5 features from Pokemon Legends: Arceus that should return in Scarlet and Violet

With the latest entry in the Pokemon franchise, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, on the horizon, players have dug into the back catalog. One such title piquing the player's curiosity recently is Pokemon Legends: Arceus.

Legends took the turn-based and wild encounter gameplay of previous entries and put new life into a franchise many felt was getting stale. With this game taking a more real-time action approach, many dedicated fans want many of these newly introduced features to make their way to the main series.

With the outcry of fans wanting to see these modernized changes come to the main series, we can only hope the following make their way into Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.

Release Pokemon for Stat Items

A trainer using Grit Dust on their Gastly (Image via The Pokemon Company)

While the mechanic originated in Pokemon GO and was brought to Pokemon: Let's GO, the idea of transferring Pokemon for stat items was also a part of Legends. Players who caught too many Pokemon or wanted to organize their storage could choose to release the access Pokemon at the stable.

Upon doing so, the trainer would be rewarded with a series of items that were used to increase the stats of a Pokemon. Given how much stats matter in the main series for the metagame, having an easy way to grind for effort values like this would make the competitive scene much easier for newer players.

Free camera

Looking at the mechanical features in Legends, the free-control camera should return in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. While players can freely use the camera in Pokemon Sword and Shield's Wild Area, it was not until Pokemon Legends: Arceus that they could control the camera anywhere.

Having free control of a game's camera can work wonders for navigation. It can also help players grasp their surroundings by assisting them in searching for Pokemon or special landmarks.

Quicker battles

One of the many critiques of older titles is that the battles take way too long. At first, it may sound off-putting, but looking at all the needless animations in battles paired with the lengthy victory screen, these second-long animations tend to add up over long play sessions.

Pokemon Legends: Arceus mitigates these lengthy animations with battles taking place right where they are instigated in the overworld. There is also a lack of a screen for Pokemon gaining experience points as it is delegated to a sidebar after the battle concludes. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet could use this change.

No trade evolutions

Trade Evolutions has been the bane of players since the beginning of the franchise. Luckily, the need for a friend to trade with has been taken out of Legends as the need for trade was changed to an item, the Linking Cord. As a small Easter egg, this item resembles the link cable for the Gameboy.

This item has the potential to return to Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. The addition of this item would make filling the region's Pokedex much easier as players would no longer need to coordinate with another player to evolve their Pokemon.

Catching Pokemon from the Overworld

A trainer catching a Pokemon from the overworld (Image via The Pokemon Company)

While Game Freak has not confirmed that this feature will return in these new games, this is arguably the most game-changing feature introduced in Pokemon Legends: Arceus. This significantly boosted the pacing of the game by completely doing away with the need to battle wild Pokemon to catch them.