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Legends Arceus First Impressions and General Reviews Thread

Do you like the game?

  • Yes!

    Votes: 45 86.5%
  • I'm not entirely convinced.

    Votes: 4 7.7%
  • No.

    Votes: 3 5.8%

  • Total voters
    52
I'm too tired to do a review today. So, I'll just say that I'm enjoying the game a lot and give a somewhat controversial opinion.

I'm seeing a lot of people praising the game's story. And, while I found the premise interesting, despite being a bit of that usual litany (a boy/girl chosen by the gods to serve as a link between humans and pokémons and, from that, discover the origin of the region, the whereabouts of the Almighty Sinnoh and what is the rift that we came from), so far I haven't seen a great plot to justify all the praise this aspect of the game has been getting.

My game is just when we gained access to Hisuian Sneasler, and, so far, the story has been pretty trivial, just like most Pokémon games. In short, the story revolves around repeating the same plot, go to a new area and defeat the maddened lord of that location. And, hopefully, there will be minimal development of a character you just met, the guardian of that area.

Galaxyy team characters also have little to no development. Seriously, with the exception of Professor Laventon and Akari, I don't remember their names. They're there, just to provide you with quests. The "Bad Girls" triet, which I also don't remember the name, has also had a paltry development and characterization so far. Even their intention are not well explained. I believe that the only characters who are reasonably well presented and have some development are Clan Pearl leader, Irina, and Clan Diamond leader, Adaman.

Sidequests, likewise, are rarely relevant, often just being required catch a Pokémon or complete a Pokédex with respect to another Pokémon. Jubillife's NPCs also don't stand out, if it weren't for the sales and customization points, the city would look dead.

In short, I've found the story to be quite weak, especially in the characters development department, but the points I raised from the premise have not yet been addressed at all, so I hope that my impression can change by the end of the game.
 
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I can agree it is far better than BDSP and SwSh, and quite a challenge. In the week since the game came out, I have caught five Shiny Pokémon (not counting the guaranteed Ponyta), almost reached Nine Stars, and will soon challenge the Noble Hisuian Avalugg.

I do have a few complaints: having to pay s**tloads of money to expand the satchel, the battle with Noble Hisuian Arcanine (mainly for the lack of dodging space and not having a lock-on akin to Kingdom Hearts), locating a Cherubi, a lack of a countdown for the distortions, and Melli being an evil prick who removes torches from a cave and let travelers die at the hands of an Alpha Crobat to keep Noble Hisuian Electrode frenzied.

8/10 in my opinion.
 
The battle with Noble Hisuian Arcanine (mainly for the lack of dodging space and not having a lock-on akin to Kingdom Hearts).

For me, this was perhaps the best part of the game, not only are the characters and the story around this Lord well developed, like the battle against it is also challenging in the right measure. I believe it was the only time that I "blackout" in the game, Lol. On the other hand, the satchel low initial limit is certainly a nuisance.
 
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With a score of 8.1, Legends is the best reviewed (by users) Pokemon game since Heart Gold and Soul Silver.
 
In short, I've found the story to be quite weak, especially in the characters development department, but the points I raised from the premise have not yet been addressed at all, so I hope that my impression can change by the end of the game.
I'm not the biggest fan of the story either (I found it just perfectly fine and serviceable), but I think I can see what people find so appealing in it, and it mostly boils down to how it doesn't feel like the usual mainline Pokemon story. Rather than a mainline story, it was more reminiscent of a PMD story to me (though PMD stories are still better and more well developed imo).

For the first time the story doesn't hesitate to acknowledge that it's willing to put the protagonist in danger, whether in the repeated threat of how dangerous Hisui's wilderness is, or in how late into the story (spoiler for past the final noble) Kamado evicted you from the village under suspicion that you're behind the space-time rift and the frenzied nobles. Compare this to how lukewarm most mainline stories treat the danger level that the protag faces (i.e. very rarely acknowledged; iirc SwSh was the only one that tried).

It's also neat that for once we have something tangible to say on why the protag is Special (beside because the game mechanics say so), and there is also no Team Evil/Evil Corporation for the protag to defeat and blandly feel good about -- one of the things that I did like about the story. (Kabuki Gals detract from this point a little, but at least they're just a nuisance and not behind the overarching plot.)

My conclusion? We have had so many repetitive badge-quest-and-defeat-evil-team stories that PL:A's story can look like gold simply by breaking the mold in certain aspects.
 
I'm at the part after battling Akari and honestly the only thing that actually bugs me a lot so far is how long the tutorial is. It just drags onnn and onnnn. Other than that this game is literally amazing oh my god

Once i finish the game I will 100% post my full thoughts here
 
I'm at the part after battling Akari and honestly the only thing that actually bugs me a lot so far is how long the tutorial is. It just drags onnn and onnnn. Other than that this game is literally amazing oh my god

Once i finish the game I will 100% post my full thoughts here

I dunno. I feel that the tutorials in this game are more justified than in standard mainline games. Unlike the usual tutorials, mainly the catching one, this game has various methods and mechanics that are at the very least different than the usual badge quest. After all, there are now three ways to catch a Mon in this game due to how the different species react to you, not the universal battle-then-catch method that's been in the games since Gen 1. And you do have to learn how to dodge roll, as it becomes crucial in surviving the Noble battles. So while, yes, the tutorials take a while, in this case it feels much more justified because of the different mechanics we're presented with. And at least it's nowhere near as bad as Alola, where the entire first island is essentially a giant tutorial, including things that should be no-brainers like how Pokemon Centers work. THAT was a tutorial that dragged on and on way too much. Yeah, the could've trimmed some of the fat off of the tutorials, but it feels more justified this time due to the significant mechanic changes compared to the standard mainline game.
 
There's a lot I love about the game and I would love to see these aspects be improved upon in future titles. I really enjoy the switch up on catching Pokemon, being able to craft items, the strong/agile style mechanic, and getting into skirmishes with the Alpha Pokemon. I love the quality of life changes like the Effort Levels and the way you can swap moves on your Pokemon out on the fly. And of course any game that expands upon Pokemon's rich, untapped lore will always be a plus.

What I don't like and what is killing my personal enjoyment of the game is the focus on the Pokedex as the way to progress through the story. In most games, I rarely have more than a box full of Pokemon in my PC, and I've only completed the Pokedex in a game once and it was such a chore that I swore off ever doing it again. Now with the gameplay actively encouraging catching every mon (oftentimes multiple) to get money and get the needed research points to rank up to progress it just becomes a drag personally.

I find myself enjoying the game the most when I'm out there collecting materials to craft things or seeing how many Alpha Pokemon I can knock out (I have yet to blackout to a wild Pokemon that wasn't one of the nobles). But when I return to base camp I just net so little money/points for doing what I'm enjoying the most and it demotivates me to continue playing. My biggest criticism is that I wish instead of it being called research points, they were called galaxy points and that you could net points by crafting/gathering a certain number of materials or taking down alpha pokemon/spawns/perhaps even bandits. That would break up the monotony of catching for me and keep my attention better.

If you took the alpha Pokemon, the new battle style, the new ways to catch Pokemon, crafting/foraging, the emphasis on lore/world building and put it into a traditional Pokemon formula (badge quest, evil team optional) I would feel like that would be my personal best ever Pokemon game. I appreciate Legends a lot though for innovating and I hope to see a gen 9 (be in a new region or BW/BW2 remakes) that incorporates much of what Legends does into the standard formula.

But for me, Pokemon Legends Arceus isn't the game for me personally and that's totally okay. Not every game is going to appeal to everybody.
 
I’ve now beaten the second noble and explored the rest of the 2nd area (I think). Gotta say I’m feeling it now. The game’s actually fun. I was initially bummed out by the lack of pokemon variety, but as you explore more of the map or stick around at night I found a lot of cool pokemon. Especially like the space-time distortions. I rotate and box my pokemon a lot, and it’s pretty fun cycling through them.

I really like moveset overhaul. It makes training each pokemon more fun and unpredictable, as some with bad movesets improve a lot. Also appreciate being able to change them whenever. Alpha pokemon are a fun challenge to take on, they’re like totem pokemon so I’m happy to see that continued. Wild pokemon actually feel threatening, they can easily knock your pokemon out. The battle system is a lot better, with changed moves, enraging wild pokemon and using the two styles.

Hope the game keeps getting better from here
 
Okay, I'm about 55 hours in now, and have just beat what I believe is the end of the post-game story. I haven't quite finished the Pokedex yet, so there might be something more that comes with that, but I don't think it will be much. If I need to add onto this review with my thoughts on that I will.

I need some more time to digest this game and maybe even play it again, but this might be my favorite Pokemon experience of all time.

(I'm gonna put the different sections into different spoiler tags cuz this review is massive)

Easily the best part of this game, and what might make this my favorite Pokemon game of all time. It's just so fun. I was a little worried about having these wide open areas and not having anything to do in some, but there's always something to do, whether it's catching Pokemon, an alpha Pokemon (having random alphas spawn also helps), materials to collect, or one of the collectibles like the Spiritomb Wisps or Unowns. You are rewarded for exploring different areas and it feels good.

I like how there are different types of Pokemon and how they react to the being there. In SwSh, Pokemon felt a little soulless just walking around, sometimes coming up to the you to say hi, sometimes charging at you and sometimes running away. This game still uses these three types of Pokemon, but they all seem to react a bit more. Friendly Pokemon will become curious of you or run around you, while nervous Pokemon might try hitting you with a single attack to deter you away. I've also seen a case where one Pokemon acts differently in some situations. The Roselia at the Fabled Spring in the Coronet Highlands seem pretty docile at night, but once daytime hit they were attacking me. It could be because of how I was moving around though. But still, it was very cool to see.

Catching Pokemon is fun. I still find it so funny how Pokemon has gone from "stay out of the tall grass or wild Pokemon will come at you" to "go hide in that tall grass or you will be attacked and mauled by wild Pokemon". But, sometimes it can be annoying. The trees have huge hit boxes, which makes sense on the berry ones seeing as you can usually just throw a Pokemon near them and they'll gather the material, but trying to throw a Poke Ball from behind a tree is difficult. Like my cursor will be almost an inch away from the tree, I'm hardly behind it, and the ball will still hit the tree. It makes it a little frustrating in those areas with little grass coverage (This also could be a bit on me though, as I always forget to take Smoke Bombs out). Additionally, catching the flying Pokemon up in the air is real annoying. It's hard to line it up and time your shot, and if you look away you have to do it all over again. Some of the Pokemon make big loops too, so it always takes a few minutes to catch them. Being able to lock on to them at any point while they are in the sky would certainly help.

Having the option on whether to raise or catch Pokemon to complete their dex page is an awesome feature. It's no secret that Pokemon battles have never interested me. I like them to an extent sometimes, but I certainly don't play Pokemon for them. So having the option to focus more on catching the Pokemon was great for me.

Speaking of battles, I did kind of like them in this game. Not as much as I was hoping to, but I do to an extent. The strong/agile moves are kind of fun and can be very helpful in a pinch. They certainly helped me in some of the tougher battles. I also liked how the game rarely forced you into them. Even with the Noble Pokemon you could choose whether or not you wanted to battle.

The Noble fights were cool, but dang they got difficult. Like after Kleavor and Lilligant I was like "oh these aren't too bad" then immediately get wrecked in that Arcanine fight, but that one wasn't nearly as bad as the Electrode and Avalugg one, especially the Electrode. You had to keep moving in that one, I swear might heart was pounding at the end of it.

The ride Pokemon are great, and I like how seemless the transitions are between them. Once you get the hang of it, it feels quite natural switching between them. I do have to say though, I wish you could interact more with the world while on your mount. You can on Basculegion, but only that one. It would be nice if you could on Wyrdeer as well.

The requests are handled quite nicely. I like how I always have something else to do while out on my expeditions, and I like how so many requests are just helping these people understand the Pokemon a bit more. With a few exceptions, nothing ever feels like a chore to do, especially if you just work on the requests as you go. There are some that definitely bug me. The Buizel one in particular is annoying. The game would have benefitted from maybe being able to see the size of the Pokemon as you lock onto it, or at least there being an option to bring up the info of the Pokemon you just caught. But besides that one and a few others, the requests were fun.

Overall the gameplay is incredibly fun, and just something I want to keep going back to.

I have to say, most of these guys look a lot better in the game than they do than in their models alone. I've really taken a liking to Hisuian Decidueye and Sneasler, and while I don't like Hisuian Avalugg very much, the Noble of it is awesome because of how massive it is. Overall I like these new Pokemon and forms more than I did, but nothing is screaming out to me as a potential favorite like some of the ones in Gen 7 and 8 were.

Not the strongest this franchise has seen, but overall very enjoyable.

The story is relatively simple, but it works well. I liked how the Nobles were handled, and how you weren't really sure if you were calming them to end their suffering, or for the sake or other people and Pokemon. It's clear with the first 4 that it was the right thing to do, but I like how they treat the last one, as the Noble Avalugg hadn't been causing any issues. I also liked the undertones of the feuding clans, and the differences between the Diamond and Pearl Clans and the Survey Corps.

Working to gain the trust of the village only to be kicked out when there was a sense of doubt was a great part of the story. Like I felt genuinely worried for myself and for the others.

The only part of the story I think wasn't executed all that well was the fact we were basically isekai'd from whatever time to the past. I know it's because they wanted to leave it up to the player's interpretation, but I would have liked to see more in the beginning on where we are from, and why we were sucked up into that space-time rift. The topic is mentioned a few times, and even plays a bigger role when Commander Kamado starts questioning us, but I would have liked to see more about it.

The characters are where this game really shines though. The major members of the Galaxy Team, the Diamond and Pearl Clan wardens and their leaders, and even the Miss Fortune Sisters all have excellent characters, and some even experience some real growth. I loved seeing Rei and Pikachu becoming friendlier with each other, and Professor Laventon becoming more brave as the story goes on. Even Cyllene has a bit of growth and shows how much she cares about you, and how she defies Commander Kamado's orders for you.

I absolutely loved the Diamond and Pearl clan leaders and the feud they had. The moment they were introduced in the story I was like "dang these guys are great". I had high expectations of them and I was not disappointed. Even they grow a bit too, especially Irida. She learns to trust the Galaxy Team more and ask them for help more through the player. And Adaman is just great. I like his interest in Laventon's research, his dialogue is great, and I'm a simp.

Beni and Kamado's story was also an interesting one. Their home was destroyed by Pokemon so they go move to Hisui to try and make anew. I really wasn't expecting either of them to turn on the player like they did, especially Beni. Like I really thought his thing at the beginning was just to show that the villagers don't trust the player yet, but no he never trusted us, not till Kamado changes his tune.

Again though, the place that fell a little short for me was Ingo and how he was also sent back in time. I wanted to know more about that. Why was he sent through as well? How was he? And did he get sent over at the same time we did? So many unanswered questions. I did really like his character though.

Also I love the Miss Fortune Sisters because they basically are the anime Team Rocket and no one can convince me otherwise.

Even some of the minor NPCs have some color. It's so funny to see how terrified everyone is of Pokemon, but how some of them adjust over time. Like the old person and the Chimecho who likes to hang on their roof. They come to learn more and more about the Chimecho as you bring it to different places, and then they realize how much they like it's company.

The weakest part of the game for sure, but I'm honestly not all that bothered by them. There are some areas and parts that look great, like the sky box, the grassy fields in the Obsidian Fieldlands, the ice caves in Alabaster Icelands, the berry/apricorn trees, these all look excellent, and most of the other things look fine as well.

The only things that bothered me somewhat was some of the shading on hills and slopes, some of the water (it looks fine in the right angle, but looking down on it might doesn't always look the best. The icy rivers in the icelands are generally rough too, like so much so that I can hardly see Pokemon within them), and dark caves. The cave itself looks fine, but the character model has some rough edges on it that are quite visible when walking around in them.

Volo my boy you needed your own section congratulations.

Unfortunately I accidentally spoiled myself on the Volo Super Boss battle before the game even came out, so I knew that this man would change his tune at some point. Volo's character is interesting. Not my favorite, but I do mostly like how they handled him. He's the one who seems to mention your origin the most, so knowing the ending, it's clear from early on he had an interest in you, because you seem to have a connection to Arceus he wants. It all makes sense why he was always following the player around. I think it would have been better if he battled the player a bit more through the story instead of those 1 or 2 times, constantly testing the player to make sure you aren't some fluke.

His reveal is great though. The lead up into it with his dialogue is awesome, I legit got a bit of a chill. I still need more time to think about it, but he's definitely a contender for the best "Twist Villain" in the series.

Overall, this has been a great Pokemon experience. It has been so fun, and I love the idea of exploring an old region in a new way. I really hope the Legends games are here to stay for a bit, even if it's only every once and a while, and I really hope future generations take inspiration from this one.
 
Now that I've finished the game, I can say that the story advances and takes shape in the final stretch, even so it was less than I expected from a title with the word "legends" in the name. Seriously, there's almost nothing new in Pokémon Legends in terms of history that we don't already know, other than the unsatisfactory and misguided Lore of the Pearl and Diamond Clans, which, from the beginning, we already knew was defective.

Regarding the characters, while the vast majority have subbar development, we are presented with some inherently fun characters in the final stretch. Melli and Sabi are genuinely enjoyable and interesting characters and, even with little development, totally steal the show. As I said earlier, Adaman, Irida and, maybe, Volo are the only ones to have a satisfying development. The protagonist's counterpart, despite being one of the characters that the protagonist lives with, is quickly forgotten, appearing only at lunchtime or as an errand boy/girl inside the city walls.

In terms of gameplay, the game unfolds smoothly and gets more and more interesting as you get new Pokémon to help you explore the region. Catching and battling Pokemon has never been so enjoyable and interesting. Legends is first of all a very versatile and dynamic game, throws aside all bureaucracy for the benefit of gameplay. The combat against the Lords and Arceus were challenging and fun, I hope to see more of that in future games.

As for the battles, in general, although the new system makes them faster and less bureaucratic, their lesser degree of depth become evident at the end of the game. Hopefully, in upcoming games, the developers will be able to reintroduce most of the gameplay changes of legends without having to forgot various battle mechanics.

About the graphics, as everyone said, they are quite poor, as is the construction of various scenarios (texture and lighting in the caves are horrible, for example), as the design of Jubillife Village (houses and structures repeated in a monochromatic color) and most of the secondary NPCs. The only aspect that was well-crafted in terms of graphics and animation are the Pokémons themselves (and their moves animations), they are what make the Pokémon world alive and interesting as it should be, despite some controversial new designs (Enamorus?).

My final opinion is that the game, in terms of gameplay, is revolutionary, enjoyable and addictive. In the rest, despite its "unique" story, the game doesn't seem to compromise or risk much, looks like a standard pokemon game actually, with the new battle system, the lack the of greater moves diversity especially, and the graphics being the weakest point.

OBS: I believe that the game would benefit from having a greater variety of Pokemons and a more versatile system of spawns, after a while it's a little frustrating to always see the same faces in the same places.
 
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Overal, I loved the game. I think changing the focus from battling gym leaders to completing pokedex tasks was great. But I think the dex entries should be logical conclusions from the tasks you complete. More infos should be added to the dex entries as you complete the tasks. It would be more interesting if the professor had hipotesis about each pokemon, so you would test these hipotesis to complete the dex entrie. I see no point in just spam the same move 25 times.

Most of the quests make sense , and are good for the world buildidng. Those people live in a village that is surrounded by dangerous animals with superpowers, and they are reasonably afraid of them. They need resources from the wild areas, but cant go outside because they dont have pokemon, so of course many of them will ask you for many kinds of resources.

I like that theres an explanation for you being special. You were chosen by god . Its a simple and overused explanation, but its much better than a random kid just wrecking every adult character with minimal effort with no in universe explanation.
 
Finished 3rd area in one sitting lol

Had a lot more fun exploring this one, albeit it was smaller than I thought. I love cycling through my new pokemon and discovering new moves that my pokemon can learn. The noble fight was surprisingly diffecult too, hope there's more like this. The character customisation is also great, love saving up money to buy new drip
 
Finished 3rd area in one sitting lol

Had a lot more fun exploring this one, albeit it was smaller than I thought. I love cycling through my new pokemon and discovering new moves that my pokemon can learn. The noble fight was surprisingly diffecult too, hope there's more like this. The character customisation is also great, love saving up money to buy new drip

The battles against the Lords get better and better to the point that at the end you will say that they should have done something more for the first two Lords. I perused around the clothes and hairstyles, but I couldn't appreciate them more than the original look Lol.
 
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The battles against the Lords get better and better to the point that at the end you will say that they should have done something more for the first two Lords. I perused around the clothes and hairstyles, but I couldn't appreciate them more than the original look Lol.
Good to hear, yeah the first two seemed underwhelming tbh
 
Just got the game yesterday. My first impressions are pretty good. They definitely took a lot of influence from BOTW here, sadly not in terms of making a fully open world game, but it is a massive improvement from anything we've seen from Pokemon, and it feels amazing.

One of the things that I really love is how they have made the gameplay more seamless and less clunky. The game no longer "pauses" when you obtain items and Pokemon battles go by much faster because status updates and the like are handled much better than they ever have been. This definitely feels like Pokemon finally modernized. I hope that they implement these QOL features into the next traditional Pokemon game.

That's my take right now. I'm very early on in the game.
 
This is probably going to be controversial, but I am a bit disappointed with this game and I don't think I would rate it higher than a 6.5/10.

Don't get me wrong, it's definitely not a bad game, I just personally have found it to be just okay, when I wanted to like it much more. My feelings on this game have certainly been a rollercoaster; when the first trailer came out, I was beyond excited for this game and hoped it would become the Pokémon game I had so desperately wanted for such a long time. Then that excitement started to fade bit by bit as more information and trailers came out and I started to worry about certain things. But then the leaks happened and the first reactions came out and that excitement skyrocketed again.

But now I've played the game for over a week and I finished the main story a couple of days ago and I just feel... numb. After finishing the main story I still have a lot of the post-game left, but I honestly haven't felt like playing the game for days now, which is ironic as I was so excited to play it and was really disappointed my pre-order was delayed for almost a week.

My main problems lie with the story, the gameplay loop, the areas, the catching mechanics, the battles, the graphics, and a few other minor things, such as there being so many sidequests but many of them not having any worthwile rewards. I do really like most of the characters however. I acknowledge that I may have set my ultimate expectations for this game a bit too high, but to be positive: I do think Legends: Arceus is ultimately a step in the right direction and I do hope they build on this game going forward.
 
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