Review in Progress: Pokemon Legends: Arceus

destructoid.com:

So we’re finally here: Pokemon Legends. It’s been a trip! Nintendo wowed the world when they announced that this new entry would not only be a prequel, but a larger open world game that wasn’t mostly focused on hopping from town to town “being the very best.”

Here’s our impressions of the first few hours.

Pokemon Legends: Arceus (Switch)Developer: Game FreakPublisher: NintendoReleased: January 28, 2022MSRP: $59.99

So Pokemon Legends, while retaining a safe design in several respects, does drastically alter the core formula we’ve known for decades. A lot of things just kind of trigger now, to the point where I don’t really want to go back to the old ways (and if every game going forward had just one SKU, that would be good too!).

For instance, battles can play out with you running around the world, without having to micromanage each and every element of them. You can just…do things without endless text floating on screen. While there is hand-holding (it is Pokemon, they can’t resist), it doesn’t feel nearly as bad as past games in the series, and certainly nowhere near the worst they’ve ever done (which has actively stopped me from replaying a few entries). Not having to skip through infuriating tedious menus to capture Pokemon and learn new moves rules too (the latter are granted instantly via a level up screen after battle). Adding stealth as an option to capture things is a nice touch and allows for several different playstyles to happen organically.

It also feels fresh, in its own way, from a lore standpoint. This time around you’re legitimately researching the world of Pokemon, instead of somewhat taking advantage of it. It’s refreshing to not assume that you need to leave your parent’s house, then compete in some