Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Released, Featuring Message-Tested Open Borders

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Lemme know how you like it if you're into that.

Despite keeping up with and writing about all of the official updates from Nintendo and The Pokémon Company International with regards to Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet, I'm still not interested in ever getting it. At this point, now that it's released. I never will be. My opinion is the same as it was from the middle of the year: I don't like open-borders (open world) gameplay, and I especially think it's silly for a JRPG to have that.

It seems like Nintendo thought that lots of other people were also skeptical of the open-borders promise, so they sent a message-testing survey out to their e-mail list back at the end of September 2022. It's all about asking how you feel about large open worlds, and provides certain marketing elevator phrases and asks you if you find them compelling or not. They also really want to know how much of a Pokémon fan you are, presumably so they can filter the responses by non-Pokémon fans and Pokémon fans. Maybe long-time Pokémon fans are more hesitant on open borders versus people who aren't (yet) Pokémon fans. You might lose some and then gain more.

Shout-out to Nintendo properly calling Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl a remaster.
On the right picture, they gave those three descriptions and asked me to rate them, and then choose my favourite. I picked the one without open world.

Let's get these three options in text form:

Did you ever want to go on a Pokémon adventure together with your friends? In Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet, it is not just about battling and trading, you can also journey through the world together with up to three of your friends, spend time with them and show off your Pokémon. More fun awaits when playing Pokémon together!

Are you ready for a Pokémon adventure in an open world, where you decide what to do next? In Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet you have the freedom to choose your own path. Create your unique trainer, explore a vast connected world full of Pokémon, follow different stories and challenge the gyms in any order you want. Finally, you can forge your own Pokémon adventure!

Catch, battle, and train Pokémon in the Paldea Region. Explore a wide-open world at your own pace and traverse land, water, and air by riding on a form-shifting Legendary Pokémon—Koraidon in Pokémon Scarlet and Miraidon in Pokémon Violet. Choose either Sprigatito, Fuecoco, or Quaxly, to be your first partner Pokémon before setting off on your journey.

They ultimately decided on a modified version of the last option, if you go look at the eShop page description.

“Welcome to the wide-open world of the Paldea region

Catch, battle, and train Pokémon in the Paldea Region, a vast land filled with lakes, towering peaks, wastelands, small towns, and sprawling cities. Explore a wide-open world at your own pace and traverse land, water, and air by riding on a form-shifting Legendary Pokémon—Koraidon in Pokémon Scarlet and Miraidon in Pokémon Violet. Choose either Sprigatito, Fuecoco, or Quaxly, to be your first partner Pokémon before setting off on your journey through Paldea.”

If you don't count Pokémon Shining Pearl, the last mainline Pokémon RPG I've gotten was Pokémon Moon, since I similarly refused to get Pokémon Shield out of design disinterest. But that still didn't stop me from following the Galarian generation and even going on a months-long quest to get a Wooloo plushie. So I still consider myself to be a big Pokémon fan, and I said as much in that survey! But there are so many superior JRPG experiences available that match the kind of games I like.


Ludwig has been quite consistent in his personal opposition to purchasing Pokémon Scarlet (or Pokémon Violet) due to its gameplay and region design. Many fans disagree with Ludwig because they think anything with “open world” is instantly better than another kind of game, which is why Nintendo did that survey to prove that out.