LogFAQs > #970762425

Nay.

31. Pokemon Legends: Arceus (2022)

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/7/7/AABKTfAAEE-x.jpg

What an interesting/strange game! The thing that makes PLA stand out is how singular its focus is. It's based pretty much entirely on catching Pokemon, which, whaddya know, is extremely fun. 40 hours of gameplay and I never got tired of it. Sneaking up on Pokemon, or throwing rocks at them to confuse them, or covering them with goo, or whatever never got old. Of course, a 40 hour game can't work with a single game mechanic, but the surrounding aspects were mostly well-done as well. Battles are mostly pretty smooth, and I love that you can just move around in battle (and run away if you want) despite them being regular JRPG turn-based battles. Just starting to run as your Pokemon does their final attack feels so damn good.

They nailed a lot of the open world/exploration aspects in general. Transitions from running around to battle are seamless, and your movement options (riding Pokemon) are seamless as well. You just click a button and you're instantly on a Pokemon, and you can transition between the different Pokemon smoothly too. The one aspect they didn't quite nail there is that the world isn't super interesting to explore in itself? Looking for Pokemon is fun, but it's not like this game has much for beautiful vistas or unique environments. Not that they're horrible, but they're not exciting.

I wasn't really thrilled by any of the non-gameplay aspects, honestly. The sidequests are solid, but I didn't love them - some of the late game ones are more fun, but they're mostly fairly slight. One of the neat parts is how a bunch of characters are terrified of Pokemon, so it's fun helping them deal with that early on. The story's fairly simple too, though it works as a vehicle to drive your interest. Interacting with the different factions is compelling at least. Oddly enough, some of the most interesting aspects of the story are in the post-game... The music and graphics are also not too exciting. The game performs fine, but again, the environments aren't exciting. And most of the music (other than some of the boss battle songs at the end) is extremely mediocre.

It does have the X-Factor of the Pokemon themselves being great, but I often found myself not being excited to pick the game up. Still, I had fun with the game. It's cool when experiments like this work out.

Next game hint: this isn't a new game, despite the publisher putting a 2 in the title (2022)