Despite a fairly disappointing but still tolerable visual state, Pokemon Legends Arceus is without a doubt a new top 3 pokemon game up there with the gen 5 duology. This game did what I never thought this franchise would do and somehow manage to remove almost everything that kinda sucked about post Sun and Moon pokemon, added back a lot of the great stuff from PRE-Sun and Moon Pokemon, AND made lots of incredible and meaningful changes to this formula that made it much better than it's ever been.
The real time elements like dodging, catching pokemon, and the ride pokemon are so smooth and have such an incredible flow that it's honestly astounding. In contrast to the slow nature of previous entries, this game moves at a lightning fast speed.
This, gladfully extended to the combat as well. The combat is still the same turn based combat as normal, but with a new turn system with strong and agile style moves that feels less like a gimmick and more like an enhancement over the original style. And I am so glad with how little time they waste on text in combat as it just feels more nice to do.
The story isn't incredible by rpg standards, but it has memorable characters, a great deal of intrigue and mystery, lots of new perspectives on ongoing lore and storylines, and maybe one of the coolest moments in the series. You'll know what it is when you see it.
The boss battles are genuinely fun and kinda difficult at times, the soundtrack is one of my favorites in the series, and the qol features they add blows sword and shield out of the water.
Graphically there are games that look... worse..? Like it's not great overall even by switch standards and the amount of visual bugs I found throughout the story was honestly kinda absurd, but it's still tolerable. It works, and sometimes can look quite nice.
Despite that though, in a time where the series was getting only more and more derivative and the fanbase was getting more and more divided, Pokemon Legends Arceus is nothing short of a miracle. It might not be a 10/10 game, but it IS a 10/10 blueprint for the masterpiece game we may get in a few years time.
As a lifelong pokemon fan, this game makes me so fuckin happy and it makes me PUMPED to see where the series goes from here. Welcome back, old friend.
The real time elements like dodging, catching pokemon, and the ride pokemon are so smooth and have such an incredible flow that it's honestly astounding. In contrast to the slow nature of previous entries, this game moves at a lightning fast speed.
This, gladfully extended to the combat as well. The combat is still the same turn based combat as normal, but with a new turn system with strong and agile style moves that feels less like a gimmick and more like an enhancement over the original style. And I am so glad with how little time they waste on text in combat as it just feels more nice to do.
The story isn't incredible by rpg standards, but it has memorable characters, a great deal of intrigue and mystery, lots of new perspectives on ongoing lore and storylines, and maybe one of the coolest moments in the series. You'll know what it is when you see it.
The boss battles are genuinely fun and kinda difficult at times, the soundtrack is one of my favorites in the series, and the qol features they add blows sword and shield out of the water.
Graphically there are games that look... worse..? Like it's not great overall even by switch standards and the amount of visual bugs I found throughout the story was honestly kinda absurd, but it's still tolerable. It works, and sometimes can look quite nice.
Despite that though, in a time where the series was getting only more and more derivative and the fanbase was getting more and more divided, Pokemon Legends Arceus is nothing short of a miracle. It might not be a 10/10 game, but it IS a 10/10 blueprint for the masterpiece game we may get in a few years time.
As a lifelong pokemon fan, this game makes me so fuckin happy and it makes me PUMPED to see where the series goes from here. Welcome back, old friend.