Pokemon Legends Arceus Review | 40 Hours Later | Backlog Battle

Pokemon Legends Arceus is that one game that Pokemon fans of all types - new or long-time - will find tons of things to enjoy for hours on end, though its visual environment design might leave some in the dust. Here's my review!

Backlog Battle Podcast

[Brandonx]

Your review is spot on. This is my first Pokémon game & it’s really hooked me. I think this entry will bring in a lot of newbies, like myself, into the franchise. Most of the other Pokémon games never really sparked my interest, but this game looked interesting & different enough to warrant a try. I’m glad I did. I hope, going forward, that future Pokémon games follow this formula.

[theoaremevano]

An aspect of this game I really love is the ability to battle and actually catch Pokemon far too powerful for you to control early on. I always wanted to do that in Pokemon. :D Might be personal for me, but I think it's a fun reward for going out of your way to challenge yourself, and those Pokemon can be fun to have around just for the occasional gambit of flipping the coin on obedience in return for possibly annihilating your opponent. XD

Additionally, I love the new variety added by the turn order and move mastery as well as stealth, move switching from a pool of moves and non-traditional battle options like stunning some Pokemon with certain items.

[MrDarksol]

As a veteran fan who stopped playing the games and following the series after finishing Ultra Sun, I was not interested in what else they were doing because it just feels more or less the same just change the villain team, the legendaries and whatever minimum post game there is. Arceus, while I still wish the series will pull like say something very huge like most JRPGs have been doing to maybe bring me back into it again other then some pokemon, female and male characters and even my memories of my playthroughs of the older games, at least they brought back the gotta catch em all motto in spirit that they dropped since gen 3. Hell, the fact that there is only ONE version of the game is shocking enough and the characters are fine, with the one thing interesting about some is how different they are when compared to their descendants in future games like one certain character is a glutton and is scared of bugs lol. When I found out who was the descendant of this character, I immediately laughed and said wow she is slightly more interesting then you. And since this was co developed by Monolith Soft, it was no wonder why people would compare this to Breath of The Wild since this game breathes that air. If not else, at least the game is slightly harder and you can FINALLY catch pokemon like you are catching fish so small baby steps. A very soild review as usual Alex!

[Tuinuiski]

I love the game but hate the Noble​ pokemon ​quelling boss fights. I just can't cope due to my slow reflexes and reaction time. I guess it's not an issue for most players, especially action games fans. Anyway, if not for that this would be my favorite pokemon game.

[Zuhri]

I'm the type that focuses more on the meeting new mons, catching them and training them rather than badge hunting or story in Pokemon. So, playing this game feels like it is just made for me.

[darwins.]

I’ve only had the game for a short time but I am loving it so far. It’s pretty much the Pokemon game I’ve always wanted when I was younger. I really hope some of the gameplay aspects of this game make it into the next mainline Pokemon game.

[PatKerleyVA]

Honestly really been enjoying it a lot, its really nice to feel a fresh experience from pokemon! I do feel thr environment is a little washed out and feels a little lacking in interesting areas to visit from a visual perspective from what I've played so far, but it doesn't bother me, I simply enjoy the deeper dive into filling the pokedex! One thing that still baffles me is that pokemon games are not voice acted, feels like a slight wasted opertuniuty to really bring more life and flare to it!

[Gchampion]

Still haven't finished the game yet, but this is hands down the most fun Pokémon game in long time. The visual flaws can't bring down the sure amount of how awesome this game is. Even doing the whole thing with natures and effort values that use to really annoy me in previous games seems to be done in a way here that lets build up any Pokémon you want without worrying about that too much. And the combat changes to the agile and strong styles to the changes in status conditions make the battles way more fun and intense. I really hope this game style becomes mainstream or we get sequel because this is amazing.

[HybridAngelZero]

As a longtime fan of the series who's played every mainline game on release, I am absolutely *smitten* with Legends Arceus. It does so many things I never really thought the series would do. In almost every game, someone warns you "Oh, it's dangerous to go into areas where wild Pokemon live" but this game makes you feel that for real, and it is amazing.
Another thing I'm in awe of is just how silky smooth everything is! Hopping on a ride Pokemon, sneaking to catch wild Pokemon, or summoning your own to gather materials, everything just feels snappy, responsive and simply effortless.
The fact that Game Freak was allowed to diverge from the traditional formula and make something not only this different but this fresh and engaging has me more excited about the series than I have been since the 3DS era :D

[MrShady]

Great review. I’m looking forward to playing this game

[kratos_pt]

This game is so fun! It's responsible for getting me back to the Pokémon series, all the way back from gen 1. This was a Christmas gift and I'm so thankful that I got it! Now I'm playing Sword, Scarlet and BDSP and reliving the nostalgia with my kids

[feistywaffles]

I just finished the game and I really enjoyed my time with it! I was happy that they switched the formula up and tried something new. I feel like this game is the right step forward in updating the Pokémon game loop. It still needs tweaks and more time to develop but I'm happy with them trying out this concept.

[Anni_ka]

I'm so glad that I don't have to battle a lot, mostly because I'm not interested in learning stats and what attack types are very effective/not effective against what type (also, do levels even matter? My level 50 Pokemon still gets wiped occasionally by a level 15 one xD). So it's great that you still get experience points for just catching pokemon!
Although as great as it's been so far I've started to feel that things got a bit too repetitive for me, so I'm taking a short break. I'm very excited to finish the story though, I really enjoyed it so far!
Also, one of the little things I like most is how the town is slowly growing as you progress through the story! And also seeing how people's relationship with Pokemon changes

[xleaselife]

Happy 2022, Alex! My girlfriend and I have been playing this together, and we're having so much fun with it. I just really hope that, with the next game, if they continue with Legends, that they will, as you said, mature the series. Really invest into the assets and art style.

As always, thank you for your wonderful insights!

[Makoto]

Great review. I think i'm in the final area and i love the game. Definitely the most fun i've had with Pokemon since way back with Ruby/Sapphire on Gameboy Advance.

[tuvillo]

I kinda felt it was an open world Pokemon GO inspired game. I liked playing it a lot, but I can't explain why. I think it's not a good game. It's definitely creative and innovative, though. I genuinely can't tell whether expanding on the concept is a good idea or if the novelty only works once.

[The_Gnome_Chomskee]

As soon as I stating I playing this I was pretty sure my backlog is going to win this year. I’m going to play this for a long time.

[watchergirl]

Whoa face cam video. Thanks for the video. Also it's crazy that the developers that started with series had less evolvement in this game. It was mostly done by the "newbies".

[D_Shuffles]

It seems like world design is really the only big flaw, ideally they would have had the Xenoblade team help with this as its in Nintendo's wheelhouse. Otherwise yea this is looking like my childhood dream come true. By the way, did you play in handheld at all? I havent heard any impressions on it.

[youthnando]

I'm loving the game
I'm taking it slow and doing most side quest