Arceus
Well, I can’t say I’m terribly surprised this happened. Despite constant criticism about its visuals (especially by me), Pokémon Legends: Arceus has arrived and has managed to be a fundamentally great game regardless, and a solid Pokémon entry, especially for newcomers.
While the visuals may be lacking, the structure and gameplay of the new exploratory title are not. Reviews are coming in and as I write this, Arceus has a very solid 85 average on Metacritic, perhaps not gunning for that #1 GOTY slot, but a very, very good score no doubt everyone involved will be proud of.
Here’s what some of the highest reviews are saying about what Arceus gets right:
Comicbook.com (10/10) – “Pokemon Legends: Arceus is easily the strongest Pokemon game made in recent memory and should provide unforgettable memories that rival the first time a player first encountered a favorite Pokemon or conquered their first Pokemon Champion fight.”
VGC (10/10) – “Pokémon Legends is the breath of fresh air the series has needed for so long. It may not have been apparent from the trailers, but this is one of the most entertaining, engaging and engrossing games in the entire history of the Pokémon series, and is highly recommended to both long-time fans and complete newcomers.”
Dextero (9/10) – “For years, fans have begged Game Freak for deeper storytelling and Pokemon Legends Arceus absolutely delivers that. Players who have stuck with the series from the beginning will be blown away by how many lore-specific elements are tackled…Unlike previous titles, the game is packed with side quests, exploration, and an emotionally rich narrative. While technically a Diamond & Pearl origin story, it is a love letter to the overall franchise that fans will not want to miss out on. This is the most exciting that the Nintendo RPG has been in years and a blueprint for how the series can move forward in the future.”
Pokemon Legends
Though a few outlets are less enthusiastic:
IGN Italy (5/10) – “A game that should have relaunched the bran instead does not take the necessary steps forward, remaining stuck in a limbo. The few innovations are poorly implemented…Everything revolves around the completion of the Pokédex at excessive levels, so as to block the progression of the story.
Generally speaking though, this new foray into a new format for Pokémon collecting seems to have landed well, and could be the start of a new direction for the franchise, with possibly some elements adopted into the mainline games as well. This was an experiment for Game Freak, evolving the series in a new, necessary way, and it appears to have paid off.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus launches officially on January 28, and then everyone can see for themselves how it is. The game actually leaked once retailers broke the street date, and impressions even before this batch of reviews seemed to be quite positive. So once again, another unsurprising win for the Switch.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
