Pokémon Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet General Discussion

[Snek]

What do you like the best about Pokemon Scarlet/Violet?

Its a new Pokemon game. Its a good start to an open world game. The story is so much better than previous games. Overworld is so much better than in Sword and Shield. No loading screens except in Mesagoza so thats nice. Terastal gimmick is better than D/Gmax. Changing types is pretty interesting and its fun to discover new ways to use it for the mons I like.

What do you like the least about the game?

The bugs. It still feels like an unfinished game even with the 2 DLCs. I still get bugs in the Tera raids now and then. Terastal is ok as a gimmick but I am seriously tired of one gimmick per gen now. I want a game with all gimmicks in the game. I know I'll never get it but I hope for it. Also...Dexit is still a thing. I seriously miss all the mons in a game.

What makes these games stand out from all the other games (from Pokemon Red to Sword/Shield)?

That its new...
...
Ok, I'll give a few examples.
There are no random grass encounters so that's good in my opinion. I still hate raids, but at least they are better in this game than in Sword and Shield. The DLCs are good post game content if you've felt the games have been lacking it.

Which Pokemon is your favorite of all the new ones introduced?

Kingambit and Annihilape. Not sure which one is the best to be honest so both are tied. My favourite paradox is Iron Crown.

How bad are the bugs and framerate problems?

Not as bad as they were at release but still pretty bad. Framerate is pretty bad in some areas for me. One of the top of my head is at the lighthouse where you battle the Fairy Team Star leader.

What are the raids? Can they be soloed?

Yes. Some 7 Star raids may need planning though. Maybe reset to get NPCs that have good support mons.

How do you shiny hunt in this game?

Sandwiches. There are multiple guides online that detail them. Most sandwiches require the Salty Herba Mysticas. My recommendation is try to farm as many Herba Mysticas as possible. You can get them as possible rewards in 5 Star or 6 Star raids.

Can you obtain all the Pokemon including ones not in the game through trading?

Yes, you can obtain them all through trading. However, Palafin is technically not a trade evo. It is obtained when you have a Finizen and level it in an another player's game or have them come over to your game. It evolves if you level it past Level 38, I think.

Anything else you want to mention?

I hope you enjoy the game! Its certainly better than Sword and Shield and was a good game playing experience. Scarlet has past mons. Violet has future mons. The version differences really just come down to theme preferences imo

 

[LittleMissPanda]

Hi all! I just recently ordered Pokemon Violet and the dlc and I was wondering if there is anything I need to know about the game and if anyone has tips? I’ve only played up to X and Y, so I have no idea what the newer Pokemon games are like.

Some additional questions:

-What do you like the best about Pokemon Scarlet/Violet?
-What do you like the least about the game?
-What makes these games stand out from all the other games (from Pokemon Red to Sword/Shield)?
-Which Pokemon is your favorite of all the new ones introduced?
-How bad are the bugs and framerate problems?
-What are the raids? Can they be soloed?
-How do you shiny hunt in this game?
-Can you obtain all the Pokemon including ones not in the game through trading?
-Anything else you want to mention?

You already got tons of insightful responses but I just wanted to chime in as well and talk about how I feel about the games

- What do you like the best about Pokemon Scarlet/Violet?

To start off, I chose Scarlet version because right away I really love Koraidon's design the most. Usually I decide which version I get based on the box art Legendary, rather than version exclusive Pokémon. Most of the time, the Pokémon I prefer tend to be on the version I select anyway (such as Growlithe being a version exclusive in HeartGold, which works out perfectly for me since Ho-Oh is my favorite)

Now to answer the question: what I like best about Scarlet/Violet is the vast, diverse selection of Pokémon available from the get-go. Since there is so much variety, there are all kinds of teams you can build to your liking. Not one team will ever look the same (unless you play competitively lol)

I'm not crazy about the story. It could have been better but then again who plays Pokémon for the story lol (me tbh) but truth be told I found the games to be actually really fun. I spent hours just exploring on Koraidon and discovering all the new places and Pokémon for myself (I went in as blind as possible).

- What do you like the least about the game?

There is no option to turn off EXP. Share - personally I just really hate this. I prefer to ration out EXP across my whole team rather than everyone being given free EXP. Your team can become over-leveled quite easily, and honestly it sucks all the fun/challenge out of the game. But if someone prefers EXP. Share working the way it does now and saving them the hassle of grinding, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. To each their own!

Also, Dexit......

- What makes these games stand out from all the other games (from Pokemon Red to Sword/Shield)?

Not much, imo. At the end of the day, it's still a Pokémon game with the same old "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" formula. Which is why I highly recommend Legends Arceus, a brave game that took a risk at mixing it up and giving us something actually fresh.

Other than having a Legendary Pokémon to ride around on rather than the traditional bike, I would have to say the graphics stand out the most, and by that I strictly mean the Pokémon models themselves. The towns/cities/caves/forest and mountain environments are nothing to write home about, but the Pokémon textures are really fantastic. Scaly mons look scaly, metallic mons look metallic, cuddly mons look cuddly, etc.

- Which Pokemon is your favorite of all the new ones introduced?

My personal favorite amongst the starters is the Fuecoco line. Pawmi is my second favorite Pika-clone (its evolutions, however...not so much) with my #1 favorite being Dedenne (a Gen 6 mon, I should mention) which luckily is available in the game. Other favorites include Greavard & Houndstone, Cetoddle & Cetitan, Frigibax, Koraidon, Maschiff & Mabosstiff, Slither Wing and Walking Wake. In general, I like the past theming of Scarlet more, such as the concept of prehistoric Paradox mons.

- How bad are the bugs and framerate problems?

Not as bad as the internet made it out to be lmao I was actually really hesitant on even picking up Scarlet at first because of all the scary stories. I mainly experienced moments where the camera would get caught up in a weird angle, clipping through the entire ground, but it didn't happen too frequently for it to really tarnish my experience with the game. The game would chug in certain areas, but nothing too crazy. Neither me nor Koraidon ever fell through the world map and ended up in some inescapable void, lol

It seems everyone experiences something different, but the games are far from being unplayable. Far from it.

But it's clear the games are half-baked, undercooked or what have you. Too ambitious for its own good, I would say. Considering GameFreak is under a serious time crunch, they can't quite pour as much dedication and care into the games as much as they used to. Just play OmegaRuby/AlphaSapphire and most anyone can see and feel the difference in quality.

- What are the raids? Can they be soloed?

I can't comment much about this since I don't participate in the raids. I just couldn't get into them, not really all that fun to me.

- How do you shiny hunt in this game?

By simply just playing the game like normal, just exploring and being myself lol and if I suddenly find a shiny, then yay I found a shiny! I leave it up to that 1/4000 chance, basically.

- Can you obtain all the Pokemon including ones not in the game through trading?

Only the Pokémon cherry picked programmed into the base vanilla game and DLC can be caught/traded, since unfortunately the National Dex isn't a thing. Meaning that if you wanted to transfer over your prized Rapidash, Drapion, Golisopod.... or use something completely new for the first time, chances are that particular Pokémon may not be obtainable at all.

- Anything else you want to mention?

Don't rely too heavily on others' opinions or experiences with the game. Just boot it up, choose your starter and see how far Miraidon can take you on that wild, wild ride all throughout your Paldea adventure have your own fun, your way!

 

[Dunquixote]

You already got tons of insightful responses but I just wanted to chime in as well and talk about how I feel about the games

- What do you like the best about Pokemon Scarlet/Violet?

To start off, I chose Scarlet version because right away I really love Koraidon's design the most. Usually I decide which version I get based on the box art Legendary, rather than version exclusive Pokémon. Most of the time, the Pokémon I prefer tend to be on the version I select anyway (such as Growlithe being a version exclusive in HeartGold, which works out perfectly for me since Ho-Oh is my favorite)

Now to answer the question: what I like best about Scarlet/Violet is the vast, diverse selection of Pokémon available from the get-go. Since there is so much variety, there are all kinds of teams you can build to your liking. Not one team will ever look the same (unless you play competitively lol)

I'm not crazy about the story. It could have been better but then again who plays Pokémon for the story lol (me tbh) but truth be told I found the games to be actually really fun. I spent hours just exploring on Koraidon and discovering all the new places and Pokémon for myself (I went in as blind as possible).

- What do you like the least about the game?

There is no option to turn off EXP. Share - personally I just really hate this. I prefer to ration out EXP across my whole team rather than everyone being given free EXP. Your team can become over-leveled quite easily, and honestly it sucks all the fun/challenge out of the game. But if someone prefers EXP. Share working the way it does now and saving them the hassle of grinding, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. To each their own!

Also, Dexit......

- What makes these games stand out from all the other games (from Pokemon Red to Sword/Shield)?

Not much, imo. At the end of the day, it's still a Pokémon game with the same old "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" formula. Which is why I highly recommend Legends Arceus, a brave game that took a risk at mixing it up and giving us something actually fresh.

Other than having a Legendary Pokémon to ride around on rather than the traditional bike, I would have to say the graphics stand out the most, and by that I strictly mean the Pokémon models themselves. The towns/cities/caves/forest and mountain environments are nothing to write home about, but the Pokémon textures are really fantastic. Scaly mons look scaly, metallic mons look metallic, cuddly mons look cuddly, etc.

- Which Pokemon is your favorite of all the new ones introduced?

My personal favorite amongst the starters is the Fuecoco line. Pawmi is my second favorite Pika-clone (its evolutions, however...not so much) with my #1 favorite being Dedenne (a Gen 6 mon, I should mention) which luckily is available in the game. Other favorites include Greavard & Houndstone, Cetoddle & Cetitan, Frigibax, Koraidon, Maschiff & Mabosstiff, Slither Wing and Walking Wake. In general, I like the past theming of Scarlet more, such as the concept of prehistoric Paradox mons.

- How bad are the bugs and framerate problems?

Not as bad as the internet made it out to be lmao I was actually really hesitant on even picking up Scarlet at first because of all the scary stories. I mainly experienced moments where the camera would get caught up in a weird angle, clipping through the entire ground, but it didn't happen too frequently for it to really tarnish my experience with the game. The game would chug in certain areas, but nothing too crazy. Neither me nor Koraidon ever fell through the world map and ended up in some inescapable void, lol

It seems everyone experiences something different, but the games are far from being unplayable. Far from it.

But it's clear the games are half-baked, undercooked or what have you. Too ambitious for its own good, I would say. Considering GameFreak is under a serious time crunch, they can't quite pour as much dedication and care into the games as much as they used to. Just play OmegaRuby/AlphaSapphire and most anyone can see and feel the difference in quality.

- What are the raids? Can they be soloed?

I can't comment much about this since I don't participate in the raids. I just couldn't get into them, not really all that fun to me.

- How do you shiny hunt in this game?

By simply just playing the game like normal, just exploring and being myself lol and if I suddenly find a shiny, then yay I found a shiny! I leave it up to that 1/4000 chance, basically.

- Can you obtain all the Pokemon including ones not in the game through trading?

Only the Pokémon cherry picked programmed into the base vanilla game and DLC can be caught/traded, since unfortunately the National Dex isn't a thing. Meaning that if you wanted to transfer over your prized Rapidash, Drapion, Golisopod.... or use something completely new for the first time, chances are that particular Pokémon may not be obtainable at all.

- Anything else you want to mention?

Don't rely too heavily on others' opinions or experiences with the game. Just boot it up, choose your starter and see how far Miraidon can take you on that wild, wild ride all throughout your Paldea adventure have your own fun, your way!

Thank you so much for replying, Panda! That is very helpful! I’ll definitely keep what you said in mind .

I’m glad to hear that the issues aren’t as bad as I heard they were!

I had no idea the company was under a time crunch. That’s a shame. That’s one thing that has made me hesitate about trying the newer games, that over the years the quality and care being less than they used to. I didn’t get a chance to try omega sapphire & ruby, but I played the originals; I do understand what you mean at least from remembering my experiences playing them and looking at what the games are like now.

Reading your comment and everyone elses comment here helps a lot to remind me to still keep an open mind, to try the game and to find my own way to enjoy it like you said to do . I think I have an idea what I want to try doing. I’ve heard about people making challenges for themselves so since I’ll be just starting out I might try one if my idea is feasible.

 

[LittleMissPanda]

Thank you so much for replying, Panda! That is very helpful! I’ll definitely keep what you said in mind .

I’m glad to hear that the issues aren’t as bad as I heard they were!

I had no idea the company was under a time crunch. That’s a shame. That’s one thing that has made me hesitate about trying the newer games, that over the years the quality and care being less than they used to. I didn’t get a chance to try omega sapphire & ruby, but I played the originals; I do understand what you mean at least from remembering my experiences playing them and looking at what the games are like now.

Reading your comment and everyone elses comment here helps a lot to remind me to still keep an open mind, to try the game and to find my own way to enjoy it like you said to do . I think I have an idea what I want to try doing. I’ve heard about people making challenges for themselves so since I’ll be just starting out I might try one if my idea is feasible.

Speaking of people making challenges for themselves, for my second run of Scarlet that's exactly what I did I had the cutest idea of trying a baby only challenge, where I kept my Pokémon team in their first stage evolutions throughout the whole game to see how far we could go.

We went quite far, actually! It was genuinely the most fun I had with the game, even though some parts were really tough, but that was the whole point. For the challenge! And it was definitely a lot more fun than I thought it'd be, I was seriously hooked! I plan to do another baby run the next time I replay Scarlet. I think this time I'll use a Mudbray with the Stamina ability!

If you'd like, you can check out our journey here and here fair warning, though, it contains mild spoilers (nothing story-related, just some important battles) so if you'd rather avoid that no worries! Just thought it'd be nice to share with you

 

[Dunquixote]

Speaking of people making challenges for themselves, for my second run of Scarlet that's exactly what I did I had the cutest idea of trying a baby only challenge, where I kept my Pokémon team in their first stage evolutions throughout the whole game to see how far we could go.

We went quite far, actually! It was genuinely the most fun I had with the game, even though some parts were really tough, but that was the whole point. For the challenge! And it was definitely a lot more fun than I thought it'd be, I was seriously hooked! I plan to do another baby run the next time I replay Scarlet. I think this time I'll use a Mudbray with the Stamina ability!

If you'd like, you can check out our journey here and here fair warning, though, it contains mild spoilers (nothing story-related, just some important battles) so if you'd rather avoid that no worries! Just thought it'd be nice to share with you

Ahh thanks for sharing! I loved your commentary and screenshots! That is so awesome! All your Pokemon are so cute too . That sounds like it was a lot of fun! It makes me even more motivated to try a challenge for myself!

 

[Snek]

Next 7 Star Raid is Swampert with a Poison Tera!

The event will run from May 31st - June 2nd and a repeat event will run from June 7th - June 9th.

 

[Midoriya]

Just wanted to stop by and share that I have a FULL shiny competitive team now for Pokemon Scarlet/Violet thanks to @Chibi.Hoshi raising a shiny Dragapult for me. This is the team I used during the tournament and won a few battles with, featuring mons from @/michealsmells, @/Chibi.Hoshi, and others. Also, hopefully @/IonicKarma is okay with me sharing this, although to be fair there's nothing in the rules that say you can't disclose your own team (ngl, I'm probably going to swap out a few anyway).

Spoiler: Pokemon Scarlet/Violet competitive shiny team

 

[Lancelot]

Just wanted to stop by and share that I have a FULL shiny competitive team now for Pokemon Scarlet/Violet thanks to @Chibi.Hoshi raising a shiny Dragapult for me. This is the team I used during the tournament and won a few battles with, featuring mons from @/michealsmells, @/Chibi.Hoshi, and others. Also, hopefully @/IonicKarma is okay with me sharing this, although to be fair there's nothing in the rules that say you can't disclose your own team (ngl, I'm probably going to swap out a few anyway).

Spoiler: Pokemon Scarlet/Violet competitive shiny team

Shiny dragapult is so dope. I’ve been trying to put together a shiny team that I like but have discovered I like way too many fighting type pokemon

 

[Snek]

Next 7 Star Raid is Emboar with an Electric Tera!

This event will run from June 14th - June 16th. A repeat event will run from June 21 - June 23rd. During the repeat event, the Blisseys will return with Exp. Candy and Tera Shard rewards.

 

[Lancelot]

I've been playing through the DLC and I'm nearly done with the Teal Mask but I keep thinking, what is the actual point of the Rotostick?

A sentient flying phone needing a stick to take photos from further away makes 0 sense

 

[Halloqueen]

On the topic of the in-game photography, I too have been playing Scarlet recently; the shiny hunting during The Bell Tree World Championships got me into shiny hunting with the sandwich method, and I've been going through the DLC. I beat the Teal Mask DLC and am currently going through the Indigo Disk DLC.

I think that it's a ridiculous oversight that we have all of these emotes to use when playing with friends but that those same emotes cannot be used for selfies like for your trainer card.

Kind of crazy that the photo stuff in Sun & Moon still seems to be the best they've done so far. Why is there no option to zoom in when taking pictures in Legends Arceus and Scarlet & Violet, Game Freak?

That aside, been enjoying the DLC content.

 

[Suguri]

On the topic of the in-game photography, I too have been playing Scarlet recently; the shiny hunting during The Bell Tree World Championships got me into shiny hunting with the sandwich method, and I've been going through the DLC. I beat the Teal Mask DLC and am currently going through the Indigo Disk DLC.

I think that it's a ridiculous oversight that we have all of these emotes to use when playing with friends but that those same emotes cannot be used for selfies like for your trainer card.

Kind of crazy that the photo stuff in Sun & Moon still seems to be the best they've done so far. Why is there no option to zoom in when taking pictures in Legends Arceus and Scarlet & Violet, Game Freak?

That aside, been enjoying the DLC content.

I'm sorry about the photos, but either way I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying the DLC.

I'm crazy for one of the DLC characters, Kieran! Every time someone brings up anything I find related to him, I always make sure to mention this lovely kid's name. What do you think of him? Sorry if I come off as annoying, I just love him soooo much!

 

[LoyalDragonfly]

I've been playing through the DLC and I'm nearly done with the Teal Mask but I keep thinking, what is the actual point of the Rotostick?

A sentient flying phone needing a stick to take photos from further away makes 0 sense

Thank you. I've been upset about this for a long time. Every time it shows the phone floating in front of my face, I'm like... why do I even need to hold it selfie style in the first place????

 

[Halloqueen]

Whoever decided that Pokémon in the Blueberry Academy Terrarium ought to have recoil moves, including the wild starters, is rude. Particularly since they introduced that whole upgrade that lets you more easily tell if a Pokémon is potentially Humungo or Teensy sized.

I'm sorry about the photos, but either way I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying the DLC.

I'm crazy for one of the DLC characters, Kieran! Every time someone brings up anything I find related to him, I always make sure to mention this lovely kid's name. What do you think of him? Sorry if I come off as annoying, I just love him soooo much!

I'll report back once I've finished the Indigo Disk, Pecharunt postgame and seen his full character arc played out. I've beaten three of the Blueberry Elite Four so far, been kind of distracted filling the Pokédex, but will be facing Drayton next, so I imagine I'm probably approaching that point soon.

 

[Lancelot]

I recently finished Kitikami Teal Mask DLC and sort of wish it had been the main game with more time exploring Kieran and the lousy 3. It felt nice having a storyline revolving a legend instead of the paradox mons. Kieran and his sister were far more interesting to me than Arven, Nemona and Penny

I don't particularly like the paradox mons though and don't feel like Miraidon and Koraidon are legendaries sl that probably doesn't help...

 

[Snek]

Next 7 Star Raid is Sceptile with a Dragon Tera!

The event will run from June 28th - June 30th. A repeat event will run from July 5th - July 7th and will feature the Blissey raids that reward Exp. Candies and Tera Shards.

 

[ShadowLelouch97]

I really have to say, despite the graphics and poor performance of the games, Scarlet and Violet are some of the most fun I've had in a Pokemon game for a long time. My friend from work borrowed my copy of Scarlet, and it was her first Pokemon game and she enjoyed it!

 

[Halloqueen]

I really have to say, despite the graphics and poor performance of the games, Scarlet and Violet are some of the most fun I've had in a Pokemon game for a long time. My friend from work borrowed my copy of Scarlet, and it was her first Pokemon game and she enjoyed it!

Yeah, I quite enjoy Scarlet; I still need to play Violet, I've bred a team for a playthrough but haven't gotten around to it yet. While the graphical issues are a bummer, I can look past them and since I've barely ever utilized the feature that lets you play with friends out in the world, I never really encountered the crazy stuff seen in the early days post-launch like the stretched out player models with their eyes popping out and stuff. My primary gripe with the games is how broken the tera raids are with the lag.

Despite the game's technical faults, there's plenty to like about these games. There are a good number of new Pokémon that I like, Terastalization is a really nice gimmick, there's some great music, the player character facial customization was good (tragically we're limited to the school uniforms and DLC outfits in terms of clothing), the characters were neat by Pokémon game standards since they got a bit more attention than usual, the Paldea region is fun to explore and albeit still limited, I like that you can choose what objectives to do in what order to some extent. I've also found it kind of fun to shiny hunt with the sandwich method since it's pretty simple and easy, and I'm the sort who never really enjoyed hunting for wild shiny Pokémon and always preferred Masuda Method breeding to get shinies; with the Nature Mints, Bottle Caps, and Ability Capsules/Patches to fix any issues, it makes breeding for the perfect/near perfect thing way less important.

I'd have to mull it over to figure out where in the grand scheme I'd rank it against the other generations, but it feels fairly solid.

Glad your friend enjoyed her time with the game!

 

[-Blue-]

Yeah, I quite enjoy Scarlet; I still need to play Violet, I've bred a team for a playthrough but haven't gotten around to it yet. While the graphical issues are a bummer, I can look past them and since I've barely ever utilized the feature that lets you play with friends out in the world, I never really encountered the crazy stuff seen in the early days post-launch like the stretched out player models with their eyes popping out and stuff. My primary gripe with the games is how broken the tera raids are with the lag.

I've seen a lot of videos about all the issues. I think the ones where the character models were really messed up were players going out of their way to create that issue somehow. I played my cousin's game and I did come across a lot of issues. I would clip through the land and have to return to some town or something to get back to real land a lot lol.

 

[Lancelot]

I just finished all the DLC storyline and theres a scene at the end with Kieran talking that would've been SO good if the game had voice acting. Just found this on youtube and it makes me sad how much better the games could've been