Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, let's analyze the new, very long trailer released by Nintendo

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

Having sensed that Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is not arousing the hoped-for enthusiasm, Nintendo seems to have decided to reinforce its communication campaign, coming to publish a long video of almost a quarter of an hour that illustrates more or less all the main features of the new Game Freak artwork. We already knew many of them, in fact the new video only mentions them, referring to the release of the game so as not to anticipate too much to those who want to get to the unprecedented region of Paldea without knowing anything. Everyone else can retrieve our previous analysis of the Pokémon Violet and Scarlet trailer, but we advise you to also read the next lines because in this video we have also discovered some interesting news.

Let's find out which ones, in the analysis of the 15 minutes of the new trailer for Pokémon Violet and Scarlet.

Moving forward in the open world

Pokémon Violet and Scarlet, the map of Paldea We assume that, no, these fifteen minutes or so they did not particularly encourage us about the technical framework, which continues to seem quite backward by the standards of Nintendo Switch and the games we have seen lately, especially if we compare the unprecedented open world nature of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet to other titles as well. open world such as Xenoblade Chronicles 3. It being understood that we must have the game in our hands to express more concrete judgments, the first impressions are not very positive: beyond a pleasant but somewhat sober, if not anonymous, artistic direction, the very low resolution textures, the empty spaces and the sensitive pop-up of grass and other elements of the scenario do not exactly speak in favor of Game Freak.

Valid, instead, menus and interfaces: they appear modern, streamlined and intuitive, with a preference for sharp stylization and some nice news, such as the 2D illustrations that represent the pokémon in the team on the edge of the screen.

The new video does not linger too long on the three main stories that make up the narrative: for those who do not know, there will be three distinct and separate paths that we can choose to follow at will and in the order we prefer. If anything, this new video uses them as a pretext to showcase some complementary gameplay dynamics. In fact, it starts with an overview of the freedom of exploration granted to the player who, once leaving the starting academy, will be able to wander around Paldea on foot or on the back of the legendary reference - which apparently will be obtained, at least in the form of a vehicle. , much earlier than usual.

We have already focused on the phenomenon of Teracrystallization in the past, but the video showed us a way to find these special pokémon, which sometimes will stand still and shine in the surrounding environment. In the video we see the player running into a Jigglypuff at the bottom of a kind of hollow: the pokémon is motionless and you just have to get closer to start the fight.

Pokémon Violet and Scarlet, the automatic Fights seem a welcome change Now there there are several aspects to clarify about this dynamic. For example, we don't know if all pokémon will have a brilliant counterpart waiting for us in some corner of Paldea; we do not know if that Jigglypuff was a predefined encounter, perhaps part of a tutorial on Teracrystallization; and we don't even know if it is necessary to satisfy certain conditions for these brilliant pokémon to appear, if they are random, if in place of that Jigglypuff there could be a different monster.

In any case, the video confirms that it is possible to interrupt the Teracrystallization during the fight by inflicting a certain amount of damage, and only at that point it will be possible to launch the Pokéball to capture it. Again, it is unclear whether this applies to all battles or only specific encounters, or whether it is possible to capture a pokémon capable of Teracrystallizing without it actually doing so during the battle.

Pokémon Purple and Scarlet, Pruna is a gang leader of Team Star The movie shows us how to "keep" a pokémon that, however unhappy, is the official name of this feature that is inspired by Pokémon Legends: Arceus. In practice, the player can send the first pokémon in the team in the direction it is facing: if there is an object, the pokémon will take it and bring it back to the trainer, otherwise it will fight with any wild monster nearby, earning experience points and rewards as in a normal fight, only shorter and without turns.

The structure of the so-called Stardust Avenue has been built around this game dynamics, that is one of the three main stories, which will see us attack the Team Star bases scattered around Paldea. Once the challenge has started, we will have to defeat all the recruits by sending our pokémon forward, which for the occasion can be deployed at least three at a time. Once the recruits are defeated, it's the turn of the gang leader, but we will find out what will happen by defeating him only when the game comes out.

Between fights and picnics

Purple and Scarlet Pokémon, the new PokéDex Apparently now we will get some special materials by defeating or capturing pokémon in battles, for example wisps of hair or other, er, parts of their bodies. What they are for is easy to say: the movie shows us the TM creation system at the Pokémon Centers. In fact, we will find a computer, called the MT Machine, which calls up a colorful interface full of moves to select. The TMs allow us to teach a specific move to a compatible pokémon: in this way we can simply accumulate the necessary materials, choose the move we want to teach a pokémon and create the corresponding TM. The system is intuitive and ingenious, and net of a "farming" that we hope is not very intrusive, it represents a very interesting variation of the usual game dynamics.

In the video, the trainer uses the MT Machine to teach the Icecream move to his Drifloon and face the dominant pokémon Klawf with a Type advantage: it is a fight planned for another main story, The legendary path, in which we will have to help Pepe find some very rare spices.

Pokémon Violet and Scarlet, the dominant pokémon are back Klawf on the run - which makes us think it didn't end there - the trainer in the video takes a few moments to exchange a Girafarig for a Grafaiai. In this way, Nintendo shows us how easy and immediate the trading system is, but also takes the opportunity to reveal the new evolution of Girafarig, which is called ... er, Farigiraf, and is basically the same pokémon but with the head inside the tail. Let's say it's a very divisive design and it's hard to tell if it was a stroke of genius - both names are palindromes, meaning they read alike in one sense or another - or an exercise in laziness.

The pokémon, however, unlocks the corresponding entry in the new PokéDex, which is much more colorful and interesting than the past ones: each entry corresponds to a beautiful photograph of the pokémon in its natural environment, which then recalls the usual information on height, the weight, the Type and so on.

Pokémon Violet and Scarlet, to face the Gym Leaders we will have to pass their exams The video then focuses very briefly on The path of the champions, that is the main story that we will face the gym leaders of Paldea. This time around, though, it seems like we won't have to struggle to reach them and then challenge them, but simply pass an exam that varies from gym to gym.

In the city of Los Tazones, for example, we will have to find all the hidden Sunflora to convince Brassios to deploy his pokémon against us. Her team also includes a Sudowoodo capable of Teracrystallization into Grass Type, which is why the trainer in the video calls Fidough, an unreleased pokémon of Violet and Scarlet that belongs to the Kobold Type, but which through Teracrystallization can become Flying Type and have an advantage against Sudowoodo.

Pokémon Violet and Scarlet, a Flying-Type Pikachu via Teracrystallization As you can imagine, Game Freak is focusing a lot on the dynamics of Teracrystallization, for which we expect a painstaking balancing work. Despite this, the Japanese developer has also given weight to many other more casual aspects, such as the possibility of changing your look in beauty salons: Pokémon Violet and Scarlet would seem to allow you to customize your trainer or your trainer by choosing from a wide range of options that go to retouch the features, hair and appearance in general much more than in the past. It is an improvement that goes well with another very "social" feature, namely that of the selfie: it is in fact possible to take a photo posing as a selfie, with the character of the player posing and in the foreground, and then load it as a background of your card.

The ability to take photos and capture game moments, and not just the pokémon, highlights a lively and credible world compared to the titles of the past, with greater attention to detail and the construction of more engaging scenarios and atmospheres, especially in cities and inhabited centers.

Pokémon Violet and Scarlet, a Teracristal Raid Later, the movie also shows us another feature, namely the Picnic. Practically it will be possible to arrange a nice table in the open air and free the pokémon in the team, who will start playing in the surroundings. It is not clear if the Picnic will load a separate space or if it will be held in the game world and in real time, but it seems that it wants to be a revised and corrected version of old modes such as the Me & You of Pokémon X and Y, as it will be possible to wash and brush our little monsters or let them play ball. The most interesting thing is that the Picnic somehow also replaces the old Pensions - which we don't know if they will come back anyway - because sometimes, in the basket next to the table, we will find an egg, which will then hatch as usual.

Another activity that we can undertake during the Picnic is cooking, a minigame that allows us to prepare a delicacy by choosing between various ingredients and then consume it together with our team. The dishes will attribute a plethora of temporary bonuses, for example to the damage inflicted by the moves of a certain type, to the increased possibility of capturing certain pokémon.

Pokémon Violet and Scarlet, we can take selfies The movie closes with a demonstration of the Raid Teracristal, which we focused on in our previous previews. In this sense, there are no big news: there is still talk of collaboration and strategy, of the possibility of encouraging other players to confer various bonuses and of returning a defeated pokémon to the game after a short recovery period. Considering that pokémon capable of Teracrystallization are also found in the open world - they are the bright ones mentioned above - it would seem that Teracristal Raids are the only way to capture pokémon capable of unique Teracrystallizations.

Pokémon Violet and Scarlet, in short, it would seem to offer a great variety of contents and features that hide behind an aspect that is not exactly in step with the times. GameFreak, however, will have to overcome more than one difficult challenge: the skepticism of some fans, its first test with a true open world with all the complications that follow, the inevitable balancing flaws with the introduction of the Teracristal phenomenon. In a few weeks we will find out how it went, as Pokémon Violet and Scarlet will be available starting November 18, 2022.

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