I do not think I have been this split on a game in a very long time. My opinion on the mainline Pokémon series is already questionable as the games continue to be rushed out and never stray from their nearly 40 year old formula. Now there is Legends arceus, a completely different take on the series, and one that, after some contemplation, I am unsure of what I truly think.

The game is based around the generation 4 games, diamond, pearl, and platinum, but only really through primary story elements and the main characters. The game pulls from every generation to some degree with characters acting as ancestors of characters from almost every generation, due to the fact the game is set in ancient times. It is rather refreshing to see designs like this and be able to point at them and know exactly who they are based on. However the namesake of the series, the Pokémon, do not have as many of these designs to reference here. Game freak has done the same thing they usually do and treat an awesome selling point for the creatures we collect and see everywhere as a sideshow. There are less than 20 "hisuian" evolution lines, and some of them are not even entirely tied to this game and are just unique evolved forms of the completely standard Pokémon. I would have loved to see nearly every one have some sort of unique look to them, to really show off how ancient and harsh the environment is now, but alas, while I love these forms they probably only exist to tack on a phrase to the back of a game case.

The gameplay itself though finally fixed one of the most boring and ironically enough forgettable aspects of the series... The catching of Pokémon. Catching them in the mainline game becomes an afterthought once you have played enough of the games, eventually you only start to catch the handful of Pokémon you plan to keep for the entire game or at least have the ones currently in your team be easily replaceable. This game finally made catching Pokémon have a proper purpose beyond team building, made it rewarding beyond a pointless encyclopedia most people don't bother completing, and most importantly just made it pure fun.

Due to the games setting revolving around most people being too scared to catch Pokémon, let alone use them, there are hardly any trainer battles which used to be your main way of grinding for money and levels, but now this is tied to catching Pokémon. Every expedition you go on will keep track of new species you catch, how they were caught, how many were caught, and if an entry in the pokedex was completed, and reward you money while actually catching them gives you great exp gain. You are encouraged to catch many of the same Pokémon too, as doing so completes their entry in the pokedex, which ties to a rank that allows you to catch/use higher level Pokémon and gain new recipes for higher tier items, and as an extra bonus, 100% completing their entry gets you an insane shiny odd boost if you care about that.

These rewards would not be worth it if the actual process of catching Pokémon were not fun, but this is the most enjoyable and interactive it has been basically ever. You could do it the old fashioned way of battling the wild Pokémon, weakening them or inflicting a status, and then hoping they stay in the ball you throw, but this is finally no longer your only option. You can just huck a ball at them in the overworld, no battling necessary, or you can hide in grass to get better odds without them knowing you are there. on top of this if you can strike their back your odds of catching them skyrocket, and that's without mentioning the games berries. The berries have a much better purpose in this game instead of one-time use battle gimmicks or strictly healing as they can all be used as bait to get a Pokémon to turn away so you can get the previously mentioned better odds, but that is not all. Berries have their own unique effects like boosting the amount of exp you gain from a successful catch, or simply making the catch rate higher, but berries aren't even the only kind of item like this. You have rotten berries that can stun a Pokémon letting you hit their back for free or battle them with weakened stats, or specific kinds of throwables that act as a Pokémon's favorite food and have enhanced effects. It really is a lot of fun stringing together so many hidden catches back to back, it is the reason to buy this game I would say.

While this is amazing, it definitely came at a cost when it comes to the battling system and its 2 big flaws. The first one is tied to the reworked turn order, instead of it always going player to enemy with the first turn being decided by speed, it is now a set turn order for the entire battle with some minor ways to influence it. This is incredibly annoying because it makes revenge kills from the enemy basically guaranteed, you cannot even rely on your natural speed stat because of this turn order. The other major flaw is due to the new battle mechanics in the form of Strong Style and Agile Style. Strong style is basically a win button but makes it so the enemy is more likely to get back-to-back turns, and agile style is the opposite, weakens your moves but moves the turn order in a way that might give you back-to-back turns. Strong style is a win button, mainly for your enemy because of the aforementioned unavoidable revenge kills, while agile style lacks impact in both power and with how it ironically is too slow at giving you that extra turn. Once I messed with this new system I think I had realized that unlike catching there was never anything particularly wrong with this series' battle mechanics.

Though I feel the more controversial thing to the general public when it came to this games release was its graphics and its performance, it was a big joke about how it was a breath of the wild clone and how Pokémon that were 10feet away literally moved at 2 frames per second. Now, with the "Nintendo switch" that I played this on I can say that there was at least no frame drops or slow load times, if I were feeling generous I would say the graphics ring of a game that was optimized for running fine on the switch. While the frame rate of Pokémon that are far away is laughable and the games graphics look pathetic at times it does at least have a decent render distance, which was a major flaw in the other switch entries for this series so far. However, these graphics do not at all feel like they are trying to be used for something more stylistic, the Pokémon and characters stick out so much in these environments.

The characters, while their designs are appealing, do not have the same impact when it comes to how the story plays out. The premise of a world where catching Pokémon is completely taboo and they are feared seems interesting, but the main cast consists of people who are basically your typical gym leaders. There are 2 rival clans, alluding to how gen 4 had the whole split release thing, and as you progress, they do start to intermingle and become friendly, but there is no build up or ceremony to this as it is out of your hands and just happens because you conveniently happen to need the help of both at the same time. There is a choice at the end of the game that would let you choose one, but it is treated as a trade off of dialogue rather than one having greater importance or story involvement, and also just acts as a way to decide which legendary form you get.

There are boss battles but honestly there is not much to say about them due to how generous the dodging is, you are invincible for so long and travel so far that the only times I died to a boss were from poorly explained mechanics. Once you get through the overworld one-on-one phase it basically becomes a Pokémon with multiple health bars. Funnily enough the worst offender might be the final boss because you do not have the option of battling it with your Pokémon to speed up the process, making it super slow.

In the end, this game is an incredibly hard sell because it still struggles from so many modern Pokémon-isms, but has some incredible mechanics within it that are incredibly fun, in depth, and addicting. I feel like no matter what I rate it, it will always feel like I am underselling or overselling it.

also adaman is the best leader

A streamer I keep up with had retweeted this small indie game's announcement post, and with how cheap it is and how cute it looked... an impulse purchase may have occurred.

Now something important to note: I do not usually enjoy platformers, in fact before I played this game the only other one I can confidently say I enjoyed was A Hat in Time. On top of that I have never beaten a metroidvania due to my habit of falling into analysis paralysis and also getting lost or confused easily, and to rub salt in that wound, this game doesn't even have any kind of map. With all of this in mind I would think this is a recipe for disaster, maybe just another game for the backlog, but once I actually got into the game, I was pleasantly surprised.

This game is in absolutely no rush to explain anything to you, there are zero cutscenes and the closest thing you get to a tutorial is a pop up every time you gain a new ability or upgrade. At first I felt uneasy, while I do not need my hand held I always appreciate something to act as a guiding light forward, due to the aforementioned attention issues. The closest thing you get to that in this game is a small note in the equipment menu that boils down to "Collect 5 keys and beat the game," and that's all. Combining all of this with the lack of a map I spent my first hour or two bumbling around lost and unsure if I was making progress.

Once I got to a point where the areas I had been exploring started to properly connect I was able to understand the layout of everything. Doorways leading into new areas were decorated in such a way that they were memorable and these entrances all had a bright heavenly glow, as opposed to standard ones that are just dark fog. Eventually I reached a point where it was no longer forcing myself to remember every detail of how to get around and it and it simply became a matter of time til I reached my destination. The games level design is great at grabbing your attention and making everything memorable in such a way that even I do not think the game is in (serious) need of a map.

These levels and areas are boosted a significant amount thanks to the games absolutely incredible movement, it is downright addicting and a highlight of the game, I did not even mind not knowing where to go next because I would just challenge myself with all kinds of jumps and parkour. If you want a form of movement this game has got it, wall kicks, wall runs, ground pound boosted jumps, back flips, slides, slide jumps that enhance your other movement options, and that is not even mentioning environmental things that assist in movement like bubbles that grant you an air dash and hold you in the air. The movement grants so much freedom that you can get away with stuff that I doubt was intentional. This is some of the most fun movement I have experienced in my limited catalogue of games completed.

Something else worth lots of love is the games graphics and sense of style, the game maintains a certain amount of ambience that is alluring but also concerning. The game is deliberately styled to look exactly like a Nintendo 64 game with the low res textures, heavy amount of polygons, and its use of fog to hide structures far in the distance. I have never been a stickler for graphics and would always prefer a game chase its own look rather than everything try to go hyper realistic like triple A games, this games look is incredibly refreshing and works well with the feelings it is trying to invoke. The music is also incredibly catchy while also having this odd sense of mysticality, it is relaxing and invigorating and I find it hard to explain, it would be best to just experience it along your adventure.

The only thing I struggle to praise is the story... Moreso the complete lack of one. The only cutscene you get is one at the end which is just a few textboxes on a pure white background. There are some npcs you can talk to, ones you meet early on speak super ominously but as you go on they mainly are used for gags. There is a chance I might be missing something, I have heard that small blank pieces of paper or hard to find npcs might allude to the games story, but it is still easy to miss out on and not exactly present. Maybe it is just me but this is not an entirely bad thing, this is not a game I would want to be overloaded with cutscenes and text boxes, and the games ambiance is much more enticing without all of that bogging it down.

The game may only be a few hours long, not even half a day, but I still spent so long on it just trying to parkour my way around the games levels and finding secrets or weird areas to look down from.

In the end I am so happy I went through with playing this and let the game grab me, with how cheap it is this is honestly something I would recommend to anyone, with the experience I got from this game 6 bucks is an absolute steal. If this game can make me love something that plays out in such a "vague" way, then this must be an even better challenge for people already well versed in similar genres while being a great entry point for people like me who lack experience with them. I promise that you will not be disappointed.

also goat thighs kek