Pokemon scarlet and violet Expand the world of Pokémon in so many ways. The games are set in the vast, sprawling world of Paldea, one of the largest regions the franchise has ever featured. The games also expand on the core adventure by providing players with alternative routes in addition to challenging hall ladders. While the vision and scope stretch far beyond what we’ve seen in previous mainline Pokémon games, there’s one key aspect where they take a clear step back: character design.
Because for the first time since Pokemon X and Y, you cannot customize your trainer’s entire outfit. You can customize your character’s appearance with a range of non-gender hairstyles, four skin tones, and different accessories, but you only have four options to choose from.
in the Pokemon scarlet and violet, you play as a newly minted trainer attending an ultra-elite school. You can equip your trainer with items such as backpacks, sunglasses, socks, shoes or hats, which you can buy in different cities. But you can’t change your character from the school uniform. As it is now, there are four basic uniform options: a pants and suspenders situation, a down vest with shorts (shorts!), a sort of wrinkled beach shorts look, and finally, more formal pants and a winter coat over your white button-up combo . All of these outfits are reminiscent of the school’s stark look with white buttons and tie.
Also, buying accessories can be cumbersome. Each city has its own shops and you need to find each and every shop and buy different types of accessories one by one. You’re forced to stock hops as you purchase every item – from the sock shop to the backpack shop to the hat shop – in each town. The technical problems of the games also affect the shopping opportunities. When I entered a shop menu, I had to put my switch down and wait about a minute for the outfit and trainer avatar to load so I could see what my trainer looked like with pink stockings.
But even this frustrating process is overshadowed by other limitations. I chose a curly hairstyle for my character and couldn’t wear many of the hats. This removed a whole section of an already limited set of customization options. I liked the options I had – I went for trendy round sunglasses, but I just wish I could tuck them into a skirt or a dress or something other than the four basic options.
The game justifies the outfit with its story. You’re a student, and while you can skip school after a few hours in the beginning, you’re technically doing independent study exploring the larger world. Still, I only wish it had even let me choose a skirt. I love my character and I love the cute selfies she takes with others, but it’s just a shame to see that cute outfits didn’t seem to be a priority in this particular adventure.
