ThePokémonseries has been slowly evolving over the past few decades, introducing new features, shaking up old ones, and, most importantly, changing its approach to region design. Perhaps the biggest deviator from tradition in this regard wasPokémon Scarlet and Violet, as they introducedPokémonfans to a full-blown open-world region followed up by two sizeable DLC areas. Of course, it is great to seePokémonbreak tradition and give fans something fresh to look forward to.
With the next mainline game in the series, which will be Gen 10, on the horizon, it’s clear that even more work needs to be done to innovate on the foundations thePokémonseries has dogmatically relied on for so long. In fact, Gen 10 mustfixPokémon’sbiggest problems, many of which were actually introduced byScarlet and Violet. While many of those games' largest issues, such as performance, will undoubtedly be fixed by virtue of the Switch 2’s more powerful hardware,one feature needs to be removed entirely in order for Gen 10 to be truly successful.
Pokémon Scarlet & Violet’s Open World Isn’t Good
It Is Far Too Empty
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’sbiggest problem, outside theatrocious performance at launch, is its open world. Simply put, it is not good. The largest problem withScarlet and Violet’sopen world is its structure. Rather than following the traditional formula perfected byBreath of the Wildin which players are given the freedom to explore every inch of the world,players are gated from most areas inScarlet and Violetuntil they progress through one of the main storylines. Some areas are separated by large bodies which require the player to unlock the main legendary’s swimming ability to traverse across.
Similarly, to scale the mountains that block an area, players must learn the ability to climb. It makes the open world feel completely linear, something that wouldn’t inherently be a problem save for the fact that Nintendo marketed the game’snarratives as being completely freeform, with players able to tackle their content in whichever order they wanted. In reality,there is a level of progression to each storyline that is hidden behind the illusion of a sandbox open world. Of course, there are other issues withPokémon Scarlet and Violet’sopen world, namely its lack of meaningful content.
While not every open world needs to be littered with quest markers, outside of specific story locations or the completely barren towns - which also serve as one of the mostdisappointing parts ofScarlet and Violet- there is nothing to do while exploring. Players can pick up items and there are the Tera Raids to beat and Gimmoghoul Coins to collect, but these are passive activities that aren’t worth hunting down. Beyond those,all someone can expect to do while exploring inScarlet and Violetis admire the scenery, which is disappointing considering the visual state of the game.
This level of emptiness isn’t present in the earlier titles, as they were more linear and tailored towards the player’s journey, allowing developers to carefully place distractions and unique NPCs for players to interact with along the way. There’s nothing particularly surprising inPokémon Scarlet and Violet, not in the same way as there are in other Nintendo open-world games likeBreath of the Wild,Xenoblade Chronicles 3, or evenPokémon Legends: Arceusto an extent.Gen 10 absolutely needs to do away with this open-world format, especially if it is going to feel as lackluster asScarlet and Violet’s.
Pokémon Gen 10 Needs Smaller Maps
A More Compact But Densely Detailed World Could Help
One solution is for the Gen 10Pokémongame to switch back to the small open areas as seen inLegends: Arceus. While they weren’t as dynamic as the open areas seen in theXenoblade Chroniclesseries, they did offer more concise and memorable locations that were consistently exciting to uncover.The smaller scale and segmented structure not only reduce the rate at which players will fatigue of the emptiness but also ensure that players constantly have something to look forward to, as unlocking a new area is endlessly fun.
This structure was also seen inSword and Shieldto an extent, as it featured more traditional routes with a larger open area. It is just one of the many waysGen 9 was a downgradefromPokémon Sword and Shield, as, while not perfect, Gen 8 at least managed to offer engaging exploration when compared toScarlet and Violet. Of course,the power of the Switch 2 makes the style seen either inSword and ShieldorLegends: Arceusachievable on a grander scale, with the new hardware allowing for a greater amount of depth and detail per zone.
All of this helped to makeLegends: Arceusa more interesting and unique open world experience compared toScarlet and Violet, even though its areas were significantly smaller.
One aspect that also helpedLegends: Arceusfeel less empty was itsapproach to catching Pokémon. As players could throw Pokéballs outside of combat,it gave each area an additional layer of interactivity, as well as encouraging alternative ways of approaching them. Additionally, the inclusion of stealth as well as the risk of being attacked out in the open by powerful Pokémon meant that exploration had a level of risk to it. All of this helped to makeLegends: Arceusa more interesting and unique open-world experience compared toScarlet and Violet, even though its areas were significantly smaller.
Pokémon Gen 10 Could Be Linear
A Return To The Series' Roots
The other alternative is for Pokémon to return back to its roots and feature linear routes again. While it seems like a regression in a lot of ways, there’s a reason the series relied on this form of world design for so long. Routes serve as the perfect way of structuring content while still giving players the impression that they’re on an adventure.It ensures that players progress at a steady pace, encounter new towns at the exact right moment, and never get bored, as curated content is always around the corner.
Pokémon’sroute design also allowed for more dramatic changes in visual design, allowing players to venture from sweltering jungles to ice-capped mountains to volcanic hot springs all within minutes. Of course,these routes were also interconnected, which gave the region a sense of cohesion without ruining the inherent linear nature of this style of world design. Ingeniously, it required the player to reach a certain point or unlock a certain HM in order to circle back, meaning that they wouldn’t get the jaw-dropping moment of seeing just how far they’ve come until toward the end of the game.
Pokémon Scarlet & Violet Needed A Real Villain, But There’s A Way For Gen 10 To Be Perfect Without One
The future core Generation 10 games of the Pokémon franchise could make a striking break with tradition and have no main villain character to fight.
There is a beautiful and ironically complex simplicity toPokémon’soriginal world design. Pokémon could be staggered throughout each region, level-gating made more sense, and the series felt more adventurous as a whole. While some people undeniably loveScarlet and Violet’sopen-world structure, it may be time forfan-favoritePokémonfeatures to goand either see a return to the old-school world design of the original games, or a far more detailed version ofLegends: Arceus’open area structure, as Game Freak is clearly not up to the task of making an open world just yet.
