Pokemon Scarlet and Violetare revolutionary games even more than some of the past entries in the series, and their many new or reworked features can act as an amazing springboard for future titles too, such as Gen 10 or aPokemon Legendssequel. One of the most polarizing aspects of the games isPokemon Scarlet and Violet’s open-world settingand free exploration, which works wonders when combined with the three storylines in Paldea, as players can choose their own path across the region and collect badges along the way. Another major change in Gen 9 is the fact that players can fully customize the appearance of their character through multiple options for eyes, eyebrows, mouth, make-up, hair, and much more.
This is unprecedented in the series, and games likePokemon SwordandShieldor the Gen 4 remakes never allowed for physical changes to be made to the character aside from hairstyles and some minor make-up. While this is a fantastic change in and of itself, there are several critical hiccups in the design philosophy for customization inPokemon Scarlet and Violetthat make it take one step forward and two steps back. It’s unclear at this stage whether future patches will change anything, but it is one of the most controversial aspects of the games alongside performance issues.
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How Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s Customization Options Move the Franchise Forward
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s customization does finally seem to be on par with the industry standard for similar RPGs, and while the character creation menu is not avant-garde in comparison to other titles, Game Freak is slowly getting there. There are plenty of options for customization when it comes to the main character’s face, in particular, andPokemon Scarlet and Violet’s style shopsalso offer a vast selection of clothing accessories that players can purchase throughout their journey.
Another great addition to Gen 9 is the fact that there are many trainers and NPCs with diverse body types, meaning that they look way more realistically heterogeneous compared to past titles, where different body types were mostly entirely absent apart from height differences and male versus female characters.Pokemon Scarlet and Violetmake a step forward for queer representationas well, as multiple NPCs seem to be more developed in terms of gender identity, such as Rika from the Elite Four likely being non-binary or Grusha wearing make-up. These are all changes for the better, but they are held back quite a lot by the negative aspects of the whole ordeal.
Why Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s Customization is Worse Than Past Games
For starters,Pokemon Scarlet and Violetuse gendered languagefor the entirety of the game, which makes the fact that players can customize their character as a genderfluid or non-binary individual less relevant. Not only that, but the game forces players to wear one of the Academy’s four uniforms at all times, with their Academy’s color being locked as is, meaning that wearing matching pieces of clothing is either impossible or has to be tailor-made with the Academy’s color palette in mind. This is very limiting in terms of options, and it doesn’t reflect the same level of freedom that players had in Gen 8 games.
Because theAcademy’s uniformis so predominant in any look that players may want to achieve, many characters end up looking quite similar even though they may have gone through very different customization processes. On top of that, the body type diversity inPokemon Scarlet and Violetis reserved for NPCs only, and players are simply stuck with the preset body type. Overall, there are a lot of things thatPokemon Scarlet and Violetcould have done better, and customization is at the top of that list.
Pokemon Scarlet & Violetare available now for the Nintendo Switch.
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