It's been about 2 months since Pokemon Legends: Arceus came out, and I've finally completed it 😭
Its very different from previous Pokemon games, and I really like it. The (semi) open world also allows me to do many interesting things I couldnt previously do, like making Arceus and Giratina pose for my cover page :P
Introduction
The game starts with us, the chosen one, being sent back in time by our Pokemon god, Arceus, to Hisui (before it was renamed Sinnoh). Our mission here is to learn more about the Pokemon here and create the very first Pokedex.
It looks like a nice notebook with a cute little ribbon on it :D
What's new about this game, is that we not only have to meet and catch the Pokemons, but there are specific tasks for each Pokemon that we need to accomplish.
Each task completed is worth 1 Research Level (or 2 if theres the red arrows beside it), and you need to get Research Level 10 for the entry to be 'complete'.
Another huge change from previous gen games is being able to catch pokemon without going into battle with it. Other than the traditional method of Battle > Weaken > Throw Pokeball, you can just throw pokeballs at the Pokemon roaming around the map.
If you're feeling particularly generous, you can choose to throw a berry to them before throwing the Pokeball, it makes them easier to catch (similar to Pokemon Go).
Different pokemon also have different temperaments. They will either run away from you (skittish), ignore you, or straight up try to take you down(aggresive).
It's hard to catch skittish pokemon using traditional methods, as they will run away from the battle, so you're kinda forced to chuck pokeballs at them.
Aggressive Pokemon are the exact opposite, your pokeballs wont work on them if they see you and become enraged, so you're better off battling and then trying to catch it .
All these only apply if the Pokemon sees you though, so you can hide in tall grass to prevent them from seeing you, while you snipe at them using your pokeballs. ( Thats right, the tables have turned, we're the ones sneaking around in tall grass now🤣)
Once you get far enough into the story, you can also unlock Rideable Pokemon. They're also all new pokemon native to the Hisuian Region.
Wyrdeer allows you to travel across land quicker than on foot, and can climb small ledges too:
Basculegion allows you to travel across water bodies and fight/catch aquatic pokemon:
Sneasler allows you to climb steep cliffs and/or descend safely from high cliffs:
Its cute how we get carried by Sneasler, kinda like Nezuko from Demon Slayer xD
Lastly, and also my favorite method of travel, Hisuian Braviary allows you to freely fly around the map:
Its also worth mentioning that theres also another rideable Pokemon, Ursaluna, but its mainly not for travel, but to find treasure. While traveling on Ursaluna, you'll get notified if it finds treasure. I dont really use it that much so no footage :/
Gameplay
Here's a rough estimate of my entire 60 hour-ish journey thus far, from completing the game, to completing the end game content. I try to add my own commentary to keep it from being too bland, but this also means that its not a full nor accurate depiction of the entire plot.Note that there are plenty of spoilers here, so I recommend skipping this part if you want to play the game for yourself and not get spoiled.
Firstly, I get teleported by Arceus back in time, into Hisui.
Then he takes my phone, and morphs it into an Arceus phone (Arc Phone) and tells me to find all the Pokemon here D:
After settling down in Jubilife Village and joining the Survey Corps, I meet another member of the Survey Corps, who informs me of the dangers of exploring and understanding Pokemon 😨
While exploring, I come across many dangerous Pokemon, too strong for my current levels
Alakazam's level is double that of my Luxray's :o
As part of my duty in the Survey Corps, I also help investigate the cause of the frenzied Noble Pokemon, using these various Balms to calm them down.
Apparently, the Noble pokemon got struck by mysterious lightning coming from the space-time rift in the sky (right above the mountain in the below picture)
Along my travels I also came across these kind bandits.
After fighting them off the first time, they keep coming back to challenge me, and they always drop valuable gold nuggets xD
I also meet this friendly merchant, Volo, who always seems to be roaming the entire region alone 🤔
Things get worse even after calming down all the frenzied Noble Pokemon, however, and the entire sky turns red. No surprise then, that I get kicked out from the village. After all, I also came from the mysterious space-time rift in the sky, which is causing all these to happen.
Volo, being the kindhearted merchant that he is, agrees to help me solve this mystery and clear my name. We find out that it might be the works of Dialga and Palkia, pokemon who are said to control time and space respectively.
Dialga appears from the Space-Time rift, angry and ready to throw hands.
Palkia eluding bad vibes xD
Both Dialga and Palkia were very angry, but with the help of Jubilife Village and Volo, we manage to subdue them and return the sky back to its original state.
We go back to Jubilife Village, victorious. 🎉 [End of Main story]
Volo notices that during our travels that I've attained alot of plates, which are these stone slabs said to hold mysterious power. Everytime I calm down/ befriend a Noble Pokemon, they give one to me. He encourages me to find them all and uncover the mystery behind them. "Alright then, let's do it. Whats the worst that could happen?" I thought to myself.
Everything went wrong.
After gathering all the plates, Volo brings me back to the Temple of Sinnoh, where we fought Dialga and Palkia. Here's where the first plot twist appears.
Volo changes into... cultist wear? and tries to rob me of my plates.
I refused, of course. Then he reveals that it was him that caused the space-time rift to appear, and he wanted Dialga and Palkia's appearance to bring Arceus to this world, so that he could destroy the world. He also challenges me, but I've grown pretty strong after coming this far, subduing 2 God like pokemon, and gathering all the plates. I beat him, of course, but in another twist, he summons Giratina, a Pokemon so powerful and cruel it is said that Arceus banished him from this world.
After a tough fight, I came out victorious and placed Giratina in a pokeball.
He now lives in the Jubilife City ranch, where most of my Pokemon live.
The troubles were now over, but I still hadn't forgotten my mission, the one that Arceus gave me. To seek out all Pokemon.
It was tough finding all the Pokemon in the region and also document enough information about them to fill the Pokedex, but eventually, I finally did it.
The Survey Corps were pretty happy about it too :D
I also got the chance to meet Arceus again, and ascended the glowing stairs at the Temple of Sinnoh.
Arceus first congratulates me on finding all the Pokemon, then challenges me to a fight, noble Pokemon style.
My Arc Phone gave me some Mysterious Balms, and the fight started.
It was the toughest fight I have had so far. Arceus's Signature move, Judgement, changes types based on the type of its foe, allowing it to always deal supereffective damage.
After a few tries, I eventually earn Arceus's recognition, and it sends a fragment of itself to join me on my travels.
Whats next? Well, there's still plenty of things to do, from battle challenges such as the Eternal Battle Reverie, Path of Solitude and Path of Tenacity, to things like completing all the sidequests, and even going shiny hunting!
Favorite Features
My favorite feature is definitely the open world aspect that the previous games lacked. I absolutely love being able to yeet balls at multiple wild pokemon, and watching either 1)the cute little firework animation whenever a pokemon is caught, 2)the pokemon running away from me, and/or 3) the pokemon running towards me and attemping to murder me👍
The introduction of strong style/agile style moves, as well as the action order, are all welcome additions as well.
Here is how the action order works:
(Image taken from Bulbapedia)
Strong style moves hit harder, but make your next turn come later
Agile style moves dont hit as hard, but your next turn comes faster
If your pokemon is fast enough, you can achieve 0 damage taken by using an agile style move to speed up your next turn + get some damage done, and then use a strong style move to finish the pokemon.
Shiny Hunts are definitely also easier on Pokemon Legends Arceus! Because pokemon are roaming around the map, you can now spot a shiny without starting a battle with it!
If you're looking for a particular shiny, mass outbreaks are also helpful to increase your chances of finding them :D In fact, I got my first shiny Nosepass through a mass outbreak, I was simply trying to catch them for my Pokedex entry but a golden Nosepass appeared!
There's also a static encounter with a shiny ponyta through one of the side quests (update: i think they're called requests in game😅, been using the wrong term this whole time)
Fun Screenshots of my Journey
Here are some other random screenshots I took during my game, enjoy!
Howling at the moon?
Robbing the Ginkgo Guild Caravan (ft Pokemon God Arceus)
me dropping my phone
Beni, the Potato Mochi chef, is actually a ninja
