So my kids recently got into Pokemon (first with the Let’s Go Pikachu game that basically nostalgia baited me into getting a switch to begin with, before they were born and then with the TV show, which is now on Netflix). While looking into games they might like, I stumbled across Pokemon Legends: Arceus and realized that this 2022 game is actually something I would like a whole lot.
I picked it up and I have to say, I’m totally addicted. One of the most fun Switch games I’ve played.
Unlike a traditional Pokemon game, it’s fully 3d and a semi open world. There’s a town hub and five areas divided into many subareas; wild pokemon spawn in these areas and can be fought or caught. If you catch wild pokemon by surprise, you can capture them without a fight. You spend your time running around, capturing wild pokemon and gathering resources to craft more items.
You have to fill out a Pokedex, but unlike a normal game where catching one pokemon is all you need to do to fill out your Pokedex, here each species has a series of tasks to complete. Catch a bunch of them, defeat them with moves of a specific type, feed them berries, see them use a given move (you can complete this one with your own pokemon which gives you a reason to constantly rotate your team), and so on. Figuring out ways to make progress on a few dex entries simultaneously feels incredibly fun and rewarding.
Has anyone else played this game? It’s older, and I haven’t heard much about it until now, but I am really enjoying it now.