A new legend appears
Pokémon Legends: Arceus isn’t your typical Pokémon game.
The main Pokémon games have worked in pretty much the same way ever since the first ones came out in 1996.
Starting with one Pokémon, you travel to a series of locations catching and evolving more, while earning badges by battling gym leaders. You go where the game tells you, in the order that it tells you to. Pokémon Legends: Arceus takes a different path by giving you much more freedom about the path you take. It’s an “open world” game, which means you can explore the entire game world, rather than just following a set route.
There are still plenty of familiar features, though.
The game is set in a region called
Hisui, far back in the history of the Pokémon universe. Your job is to fill up a Pokédex by spotting and catching wild Pokémon. There is still a lot of wandering around trying to bump into these colourful beasts, and turn-based battles to catch them. However, the battles have some new ideas too: for example, switching between “strong” and “agile” attacks – strong attacks are more powerful but agile attacks are faster. Pokémon Legends: Arceus is also a lot more of a role-playing game (RPG) in the way you meet other characters who give you quests to complete, which can help you get new items and even new Pokémon. There is also more crafting, which strangely involves throwing your Pokémon at trees and rocks (thankfully it doesn’t hurt them) to collect resources to build items that will help you, such as potions and Poké Balls. The game world is huge, which can sometimes be a bit dull as you trudge around, and occasionally the graphics slow down a bit. Even so, this is a fun and interesting new spin on all things Pokémon. It’s like a cross between a traditional Pokémon game and an adventure, such as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. If you’re a fan, you’ll enjoy it.