Pokémon games were strictly turn-based RPGs that followed a young protagonist on his quest to become a powerful Pokémon trainer. Each successive game has added new Pokémon and, more recently, increasingly absurd and exaggerated mechanics to try to spice up a system that has remained essentially unchanged. Finally we have Legends: Arceus: the reinvention we’ve been asking for.
Developer Game Freak has thrown out almost everything we’ve come to expect from a typical Pokémon Gym game-random encounters, an Elite Four, trainer battles in the overworld, an evil team trying to take over the world-and started from scratch, revisiting even the most basic systems like Pokémon encounters and evolution. This time you will read the Pokémon Legends: Arceus review here, we hope you enjoy it.
Many of these impressive transformations are paying off, as we are able to interact with creatures that have never seemed so alive and in more dynamic ways, but the evolution of Pokémon is not yet complete, because the semi-open world that surrounds it all feels like an unimpressive afterthought because of its hollowness.
The reasons why people return to playing Pokémon year after year are many and varied, but at the root of it all is the fun that comes from collecting a veritable army of interesting monsters, joining and bonding with a certain group of powerful monsters, and facing increasingly difficult challenges with them. In this respect, Legends: Arceus is still the Pokémon we know and love. But everything around him, such as meeting these creatures and getting to know them, fighting against and alongside them, and facing challenges together, has been twisted.
About
Developer: Game Freak
Publisher: Nintendo, The Pokémon Company
Release date: 28 January 2022
Price: $49.48
System Requirement
Operating System: Windows XP with service pack 3, Windows Vista, or 7.
CPU: Intel Core2 Duo 1.8GHz Or equivalent AMD Athlon64 x2.
RAM: 2GB.
Storage: 2GB.
Graphics Hardware: DirectX 9.0c compliant card 128MB RAM, Shader 2.0+
Pokémon Legends: Arceus review: Gameplay
There are some new features in Pokémon Legends: Arceus, the main one being that you will be the one to create the Pokédex. As in all future Pokémon games that we play, we will know that a version of me found each creature. This makes the Pokémon universe about you and your character, which is a bit narcissistic, but in our opinion that is the purpose of the franchise.
Every time you catch a creature it is recorded in your little Pokédex book, but you only add your voice when you complete certain tasks. So for my original Pokémon Cyndaquil, some of the research tasks include the number of captures, the number of times you saw it use the Wheel of Flame, and the number of evolutions, among other things. The idea is to spend time with each Pokémon, fighting with them or against them, so that you can complete these research tasks.
This part of the game is as important as you make it, and my dedication to the cause has steadily decreased as the game has progressed. Pokédex advancement is directly related to ranking position in the Galaxy group, and higher positions offer specific stages of progression and different rewards.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus review: Visuals
Unfortunately, the graphics in Pokémon Legends: Arceus are rarely up to the ridiculous standards of other open-world games from Nintendo, such as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. First, let’s look at the positive aspects. The characters and their outfits are exactly as expected, with chibi and blurry facial expressions that perfectly match the Pokémon themselves. The Pokémon are animated, just like in other recent Pokémon episodes, such as New Pokémon Snap. Seeing them run around while hiding in a nearby bush is a real treat.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus review: Graphics
Unfortunately, the graphics in Pokémon Legends: Arceus are the weak point, especially when compared to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and the more recent Metroid Dread. Granted, we played on the original Nintendo Switch and not on Switch OLED, but even by these standards the world is still bland and uninteresting. The scenery may look great when you get up in the air, but as soon as you get close they become overly plain with frankly drab colors. In addition, trees appear and disappear from the background when you run.
There are also major frame rate problems, which do not necessarily affect playability, but are frustrating considering what the Switch is capable of and how much better other simple games are, such as Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which has more personality despite being one of the simplest games available on the Switch.
Also, the world never seems to react to your presence and the grass barely moves when you or a creature crosses it. It was disappointing to unlock the entire map and realize that most of it consisted of long stretches of grass or empty mountains, and we are really confused as to why Game Freak kept its world so minimal. The only exception is the sky, which looks magnificent throughout the game, with the time drift of space constantly reminding us why we are here.
Conclusion
Pokémon Legends: Arceus review, is one of the most innovative games in the series in a long time, and the new game mechanics and features make me wonder how we ever played another Pokémon game. Game Freak has created a fantastic story that puts you in a position you’ve never seen before, with more quirky characters and hours of fun, with over a hundred side quests.
The main aspect that lets Arceus down is the graphics, which are too simple and bland for a Pokémon game and, compared to other Switch games, depressing. But if you take away the disappointing graphics and the last hour of the campaign, which drags on awkwardly, this is one of the best Pokémon games that we believe everyone can enjoy, both those with experience and those who have never seen a peach.
