Legends: Arceus Discussion

[Mikey the Gengar]

Certain things are giving me vague pmd flavors

Also this game is huge. Like I still haven't fully explored the first baby area yet and I already feel like I've gone way further than I'm "supposed" to (I got lucky and caught a bunch of mid level 20 Pokemon before getting first star)

 

[Azure Sage]

I'm 8 hours in and I can definitively say this is 100% far and beyond the best Pokemon game yet. There's such a wide margin between this and the rest of the series its ridiculous. GameFreak finally pulled through the way they've been needing to for years. The first area alone is massive and there's plenty to do and explore without following the main questline. You can sneak around through areas with mons 20 levels higher than you if you do it right and maybe even catch some of them. Transitions between battles and exploration are extremely seamless, and the new battle mechanics are so darn good. And there's actually interesting story and lore going on for once. I am having such a blast, man.

 

[Dapperchihiro123]

I got a level 33 gastrodon when my normal pokemon are level 23! I just tossed a ball from grass and I had one ! That's so crazy and different this game is amazing

 

[thePlinko]

So after playing for a few hours…. It’s aight.

It’s definitely a step in the right direction, but I’m often questioning if I’m really having fun. The battle mechanics are definitely a breath of fresh air, and building teams is as fun as always, but the world just kinda feels empty, and the fact that you have to continuously re-catch pokemon that you’ve already caught just to reach an arbitrary number of times you’ve seen “X” move or catching one of a certain weight just feels way to grindy for my tastes.

I’m definitely gonna keep playing it, but the severe lack of polish and unnecessary tutorials are definitely putting a damper on things, even if it’s better than SwSh and BDSP

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

I know this game will sell well, but now I really wish sword shield would've sold less so that this game can surpass it and the higher ups can finally take a hint that the players want more than the same formula every single time

 

[Mikey the Gengar]

I know this game will sell well, but now I really wish sword shield would've sold less so that this game can surpass it and the higher ups can finally take a hint that the players want more than the same formula every single time

You're confusing the players with "the million or so minority who want games to be Smogon singles

 

[A Link In Time]

I know this game will sell well, but now I really wish sword shield would've sold less so that this game can surpass it and the higher ups can finally take a hint that the players want more than the same formula every single time

As long as this game sells over 15 million copies, which is in line with a mainline installment, I think Game Freak and the Pokémon Company will understand that people want some change. At least incorporate this style of catching wild Pokémon into Gen 9. It's a lot funner and more interactive than running around in grass waiting for good RNG.

 

[thePlinko]

You're confusing the players with "the million or so minority who want games to be Smogon singles

I guarantee you that the people who wanted a change in the formula were in the vast majority of longtime fans.

 

[Bloody Kun]

I personally think it’s not a good direction at all to just make catching a ton of the same Pokémon a grind, all while making that the only thing you do and not actually having to go into battle to do it. I’d much rather have it be far more engaging to catch one of a particular type and have to study it, like any real animal, learn what its habits are during different times of day and when would be best to weaken it before attempting to catch it, etc. all for the purpose of challenging other trainers who do much of the same, maybe some who even try to beat you to catching them. But that would be too much time and effort for an annual yearly cash in I guess. If Pokémon continues this way I guess it’s just not for me.

 

[Dapperchihiro123]

I personally think it’s not a good direction at all to just make catching a ton of the same Pokémon a grind, all while making that the only thing you do and not actually having to go into battle to do it. I’d much rather have it be far more engaging to catch one of a particular type and have to study it, like any real animal, learn what its habits are during different times of day and when would be best to weaken it before attempting to catch it, etc. all for the purpose of challenging other trainers who do much of the same, maybe some who even try to beat you to catching them. But that would be too much time and effort for an annual yearly cash in I guess. If Pokémon continues this way I guess it’s just not for me.

yeah, it's not the best. and that is exactly what i thought would happen when it was announced. still one of the better games on my switch. legends arkoos is so good!(reference for MandJtv fans)

 

[thePlinko]

So apparently this game has already sold about 6.5 million in its first week alone. I don’t have any comment on that, I just wanted to point it out.

Spoiler: Final thoughts on game

After finishing the game, catching every Pokémon (the babies are a huge pain in the ass), and beating the final post game boss, I gotta say that I really enjoyed my time with this game. More so than I ever thought I would.

First, let’s get the negatives out of the way. The first few hours of the game are really, really boring. You’re gated from each new area by how many stars you have, which just kinda feels arbitrary to me. Even when you are allowed in each area, most of the main story there just feels like a fetch quest until you’re finally allowed to get the necessary ride Pokémon to actually explore 75% of the area you’re in. Speaking of ride Pokémon, the game is simply not fun to traverse without the last 2. It’d be like if BotW had the exact same world design, only you weren’t allowed to climb or use the paraglider until you finished the 3rd and 4th divine beast respectively (You know, it feels weird to compare a game to BotW and say the later did something better).

The story just feels incredibly unfocused. The main game ends abruptly with very little fanfare, only for the post game to actually feel like it’s what you’ve been working towards the whole time. It really shouldn’t have been that difficult to move the credits to after the postgame fight with Volo and Giratina. Still, the story did have its moments. I particularly liked when the main character was cast out of the village, and stared off a cliff into the distance. You could really feel the hopelessness until the shinx came up to him. It was a really great moment for a Pokémon game.

I don’t even really need to mention the lack of polish and graphical quality of the game. Yes, it looks awful, but it’s all been said before.

The battle system and team building mechanics are way too dumbed down. In addition to cutting all but 242 Pokémon (to be fair, I can kinda understand why they’d do it in this game. At least it wasn’t out of complete laziness like in SwSh), there are no abilities or natures(introduced in gen 3), no held items or breeding (introduced in gen 2), no TMs (introduced in gen 1). I get that this was a new system, but good Lord. On top of that, each pokemons move selection is really lackluster. Snorlax, a pure normal type Pokémon, gets 2 late game normal type moves, one of them causes recoil and the other takes 2 turns to use. I was hoping to put return on him like most people would but nope.

One of the worst exclusions was battling other players. Let me repeat that: you cannot battle other players. In a Pokémon game. Thats the entire point of the damn franchise though. Even if I weren’t gonna use it a lot, it just feels wrong to play a Pokémon game with out it.

Even with all of those complaints though, I legitimately enjoyed my time. I’ve never felt so compelled to complete my dex as I did in this game, even if parts were a massive pain. It’s hard to really explain, but exploring the world and finding each new Pokémon is exhilarating. Legends Arceus may not be as good as gens III and V, but it’s certainly up there.

Also in case you were wondering, my team was:

Samurott
Luxray
Sylveon
Scizor
Rosarade
Snorlax

 

[Dapperchihiro123]

so, i recently got into shiny hunting, having gotten covid and shiny hunting all day today, and on my very last outbreak, i got a shiny duskull. this is my first shiny because i never was into shiny hunting before. BTW, this was 5 minutes ago! i am the embodiment of my pp right now.

 

[Azure Sage]

Threw hands with God this morning. He gonna need some milk cuz he went down easy. Only needed 1 continue. Was a lot of fun, though.

Final thoughts: this game is absolutely the best Pokemon game ever made on sheer scale alone. The world really feels like a natural Pokemon world. Battles that take place in the exact spot you were just standing with seamless transitions back and forth is a massive game changer that cannot be allowed to leave. Exploring each new map thoroughly was some of the most fun I've had in Pokemon in several years. I also really love the new combat system where speed and turns are prioritized. It's a lot more fun, though I do miss AoE moves. I don't actually miss abilities and held items all that much, though. But breeding would really be nice to have back...

Story-wise, it's definitely more interesting, but still about par for the course towards the end. It's almost amusing how little fanfare you get for your victories in late game. Nevertheless, aside from competing the Pokedex being a requirement for the true ending, it's the first game that actually made me feel like I really wanted to complete it, and even further, it made me want to make my very first living dex, too. I have never even bothered to give that a thought before now. The story of helping the people of Hisui learn to coexist with Pokemon really made me wanna go out there and meet them all. Plus the Sinnoh and Arceus lore was always some of my favorite story bits in the series.

Even now that the bulk of the game is done, I still wanna go out there and run around the maps doing stuff, collecting a couple missing form changes (notably Rotom's), find the starters I need to finish my living dex, and look for those hidden poems too, even if those don't do anything. Looking forward to the potential of DLC that was datamined. This is the game that Pokemon has been needing for years. This is the Sinnoh game we deserved. This is the Pokemon game we've deserved since Sun and Moon. Long overdue.

 

[Mikey the Gengar]

Only needed 1 continue

...

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

Threw hands with God this morning. He gonna need some milk cuz he went down easy.

I went through my notifications and thought I had clicked on the "Things on your mind" thread, read this and was extremely baffled for a second