Review: Pokémon Legends: Arceus is the series’ best game in years

videogameschronicle.com:

“Gotta catch ‘em all.” Not just a catchphrase, but a mantra that a certain generation of Pokémon fans – the older ones, mainly – lived by.

Over the years, however, it’s a slogan that Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have quietly tucked away, hoping nobody would realise that it’s no longer the series’ central focus.

The reason why is clear: catching ‘em all was a manageable task when there were only 151 and the most extreme measures players had to take were doing some trades with friends in the playground or going to a certain shop to get Mew.

These days there are over 900 individual species (nearer 1300 if you count the likes of Mega Evolutions and alternate forms in different games), meaning the concept of completing a Pokédex has started to feel more like a badge of obsession rather than honour.

Pokémon Legends: Arceus is a fascinating release, then, because it involves going back in time in more ways than one. Not only is the game literally set in the past – a time when the Sinnoh region from Diamond & Pearl was known as Hisui – but it also harks back to the days when catching ‘em all was the priority.

This has allowed developer Game Freak to reflect on the very core of what makes a Pokémon game, and the results of its tinkering are simply wonderful.

For what feels like decades now, fans have been begging Game Freak to change the Pokémon formula and give us a ‘true’ open-world game that doesn’t just feel like yet another simplified (albeit charming) JRPG. Pokémon Legends: Arceus is that game.

Here, nearly every element of the Pokémon formula has been refined for a smoother and more satisfying experience: catching mechanics are revamped and brilliantly satisfying, Pokémon are reinvigorated and full of character, while the