“Pokémon Legends: Arceus” comes out on Jan. 28,. When the game was announced last February, fans were excited but skeptical. This game, announced in conjunction with “Pokémon Brillant Diamond” and “Pokémon Shining Pearl” remakes, takes place in the same region, but years before Pokémon were ever domesticated by humans. When the game was announced, little was known about the story, other than it was an open world game where players would explore the ancient region and the wild Pokémon found in it.
As time passed, though, little more was released about it. The animation style echoes another Nintendo game, “Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,” but plotline is nearly anyone’s guess. This is especially nerve-wracking for longtime fans, because in the few trailers we’ve seen for the game, there have been little hints to previous games. This game has the potential to rewrite mainline Pokémon history as we know it. It has little tips to what might form Team Galactic, one of the original “big bads” of the Pokémon franchise, in addition to seemingly having lots of lore surrounding the formation of legendary Pokémon. However, what many fans fear is that the storyline will drop the ball by exaggerating these elements. Twitter and other social media platforms are rampant with fans voicing their excitement as the game draws closer to release, but even more so full of fans voicing their concerns.
As more trailers were released about the game, it was announced that players would be working to capture the region’s first-ever national Pokedex. To complete this task, the player must catch and register every Pokémon in the region. The trailers show new gameplay elements, like wild Pokémon being able to chase the trainer down and battle with the trainer, not the Pokémon. The player is now able to fly across landscapes on Pokémon’s back, and ride on aquatic Pokémon through the water. This seems to be another source of concern among fans; will the player have control over the mechanics, like a true open-world game would, or will they be automatically transported like previous games? Will the players have true control over their journey as promised, or will this be another zone-locked, open-world-but-only-sort-of game?
While the game’s arrival gets ever closer, developer Game Freak takes a big risk. This is the first Pokémon game of its kind, and it could either be a big success or go down as one of the Pokémon Company’s most disappointing works.
