The latest trailer for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet covered a lot of familiar ground, rehashing the three story paths available to players, but it introduced some new things too. It revealed the new Girafarig evolution Farigiraf, showed off new TM crafting mechanics, and put a spotlight on player character customization. Players also saw how they'll get Pokemon Eggs, which is a crucial piece of information, since many Pokemon fans make use of Eggs when hunting for Shiny Pokemon. However, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's approach to giving players Eggs might be unwiedly, since it's a secondary feature within the larger Picnic mechanic.
Historically, Eggs have been a pretty simple mechanic in Pokemon. Players leave a couple monsters at a Pokemon Day Care or a Pokemon Nursery, come back to pick up an Egg later, then walk around until the Egg hatches. This loop made it easy to get specific Pokemon with specific moves, but Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's approach seems more complicated. Until Game Freak and The Pokemon Company establish exactly how the player's party and Picnic circumstances impact Egg spawns, it looks like players might have a much harder time getting the Pokemon Eggs that they want in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Picnics and Eggs
According to the latest trailer, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet players can set up Picnics as a social activity where they eat alongside their teammates, not unlike curry in Pokemon Sword and Shield. During the player's Picnic, they can check a certain basket, where they might find a Pokemon Egg. The trailer doesn't go into more detail about how and why these Eggs spawn, instead focusing on the sandwich-making minigame and the playtime components of Picnics. Overall, Picnics look like a fun follow-up on Sword and Shield's social ideas, but the Egg component could be a problem if Scarlet and Violet don't have Pokemon Nurseries.
Game Freak hasn't shared if players can control which of their Pokemon parent the Egg, short of having Picnics with the same two Pokemon over and over again. There's also no sign of how rare Eggs are, whether Egg Groups still factor into Pokemon Scarlet and Violet or not, or if this major new Egg generation method changes what traits are passed down from Pokemon parents. Picnics appear heavily focused on social features and immersion, rather than the Egg mechanic, and it seems unwieldy to put such an impactful feature in the middle of a mechanic that otherwise has little to do with Pokemon breeding.
For the moment, it's entirely possible that this is only meant to be a minor part of Picnics. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet could still have their own Nurseries where players can get Eggs with more control; Picnics might just provide surprise bonus monsters through unplanned breeding combinations. If this is Game Freak's plan, then it could be great. Eggs seem like a harmless but meaningful bonus to through into Picnics that players can ignore if they like. However, if it's the main way to get Pokemon Eggs, then Game Freak needs to lay out clearer methods for players to control the process.
Getting Eggs through Nurseries is convenient because it helps players multitask. In contrast, Picnics could force players to run around with a specific pair of Pokemon and hope for an Egg, rather than getting in valuable training time while waiting for a Pokemon Egg to spawn at a Nursery. As charming as the Pokemon playtime elements of Picnics are, the mechanic needs to handle the Egg generation skillfully, or it could be seen as more of an inconvenience than an engaging novelty by some players. If Game Freak achieves the right combination, though, Picnics could be the best of both worlds -- mechanically rewarding and good fun.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet release on November 18 for the Nintendo Switch.