There's One Major Problem With Pokémon Scarlet & Violet's Epilogue

DLC for has received an epilogue, but there's one crucial problem that casts a shadow on what is otherwise a nice sendoff for the games. Released in two parts, and, introduces the new areas of Kitakami and Blueberry Academy and adds more characters, Pokémon, and features to the game. Although the DLC doesn't fix every issue present in, it does help flesh out an experience that could otherwise feel lacking.

Most recently, the epilogue released for the DLC, titled, ties together elements of both and by taking the player character and a group of friends back to Kitakami to deal with a strange event. It's not material that's crucial to the overall story, but it does help extend the adventure a bit and introduces a Mythical Pokémon. Unlike the main parts of the DLC, it's not that hard to start the epilogue and finish it within an hour or two, but its brevity isn't the main problem.

The big issue with the epilogue has to do with how the content is delivered to players. Unlike the rest of the DLC, which can be digitally purchased and downloaded through the standard store interface, can only be accessed by activating a Mystery Gift in the game. This gift is received through connecting to the Internet on the in-game Poké Portal, after which the Mythical Peche Berry needed to play the epilogue and get the mythical Pokémon Pecharunt will appear among the key items in the trainer's inventory.

The physical copy of the DLC comes with on the cartridge, while still has to be downloaded from the Internet.

In some sense, this is a charming method of delivering content, but its long-term implications are much scarier. Mystery Gifts in are never around forever, with specific expiration dates that come much, much faster than the cessation of online services for a system that would otherwise spell the end of access to some DLC. Although the window of availability for the Mythical Peche Berry hasn't yet been clarified, it's likely that many future players will ultimately have to miss out