For the first time maybe since playing Red on my GameBoy Pocket I can say that I "caught 'em all".
This was helped by the fact the roster in this game isn't the full 1000+ but also because the act of catching is much more fun.
Sneaking through the tall grass in a reverse of roles or running in and chucking something to stun the poor little creature and many other routes mean that the ability to catch is more varied and therefor interesting.
Also the added danger that you as the trainer can be attacked is much more interested than blacking out because your 'mon have.
Even the legendary Pokémon have a variety of tasks to get them and it's not still the same case of Battle - Get to low health and sleep/paralyze - throw tons of balls and cross your fingers.
These new changes to approach are definitely a good way forward for a series that I was not personally tired of but definitely did need a shake up.
I miss having as many trainer battles as the mainline games and I found that due to that and the introduction of mini tasks to 'complete' pokedex entries made me not have a "main squad" as much as I would and not particularly feel like building towards one either.
The world is varied enough with a mix of areas you'd expect in any video game and they truly come to life with the dynamic weather and seeing the Pokémon within their natural environment.
The issue the world has though is at times it looks decent but GameFreak haven't done enough to keep this as a constant.
You've all seen screenshots of PS2 style textures, grass loading in as you walk and mountains terraforming into view but on top of that the game loves and invisible wall or to create extreme fog to block you going over a mountain even if you can get the other side by other means.
The comparison before the game was even out, as is the way right now, was to Breath of the Wild and it's quite embarrassing how much better that game looks than this considering it came out on the Wii U.
Really though the comparisons get worse when you look at the Switch Xenoblade games or even Monster Hunter Rise from last year.
Each of these bring a slightly different aesthetic and none go for deep realism but Pokémon's anime look is not what's holding it back.
During the post game I found the invisible walls, fog and lacking parts of level design really came through as I was being made to more thoroughly look at it and whilst I still enjoyed roaming around for the most part it was sad to have the game fight with me trying to play it.
This isn't the first place the game does this though and the friction between trying to just play and some strange to bad design decisions is why I can't confidently say "this is the best Pokémon, 5 stars".
First simple gripe, the controls.
For the most part they are fine but there are some confusing choices and the silliest of all is that whilst every mount that can go faster does so by pressing B on foot it's clicking in the left stick.
B on foot doing the opposite and making you crouch.
Inventory can be annoying, limited spaces is not the worst but it's feels like too much with the variety of what can be picked up.
Your bag can be made larger, however only by a single slot at a time that costs increasingly more money the more you want.
Playing this I yearned for ye olde Pokémon bags systems with different sections as that could have different sizes and maybe alleviate some of this.
From the minor to the more major, mission tracking is awkward. Markers only appear if there is something new or for the one mission you're tracking.
Within Legends Arceus though heading back to Jubilife (the game's hub) there are usually many townsfolk who want to be spoken to but you won't know which do without either speaking to all of them or looking at each request and hoping it can give you a marker.
That or have an incredible memory of what the mostly barely memorable townsfolk NPCs names are.
There are probably more minor roadblocks this game likes to make but those are just the main offenders.
Regarding NPCs whilst not everyone you do requests for are interesting the game does have a bunch of cool characters and a lot of look-a-likes/possible ancestors of previous Pokémon NPCs which adds a layer of intrigue and everyone's favourite Leo DiCaprio meme moments.
The story is good, not the deepest as you would imagine but an interesting change of pace and one that goes in some slightly surprising directions.
Overall I enjoyed the 50+ hours I've spent with this game catching all the pocket monsters (especially with more cool Ghost ones).
I like most additions, whilst I miss some things from the main series (which I doubt is going anywhere).
Pokémon Legends: Arceus at points gets very close to being a 4 - 4.5 star game if it were not for some poor technical and performance issues and some awkward design choices.
This was helped by the fact the roster in this game isn't the full 1000+ but also because the act of catching is much more fun.
Sneaking through the tall grass in a reverse of roles or running in and chucking something to stun the poor little creature and many other routes mean that the ability to catch is more varied and therefor interesting.
Also the added danger that you as the trainer can be attacked is much more interested than blacking out because your 'mon have.
Even the legendary Pokémon have a variety of tasks to get them and it's not still the same case of Battle - Get to low health and sleep/paralyze - throw tons of balls and cross your fingers.
These new changes to approach are definitely a good way forward for a series that I was not personally tired of but definitely did need a shake up.
I miss having as many trainer battles as the mainline games and I found that due to that and the introduction of mini tasks to 'complete' pokedex entries made me not have a "main squad" as much as I would and not particularly feel like building towards one either.
The world is varied enough with a mix of areas you'd expect in any video game and they truly come to life with the dynamic weather and seeing the Pokémon within their natural environment.
The issue the world has though is at times it looks decent but GameFreak haven't done enough to keep this as a constant.
You've all seen screenshots of PS2 style textures, grass loading in as you walk and mountains terraforming into view but on top of that the game loves and invisible wall or to create extreme fog to block you going over a mountain even if you can get the other side by other means.
The comparison before the game was even out, as is the way right now, was to Breath of the Wild and it's quite embarrassing how much better that game looks than this considering it came out on the Wii U.
Really though the comparisons get worse when you look at the Switch Xenoblade games or even Monster Hunter Rise from last year.
Each of these bring a slightly different aesthetic and none go for deep realism but Pokémon's anime look is not what's holding it back.
During the post game I found the invisible walls, fog and lacking parts of level design really came through as I was being made to more thoroughly look at it and whilst I still enjoyed roaming around for the most part it was sad to have the game fight with me trying to play it.
This isn't the first place the game does this though and the friction between trying to just play and some strange to bad design decisions is why I can't confidently say "this is the best Pokémon, 5 stars".
First simple gripe, the controls.
For the most part they are fine but there are some confusing choices and the silliest of all is that whilst every mount that can go faster does so by pressing B on foot it's clicking in the left stick.
B on foot doing the opposite and making you crouch.
Inventory can be annoying, limited spaces is not the worst but it's feels like too much with the variety of what can be picked up.
Your bag can be made larger, however only by a single slot at a time that costs increasingly more money the more you want.
Playing this I yearned for ye olde Pokémon bags systems with different sections as that could have different sizes and maybe alleviate some of this.
From the minor to the more major, mission tracking is awkward. Markers only appear if there is something new or for the one mission you're tracking.
Within Legends Arceus though heading back to Jubilife (the game's hub) there are usually many townsfolk who want to be spoken to but you won't know which do without either speaking to all of them or looking at each request and hoping it can give you a marker.
That or have an incredible memory of what the mostly barely memorable townsfolk NPCs names are.
There are probably more minor roadblocks this game likes to make but those are just the main offenders.
Regarding NPCs whilst not everyone you do requests for are interesting the game does have a bunch of cool characters and a lot of look-a-likes/possible ancestors of previous Pokémon NPCs which adds a layer of intrigue and everyone's favourite Leo DiCaprio meme moments.
The story is good, not the deepest as you would imagine but an interesting change of pace and one that goes in some slightly surprising directions.
Overall I enjoyed the 50+ hours I've spent with this game catching all the pocket monsters (especially with more cool Ghost ones).
I like most additions, whilst I miss some things from the main series (which I doubt is going anywhere).
Pokémon Legends: Arceus at points gets very close to being a 4 - 4.5 star game if it were not for some poor technical and performance issues and some awkward design choices.