{"id":123528,"date":"2022-04-03T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-03T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/#article-129658"},"modified":"2022-04-03T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-04-03T15:00:00","slug":"feature-6-things-we-pokemon-vets-want-to-see-in-pokemon-scarlet-and-violet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2022\/04\/03\/feature-6-things-we-pokemon-vets-want-to-see-in-pokemon-scarlet-and-violet\/","title":{"rendered":"Feature: 6 Things We Pok\u00e9mon Vets Want To See In Pok\u00e9mon Scarlet And Violet"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a><\/div>\n
\"Veteran<\/a>
Image: Nintendo Life<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The year was 1998. The Spice Girls were blowing up radio stations, and Nintendo had every kid under the age of 15 glued to their Game Boys playing Pok\u00e9mon Red and Blue<\/strong><\/a>. Many of those kids, including some of us here at Nintendo Life, are now in their thirties \u2013 and therefore not long for this world \u2013 and it feels like Pok\u00e9mon hasn\u2019t aged with us older players. In fact, many Pok\u00e9mon games have decreased in both difficulty and complexity release after release. It\u2019s gotten to the point where we Pok\u00e9mon Veterans sincerely hope Game Freak adds or removes several features to both make the games more challenging and to streamline otherwise tedious mechanics.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve put together a list of 6 things us ancient Pok\u00e9mon players want to see almost as much as a bowl of Raisin Bran on a Sunday morning when Pok\u00e9mon Scarlet and Violet<\/strong><\/a> usher in Generation IX later this year.<\/p>\n

A Return of Challenge Mode<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Challenge<\/a>
Image: The Pok\u00e9mon Company \/ Bulbapedia<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We want Pok\u00e9mon games to be about as difficult as deciding what to eat for dinner a week in advance. January\u2019s Pok\u00e9mon Legends: Arceus<\/strong><\/a> took a step in the right direction by adding a layer of challenge back into a Game Freak developed Pok\u00e9mon game, but we\u2019d be lying if we said we weren\u2019t worried Scarlet and Violet might regress into remedial levels of difficulty.<\/p>\n

Pok\u00e9mon Black and White 2<\/strong><\/a> dabbled with a higher difficulty in the most Pok\u00e9mon way possible: they locked it behind trading through a key through the Unova Link feature obtained at the end of Pok\u00e9mon Black 2. Meaning to experience a higher degree of difficulty, you\u2019d have to beat the game first and<\/em> have a friend to trade with to unlock Challenge Mode.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re old, Game Freak. We don\u2019t have friends anymore. Give us a Challenge Mode from the very beginning, or at least more trainers as daunting as Cynthia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

An Engaging End-Game<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"End<\/a>
Image: The Pok\u00e9mon Company \/ Bulbapedia<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We\u2019ll admit Generation I didn\u2019t have the best end-game, but follow-up titles, particularly the Battle Frontiers in Pok\u00e9mon Emerald<\/strong><\/a> and Pok\u00e9mon Heartgold and Soulsilver<\/strong><\/a>, added an addictive experience after beating the Elite Four. Since then, however, end-game content has been severely lacking or non-existent, falling behind what a lot of non-Pok\u00e9mon games offer. Part of this is because of a focus on story-driven content \u2013 the Delta Episode, Team Rainbow Rocket, Isle of Armor \u2013 and part because the rewards for post-game content are often lacking. Battle Points, which players use to buy in-game items, aren\u2019t enough to keep us coming back.<\/p>\n

We\u2019d like a return of something as deep as the Battle Frontiers with meaningful rewards \u2013 perhaps shiny Pok\u00e9mon, alternate forms, or an increasingly greater challenge akin to a roguelite mode \u2013 to help distract us from the crippling anxiety recent real-world events have instilled in us.<\/p>\n

Accessible Team Building<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Team<\/a>
Image: The Pok\u00e9mon Company \/ Bulbapedia<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hatching 78 Bulbasaur to get six perfect Individual Values isn\u2019t difficult. It\u2019s as tedious as our pre-pandemic commutes to work. Where other competitive games focus on getting the player into a match as quickly as possible, where they can build their skills and test out new strategies as the meta-game evolves, Pok\u00e9mon games are content with wasting our time hatching hundreds of eggs just to build a viable team. This can take hours, even with plenty of helpful items introduced in Sword and Shield and a Ditto with perfect stats to breed with.<\/p>\n

And Arceus forbid if we want to make a minor adjustment to our team, such as lowering or raising a speed stat based on meta-changes, because that could zap away those precious few hours before our 9:30 bedtimes.<\/p>\n

Individual Values and Effort Values need further streamlining to help both old players save daylight and new players to embrace the esoteric mechanics.<\/p>\n

Competitive Incentive<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Competitive<\/a>
Image: The Pok\u00e9mon Company<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Much like the rewards given in post-game content, the incentives to play Pok\u00e9mon competitively are barebones; players receive awards at the end of each month of play, but they\u2019re often negligible. Furthermore, the Ranked Battle system in Pok\u00e9mon Sword and Shield<\/strong><\/a> feels undercooked. Advancement through each tier \u2013 from Pok\u00e9ball to Master Ball \u2013 relies entirely on wins and losses, rather than a matchmaking system to place players against those of similar skill. A new player with a half-developed team might get matched with a professional player practising for the VGC World Championships, both negating any sense of progression for skill level and making online Pok\u00e9mon needlessly daunting to get into.<\/p>\n

Us senior Pok\u00e9mon players require a constant drip-feed of affirmation for our abilities in lieu of receiving none from our day jobs and emotionally distant Boomer parents. As of Sword and Shield, we might as well \u2013 we don\u2019t know \u2013 read a book or take a cooking class instead.<\/p>\n

Another Eeveelution<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Eeveelution<\/a>
Image: The Pok\u00e9mon Company \/ Bulbapedia<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Eevee will be in Pok\u00e9mon Scarlet and Violet. This isn\u2019t confirmed, but with how popular and marketable the fox-like Pok\u00e9mon is, second only to Pikachu, we\u2019d be surprised if Game Freak skipped including Eevee.<\/p>\n

Eevee predictions happen for every Pok\u00e9mon release. We predicted it<\/a> for Pok\u00e9mon Legends: Arceus, and were off the mark, and recently a rumour and intriguing theory hinting at a new Eeveelution<\/a> makes it seem more than likely to happen in Scarlet and Violet.<\/p>\n

Many newer Pok\u00e9mon fans might not know that before the recording of modern history Eevee once had only three<\/em> evolutions. It\u2019s been 9 years since the last Eeveelution, Sylveon, debuted in Pok\u00e9mon X and Y, and if we have to wait another Generation of games, arthritis might render us unable to enjoy the Ghost or Dragon-type Eeveelution of our dreams.<\/p>\n

A Chonky Pikachu<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Chonky<\/a>
Image: The Pok\u00e9mon Company<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Back when Pok\u00e9mon games were in black-and-white and we had to hike uphill to school both ways in hail and without a pair of Safety Goggles<\/a>, Pikachu was chonky. This, to us Pok\u00e9Veterans, represents the ideal Pikachu form, and you may not like it, but this is what peak Pika performance looks like.<\/p>\n

Chonky Pikachu made a return in Sword and Shield with a Gigantimax form, and while we\u2019ve already seen Pikachu rubbing its cheeks in the Scarlet and Violet reveal trailer<\/a>, if Game Freak harbours any love at all for its legacy fans, they\u2019ll immediately swap out its thinner in-game model for one that better matches the Generation I sprite<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

Yes \u2013 we\u2019re aware this post sounds a lot like an old-man yelling at kids to get off his lawn. Because it is. Pok\u00e9mon is no longer made for those of us who started playing in 1998, who struggled against Agatha\u2019s Gengar and searched under the truck by the S.S. Anne for a Mew. Each subsequent Pok\u00e9mon release has one audience in mind: children, not video game critics in their thirties. And that\u2019s okay. Pok\u00e9mon doesn\u2019t have to be made for us; in fact, part of the charm might come from its childlike appeal, pulling us back into a simpler time without so much back pain.<\/p>\n

Still, that doesn\u2019t mean we can\u2019t dream. If Pok\u00e9mon Legends: Arceus\u2019s shake-up of the formula and added complexity and difficulty are anything to go by, Game Freak is listening, and maybe when Scarlet and Violet release later this year, we\u2019ll have a challenge worthy of our crotchety old souls.<\/p>\n

What say you? Are there any features you\u2019d like to see added or streamlined in Pok\u00e9mon Scarlet and Violet? Young or old, comment below!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Image: Nintendo Life The year was 1998. The Spice Girls were blowing up radio stations, and Nintendo had every kid under the age of 15 glued to their Game Boys playing Pok\u00e9mon Red and Blue. Many of those kids, including some of us here at Nintendo Life, are now in their thirties \u2013 and therefore […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-123528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123528\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}