In honor of Pokemon’s 25th anniversary, the Pokemon Company had quite a few announcements recently. In early 2022, Pokemon Legends: Arceus will be coming to the Nintendo Switch, and it looks like it could be a big step towards the game Pokemon fans dream of.
What sets Pokemon Legends: Arceus apart is that it’s going to be an open-world RPG, something fans have consistently been asking for in the past several years. While Pokemon has consistently released entertaining games for the past 25 years, it hasn’t branched out very much and has yet to offer fans an open world where they can hunt and catch Pokemon in the wild.
The only thing that comes close to an open-world Pokemon game is the Wild Area featured in Pokemon Sword and Shield. This was a fairly large open area in the Galar region that allowed players to explore a wide range of landscapes and catch Pokemon, but it’s not a fully realized open-world game. On the other hand, Pokemon Legends: Arceus doesn’t look like it has any of that. In this world, Pokemon trainers are a completely new concept, gym leaders don’t exist, and the game may not even have a multiplayer element like its predecessors. That means its focus has to be entirely different and go beyond what Game Freak accomplished with Sword and Shield.
Set in the Sinnoh region before Pokemon training existed, a professor comes to town and tasks the player with hunting and catching all of the Pokemon in the wild to compile the region’s very first Pokedex. Pokeballs are still used to catch the creatures and players can fight alongside their Pokemon allies to capture new ones, but a whole game designed for exploring a vast world to hunt and catch Pokemon in their natural habitats will be a completely new experience for fans.
For a premise that lends itself to open-world gameplay so easily, it’s surprising that it’s taken The Pokemon Company so long to release a game like this. Its games have always sold well and are enjoyable, but the formula has never really changed. Pokemon Legends: Arceus is a turning point that will hopefully breathe new life and innovation into future games. Considering that Pokemon is celebrating its 25th anniversary, it’s time for a glowup.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus takes place in the Sinnoh region, the same location as the Pokemon Diamond and Pearl games (both of which are getting a remake as Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl). Sinnoh is just one of eight regions that have appeared in all the major Pokemon games, though. If Pokemon Legends is meant to be a new series of games, the major regions of Alola, Galar, Hoenn, Johto, Kalos, Kanto, and Unova might each have a shot at their own open-world RPG.
Each region also has its own population of legendary Pokemon to center the story around, so there are a lot of possibilities here. Admittedly, The Pokemon Company may have chosen the best one right off the bat—it’s hard to top Arceus, the god of Pokemon and the creator of the world—but it’s a direction that could be explored. The announcement didn’t specify if Pokemon Legends: Arceus was going to be a standalone game or if there’s going to be a series of games under the Pokemon Legends banner, but anything is possible.
If Pokemon Legends: Arceus is a standalone title in the Pokemon franchise, it may still open the doors to bigger open-world games down the line. For years, players have expressed a desire for an all-encompassing open-world Pokemon RPG that includes all eight regions, and of course, all the Pokemon that call those regions home. Having every region open to players in one game would not only constitute a massive and immersive gaming experience, but it would also give new meaning to the Pokemon catchphrase, “Gotta catch ‘em all.” The way the current series stands, no game includes every existing Pokemon. It’s certainly an ambitious request, and skeptics have already expressed concern about Game Freak’s ability to pull off its first open-world RPG, but Arceus could be the first step towards that dream game.
The other interesting and unique element of Pokemon Legends: Arceus is the story that will hopefully come with it. The game takes place in the distant past, long before Pokemon schools and trainers existed. This is exciting because it’s new and different compared to any other Pokemon game, but also because of the storytelling and world-building potential. Fans know a lot about the current world of Pokemon, but decidedly less about the origins of catching and training them. More developed narratives have also been on fans’ wish lists for a long time. While it’s too soon to tell if this new game will go in that direction, the groundwork is definitely there.
The Pokemon franchise has told some very memorable stories and each generation of games has a distinct plot, but the games have never changed the formula in a dramatic way. In contrast, the Pokemon Legends: Arceus trailer hints at a much larger story that could shape the lore of the Pokemon universe. Arceus, the legendary Pokemon who formed everything in the world, is connected to the player’s journey in a mysterious way that has yet to be revealed. Arceus wasn’t shown in gameplay, but as the namesake of the game, his role is sure to be critical to the story regardless of the scale.
Legendary Pokemon have been featured many times in the franchise’s history, but Arceus is the first to get his own game. Considering who Arceus is and the mythology associated with him, Pokemon Legends: Arceus could be about much more than just collecting Pokemon and compiling a Pokedex. In addition to being the first open-world Pokemon game, Pokemon Legends: Arceus could be the franchise’s first fully realized narrative.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus is still a mysterious game with lots of unknown details, but it’s the breath of fresh air many fans need. If the game is successful, it will expand the world of Pokemon and deepen the lore, which will have an impact on Pokemon games for years to come.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus will release on Nintendo Switch sometime in early 2022.
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