Pokemon Scarlet/Violet looks more like Breath Of The Wild than Arceus UK WIRE

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet legendaries bikes Koraidon Miraidon — Some fans already theorised these things were actually bikes (pic: The Pokémon Company)

Nearly 10 minutes of Pokémon Scarlet & Violet footage reiterates its open world status, as well as revealing a new gimmick and bike pokémon.

While there remains no sign of the next Nintendo Direct, Pokémon fans were treated to a dedicated presentation on Wednesday afternoon; one that has shared further details on this year’s Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

Unlike the last trailer, The Pokémon Company has gone into much more detail about the new features and what to expect from the upcoming games, reiterating that they will be truly open world experiences.

This means you can explore the entire region at your leisure, either solo or with up to three friends. While the traditional gym challenge is still around, you’ll be able to tackle all eight in any order, a first for the series.

A handful of new pokémon were revealed as well, along with a new battle gimmick called Terastal, which sees your pokémon gain a crystal-like appearance.

So far, it looks to be a replacement for Sword and Shield’s Dynamax mechanic, since it makes pokémon temporarily more powerful, although it can also change their type.

Each individual pokémon has a Tera type, as they’re called, which is one of the already established 18 types in the series. So, if electric type Pikachu has fire as its Tera type, it will become a fire type if it Terastallizes.

However, the next Pikachu you catch could have a completely different Tera type, meaning there are countless possible combinations.

Scarlet & Violet are also bringing back the raid battles where players can team up to battle a single, powerful pokémon. However, these ditch the usual turn-based mechanics and are done in real-time, so you don’t have to wait for everyone else to take their turn.

Another big surprise is that the two legendary pokémon, Koraidon and Miraidon, can be used to explore the newely named Paldea region (turns out those are wheels on their stomachs). Legendaries are usually late game encounters, but it looks as if you’ll encounter them much earlier this time around.

Riding along the back of pokémon isn’t new for the series (Pokémon Legends: Arceus did it already), but previously you’ve had separate creatures for different kinds of movement. Here, Koraidon and Miraidon can traverse across land, water, and the sky.

The bike forms alone feel very reminiscent of the Master Cycle from The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild. Between that and its open-ended structure, Scarlet and Violet feel more similar to that game than even Pokémon Legends: Arceus did.

There are still some details that need further explaining. Although you’re once again doing a gym challenge to become the region’s champion, there’s mention of two additional storylines to undertake.

The official website has since been updated with all the news and further explanations about its setting. Plus, it reveals that until February 28, players can receive a special Pikachu that knows the Fly attack, something it can’t normally learn.

The rest of the presentation focused on updates to service and mobile games like Pokémon Go and Pokémon Unite.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet release for Nintendo Switch on November 18.