Fresh ideas in questionable packaging
Written by Jacco Peek on
The criticism of the Pokémon franchise is almost at odds with the success of the series. Where a vocal minority demands drastic innovations, each relatively safe, new part seems to sell better and better. With Pokémon Legends: Arceus, lead developer Game Freak finally dares to experiment. So far it leaves a mixed impression.
Although the promotional material strongly hints at the first open world game in the series, Legends: Arceus is split into several open areas instead of one game world. Players will systematically travel to various locations in the newly discovered Hisui region – later known as Sinnoh from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl – to assemble the first ever Pokédex. Because the game takes place far before the main games, humans and pokémon still live separately. It is therefore up to you to take the first steps towards a harmonious society.
Basically, that comes down to catching and observing wild Pokemon in the wild and returning to your stronghold in Jubilife Village, where you craft much-needed items from collected materials. However, players are not sent off aimlessly. Based on specific missions and requests (side missions) for members of the Galaxy Expedition Team, trainers carry out assignments to compile a report per species for the local professor.
Legends: Arceus therefore approaches filling the Pokédex in a slightly different way. In addition to the usual encounters and battles with monsters, certain shapes, attacks and evolutions must also be observed one or more times to complete a report. How fully a report must be completed in order to progress in the story is still unclear, but investigating pokémon takes a little more work than usual.
Fortunately, Pokemon catching is almost seamless and players with a well-aimed throw – by aiming and throwing themselves like in a shooter – even in one shot to succeed. If the wooden Pokemon is missing or a wild Pokemon breaks out, players are forced to flee or use a Pokemon and weaken or capture the monster the old-fashioned way.That system looks very smooth and also allows trainers to approach catching pokémon in different ways. Berries and smoke bombs can distract or confuse the animals, for example, and those who stealthily strike from the grass have a greater chance of success. Game Freak also says to have paid more attention to the behavior of pokémon. Where some species completely ignore you or flee, other beasts attack you. Trainers who can’t throw a pokéball with their own pokémon in time or avoid attacks with the dodge button can even be knocked out.
That in theory provides an interesting twist on the otherwise traditional combat system. For example, it is possible to paralyze the opponent with an Agile variant of an attack at the start of a fight, or to gamble that a pokémon withstands several attacks and then strikes with a Strong variant. Legends: Arceus contains, according to the developer, so-called Noble pokémon: spicy bosses in which players must apply the above strategies. Unfortunately, nothing is yet clear about an online mode against other players; so far only the online trading of pokémon has been announced.
During the thirteen minutes of gameplay footage we get to see, what stands out in particular is how Pokémon Legend: Arceus takes inspiration from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. From the subtle piano music and the presence of wind to the sound effects when collecting raw materials, explorations look more calming than adventurous. That seems to fit very well with the concept for the time being. Thanks in part to divergent biomes, rivers and tunnels, it seems that exploring the world has been a top priority for years, in contrast to the more recent, relatively linear parts.
On the other hand, Legends: Arceus is obviously a bit rough technically. Besides that character models look jagged and some textures are simple, the frame rate also seems to collapse here and there. The question is to what extent the final game will stand, especially during the rapid advance with the help of special Ride pokémon, including flying. Legends: Arceus still raises a lot of questions, which unfortunately could not be asked during the presentation. For example, it is unclear whether players can also travel from region to region, or whether it is necessary to return to Jubilife Village after each mission. Furthermore, Hisui is full of hints to characters and locations from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, but the question is how present the story and the titular pokémon actually are.
For now, Pokémon Legends: Arceus therefore mainly resembles an experimental side-adventure, in instead of the big new installment in the franchise. It aims to streamline traditional elements and focuses on pure explorations in nature. That makes it quite different from the usual RPGs within the franchise. Whether the concept actually succeeds remains to be seen.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus releases for Nintendo Switch on January 28.
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