Hey everyone, I just finished the main game for Pokemon Legends Arceus so just wanted to give my spoiler free review. Full disclosure I didn’t complete the pokedex yet but working on that with the post-game. My final team is below if you are curious which ones I picked.
Table of Contents
Official Trailer
Not so Good
Let’s talk about the not so good. First the graphics are not as good as other games on the switch but in my opinion are improved from sword and shield given the scope of this game. It does have some draw distance pop in depending on how you travel around the map later on. There was also quite a bit of loading scenes in the game but each one only lasted a few seconds so not too bad. When riding the Wyrdeer specifically the camera can sometimes be a bit finicky. Lastly there is a lot of dialogue in this game and there is still no voice acting which was unfortunate.
The Good
The good with this game is it’s unique and took a chance trying something new. Its not fully open world but the areas that are open world are pretty big and have lots of crafting materials to collect and pokemon to find everywhere you look.
There are motivations to help you complete the pokedex such as side quests, upgrading your rank that lets pokemon of higher level listen to you and getting more rewards. I also felt the pacing was good the further you get in the game the pokemon and trainer battles get more challenging so I personally felt this was not nearly as easy as other modern takes on Pokemon. This would be a fantastic first game to try a nuzlocke challenge.
I felt the characters were likable and there are lots of ways to customize your character in this one. Lastly near the later parts of the game when you unlock all your modes of travel you really feel like you are in a Zelda BOTW inspired game as you can climb cliffs and fly in the air as well and they let you seamlessly switch between the pokemon modes of travel for example I can run and jump off a cliff with the deer and immediately switch and fly with the bird.
The Great
The great with this game is the catching mechanics and crafting system are both so much fun and addicting I wish they thought of this years ago. The boss battles with the frenzied noble pokemon get more intense and hard over time and the last two of them made me forget I was playing Pokemon and not an action adventure game. The story started like any other Pokemon game but had twists that I wasn’t expecting along with the end game becoming very dramatic and intense.
Overall I’d say this is actually my favorite Pokemon game besides maybe soul silver but I really hope to see others like this in the future games and give it a 9/10.
I tend to play a variety of genres of games but mostly enjoy RPG, Fighting Games, Action Adventure and Open World.
My favorite video game series right now is Super Smash Bros. my favorite game currently is Zelda Breath of the Wild.
I really enjoy discussing games, making a top 10 list or just discussing my thoughts about newer games released.
- Nintendo Direct Thoughts and Impressions (02/09 Direct) - February 10, 2022
- Banjo Kazooie Review (Nintendo Switch – N64 Expansion) - February 9, 2022
- Firewatch Review (Xbox Game Pass) - February 2, 2022
Review
Summary
Survey, catch, and research wild Pokémon in a long-gone era of Sinnoh to complete the region’s first Pokédex.