Pokémon Legends: Arceus gives more freedom than many open world games | background

This is the conclusion after spending about 35 hours in the game reconsidering On its sister site Power Unlimited. Legends: Arceus is, in short, a surprisingly fun game that allows you in a fun way to go through various conventions of the series. At least in my opinion. An official verdict will be published by fellow Wesley soon on Gamer.nl, so follow the site for a more general picture of the game.

Somehow it was disappointing that Game Freak doesn’t launch players into one big world. Especially since the promotional material doesn’t hide the fact that it’s inspired by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which remains one of the most compelling open world games of all time. No, Legends: Arceus instead features five disparate and smaller worlds full of Pokemon to explore. So fans accused Game developer Freak of lying for the umpteenth time, and sentiment was completely negative in the lead up to the release – in part due to the technical side of the game.

Once you get your hands on Legends: Arceus, it becomes quite clear how “free” the game’s gameplay cycle is. Many developers and publishers define “freedom” as the choice to go anywhere you want, or the ability to play missions in any order you choose. This is while in most open world games it often comes down to following an arrow, a point on the horizon, or even a GPS that shows the shortest path to your destination. You can, of course, disable these tools, but most games are not designed for this at all. Without an icon on the map, searching for the next missions becomes frustrating.

Of course, no game offers complete freedom; After all, it’s about the illusion that you can do anything within the limits of the game. However, Pokémon Legends: Arceus is far more compelling than many similar titles. In each of the five areas, players are simply unlocked to collect their first ever Pokédex by hunting and defeating monsters, feeding them food, and completing other similar missions. She then reports the results to the local professor, before returning to the village to prepare for the next trip.

So, in practice, there is surprisingly little pressure on your adventure. There are countless different Pokémon roaming the wilderness, varying in size, food preferences, and trainer behavior, available just for you to discover. It’s up to the player as to which species they hunt, which species to dodge and risk their lives – now wild Pokémon attack you physically – and at what rate they populate their Pokédex. Legends: Arceus reminds us a lot of New Pokémon Snap: just go on a safari, without the urgency of things.

Of course, there are main and side missions to advance the story, which as usual ramp up to save the entire world. The side missions are particularly interesting in design. Most of them give hidden hints to catch a particular species or collect a number of rare resources, after which you go again on a journey of discovery. This contrasts with the average side quest, which often sends you to specific locations and then sets a route for you again.

This brings with it a bit of a surprise that the Pokémon franchise has been losing ground in recent years. Where in the first four generations you can almost get lost in caves and visit a few optional areas, the most recent titles are the definition of linear.

Mythology: Arceus changes that with a new concept. It is possible to race through the story and have a good time, but the ultimate goal remains to capture the movements, different shapes, and other characteristics of each type of Pokemon. The fact that you have to fill out your Pokédex completely to see the actual end of the game says it all.

The question is how much Game Freak dares to carry the revamped version to the ninth generation of RPGs. Mythology: Arceus looks like an experimental airship in this respect, a successful side project, some aspects of which may find their way into the next game for the general public. I’d like to see a larger version of the game in a brand new area full of different cities and landscapes, while still keeping the open plan that makes Legends: Arceus so refreshing. Because who would have thought that: Freedom in the game Pokemon.

Read our Pokémon Legends: Arceus review coming soon.