Legends: Arceus Is A Pokémon Game That Finally Respects Your Time

screenrant.com:

Compared to the series' mainline games, Pokémon Legends: Arceus has an uncharacteristic respect for the player's time. Whereas Pokémon games are typically bogged down by convoluted menus, Legends: Arceus has streamlined many aspects of the catching and battling gameplay loop. Pokémon Legends: Arceus' comparatively high Metacritic scores indicate it taking the series in a positive direction, and part of that might attributable to how the game strives to keep the player engaged in the action rather than burying them under the many gamified details.

The most prevalent way in which the game respects the player's time is simply a reduction in how many buttons need to be pressed. This is most evident at the end of a battle. Previous Pokémon games would bombard players with text boxes for Pokémon Dollars won, experience and levels gained, new moves learned, a final quip from the opponent, and more. None of this happens anymore, and it does wonders for player engagement. When a wild Pokémon is defeated in Pokémon Legends: Arceus' new and different combat, the battle just ends; experience, new levels, new moves, and even available evolutions are quietly tallied on the edge of the screen while the player can continue on their way.

Related: Will Legends: Arceus Work With Pokémon Home

All of this is compounded by there being no battle transition screen. As iconic as the Pokémon battle intro music is, and how fun some of the transition screens are, they are detrimental to the flow of the game. When a battle begins in Legends: Arceus, a short animation plays and combat starts immediately. The player is even still allowed to move around while the battle is happening, solidifying it as an organic part of gameplay rather than