Pokemon Legends: Arceus is the First Game to Fully Embrace the Franchise Motto

gamerant.com:

Anyone who has engaged with the Pokemon franchise is probably familiar with the motto, «Gotta catch 'em all.» A primary focus of Pokemon games has always been catching Pokemon in order to have a completed Pokedex, usually for research purposes. There are hundreds of Pokemon and most of them have multiple forms, so completing a Pokedex can be a big task. Collecting Pokemon is fun, but catching all of them is usually an endgame objective that casual gamers might not attempt.

Pokemon Legends: Arceus changes that in a big way. Rather than having the Pokedex as an optional, secondary objective, it's woven into the core of the story and gameplay. Because Pokemon Legends: Arceus is set in the distant past, this makes a lot of sense. The Pokedex objective is usually overshadowed by a gym tournament, but the absence of gyms in Arceus puts collecting Pokemon at the top of the priority list.

Pokemon Legends: Arceus Lays the Groundwork for Something Spectacular on the Next Nintendo Console

Everyone who starts a Pokemon game has a dream of completing the Pokedex, or at least catching as many monsters as possible. Many players achieve this dream, but a lot of players don't. Completing a Pokedex requires hours of commitment and grinding. In some cases, it also requires a Nintendo Online membership. Casual players often aren't willing to spend that amount of time completing it, especially after they've already finished the game.

The good thing for those players is that catching Pokemon really isn't required to progress. Completing it is usually rewarded, and it certainly helps diversify battle teams, but it's not an absolute requirement. All you need is a full team to complete the stories. Even though the slogan of the Pokemon franchise is