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After Pokemon Legends Arceus was released on January 20, 2022, its popularity skyrocketed within days. The game is set 300 years ago when the Sinnoh region was known as the Hisui. It was a fresh take on the franchise as not only do you get to explore the world in ancient times, but you also get to understand how humans and Pokemon co-existed during that period.
This title focuses more on collecting and learning more about various species, compared to other entries in the franchise that are more focused on battling and being the best trainer. It revolves around the protagonist finding themselves on a beach, not knowing when or how they got there.
As the story progresses, you realize how people live in fear of these creatures rather than in co-existence. You then embark on a journey to research the pocket monsters and learn more about them, so people can understand better and be less frightened by them.
Let's find out three things the creators did right with Pokemon Legends Arceus (and two they got wrong).
How Pokemon Legends Arceus left us with groundbreaking impressions
1) Fresh changes
Pokemon Legends Arceus brought about a fresh style that was more cultural and traditional, as the other products in the franchise try to be more modern. Everything from the design of the Poke Ball to the general layout of the menu had a refreshing touch of the olden times.
This title focused more on catching and researching these critters. As such, it eliminated the obstacle of trade evolution because players do not need to be online to get their Alakazam evolved and can just use an item instead. This was a fresh change as it was easier to complete quests and Pokédex.
Another fresh change was your team learning new moves. Instead of replacing a new move with an old one on level-up, players had full access to all the moves they had previously learned.
They could be swapped at any point in the game. This new feature was also applied to Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, which came out after Pokemon Legend Arceus.
Probably the most exciting new feature was the battle mechanics in this game. We were introduced to the agile style and the strong style, each providing an added bonus but reducing another. This mechanic was not carried forward to its successor, but it was a fascinating tactical challenge for veterinarian trainers.
2) Challenging encounters
Pokemon Legends Arceus excels at challenging players well-versed in competitive battles as it does not shy away from revealing how terrifying it is to go into the wild unprepared. The existence of Alpha Pokemon is enough to keep you in a constant state of fear of being attacked and blacked out in the open.
If the alpha wild creatures were not as scary as they sound, challenges from the Noble Pokemon would definitely make you do re-tries. Pokemon Legends Arceus also arguably has a challenging and difficult final boss, so it keeps you cautious before entering battles throughout the game.
3) The rich lore and history
Pokemon Legend Arceus blesses us with rich Sinnoh lore. Civilization and society were different, and survival was the top priority. We see how the origin of Poke Balls came into place as well as some regional variants that only existed in ancient times. Even legendary entities have different forms.
The region lore states that Arceus, who was born from an egg in an empty void, created Sinnoh from the top of Mt. Coronet, which is in the center of the region. The end of this storyline dives deep into this lore in detail.
Pokemon Legends Arceus' failure to retain audience
1) Time-consuming grind
Pokemon Legends Arceus does not focus on battling much but on research. You have to catch multiple species to complete a single quest. This puts you in a monotonous and repetitive process. While it appealed to a small number of fans, but was a complete no-no for most others.
In the case of common findings, this wasn’t a big problem, but when it came to rare species, this was a pain for many players.
2) Visual disappointment
Pokemon Legends Arceus' major complaint among players and fans was its visual disappointment. This also left an unpleasant impression on the company’s potential, which led to negative feedback online. Fans were already put off by the low-resolution textures in the open world, including ground, trees, and even the player's shadow.
Due to the open-world nature of the game, it would take a lot of time to render things in the far distance, causing trees and mountains to appear abruptly. The title also had many glitches where characters walked through trees, floated, or disappeared randomly.
