Pokémon Legends: Arceus Is 'Exhilarating' And At Times 'Surprisingly Difficult' According To Japanese Media

It's a good game, all the losers who pirated it seem to agree.

Okay it plays well, but does it run at a smooth 60fps at all times with 1080p resolution, all 1,000+ Pokémon, and the ability to count Bidoof's individual nostril hairs? No purchase from me if not! Harrumph harrumph.

please be good please be good please be good

This game is way better than Sword/Shield. They simplified a lot the battle mechanics (you can buff or debuff just only one stage, and the said buffs apply both to physical and special at same time, also there is no abilities or held items) , so I see some complaining there, but the gameplay is so satisfying that you don't fell that is missing. Boss battles are clunky, but there is only 5 of those, so it is not a issue.

The world is really vast and the game gives you a lot of ways to enjoy it faster (I'll keep this part spoiler free).

First time on a pokemon game that I felt free, that's the summary for me.

Famitsu being impressed by the "exhilarating feeling of moving around freely in the vast field" shows you how low their expectations were.
Also, I'll reserve judgement until I actually play it, their opinions usually ain't worth a damn.

Please be good….

I skipped over diamond and pearl and thought I’d wait on this one so I hope it’s good. So far I’m liking what I’ve seen. I think the absence of gyms will be my biggest gripe.

These are also the same guys who thought Koopas were tricky to beat in Super Mario Bros Wii so difficulty is questionable.

Surprisingly difficult. That standard probably got watered down over the last years. More like normal then?

@TYRANACLES same. I'm actually really excited

So any weather system in the game?

The problem is, that the source is Famitsu. Aren't they the ones who gave Sonic Forces a score of 35/40 and Demons Souls only 29/40?

@MrHonest I’m pretty sure there is. The last 6 min overview trailer showed you hunting Pokemon in the rain at one point.

Are you guys going to get a reviewer copy of this game too? I sure hope that would be the case considering how many leaks have been flying around.

I watched some gameplay footage (leaked) man this game looks good. So much you can do (wont spoil) but now i am convinced yo buy it asap.

From all the game's leaks I've seen and read about, the game sounds outstanding.

A lot of bold new steps were taken, a LARGE amount of forward thinking was injected into the gameplay, and it feels like Game Freak is finally making a home console Pokemon game.

"Surprisingly Difficult" a Pokemon game of today?!? Now they got my attention again.
I bought a couple of other games in the latest eshop sale thinking that this would be a Monster Hunter for little kids... Maybe I was wrong

As someone who’s never got into Pokémon, and only ever played just one game in the series (Black/White), I have to say that Arceus sounds pretty cool to me!

@Supadav03 Good news then. Thanks for the answer

@noobish_hat what makes non-Japanese reviews any more trustworthy? Lol

I'm officially excited for this game! I preordered this game because the hope that it would be good still lives on in me. I can't wait for the 28th in the USA for this game to launch!

'Surprisingly difficult' in Pokemon terms probably means you can manage to lose if you spam Tackle every turn.

I still have a lot of massive RPG'S to finish or even start playing on Switch, and just added Tales of Vesperia to that list. So I think I can wait for a year or two. And then I'd still get Shin Megami Tensei V, Ni No Kuni 2, and Kingdoms of Amalur first, probably.
But first, I'll have to finish Xenoblade 2, Dragon Quest, Hyrule Warriors AoC, Persona Strikers, Cris Tales, Ni No Kuni... (re-)play my way through Xenoblade 1, Fire Emblem, Tokyo Mirage Sessions, Tales of Vesperia, and of course not to be missed in this line up: Cat Quest 1 and 2. And there's some on 3ds I haven't finished yet as well... Sounds like work. I don't like work. What am I doing with my life?

@LinkSword Nonsense! It’s super effective!

in the end its about the enjoyment YOU get from a game. Best graphics dont make a great game, its about the gameplay. People were complaining about tiny details making the game seem lazy, like no dust or footprints for example. Who cares about dust and footprints? lol

Taking Famitsu reviews with a chunky grain of salt is very reasonable. Dismissing all Japanese reviews for being Japanese is… well, many words would fit the bill, but none very flattering.

This looks so sick. Might be my first Pokémon purchase since Red!

I think I'm out of the loop, but I've thought this looks like a neat Pokémon spinoff. The internet, fan sites, reddit, etc. all seem to be on an intense hate train against it. Am I missing something?

@Muddy_4_Ever It's OK. This is what happens before EVERY Pokemon game being released after, dunno, YELLOW?

Old school fans hate it with a passion years before they have played anything.

@Muddy_4_Ever hating Pokemon games just for the heck of it is the cool thing to do on the internet that's why lol

@moodycat look. I know that since it's Pokemon early reception should be taken with a grain of salt and hyping responsibly is paramount but there's also a fine line between beaing realistic and being unabashedly cynical

Sounds good, first time in a while I'm actually excited for a new Pokémon game

Don't know that I'm too excited to hear about increased difficulty. The difficulty was already fine. If they wanted to make something harder, they need to go with difficulty options.

@Muddy_4_Ever Most of what I see is about the frame rate and graphics. I'm yet to see a valid complaint against the game aside from concerns about it turning out good because of it being GF (and that's just speculation at the end of the day).

This is either going to be really good or really bad. Sword and shield was a disaster

@moodycat you have it backwards lol. This could be the best Pokemon game ever and they'll find a way to hate because either a Pokemon didn't move quite right or a tree didn't cast a shadow

I'm excited to play this! Got my pre-order in when they announced. I don't care about or can't notice the graphical flaws people complain about other than framerate. I'm very happy Game Freak is trying a different take. Gameplay first!

I don't know what they mean by 'hard'. Pokemon games over all weren't things I considered hard. A few spikes aside that is. I am interested in seeing how different these will be. Sword and Shield felt like a toe dip in this direction (which made it feel lacking). BD/SP were to playing it a bit too safe.

@Royalblues Seen or played? Can't take someones opinion seriously on a game that they haven't even tried.

One thing that struck my attention ever since they started releasing gameplay footage is the amount of different attacks and animations all the wild Pokemon have when they attack and chase you. Yes, I know they're Pokemon so it's a little unfair to compare the enemy variety to Breath of the Wild but I feel like this game will excel at that in comparison.

A lot of people complained that BotW didn't have a vast enough enemy variety for its size and length and it seems as if GameFreak took all the complaints regarding the animations in Sword and Shield very seriously.

I am buying this game as I decided a long time ago. It's the first time since Town (remember that game?) that they're finally trying something new and it's the first Pokemon game they're trying something new with since Pokken Tournament (which wasn't even GameFreak anyway). Thankfully I managed to stay away from all the leaks so that I'm able to be surprised for myself.

Glad that it seems people unanimously agree that the game is good though, Pokemon desperately needed a moment like this.

I find it quite ironic how some say that we are "impressed by a mediocre game" because it's Pokemon and we have such low standards for the franchise but don't realise that they themselves fit into the stereotype of hating on the game just because it's Pokemon. Instead of generalising and looking like a raving fool maybe just play the game for yourself before jumping to any conclusions and don't categorize people claiming their bias when you can't even judge if they have any for yourself.

@Royalblues and we'll take the word of a currently non-player like you because?

Fine, I'll freaking preorder it. Happy, Nintendo?

I know I will be once I play this.

@Royalblues Ah yes, saying a whole country is biased towards Pokemon and Nintendo because the opinion of an outlet after having played the game doesn't match your opinion after you have seen some of it.

Classy, my guy.

I'm getting deja vu of this same thing happening with Metroid Dread as well as some other Nintendo games which received good scores and were favourable among players.

Got it pre-loaded now, very excited especially after seeing the leaks.

While some elements seem neat, at its core it looks like an even more simplified version of Pokemon's battle system where 99% of the game takes place against a single Pokemon, and that just doesn't excite me.

Getting explanations as to how that's going to be any fun from trailers and previews is like asking a cryptobro to explain why NFTs don't suck.

Saying that a game is going to be good because Famistu said so is like someone bringing their best friend to a job interview and having them say nice things about you to the hiring manager. It's a complete joke. The Japanese audience as a whole eats up low quality, casual titles like Pokemon and the Mario spin-offs on a yearly basis. It's hard to understand it a Westerner, but it's pretty much a cultural, tribalistic phenomenon in Japan to like Pokemon.

I'm going to get the game at some point, pretty soon, and this gives me a lot of hope.

A week before full reviews are posted? That matches up nicely w it's release date. I'm starting to worry about the words "review embargo". By now we'd usually have at LEAST one full review to get those who were on the fence to preorder.

I’m really really excited for this game. It looks really promising.

@Varkster guy sounds like he's just being contrarian and throwing shade to try to justify himself.

@Dizavid Yeah, I've been thinking about that too. I think devs think that they're preventing spoilers, but all they're doing is making us worry that they're trying to hide something

Funny those slamming Arceus tells you have issues beyond Pokemon but use their own pathetic excuses.

Going to play it later

@Varkster I think it's fair to compare it to BOTW that way.

Legends Arceus looks to be better than BOTW in creature/enemy diversity. But by the same merit I'd think BOTW and eventual BOTW2 will still trump Legends in the interactivity if the world.

But one game can't be everything, and I'd agree some are a bit too quick to condemn a game over being able to find something it's not the best at. Rather than caring whether the game itself is enjoyable or interesting.

I'm quite looking forward to playing it next week too.

The entire game has been leaked, datamined, and dumped.

The people who have played (most of) the game seem to have quite enjoyed it.

I'm trying to be skeptical, but this game really does look good and is sorta winning me over! I think the most impressive part for me is the really nice UI art. The last few Pokemon games haven't been so great in that department, but this one looks really slick.

As always, I can't wait to see if everyone hates this game because it changed too much, or everyone hates this game because it changed too little.

@Kieroni I hope that's the case. I've pretty much kept my expectations as neutral as possible for someone who's been begging for a true deviation from the same game with new paint on it. However, it's not what happens in the years or even months leading up to a release; it's what happens in that final month. And their marketing just... isn't what I'd expect for "completely new form of a Pokemon journey". Really hope it's leak squashing, but even in the name of that, I don't know many companies who willingly forego positive press prior to a games release; when you know you have a hit you want word out ASAP. Still, little details like this article at least give me hope it'll be a strong enough offering that they aren't afraid to keep trying new things within the main franchise. Fingers crossed, eh? lol

I am sufficiently hyped and hard as a rock

@Dr_Lugae Less BotW and more Monster Hunter, really.

It's exhilarating to think about what this means for Pokémon going forwards.

By surprisingly difficult they must mean not turn based - not used to it (yet)

I have a friend who has access to the game and is still playing it even now.
Apparently theres more depth to the combat than what we were just shown.
But I'm still going to wait until the actual game is out.

The GameFreak hate brigade must be on some heavy copium right now.

Say what you will about the pirates and leakers but they’ve done a better job of advertising and getting people hyped than anything that’s been officially released. I miss the advertising from the Pokémon Colosseum days… I dunno what kinds of ads other regions got, but the US ones were great, lol.

This has all the marks of a mediocre game at best, propped up by the Pokemon IP.

More realistically, the game looks outright bad compared to similar games out currently. As a long time Pokemon fan, even the IP fails to provide much interest when most of the new regional variants spit in the face of the original designs. Alolan and Galarian forms were generally pleasant remixes. Hisuian forms look like abominations birthed from the game Spore...

Finally! A good pokemon game!

So excited for this.

@MrHonest saw a clip of the character in the rain trying to catch a snorlax, looked really nice too!

@Shambo I feel this. I ventured to beat Xdnoblade 2 last year, which is just one RPG. Spent an estimated 120 hours of my life on that game, another 40 with the game on in the background playing music or doing merc missions. And that's only ONE RPG. I am glad I don't play RPGs much. I can only handle one at a time.

They can say whatever they want before release. I'm still not impressed with how the game looks.

I'll wait until after the embargo has lifted before believing what nerds say on the internet.

@Rika_Yoshitake lol not losers, I downloaded it as a way to get a taste of it to know if it's worth a purchase or not. Turns out that it is, so I have pre-ordered it now. Not all pirates are losers, to some it's merely a tool to gauge whether or not to buy. There are reviews of course, but that's not the same as playing the game for yourself!

@GenXGamer I know that makes sense to you, but I don’t think a lot of others would see it that way. It’s still stealing, especially for the games you decide you don’t want to buy. Not to mention, what makes it ok for you to play the game before everybody else?

If you want to try a game out, you can borrow from a friend or take it out of the library or something. There are legit, non-piratey ways of doing it.

I don't trust Famitsu. I think they'll hype up mediocre games and play favorites with popular Japanese releases.

With that said, when nearly everyone who has played the leaked version of the game says it's really fun, I'm inclined to believe them.

@Krambo42
Library isn't an option here, nor is it to borrow from a friend. NONE of my friends do any gaming, so it's either this or buy it and then regret spending $90 CAD (some games are way up over $100 here and in the past I have purchased multiple games that I didn't end up liking).
Not theft, Nintendo got their money and I no longer have the copy I downloaded. As for games I don''t decide to buy, I delete said game and I decide in the first hour or so if it'll be a purchase or not. Doesn't Steam give you 2 hours of play and you can still refund? Nintendo isn't Steam, but the same concept applies. Some games look good and review well, but the player who purchases might hate it once they try themselves. I've wasted more than $1000 easily by trusting reviews and listening to what others say about a game but am not trusting that anymore. Not everyone will see it your way either, and there will be some that do see it my way. And no, it has nothing to do with any right to play earlier than others. There are many people out there that have had a physical copy of the game for several days already. It's about opportunity and availability.

Doesn’t look like a game for me. I want traditional Pokémon except better. Something with more polish and production value and more dev time than a year and a half.

Still looks like a tech demo.

Being to easy to play isn't the reason why gamers game. They want challenge based on their gaming experiences and sometimes a easy start gets one to learn the mechanics of the game. But regardless Leaks will happen and if people think it won't are just fooling themselves. The Gaming Industry already knows this Fact. But at the end of the day it's the $$$ they makes that matter the most. Difficulty is each gamers choice and sometimes playing at easy settings is the fastest way to learn the game. And I still make oops on easy so it's not easy as one thinks the word easy means. But I will be betting I will spend endless nights like BOTW (not finished yet) gaming. But recently a Smartphone upgrade is driving me insane as I have to find and update and relogin to all my Apps. Talk about having a hemorrhage doing this and making sure everything works.

This will probably still be the best pokemon game even if it's deeply flawed. The combat being as seamless is a really big deal as it adds a level of immersion not seen in any of the main line pokemon games ever before. Finally, pokemon battles will really take place in a real and tangible environment instead of the voids or battlefield arenas that just manifest whenever a battle happens.

@PessitheMystic to be fair, it's a Pokemon game. Low expectations are kinda the default. That it has pokemon isn't even a 100% safe expectation. This is a series that isn't really known for pushing the envelope. It's more known for barely managing to mail an envelope.

@Varkster I played a bit of LA. It's honestly not bad. But I feel like people really slept on Monster hunter stories 2. They're remarkably similar. And I mean, like, game freak played the first one and other MH games similar. The general theme and gameplay loop is monster hunter. There's really no denying that. If I had to say one was better it would be mh. Arc is a little broader and definitely more pokemony in gameplay, which is good, but it's hard to ignore that it's kinda ugly at times, especially compared to MH, which is also a switch game.

And this may be a surprise, but the story in LA isn't great. It's honestly the story of all the other games without the gyms but there isn't any reason for me to care about the characters because they're all as one note as Pokemon characters usually are. Their designs are cute though, there's just nothing to them so far.

@LUIGITORNADO It's more a concept demo. If it works more Pokemon games will be this style, if it doesn't then we'll get more sword and shields until the sun explodes. I think it's kinda an average game that's a good Pokemon game and I hope people buy it just because I know the series won't change at all if people don't.

@Bubsla123 The combat being as seamless is a really big deal as it adds a level of immersion
This what will most likely push Arceus to sales unseen for Pokémon franchise is most likely will happen.