Pokémon Legends: Arceus
- January 28, 2022
- Game Freak
- 15h median play time
If this is the future of the series, I’ll be incredibly happy, because this just might be the best Pokemon game ever made.
"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."
Nintendo Switch
Reviews
- 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- The graphics and visual quality are often criticized, with many reviewers noting that they feel outdated and lack polish.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.
- gameplay46 mentions
- 54 % positive mentions
- 39 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
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.”
- graphics33 mentions
- 12 % positive mentions
- 61 % neutral mentions
- 27 % negative mentions
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.”
- story33 mentions
- 42 % positive mentions
- 48 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
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.”
- optimization8 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 38 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
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]”
- music6 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
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.”
- grinding4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
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.”
- replayability2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- -100 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
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.”
Critic Reviews
Pokémon Legends: Arceus Review — What’s old is new
Pokémon Legends: Arceus still has some lingering flaws from the series' rough transition to 3D, but is still an incredibly fun time from start to finish. Catching and battling Pokémon hasn’t been this fun in over a decade, and despite the wealth of things to do in Hisui I’m still hungry for more.
90%Pokémon Legends: Arceus Review
Pokémon Legends: Arceus feels like the result of Game Freak learning lessons for 25 years, refining the formula, and finally taking the franchise in a new, incredible, exciting direction. 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.
90%Pokemon Legends: Arceus Switch Review
Journey back in time to when Pokemon and humans didn't live in such close harmony and get to know all the inhabitants of Hisui (later to be known as Sinnoh)
90%
