Topic: Pokemon Legends Arceus

@DomGC I think the main thing that could tie both styles together would be if the world design and catching mechanics are taken from Legends, but then the battle system would be the same as the originals. That would be my ideal game quite frankly since it takes the two parts I love about both games and mushes it together into something wonderful.

Honestly though, I just want to be able to catch Pokemon in the overworld seamlessly and not have to initiate an encounter every single time, that's the dream. It's so hard to go back to SwSh and BDSP's wild battles when I know there's a much more elegant solution right there.

😠 HUP!

I've finally found the final spooky flame to complete the Pokedex and got to the third final boss. The boss was fine, I enjoyed the other noble battles more but they don't explain why the God Pokemon is kidnapping children even though it's literally the first thing the game tells you and there was no need to write themselves into that corner. This really bugs me!

Overall I enjoyed the game but I really miss having proper battles too much. Touchwood for DLC/updates to offer online battling or a big battle tower.

@DomGC How did I miss this post?

I pretty much agree with everything you've said, even to the most minor detail.

The crux of it is that I really enjoyed what was there in this game, but it's what isn't there that makes me reluctant to call this the future of the series.

I agree with @Fizza in that the catching mechanics are something I'd like to see integrated into the core games. I'd also like to see more open routes with a greater emphasis on exploration, and just generally more ambition from Game Freak.

That said, I'd be perfectly content if Game Freak continue alternating between more traditional games and a "Legends" series. I'm very much happy with Legends as is as long as it doesn't detract from the core games.

The future certainly looks interesting for Pokemon...

@jump I assume Arceus simply saw what Volo was doing and decided to be all ironic (as gods tend to be), and not only set you up to stop him, but also do exactly what he wanted to do (meet Arceus) instead of him.

Who better to achieve that than a kid from the modern-day Pokemon world who is already conditioned to blindly trust every single Pokemon and trained to catch and catalogue them?

@Eel I don't like the idea of assuming with Pokemon, the games are as nuanced as wrestling is.
Even if you ignore they can't they just smite Volo themselves they are playing around with timelines rather than naturally nudging things in motion and more importantly they don't even return the jail bait child to the present after they have used them up. A simple poor humble kid being chosen for destiny tropes fixes alot of the issues I have with it.

@jump who says the child is meant to be returned, it’s possible the timeline depends on you being your own great grandpa.

@jump I'm surprised you didn't mention the literal genocide, that's what stuck with me.

It isn't a pokemon game without a least a little bit of implied genocide

I bounced out the thread for a while because it was clear the thread was in hard honeymoon phase and it wasn't even worth trying to talk about the game in here, but maybe we have moved through that and can start talking about the game properly now, based on @DomGC's post over the weekend?

I completely agree by the way with basically everything you said. I spent like 20 to 30 hours with the game, it was fine, have no real desire to play it again and probably would have forgotten all about the game had I not been on this forum. It isn't a horrible game by any stretch of the imagination, just a forgettable 6 or 7 out of 10.

Game has some core mechanical improvements the franchise sorely needed, but it feels like they forgot to add the actual game onto those mechanics. I actually cannot remember the last time I played something that felt this barebones, it is like an early access title or an alpha. This still feels like years away from being actually finished.

I would be really disappointed if this becomes the new normal for the series. I'd much rather a Sword and Shield style game, with greater amounts of exploration/agency, and the mechanical tweaks/QOL improvements found in Arceus.

If the future is just mindless busywork crap where you just stand in a mostly empty, lifeless, field doing not much of anything with no real proper wider goal or driving force or villain, to give the game any sense of structure or pace or urgency, then I guess Arceus is my last Pokemon game until the next shake up in like thirty years, lol.

I know people will say 'but in end game...', like fine, things pick up in endgame. I would still argue the writing never gets good in end game, but at least stuff does actually happen. Still, I'd argue why we even have like a 20 hour campaign with basically no story or characters or anything to wade through, before the game actually starts in end game. Like why even design it that way.

@Fizza My mind is too distracted with the game literally opening up with a stranger asking if this child they don’t know is male or female and what skin colour they as if they are trying to appraise them for the black market and then human trafficked them away to a strange new land.

I’m waiting for the plot twist in the DLC that the child is actually working in a mine or sweat shop which explains the addition of the crafting and material gathering mechanics and the whole Pokemon thing is in their head as an escape from reality helped along by being forced fed shrooms.

@jump Oh... I didn't even think you were talking about that... uh oh.

Pokemon Legends Arceus is pretty awesome sauce as far as pokemon games go. I hope that what ever direction this series goes in next will be awesome as well.

I finally finished the game after 50 hours (by finished I mean catching Arceus and doing all the requests, I don't plan to grind the Pokedex).

The last pokemon game I played was X and was the last straw for me and gave up on the series (well there was also Pokemon Go, but that was barely a game).

Arceus for me had that sense of wonder that only the original Pokemon games gave me back when I was 8 years old with a gameboy. I think it is a great step in the right direction and the best part is that there are many obvious improvements that can be done and many avenues to explore. I hope this doesn't turn like the original series where they just rehash a concept with a new area and throw more Pokemon into it with barely any improvements.

Things like no more random battles, no instanced battles, being able to catch pokemon without even starting fights, aiming your pokeballs, and your character having an actual presence in the game need to stay going forward. For me a new pokemon game that doesn't have these mechanics (or improved versions of them) will just be a no buy again.

The quests were generally fairly well designed. In a genre where the vast majority of games just tell you to kill X amount of enemies or fetch X items and call it a day, Arceus made (most) quests actually engaging and fun to complete without holding your hand either. Even finding all the wisps I did without a guide and it was not frustrating.

Main things I would like to see in the next game: Voice acting (please at least grunts or something), more indoor areas, not a rehash of "here is ancient X area go do the exact same thing you did again (though they have been doing a rehash for 20 years before this game, so not holding my breath on that), a more modern era with pokemon trainers, being able to ride your own pokemon and why not a seamless open world this time.

I would like to keep the bigger areas, some ride Pokémon and the free roaming battles in Gen 9. But I would get rid of the flying mount, since that seems a bit too OP. Gliding in Botw felt much more rewarding. Being able to fly anywhere you want seems a bit like cheating and kinda makes Pokémon like Sneasler useless (since you can just fly up the mountain, instead of climbing it).

But I want gyms and towns back. Only having one village felt a bit boring. And there needs to be cool stuff to find. And voice acting is a must.

I'm getting too lucky in this game. I went to a Barboach outbreak literally just to further its dex entry by killing it with Decidueye when the first one that spawns is shiny. I just got a shiny Zigzagoon in BDSP earlier today as well, why am I suddenly the greatest shiny hunter ever.

I got very excited by the new battle modes so I downloaded the update only to discover I need to complete the requests first.

I just started the new requests and got a random shiny Luxio from my first massive mass outbreak. That sets a precedent doesn't it.

I am a bit confused by what Daybreak is, if I log in, will I just find some new quests in my log that say I need to go investigate the outbreaks?

So I've gotten to the Crimson Mirelands portion of the questline and the MMO (thats probably a good abbreviation) dissipated before I completed the quest. Anyone know what I should do now? It says to go back to Jubilife and wait but I have no idea what the cue is for it to come back.

EDIT: Found out its literally just random when it happens, also found a wild Alpha Ursaluna in a horde of Ursaring which was... terrifying to put it mildly.