Pokemon Legends Arceus

Genre: Turn-Based Monster Collecting JRPG

Players: 1, Local Wireless, Content Sharing Online Content Sharing

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Review:

Pokemon Legends Arceus, released in 2022, holds the potential to be one of the most important releases ever in Nintendo’s megahit family-friendly Pokemon franchise. In many ways, Pokemon Legends Arceus aims to do things that fans have been begging to see in the Pokemon franchise for decades now, finally taking the mainline Pokemon series’ formula of Turn-Based Monster Collecting JRPG and bringing it into a more open-world environment.

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What’s This? Pokemon is Evolving!

I say “more” open-world because Pokemon Legends Arceus isn’t quite an Open-World game. Much as in the Monster Hunter series, players operate out of a central town, and select one of multiple locations to travel to, with that location presenting players with a smaller wide-open space to explore before heading back to the village. These areas are actually an order of magnitude larger than any of the areas in last year’s Monster Hunter Rise, and save for the limitations of the environment, you will be able to walk freely throughout that environment – no more narrow corridors! A fully 3D camera! However, you won’t be able to walk across the entire breadth of the game seamlessly as you can do in a game like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

The comparison to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is unavoidable, and not just because of how impactful that game has been, but because Pokemon Legends Arceus seems to be directly inspired by Breath of the Wild in some respects. However, what’s surprising here is that this game seems to take just as much influence from Pokemon Go, the series’ megahit smartphone game, both in its overall gameplay loop and in elements of its moment-to-moment gameplay itself. In addition, Pokemon Legends Arceus updates the combat to add new features that give a greater nuance to battles – namely, the Strong and Agility “styles” that moves in the game can have.

Make no mistake – if you’ve been waiting for the Pokemon series to finally grow out of the “same ol’, same ol’” slump that it has been in for two and a half decades now, this is the game that finally does that.

… but…

Not to take away from what a major, significant step this is for the series, and one that I strongly hope that future entries in the franchise build on… but this game has multiple major issues, both in what it does and in what it doesn’t do. As much as I absolutely love the foundation Pokemon Legends Arceus builds for the future of the series, and as much as I thoroughly enjoy this game more than any Pokemon game in years… at the same time, I cannot turn a blind eye to just how thoroughly broken and, yes, rushed it seems.

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Welcome to the world of Pokémon!

Former entries in the mainline Pokemon series pretty much all followed the same cookie-cutter story right from the start, with only minor variation – you’re a small-town kid coming of age. A local professor has entrusted you with one of three starter Pokemon and tasked you with heading out into the world and filling out your Pokedex by catching as many different varieties of Pokemon as you can (ideally, all of them). Along the way, you’ll be challenged by a wide variety of Pokemon trainers who cross your path, including a rival from your hometown whose journey parallels yours. Your path to dominate the world of Pokemon will make requisite stops at a handful of “Gyms” where you must defeat the master of that gym in a Pokemon battle to earn badges, with the ultimate goal of taking on an elite group of skilled trainers to claim a spot at the pinnacle of the Pokemon world. Along the way, your efforts will be frustrated by a gang of thugs (usually going by a Team name, the most well-known being the first Pokemon games’ Team Rocket). This organization has some sort of shady and usually self-serving goal that could have dire effects on the world if they succeed. As such, a part of your journey will involve challenging and stopping these thugs, though you would have to do so anyways, as this group will repeatedly impede your progress.

This same story has been repeated time and time and time again in the Pokemon franchise… and Pokemon Legends Arceus keeps very little of it.

In Pokemon Legends Arceus, players take the role of a teenager transported through time and space by the titular Pokemon Arceus to the land of Hisui, the region that would later come to be known as Sinnoh in the Pokemon Diamond and Pearl games. Hisui has only just begun to be settled by people, who have built a small town and a scant few much smaller settlements, and unlike other entries in the series, the people of Hisui tend to fear Pokemon and see them as a mystery and deadly hazard. These people are only just starting to be exposed to the idea that Pokemon can live together side by side with humans, rather than be praised as gods or treated as terrifying monsters. The Pokeballs that are a central element of the Pokemon franchise have only just been invented, and even the select few warriors brave enough to form relationships with a Pokemon initially turn their nose up at this technological creation.

Given that your character hails from a more modern time in the series, you don’t fear Pokemon and are already familiar with the use of Pokeballs. And this along with your strange clothing makes you something of a suspicious mystery to the people of Hisui – some see you as being a blessing sent by the powerful forces that control the region, and others view you with distrust. However, given your potential usefulness, you are quickly enlisted in the Galaxy Team Survey Corps, an organization that studies Pokemon and helps the local population to deal with Pokemon-related problems.

Some story elements remain familiar – You are still given your choice of three starter Pokemon (Cyndaquil from Pokemon Gold and Silver, Oshawott from Pokemon Black and White, and Rowlett from Pokemon Sun and Moon). You are still tasked with filling out a Pokedex. You still have occasional Pokemon battles with this game’s version of Pokemon trainers, including a few recurring characters and one that might be somewhat comparable to prior games’ rival.

However, where prior games’ quest to fill the Pokedex was seemingly borne out of vague enthusiasm and curiosity, here it takes on a more urgent role, as the people of this land are desperate for the knowledge this research could provide, knowledge their survival could depend on. The battles with Pokemon trainers are actually quite rare compared to prior games, and tend to only happen during scripted events – you won’t find hundreds of people randomly waiting out in the world seeking to challenge you when you meet their eyes simply because “I like shorts!”. There are no Pokemon gyms in this game – your rank in the Galaxy Team Survey Corps fills the role of gym badges in this game, and players advance their rank by filling out their Pokedex, directly tying the core gameplay progression to this central element. There is no elite group of Pokemon trainers players are aiming to reach the top of. There is no “Team” gang standing in the way of your efforts, either – instead, there are two competing clans who have formed an uneasy truce, and they do not stand as a self-centered cartoony obstacle to your journey, but as a part of the local culture players will need to convince and work with to help the people of the region.

In terms of story, it is an absolute breath of fresh air to actually have a story in a Pokemon game where you can’t predict each plot beat as it approaches, and I feel like it keeps just enough of the familiar that it won’t throw players off, while largely being something original for a change.

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“Why don’t you Pokemon Go out into the world and get a job, you deadbeat!”

One other thing that Pokemon Legends Arceus gets absolutely right from the start is something that previously only seemed to happen in spin-off games like New Pokemon Snap – this game does a magnificent job of making the player feel as though they really are running around and exploring the Pokemon world. Not only are you no longer restricted to set paths, but all Pokemon wander the world freely. Some will lay down and take a nap when bored, some will run away when they see or hear you approach, and some will actively attack you.

This is an important element of the game, because catching Pokemon in this game and filling out that Pokedex will often require some degree of stealth, with players crouching down in grass or behind a tree to remain hidden until the right moment and then deciding whether to throw an empty Pokeball to try to skip battling and go straight to catching the Pokemon, tossing an item to lure out the Pokemon or briefly subdue it… or tossing a Pokeball with one of your own Pokemon to engage in battle.

Often, players will opt to do the former, avoiding battle entirely. This is one area where Pokemon Go’s influence can be felt more strongly – opting to go this route means that your challenge isn’t to subdue the Pokemon in combat, but to properly judge your aim with the Pokeball and throw it at the right time. In particular, if you can hit a Pokemon from behind, your odds of catching it will improve. It’s this sort of gameplay that really helps to set Pokemon Legends Arceus apart from other mainline Pokemon games, and having to aim your Pokeballs in this game adds a delightfully visceral feel to the way you interact with the game’s world (although unlike the Let’s Go games, there are no motion controls here).

However, the influence of Pokemon Go goes deeper thanks to the increased emphasis progression in this game places on filling out the very first Pokedex in the series’ chronology, recording information about the creatures of this world for the first time. Where other entries in the series make this a simple one-and-done process of catching a Pokemon and then having its Pokedex entry automatically populate, in Pokemon Legends Arceus each Pokemon has its own list of tasks to accomplish, with players needing to complete at least a handful of these tasks to make an official entry in the Pokedex. This task list is individual to each Pokemon – for some, you might have to catch the Pokemon in a specific way, or at a specific time. For others, you may have to see them perform specific moves in battle. And for many, you can get closer to completing their Pokedex entry by simply catching more of that variety of Pokemon. As a result, you’ll likely be catching a multitude of Pokemon, even Pokemon you have already caught, simply to complete these tasks.

Make no mistake – this adds a different sort of grind into this game, but it is a welcome addition, as gradually filling out your Pokedex this time around feels significant, and every step you take that brings you closer to completing a Pokedex entry comes with a great feeling of accomplishment. The game underlines this feeling of accomplishment by both trying your Galaxy Team Survey Corps rank to the Pokedex completion, as well as providing you a pay for your efforts, treating this as if it were a real job… which makes a heck of a lot more sense than prior games, where defeated trainers would give you cash as if you were a bully that just beat them up for their lunch money.

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Pokemon Trainer Joins the Battle!

Not all Pokemon can be captured without a fight – some are just too strong or aggressive for this. And even those who have a chance of being captured without a fight can still be engaged in a fight if the attempt fails. Upon doing so, players will find themselves engaging in the sort of traditional Turn-Based JRPG combat that will be largely familiar for fans of the Pokemon series, albeit with some additions and streamlined elements.

One of the major changes in this game is that no Pokemon battle with a wild Pokemon will start in this game unless the player specifically summons a Pokemon to engage in one, and wild Pokemon who are aggressive in nature or angered by a failed catching attempt will actively attack the player character. Players opting not to summon a Pokemon will have to dodge and run to try to avoid these attacks. If the player character gets hit, they take temporary damage in a manner similar to a game like Call of Duty – the player character doesn’t have a persistent health bar to worry about, but taking enough damage in quick succession without getting away to recover will mean the player fainting, losing some items, and spawning back in a designated safe area.

I feel like this element works, but it seems like it could have been developed further, perhaps by giving the player character their own stats and a health bar as well. This mechanic isn’t terrible, it just feels like it could have been deeper.

Once you’re engaged in combat between Pokemon, you will have the option to use the Strong and Agility styles I mentioned earlier. As Pokemon level up, they will sometimes “master” one of their attacks, which gives that Pokemon the option during combat to use that attack in one of the two named styles instead of its normal style. Doing so will use two of that move’s stock instead of one, but the tradeoff will be either a stronger version of that attack (potentially at the expense of future turns in combat), or a weaker version of the attack that could allow the Pokemon to take multiple turns before the opponent can act.

It bears mention that the attack style isn’t the sole determination in what order attacks play out – the speed of the battling Pokemon and the speed of their attacks also has an influence. As such, players will want to keep an eye on the projected changes to the turn order and judge whether the opposing Pokemon may use a skill that always strikes first. I will say that it’s not always evident just how this game calculates turn order when these factors become involved, so this addition to the combat isn’t a game-changer… but it is nevertheless nice to have additional options.

Players will also encounter two new types of Pokemon that will help to keep things from getting too stale and repetitive – apex Pokemon and noble Pokemon.

Apex Pokemon, identified by glowing red eyes and ominous music that plays near them, wander the environments much as normal Pokemon do, but they are bigger, meaner, higher-level, and they know attacks that garden-variety versions of that Pokemon don’t. Players seeking a challenge will want to hunt these Pokemon down when they are ready to do so, as that Pokemon’s expanded move list and higher stats will make them a powerful addition to the team. However, players will want to be wary until they can confirm they’re ready for such a battle, and either sneak past or run past these Pokemon and avoid a fight.

The other noteworthy new Pokemon type, Noble Pokemon, act as bosses of a sort in the game. These powerful glowing Pokemon require players to dodge around as the player character while pelting it with “balms” to weaken it into a state where it can be battled normally. These noble Pokemon fights work fine, but they suffer from the same issue that I mentioned before regarding the way the game treats the player character’s role in combat – it feels like it should have been developed more. As-is, this dodging around doesn’t really have much relevance to the rest of the game, and the real-time movement and action isn’t complex or interesting enough to make good use of the focus this game places on it. Also, it bears mention that at least some of these battles will not allow the player to actually catch these Pokemon, which just seems… wrong.

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Hunt and Gather

One welcome change to the RPG elements this time around is that Pokemon in this game never “forget” moves as they did in prior games. While Pokemon can only equip four moves at a time, players can freely swap out these moves at any time outside of combat simply by going into their menus. Players can also swap out their lead Pokemon among their party of six instantly with a tap of the L or R button, meaning that players can instantly adapt to a new wild Pokemon they encounter by swapping to one that is strong against it. And while players looking to swap out their party of six Pokemon with their stock of potentially hundreds cannot simply do so whenever they want, they will encounter a few camps in each of the game’s open areas that will allow them to do so without heading back to town.

One of the elements seemingly inspired by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, meanwhile, is the game’s crafting system. Which is to say, this game’s crafting system is half-baked in the same way The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s crafting system is. As players go through the environments, they’ll pick plants and other resources off of the ground, or more frequently they will toss their Pokemon at a tree or group of crystals to quickly mine it.

To the game’s credit, being able to use your Pokemon for this task cuts down on the effort required – players can pretty quickly speed their way through the game’s environments, tossing a Pokemon at one tree or crystal after another without needing to get close to it or stopping at all. However, the actual crafting here doesn’t allow for any real variation or creativity – you simply use ingredients in pre-established recipes to craft your Pokeballs, potions, and the like.

Another new element this game adds are rideable Pokemon. These Pokemon are not caught, and players get them at scripted points in the story – in the context of earlier games in the series, think of it less like teaching a Pokemon to Surf or Fly, and more like using a bicycle in those games – pressing the plus button will summon one of these rideable Pokemon instantly, and give players much better mobility on the game’s maps.

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Okay, So About All the Breath of the Wild Comparisons…

As noted before, it’s impossible to write this review without noting how this game was very clearly inspired at least in part by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. However, that inspiration only goes so far, and it needs to be noted that many of the things that made Breath of the Wild so wonderful are simply not present here.

We’ve already addressed the fact that this is not technically an Open-World game, even if the game’s areas are quite large and open-ended. However, one of the things that made Breath’s open-world work so well was the freedom of traversal afforded by that game’s “climb anywhere” mechanic, a mechanic that is not present here. Quite the contrary, players who encounter an obstacle that’s much greater than waist-high will find it insurmountable without the assistance of rideable Pokemon. Players attempting to “Skyrim their way up a mountain” will find this game staunchly refuses to allow it in most cases – struggling up a slope for more than a second or two will cause you to slide all the way down it.

Other things that made Breath of the Wild great that are simply not here: Finding numerous points of interest and adding them to the map. A world full of lore and environmental storytelling. A deep and rewarding physics system. NPCs and enemies that interact with each other and the world around them. Clever “shrine puzzles” to solve. Hidden “koroks” (or an equivalent).

I say this not to say that Pokemon Legends Arceus is necessarily a worse game because it doesn’t copy everything that made Breath of the Wild great, only to try to bring expectations back to reality – while this game clearly drew inspiration from Breath of the Wild, and while it is a game that could have a massive impact on its series, it isn’t quite “the Breath of the Wild of Pokemon games” that some people are billing this as.

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Pokeflute and Garbador

Surprisingly, out of all the ways this game was inspired by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the one that I found to be the most noteworthy was Pokemon Legends Arceus’s sound and music, which at times seems directly inspired by Breath’s sounds. Arceus’ soundtrack is often more subdued and subtle instrumental music with a fair amount of piano in some of its melodies, although the music does evolve and show some originality as you progress through the game. Night Theme, Cobalt Coastlands Theme 2, The Heartwood Theme, Firespit Island Theme, and Alabaster Icelands Theme 2 are particularly good.

However, while the music manages to eventually become its own thing, I feel like many elements of the sound seem like they are beholden to either earlier Pokemon games or Breath of the Wild. To whit, the Pokemon sounds here are still based on the armchair Game Boy sounds for the characters (even Pikachu doesn’t benefit from Ikue Otani’s usual voiceover this time). Meanwhile, the sound for picking up crafting materials in the field seems like it was ripped straight out of Breath of the Wild – I’m reminded of that “you can copy my homework if you change it” meme. And despite the greater focus on story here, human characters remain completely silent, with flappy mouths accompanied by text. Disappointing.

However, while this game’s sound has mixed results, the graphics… well, they’re just bad.

Look, I’ll start by saying that this game is still functional. The graphics aren’t so bad that they detract from the gameplay. And the performance is at least mostly pretty stable (though I do occasionally notice brief dips in the framerate). But hoo boy, this game is visually rough.

Let’s run through the list, shall we? Horribly muddy textures. Nasty pop-in on multiple levels – entire mountains popping into view as you walk towards them, and fields of grass appearing a few dozen yards ahead of you. Nasty-looking dithering. Ugly aliasing. Grotesquely choppy animations for characters seen at a distance (most noticeably larger Pokemon such as the apex Rapidash you encounter early into the game). On a technical level, this game looks noticeably worse than Pokemon Sword and Shield, worse than Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – and it bears mention that Breath of the Wild came out nearly five years ago.

At the very least, Pokemon Legends Arceus does a decent job exuding a style all its own – its more muted color palette makes it feel inherently more grounded than the average Pokemon game, and the menus, architecture, and characters’ outfits all have a distinctly feudal Japan style to them that really makes this game feel like it’s set in a different era.

Still, it’s hard to be impressed by this when the game can’t help but constantly remind you how darn ugly it is.

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Just Plain Trubbish

Okay, and now that I’ve got the ball rolling on this game’s problems, it’s time to let loose with the rest of what’s wrong here…

Pokemon Legends Arceus feels very much like a rushed product.

It’s not just the terrible graphics, although that certainly doesn’t help. This game feels generally unpolished in a way that Pokemon games generally aren’t. But more than that, in many ways it feels unfinished.

As you’re exploring the world, generally you will only be doing three things – fighting Pokemon, catching Pokemon, and gathering crafting ingredients. This feels like a huge missed opportunity to fill this vast world with something to give players a true sense of discovery. As it is, the only thing you will ever truly be excited to discover is a new Pokemon species you haven’t yet encountered.

What’s more, Pokemon Legends Arceus strips out numerous long-running elements of the Pokemon series, leaving this game feeling somewhat bare next to its predecessors. We already had the loss of the national Pokedex in Pokemon Sword and Shield, and its absence here actually makes sense due to the setting and story of the game. Less forgivable, however, are the massive cuts made to multiplayer features.

In prior entries in the series, players could trade with friends locally or online, or log onto a worldwide network to trade with strangers. They could also battle those same friends and strangers. Pokemon Sword and Shield allows players to join up with others in co-op battles with massive Gigamax Pokemon.

Pokemon Legends Arceus, on the other hand, will only let players trade Pokemon, not battle. And only with friends. There is another minor feature here, where the game will leave items to collect on your map in locations where other players fainted, but this is hardly a replacement for a gameplay element that many players saw as a primary component of the game.

There are other missing elements as well. There are no innate abilities (added in Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire in 2003) no held items (added in Pokemon Gold and Silver in 2000), no Pokemon breeding (also in Gold and Silver), no real-time clock (also Gold and Silver)… and I probably don’t even need to say it at this point, but no way to transfer your Pokemon to or from other Pokemon games (another Gold and Silver feature that died in Pokemon Sword and Shield).

To have so many major long-running features stripped out of this game makes Pokemon Legends Arceus feel like a wondrously large game that is oddly empty, incomplete, and… like I said, rushed.

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Evolved, But It Doesn’t Catch ‘Em All…

In the end… I have some very mixed emotions about Pokemon Legends Arceus.

Firstly, on a level of pure simple enjoyment, I am having more fun with this game than I have had with the mainline Pokemon series in a very long time. Possibly not since the original Pokemon Red and Blue have I felt the sort of feeling of joy, wonder, and discovery that this game gives me.

Secondly, in the greater context of what this game represents, I am absolutely thrilled at the potential this game has to influence everything in the series to come after it. I want every mainline Pokemon game released after this point to base its gameplay on the foundation that this game establishes. I feel almost certain that Game Freak and The Pokemon Company will disappoint in this regard, but I can hope that it happens.

But thirdly, despite how fun it is, and despite the massive potential Pokemon Legends Arceus brings to the series, I have to also recognize that it is a deeply flawed game. It breeds so much potential, but much of that potential goes unrealized. Multiple gameplay elements are functional but seem poorly thought-out. A disturbing number of gameplay elements have been stripped out of the game without anything significant to replace them. And the graphics, while not an outright disaster, are surprisingly bad for a Pokemon game.

Those who were hoping this would be a “Breath of the Wild for Pokemon” will find that it falls well short of that lofty ideal, even though so much of this game was clearly directly inspired by Breath of the Wild. As I said, this is a deeply flawed game. But in the end, despite these flaws, I still have to admit that I found this game to be a joy to play, and unlike games like Pokemon Sword and Shield or Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, it is not a joy to play just because it copied the formula of every Pokemon game that came before it.

tl;dr – Pokemon Legends Arceus is a game that takes the Turn-Based Monster Collecting JRPG gameplay of Nintendo’s long-running Pokemon series and brings it into large, open areas (though not quite Open-World). The change in world design and gameplay here is significant, making this game not only highly enjoyable, but also truly unique in the series. However, this game is also deeply flawed and feels outright rushed – it is lacking a ton of gameplay features, there are multiple poorly-conceived gameplay elements, and the graphics have some major issues. It still manages to be a delight to play despite these issues, but these flaws keep this game from being the absolute triumph it could have been if it got more polish.

Grade: A-

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2022 Game Awards:

Runner-Up: Game of the Year, Best RPG, Best Game for Kids and Casual Players

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