By Luca Newton
Yesterday, The Pokémon Company, officially revealed the beautiful box-art and an official release date for Pokémon Legends: Arceus, January 28th 2022, and I am stoked, as it could be my dream game..
In February, a Pokémon Presents was hosted by TPC, with a promise of showing future Pokémon projects. It was around the time of the big 25th anniversary, and Pokémon were notorious for celebrating all their anniversaries, 25th was a big one. Many people expected Diamond and Pearl remakes. Leading up to the event, I wasn't sure what to make of it, I was hoping that they'd show the Diamond and Pearl remakes, which would hopefully please fans, as I was quite fed up with how pessimistic Pokémon fans had become. However, in the build-up to the presentation, there was a leak. This leak revealed the titles, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, and shared actual footage of another game called Pokemon Legends: Arceus..
Fully Open World Pokémon
This leak was real. I remember before the actual presentation, hoping so desperately it was real, because I had fallen in-love with what I had seen. I had seen leaked footage of an open world Pokémon game. When it came around to watching the presentation, I freaked out when Legends Arceus was officially revealed and was everything I saw in that leak and more. I always wanted an open world Pokémon game. It's the very concept of being able to go anywhere in a fictional region, and just go around catching Pokémon at my own leisure, and explore the region in the meantime. I choose my journey, I form my adventure - that is quite literally part of Pokémon's DNA. Legends made me giddy.
I mean, firstly, you see a vast and huge mountain, which is previously known and beloved, Mount Coronet, from Sinnoh. You see the fact Sinnoh is completely open, and void of many cities, instead only one. You see the large amount of space you are able to roam. To add to that, we are exposed to brand new movement options. The trainer does a doge roll into some grass, and sneaks within the grass. The trainer proceeds to throw a Pokéball at a wild Pokémon, in the overworld. My mind was blown at that point. See, we had just seen a vast open world where your trainer is capable of actual movement, other than using a bike, and being able to catch Pokémon, completely separate from a battle. It showed a sense of ambition I hadn't seen in anything Pokémon before.
Of course, the Wild Area in Pokémon Sword and Shield, was the closest thing we had got to this type of game, I just didn't expect it to be this quick. Honestly, the Wild Area lacked in many areas, however, in many others I thoroughly enjoyed myself within it. Furthermore, the Crown Tundra expansion to the base games definitely were a highlight for me. I actively will defend Crown Tundra, it made me truly feel like I was on a journey in an open world - part, being able to choose which legendaries I'd catch, and other part having an investing subplot with the most interesting legendary Pokémon I had ever seen. Anyway, my point with this is - Crown Tundra nailed open world for a short DLC expansion, I can't begin to imagine how much better Legends Arceus will inevitably be.
Advanced Movement And Combat
Additionally, the reveal trailer showed us a glimpse into both the advanced movement, and change in combat. We currently don't know too much about either from the trailer alone. However, the original leaks included a few extra details not included within the trailer itself. These additions excite me.
For the movement, we already know, and have seen, the trainer's ability to roll and sneak into grass. This extension of movement is going to make the areas so much more convenient to travel across without always having to walk or use a bike. Furthermore, it appears that not only will gliding be possible in Legends: Arceus, akin to Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but in these leaks, we also saw the ability to ride in the overworld, as well as climb up the side of mountains - also very akin to BotW. These were demonstrated on very small images with a blacked out silhouette, I presume is just a placeholder for any Pokémon - new or old. Either way, the fact that these features are even in this leak excites me to no ends. It feels surreal to me that this is all in a Pokémon game, finally I can have a proper open world experience with advanced movement, and overworld catching.
Alternatively, the combat is more mysterious than even the movement. Even with leaks, I'm not fully clear what the hell is going on with it. Nintendo have described it as "a mix of action and RPG elements". The change of combat in general gets me over-the-moon excited. They are finally shaking things up and truly embracing it. From what we saw in the trailer, it looks like the fights also take place in the overworld, and the leaks show full on boss Pokémon. Add that with the action elements promised, this mystery excites me.
Technical Issues
There is one thing about Pokémon Legends: Arceus that has fans worried, and even annoyed. There are a lot of technical issues. Such as some fans not liking the way the game looks. The biggest issue, I agree with, in framerate and the individual animation framerate of overworld Pokémon, which is incredibly distracting.
I am not worried though. The graphics, in my opinion, don't need too much of an upgrade to work. I believe the framerate and animation framerate needs improvement. This game comes out January 2022, has reportedly been in development since 2018, and the game was also reportedly shown in an early build, that hypothetically is downgraded from a potential Nintendo Switch Pro release. The game has so many months to smooth the edges. Every single thing about this game feels so ambitious and right, I have my faith in them - even if the rest of the community doesn't.
Embarking On An Ancient Sinnohan Journey
To add to all of this, the very concept of this game being set in Ancient Sinnoh, in a Feudal Japan theme, is just absolutely brilliant. It is completely unlike anything they have ever done - and I mean that in a good way. Additionally, placing it in the Sinnoh region, positions this game as a prequel to the Pokémon series in general. Due to the fact the legendaries of Sinnoh are the creators of all life in the Pokémon universe. Not only can this game give Sinnoh a great origin story, but the whole franchise one. The goal is to fill the first ever Pokédex. It is such an incredibly ambitious idea that absolutely fits the anniversary time frame of the release, while taking big steps for the series gameplay-wise.
Simply put, Pokémon Legends: Arceus is the big change to the formula everyone wanted. Furthermore, the involvement of Arceus, whom has never been in a story of a Pokémon game, adds to this. I'm not sure what the story of the game will be, but I have a feeling that it might end up being something really special, but contained to fit the open world angle. It really excites me. I am ecstatic to set out on my Ancient Sinnohan journey.
Thanks for reading!
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