Pokemon Scarlet & Violet - 18th Nov 2022! **OFFICIAL INFO ONLY**

[Yung Dramps]

I have said from very early on that SV is a 6/10 game that is an 8.5-9/10 when it works. Compared to SwSh, which I found inoffensive technically but incredibly unengaging in terms of design, story, and characters.

The Technical upgrade, even if it's mostly brute force from the stronger hardware, goes a VERY long way to improving the experience, and I hope it's easier to discuss the merits of the region and game design now that every other poster doesn't think it's comedy genius to mention the frame rate (which to be clear, was a flaw but was injected into talk about things like the Mons or the Map).

I've seen a handful of comments asking for SWSH to get a 60 fps patch and I don't really get them because it's not a game that would actually benefit that much. It would be an improvement, but only of the most incremental variety: The fact of the matter is that, at least pre-DLC, SWSH isn't doing the sort of game design that needs a higher framerate to thrive. For the most part it's a pretty safe turn-based JRPG where unlike in SV you aren't navigating a 3D sandbox with an ever-expanding pool of traversal options (theoretically the Wild Area would fulfill this role but the Wild Area sucks so lol). Aside from being a pretty dismal look in its own right SV's buggered performance was literally the worst game it could happen to because you're flying around and climbing mountainsides and shit. No action RPG mechanics, but that's still far more movement focus than the vast majority of what came before it!

Now, a patch for Legends Arceus? THAT would be real juicy

 

[Valoo]

Wait is it confirmed you have to pay for an upgrade to Switch 2 Graphics?

Only if you buy the switch version. You can just be the switch 2 edition otherwise.

 

[AztecCroc]

Only if you buy the switch version. You can just be the switch 2 edition otherwise.

The Switch 2 version is also 10 bucks more than the Switch 1 version. You're paying extra for it no matter how you get it.

 

[bdt2002]

Aren't you fun at parties? I'll open by noting that I've seen no indication of SV going up from their initial $60 release price, so I don't know where you got the $70 figure from since all indication is this is just the free Switch 2 update running with a Switch 1 game.

And "what merits?" Okay, I think SV has the strongest primary cast (Player, Rivals, and recurring friendlies/teams), one of my favorite in-game run mon spreads, and does away with the main thing I hate in Open-Worlds like "Here's 100 Shrines and 2000 random Koroks to find if you want to call the game complete" in favor of just dotting the routes with items to pick up and just giving space to look around for Pokemon (in short, the "filler" stuff for the world is optional even for a completionist). I would happily endorse Pokemon games designed in the vein of SV over whatever the hell SwSh was for subsequent Gens on the basis of actually having a scenario written and something resembling thought or boss design (i.e. Titans and Starmobiles which aren't just switching for SE 1v1's against equal enemy Mons).

Does that answer the question or do I need to be more backhanded?

I’m going to apologize if my original post about this came across as rude or insensitive. I’m also going to say that I agree that a lot of what Scarlet & Violet brought to the table was great in theory and should be easier to enjoy in its full execution when the game performance isn’t weighing down people’s enjoyment of the overall package they paid for on the new hardware. I’ve always considered myself a part of the “Pokémon should never have gone open world” club, but I absolutely agree that this was a better deal and a better experience for me as a player than Sword & Shield ever were, at least for the sake of in-game and online.

Do I think the $10 upgrade for most of these games (some like Kirby & The Forgotten Land are actually $20 but at least that has some new content) is stupid? That I do. Am I somewhat disappointed in Update 4.0.0? Yes, but again, that’s largely my fault for getting my own hopes up about new content. My opinions on those things have not changed, but I enjoyed reading your reply and I actually really like it when posts like yours help me reconsider things from a more positive and generally less… I guess you could say less selfish perspective, depending on the topic. I’ll end this reply post by saying that the early 2020s were a very inconsistent and generally pretty stressful time for me overall, and a lot of what happened in 2021 and to a lesser extent 2022 may have influenced my opinions on these games pretty negatively.

 

[Coronis]

Gotta say, I love how well SV is running on the Switch 2.

Once I get my hands on the Switch 2 this will finally give me the incentive to replay it.

SV is, despite its technical flaws on Switch 1, one of my favorite entries in the franchise, because for all its flaws there are so many things I love about it, and a smoother experience of it on Switch 2 is going to be even better for me. I already loved the game to begin with but the enhancements on Switch 2 are going to elevate the experience even more for me.

I may have misunderstood, but due to Pokemon not being part of the cloud, don’t we have to start new saves on Switch 2? And I think Animal Crossing too?

 

[Worldie]

I may have misunderstood, but due to Pokemon not being part of the cloud, don’t we have to start new saves on Switch 2? And I think Animal Crossing too?

I believe you can but need to do the account transfer thing as if you were to move from a Switch to another Switch.

 

[R_N]

I may have misunderstood, but due to Pokemon not being part of the cloud, don’t we have to start new saves on Switch 2? And I think Animal Crossing too?

I believe you can but need to do the account transfer thing as if you were to move from a Switch to another Switch.

Correct, the system transfer does, in fact, transfer any saves like this without issues. Even Animal Crossing, which doesn't need to use the transfer tool application for it.

source: me


Also the 60 FPS is honestly very jarring and somehow makes the pop in that happens way more obvious

 

[tofucocoa]

agreed that 60fps is very jarring. I've also done some ranked battles and I feel like my turn plays out faster than my opponents', and my battle ends quick enough as to where i actually have to wait for my rank to update, as opposed to the message saying "you may need to wait for your rank results to be updated" taking long enough to load that it's already updated. which is actually slightly annoying! everything else about the framerates has been pretty good but i can't help but wonder if it may be optimal to play on switch 1 if you ever need to timer stall on ladder... not that i would be that sweaty. unless i run into smeargle muk.

 

[Karxrida]

Now that the patch is out and I have a Switch 2, I'll very likely start Violet once I'm done with my Minish Cap playthrough. ADHD and executive dysfunction have for once worked in my favor since the game has been untouched on my shelf basically since lauch. It's even still in its saran wrap. I only get to experience the good version of the game and never have to touch the barely functional one.

More importantly, the Serebii video at least seemed almost… ah, what’s the word… it felt like Pokémon was basically telling him what to say. It didn’t feel authentic, if that makes sense.

ngl he's always come off as kind of a corporate shill so that tracks.

 

[bdt2002]

Now that the patch is out and I have a Switch 2, I'll very likely start Violet once I'm done with my Minish Cap playthrough. ADHD and executive dysfunction have for once worked in my favor since the game has been untouched on my shelf basically since lauch. It's even still in its saran wrap. I only get to experience the good version of the game and never have to touch the barely functional one.

There was a time when I thought I would never say this, but if I had to pick between The Minish Cap and Pokémon Violet, even if I never played Violet I would pick The Minish Cap every day in a heartbeat. The thing is, my 2017-18 model Switch is still in decent condition save for the lack of a kickstand I never used anyway, and save for that one God-forsaken town with the on and off sandstorm, I barely had any issues playing that game. In single player, anyway. Let’s just say that the poorly optimized SV engine didn’t pair well with our already spotty Internet connection and Nintendo’s just as spotty online servers for multiplayer.

In all seriousness, I like to compare playing Scarlet & Violet on the original Switch hardware to playing the Alola games on an older model 3DS. Aside from the math and the numbers lining up, the performance is honestly pretty comparable. By the time Sun & Moon came out the “New 3DS” line of handhelds had already released so I would imagine a lot of people just decided to play through Alola on that instead. Just for fun, I once tried booting up my own copy of Sun on my old 3DS I got in 2012, and suffice to say I haven’t tried it since, especially now that I have my “current” New 2DS XL I got and have been using since the pandemic. I may or may not have accidentally broke my New 3DS XL from 2015 beforehand lmao

 

[R_N]

Pokémon Scarlet & Violet's Ranked Battle Regulation J has been officially announced. This Regulation Ruleset will run from September 1st 2025 through to January 4th 2026 and allows for you to use up to 2 Restricted Pokémon on a team including Mythical Pokémon for the first time
While Ranked Battle will be Regulation J, live VGC tournaments will use Regulation H until November 2025

https://sv-news.pokemon.co.jp/en/page/382.html

SWSH did something similar towards the end of its life, but I think it's neat when they let Mythics out to play like this.

They should use it for VGC 2026 just to see if they begrudgingly do international events to actually get some of the mythics who have either not had new events to give them out in years or did get them but only in like japan

 

[Mad Ram]

And this time they have Arceus in the mix, so you can actually have a Mythical that can stand up statwise to the Restricteds. Also Darkrai. It's a good thing Dark Void sucks now, cause if not it would just destroy everything.

 

[Yung Dramps]

And this time they have Arceus in the mix, so you can actually have a Mythical that can stand up statwise to the Restricteds. Also Darkrai. It's a good thing Dark Void sucks now, cause if not it would just destroy everything.

God I'm so sad Legend Plate isn't in SV because a format with it would be absolutely hilarious

 

[Jungle cruiser]

Ayo we finally have an official format were we can use phione!!! About time!!

 

[CTNC]

And this time they have Arceus in the mix, so you can actually have a Mythical that can stand up statwise to the Restricteds. Also Darkrai. It's a good thing Dark Void sucks now, cause if not it would just destroy everything.

There's also Hoopa-U. It's probably not good enough, but it's still a 680 BST Mon.

I can see Magearna being another good Mythical because of Soul Heart giving a SpA boost whenever any Pokemon faints instead of just when it KOs a Pokemon.

And this time they have Arceus in the mix, so you can actually have a Mythical that can stand up statwise to the Restricteds. Also Darkrai. It's a good thing Dark Void sucks now, cause if not it would just destroy everything.

Wait... Dark Void on a Pokemon with 125 Speed AND a Prankster Immunity?! Oh... Oh no. I don't think you get the Gravity of the situation.

50 Accuracy sucks, but it's going to be a lot more accurate than that. Gravity giving every move 5/3 Accuracy brings Dark Void upto 83.3 Accuracy and Gravity + Hypnosis is already a combo that sees some use. (Honestly, I don't know how much or how good it is. I just know it's enough for Wolfy VGC to be able to recognize when a team he was facing was going to use.) We're finally going to see why Dark Void needed the Accuracy nerf in addition to Smeargle being unable to learn it any more.

 

[Karxrida]

Tbh still mad they decided to nerf Dark Void when it's on a Pokémon that had never(?) been VGC legal before said nerf. They could have just hardcoded it only work when used by Darkrai since Smeargle was clearly the problem there.

 

[BlueRay]

Tbh still mad they decided to nerf Dark Void when it's on a Pokémon that had never(?) been VGC legal before said nerf. They could have just hardcoded it only work when used by Darkrai since Smeargle was clearly the problem there.

I kind of agree, but I guess they wanted to keep open the option of mythicals in VGC, even if it's just like towards the end cycle of a generation. Sth. to bear in mind, though, is that in a Doubles format, nerfed Dark Void isn't necessarily a worse Hypnosis. Since it targets both Pkm, the odds of putting one of two Pkm to sleep is 75%. Under Gravity, it's 97.28% for one target and 69.72% for two. Pre-nerf Dark Void has a 96% chance for one target and 64% for two, excluding Gravity which would be guaranteed othherwise. That is quite terrifying, especially on such a fast Pkm like Darkrai. I wouldn't be surprised if people were to run Focus Sash on it to increase the odds. Even with the nerfed version, I have the feeling Darkrai will cause a lot of ladder terror and further increase Rillaboom and Miraidon's usage.

 

[Worldie]

Tbh still mad they decided to nerf Dark Void when it's on a Pokémon that had never(?) been VGC legal before said nerf. They could have just hardcoded it only work when used by Darkrai since Smeargle was clearly the problem there.

I kind of agree, but I guess they wanted to keep open the option of mythicals in VGC, even if it's just like towards the end cycle of a generation. Sth. to bear in mind, though, is that in a Doubles format, nerfed Dark Void isn't necessarily a worse Hypnosis. Since it targets both Pkm, the odds of putting one of two Pkm to sleep is 75%. Under Gravity, it's 97.28% for one target and 69.72% for two. Pre-nerf Dark Void has a 96% chance for one target and 64% for two, excluding Gravity which would be guaranteed othherwise. That is quite terrifying, especially on such a fast Pkm like Darkrai. I wouldn't be surprised if people were to run Focus Sash on it to increase the odds. Even with the nerfed version, I have the feeling Darkrai will cause a lot of ladder terror and further increase Rillaboom and Miraidon's usage.

Honestly you dont even need this mental gymnastic.

Nerfed dark void with gravity is basically slightly more accurate old dark void.
And we know how "fun" that was back in gen 6.

I agree now that the reason they double nerfed it was likely cause they were planning to do more of those end-of-generation seasons with myths allowed. And i am pretty confident Gravity + Dark Void *will* see play in it. The payoff for when it lands is just too good, expecially in a format that is really only Bo1 with no real money reward so there is no particular need for consistency

 

[Coronis]

As a non-VGC player, I’m still pissed that Dark Void is also 50% in single player. Are there other moves with differing accuracy depending on doubles/singles or would that have to be a specific thing for a single move?

 

[Worldie]

As a non-VGC player, I’m still pissed that Dark Void is also 50% in single player. Are there other moves with differing accuracy depending on doubles/singles or would that have to be a specific thing for a single move?

There is no move with different accuracy in doubles/singles, however there are a handful of moves with special behaviours in doubles (es Dragon Darts hitting 1 time each UNLESS one is immune, then it hits same twice) as well as the power reduction of spread moves that is common to all of them.

 

[Coronis]

There is no move with different accuracy in doubles/singles, however there are a handful of moves with special behaviours in doubles (es Dragon Darts hitting 1 time each UNLESS one is immune, then it hits same twice) as well as the power reduction of spread moves that is common to all of them.

Still, justice for Dark Void and all Darkrai lovers is needed.

Thanks Smeargle

 

[Worldie]

Still, justice for Dark Void and all Darkrai lovers is needed.

Thanks Smeargle

Honestly speaking... no

Something that I saw pointed in random youtube videos a few days ago, with Champions coming out, Mythicals will not be locked out by "being there for events" anymore. Most likely you'll be able to "buy" any pokemon with enough grinding just by playing.

This means, Myths may at some point be part of official formats. They've been tackling with it on "non-relevant" seasons so far, but with Champions coming, it's not completely impossible that we eventually get official score-valid formats with Mythical mons allowed. And we want nothing of unnerfed Dark Void there.

 

[R_N]

Honestly speaking... no

Something that I saw pointed in random youtube videos a few days ago, with Champions coming out, Mythicals will not be locked out by "being there for events" anymore. Most likely you'll be able to "buy" any pokemon with enough grinding just by playing.

This means, Myths may at some point be part of official formats. They've been tackling with it on "non-relevant" seasons so far, but with Champions coming, it's not completely impossible that we eventually get official score-valid formats with Mythical mons allowed. And we want nothing of unnerfed Dark Void there.

I would actually assume that Mythics will specifically not be up for rental under normal circumstances.

If rentable at all I imagine it would be during specific time &/or promotions, almost like some sort of...........event period..................

 

[Worldie]

I would actually assume that Mythics will specifically not be up for rental under normal circumstances.

If rentable at all I imagine it would be during specific time &/or promotions, almost like some sort of...........event period..................

Why would they though. The game doesnt have "rentals", you "buy" the pokemon with VP or whatever they are and then they become fully customizable in-Champions.
Once you unlock a pokemon it's yours to use. Forever.

I'm just speculating on the mythical part since I heard it from several pokemon-related Youtubers, but honestly it is something I can actually see happening.

 

[R_N]

Why would they though. The game doesnt have "rentals", you "buy" the pokemon with VP or whatever they are and then they become fully customizable in-Champions.
Once you unlock a pokemon it's yours to use. Forever.

I'm just speculating on the mythical part since I heard it from several pokemon-related Youtubers, but honestly it is something I can actually see happening.

OK well first of all in addition to buying them you can in fact rent them, for a one week period. Like, that is perhaps the most literal rental way of renting a Pokemon in any of these games with rentals.

Secondly sure I'll admit that I should have specified that I am using the rental/buy situation interchangably, I could call them the shop or something, but when I refer to the idea of Mythics only showing up for a certain period that's what I mean. They are available for rent or purchase for a limited period. Doesn't matter if you buy them you have them forever because it was only available for a 2 week period. Like actual events, in real life.

But also why wouldn't they? It keeps Mythicals in their goofy event-only space and they hypothetically have the capability of doing it and it plays into the live service aspect they may/may not be doing judging by the wording of how they talk about the super mechanics implying a drip feed. Also available Pokemon in general, for that matter.