Pokémon was a very different beast back in the day. I was around when the Gen 1 hype was building outside of Japan, and I was absolutely thrilled when I got to play Pokémon Red for the 1st time. I borrowed my friend’s Gameboy and played a little during performance rehearsals at school. That little taste was enough to convince me that I was a fan. I used to have dreams about playing, only everything was in glorious 3D rather than pixels on a green-and-black screen.
Then I bought a copy of Pokémon Blue and began an adventure that was wholly my own.
…Pokémon hasn’t felt like an adventure for a long time.
Pokemon Legends Arceus
Genre(s) – JRPG, monster tamer
Original release date – January 28, 2022
Available on – Nintendo Switch
Played on – Nintendo Switch
Don’t misunderstand; I still love the Game Freak-developed franchise, and aside from the latest 2 generations of games, I’ve played every single mainline game…even if I have an unfortunate habit of ceasing playing right before the Elite Four. I love the formula of incremental progress, the childlike fantasy of a kid saving the world from crime bosses or monsters or cults. The formula is very comforting for me. But sticking to a formula means that the games feel, well, formulaic. Any innovations feel small, and stand a high chance of being phased out in subsequent generations anyway. You know the sort of story you’re in for every time, just dressed up in a few new clothes.
Pokémon Legends Arceus changed up the formula to the point that playing the game felt like a true adventure again, in a way that the series hadn’t for me since around Gen 3.
A TIME TRAVEL ADVENTURE
Pokémon Legends Arceus throws you immediately into the deep end by having your protagonist whisked through time to end up in Hisui, the land that would later become known as Gen 4’s Sinnoh region. A space-time rift has formed, which is shooting out strange lightning, enraging some of Hisui’s most powerful Pokémon. Not only are you tasked by the emerging Galaxy Team to investigate this weirdness, but also to compile information on Hisui’s Pokémon in a book that Professor Lava LampLaventon calls a Pokédex.
Even though supposedly Professor Oak invented that thing.
Immediate time paradoxes, yay!
The ways that Pokémon Legends Arceus differentiates itself from mainline Pokémon games are staggering. Pokémon now appear in the overworld, and you don’t have to battle them to catch them. Some are aggressive and will attack if they see you, others are timid and will run away, but with the right timing, and by crouching in long grass and sneaking around, you can catch a lot of Pokémon without ever doing battle.
GOTTA CATCH ‘EM ALL, AGAIN AND AGAIN
You have to catch a lot of Pokémon, because Professor Laventon has assigned you a big task, one which requires deep learning about all the Pokémon you encounter. Catching a certain number of them, seeing them use certain moves, it all goes to filling in the Pokédex with the info that will be referenced in generations to come. The people of Hisui don’t know much about Pokémon, are often even scared of them, and the best way to undo fear is by dispelling ignorance.
This time, there’s no evil or misguided group that’s trying to reshape the world. There’s the Diamond Clan and the Pearl Clan, divided over interpretations of their deity, but who learn to work together for the greater good. There’s Galaxy Team, who have a bit of a colonizer attitude about some things but are mostly concerned with keeping the people of Hisui, both those born there and those who relocated, safe from harm.
And you’ve got the mystery of the dimensional rifts and the enraging lightning to solve. Beyond filling in the Pokédex, that’s what drives you forward in Pokémon Legends Arceus. You and Galaxy Team have aligned motives in keeping people safe, and that means figuring out what’s up with all of that.
THE ADVENTURE MY INNER CHILD CRAVED
Exploring Hisui felt exciting in a way that Pokémon hasn’t felt for me in a long time. With the fully 3D environment and a team of beloved Pokémon to help me explore, it was loads of fun traversing the land. Seeing Pokémon in their natural habitat, filling in the map, seeking out secret little grottos and groves where sometimes I’d get lucky and find a starter Pokémon from another generation just waiting for me to lob newly-crafted Pokéballs at it… It was all such a good time, and exactly what I think the franchise needed to shake things up a bit.
Even boss battles got a makeover! Rather than just being one Pokémon fighting another, the player character has to dodge attacks until the enraged Pokémon is tired and can have some of its HP whittled down; it’s a team effort between both you and your Pokémon partners. It was wholly different from anything experienced in mainline Pokémon games, and the sense of discovery that came with it was thrilling. I couldn’t rely on past habits built from other games, but had to learn entirely new systems, which sets Pokémon Legends Arceus and makes it feel incredibly memorable. As an experimental title, I’d say it was utterly fantastic.
SO MUCH TO DO, SO MUCH TO SEE
It’s not just catching, battling, and exploring that awaits players in Pokémon Legends Arceus, either. With the human connection to Pokémon being so relatively new in Hisui, Pokéballs themselves have really just been invented, and it’s up to you to craft your own as you journey around Hisui. Not just Pokéballs, mind you, but also healing items, and things you can throw at Pokémon in the wild to attract or distract them for easier catching. You’ll be picking up random items all over the place and seeing how they can turn into something to make your journey easier, taking what the land provides and making good use of it all.
And then there are the side-quests! Some people want certain items from different regions of Hisui, some people want to see completed Pokédex entries to learn more about their favourite Pokémon, and still others want Pokémon partners of their own. Some quests will have you give up Pokemon you’ve caught (and you will have a surplus of them, believe me!) to help build or farm, helping to develop the nascent Jubilife Village. You’ll actually see the farmland expand and more houses be built as you progress through the game, showing growth as a direct consequence of your actions.
Pokémon Legends Arceus, in other words, feels like any number of solid RPGs that would be praised for their content, rather than mourned for feeling like just another expression of “same old, same old.” This is the polar opposite of following Pokémon‘s classic formula, instead innovating and experimenting and making something that could honestly appeal even to those who think that Pokémon is just a silly game for kids!
NOTHING IS PERFECT, SADLY
However much it brought my nostalgic desires to the forefront, I did experience some disappointment. The ending was a colossal let-down. Spoilers below, so please be warned. If you don’t want to read them, please skip to the section below the next picture.
So, you get sent through time to Arceus, the great deity of Pokémon itself, to help with the space-time rifts and the looming threat to Hisui. You go through the whole game, helping Noble Pokémon restore their sanity, eventually leading to a final boss fight with Palkia or Dialga, depending on whether you sided with Diamond Clan or Pearl Clan in a single choice. You catch Dialga or Palkia in a fancy new Origin Ball and… the credits roll.
The dimensional rift above the mountain closes, you’re trapped in Hisui’s past without ever addressing the idea that maybe you’d want to go back to your own time after all is said and done, but no, it just sort of ends. Dialga or Palkia being behind it all makes no sense, and doesn’t explain why Arceus intervened to literally send you back in time.
So yes, incredibly disappointing as an ending. It felt like they had a great idea but weren’t sure where to go with it, which feels incongruent to the rest of Pokémon Legends Arceus‘s well-crafted and highly-polished gameplay.
Now, this does get expanded upon and sorted out in the post-game, but that doesn’t change my initial reaction to the ending. Imagine being someone who doesn’t tend to play post-game content, thinks the game legitimately ends after the credits roll. You’d never get to find the true resolution to the overarching plot of the game, and you’d likely think the developers forgot half the story they spent so long working with. Yes, most Pokémon players know to expect a lengthy post-game, but this is a new game, a new formula, and not everyone playing it would be familiar with the rest of the franchise.
It seemed a cruel joke to play on people who don’t know to keep going. It was disappointing.
Aside from that, though, I can’t think of a single other thing I disliked about my time with Pokémon Legends Arceus. The game made me feel excited to play, like a kid who can’t wait to dive back in and witness the next beat in the adventure that is Hisui. I spent over 40 hours in game without it once feeling strained or boring to keep going, and I’m excited to keep playing as I fill out my Pokémon and finish up all of the side-quests. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience to re-ignite my love for the series, and to remind myself what fun a new adventure in the Pokémon world can really be.
Though I know many people were upset that mainline Pokémon games didn’t switch to Pokémon Legends Arceus‘s style of gameplay as new entries released (and who can blame them, after experiencing this?), I’ll at least always be happy that, when I want to feel that child-like sense of wonder once more, Hisui will always be waiting for me.
Quadnines 
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