It’s hard to believe that we only just had a Pokémon game not so long ago… in fact it was within 3 months ago with Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. The latest iteration in the franchise - Pokémon Legends: Arceus - looked different to its predecessors in terms of its visuals and game design, but is it enough to over come the decades of refinement, the series has endured?

Arceus’ narrative is one that’s a little more refreshing, as it’s not as simple as previous games, where the protagonist is wanting to be the very best (sound familiar?), so you and your frenemy challenge all gyms in the region. Arceus sees the main character falling through a space-time rift after which they seem to have travelled to an era where people are not very exposed to Pokémon. Some even fear them due to lack of knowledge. This take on the game’s narrative does feel refreshing, but also oddly familiar as there are some similarities where you have to assist the local professor with his scientific research by filling out your Pokedex and so on. There are also a familiar range of quirky characters, clans and new Pokémon to be seen. As mentioned, the visual style looks to have been updated to a more modern take (more on that later) - so much so that during the initial teaser trailer awhile back, people were comparing Arceus to Zelda: Breath of the Wild… and just to be clear, NO, we’re not saying they’re otherwise similar.

As much as we’d love to have a completely open world Pokémon game, Arceus’ design feels closer to Monster Hunter: Rise in that you have your main town where you interact with key characters to trigger the main story quests. You then walk out of town to select an area on the map you’d like to explore which triggers a load screen before you start your adventure out in the wilderness. Clearly, this is far from Breath of the Wild which feels more seamless and indeed more of an open world.

The story has you join Galaxy Team, which may cause some players to double-take. Unless I’m mistaken, weren’t they the antagonists of Brilliant Diamond? A great film said, “You either die a hero or live to become the villain.” So maybe traveling back through space-time took you to an era before they were seen as the villains of the franchise. But that’s something you’ll have to experience and see unfold yourself as you progress through the game.

As you dive deeper into the game and grow your experience - for which you’re rewarded Star Member (levels) - the game also opens up as far as what you’re able to craft and use from the classic Pokéball to Heavy Balls, Feather Balls and so on. Similar to other Pokémon games, as you progress in the narrative, the more challenging the Pokémon interactions become. So, it’s only fitting that you start to unlock items, abilities and craft recipes, that help you scale and adapt to these more difficult challenges. All that sounds amazing, but it is stuff that we have seen in other games countless times before, so while the mechanics are new for Pokémon, they will feel familiar to most gamers.

In addition to those elements, there are some other gameplay enhancements that long time players of the series, may find themselves confused by, fall damage is one such inclusion. In the older games, you couldn’t climb up the little ledges, but you could jump down them and the same is true here, but now as the world has evolved into a fully open space, those ledges can be quite high. If you jump down from one, that is higher than would be safe to leap from, your character can take damage, to big of a drop and it can be really bad for you. Another change that feels more welcoming is that now when you want to cut down a tree, or collect ore from the ground, you don’t have to select a specific option from a menu, you can just throw out a Pokémon and let them do it for you, it is a welcome change to be sure.

One thing that definitely hasn’t changed is the amount of dialogue to get through before one can actually start playing the game. The tutorial seems long winded, and unfortunately - assuming you’ve played games like this before - holds the players’ hand a little bit too much. The only other game that gave me the similar feeling is The Witcher 3, where there’s a whole lot of text and/or cutscenes to read/watch just to be able to play the actual game itself! This handholding plays a huge role in removing the potential sense of vastness in the open region of Hisui - UI elements and constant dialog reminders showing/telling the player where to go and what to do next. This is definitely felt by placing a map marker in the main story, opposed to letting players get lost in the world and having to familiarize the lands themselves. This isn’t necessarily a bad feature, but clearly shows the audience the game is targeting.

The art style looks as nice as what we expected from the pre-launch material. The design looks refreshing for a Pokémon game, however, could this be due to the franchise moving away from the typical top-down view of other entries in the long running series. Either way, it’s refreshing to see a new take on this style opposed to the old-school chibi style character everyone’s used to. If I was nit-picking on any of the visual elements, I’d say that the only disappointment is the background and distant elements, which appear flat and a little dated. While the visuals may not reach the level of other games of this type, the scale of Pokémon has never been more impressive.

If you’ve ever played any of the Pokémon games, especially the more recent ones such as the Brilliant Diamond, there’s a huge familiarity with all the sounds through the game… whether it’s the fun score they use, the sound of each Pokémon or even the dialogue, UI and beyond, you’ll know it’s definitely a Pokémon game with its fun and happy tone. In previous Pokémon games, there is a constant musical presence, enter into a new town and you get a new melody, start walking down a new route and there is another theme to enjoy, but here things are different. The game certainly has music, but it does adhere to the Breath of the Wild mantra, where less is more, so when you are just out exploring and not really doing much, the music is not there. But when the action picks up, so does the score, helping to accentuate the danger and excitement happening on screen, sometimes the music can be subtle, but it still works very well.

Lastly, if you're a fan of the Pokémon franchise, then Pokémon Legends: Arceus is definitely for you. It’s got some great updates in terms of the visual style and feel and has progressed in terms of Hisui region exploration in a small open world map. However, it isn’t enough to be compared to some games which are known for an immersive experience. Arceus feels as though they’ve taken a 20+ year old game and finally evolved it… however the update hasn’t progressed enough as it feels as though they’re holding back to play it safe for their audience. Long time fans of the series will enjoy some of the changes but may not enjoy the almost resolute adherence to its DNA, but if this is the beginning of the future, it is looking more welcoming indeed.