Running or Rolling?

We love Digital Foundry's tech deep-dives as much as the next framerate obsessive, but when it comes to applying the scientific method to things in video games, we have to say that it's the mundane things that help us out the most. Like this extremely important video, for example!

The question is: Is it faster to roll, or to sprint, in Pokémon Legends: Arceus? The secret answer is that Wyrdeer is faster than both, so just hurry up and unlock the lad, but if you're on-foot, it turns out that your foots are exactly what you need.

("Slow news day," you say, but actually we think you will find that this is a very important discovery, and also, no, it is not a slow news day, because we just had a Nintendo Direct announcement, so hush.)

If you've ever seen a speedrun of a Zelda game, specifically Ocarina of Time, you may have noticed that the players don't move normally — in fact, they'll usually be rolling and side-hopping around like some kind of drunk bunny, because it's faster. Speedrunners really, really care about the minute amounts of time they can shave off here and there, and movement — the thing you spend most of the game doing — is a great way to save a few seconds here and there.

Sadly, rolling is not faster than running. But the hidden stamina mechanic might make it a good choice all the same — your character will get tired after sprinting, and slow down to a light jog until their energy returns to normal. As people in the comments have mentioned, sprinting mixed with jogging is actually a good middle ground.

And now you know.