Pokémon Legends Arceus Six Months Later- How to Reinvent a $100 Billion Franchise

"Why did I move here? I guess it was the weather, or I don't know; that thing, that magic. You know how it is."

Hello everyone- now that six months have passed since its initial release; welcome to my full review of Pokémon Legends Arceus! This game has easily been my favorite title of 2022, so let’s open it up! There will be spoilers for the story: consider that your one warning, so let’s get started.

Courtesy: Nintendo/Game Freak/The Pokémon Company

As has been known since the game was revealed in February 2021, the story takes place 600 years in the past of Sinnoh; then called the Hisui region. What we didn’t know is the true nature of the protagonist, who is pulled through space and time into this area. No matter which one you choose to play as, it’s never outright stated whether or not the avatar you pick is an ancestor or someone from today getting pulled into Hisui. 

I went with the male avatar, naming him Hiroshi. Waking up on Prelude Beach, you’re greeted by Professor Laventon. Your first assignment before you make your way off the beach is to gather the three Pokémon he’s after nearby: Rowlet, Cyndaquil and Oshawott. This also provides an intro to the redesigned capture mechanics- though it takes a moment to grasp; it’s honestly some of the best time I’ve spent with the series to date.

Heading to Jubilife Village, this will be the main hub for our game; and under the guidance of Laventon, Captain Cyllene and Commander Kamado, we will be part of the Survey Corps in Hisui; helping complete the very first Pokédex and forging the bonds between humans and Pokémon. However, one can’t very well explore this region in a t-shirt, board shorts and flip-flops, so we’re given the uniform of the corps. 

After that, I choose my partner in this task; going with Oshawott. I will tell you more about how this impacted my journey over the course of this review. Another objective is to earn the trust of those in the village. This includes everyone from a local chef named Beni (whose specialty is potato mochi), to a fellow member of the Survey Corps embodied by the other avatar. Her name in my case is Akari.

The following details will consist of the main story, postgame and assorted side quests in as close to chronological order as I can describe. Some experiences may be different depending on how you play the game.

Another key element is the Arc Phone; which is what your mobile transforms into upon your arrival in Hisui. It contains mission details, maps of each area and can allow you to set additional waypoints for each objective (that last one has proven especially useful for me). I will also address this more in the gameplay section; but I really enjoy the approach to exploration this game takes. The world designs borrow clearly (yet precisely) from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Rockstar’s open-world titles.

As for any comparisons to Monster Hunter- I can officially refute those as someone who spent many hours in this game for this review. In fact, speaking as someone who’s not a huge Monster Hunter fan (only really played and enjoyed World and Rise); this game is arguably the antithesis of Monster Hunter, which I shall cover more later.

Now, onto the first story mission. After arriving in an unfamiliar land (the game’s words, not mine); Cyllene dispatches us to the Obsidian Fieldlands to enter the Survey Corps of the Galaxy Team. Both the story and gameplay sections will address this further; but the mission structure is surprisingly engaging and addictive. The research tasks are like a more complex version of the ones in Pokémon Go. As someone who’s always found the professors to be their favorite characters, I hope this feature is retained in Scarlet and Violet and other future titles for the Pokédex.

I would also like to take the opportunity to address the graphics before I go too much further- the complaints about them never made much sense to me; especially in terms of environments. I know it’s common to accentuate the negative in online video game discourse; but I like the style of this game’s visuals. Invoking the style of vintage Japanese paintings fits the setting; and there’s actually a lot of neat touches. Dynamic weather patterns, outfits collecting snowfall and moisture from rain, steam coming off waterfalls: the graphics have come a long way since the installments on Game Boy. I reaffirm that I have no issue with stylized visuals; and once again cite how Minecraft is the bestselling current single game across all platforms and has deliberately cartoonish graphics. While some people might have an issue with the visuals, clearly Game Freak and The Pokémon Company have no issue with this graphic design.

Anyway, the Lord of the Obsidian Fieldlands is Kleavor, an Alpha Pokémon who’s a branch evolution for Scyther. In order to face this Lord, several other tasks must be completed. One must also learn the crafting system, which comes in handy (especially before you can expand your storage space). There’s also befriending Mai of the Diamond Clan (an ancestor of Marley), and Commander Kamado (an ancestor of Professor Rowan).

Another character we cross paths with is Arezu (who appears to be an ancestor of Mars); who has become very popular in the fandom. After helping her with an ankle injury; she becomes the resident hairdresser of Jubilife Village. 

In order to face off against Kleavor and the other Noble Pokémon, we must not only battle them with our own monsters; but with projectiles known as “balms” crafted by each Noble’s warden. The first one is named Lian, who is an ancestor of Clay (insert “Unova confirmed” joke here). Each Noble has a specific attack pattern to figure out. One piece of advice I can give is to master the dodge roll, which you will need to use early and often.

After facing the first Noble, your next story missions take place mainly in the next area; known as the Crimson Mirelands. This area contains a wide array of rivers and marshes, and after surveying the area; we must build up our rank before the battle with the second Noble.

Other characters we cross paths with is the Miss Fortune trio; a group of recurring thieves that you fight in the game. Their names are Charm, Clover (who appears to be an ancestor of Candice), and Coin (who appears to be an ancestor of Saturn). Once our rank is high enough, we face off against the next Noble, a Hisuian Lilligant! I will talk more about these variants as this review continues; but for now; this was another engaging battle.

After our mission in the Crimson Mirelands is complete; our next assignment is in the Cobalt Coastlands. On top of researching the Pokémon in this area, we must also face the Lord of Firespit Island, a Hisuian Arcanine! Additionally, the warden, Palina must come to terms with the previous Lord dying; which leads into the new Lord being the one we face in battle. This is where both the story and gameplay start to hit harder in more ways than one; as it’s among the toughest battles in the game and works to showcase how much darker the tone is. I really like how the game directly works both monsters and their partners dying into the story and its stakes.

Palina is officially the new warden; and our next assignment is in the Coronet Highlands. The Lord of this area is the Hisuian Electrode. I will talk more about the regional variants in the gameplay section; but I do like how it and the pre-evolved Hisuian Voltorb resemble the natural apricorns to contrast the man-made look of the ones we all know. I will say that since this variant is part-grass type; the Alpha Infernape and shiny Rapidash I caught were very useful in terms of countermeasures. Less helpful is Melli, who despite his condescending demeanor; I never pass up a chance to show up.

The final area for missions is the Alabaster Icelands, a snowy mountain range where several key characters enter the story. Gaeric (an ancestor of Wulfric) is the warden on top of the peak, and a young woman named Sabi (an ancestor of Cheryl); who is a clairvoyant. The noble is Hisuian Avalugg, and let me tell you- a sizable chunk of my first play through was facing off against this last noble. It’s an alternating mix of three attacks; then a combination of all three to finish the fight. I know the last noble wouldn’t be easy, but I actually had more trouble with this than the last mission of the main story.

Speaking of which, after quelling the five rampaging Nobles; the sky turns a deep red hue. Though Captain Cyllene thinks there’s something more (accurately), Commander Kamado exiles the player from Jubilife Village. However, that doesn’t stop others from helping find the truth about what’s happening; especially an ally known as Cogita (an ancestor of Cynthia). In this last stretch of the main story, you need to get to the bottom of this with your choice of Adaman of the Diamond Clan or Irida of the Pearl Clan. Insert “Side with Nohr, Defend Hoshido or refuse to choose a side” joke here.

That said, whoever’s clan you partner with is the box legendary you end up catching; and the other you end up fighting. My first encounter was with Dialga; and before I face Palkia, I must earn back the trust of Kamado by facing him in battle. 

I win against Kamado, and now, I must face Palkia! I have been holding off addressing this; but I rather like the design of their Origin forms. After much effort, I end up winning and capturing Palkia. With the sky clear again, Kamado welcomes the player back into the village; and there is much celebration as the credits roll. 

Now that I’ve covered the story, let’s move onto the gameplay. To lead off this section, I reaffirm that I don’t have an issue with the XP Share being baked into the progression; much as I didn’t with other recent entries. On that subject, I really enjoy the new Strong Style and Agile Style moves in how they add a new layer of strategy to battles. I think it’s a nice balance between turn-based combat and real-time combat. The crafting is also something I really enjoy, as it helps build a stockpile of items and medicine for the quest. 

One of my favorite aspects is accessing monsters for traversal and discovering other parts of the map. From zipping through the fields on a Wyrdeer to hang-gliding across the skies on a Hisuian Braviary- it’s definitely an enjoyable addition that builds on the ride Pokémon from Generation VII. My favorite would probably be Basculegion, where you can basically go whitewater rafting in the rivers and lakes after unlocking that. Admittedly, I do also enjoy finding treasures with Ursaluna and scaling mountains with Sneasler.

Having played this game for well over 100 hours to write this, I can now officially say this game is the polar opposite of Monster Hunter in its approach to both world building, gameplay and how it approaches the monsters themselves. I saw more similarities to Breath of the Wild (this is one of the games I’d recommend while waiting for the sequel) and Rockstar’s open-world titles (looking forward to seeing Generation IX expand on that concept); with some elements of Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath as well (easily my favorite Oddworld game). It definitely brings to mind how the early titles on Game Boy built on design concepts straight out of Shin Megami Tensei and Dragon Quest; albeit streamlined and made easier to understand. So, I think this would be a good note to wrap up on.

This game is easily my favorite Switch title of the year; and my favorite game of 2022 overall so far. Though it remains to be seen what direction the series will take in Generation IX; it’s clear this game has already left its mark on the franchise and its audience. I can already tell that Scarlet and Violet have considerable overlap with this game (as they likely began development around the same time); and the game has successfully managed to reinvent a $100 billion franchise in the process. As of this writing, the game has sold over 12 million copies worldwide in its first three months alone. It has also garnered considerable acclaim, with many claiming it among the best games in the series to date. I definitely share this sentiment, as there is much to enjoy here. 

I am seriously considering doing a follow-up on the Daybreak expansion; which I am also impressed with. Thank you for letting me share this with you all. That will be all for now. Seek out all Pokémon.