Gotta Catch Em’ All

Pokémon played a big part of my life; you see when I was in high school, I had an injury that had me out for almost six months. Well, it was during that time that I discovered the Pokémon anime; which came on after I would have left for school. I was hooked, the story, the animation and most of all the pocket monsters! (Pokémon is pocket monster in case you didn’t know) It just so happened that the game was coming out soon for the Nintendo Game Boy and I had a birthday coming up. After lots of pleading my mom finally gave in and got me Pokémon Blue. My love affair with Blastoise and many others began right there, but as the years and many iterations have come; no game has really given the same sense of the anime. That is until Pokémon Legends: Arceus; this is the Pokémon game that I have been dreaming of since first booting up Pokémon Blue back in ’98.

The developers at Game Freak have done many things right with Pokémon Legends: Arceus that finally shakes up the ‘tried and true” Pokémon formula. For starters PL:A goes back in time within the Pokémon universe to an era where the many monsters were feared and not seen as partners. While the players characters come from the present within the world of Pokémon; its explained how and why they are pulled back in time. In Pokémon Legends the familiar Sinnoh region from the Pearl & Diamond iterations will look quite different as players explore the bygone era where it is known as Hisui region. This era, which is very akin to feudal Japan makes for a beautiful setting; dare I say the most eye catching one yet.

MSRP: $59.99
Platforms: Switch
Price I’d Pay: $59.99

The story of Pokémon Legends sees trainers sent out to really begin what we know about these creatures. During the adventures players will need to forage and mine ore in order to craft their own Poke balls, due to everyone being afraid of Pokemon no one was trying to capture them, let alone train them to fight. In a lot of ways, “Pokemon Begins” is a good title for this game, as many long-term players will see the genesis of various things that we’ve come to take for granted. For instance, there is no ‘Nurse Joy’; Pokémon are healed by resting at a tent, or crafting healing items for them. The survival approaches the game has taken was really neat, and felt like it belonged given the place and time in Pokémon lore.

I’ll just address the elephant in the room here, much as been said about the graphics in Pokémon Legends some of it good but most of it bad. While I can see both arguments, I firmly land of the side of “gameplay over graphics” always. Pokémon Legends is by NO means an ugly game; in fact, I think it looks quite well all things considered. While it is not a true open world experience, the areas that player get to explore while wandering through the region are expansive. Not only that, but there are wild Pokémon roaming the areas, as well as items to harvest dotting the map and other things to find. Again though, it’s not a bad looking game; there is a weather system that makes surfaces appear wet, the colors are very bright and vibrant which is expected from the world of Pokémon. Everything as a watercolor feel, much like the art style Capcom used for Street Fighter 4.

There were some issues with graphics over all, nothing that had anything to do with how it looked or anything. I experienced lots of pop-in issues, as I stalked my Pokémon prey from the bushes they would sometimes just vanish; or a different Pokémon would spawn in as I was throwing and I would catch it by mistake, which would scare off my intended target. There is also a fair number of jagged edges, but nothing that distracts from the overall gameplay.

And the gameplay is certainly king here, I think this is the 1st stage of evolution that many long-time players have been yearning for from this franchise for many years. For years catching monsters has been the same loop of going into battle, weaking desired monster and throwing the Poke ball. While Pokémon Legends maintains that same loop at its core, it’s the new designs that really make this feel new. As I said the semi open world allows for roaming Pokémon, so when players find one, all they need to do is toss their Poke ball; no fight needed in theory. While its easier to catch the wild Pokémon when being stealthy (hiding in bushes, throwing behind their backs etc) it is possible to catch them even though you’ve been seen; but the wild Pokémon is extremely likely to escape the poke ball. Pokémon Legends feels more fluid in using this approach to the gameplay, instead of each encounter having to be a fight; it’s entirely possible to catch most Pokémon without fighting them at all.

I say ‘most’ because when it comes to the new alpha Pokémon, a fight is the only thing that players can do. These mini-boss like creatures present as ‘fired’ up versions of themselves, usually with telling, bright red eyes and a red aura these creatures look fearsome and will likely be higher level. In order to try your hand at catching them, players will have to toss out one of their Pokémon and start a battle. Again, this is one of those things that might seem little to those new to the series; but for us long time fans this just feels so natural. I can toss out all 6 of my Pokémon for a photo op at any time, I can bring them out just to pet them and say hello. This really adds another layer to Pokémon’s collecting/fighting RPG games. Players can really bond with their Pokémon in a way that hasn’t been done before. Even those aforementioned battles have been redone and feel more natural.

Once players have tossed their poke ball filled with their chosen warrior at an opposing ‘mon the battle begins. No loading screen, or transition the battle starts wherever everyone has landed. Some of my favorite fights, visually were those where my Pokémon were on a rock and the opponent on the ground below. It just looked really cool to see the fight, because the moves have been enhanced and the Pokémon actually MOVE. No longer do they do a little shuffle when doing a tackle, now you can see your Pikachu run right up and full-on tackle rush their opponent. As a long time, fan, this was so cool to see; again, it’s what I imagined as a kid watching the anime so long ago.

I am enjoying Pokémon Legends: Arcueus very much, if nothing else it is a fantastic start to an overdue evolution for the Pokémon games. While there are still things that could be improved or added; things like online; having the ability to see other trainers in the world would be huge. Things like being able to have your Pokémon follow you on your adventure if you choose too, more customization options for trainer creation; things like this would be great. And what gives me hope is Game Freak kind of flirts with those systems I named above. While you can’t see players running around, trainers will find backpacks from those real-life (via Nintendo Online) trainers who fell in the field. Upon picking them up the trainer will receive a reward, I mentioned being able to summon out a trainers six Pokémon for a photo op; surely that’s a step in the right direction of having your friend follow you and respond to things. As I said the future seems bright for the Pokémon franchise, I just hope Game Freak can avoid what many studios do and end up taking ‘two steps back’ after moving their game forward; but time will tell.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.

Good
  • Large cast of Pokemon
  • New exploring and catching mechanics
Bad
  • Easy to throw Pokemon when meaning to catch one
  • Story is still just kind of there
8.5
Great
Written by
Terrence spends his time going where no one has gone before mostly. But when not planning to take over the galaxy, he spends his time raising Chocobo and trying to figure out just how the sarlaac could pull Boba Fett’s ship with its engines firing FULL BLAST into it’s maw with relative ease; yet it struggled with Han Solo who was gripping *checks notes* SAND!