Pokémon has existed for over 25 years now, and in that time, more than 100 games have been released under its banner. There’s the mainline titles, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, Pokémon Go, Pokémon Let’s Go, Pokémon Masters, Pokken Tournament, Pokémon Art Academy, and many more. It’s only natural, given that Pokémon is the highest grossing media franchise in the history of entertainment. However, in all that time, its remarkable how little the series has changed. Even if you haven’t played since Pokémon Red and Blue released back in 1996, you could reasonably pick up the latest title and more or less know what was happening. It’s the same routes, battling, and overarching design that’s been in place since the very beginning… That is, until now.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus is a bold new step for a franchise that hasn’t felt new since the day it was created. It’s open-area world is refreshing to explore, its tone and atmosphere are some of the best in the series, and the elements it adds to the formula feel like they should’ve been there three generations ago. The graphics on offer may be subpar and the battling simpler than ever before, but as a longtime fan, I can finally remember what it feels like to be energized about Pokémon.
For a series as tried and true as Pokémon, the first thing that sticks out about this new game is how different it feels to play. The story, which focuses on the origins of the Pokémon Diamond and Pearl’s Sinnoh region, adds a new twist on the established lore, depicting series staples like Pokéballs and the Pokédex as strange new technology and Pokémon themselves as dangerous, unruly creatures. It is clear that this world is only just being developed, and this is reflected in the clothing and architecture of the setting, as well as the use of traditional instruments in the soundtrack. In this way, Legends proudly sets itself apart from what has come before, and the zen-like atmosphere that came with that is very enjoyable.
The world of the game is largely dominated by nature, meaning that your primary objective is to conduct research expeditions from a single central village, trying to understand these ‘unfamiliar’ creatures by catching them en masse and testing their abilities in battle. Trainers are uncommon, towns are almost nonexistent, and in the place of gyms, large boss Pokémon known as “nobles” guard each region that you travel to. It’s a new, refreshing take on what a Pokémon story can be, and I was immediately intrigued by it.
But with these new changes comes a major shift in gameplay design. The constricting routes of previous games have been done away with in favor of large, expansive areas to explore, aided by the complete integration of a controllable camera and free movement both in and out of battle. Anywhere that you can see, you can theoretically go to so long as you have the correct mount Pokémon needed to get there. On top of this, catching the ‘mons themselves has been completely overhauled, with a third person throwing system implemented to add to the feeling of immersion during gameplay. If you can lure a Pokémon out and catch it from behind, even battling itself has been made entirely optional.
Many small touches have also been made to make Pokémon feel more like real animals, and in a fun twist, being spotted by one will likely lead to them directly attacking your trainer character. After all these years of “blacking out” after battles, the reasoning behind it now finally makes sense. When all is said and done, it’s wild to think that so many monumental changes have been made to the core Pokémon experience while remaining true to the appeal of the series. This the closest Pokémon has ever come to truly selling the experience of a trainer, and now that it’s here, it’s doubtful that any new game could possibly go back. It’s that large of an improvement.
However, I can’t say that these major steps forward didn’t come without a few caveats. For one, with the focus of the game now placed on capturing and researching Pokémon, the importance of battling has been greatly diminished. Most trainers that do exist only have one or two Pokémon each, and when considering that the game heavily encourages keeping a full party of six, little strategy is needed beyond keeping a move of each type on one of your team members. The central new battling mechanic, dubbed “Style Changing,” is interesting in that it lets you sacrifice speed or power in exchange for the other, but the stat boosts gained through this aren’t large enough to effect the battle in a substantial way.
The nature of moves themselves have also been tweaked, with status conditions and stat alterations being greatly simplified. For example, you can no longer raise or lower stats individually, instead being limited to altering “offense” and “defense” as a whole. These may seem like small changes by themselves, but when taken together, they make the experience of battle feel more like a formality than a core part of the experience.
Then there’s the topic of visuals. The art style, while similar to that of 2019’s Pokémon Sword and Shield, has been noticeably improved with a greater focus on color variation and cell-shading. Characters and Pokémon stand out much more than they did in previous games, which makes the process of finding and catching them significantly easier. However, it’s clear that the art team at Game Freak still doesn’t really know what they’re doing in 3D. No matter where you look, there’s abundance of low-quality assets and a lack of polish that the game’s style doesn’t even attempt to address.
Graphical glitches were a frequent occurrence during my playthrough, and whenever I’d see water or grass textures being shamelessly copy-and-pasted next to each other, I couldn’t help but be taken out of the experience. It’s understandable that rendering a world as large as this one is difficult on the Switch, but when compared to games like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the level of quality just isn’t enough.
While its ingenuity is undeniable, Legends often feels more akin to a proof-of-concept than a fully featured experience. Sure, there may be something new to see around every corner, but the act of engaging with that content often isn’t as enjoyable as it seems at first glance. Exploring a new area may be interesting for a time, but once you realize that there’s nothing beyond the horizon but more Pokémon to catch, it’s hard to feel particularly enthusiastic. Catching and battling may be reimagined with plenty of enhancements, but with little variation or depth to either of those ideas, they quickly become repetitive. The story and premise may be new and interesting, but they fail to truly excite me in the same way rival battles and evil teams have, even after all these years.
Verdict
More than anything, Pokémon Legends: Arceus embodies the world “new.” It undoubtedly has problems that more refined concepts don’t, and the way it changes the core appeal of Pokémon with likely push away many traditional fans of the series. However, it doesn’t take much looking to understand what the fanbase is really seeing here: an innovative, immersive, modern, and creative Pokémon game the likes of which many had given up on ever seeing exist. After years of being stuck with the same old formula, it really is amazing to see what Pokémon is capable of when it takes risks.
In my eyes, this is the first step on a long road towards the potential Pokémon has as a series. That may mean that Legends isn’t the most outstanding game in the world, but if that’s what it takes to see a mainline game with the additions present here, then I view that as more than acceptable. Even by itself, Pokémon Legends: Arceus is a solid experience that fans of the series should absolutely consider playing. It’s been a long time since Pokémon has stood at the forefront of gaming, but the with care and creativity that this game puts forth, we may yet see it happen again.
