Synopsis:
Get ready for a new kind of grand, Pokémon adventure in Pokémon™ Legends: Arceus, a new game from Game Freak that blends action and exploration with the RPG roots of the Pokémon series.
3D Graphics Section Director: Takao Unno
Planning Section Director: Yuichi Murase
Publisher: Nintendo, The Pokémon Company
Reviewed on: Nintendo Switch (OLED Model)
Also available for: N/A
Cast: Tamaki Fujii, Tatsuya Katonoa
Developer: Game Freak
Director: Kazumasa Iwao
Writers: Toshinobu Matsumiya, Yuichi Murase, Yuya Watanabe, Tatsuya Yamashita, Aoi Tagawa, Kota Yamashita, Yuta Hayashi
CG Director: Haruka Tochigi
Programming Section Director: Masayuki Onoue
Pokémon Legends: Arceus is the latest instalment in the Pokémon franchise, and the developers have done some very interesting things this time. This entry has set a new precedent for future titles with a large overhaul, a newer story, and a range of unique battles, worlds, and mechanics. Pokémon Legends: Arceus is a game that many of us Pokémon fans have wanted for a long time, and although it isn’t perfect, it is a step in the right direction. Taking many ideas from recent Pokémon titles and combining them into a rich world with story and intrigue for the player to delve into.
The game starts with the interesting RPG troupe of being found unconscious on a beach; this time, it’s after appearing from a strange rift in the sky. Your clothing is more modern, and some things seem out of place. Professor Laventon and his three Pokémon come to your aid, even if they are somewhat suspicious about your arrival. The Professor quickly informs you about the area you’ve appeared in called The Hisui Region. It’s an expansive area, full of natural beauty. There are various areas surrounding the central Mount Coronet, and each location features unique Pokémon and environments to capture and explore.
Once off the beach, the Professor loses his Pokémon, to which you assist in the retrieval, and to his surprise, you’re a natural at capturing them. Shortly after, the Professor takes you to the nearby Jubilife Village, a beautiful little town housing the research institute that the player soon discovers is home to the Galaxy expedition team. This team features a variety of smaller teams, including Medical, Security and Surveying. Hearing of your recent exploits with the Professor, you are quickly assigned the task of capturing 3 Pokémon while being given a choice to take one of the Professor’s three as your new companion. Once this task is complete, you are accepted into the fold of the Galaxy surveying team. Starting with no rank, you are tasked with assisting the Professor in filling out the Pokedex and discovering more about the local environment and the Pokémon contained within it.
The semi-open world styling of the map pulls memories from other titles like Monster Hunter, having multiple base camps, and then a primary home base, that is Jubilife village. The village is ever-expanding. It starts with the basics, including food, clothing, supplies and crafting, but soon expands to include haircuts, photos, trade, battling, farming and much more. During my time playing, the town got ever more extensive and grew as more people arrived. These expansions went hand in hand with more side missions and tasks to complete. These side missions often involved discovering new Pokémon, filling pokédex entries, and assisting with village folk problems. As per most RPGs, these fetch quests can help with the player’s game, allowing the player to learn new recipes for crafting, adding additional items for purchase, or assisting the village is to grow in one form or another. These interactions also gave depth to the village and gave it the lived-in feeling that made me want to return often.
The world outside the village was not as impressive, with vast open spaces sparingly occupied by Pokémon. It sometimes felt like Game Freak could have done more to fill it better with trees and grass sprites often reused. I did, however, like the traversal within these more open spaces. You start off walking these wide-open spaces, which adds to the adventuring feel of the game. Pokémon no longer hide in tall grass, and like Pokémon: Lets Go or the wild areas in Pokémon Sword and Shield, the Pokémon are out in the open. The new battle and catching mechanics allow for a different way to engage with these Pokémon. Throwing a Pokémon team member out allows for instant battle or tossing one of the varieties of Pokéballs in the hopes of capturing it without the battle. Luring or distracting the Pokémon with their favourite food or stunning them with one of the many types of crafting supplies in your kit. There is a finite way to approach Pokémon in this world, with the added fact that they can attack you directly. These open spaces later become easier to traverse with the addition of mounts, each having a unique movement, from the fast-moving to swimming and flying. Learning when to use each mount allows for greater exploration of the areas and a novel experience.
The new, more developed battle system accompanies this title, and I must say I love the opportunity to feel more in control of the battle than previous generations of Pokémon. The adjustment of the battle system is slight, and you can quickly change the flow of action while taking full advantage. The first change is seeing the order of the battle; as in earlier titles, the speed status takes precedence in battle order, which can be changed when using a surprise attack. Once engaged in combat, you have up to four moves. Your Pokémon can master each of these moves, which allows the Pokémon to choose between three options ‘agile’ attack will be a quicker attack, and can move you up the battle order, sometimes even allowing two attacks in a row, the downside being it is a weaker attack. Next is the ‘standard’ attack; this attack does normal damage and doesn’t increase speed. Finally is the ‘strong’ attack; this does an immense amount of damage but is slower to use; it can also set you back further in the battle order, which in the long run may be detrimental. These moves can also be swapped out later in the game, making it easier to prepare for up-and-coming battles. The overhaul of this battle system makes it more engaging, and I am also finding that the move types aren’t as important as previous titles. If it falls within the effective range, it will do damage.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus also introduces a newer way of telling the typical Pokémon narrative. While many of the older games rely on the grind and goal of beating the gym leaders and “big bad guy or group”, Arceus is more focused on establishing relationships with the clans and village while learning to live alongside the wild Pokémon. An overarching main storyline aims to discover what is going on with the weird vortex that hovers over Mt. Coronet. The main story also tackles the ongoing politics within the region, with the multiple clans that guard over areas and the strange things happening to the Warden Pokémon becoming frenzied. These Pokémon offer a different type of boss battle; engaging them is done through throwing items to quell and stun them while using Pokémon to battle them is entirely optional. While there are no gyms in this game, there are still a few battles between the player and some NPCs. With the Clan leaders often testing your worth, these battles seem more of a check to ensure you are sufficiently levelled to meet the next task.
The Pokédex is also unique in this prequel as it is a field manual that you are developing for the Professor. There are no digital files this time. Each Pokémon seen is added to the Pokédex, and then tasks are set to discover more about those Pokémon. Your research level is added to when tasks are complete, and once you reach level ten, there is sufficient knowledge on that species. The Pokédex also displays stats, pictures, variations, locations, stats, type and much more on the Pokémon. Expanding this is quite fun. I often get lost in just catching and experiencing this part of the world. This Pokédex is filled out by different types of tasks, each with unique values ranging from capture, battling, witnessing moves, seeing variations, and evolutions. All this plays into world-building. The further the Pokédex is expanded upon, the less fear is seen in the populace and more of an understanding of the creatures. The narrative builds towards what we have seen in the series before: a world in which people and Pokémon work together in harmony.
Sound has always played a big role in the Pokémon games, from unique sounds to memorable melodies in townships, and Arceus is no different. The music varies from area to area, is light and fun or dark and menacing when needed. The vast range of unique Pokémon sounds, from simple chirps to almost conversations seen amongst the Pokémon populace, although it would be nice to hear some voice acting from the world’s people or at least the main characters. There are also a bunch of different sounds played during battle, collection of items, capturing Pokémon and experiencing the world. These delightful tiny tunes allow you to know what is happening in the world around you. Leaping off a mount and tossing a Pokémon to fetch some acorns or to mine some minerals is a simple task made easier as you can hear the collection process and not need to watch those repetitive actions all the time.
Experience is shared amongst your team, and battling isn’t the only way to level up Pokémon as capturing Pokémon also adds to your team’s experience. Evolving your Pokémon is also now not an automated process. Once a team member hits the correct level, they get a flashing tile above their name, hitting X to evolve them or leave them to continue their journey in the previous evolution. This allows the player much more control over their team. Wild Pokémon also have a range of stats, and many areas see new Alpha Pokémon; these Alphas are bigger, stronger and if you’re not careful, can wipe out you and your team. While they are harder to capture and defeat, the rewards for doing so are also better, often dropping considerable experience and items unique to each of them.
