The Pokémon franchise has always been afraid of change. Whether it’s the video games, trading card game, or even anime, a new generation typically just means more of the same, but with new monsters to find. So, when Pokémon Legends: Arceus was revealed and promised to be something completely new, I was immediately hooked.
This was no mere spin-off either. This got the full main-series treatment, and the team behind it when all-out making the exact kind of game hardcore Pokémon fans have been begging for. As it turns out, giving the fans what they wanted was the right move, as this was the freshest, most exciting, and all-around greatest Pokémon game since the series went 3D.
It’s mindblowing that this is the first Pokémon game that truly felt like it was about catching Pokémon. Catching these critters has always been an important part of the series, but battles are usually the driving force of the game. Legends took the bold step of making exploration and catching the main focus of gameplay, and it created the kind of experience I never thought a Pokémon game could give us.
Monsters have different personalities and behaviors out in the wild, so you need to think carefully about how you approach each one. You can’t just charge in and throw a Pokéball, you’ve got to use stealth mechanics to try and strike when its guard is down to get it on your team. It makes the simple process of throwing your Pokéball incredibly exciting, especially when you’re faced with something rare like an alpha or a shiny.
It also encourages you to explore every corner of the map to find everything. While I complete the Pokédex in every game, I normally resort to looking stuff up on Serebii almost immediately, but with Legends, I felt a strong drive to go out in the world and find every creature for myself. The game emphasized that feeling of discovery, creating some truly wonderful moments.
The trade-off for this is that it massively deemphasized battling, which was a turn-off for some, but it was needed for this kind of game. The addition of Agile and Strong style attacks allow battles to run much faster than usual, not only improving the few mandatory battles there are but fitting the theme too. The people of this world have little battling experience, and you get a sense of that through the mechanics.
This goes for the battle with the game’s Noble Pokémon too. While they’re no Dark Souls bosses, they brought that high-energy quick-thinking gameplay to a series that has always lacked it. They stand out as memorable moments from the game that I can vividly recall even now, which is something I can’t say about Scarlet and Violet.
Despite a rather muted color palette and…not the best texture work, each area is teeming with life, both in terms of a rich environment and the Pokémon wandering the landscape. Each area feels unique too, and it’s one of the key reasons why I prefer this segmented world design to Scarlet and Violet’s completely open one – not to mention it holds up far better from a technical perspective.
It’s not hyperbole to say Pokémon Legends: Arceus is a childhood dream come true. When I was playing the 2D games as a kid, I envisioned almost exactly this kind of game where you had complete freedom to explore and catch Pokémon to your heart’s content, with real danger in the world as they tried to attack you and evade capture. Even the game’s finale, where you ascend to the Hall of Origin for an intense battle with Arceus was captured almost exactly how my 8-year-old self imagined it.
Where the Let’s Go! games felt like a branch out to the casual fans, and Scarlet and Violet tried to please everyone, Legends was a game for Pokémon fans first and foremost. It’s my favorite Pokémon game ever made by quite a long way, I desperately hope a follow-up is in the series’ future.
Written by Ryan Woodrow on behalf of GLHF.
