It’s a cute setup that works on both narrative and game design levels. Over the course of the journey, they’ll have to complete 18 tasks across a fully open map, which includes beating eight gyms, tracking down giant titan Pokémon, and shutting down bases belonging to the villainous (or perhaps misunderstood) Team Star.
Instead, the stories center around a student who’s just been enrolled in Paldea’s oldest university (the Naranja or Uva Academy, depending on which game you’re playing) and sent off on an independent study. In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, players don’t just assume the role of another young trainer looking to be the very best. Like every recent Pokémon game, however, deteriorating tech and half-hearted experimentation still makes it feel like we’re five years away from the franchise’s true return to glory. The open-world pivot successfully reinvigorates a stale premise by giving trainers more control over the pace and difficulty of their journey. A post shared by Digital Trends Scarlet and Violet is a real step forward for a series that’s been locked in a holding pattern for well over a decade.