Pokémon Scarlet Preview – A Battle Between New And Old

Going into my hands-on time with Pokémon Scarlet, I was expecting some changes based on the ninth generation’s embrace of open-world gameplay and a “do what you want when you want” mentality with its three primary story paths. Pokémon has yet to take the massive generational shift I’ve dreamed of for years and has instead opted for half-steps with each new entry. Scarlet isn’t the transformation I hoped for, but it’s significantly more than a simple half-step, representing arguably the most considerable shift in mainline Pokémon history. 

Although I only explored one small area of Scarlet’s overall map, it took me around an hour to complete the task. However, in-game, it seemed much bigger. I saw three objective markers across a valley and a desert area, each representing one of the three main story paths: the Victory Road path, which is the standard eight-gym storyline seen throughout the series, the Path of Legends, consisting of tracking and battling Titan Pokémon, and Starfall Street, a unique take on the Team Rocket-esque plotline found in every mainline entry. Determined to experience a little bit of all three, I took off from the southern region of the map toward a Path of Legends marker, and I did so atop Koraidon, the legendary Pokémon adorning the Scarlet box. 

Pokémon Legends: Arceus inspiration is clearest here because, like Arceus’various helpful Pokémon, Koraidon can glide through the air, swim through lakes and oceans, and climb up cliffs. It can be ridden atop the mountain from anywhere you like, making Paldea traversal faster than walking. This made it feel more seamless in the open world and speeded up gameplay that could sometimes feel slow. Even more surprising was how fluid the world is when riding Koraidon. 

When roaming the area, I saw different wild Pokémon all around me. A Lechonk was aggressive and threatening to fight me if I approached him. One Shinx was special and glowed at a distance. It is an unusual Tera-type. There was a small number of Shinx in other places, as well as Magikarp floating through the sea while gracefully gliding over it. Taking inspiration from Arceus, Scarlet’s world feels alive thanks to these wild Pokémon.

It was a surprise to me when I went into battle with one. Instead of the screen-break transition, which is usually followed by a battle theme tune, it just started. There was no pause, no change in camera – nothing other than the shift in music. The most amazing aspect of this preview was it. You can move the camera freely while selecting moves and watching the battle play out, which gave me a sense of cinematic freedom I’ve never felt in Pokémon before. After the battle, I could ride back on Koraidon again, with no transitions or screen breaks. 

Furthering my sense of control and freedom over the seamless landscape was a mechanic strangely named “Let’s Go.” Here, you press R to send out the Pokémon arranged first in your party to retrieve an item or battle a Pokémon. It’s completely autonomous. After pressing R toward a direction, your Pokémon is sent out and does its own thing. You’ll need to pay attention to type and levels to ensure your Pokémon can defeat the one it’s attacking. 

If your Pokémon faints, you need to revive it with an item or at the Pokémon Center. Here, you can also restore your Terastalize ability, which one Pokémon can only use in one battle at a time. After using it, you’ll need to restore it at the Pokémon Center or by interacting with one of the various Tera jewel formations spread throughout the open world. You can also find the Tera Raids here.

I did one with other players, and while it was fun, it wasn’t all that different from raids seen in Pokémon Sword and Shield (although much more visually impressive). After completing a raid, which houses a rare Tera-type Pokémon, you can capture it. You can freely attack during raids in an Active Time Battle format similar to Final Fantasy. You can also perform callouts to chat with the team, Cheer to raise the attack or defense of your allies, or heal their Pokémon up. 

After I had reached the Titan questline marker, a huge Klawf welcomed me. Nintendo explained to me that the Titan encounters consist of three steps. They involve tracking down their runners and fighting against them. A third step is not possible due to preview parameters. Although I enjoyed the experience, it was easy to see how Titan battles would become repetitive. Nintendo gave previewers overpowered teams, too, so I don’t have a grasp on Scarlet’s challenge, unfortunately. 

Here I was able to visit one of many Team Star bases and try the Starfall Street route. Although I attempted to fly in from high, the game said I should enter through the front gate. Upon reaching here, Nintendo told me to put the three Pokémon I wanted to fight with at the top of my party. Once inside, a timer appeared, and I had 10 minutes to defeat 30 Team Star Pokémon. I didn’t do this by completing standard Pokémon battles, though. I finished this challenge using the Let’s Go mechanic I mentioned earlier, as instructed. It was quite easy – again, I had an overpowered team – and I completed it in just a minute or two.

Nintendo tells me this is how these bases are defeated and I was disappointed to hear that because this wasn’t particularly fun. However, I think that with a less powerful, more level-appropriate team, there’s a good and unique challenge to be had. At the end, I battled the base’s leader, Mela, who you might have seen in a trailer or two. 

She stood atop a large and colorful truck-like vehicle called the Starmobile, and her Pokémon battled from there, too. After she had defeated her party, it was time to defeat the Starmobile. 

After finishing the preview with single-player, I tried to finish a gym for Victory Road. I took on Brassius, a grass-type leader, in one of Paldea’s various towns. Before I could fight him, though, I had to complete his gym’s challenge: finding 10 Sunflora scattered around the town. This was easy and quick, yet charming. I hope other challenges will be more of an actual challenge – Nintendo tells me some will feature battles, so perhaps I’ll get my fix there. I couldn’t complete my battle with Brassius due to time, but after completing the Sunflora challenge, I could go right to fighting him rather than progressing through a gym filled with trainers. 

My last bit of hands-on is about picnics. Like Sword and Shield’s camping, you can set up a picnic to interact with your party, play ball with them, clean them off with a shower, and build and eat sandwiches together.

It seems that sandwich-making is an important part of the current generation. There were many shops that sold ingredients and pre-made meals in the towns I was visiting. Picking your ingredients is the first step in making a sandwich. Then you have to drag them from their plates onto the sandwich. You’ll need to stack ingredients properly and choose ones that mesh well to make a delicious sandwich, and the animation that plays after completing one lets you know how you did. It’s cute, and the perks of eating a sandwich with your party seem great, though I can’t specifically mention what those perks are. 

I left my Pokémon Scarlet preview feeling more excited about a new Pokémon than I had in a long time. I was eager to see more from Sword and Shield, particularly since it is the first major mainline entry for Switch. Scarlet and Violet aren’t flipping the formula on its head, but there are enough changes that I’d call this the biggest generational transformation in years, perhaps in series history.

This series is more alive and vibrant because of its open-world elements. The ability to more freely engage with the three primary story paths seems fun, too, but I wasn’t able to test out its limits. Are there built-in levels that will force me to take on these tasks in a particular way? That was a question I could not find an answer to in this preview, but I’m hoping the former is true come November. I also hope I’m tested more in the final game because I felt little pushback from Scarlet during this preview.

Nonetheless, the design of Scarlet’s open world, its improved visuals, and how well its individual pieces seem to flow together have me excited to experience this Paldean journey, even if I’m left wanting more in other aspects of Pokémon’s new generation.