After much mystery surrounding Pokémon Scarlet and Violet's multi-path possibilities, today's trailer has shed some light on the story elements that we can expect to find in the game and revealed that the three different paths are just that: different paths.
The Paldea region will not be governed by the strict movement from Gym A to Gym B, with the trailer giving us a taste of what the three storylines will entail.
So let's break down everything that we know about the different paths, as well as outline the kind of challenges you will face along the way...
Victory Road
The 'Victory Road' pathway is perhaps the most conventional gameplay structure for a Pokémon game — but would it really be a Pokémon game without it?
In this story, you apparently progress through Paldea's eight gyms to become a Champion-Ranked trainer. While this initially seems very close-to-home for the series, there are some new features here that are bound to make things a little more interesting.
Perhaps the most prominent of these is the newly introduced 'Gym Test', also dubbed 'The First Trail of the Gyms'. These challenges will be unique to each gym, with the one shown in the trailer having your trainer running around town in the search for Sunflora. Only once you have completed the Gym Test will you be able to take on the town's gym and its leader, so this introduction should keep you exploring Paldea's urban areas a little more than other regions have done in the past.
Path of Legends
The second storyline that you will have the option to play, 'Path of Legends', will see you embarking on a quest to find Herba Mystica, a rare health-restoring herb unique to Paldea.
Just a spot of gardening, that doesn't sound like too much of a mission? Well hang on now, these herbs are fiercely guarded by Titan Pokémon who don't look like they are going to be giving up without a fight.
Journeying with herbologist and (for some reason) chef Arven, 'Path of Legends' sees you facing off against huge Pokémon to further your research and see a side of Paldea which is not quite so full of gym-talk.
Starfall Street
The third and final arc for you to undertake in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is a trip down 'Starfall Street'.
More closely related to the Team Rocket storylines of the previous games, this path will have you taking down pesky students who appear to have made a headquarters for themselves out in the hills of the region (as you do).
Unlike the Team Rockets of Pokémon games gone by, this storyline has the group divided out into different squads, each helmed by a truck-riding boss. The trailer introduced us to one of these new antagonists, Mela (below), whose rainbow-encrusted Starmobile had us instantly thinking of some kind of Mad Max fever dream. Take down all the students before taking on the boss and their vehicle to move on to the next challenge.
So there we have it, three different storylines and a brand new region to explore! We had predicted that Victory Road and a Team Rocket replacement would be likely to make an appearance, though the Path of Legends has us ready for some herb hunting.
Which pathway will you be taking on first? Map out your journey in the comments below!
Further reading:
[source scarletviolet.pokemon.com]
Comments 15
So just your normal Pokémon game then
@UltimateOtaku91 Exactly this.
I was saying this when they announced that there would be 3 stories to follow. Pokemon games have always had 3 stories and this is nothing new for the series.
Calling them 3 separate paths is a bit misleading.
I will start with path of legends.
I do wish there was some way to share ghost data that would set another player as the champion (and would send out yours when you win) so you aren’t the chosen one. Maybe even have ghost data “challenge you” to keep your title. It’s arbitrary but I love how dragon’s dogma did it.
These are technically what we have seen before, but I am interested if there is a chosen-route system that lets you pick where to begin and how these are presented. Is it one after the other? Are they overlapping? And how does the pacing feel different from previous games. If all these are more fleshed out than what we have seen then this is great, but if it is more of the same, then this isn't going to satiate fans.
These have all been in other games in the series but at least it’s nice that we can do them in any order
I think they calling them different paths because they are no longer locked by each other or gym progression, so you could do any of them independently from start to finish (with a bit of grinding.)
Is the Path of Legends the "treasure hunt"?
Geeta looks......familiar.
I can't be the only one seeing this.
If the games are as open-world as Breath of the Wild is, then I'll most likely stumble onto the story progress points while aimlessly dicking around Paldea.
Not a complaint. I'd actually dig that. It's what made BOTW so enjoyable to me.
Sooooo.... question. If these students, quite literally labeled troublemakers, basically set up a barricaded fortress and began harassing folks nonstop, why haven't hey been expelled yet??? I mean, if a bunch of high schoolers from my area decided to set up junk barricades in a park and (for lack of a more succinct Pokémon equivalent) skipped school to toss stink bombs and shooting water cannons at joggers, guaranteed their school would be be notified and take some action... My suspension of disbelief for a Pokémon game of all things can only go so far.
This game is sounding awesome by the minute.
It's kind of ironic, Victory Road is exactly what the latest Pokémon games have been lacking in. As if it's finally going to truly return here, well, where do you think the Chairman will be located? There's a mysterious spot in the center of the region after all.
The other two quests also looking exciting, but how they will play out will be decided when first looks arrive.
100% I knew it would be something dumb like this. Not really 3 stories so much as 3 threads of the story, perhaps more isolated than in previous generations.
Game Freak truly is king at hyping small changes up as something new and exciting. I still remember when everyone was raving about how fresh and different Alola trials were compared to gyms, and I thought I was taking crazy pills for pointing out they are 90% the same.
When I think multiple stories, I think more along the lines of the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games (the good ones). Those had clear jumping off points in the story where there was a satisfying conclusion and game's worth of content, but then a new story arc started. Of course, those games weren't made by Game Freak...
So like a normal mainline Pokémon game structure. Actual new storylines will be dlc like with SW/SD
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