Scarlet & Violet, the newest mainline entries into the Pokémon series, were met with unprecedented hype. Despite the criticism Pokémon Scarlet & Violet received upon its release due to technical issues, the games were still praised for the sheer size of their world and the many new features which improved the overall gameplay experience.

RELATED: 10 Biggest Problems With Pokemon Scarlet & Violet

With that being said, there were still plenty of areas where Scarlet & Violet missed the grade gameplay-wise which fans have been vocal about. Some of the biggest missed opportunities in S & V are features that have appeared in previous titles that were not brought back for whatever reason. Others pertain to the myriad of new features which could have just gone deeper than they were.

10 Scarlet & Violet Could Have Kept The Wild Pokémon Dynamic From Arceus

A fight againt Kleavor in Pokemon Legends: Arceus.

One part of Pokémon Legends Arceus that made the game so engrossing was the realism of encountering wild Pokémon in a way that had never been presented in a Pokémon game before. Pokémon were finally living and breathing creatures in their own habitat, and the player was nothing but a visitor who was taking a risk in approaching these wild animals that may suddenly attack.

Unfortunately, that experience of wonder and excitement was retconned for Pokémon Scarlet & Violet. Instead of dodging attacks and hiding in tall grass, Pokémon are nice enough to wait for the trainer to throw out their Pokémon before they attack, taking away from the realism that was introduced in the first open world Pokémon game.

9 Scarlet & Violet Could Have Allowed Capturing Pokémon Outside Battles

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet - Trainer and Pikachu approach a Pokemon for a Wild Battle

In Pokémon Legends Arceus, an awesome new feature that was introduced was the ability for the player to sneak up on wild Pokémon and catch them with a well-placed Poké Ball. This was an awesome new feature that made Pokémon more intuitive, allowing for more ways to catch Pokémon other than the classic in-battle method.

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Scarlet & Violet retains the ability to sneak around and even throw out Pokémon to auto battle, so removing the capability to catch Pokémon while hiding in tall grass took away a lot of potential. After all, the capability to sneak is considerably less useful when it can't be utilized for one of the main functions it was introduced to accompany.

8 Scarlet & Violet Scaled Down Outfit Customization

Players in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet in a field, running in different directions.

Sword & Shield had an awesome amount of customizability which could have been expanded upon in S & V. Instead, the player is stuck with a few different school uniform options. This reversal of customization doesn't do much to feed into the overall game experience at all.

Instead, limiting clothing doesn't seem to have any purpose other than perhaps laziness from the developers. While it makes sense to have the player where a school uniform while at school, after traversing into the rest of the Paldea region, there could certainly have been more appropriate clothing choices to offer players.

7 Players Could Have Cooked More Than Just Sandwiches In Scarlet & Violet

Picnic sandwich with Eevee pick in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet

An interesting new feature in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet was the introduction of the Sandwich and Picnic mechanics. While setting up camp and cooking is nothing new to the Pokémon franchise, picnics gave the concept new life.

While they proved enjoyable, there seemed to be no reason why players should only be able to feed their Pokémon sandwiches. It's definitely a missed opportunity that S & V didn't allow for the creation of other dishes in the spirit of other Switch classics like Breath of the Wild.

6 Scarlet & Violet's School Could Have Had More Depth

Dendra is the battle studies teacher in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet.

While school made for a quick and interesting way to teach the player about what's new in Paldea, S & V could have certainly given players more to explore in class. Even just allowing the capability to actually walk through the halls would have given the school more life, and could have provided additional mini-games or depth behind the game's characters.

RELATED: 10 Hardest Items To Get In Pokémon Scarlet & Violet (& Where To Get Them)

While letting the player get in and out of school quickly wasn’t a bad decision, there could have at least been more for the player to explore. The academies are so central to the game's storyline and freely traversing the school's halls would have been a welcome distraction.

5 Scarlet & Violet Could've Had More Mounts

Pokemon Scarlet Violet Koraidon Surfing

Flying over cities on Charizard or Floating through town on Haunter was one of the more epic aspects of Pokémon Let's Go, and that could have been even cooler in Scarlet & Violet. Instead, players are forced to only one option of mount depending on which version of the game they play.

While Miriadon and Koraidon are certainly better for travel than the classic bike, they still come up short of the choice of mount provided in some previous Pokémon titles. Flying through the Paldea region on the back of a Dragonite or Lugia would have been a dream come true for many Pokémon fans.

4 Scarlet & Violet Could Have Added More Classic Pokémon

split image of Abra, Ninetales, and Mewtwo from Pokémon anime

One big player criticism of Scarlet & Violet was the amount of missing Pokémon in Pokémon's first truly open-world region. While S & V gave players tons of content with 400 Pokémon — including 104 new Pokémon native to the Paldea region — fans couldn't help but notice the lack of some of the most iconic Pokémon in the franchise.

Classic Pokémon such as Mewtwo and Bulbasaur were noticeably missing from the roster, as well as newer favorites like Absol or Alolan Ninetails. With the likelihood of DLC content on the way, fans can rest assured that at least some of their favorite Pokémon will be added later on, though it's highly unlikely that all will be able to make the cut.

3 Scarlet & Violet Could Have Had More Crafting With Materials

inventory in pokemon legends arceus

Pokémon drop materials provide a cool way to create items, which hasn't really been a thing in previous games. Crafting items using drop items has been a staple of RPGs from their earliest days, so Pokémon has been pretty slow on following the curve in that department.

RELATED: 10 Most Creative Pokémon Designs In Scarlet and Violet

Nevertheless, with Legends Arceus, Pokémon finally caught up and offered the ability to craft items like Pokeballs. In S & V, the crafting trend continued with TM machines. However, the loss of crafting other items was certainly a missed opportunity in an otherwise great new gameplay element.

2 Team Star Bases Could Have Had More Variation In Scarlet & Violet

Team Star Auto Battles in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet

The auto battle function is a new addition to the Pokémon series that makes for a great quality-of-life upgrade. Auto battles allow the player to train Pokémon without focusing on battles and create new possibilities for gameplay elements, like the large battles in the Team Star Bases. While this is a fun new concept, the Team Star bases ultimately all stick to the same formula in every area.

In past Pokémon games, the newest iterations of Team Rocket would be holed up in a base that worked more like a traditional RPG dungeon full of puzzles the player had to traverse. Some combination of the new auto battle mechanic combined with the traditional dungeon could have added more depth to the Team Star branch of S & V's story.

1 Scarlet & Violet Could Have Been A More Polished Product

Pokemon Scarlet And Violet Map Glitch

Riding an invisible mount, Pokémon stuck in walls, players falling through the floor into infinity — Scarlet & Violet had its share of glitches upon release. Glitches were the most glaring issue that critics and early players of Scarlet & Violet noticed, which proved disappointing considering the huge amount of hype the game had.

Pokémon is still Pokémon, and diehard fans will always line up to enjoy the newest game, especially when it's on a scale as epic as S & V. That's why, despite its issues, S & V was still the fastest-selling game in the history of Nintendo. It just goes to show how far the game could have gone if some of the more noticeable kinks were ironed out before release.

NEXT: 10 Cut Pokémon That Should Have Been In Scarlet & Violet