When Pokémon Legends: Arceus was originally revealed it was described and compared quite a lot to open-world games such as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. While PR and early footage of the game certainly gave the impression of an open-world environment that you'd be able to walk from one location to the next, it seems this won't entirely be the case.
The Pokémon Company has shared a statement in response to a story on Kotaku, which seems to clarify how it will be more like series such as Monster Hunter - with segmented areas. While it didn't specifically reference that game, it explains how you as the trainer will set out from the village to "various open areas" of the Hisui region to complete tasks. Here's the statement:

"In Pokémon Legends: Arceus, Jubilife Village will serve as the base for surveying missions. After receiving an assignment or a request and preparing for their next excursion, players will set out from the village to study one of the various open areas of the Hisui region. After they finish the survey work, players will need to return once more to prepare for their next task. We look forward to sharing more information about exploring the Hisui region soon."
So, there you go - it's not the kind of open-world title some might have been thinking of, or drawing comparisons to. This new entry in the series will arrive on Switch on 28th January next year. Most recently, we got a look at the new evolution of Scyther.

How do you feel about the design of this upcoming release being "open-areas"? Leave your thoughts down below.
[source kotaku.com]
Comments 155
I knew it! Step by step I suppose. Could still be a good spinoff though.
But how are you gonna be limited when you're flying or climbing? Will there be a lot of invisible walls? This would feel extremely awkward.
Hoping for the best, I still would like a Treehouse with gameplay of the game.
That last look at the game gave me MonHun vibes.
I use this examples to tell the difference between Open World and Free Roaming.
Free Roaming = Sly Cooper games, Ratchet & Clank games, Super Mario Odyssey, Go Vacation
Open World = Yonder the Cloud Catcher Chronicles, LEGO CITY UNDERCOVER
Free Roaming is a limited space of Open World. The camera angle is still 360 degree and you can explore a huge world but it limited by a certain size of space.
Open World is a seamless (No loading screen when you entered different areas) huge world with camera angle 360 degree.
Free Roaming or Open World, doesn't really matter for me as long it has interesting gameplay that made me get engaged.
The game looks more open world than we are used to and each area still looks rather expansive. If they are split rigidily into areas, it could hint that much like other Pokemon games, you gain access as you progress through the story. Which is part of Pokemon's design I would have thought. Anyhoo, it still sounds like a step in the right direction.
Edit. Maybe also hints at a paid dlc new area later on?
This is fine, but scope matters. Are these areas expansive and large and can take several minutes to travel across? I read one source that said it would be similar to Xenoblade Chronicles with massive open areas and loading in between each one. I jus don't want to see the tiny areas we saw in Sword/Shield. LOOKING large also helps too. You can take a tiny area and make it looks big and expansive if you build it right. Far off mountains, lots of details in the backgrounds, tricks with skybox and LOD etc.
Sounds like how games like Xenoblade do it (not X). Basically a bunch of smaller open worlds that are somehow connected.
This isn't rarely called "open world" though the Pokemon Company is correct in saying this isn't one then.
Personally, for me there is not too much of a difference, as long as the individual areas are big enough.
I hate this company, I really do.
(Kinda joking i'm still hyped and getting it day one)
@Jackpaza0508
"All interest in this game from me is gone. It's just gonna be glorified wild areas, isn't it."
I mean, yes? The wild area was essencially a small open world besides the rest of the game.
What would be the difference between the wild area and an actual open world to you, besides size (which we don't know how big the areas will be in Arceus)?
Just out of curiosity.
The only good Pokémon game in the last 5 years has been New Pokemon Snap… and that was done by Namco.
Removed - trolling/baiting
My interest has in this has now dropped, plus its been pretty stripped of the basic pokemon game fundamentals, I hope this isn't the next "gen 9" game and are making a brand new game with the basic fundamentals for gen 9.
Yeah that's already what I had expected them to be doing, but I apreciate @Anti-Matter giving me some more terminology to properly describe what they're doing.
Those designers and devs do not know how to improve or do not want to improve.
After so many years they are still so limited in their design.
The BOTW formula would have been perfect for Pokemon but they just can't do it.
They rely on the Pokemon name alone for far too long. They know that even a turd with the Pokemon logo will sell well.
So this is basically "pocket" monster hunter stories 2 which tbf I actually enjoyed but when pokemon first announced this game they made it seem like it was an open world game similar to breath of the wild and that is the main reason this game has gained so much hype over the last several months
I'm actually more intrigued now! I like the way Monster Hunter's areas work and I much rather prefer landscapes where attention to detail is prioritized over a vast empty space just for the sake of being large.
It has been stated on the official pokemon site for almost 2 months now that "Completing these research tasks will also contribute to your work with the Galaxy Expedition Team and raise your rank as a team member, granting you access to new areas.", which already gives it away that it won't be fully open world. Surprised this is news to many
Yeah this is what I thought. It’s Pocket Monster Hunter.
But we already knew this from last trailer?
Something like Monster Hunter games
@Bomberman64
''I much rather prefer landscapes where attention to detail is prioritized over a vast empty space just for the sake of being large.''
I completely agree with you on that one. However, priorizing details has NEVER been Game Freak's focus. Espcially when it comes to world building.
Wonder how big those areas are going to be, Witcher 3 size, or monster hunter size? Flying around seemed quite fast, so I would expect something fairly larger than monhun.
Totally expected and I'm honestly okay with this just as long as they give us plenty of activities and side quests. I think people should have had that expectation since the last trailer but nope, gotta compare it to BoTW's standards I guess
@GrailUK that for sure, it's the absolute right step. But it's GF, if they to this wrong it could ruin the game, it could feel really really awkward.
@Madao it's speculated that we will have 4-5 areas, and we already know that Obsidian Fieldlands alone will be much larger than the Wild Area in SWSH.
But it's most certainly not gonna be as big as BOTW or The Witcher 3. I don't even think this would make sense in a Pokémon game.
Legends Arceus appears to consist of five segmented regions. One of those regions - Obsidian Fields - was shown off in more detail, and that region appeared to be around 2× larger than the Wild Area from Sword/Shield.
If the other 4 regions are each around the same size as Obsidian Fields, then Legends Arceus should be roughly 10 Wild Areas in size.
Take that for what it's worth.
It was pretty obvious after the last Pokemon Direct that Legends Arceus was going to be more like Monster Hunter than Breath of the Wild. The base camp where you receive quests/missions and the multiple segmented open regions were shown back then.
But apparently, people have come to believe that if the game looks even remotely open-ended, then it must be a Breath of the Wild clone.
@Yomogi
I imagine some will be similarly "disappointed" when Kirby and the Forgotten Lands is revealed to not be Super Kirby Odyssey lol.
@DomGC no, this is completely non-sensical.
Legends only exists because people complained about SwSh.
This is the by far most ambitious game in the history of the company, SwSh sold great, so what else could be the reason for them to take that risk? Because people spoke out and told them what they wanted.
You people should thank those who are true consumers and tell their opinion, instead of just accepting everything for the sake of...avoiding conflict or whatever? Things never get better with that mindset, no matter in what situation.
@mariomaster96 that doesn't mean it's not open-world, it could be interpreted either way.
Like it could be you would be limited through natural barriers, and the progression in te story would grant you access to the ridable Pokémon to overcome those natural barriers.
Again, the Pokémon Company is pretty bad at communication.
@westman98 I actually won't be surprised if people get disappointed that it doesn't play like TLOU (okay, a bit of an exaggeration there) but yeah, I can imagine that situation
If it isn't a seamless open world, why is it so empty, lol?
Removed - foreign languages
@Kirgo I'm pretty sure they said "open world" in the first reveal or am I wrong?
On a broader sense you could still call this open world, people call the Witcher 3 open world.
Here's the thing. I don't trust GameFreak. Like at all. I'm beyond over their incompetence and sick of handing them my money and feeling like I wasted it. The waste of potential is infuriating. Unless they start showing off an actual improvement in quality, like hiring technical artists to animate realistic movement instead of everything wobbling and spinning like a Chuck-E-Cheese animatronic on crack, or proficient cutscene animators that don't wreak of 1990's Bible study CG, I'm going to assume they've learned nothing and not reward their laziness. Playing Sword somewhere after the 3rd gym physically hurt me. It was clear they either ran out of time or budget or the ability to give a sh*t. I'm not going through that again.
@HenHiro That would be nice and considering those Noble-Pokemon seem to be like HMs it could be possible, especially since we already know that flying, surfing and through leaks (SPOILER) climbing is a thing in this game
But as of now with the infos we currently have I'm expecting the world to be like Monster Hunter or XC.
@HenHiro I haven't played Sw/Sh so I don't really know how big that is, did look much bigger than monhun at least.
I definitely don't expect it to be as big as BotW. The Witcher 3 is the same in the sense that it is not fully open world since it is split in a few open maps that you travel between through loading screens. So I am expecting something similar, but probably smaller in size, at least compared to the bigger maps of TW3.
That's a wonderful news.
I still have to play and Open World with good balancing.
There's a reason if most of the them make the enemy level up with you.
LMFAO Pokemon fans jump the gun yet again
@DomGC That's BS. Sword and Shield DLC was the first main series content I ever skipped in my life (having gotten every 3rd version til then). If SS's base game hadn't been a disaster, there was no way I would've missed out on it. People can change their mind on buying something they usually would...
@DomGC People on the Internet are a tiny yet vocal minority within the fanbase and whatever you see online bears no relevance to the reality of things. It doesn't even matter wether the people complaining about Sword and Shield actually bought the games or not because they are a tiny and insignificant fraction of the actual fanbase anyway.
It’s really quite a shame that BOTW has ruined people’s perception of anything remotely open world this much to the point that if anything looks even slightly open world it immediately gets compared to the game and often many of BOTWs many negatives are brought up as points against other games because of the notion it’s just a completely perfect game. That being said a monster Hunter style of game sounds so much better for a game like this so I for one am quite glad it’s going for this type of structure
On one hand, I'm somewhat disappointed, because the advertising made it look like a bigger game than it seems to be now.
But for what it's worth, I think this is still a great step forward for Game Freak. Looking back, many of the other developers at Nintendo took the same steps forward, especially with Zelda, Xenoblade, Mario, and maybe Kirby. The future of Pokémon would look bright if they decide to continue this route.
Maybe this would be the Monster Hunter styled game I like. I never found Monster Hunter games appealing to me because the combat just isn't it for me.
Precisely what I thought this was, and that’s totally fine. I don’t know how much I’m actually into this game to begin with tho so idk
@Yorumi Not really. As you said, the Internet is not a proper sample group as there is a huge disconnect between the people commenting on online forums and the average gamer. Heck, even within the online community there is the issue of angry people being more vocal than the happy people. I spend a lot of time on Gamefaqs and it's always amusing to see so much negativity in the comments while poll results showcase that the majority of the people are actually happy with things, they just don't comment as often as those who are unhappy.
Btw: If online comments were any indication of the real world, Nintendo would have been out of business years ago with their outdated hardware
I was intrigued by this game, not having played a Pokemon game since Red and Blue other than Let's Go Pikachu a couple of years back. Kind of disappointing that it isn't going to be Breath of the Pokemon, as that would have been a firm buy for me, but it's not necessarily a deal-breaker.
Maybe I'm better off staying away from Pokemon, as everyone who is heavily into it seems to be filled with murderous rage all the time. Seems a bit unhealthy.
Open world or big open areas. I’m happy for either as long as the gameplay breaks and exceeds the tedious repetitive cycle of the main series Pokemon games.
Unpopular opinion: Pokemon lets go games aside from snap are the only good things in the switch. Having said this , Arceus seems like a scam at least they are warning you why you are getting an inferior product to what was envisioned in the first trailers it was a little desingenious to say the least to show the game like that and not focusing on the hub system right from the get go
I wonder if this counts as lying by omission?
The initial reveal, they never outright claimed it was going to be open-world, but the trailer very strongly gives that impression.
And they omitted things like wardens and noble Pokémon, that retread concepts from Sun and Moon.
That was all stuff that is in service of "Pokémon but not as you know it".
This is more how I expected it to be, because that one leaker on Twitter seemed to imply as much.
This makes more sense, essentially isolating the Wild Area mechanic into its own spinoff game.
More expansive Wild Area(s) with better weather, map design, interactivity, etc., with a Monster Hunter formula.
Still sounds great to me, especially as a massive Monster Hunter fan.
@RupeeClock Or maybe because you don't reveal everything in the first teaser trailer? Also being able to catch Pokemon without battling them, going seemlessly into battle, getting directly attacked by wild Pokemon, having to dodge them, crafting materials, etc are all new things.
The fact that not everything about this game is absolutely new is to be expected, that game still has to be attractive to casual Pokemon players somehow too
@Yorumi And I am saying the people who say one thing on the Internet and do the other are completely irrelevant because they are an insignificant portion of the customerbase that are in no way representative for the people who bought Sword and Shield in any shape or form.
I'm pretty much ok with that tbh. it's still fresh and exciting enough for me
@moodycat Game Freak is NOT "inept".
A bit of a letdown to hear just based on the promise alone. This sounds like a souped up version of Sword and Shield's Wild Area. Which is not a bad thing, as long as the game as a whole is well made. To be real honest, I was never wedded to the idea of an open world Pokèmon anyways.
@SeaFishelle They aren't.
@DomGC So, people shouldn't complain because they are either purchasing a product or not purchasing it? If I may be so bold, perhaps you should have read that back to yourself before posting it.
No matter what, I'm more excited about this game than any Pokemon game for a long time. Am I confident it will be good? Not at all, but at least it's something different.
I do think Pokemon games should look a lot more advanced by now, but GF are still relatively new at making Pokemon games on a console. By the time Gen 9 rolls around, I'd expect to see them looking much closer to a game like Monster Hunter. I don't think that's too unrealistic as MH is not exactly known for looking amazing either, but it looks a gen (or even two) ahead of Pokemon.
@SeaFishelle Well, I disagree. I had a good time with the Pokemon games after Black and White. Coming after those games doesn't automatically make later games "suck".
And the Let's Go games weren't made as "cheap whip-ups". They were made for beginners. Of course, that didn't stop veterans from playing them.
The series isn't going to end, whether it grows or not.
Love seeing obnoxious fanboys get skewered on their own imaginary expectations. At no point was this game ever called "open world", just a bunch of gremlins on the internet cooking up an imaginary game in their mind when reality could never possibly meet their expectations lol. This game is going to make bank.
@Yorumi Does it even matter if it's open world or not? This isn't Game Freak "screwing up again". You're just upset about not getting what you want. And it's not a matter of "competence" either.
@SeaFishelle I agree with you the series has definitely stalled what I was trying to say was that as spin offs titles snap and lets go were okay and acceptable, everything in the mainline series on the other hand is deeply stagnated and gamefreak is the only culprit.
@MajinSoul "People on the Internet are a tiny yet vocal minority within the fanbase and whatever you see online bears no relevance to the reality of things".
Is the irony of making such a statement lost on you, or is it that only your statements are a reflection of one true objective reality?
@CovidBarbie This is the problem with people since 2019. They always throw fits go into long winded speeches about "Game Freak inept/incompetent/lazy" or "Pokemon needs to be the very best ever because it's the biggest franchise ever", while also calling the people who just want to play these games and don't care about all of this "sheep". All because they aren't getting what they want.
Here we go again. Pokemon and NintendoLife. Grab your pitch forks!
A lot of you guys give GameFreak too much credit for doing the bare minimum. This game looks like a game a bunch of uni grads made for fun in their basement. Stop giving your money to them until they make an actually good game, with good graphics and gameplay coz so far it looks like cr*p.
@mariomaster96 To be fair, @RupeeClock has a point. Even the shots they showed were very reminiscent of Breath of the Wild. And they must have known that. The entire trailer basically said ''open world Pokemon'' or ''BOTW but Pokemon'' without saying it. If you don't want your audience to think it's something that it isn't, you can easily solve that by showing some gameplay for example. If it was only 5 seconds of selecting a mission and teleporting to that area, everyone would understand it's not open world, but more like a MH game.
It's the same problem with 3D Kirby, which may actually not be as free-roam as people initially thought. It kinda looks like there are going to be a bunch of invisible barriers. Not too different from Kirby 64. 3D open space, but limited movement.
@SeaFishelle 100% agree. Although? Pokemon X and Y were good cause it was actually new and refreshing, but everything that came after makes EA look good with how they handle their fifa games.
Honestly, I think people are way too hard on GF for the past years. Do I think their games need more polishing? Yes. Do they need to meet the same level of BoTW? Not necessarily. Have they done something new to break traditions? Definitely. Sun and Moon broke the traditional Gym battles, SwSH gave us wild area to explore, complete with camera controls, breaking the linearity of the older games. And thanks to that, we now have a game that seem like it will be full of wild areas, albeit being broken into multiple sections.
@HenHiro
"I'm pretty sure they said "open world" in the first reveal or am I wrong?
On a broader sense you could still call this open world, people call the Witcher 3 open world."
Did they say it is open world? I think everyone just assumed that from what we have seen in the trailer, though I could be wrong.
But yeah, the definition of "open world" is not always the same for everyone, especially with these Xenoblade-like semi open worlds.
@Piritiup No, it doesn't. It looks fine for what it is.
And whether these games are good or bad is a matter of opinion. If people like Pokemon Legends: Arceus, that's fine. Don't judge if it's a good or bad game until AFTER it releases. If people want to spend money on these games, let them. It's their choice, not yours.
@Yomogi man, youre not talking about an indie game company. Youre talking about a multi billion dollar company. Dnt blame people for being harsh on them. You guys treat game freak like its some person who has feelings and all. Theyre a profit sucking company that profits off nostalgia at this point.
@Yomogi Exactly.
@Piritiup They aren't "profit-sucking", and they don't "profit off nostalgia". You don't have to buy these games if you don't want to.
@mr-duster yeah your choice, and your opinion and all but like damn man. I dont understand, how do u see the trailer and see it as an actually potentially good game. It literally looks like they took an emptier version of the BOTW world, and added some cartoonish looking building that look out of place, with some janky ass animation. Like, im not mad at the people buying them, but im pissed at gamefreak. I havent enjoyed one pokemon game after X and Y, after being a hardcore pokemon fan for all my life. Rly makes fifa looks good.
@mr-duster
Agreed, it is a very strange deveolpment, especially in the Pokemon community, how people want to tell others what they are supposed to buy and what they shouldn't.
What I buy and what I don't buy is my own decision. It has no relevance to me what other people think the developers should do to earn my money.
EDIT: To make it a little more clear.
A game can be objectively horrible, as long as I want to play it, that is still my decision alone.
We can discuss whether it is horrible, I might also agree that it is horrible, but I can still want to buy the game. Or in other words: We just don't have an obligation to help others hopefully get games in the future that they like more.
@Octane Kirby and the Forgotten Land reminded me of Sonic Adventure stages (not the overworld but the actual stages like Emerald Coast).
The main things that interested me about the trailers were the roaming Pokemon and the little interactions they showed like how you catch them and them potentially hurting you even if their presentation was as usual downright atrocious for a company that makes millions
The landscapes they showed off tho were some of the most mundane id ever seen, so I don't really care if they're expansive areas like Xenoblade or an actual open world
I think this will probably be a better fit for the series. Having smaller open areas such as Monster Hunter or the Yakuza series will likely make the areas seem more lively compared to big open worlds.
@Piritiup The Pokemon games look more cartoony than say The Legend of Zelda because they're supposed to. They're not supposed to be Metal Gear or Fire Emblem levels of realistic. I don't know why you think it could be a bad game, when we haven't even played it yet. It looks fine for the Switch. Does it have its flaws? Yes. Is it perfect? Of course not. But trust me when I say it could look SO much worse.
And I'd gladly take this over Fifa any day.
@Judal27 I wouldn't call the presentation "atrocious". It looks okay for what it is.
@mr-duster id take this over fifa any day, but like man youre talking about one of the richest video games company. I will expect the best at this point, coz so far its been crap. Not gna treat a video game company like an actual individual.
@Piritiup Well, I'm not going to set these unfairly high standards for Game Freak. It doesn't matter if they're one of the richest video games companies out there, or if they're a simple little indie company. I'm not going to expect the absolute best or 100% perfection out of anything, because then I wouldn't enjoy anything at all. It has NOT been crap so far. It looks FINE for what it is.
And I'm not treating the company like an "actual individual".
I'm fine with the game not being open world; I've played plenty of games with "gated" areas that feel quite expansive. Honestly, I don't really understand the push towards "Open world everything". It's suited for some franchises and genres, sure. But in some games, it can feel like unnecessary padding and open, empty nothingness.
@Piritiup "It literally looks like they took an emptier version of the BOTW world, and added some cartoonish looking building that look out of place, with some janky ass animation."
Really sad that BoTW has set the bar way too high for you to compare them both. And that cartoonish style has been the style of Pokémon (Not that BoTW has a very realistic artstyle as well, mind you). And that janky animation was already addressed in the 2nd trailer anyways.
But hey, if you are willing to defend a company that sucks people's money with their loot boxes and microtransactions while paying full price with barely any changes every year it gets released then it's up to you. Let your wallet do the talking.
@mr-duster for a company that makes millions with each installment? Yea it was pretty atrocious
@Judal27 No, it wasn't. It looks FINE. Trust me when I say it could've look so much worse.
I'm not inclined to 100% interpret that this way, but I'm prepared for it being so. It is certainly disappointing if true, but not a complete hype crusher. The game looks like a big step forward for Pokemon either way, and even if the areas are not completely open they look really broad and full of plenty of running room like an open world game, so it'll still be great either way.
Eh I'm not too worried about it. Looks good in my book
@mr-duster man! when youre saying “it could have looked much worse” youre already assuming that it doesnt look that good. Thats the problem, it doesn’t and im gna give them any credit for “not making it look worse than what it already looks like”. I want a good pokemon game, good graphics, challenging gameplay, long story with a lot of replay value. Is it too much to expect that from a multi billion dollar company? Imo, i feel like im asking for the bare minimum here. They really shined during the DS era and its precursors, and rly did well in X and Y coz it truly was a new game for us, but it went downhill from there, IMO*.
@Yomogi what company am i defending?
Well, that is slightly disappointing but I still feel like the game might be pretty good. I still liked what I saw from the trailer at least. Only time will tell.
sigh never change gamefreak...
@Piritiup No, I'm not. It doesn't look 100% perfect, yes, but it still looks good for the Switch. And we've already had good Pokemon games. You just didn't like how they were developed. All the Pokemon games have had good stories and graphics. As for "challenging", I honestly couldn't care less. If RPGs taught me anything, challenge means tedium and monotony. And the recent Pokemon games have done a really good job eliminating the more tedious elements of gameplay. I'm starting to think you just want everything to be 100% perfect. And again, it doesn't matter if it's a multi-billion dollar company or otherwise.
@ketsu112 Ah, yes. More "it's not everything I wanted so Game Freak is still the worst". Yep. Just typical.
Haha, I always thought this game looked closer Monster Hunter Stories 2 than it did BOTW. Admittedly I don't think this is a bad thing perse because I still loved exploring in MHS2. Regardless if it's open world or not this is still something new for the series and I'm still willing to give it a shot.
@mr-duster well agree to disagree! Not looking for perfect, but looking for good quality 🤷🏽♂️ So far meh
Its fine i just hope they feel big like mhw or xbc2
@Piritiup Well for me, it IS good quality.
@mr-duster well i hope u enjoy it! And hopefully one day theyll make a game that everyone will enjoy!
@Piritiup Thank you.
One can hope. Although there's never been a game that pleased everybody.
For those disappointed, it was confirmed not fully open world from the very first trailer we got back in February.
The Pokedex confirmed it by having 5 separate areas where Pokemon can be found.
just glad they aren't overselling it
@Madao well done sir, don't play that game.
I think it's hard to compare it to Monhun since the areas there aren't as open, it's hard to get a sense of how big the areas you can actually access are when summed up.
@Piritiup
Legend of Arceus looks great so far.
Still the most anticipated Switch game for me.
I imagine it like a cross between Ocarina's Hyrule field hub and Monster Hunter.
It is a smaller step than expected towards their ultimate Poke' of the WIld style they will eventually reach (couple generations down the line, I'd guess) but this is the best we can expect for such a massive amount of information and content Pokemon has to have for a game to get larger and more "open".
I'm still all in.
No fans are as terrible as Pokémon fans, really guys?! Please wait until the game actually launches before starting the hate.
Or maybe it's just the Nintendohate which we usually get on this site.
@HenHiro I haven't played a Pokémon game in more than 10 years. Got tired of the formula, which is why I am hoping this one turns out good.
I guess we will have to wait for more info!
@sanderev Actually as far as I've seen Pokemon fans are actually pretty happy with both BDSP and PLA this time. It's mostly other people like the r/gaming subreddit (very toxic place) who are hating on the games
@Yorumi
Gamefreak will not making a game just to please one people especially for you with your high expectations.
Gamefreak will keep going with their decision whether you disagree or not.
I will give it a try for Legend of Arceus despite i am very casual with Pokemon games.
This was the first one I was truly excited for in ages, and then, THIS!?
Well, the mh thing isn't so bad, and it's still better than before. sigh
We knew this from the second trailer.
I actually like this idea more than a open world game (zelda)
Go support monster hunter stories 2 instead. Game is 100x better than anything gamefreak has put it in the last 10 years
If you're already going into this game with the preconceived notion that you won't like it, I doubt this news would change anything. If it were a true, massive open world, the same people would probably complain that it's too empty, lifeless etc.
I'm still interested myself, the footage shown so far looks like the areas will be big enough.
I'll have to wait and see what exactly we can do in the game. The wild area was one of my least favorite things in the whole series.
If the areas are well-populated with stuff to do and things to look at, I don’t mind. It’s the way Atelier games barring Atelier Firis have done it. I don’t really want to feel railroaded, though. Or, I’d at least like the illusion of not being railroaded. Just block things off by terrain-scaling HM-equivalents that I can use again later in the game, don’t have people standing in the road as a literal roadblock, lol.
Sounds like Pokehunter Stories.
Not necessarily a bad thing, though. It's open enough if so.
Thinking originally it was supposed to be open world Breath of the Wild type but they quickly realized that the Switch slowed way down when attempting to load so much so they split it into more manageable zones smaller maps probably helped stabilize the game.
@Anti-Matter You play the sly cooper games? which is your favorite? I played all but one.
They can't do anything right, can they? Gotdamn, it's like the company refuses to enter modern gaming.
So it's like old Monster Hunter games on the PSP? It's "open", but in segments?
@Yorumi
I think Gamefreak has put their best they can despite still not as good as other developers. It depend on the engine they used and the people who in charge to lead the project.
@Snatcher
I played All the Sly Cooper games on PS3 (Trilogy and Thieves in Time).
I have finished the storyline for all of them except Sly Cooper 1 from Trilogy.
It's still a good call to evolve the game this way. Slightly disappointed that it isn't actually properly open world.
As long as the game is good, I don't mind. It's probably better this way, I don't know if Game Freak could've delivered a high quality open world game.
@HenHiro one way would be to have a Pokémon knock you out in one hit if you get too close to an area you’re not meant to visit.
@Yorumi
What standard ?
The game doesn't need to be as good as 3rd party AAA Western games on PC (graphics).
I think with the current graphic from the latest trailer was good enough for me since I prefer cartoonish style over than ultra realistic style.
You just keep complaining about Legend of Arceus for not having the things you really want to see. Legend of Arceus will not having ultra realistic graphic as Horizons so stop complaining about that.
Just because Pokemon Legends Arceus and Breath of the Wild share some aesthetic similarities doesn't mean they share the same gameplay structure (i.e. huge full open world vs multiple segmented open areas).
You can make a game set in an natural untamed world with scenic wilderness vistas, a cartoony water-color artstyle, and the ability to freely explore large areas via walking, climbing, and gliding...and also not be a Breath of the Wild-styled full open world.
@KryptoniteKrunch
Agree with you 100%.
Game is linear => "Why won't GameFreak innovate? Stop giving us the same (winning) formula over and over again."
Game is fully open-world => "Why does the game look so dull and lifeless? I don't wanna just run around in a big empty field."
Game consists of segmented open areas => "Why isn't the game fully open world? I wanna run around a huge open field and freely explore."
Ultimately, it's all about execution.
Well that dulls the shine a bit? I’m still pretty excited though.
@UltimateOtaku91 Even if it had open areas like this is introducing, I doubt they would ever get rid of their overall formula when Gen 9 rolls around. It sells too many games and they already know how to make them.
@HenHiro I imagine it'll be like Xenoblade. There will be 8-12 big, open feeling regions. And you're free to move through them similar to how you would in an open world, but smaller.
I'm sorry but this killed the hype for this game for me. Even if badly done I was going to pickup an open world Pokemon game day 1. Now I'm going to wait for reviews and see...
Most classic JRPG "open worlds" are actually big open areas (including the proverbial top-down overworld maps due to their downscaling), so I'd be a hypocrite to mind a staple of some of my favourite genres. And here, I needn't even mention obvious monuments to such areas like Xenoblade series (which can lose and drown you in their worlds more than some seamless exploration games), but most of my casual Pokemon Sword experience to date has been without even setting foot in Motorstoke - the game's open area is enough to get stuck in for hours. Looks like this game is just taking a step further.
I figured that'd be the case when the previous trailer was mission based, seems more Sandbox Mario or GuildWars 1 than BOTW. With Jubilife as the hub.
But considering the mission structure it makes sense to me. It'd be tedious to have to keep returning to a point to obtain missions in order to do stuff in an open world.
@Yorumi You did actually give specifics in your 1st post when you said open world would be the "only redeeming" quality.
So @Anti-Matter would be right about that point about not just making a game a certain way just to pacify a few people.
@Rosalinho Who would have thought that dog fighting was bad for the soul?
We've known this for a while, and, honestly, it's a good thing. The structure sounds far more manageable for a Pokemon game. A true open world Pokemon game wouldn't end well for anyone involved, lol.
This is a massive departure from their usual game design, and I'm more optimistic now that I know it's something they should realistically be able to handle.
@Yorumi I'd disagree there. I don't know why Anti-Matter argued about high end graphics.
But in terms of Nintendo. If I wanted I could spin BOTW as lacking compared to Pokemon centred it around the creatures in the game world. But I'd no less expect Pokemon Legends to use an open world than I'd expect BOTW to feature several hundreds of unique monsters instead of like a couple dozen with reskins. I don't see that as being soft or worshipping either.
The idea that any company should be obligated to do exactly what another game(s) on the system is nonsense. If the design doesn't suit open world just cramming one in where it's not needed will only make a worse experience.
I wouldn't fault Super Mario Odyssey or say it's incompetently made for choosing not to feature an open world. Nor would I assume it would automatically be better if it had one. So why would I think that for Pokemon Legends?
As long as it's expansive enough then I am good. It's the game content that matters to me in Pokemon. Make it fun and I'll take me time playing.
@mr-duster I have no horse in this race as I don't care about Pokemon or Game Freak unless it's a Mystery Dungeon game. However, just wanted to let you know that ANY multi-million/billion dollar company is absolutely profit sucking. It's naive to think they aren't seeking profits in all their endeavors, otherwise they wouldn't have reached the great heights they achieved
Considering what they call news these days, I look forward to the article titled : "Nintendo's Switch Exclusive Pokemon Arceus Is Already Being Emulated On PC". If that's how the news works here now it sounds like each new game should have it's own story about that on or around release day, since it happens to practically every video game released. Anyway, I love the new carefree emulator and rom talk on here, it wasn't so long ago that the sight was against that kind of thing, but now I guess it's in favor of it so that's cool. I wonder which rom site Nintendo Life recommends the most, maybe they should write an article about it.
To me, so far DokeV looks like more inspiring competition to the growth of Pokémon & Poké-esque games at this point... which is a good thing!
How come the areas look as barren and empty as they look? This is mediocrity at its worst
And there goes my interest in this game
I guess these guys just hate money (not really since I don't play Pokemon games except for one or two of the Gameboy ones, hopefully my son still like it since he was so enthusiastic)
I was kind of excited about this game, and while I still am interested in it.... Its not going to be a pre-order title for me. Not even day 1 now. The implication for an openworld was there and I was really excited for something like that (was implied at reveal, and the widespread misconception was not cleared up immediately).
My concern is if my expectation was blown this early, what else should I be nervous about. I will wait till its released and do my research to see if its something I want to spend my limited funds on (I learned my lesson from the content poor New Horizons!).
Nicely done pokemon now I am once again unintrested.
Good, I can only imagine how poor the performance would be in an open world.
Wow, this comments section did NOT age well since the last time I commented here. The last time I was here, everyone seemed quite forgiving and optimistic. Now there's a lot of debate and disappointment.
Every little bit counts. This is simply a step forward for Game Freak towards the direction of an open world game. No other Nintendo game has directly jumped into an open world game without experimentations. Xenoblade Chronicles 1 experimented what Xenoblade Chronicles X managed to do. The Wind Waker experimented what Breath of the Wild managed to do. Odyssey and Bowser's Fury are bringing Mario games closer to a true open world setting. Pokémon is just not at that point where an open world game could be managed, especially when Game Freak is under imposed time constraints from The Pokémon Company. Plus, it would be more ideal for Pokémon to have an open world game if they were to enlist more developers outside of Game Freak, like Monolith Soft and well...Nintendo themselves. Unfortunately, they are either too busy or Game Freak doesn't like collaborating.
I think "open world" can be overrated as many times it leaves a game feeling too bloated and empty. I hope there is more depth than the Wild Area had though. I found it to be boring after the first few minutes.
@UsurperKing No, it isn't "profit-sucking". It goes without saying that they produce video games and the like because they need money to keep their company afloat and provide for themselves and loved ones, but it's not "sucking".
@Lyricana there are 5. But they're way bigger than most XB regions.
You're joking right? All of the evidence pointed out to an open-world. It's definitely one, you must be kidding.
You can ride on a Pokémon, you can fly overtop, you will possibly climb.... It's definitely an open-world! It even has a map of the entire region
You know what? I won't believe this until more gameplay is released.
People view of Open World is out stripping what is possible to do. Open World is in the sense you can go any and do almost anything aka BOTW as example. But there are limits and this is the because of the Programming/Codes need to do this has limitations. Also the more massive the harder to bug fix ie.. WWW and all it's updates on Cloud it so big but then they keep adding onto the game content. But BOTW for what it's own contained world isn't all explored. The Map is one thing it's another to run completely around the World Map even I haven't done all that or swam all edges of the map. So Open World looking at a map doesn't tell the Complete Story here. Those talking the Open World Arceus too small should look and make a printout of the BOTW world map that you can read and see how really big it is. I tried that and it footprint took up a family size living room. Remember were only seeing Leaks and Trailers not the actual if there any updates to the game itself. So one should tamper their judgement until they actually really play and experience the game itself.
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