For over 25 years now, Pokémon has been enjoyed worldwide with fans eating up every new subsequent release. The formula as people have come to know it has hardly changed, usually resulting in similar but excitable titles that give players new ways to enjoy the Pokémon they love. That was drastically shifted with the reveal of Pokémon Legends: Arceus which appeared to offer an entirely different kind of Pokémon adventure, making fans excited for what could come to be. There's never been a shakeup in the main series quite like it with many people becoming cautiously optimistic it would become a game-changer. While that's obviously yet to be seen, is Pokémon Legends: Arceus all it's cracked up to be or is it another short-lived tale of modern Pokémon?

The story begins as a young child washes up on the shores, only to be discovered by professor Laventon nearby the bustling Jubilife Village. During this meeting, Laventon loses control of the three Pokémon he'd been in charge of and asks the youth to help capture them. Impressed by their ability to capture Pokémon, Laventon requests that they join the Galaxy Team and help research Pokémon to create the first ever Pokedex. After passing a trial from the Galaxy Team leader, they're granted the ability to begin research and help search for how or why they've ended up in this place. They're soon to begin helping as Noble Pokémon in each area have started to become frenzied, and it's up to the Galaxy Team and others to figure out what's causing it and put a stop to things before they get too far out of control. It's hard to go into detail without spoiling some of the finer elements of the story, but the tale of Pokémon Legends: Arceus is one of the most enjoyable the franchise has ever told. While it doesn't reach the peaks of Black and White or perhaps Sun and Moon, the story is a much welcome change to a series that has typically followed patterns with simplistic stories instead of trying to see what they can push with their long-lived franchise. Seeing a world in which people fear Pokémon is a wonderful change of pace as getting to see people begin to befriend creatures or slowly conquer their fears is a charming way to see just how the strong bond of humans and Pokémon began.

Going out into the tall grass without a Pokémon is dangerous, this is something any long-time Pokémon fan is well aware of. In the Hisui region, however, people are lucky if they have a Pokémon of their own and the dangers of the tall grass are more threatening on a person's life than ever before. Once players step outside into the wild for the first time they'll discover countless Pokémon waiting to be captured, fought or studied. The goal is a mix of things depending on how it's chosen to approach. Professor Laventon would love for the Pokedex to be completed, which requires research and study of the over 200 Pokémon that live in the region. How that's accomplished exactly is with the every helpful usage of Pokémon and Pokéballs. Along the way players may also receive requests from NPCs in Jubilife Village which will usually ask them a Pokémon-related task such as seeing or capturing one for themselves to reward items and other useful things when out and about. When ready to set off, players select an area they wish to explore which will slowly expand over time. Time changes in these areas over a set period of time, and they are free to explore to their hearts content with areas for healing, dropping of items and switching out any Pokémon that have been captured.

Capturing Pokémon is accomplished in a handful of ways as they can simply have a ball thrown at them or initiate a battle and lower their health in order for the best odds. The charming thing is that all Pokémon will react differently. It's easy to get wooed into a false sense of security around Bidoof who will happily waddle up to any people nearby and can simply be bopped on the head to capture. Meanwhile the nearby Shinx in the starting area will be quick to attack if they see anyone. While combat will also be mostly familiar to returning players, there's also the inclusion of new styles for attacks. Agile style allows players to attack quickly and have a chance for a follow up, while Power style has the attack do more damage at the potential cost of the opponent getting to move a little faster. Not just Pokémon are under threat of being attacked which is why researchers must be aware and dodge, run or battle in order to quell an angry Pokémon's feelings. Getting hit too many times by a Pokémon will cause a blackout, which results in a loss of some items and returning to the base camp to heal back up. It's not hugely detrimental, but makes players more cautious. The big draw of capturing is completing pokedex entries which can be reported to Professor Laventon for money and points to rank up. Ranking up rewards the ability to use higher level Pokémon and access to more items to help while continuing research. There's a lot that can be done with little research fortunately, so the pace at which the player approaches this is entirely up to them the whole way, making for an adventure with lots of options for just how to approach the journey at hand.

One of the biggest parts of progressing is the very exploration itself. Each area in Hisui is surprisingly large with many Pokémon lurking in every corner of the map. Aside from that there are also trees and rocks that can be broken by Pokémon in order to obtain helpful items for crafting. Recipes obtained from those in Jubilife village help ease a researcher's concerns. Pokeballs are the most necessary item to craft but others include potions, ways to scare off wild Pokémon and ways to stay stealthily invisible for a moment. These respawn fairly regularly, especially if the area is left and come back to, so it's hard to run out but if items are running low they can often be bought by helpful merchants. Pokémon that appear in the wild often do so based on time of day, weather or may even be a more rare appearance that isn't always there. This makes multiple visits to the same place often result in different outcomes, making it worthwhile to revisit. Upon leaving the village it's also likely that an outbreak will be reported which means one particular Pokémon will be temporarily more available in a select area. This is great for many harder-to-find Pokémon or those that just need to be researched more. Along the way players might also stumble across lost satchels which can actually belong to other people and will return items they lost when they blacked out. In return players will receive MP, which can be used to purchase certain evolution items in Jubilife Village, making it worthwhile to go out of ones way to grab these while exploring. Of course exploring on foot is all well and fine for the most part, but some places are completely inaccessible without a little help from Pokémon willing to offer their services.

Throughout the story five different ride Pokémon will be gifted to the player to help in their exploration. Each of these functions as a way to travel or search more easily, from being able to move faster with Wyrdeer or be able to survey the water with Basculegion. These make traversal feel great when they've been unlocked with the only drawback is that most cannot have pokeballs thrown from their backs so players will need to get off first before catching Pokémon. Fortunately switching between them is quick and snappy making it easy to switch on the fly at a moment's notice. These are integral to get to the more reclusive areas and discover secrets that await and in general just help get across big areas faster. Wyrdeer is one of the most useful as it offers faster land travel and is great if needing to escape an aggressive Pokémon. It would be nice, however, if Braviary could fly up instead of simply soaring flat or down, but generally speaking it's easy to reach high places even without Braviary so it's not hugely detrimental.

Another big element comes from story encounters with Frenzied Pokémon. These are some of the most fun encounters a player will find themselves involved with. It's unknown why Frenzied Pokémon are acting up, but they need to be quelled so they can continue their noble duties. Thanks to quick thinking from the Galaxy team, they determine the best form of action is to pelt the frenzied nobles with satchels of their favorite food. The brave researcher will then go into an arena where they face the frenzied Pokémon on, having to avoid their attacks while throwing the satchels in order to calm them down. If they're lucky the Pokémon may become dazed and they can begin a battle to help lower their health quicker. These are the most action-based segments of the story, creating a great amount of variety in each unique frenzied Pokémon encounter. It would be nice if there were a few more, but it's worth noting that upon completing the story these nobles can be challenged again in a much harder version of their clash.

One of the biggest glaring blemishes on Pokémon Legends: Arceus are some of the visuals themselves. While the Human and Pokémon models are utterly wonderful and guaranteed the best they've been to date, much of the terrain can't say the same. It's most noticeable when flying or swimming across water, but there is a lot of pop-in for both models and textures which can be jarring when it's so rapid at times. The textures themselves are also muddy and bland in many areas, while others can be surprisingly pretty in the right lighting and when simply walking around instead of looking far off in the distance. It doesn't take away from how fantastic everything else is, but it would have been nice if the surroundings were as wonderful to look at all the time as the Pokémon. Models of the Pokémon themselves steal the show, in addition to some of the best attack animations the series has had by a long shot. It's truly enjoyable to watch battles play out now, especially given the player can freely move around on the battlefield to examine it from any angle. The soundtrack, on the other hand, might be one of the greatest in the mainline series to date. Although most of the songs are remixes of titles from the Diamond and Pearl titles, they have a great mix of feeling nostalgic and whimsical at the same time. Occasionally they'll feel ominous when near a threatening Pokémon, but it builds a great atmosphere the whole time that makes it a delight for the ears.

Closing Comments: 

It wouldn't be difficult to claim that Pokémon Legends: Arcues is the strongest Pokémon title the series has had since the DS era. Although some of the visuals leave a bit to be desired, the core of everything else is fantastic and gives players many ways to play while also offering arguably the biggest challenge in the series to date. That's not to mention the meaty post-game that offers hours more enjoyable content to complete, which is something that the other Switch titles can hardly claim without the inclusion of paid DLC. Not only is Pokémon Legends: Arceus the biggest leap in innovation the series has ever had, but it's deserving of praise for being a wonderful and charming adventure the entire way through. Hopefully we see more in this vein in the future, as it's sure to leave anyone who plays it craving to see what else could be done moving forward.