Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are 2022 role-playing video games developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for the Nintendo Switch. They are the first installments in the ninth generation of the Pokémon video game series and the first to feature a fully open world. Set in the Paldea region, a vast landmass inspired by the Iberian Peninsula, the games follow a young protagonist who enrolls in an academy and embarks on an independent treasure hunt. For the first time in the main series, the story unfolds across three separate routes: Victory Road (Gym battles), Path of Legends (hunting giant Titan Pokémon), and Starfall Street (taking on rebellious students in Team Star).
Players can explore the region seamlessly, encountering wild Pokémon roaming the overworld and engaging in battles. The games introduced several new mechanics, most notably the Terastal phenomenon, which temporarily crystallizes a Pokémon and changes its type to a pure Tera Type. New Pokémon include the Grass-type cat Sprigatito, Fire-type croc Fuecoco, and Water-type duckling Quaxly, as well as the legendary mascots Koraidon and Miraidon. Multiplayer features include co-op exploration for up to four players.
Upon release, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet were commercial blockbusters, selling over 10 million copies in their first three days. Critical reception was mixed; reviewers praised the open-world design, narrative ambition, and characters, but heavily criticized the games for technical performance issues, visual bugs, and a lack of polish. Despite this, they represent a major milestone in the franchise’s evolution toward modern, non-linear gameplay.
