Throughout my entire childhood, I had never been too much a fan of the Pokemon franchise. I just felt that there was so much lore and so many intricacies to the games that there just really wasn’t ever a good “jumping in” point. That all changed though once I first saw Pokemon Legends: Arceus. The first of its kind; a Pokemon game that was a singular release and took place at the beginning of the Pokemon timeline.
A title set up to be perfect for newbies and veterans alike had much to live up to. The final product? A really fun RPG game with engaging mechanics that propel it forward and a bunch of technical issues that at times, make the game feel as if it were a knock-off.
Story
As I stated above, this title takes place at the beginning of Pokemon as a whole. This generally meant that it was the perfect chance for a noob like me to jump in. The lore is just unwinding, humans (like me) are just learning about Pokemon, which meant that everything that was going on was just as much of a surprise to me as it was to the colorful cast of characters.
It’s a fish-out-water tale where your character is dropped out of the middle of this dark black-hole like vast in the sky above the Hisui region, what will later be known as Sinnoh later in canon. Filled with a fun cast of characters, dialogue, and adventure to set out on, the game does a fantastic way of introducing both new and returning fans to this brand-new point in the Pokemon timeline.
Gameplay
Pokemon Legends: Arceus is exactly what I had wanted it to be in many ways, hitting the nail on the head. I wanted the core aspects of what makes all Pokemon games so great such as the battles, items, RPG elements, and exploration as well as things from games that I like: real-time battle sequences, open-world set in third person, and gameplay mechanics that felt like an evolution of things established.
This is the perfect game to jump into if you’re looking for a game that stands in the middle between the regular Pokemon titles and a Ubisoft open-world game. There isn’t too much in-depth world-building going on though like special scenarios that play out around the world though there is a bit to explore. This is definitely one of the more vanilla open-world titles you can play right now but I think it fits well in the already established aesthetic of Pokemon.
Traveling throughout the Hisui region is a pretty mixed bag overall with walking and riding Pokemon feeling decent enough though with a stiff and under-developed feel. This is one of many technical aspects that can make the game feel a bit like it was made by amateurs. You can’t jump but yet there’s always some kind of rock or difference in height of terrain which can make “climbing” a bit of a chore since it isn’t more than your character just slowly walking uphill. Unless it’s too high which will just have your character coming back at your screen anyway
Another aspect about walking around the environments that was annoying was the fact that your character can’t swim for more than a second or two before drowning. I find it funny that you’re even able to go into water though when the game has invisible walls at every turn. Why have the ability to go into the water if you’re going to drown anyway? Like I get that there are Pokemon that travel in water and you can ride them but, it still doesn’t make sense.
Battling is as fun as ever though and really getting to learn the ropes on how to actually play Pokemon is pretty rewarding. While the game has the traditional turn-based combat once in battle, the timing leading up to said battle is a bit different. Instead of going straight into battle when you come up to a Pokemon, you can actually study it a bit and then toss a Pokeball ball to catch it if you want. There are many ways to build up your Pokedex which is the main point of the game.
Defeating Pokemon a certain way, catching them at a specific point of the day, or having them hit you with a specific attack are all different ways of observation for you to add to your Pokedex in order to earn points which you can then use to level up. And each Pokemon has its own different observation tasks that are needed in order to fully understand it. There are even some light crafting mechanics at play to deepen the gameplay a bit more too.
That’s the main meat and potatoes of the actual gameplay and it can start to feel a bit grindy at times as you’re doing the exact same thing for hours. As someone new to the franchise though, I didn’t mind it all that much. It feels very in-tone with the actual concept of the game which is to learn about these dozens of Pokemon. I will say that the game does a great job at shaking gameplay up a bit with a few “boss fights” every so often and they have pretty unique ideas when it comes to how they’re approached too.
Audio and Visuals
When it came to trailers and images for this game, I had real doubts about it looking any good. And now having played it, it isn’t much to look at. It does a fair job of looking true to the manga, cards, and television series and doesn’t try to go beyond that. Again, I think that this is a good thing though in many ways but I do wish that they had at least given the game some more texture.
This is an incredibly flat game in every sense of the word when it comes to everything in game aside from its character models. This world feels lifeless and not at all like somewhere I’d like to visit and chase Pokemon around in. I will say that playing in handheld mode is the best way to look at this game. It’s almost night and day.
Audio is serviceable, I guess. There isn’t any kind of vocal dialogue which didn’t really ruin the game for me overall. You will definitely hear the same two or three songs being played over and over again though which can grow a bit stale. Other ambient sounds like the Pokemon themselves or the flute you play to summon rideable Pokemon are really cool though.
Replayability
This title offers a lot of replayability due to its vast world of Pokemon to find. Even when you finish the game’s main story there is still so much to do. There’s the Pokedex to finish, customization options to purchase, and side missions a plenty to discover. The side missions do a good job at taking aspects of the gameplay already established and then making them work for a single instance.
What It Could Have Done Better
Aside from my knocks on the character movement and the visuals, Legends: Arceus also has technical issues that can make the game feel cheap. There are bugs that happen here and there like stuttering, things disappearing, button prompts being finicky, frame rate drops, or even the camera just not cooperating. It’s small stuff, though it happens often enough that it became an issue.
A design choice I took issue with is how the Pokemon actually comingle around Hisui. I didn’t find their spawning locations to always fit the type of Pokemon that they were. I also at times felt like there were just too many of these things running around in the same spot. It was like the game was just seeping Pokemon into the areas like a hole in the middle of a boat.
Verdict
Though I have critiques for Pokemon Legends: Arceus, there is no doubt that I have had a tremendous amount of fun with it. Being introduced to its lore properly, its unique gameplay mechanics, and the ability to discover the world around me is something I truly and thoroughly enjoyed. And just because a game has flaws, that doesn’t mean it isn’t something worth trying because it still has the chance to be a fun time regardless. That’s exactly what this title is. Whether you’re a new fan or old, this is a fun one.
