5 things that Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are missing

Since its debut in November 2022, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet have been polarizing. Players have praised many in-game changes and quality-of-life improvements, but the bugs and performance problems have turned many players away.

Controversies aside, many players still enjoy Pokemon Scarlet and Violet but have some criticisms. Specifically, features found in previous franchise titles have been altered or removed in these Generation IX games.

While this can be good or bad depending on which player is being asked, there's no denying that Scarlet and Violet are sadly missing some features that have been beloved within the Pokemon series for years.

Scarlet and Violet could go a long way in assuaging players' concerns if these features are added.

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Beloved features missing from Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

1) Enter NPC homes

NPC homes that can be entered are incredibly scarce in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet (Image via Game Freak)

This may be considered more of a nitpick than a significant issue, but one notable aspect of the series is the number of different NPC homes players could enter. Each home tended to have an NPC that would offer some advice, provide items, facilitate trades, or even perform unique functions like rating names or removing certain moves from a Pocket Monster's moveset.

While Scarlet and Violet still have interiors to explore, such as the player's home, Uva/Naranja Academy, and others, most homes found in Paldea can't be entered. For the most part, NPCs are left roaming the streets, and players can't interact with them besides reading their passing dialogue. It's not a feature some players miss, but traditional fans may find the absence offputting.

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2) The ability to explore other regions

Previous Pokemon generations allowed trainers to explore multiple regions in the game world (Image via The Pokemon Company)

This could be considered more of a criticism of the franchise's titles for Nintendo Switch, but it remains a point of note in Scarlet and Violet. Earlier generation titles expanded on exploration by allowing them to explore other in-game regions after completing the story in their home region.

For example, players could explore the Kanto region after completing the Johto region in Generation Il. However, this feature has figured into recent series titles less and less.

While the Paldea region is huge and can take a large amount of time to explore, adding a second region (or even a small sliver of one similar to the Sevii Islands in Generation III) would be an incredibly impressive and ambitious move for Game Freak on the Switch hardware if possible.

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3) Level scaling in the story objectives

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's story can be a little too easy for players if they power level early (Image via Game Freak)

While the three-pronged storyline of Scarlet and Violet was a huge improvement compared to previous titles, it left a particular problem in its stead. Specifically, each objective in each story path was set to a specific level. This means that if a trainer power-leveled their team early or finishes one path to completion before attempting the next one, the story battles become excessively trivial.

Game Freak could have avoided this by allowing the objectives to scale to a player's Pokemon team level, or at least based on how much of the total story has been completed.

Granted, this may have run counter to the open-world approach Game Freak intended in Scarlet and Violet, but it would have added some challenges to the story for longtime fans.

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4) Catching Pokemon without battles

Legends: Arceus' method of quickly catching creatures didn't return in Scarlet/Violet (Image via Game Freak)

One of the most lauded improvements in Pokemon Legends: Arceus was the ability for trainers to sneak up on Pocket Monsters and catch them directly with Pokeballs without a battle. This feature has been removed in Scarlet and Violet, and trainers must engage in battle to capture a wild creature.

Granted, using specialty Pokeballs like Quick Balls or hitting a Pokemon in the back and catching it off-guard will improve capture chances. However, battle is started regardless.

The mass collection of Pocket Monsters likely wouldn't have worked as well in Scarlet/Violet as it did in Arceus due to the storage system, but amenities surely could've been made to accommodate freeform capture.

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5) A Third legendary Pokemon

Paldea only has two legendary creatures so far in Koraidon and Moraidon, potentially missing an opportunity previous games have seized (Image via Game Freak)

Trainers in Scarlet and Violet are well-acquainted with their mascot Legendary Species from early on in the game. Koraidon and Miraidon are discovered almost immediately in the story and adventure and grow along with the player.

However, many previous franchise titles featured a third Legendary Species at some point towards the end or post-game. Rayquaza, Giratina, Zygarde, and Necrozma were all introduced as counterparts to the mascot legendaries, among others.

While Game Freak still has time to debut a third Legendary with DLC (some leakers have speculated on this well before Scarlet/Violet's release), a third Legendary wasn't present at launch has disappointed some fans when it comes to the post-game in Paldea.