Nintendo has shared what changes are coming in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s long awaited February update but still hasn’t revealed an exact release date.
The patch, which includes several bug fixes alongside a handful of quality of life improvements, has been long anticipated by fans after Pokémon Scarlet and Violet launched in a state Nintendo itself was forced to apologise for.
Most of the new quality of life changes, as outlined on Nintendo’s website, revolve around Pokémon Boxes, with Nintendo making aiming to make it a little bit easier to manage the status of Pokémon all in one place.
From the Pokémon summary screen, players will now be able to change the nickname, markings, held item, and mark or Ribbon-related titles, reorder moves, have the Pokémon remember or forget moves, and use TMs.
The patch also makes it easier to swap out held items and move Pokémon around in large quantities, and it will now be easier to tell which Pokémon are in Battle Teams.
As for bug fixes, which are perhaps of a bigger concern to the near 20 million people who’ve bought Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, Nintendo is addressing several issues across different categories including Tera Raids and Battles.
A Tera Pokémon’s health not being accurately reflected in the HP bar, connectivity issues, National Dex Pokémon showing up in the Paldea Pokédex, random items appearing unintentionally in the world, and more (viewable in the full notes below) will all be addressed.
Nintendo also confirmed it would continue to update Pokémon Scarlet and Violet and address further issues in the future, but gave no information regarding when the next update would arrive.
This February update will be just the second released for the games despite several issues being reported following their launch. These included a broken PvE experience in the endgame, a rigged Battle Stadium, duplication glitches, a bizarre method of running at double speed, and more.
The poor performance was also a major factor in our 6/10 review, as IGN said: “The open-world gameplay of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is a brilliant direction for the future of the franchise, but this promising shift is sabotaged by the numerous ways in which Scarlet and Violet feel deeply unfinished.”
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Ver. 1.2.0 Patch Notes
Feature Adjustments
Additional functionality will be added for Pokémon Boxes:From a Pokémon’s summary, players will be able to change the Pokémon’s nickname, markings, held item, and mark- or Ribbon-related titles, as well as being able to reorder moves, have the Pokémon remember moves, have the Pokémon forget moves and use TMs.Players will be able to swap out held items by pressing the Y Button when in the Held Items view.Players will be able to select All Boxes while moving Pokémon or items in the Party and Boxes view and Held Items view.When in the Battle Team view, Pokémon in your Boxes that are assigned to a Battle Team will now have their icons displayed in a darker hue if those Pokémon are members of the Battle Team that is currently being displayed.The News screen will be displayed when you connect to the internet from the main menu, just as it is when connecting to the internet from the Poké Portal.
Bug Fixes
Tera Raid Battles
A bug that can prevent an opposing Tera Pokémon’s HP gauge from properly reflecting damage done by certain moves (such as Play Rough) or certain status conditions may occur in Tera Raid Battles, resulting in the Tera Pokémon’s HP gauge fluctuating in an unusual manner. This will be fixed.A bug that causes all Pokémon on your side to faint at once despite their HP gauges indicating that they still have HP may occur in black crystal Tera Raid Battles against Pokémon with the Mightiest Mark. This will be fixed.A bug that can temporarily prevent a player from entering any input into the game may occur if a Tera Pokémon takes certain actions while the player is choosing the target of their move. This will be fixed.A bug that causes a communication error may occur when someone connecting to a Tera Raid Battle sees a different Pokémon displayed on their screen than what the host sees. This will be fixed.A bug may occur that causes players joining a Tera Raid Battle from the Tera Raid Battles search screen to be brought to a Tera Raid Battle against a Pokémon different from the one they saw displayed. This will be fixed.A bug that causes Tera Raid Battle crystals to not appear for a set amount of time may occur under certain circumstances. This will be fixed.
Battles
Type matchups against Pokémon that have fainted will no longer appear when selecting a move or target during Double Battles.A Zoroark that has Terastallized and is disguised as another Pokémon via its Illusion Ability can be identified as a Zoroark by using the Check Target option. This is a bug and will be fixed.When a Zoroark has Terastallized and is disguised as another Pokémon via its Illusion Ability, the type matchups of moves are displayed based on the type of the Pokémon that Zoroark is disguised as, rather than Zoroark’s Tera Type. This is a bug and will be fixed.The stats of a Dondozo with a Tatsugiri in its mouth will increase when Dondozo uses Order Up, even when the move should have been negated (for example, by an opponent using Protect). This is a bug and will be fixed.If a Pokémon Terastallizes after using Destiny Bond and then faints, the effects of Destiny Bond will fail to activate. This is a bug and will be fixed.
Other
We will address an issue that can cause the game to forcibly close at certain locations. As a result of this fix, there may be a reduction of Pokémon and people displayed in certain towns or in the wild.When a Pokémon that is not a part of the Paldea Pokédex is obtained through a Link Trade, it is displayed as being registered to the Paldea Pokédex. This is a bug and will be fixed.Certain actions can cause the main character’s expressions to not change until the game is closed and reopened. This will be fixed.A bug occurred for some players after Ranked Battles Season 1, wherein visiting the Ranked Battles screen immediately after the season’s results had been calculated caused a communication error after the players received their rewards. Following this error, players were unable to participate in any further Ranked Battles. This will be fixed.If a player has created several Battle Teams but does not use the Battle Team in the first slot for their Ranked Battles, they may not receive the Master Rank Ribbon after winning Ranked Battles in the Master Ball Tier. This will be fixed.When a Pokémon you caught comes back to you from another player through Link Trade, it may not listen to your commands in accordance with what is written in the profile app (“Pokémon caught at Lv. XX or below will listen to your commands”). This will be fixed.A bug is preventing the Pokédex from displaying additional entries (such as entries for Shiny Pokémon or Pokémon that were received through Surprise Trade from players that play in a different language) for Pokémon species that were already registered in the Pokédex. This will be fixed.Objects such as Poké Balls may be displayed in certain locations of the field unintentionally. This will be fixed.Passersby will no longer be displayed during certain battles that take place in towns during the main story.Other select bug fixes will be implemented.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer and acting UK news editor. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
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