Pokémon Legends: Arceus | Release date, guides and everything we know

Pokémon Legends

Since its first presentation, Pokémon Legends: Arceus has tickled the curiosity of audiences and critics alike. The reasons are all to be found in its playful structure heavily revisited compared to the canonical chapters of the series, which, apparently, seems to fulfill the dream of many fans by proposing for the first time an open world that can be explored in total freedom, choosing how and when to capture the Pokémon that populate it.

Undoubtedly a big news for the series, although it is not for the genre that has already shown us in the past productions that have tested this system before Pokémon Legends: Arceus. An innovation so important that Game Freak preferred not to risk inserting it in a canonical chapter of the series, opting for a spin-off that would allow developers to experiment without limitations, or impositions, with this new playful system.

Pokémon Legends: Arceus, in fact, is not limited only to implementing an Open World structure to the series but sets itself a series of ambitious objectives which, if managed with excessive superficiality, could even decree the failure of the entire project.

Once upon a time Hisui - Plot

if (jQuery ("# ​​crm_srl-th_gamedivision_d_mh2_1"). is (": visible")) {console.log ("Edinet ADV adding zone: tag crm_srl-th_gamedivision_d_mh2_1 slot id: th_gamedivision_d_mh2 "); } Pokémon Legends: Arceus is set in a distant time, when Pokémon and humans still weren't cooperating with each other. To frame the adventure we find the immense region of Hisui, or the land that became known in the future as Sinnoh. At the center of this still unspoiled region stands the imposing Monte Corona, which overlooks each of the biomes that make up Hisui. Each of these areas is characterized by a specific climate that favors the proliferation of certain types of Pokémon.

The region of Hisui, net of the few human settlements, is mostly wild and offers trainers who will explore it. , the possibility not only to meet, and possibly capture, numerous Pokémon specimens but also to obtain the most disparate natural resources with which to later build the most disparate hunting tools.

Pokémon legends: Arceus puts us as a young trainer intent on making the region's first Pokédex. To accomplish this feat he will become part of the research team of Team Galassia, based in an evocative Giubilo Village which will also play the role of main hub for obtaining the various missions.

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Hisui's wild Pokémon - Gameplay

Where the Pokémon tamed by our trainer can be used to collect materials, defeat and capture wild Pokémon and move more freely in the within the huge region of Hisui, wild Pokémon play a very different role.

Located in virtually every corner of the world of Pokémon Legends: Arceus, these creatures will be able to react in different ways once they come into contact with the 'trainer . Some Pokémon will remain indifferent to the presence of our protagonist, others will run away intimidated while still others will not think twice about engaging an offensive to defend the territory.

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Precisely by virtue of the unprecedented open world nature, which they try to limit to the minimal transitions between exploration and combat phases, Pokémon Legends: Arceus offers an unprecedented mechanic in which the first-person trainer is attacked by creatures, risking to find himself briefly unconscious if he does not deploy his Pokémon to defend himself.

Attacking a wild Pokémon is very simple, just select one of the creatures in the possession of the protagonist and throw the rudimentary Pokéball that contains it at a wild Pokémon. This will start the battle between the two creatures. If you manage to surprise the wild Pokémon, you can earn an extra turn that can benefit the player from the early stages of the fight.

In Pokémon Legends: Arceus, you can also opt to throw a Pokéball blank directly on a wild Pokémon unaware of the presence of the trainer. If the creature has not realized anything, it can be captured without engaging in any battle.

Regarding the battles between Pokémon in Pokémon Legends: Arceus, the big news lies in the possibility of choosing the intensity of some attacks: a heavy offensive could annihilate the opponent or leave our Pokémon defenseless in the event of an unsuccessful blow, while a quick attack could speed up the pace of the fight, guaranteeing an extra turn to our protagonist. In maximum terms, however, Pokémon Legends: Arceus seems to remain faithful to the combat mechanics that we have already seen, and revised, over the past twenty-five years.

Pokémon Legends: Arceus - The news

If the basic structure of Pokémon Legends: Arceus could give rise to the thought of simply being faced with a slightly different version of what has already been offered by the series over the last twenty-five years, there are a couple of interesting news that Nintendo has wanted to show through a full-bodied Gameplay video.

First of all, very rare and strong Pokémon live in the region of Hisui, renamed Gifts. These creatures act exactly like bosses that will be faced in a long battle divided into several phases. Initially the trainer will have to avoid constant offensives and throw some spheres at the Royal Pokémon, a calming detail that if used in massive doses will calm the creature allowing the trainer to start a canonical battle between Pokémon with his team.

Once you have finished the battle successfully, you will have to repeat the calming phase to be able to damage the creature again with your Pokémon. Although the mechanics do not seem to be among the most innovative and convincing, we are curious to understand how varied, and strategically satisfying, these clashes will be.

The innovations introduced with Pokémon Legends: Arceus do not stop only at the Pokémon Gifts but extend to the very structure of the game which, at least from what has been shown so far, seems to be all about encouraging the player to explore. From healing objects, to spheres, up to Pokéballs, everything seems to be made by the coach by combining the resources that he will find in the different binomials that make up the region of Hisui.

The progression of the story, moreover, seems to rely on the canons of the open world genre, setting aside the linearity that has always accompanied the canonical chapters of the series, in favor of a structure based on the fulfillment of main and secondary missions that will be proposed to the player by the various inhabitants of the settlements in which he will stop.

In our image and likeness - Customization

As already seen with the previous Pokémon Sword and Shield, even in Pokémon Legends: Arceus the player will be able to customize his own trainer in the most sane ways. Unlike in the past, however, in this ambitious spin-off the developers have paid more attention to the customization of their character, offering a much more complete editor and able to modify a much wider range of aspects than in the past.
< It comes as no surprise, in fact, that the pre-order bonuses of Pokémon Legends: Arceus are just a series of cosmetic items for our trainer. We are sure that numerous cosmetic elements will be released in the coming months to customize our trainer as much as possible to make it unique.

Pokémon Legends: Arceus - Release date and where to buy it

Legends Pokémon: Arceus will be available on Nintendo Switch starting January 28, 2021 in both physical and digital format. Anyone who purchases the game in the first few days of its release will be given the Hisui Growlithe Outfit and the Maledivolpe Mask. To get them, simply access the Secret Gift function and select the "Via Internet" option by Monday, May 9, 2022.

If you decide to pre-order the game, you can get an exclusive Garchomp Outfit that will be issued to you via email on game release day.

To be able to pre-order Pokémon Legends: Arceus, and get the exclusive Garchomp Suit just follow the link below.

Pokémon Legends: Arceus + Garchomp Suit (Bonus Preorder)