A new picture posted online shows that several of the Shiny Pokemon available to catch in the recently released Pokemon Scarlet and Violet look almost identical to their normal counterparts sans a few minor tweaks. As fans who had been eager to catch ‘em all in Nintendo and Game Freak’s latest title continue to voice their displeasure with a number of baffling gameplay choices and the multitude of bugs in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, this latest revelation is likely to add to their frustration with the titles.Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are the latest mainline Pokemon games following the release of Pokemon Legends: Arceus earlier this year. Expanding on the open-world gameplay introduced with Pokemon Legends: Arceus while introducing a number of new gameplay features, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are already the fastest-selling Nintendo games ever just a little over a week after their release. First introduced in the Generation 2 Pokemon games, and returning in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, Shiny Pokemon feature an alternate color scheme compared to others of their species.In a picture posted to Twitter by user UltimaShadowX, five different Pokemon from Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are shown side-by-side with their Shiny counterparts. Compared to some of the drastic differences in appearance seen in older Pokemon games, the Shiny Pokemon in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are almost indistinguishable from their base versions. While Charcadet and Armarouge at least see the flames on the side of their face swapped from red to blue, other Pokemon such as Tandemaus look virtually unchanged.
Several Pokemon Scarlet and Violet players expressed their frustration with the barely noticeable differences between the normal and Shiny versions of the Pokemon on display in UltimaShadowX’s picture. Some commenters took the opportunity to share their own versions of what they’d like to see as Shiny variants of the Pokemon from the photo, with the fan art exhibiting far more originality than the official designs. Annoyance over the underwhelming Shiny variations was further exacerbated by the fact that Game Freak has locked some of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s Shiny Poke,mon for the time being, leaving players unable to obtain them for the foreseeable future.
For long-time franchise fans already disappointed with the myriad gameplay and technical issues present in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, this seeming lack of creativity is likely to be another letdown. For dedicated Pokemon players who’ve eagerly hunted down Shinies in previous titles, the idea of spending countless hours just to unlock a Shiny Pokemon that’s virtually identical to the one they have may be less than appealing. While future DLC could inject some much-needed creativity into Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s Shinies, what’s on display now is sadly underwhelming in comparison to past games.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are available now for Nintendo Switch.