fun surprise for the most part. Excited to see what Indigo Disk brings

 

[Camille]

The fact that Scald, one of the cheapest moves ever, is now much more thinly distributed, I guess.

 

[Sheep40]

Kieran. Just Kieran

 

[JollyYoshi]

I was pleasantly surprised by Kieran’s story. I didn’t find it necessarily the best, but I did like how it didn’t just end happily with Kieran just accepting reality. It’s always interesting to have variety in the ways the story will turn.

I was also surprised by the Perrin’s part of the Teal Mask. I was definitely happy to hear Legends Arceus music again even though it’s been only a quick minute since Legends Arceus. I did enjoy it and wished that it was expanded upon a little bit more.

 

[Sheep40]

His mental state may drastically worsen when he inevitably accepts reality.

It'd be interesting to see him fall into a depressive fugue when his revenge fails, only to sacrifice himself to save us and carmine (or a friend he made in blueberry acadamy) from something in area zero.

 

[Kirumi]

I'm surprised by how large the region is. Walking around in search of treasures has never been that good and difficult in Pokémon games...!

 

[JollyYoshi]

Another thing I forgot to mention for the DLC is Ogerpon. At first, I didn’t expect to care for it all that much. However, I think its story is interesting and I’ve grown to like the design more.

 

[Sheep40]

Paldea really nails that energetic pseudo-liminal feel pokemon games are supposed to have.

 

[Tsumibito]

Arven. When I first met him I didn't think I'd like him at all, and then on like the second part of the Herba Mystica quest I'm suddenly prioritizing him because that poor boy just wants to help his sick dog.

In the DLC I was surprised by how realistic Kieran was written as a 13-year-old with inferiority issues.

 

[TheCapsFan]

Arven. When I first met him I didn't think I'd like him at all, and then on like the second part of the Herba Mystica quest I'm suddenly prioritizing him because that poor boy just wants to help his sick dog.

Have to agree with this take, Arven went from being one of the characters I'd dislike the most in the series to one of my favorites!

 

[Nemona]

I was pleasantly surprised by all the new friends I could battle!

 

[Lucifer Morningstar]

I was pleasantly surprised by Kieran’s story. I didn’t find it necessarily the best, but I did like how it didn’t just end happily with Kieran just accepting reality. It’s always interesting to have variety in the ways the story will turn.

Agreed.
II don't believe it's fair that we don't get the choice to side with him but it his spiral into selfish, vengeful madness is excellent and engaging character development vs. the pre-school cartoon conclusion where he's happy for the player and that Ogrepon is getting a better life even if it's not with him.
I am stoked that GF is starting to edge into darker and more realistic territory, presumably as a nod to older players.

 

[Anoko Dokonoko]

I was surprised by the fact I... actually thought the game was one of the better entries in the series. Back when it released I was hardcore on the hate train for it (I hadn't kept up with Pokemon in about... just under 3 years by then, syo I guess I saw a lot of posts talking about how bad it was that hardcore cherrypicked the game's more awkward aspects and acted like goofy visual bugs were a sign of Armageddon or something and started blindly bashing it), then when I actually played it I realised... It's actually pretty good. Like, I don't think it's on the same level as, say, B2W2 or USUM for me yet, but it's pretty close up there.