While I do enjoy the mainline Pokémon games that see you catching and battling across a region with the hopes of becoming a Pokémon master, I also quite like the titles that deviate from this formula a little bit. Pokémon Snap really caught my interest because it saw you trying to capture the best pictures of Pokémon in their natural habitat. Another one that has me incredibly intrigued is the upcoming Pokémon Legends: Arceus, which takes place in the Hisui region. It’s set in a bygone era of the Sinnoh region’s history, before it was actually called Sinnoh, and while it still involves catching and battling, it’s also mixing up the core gameplay in quite an interesting way.
Based on what we know about Pokémon Legends: Arceus, we’ll be taking on the role of a member of the Survey Corps, who will venture to various areas with distinct environments that surround Mount Coronet. Each area is rather different and plays host to a range of Pokémon ecosystems, complete with its own natural features.
Based in Jubilife Village, your character forms part of the Galaxy Expedition Team. The team is comprised of various corps including the Medical, Security and Survey Corps and are made up of people who have come from different regions to study Hisui and its Pokémon. You will form part of the Survey Corps and your goal is to discover and observe every single Pokémon in the Sinnoh region with the objective of creating the region’s first-ever Pokédex. It’s quite an exciting job and it’s going to be interesting to see what kind of missions we’ll be sent on.
To aid us on our missions, we’ll be offered a choice of three different Pokémon. The options are the Fire-type, Cyndaquil (Pokémon Gold and Silver), from the Johto region, the Water-type, Oshawott (Pokémon Black and White), from the Unova region and finally, the Grass-type, Rowlet (Pokémon Sun and Moon), from the Alola region. This is the first game in the series that has offered starter Pokémon from three different regions.
One of the biggest notable changes to the gameplay is how it is presented. When encountering a Pokémon in the wild and opting to do battle, it doesn’t transition to a battle screen as seen in previous games and will instead take place in the overworld. It’s quite an exciting change and makes me wonder if it’ll be possible to draw the attention of another wild Pokémon while already engaged in battle with one.
Additionally, the battle system has been overhauled to complement this change. Past games have functioned on a turn-based system with each Pokémon being able to perform one action per turn. In Pokémon Legends: Arceus, the number of actions each Pokémon is able to perform is determined by their stats and other factors. This means that it’s less of a turn-based affair and can actually create situations where a Pokémon might get to take multiple turns in a row. I quite like this change since it’ll be a good way to mix up the core gameplay and have players think a little faster about their next move.
Pokémon can still remember up to four moves at a time, however, the way these moves are unleashed has been changed somewhat. Each move can be unleashed in either Agile or Strong Style. Agile Style is able to raise the user’s speed, meaning that its next turn might come sooner, but the caveat is that the move’s power is lowered. Strong Style is pretty much the opposite: it raises the power of the move being used but unfortunately lowers the Pokémon’s action speed. It’s going to be interesting to see how this will encourage strategising.
Aside from observing Pokémon in their environment, it’s also quite important to catch some species. This is where Pokéballs come into play and how they’ll function in Pokémon Legends: Arceus. As mentioned before, pretty much all of the gameplay now takes place in the overworld; this rings true for catching Pokémon as well. Instead of just hitting a button and letting the game do all the hard work, players will now need to take aim before throwing a Pokéball at a Pokémon that they want to catch. It adds a new layer to the core gameplay, which honestly feels like it would make it more engaging. Given that there’s a possibility to miss your target, here’s hoping that Pokéballs, or at least, the materials for crafting them, won’t be in short supply.
As you venture across the region, you may run into an Alpha Pokémon. These large and aggressive Pokémon have red eyes and make for tough opponents but catching them and adding them to your team can be incredibly rewarding, plus they may drop rare items when defeated. I’m speculating that these items could be used for crafting purposes in order to create new equipment such as Pokéballs, smoke bombs and restorative items to help you on your journey.
The Hisui region is made up of a number of different areas that surround Mount Coronet and traversing these areas in the fastest way possible is vital. What better to do this than by riding on a Pokémon? In Pokémon Legends: Arceus, you’ll be able to summon special rideable Pokémon by using the Celestic Flute. Thus far, only three have been confirmed: Wyrdeer, Basculegion and Hisuian Braviary. Wyrdeer is the evolved form of Stantler and will allow you to cross the land incredibly quickly. Basculegion is the evolved form of Basculin and is able to ferry you across bodies of water and also jump over obstacles. Hisuian Braviary is the evolved form of Rufflet found in the Hisui region; they allow you to soar high above the land, crossing big distances in a hurry while also providing you with a birds-eye view. The best part is that you’re able to throw Pokéballs even while riding one of these Pokémon.
While Pokémon Legends: Arceus isn’t necessarily a new generation of Pokémon, it does feature some forms of existing ones that are only found in the Hisui region. Aside from Hisuian Braviary mentioned above, there are also Hisuian Voltorb, Zorua, Zoroark and Growlithe. Currently, these are the only confirmed forms, however, I don’t doubt for a second that we’ll discover many more when the game releases. Frankly, I can’t wait to see how they look!
Pokémon Legends: Arceus releases on the Nintendo Switch on 28 January 2022.
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