Pokémon Legends: Arceus

About

Pokémon Legends: Arceus is a single player open world role playing game with fantasy and anime themes. It was developed by Game Freak and was released on January 28, 2022. It received positive reviews from critics and very positive reviews from players.

"Pokémon Legends: Arceus is a single-player, open world fantasy game for Nintendo Switch, offering around 15 hours of playtime. The game takes place in the Sinnoh region from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, but in a bygone era before the concept of Pokémon Trainers existed. Your mission is to catch, observe, and research wild Pokémon to complete the region's first Pokédex."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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93%

Audience ScoreBased on 100 reviews

gameplay25 positive mentions

graphics9 negative mentions

Pokémon Legends: Arceus offers a refreshing take on the franchise with innovative gameplay mechanics, allowing for a more engaging and immersive experience in catching and battling Pokémon.
The open-world design encourages exploration and discovery, making it enjoyable to roam around and interact with Pokémon in their natural habitats.
The game features a compelling narrative and a variety of Pokémon with unique animations and personalities, enhancing the overall experience.

The graphics and visual quality are often criticized, with many reviewers noting that they feel outdated and lack polish.
Some players found the game to be lacking in traditional Pokémon elements, such as trainer battles and gyms, which may disappoint long-time fans of the series.
There are reports of technical issues, including frame rate drops and long tutorial sequences that can detract from the gameplay experience.

gameplay
46 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
54%
39%
7%
The gameplay of Pokémon Legends: Arceus is widely praised for its innovative mechanics, engaging exploration, and addictive catching system, which collectively create a refreshing experience for the franchise. Players appreciate the open-world design reminiscent of Breath of the Wild, allowing for strategic interactions with Pokémon and a fulfilling Pokédex completion process. While some critiques focus on graphics and occasional repetitiveness, the overall gameplay is considered a significant improvement and a highlight of the series.
- “Where Pokémon Legends: Arceus lacks graphically, it more than makes it up with its addicting and exciting gameplay.”
- “It reminds me of an interesting mashup of Breath of the Wild, Sword and Shield's 'Wild Area', classic Pokémon, and some of the best elements of the 'Let's Go' series to create a unique gameplay loop that I find overall interesting and very refreshing.”
- “With its emphasis on extremely rewarding exploration, addictive catching mechanics, a fine roster of Pokémon, and a genuine sense of scale that’s unlike anything in the series, Pokémon Legends: Arceus is quite simply one of the greatest Pokémon games ever made.”
- “Pokémon Legends: Arceus struggles with graphics and certain aspects of gameplay, but its expansive world, endless Pokémon to find, and strong storyline make it worth playing.”
- “The gameplay at the end gets repetitive, poor graphics quality, the world looks remarkably boring.”
- “Doesn't properly utilize the hardware's visuals; streamlined mechanics may deter some players, story is okay at best.”
graphics
33 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
61%
27%
The graphics of Pokémon Legends: Arceus receive mixed reviews, with many players noting that while the art style and scenery can be beautiful and enjoyable, the overall visual quality is often considered disappointing and lacking compared to other contemporary titles. Critics highlight issues such as poor environmental visuals, pop-in, and a sense of unfinished quality, suggesting that the game does not fully utilize the capabilities of the hardware. Despite these graphical shortcomings, some players feel that the engaging gameplay and innovative mechanics compensate for the visual flaws.
- “Graphics are among the cleanest I've seen in a game; the art style they went with makes running around the world enjoyable and relaxing to see the beautiful scenery.”
- “The graphics are beautiful.”
- “Despite some scruffy visuals, Pokémon Legends: Arceus feels like the first game in the series to be designed for a home console platform.”
- “I know that most of the people didn't like this game, and at some point, yes... you may not like it, all because of the graphics 'they look odd' 'am I playing a cheaper game' 'why?'”
- “The game feels deeply unfinished and the visuals are atrocious.”
- “This game is, however, embarrassingly clumsily put together from a graphical standpoint.”
story
33 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
42%
49%
9%
The story in the game is noted for its unique setting in the past, diverging from traditional Pokémon narratives, and is generally well-received for its intriguing elements and connection to Sinnoh lore. However, some players find the pacing slow, particularly at the beginning, and feel that side quests can be lackluster or unnecessary. Overall, while opinions vary, many consider it one of the better stories in the Pokémon series, enhanced by engaging gameplay mechanics and a vibrant world.
- “When it comes to storyline and playability, this is hands down one of the best Pokémon games to date.”
- “Amazing story!”
- “The story is different from any Pokémon game I've played, because it isn't just 'gotta catch 'em all' and then you go battle the Elite Four.”
- “The story is still more of a distraction than anything; the world feels sparse and empty.”
- “Although the storyline is a little dry, and the graphics could use some work, Pokémon: Legends of Arceus is an extremely entertaining title.”
optimization
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
37%
38%
Overall, the game's optimization receives mixed reviews; while some players report smooth performance and reasonable load times, others highlight significant performance issues, including poor visuals, inconsistent frame rates, and a lack of polish. The open-world design is criticized for feeling underutilized, and many players feel that the game does not fully meet its ambitious goals. Despite these drawbacks, some users still find the experience enjoyable.
- “Digital downloads make it so much easier, and I didn’t notice any hindrance in performance based on the digital download versus a physical game cartridge.”
- “On the plus side, it does seem highly optimized, and I did not personally experience any issues with load times or frame rate drops. Battery life when undocked was reasonable as well.”
- “Like most recent games, there are performance issues and it feels a bit rough and unfinished, but the goods outweigh the bad in this case.”
- “[the game looks terrible, really average performance, new battle system can be easily exploited, both by yourself and the AI]”
- “[performance doesn't match its open-world ambition, research quests could be more observational]”
music
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
The music in the game has received high praise, with many reviewers highlighting its relaxing and original qualities that enhance the overall experience. The soundtrack is described as incredible, contributing positively to the game's atmosphere and complementing the engaging gameplay and story. However, some users noted a lack of variety in the music, suggesting that while it is enjoyable, it could benefit from more accessibility options and additional tracks.
- “The music is so relaxing too.”
- “Excellent use of familiar faces and music.”
- “Incredible soundtrack.”
grinding
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of Pokémon Legends: Arceus to be tedious, particularly due to repetitive research tasks and progress gating that slows down early game exploration. Additionally, issues like texture pop-ins and a lack of environmental variety contribute to a sense of monotony, detracting from the overall experience.
- “Pokémon Legends: Arceus is an ambitious revamp that successfully revolutionizes the defining Pokémon experiences of catching and battling, but is unfortunately set in a drab, empty, and at times tedious world.”
- “Progress gating feels grindy, especially in the early game before many environments are open; textures popping in and out or repeating environmental patterns break the immersion.”
- “Tasks can be tedious, weak visuals, biomes lack variety.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
100%
Players highlight the game's exceptional replayability, noting that it offers hundreds of hours of content through new experiences, improved moveset options, and a vibrant world to explore. The ability to "catch 'em all" and engage in crafting further enhances the game's replay value.
- “A new experience to catch 'em all with improved movesets, a vibrant world, and crafting options.”
- “Hundreds of hours of replayability.”
- “The new experience to catch 'em all offers some replay value, but the moveset improvements and vibrant world don't significantly enhance it.”
- “While the crafting system adds some depth, it doesn't provide enough incentive for replayability.”

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82%Critics’ scoreBased on 55 critic reviews

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15h Median play time

15h Average play time

25h Main story

78h Completionist

15-15h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 1 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

Pokémon Legends: Arceus is a open world role playing game with fantasy and anime themes.

Pokémon Legends: Arceus is available on Nintendo Switch.

The main story can be completed in around 25 hours, while the entire game is estimated to take about 78 hours to finish. On average players spend around 15 hours playing Pokémon Legends: Arceus.

Pokémon Legends: Arceus was released on January 28, 2022.

Pokémon Legends: Arceus was developed by Game Freak.

Pokémon Legends: Arceus has received positive reviews from players and positive reviews from critics. Most players liked this game for its gameplay but disliked it for its graphics.

Pokémon Legends: Arceus is a single player game.

Similar games include Pokémon Scarlet, Pokémon Sword, Monster Hunter Stories, Temtem, Coromon and others.

Pokémon Legends: Arceus

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