GAMEPLAY
A different take on the mainline series (I’m glad it’s treated as part of it) I was pleasantly surprised with, especially compared to the BDSP remakes. It felt new but still Pokémon, and I believe we really needed that. We’re still getting “normal” games, but as we can see from Scarlet/Violet trailers, Legends: Arceus was impactful. It’s one step in the right direction.
Old, typical Pokémon is always fun but, as core points of the gameplay got renewed, my experience with it was even better, for the most part. I loved battle transitions, but basically getting drawn into the fight without them feels more “realistic”; and while the environment might look dull, it’s nice to be able to move around and escape by doing so. The difficulty was considerably higher than previous titles’ and I loved the boss battles because they required the player to avoid attacks themselves.
Catching Pokémon has never been this fun: there’s stealth and consequentially more strategy to it; to me, it never felt repetitive and I actually wanted to complete the Pokédex for once (but it’s also needed to do all the main stuff): very few research tasks were tedious. The same can be said for quests, besides the Path of Solitude (they’re so unfair). Crafting is a cool addition and it doesn’t get annoying thanks to the materials shop.
Exploring Hisui can be relaxing, especially soaring through the skies with Braviary. The ambience and OST are very fitting; the latter is generally good, with lovely references to the original DPP soundtrack. I loved I was able to know more about Sinnoh’s past, through its landscapes, creatures, people and story. Speaking of which, it might not be extremely complex but it was indeed nice, paired with the cast. I still think about some plot points for how awesome they were.
Graphics are the biggest flaw of the game. Pop-ups are jarring, the lighting and the basically non-existent textures feel off, a lot of places look dull and lifeless: in Jubilife village, NPCs feel frozen, barely alive. Although, I must say they did a great job with the moves’ animations; the UI also looks right for the style.
There aren’t too many pieces of clothing or different hairstyles so, while changing some things, I kept the awesome Team Galactic suit on.
TEAM
My team was: Hisuian Decidueye, Empoleon, Luxray, Hisuian Arcanine, Ursaluna and Hisuian Braviary.
I picked Rowlet because he was my favorite of the three starters; I prefer his final evolution to the others, although the Alola one is much better; Hisuian Arcanine looks so heavy and fluffy at the same time and as you may know I love cloud themed stuff; Ursaluna looks like a granny Pokémon and for some reason that’s why it’s my favorite evolution in the game; Hisuian Braviary may not be as good looking as its Unova counterpart, but the psychic “flames” look so cool.
Hisuian Zorua is so cute and Hisuian Snow (which was amazing) made me love it even more, so sad it evolves into… that.
CHARACTERS AND STORY
I hoped Kamado was gonna be likeable like his descendant, Rowan, but he treats the protagonist awfully by throwing them out of town, which makes for an awesome plot point but it’s angering after everything they did for Jubilife Village and Hisui as a whole. He then tries to redeem himself, but it didn’t work well on me.
Colza’s design is terrible which is sad knowing he’s Gardenia’s ancestor, who looks so much better.
Strangely enough, I don’t really have an opinion on Adaman: he’s just kinda there. Maybe my Pearl bias is too strong, but he didn’t leave a big impression on me.
The Miss Fortune Sisters is a fun trio I wish they explored more; of the three I like Coin the most because she seemed so persistent in the post-game battles: I kept finding her at every angle, and I found that so funny.
I unfortunately got spoiled about Volo so the character was a bit ruined for me; he’s still super interesting and I love that the hints were right there, but well hidden. The final twist was still good, regardless of what I knew.
Laventon is one of the best professors: he looks goofy because he is, and he actually looks like he loves doing research and being on the field, because he believes Pokémon and humans can coexist peacefully.
Cogita is an old wise woman who drinks tea, knows lots of stuff and slays that outfit. That’s it and I love it.
Cyllene looks cold but cares deeply about the player: she even lends a hand when she shouldn’t, risking her position.
Arezu seems to be a troublemaker but she always does her best, to the point of endangering herself. I absolutely love her look, just like Mars’s.
Ingo has the best design in the game (him being bald broke me) and his backstory is truly saddening; you know who he is but he doesn’t, and he disappeared from his world without a trace, leaving Emmet alone.
Irida falls under that type of character I can’t describe but I always end up loving: she’s my favorite as she proved to be gentle, understanding and courageous (without hiding her fear). Her relationship with Rei/Akari and Adaman developed extremely well.
CONCLUSIONS
Overall, I had a great time and I hope for more content like Legends: Arceus (gameplay wise) in the future.
A different take on the mainline series (I’m glad it’s treated as part of it) I was pleasantly surprised with, especially compared to the BDSP remakes. It felt new but still Pokémon, and I believe we really needed that. We’re still getting “normal” games, but as we can see from Scarlet/Violet trailers, Legends: Arceus was impactful. It’s one step in the right direction.
Old, typical Pokémon is always fun but, as core points of the gameplay got renewed, my experience with it was even better, for the most part. I loved battle transitions, but basically getting drawn into the fight without them feels more “realistic”; and while the environment might look dull, it’s nice to be able to move around and escape by doing so. The difficulty was considerably higher than previous titles’ and I loved the boss battles because they required the player to avoid attacks themselves.
Catching Pokémon has never been this fun: there’s stealth and consequentially more strategy to it; to me, it never felt repetitive and I actually wanted to complete the Pokédex for once (but it’s also needed to do all the main stuff): very few research tasks were tedious. The same can be said for quests, besides the Path of Solitude (they’re so unfair). Crafting is a cool addition and it doesn’t get annoying thanks to the materials shop.
Exploring Hisui can be relaxing, especially soaring through the skies with Braviary. The ambience and OST are very fitting; the latter is generally good, with lovely references to the original DPP soundtrack. I loved I was able to know more about Sinnoh’s past, through its landscapes, creatures, people and story. Speaking of which, it might not be extremely complex but it was indeed nice, paired with the cast. I still think about some plot points for how awesome they were.
Graphics are the biggest flaw of the game. Pop-ups are jarring, the lighting and the basically non-existent textures feel off, a lot of places look dull and lifeless: in Jubilife village, NPCs feel frozen, barely alive. Although, I must say they did a great job with the moves’ animations; the UI also looks right for the style.
There aren’t too many pieces of clothing or different hairstyles so, while changing some things, I kept the awesome Team Galactic suit on.
TEAM
My team was: Hisuian Decidueye, Empoleon, Luxray, Hisuian Arcanine, Ursaluna and Hisuian Braviary.
I picked Rowlet because he was my favorite of the three starters; I prefer his final evolution to the others, although the Alola one is much better; Hisuian Arcanine looks so heavy and fluffy at the same time and as you may know I love cloud themed stuff; Ursaluna looks like a granny Pokémon and for some reason that’s why it’s my favorite evolution in the game; Hisuian Braviary may not be as good looking as its Unova counterpart, but the psychic “flames” look so cool.
Hisuian Zorua is so cute and Hisuian Snow (which was amazing) made me love it even more, so sad it evolves into… that.
CHARACTERS AND STORY
I hoped Kamado was gonna be likeable like his descendant, Rowan, but he treats the protagonist awfully by throwing them out of town, which makes for an awesome plot point but it’s angering after everything they did for Jubilife Village and Hisui as a whole. He then tries to redeem himself, but it didn’t work well on me.
Colza’s design is terrible which is sad knowing he’s Gardenia’s ancestor, who looks so much better.
Strangely enough, I don’t really have an opinion on Adaman: he’s just kinda there. Maybe my Pearl bias is too strong, but he didn’t leave a big impression on me.
The Miss Fortune Sisters is a fun trio I wish they explored more; of the three I like Coin the most because she seemed so persistent in the post-game battles: I kept finding her at every angle, and I found that so funny.
I unfortunately got spoiled about Volo so the character was a bit ruined for me; he’s still super interesting and I love that the hints were right there, but well hidden. The final twist was still good, regardless of what I knew.
Laventon is one of the best professors: he looks goofy because he is, and he actually looks like he loves doing research and being on the field, because he believes Pokémon and humans can coexist peacefully.
Cogita is an old wise woman who drinks tea, knows lots of stuff and slays that outfit. That’s it and I love it.
Cyllene looks cold but cares deeply about the player: she even lends a hand when she shouldn’t, risking her position.
Arezu seems to be a troublemaker but she always does her best, to the point of endangering herself. I absolutely love her look, just like Mars’s.
Ingo has the best design in the game (him being bald broke me) and his backstory is truly saddening; you know who he is but he doesn’t, and he disappeared from his world without a trace, leaving Emmet alone.
Irida falls under that type of character I can’t describe but I always end up loving: she’s my favorite as she proved to be gentle, understanding and courageous (without hiding her fear). Her relationship with Rei/Akari and Adaman developed extremely well.
CONCLUSIONS
Overall, I had a great time and I hope for more content like Legends: Arceus (gameplay wise) in the future.