There’s that age old expression – don’t fix what’s not broken – and many feel that way about Pokémon right now.

Spin-offs aside, the main-line games have followed a very similar pattern over the years. With the player moving from place to place, fighting against their rival, taking down gym leaders, and filling up their dex with varied species, shiny hunting along the way.

Each installment has had its own variations and tweaks, of course, most recently with Sword and Shield we saw the introduction of Gigantamax Pokémon, and access to storage at all times.

But Pokémon Legends: Arceus is the largest deviation yet, introducing us to a more open, dynamic Pokémon catching experience that seemed inconceivable and the stuff of dreams.

The great news is that it works so incredibly well. To the point where I hope all future generations adopt a form of this style.

As the mainline series naturally moves away from only being playable on handhelds, so Game Freak have the opportunity to experiment with more powerful technology and realise things that were impossible only a few generations before.

Just being able to creep through bushes, keep out of plain sight, then throw a Pokéball out at an unsuspecting mon in the hopes of adding to your dex, all without having to be in the throws of battle, is ever-compelling.

Likewise, actually running from larger mons because they’re chasing you down feels like a more authentic prospect than before where they’d be easily downed with a hit or two.

It may surprise you to learn that Arceus feels and plays more like a Monster Hunter than the Breath of the Wild esque adventure the trailers may have led us to believe. It’s not completely open-world, more split up regionally, but that’s absolutely ok and, in fact, actually makes more sense for the type of game you’re trying to play.

That means you visit one area at a time and have hard borders, but it also means you won’t just be able to run up to every mon and beat them, you need to work up to it by earning your ranking with the Galaxy Team, fulfilling missions and learning as much as you can about the mons you encounter in the wild.

To reach Rank 10 on each individual Pokémon, you would have had to have seen what moves the mon uses in battle, what they’re weak against, and even fight with them. Of course, catching them also builds up that ranking quite quickly as well.

You take a series of missions out into the wild with you, whether it’s an investigation mission or more of a gathering quest, and when you’re ready to come back can then hand them into the professor who will rank up your dex and add XP so you can gain a new star. With each star earned, you can then catch more high-level Pokémon.

So, yeah, don’t just run at the first Snorlax you see.

It all builds into the game’s flow, which is sound, solid, and you’ll soon find yourself losing hours upon hours just building your collection, but also casually catching berries, cracking open rocks to get new minerals and traversing the open lands as you try to spy out the slightest change in color of a mon.

With the ingredients you can then go back to town and craft balls, traps, and potions to help you on your journey. Another nice new touch as opposed to just buying some potions or finding them out in the wild.

I’m absolutely hooked and spellbound by what Game Freak have achieved here. Pokémon Legends: Arceus is surprisingly deep and vast, there’s more going on in there than most other mainline games and despite the new approach and how detailed the open world can be, it all plays quite stably and succinctly.

Even the story has had a nice refresh and is a lot more enjoyable and engaging than previous offerings with a focus on time-travelling and proving yourself, all while eating Potato Mochi. It’s a necessary step forward and it really leans into the weird and wonderful world these creatures find themselves in.

The only part of the game that I feel needs another look for a future release is combat. Which might surprise you considering how core and key it is to the mainline series.

This time around, the four moves you equip to each mon can have a Strong and Agile Style. Strong being a more powerful variant of the move but resulting in a delay for your next turn, while Agile decreases time between your moves but is slightly weaker than a normal strike.

Certain styles do work better against certain Pokémon, so that’s something to consider when you take on each individual battle. Though it doesn’t quite play out in the way you may come to expect. It sort of feels quite limited and sparse, where sometimes you don’t need a strategy to just take an enemy mon down, or sometimes they’re too powerful they can take half your party out with one move.

Sadly, it all feels a little imbalanced, though it is genuinely impressive how seamlessly you can transition from open world exploration to diving headfirst into combat with no loading screens or much delay.

And this world really does feel alive, with mons all acting in unique ways to your presence. If a Stantler even so much as catches sight of you, even if you’re a fair distance away, they’ll run away, whereas a Shinx will dive headfirst at you, and meanwhile some will just hang around and get up in your face, not fearing you in the slightest.

I love that about Pokémon Legends: Arceus. The level of detail that’s gone into behaviour to make a living, breathing, enriching open world to explore is the stuff of dreams. You will genuinely have to consider things like weather, the way you move, the types of balls you use, how to lure mons in at all times. In Arceus, it actually feels like part of the experience rather than a gimmick that wears off over time.

---

Verdict

Personally, I would go as far as to say Pokémon Legends: Arceus is my all-time favourite Pokémon game. It’s one I’ve already spent an obscene amount of time with, but also a game that has found a smart way to play into familiar tropes, while also evolving and developing them for a newer generation. There’s a more engaging story that opens up exciting possibilites for the wider world, the graphics and animations are beautifully suited and the game feels stable even during heavy conflict and activity. Even the music is something to treasure with tracks you’ll find yourself quickly humming along to. 

If 2022 is going to be the best year for Switch yet, Nintendo couldn’t have started it any better with this absolute treasure and sure-fire Game of the Year contender.

---

Pros

---

Pokémon Legends: Arceus is out now, exclusively on Nintendo Switch 

Code provided by Nintendo