2022 will be a year to remember for all those fans of gaming. Pokemon. First, because it could not have started in a better way thanks to the launch of Pokémon Legends: Arceus, a title that introduced new mechanics and novelties that they did not want to leave aside, but to enhance them much more with Pokémon Scarlet and Purple.
The new installments of the main series are just a few weeks away from going on sale on Nintendo Switch and I have to say that I have been lucky enough to be able to enjoy a preview of a trial version after going to the offices of The Pokémon Company in London.
Look, until now these games had generated expectation with each new video that has come to light, but after taking the controls, the wait will be eternal until I have them on my own console.
Taking the first steps in the first real open world of the saga
I only had a little over an hour to play and find out what this trip was going to bring. The match started at a somewhat advanced point because he already had a few very powerful Pokémon, including the recently shown Bellibolt or Diglett’s first cousin, Wiglett. But without a doubt the most outstanding of all was Koraidon, the legendary Pokémon that appears on the cover of scarlet pokemon.
Thanks to him, it served as a means of transportation to go from one place to another in this immense open world. And no, we are not talking about something like the Wild Area of Pokémon Sword and Shield or the gigantic areas of Pokemon Legends: Arceus. This open world is real and you can go wherever you want at any time, like in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, to give you a better idea.
Plus, you can literally go anywhere. I checked that myself as soon as I started running around with Koraidon and I realized that it can fly, swim and even climb any wall or mountain, no matter how vertical it is. Of course, this guarantees a brutal and unlimited exploration so that we can go wherever we want as soon as this Pokémon joins our team, so we will have to wait for the final version to find out when this possibility will be enabled.
From the first moment, what I wanted most was to see Paldea and let its beautiful places in this region inspired by the Iberian Peninsula dazzle me. From there I went through meadows, I started swimming in the sea and I even climbed a few mountains in a world that felt very alive, because it seemed incredible to me the number of wild Pokémon that were everywhere and how well represented their respective ones are. sizes.
I saw the same thing when passing through some slightly elevated bushes in which there was a Smoliv, the grape-shaped Pokémon, hidden in them without me noticing its presence. Even so, too I met so many new ninth generation, like the Lechonk pig, and other creatures that have not been seen until now, which does not mean that there will also be countless Pokémon from other generations of the franchise. In this sense, the place in which each one appeared also seemed to me to be a success, with Water Pokémon near the sea, others from Rock by the mountains, and Grass or Bug by the prairies.
But this is still a Pokémon game, so I considered that after running around so much, the time had come to capture some creature. To do this, you have to come into contact with the Pokémon in question, like in other RPGs in which the enemies roam freely, and at that moment the combat automatically begins, without loading screens in between. As for the fighting, zero news in this regard because the mechanics remain the same as life.
However, if there is a novelty that was striking to me and that is the “Send Pokémon” function, which allows you to select the first Pokémon of your team to take it out of the Poké Ball and face another on its own, without us doing anything and being our own. The truth is that I wanted to see this in more depth, because there were only a couple of hits and in just a few seconds the fight was over, giving experience points to the entire team. Of course, it is a good way to improve the team quickly.
After so much running around I wanted to take a break and enjoy the views of a cliff I found, so at that moment I brought out the picnic table and all the Pokémon on my team got out of their Poké Balls to relax. The curious thing is that it did not take place in a separate area, because the wild Pokémon continued to appear in the surroundings, among them some surprised and wanting to join the feast that he was going to prepare.
Before we got to eat I wanted to try out what it was like to play with my fellow Pokémon, so I could clean them with a sponge and shower them so they would stay as good as new, which left me wondering what would happen if I did that with a Pokémon. Fire-type. In any case, after a long journey and with a growling stomach, I prepared a delicious sandwich with slices of turkey, oil and bread, crowning it with a toothpick. The result must have been wonderful, because everyone was happier than a partridge as soon as they took a bite, which also served to gain a temporary bonus.
After a good rest, I started up again, with the idea that it was time to face some of the main objectives of the adventure while I kept encountering all kinds of objects along the way, including MT. In fact, these objects that are used for the Pokémon to learn attacks can be manufactured in the new Pokémon Centers that will be located everywhere in the middle of nowhere as if they were gas stations, hence I also came across a multitude of resources to create my own units.
Jumping into the action with the main stories
Another of the best novelties of Pokemon Scarlet and Purple is the fact that history will be divided into three different adventures, so that each one can face the one they most want without having to focus on one in particular. Moreover, this is something that I have loved compared to Pokémon Sword and Shieldor because these last editions gave me the feeling of being excessively linear, but here we will have freedom for everything we want.
The map will mark the key points to which we will have to go, something that also comes in handy if we are lost and we are not sure where to go, which is basically what happened to me on the way to the first gym in charge of Brais, the Grass-type leader that we have already seen in some game. However, before seeing my faces against him, I had to pass a preliminary test that consisted of locating a few Sunflora that had been hiding throughout the city.
I don’t know if this passing tests will happen in the rest of the gyms, although I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it does so by offering different challenges that don’t focus solely on capturing or fighting. I must also say that it wasn’t too difficult, so I was ready to participate in my first gym battle in the game, which in turn allowed me to appreciate and suffer in my own flesh. the effect of teracrystallizationanother of the new functions that have been introduced.
Each Pokémon has its own Teratype, which means that when using Teracrystallization it adopts a different type than its usual one. For example, it may happen that a Pikachu that is an Electric-type would normally become a Rock-type Pikachu. Well, something similar happened in this fight, so going with a predefined idea of which Pokémon to take out to battle will not always be ideal, because you never know which Pokémon of the opponent will use this function and what type it will adopt. Without a doubt, this will make us fight more exciting and strategic than ever.
Despite everything, I took the victory and wanted follow my path in the direction of a place where Team Star resided, who seem to be the gang of evildoers in this game. The team had their own base where you can’t sneak in anywhere with Koraidon as I was kicked out in no time trying to, so I had no choice but to be civil and go through the front door, at which point which gave me a challenge that I had to overcome.
In this case, it was to take advantage of the Send Pokémon function so that some of the Pokémon on my team dedicated themselves to crushing dozens of Pokémon from Team Star recruits, with a time limit to achieve it. Luckily it was a very simple task that I had to accomplish in order to face Mela, their leader, and her Autostar. I don’t know for what purpose either, but why not? Of course, I ended up biting the dust with the lesson learned that I needed to get even more into my team if I wanted to defeat her.
In short, this has been nothing more than a small contact and I still have countless tasks to accomplish and mysteries to discover. Despite having only played for an hour, I’m biting my nails with the desire I have to play the final version of Pokemon Scarlet and Purplebecause it has all the earmarks that the Paldea region will be the largest of all those in the franchise and they will leave us with a truly unforgettable adventure.
- platforms:Nintendo Switch
- multiplayer: Yes (1 to 4)
- developer: Game Freak
- Company: The Pokemon Company
- Launch: November 18, 2022