- Publisher: Nintendo , The Pokemon Company
- Release Date: Jan 28, 2022
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- Critic score
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- Unscored
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Feb 28, 2022Pokémon Legends Arceus is a successful attempt at making something new and fresh with the same concepts and ideas that have driven the franchise for thepast nigh on three decades. It is addictive, has charming characters and scenes, and has plenty of content to savour for fans of collectathons. It is a cohesive package on every front. This game is, however, embarrassingly clumsily put together from a graphical standpoint. This does not make it less enjoyable on a pure gameplay level, but during quiet times when little action is happening and players will want to take in what is presented on screen at face value, it is especially jarring. We loved the gameplay loop of Pokémon Legends Arceus, it has been one of the most engaging experiences to come out of Nintendo or Game Freak of the past few years, but it is well past time for either of those actors to finally take the right steps to solve this recurring lack of technical finesse from the series.
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Edge MagazineFeb 24, 2022If you've found yourself thinking Pokemon has been showing its age of late, Pokemon Legends: Arceus proves, like members of its playbase, it's more than capable of maturing, too. [Issue#369, p.114]
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Feb 23, 2022The refreshing gameplay of Pokémon Legends: Arceus reinvigorates a series that's become somewhat stale. Therefore it's a shame that the story, graphics and environments don't meet the same standard.
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Feb 21, 2022Ultimately, Arceus is a fun title that does an excellent job rewarding all facets of the Pokémon experience, which will undoubtedly end up flying past a lot of RPGamers who would enjoy it because of embarrassingly poor graphics. For those willing to tolerate the mediocre presentation, an entertaining experience is here for the taking. Hopefully, further experiences in the Legends style will be quickly forthcoming.
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Feb 14, 2022Not your usual Pokémon game, a step in a slightly different direction. Arceus isn’t without its faults, but it is fun – and that might be the most important quality of this experiment.
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Feb 9, 2022Pokémon Legends: Arceus is a huge step in the right direction, delivering on parts of the dream of being a pokémon trainer like never before. It's unfortunately also marred by a bland story, lackluster visuals and tons of small frustrations spread throughout.
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Feb 7, 2022For 2022, Nintendo has some new ambition for the Pokémon license! Pokémon Legends Arceus gives us a great semi open-world, which adapts well to the Pokémon formula. On the other hand, graphically, it's poor, simplistic and it feels like a game that is 15 years behind.
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Feb 2, 2022Pokemon Legends: Arceus is proof that Pokemon can evolve. It's taken 25 years but this feels like the first true evolution of the series; a far bigger change than moving from 2D to 3D. It feels like the awkward middle evolution though, as graphics, voice acting, and boss fights all need serious work. If this is the path that the series is headed down, then I can’t wait for it to evolve again because let’s face it, nobody remembers Quilava.
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Jan 31, 2022Pokemon Legends: Arceus successfully refreshes the very old formula of these classic games, bringing players back to the past of the Pokemon universe but at the same time moving game mechanics into the future.
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Jan 28, 2022Pokémon Legends: Arceus is an ambitious revamp that successfully revolutionizes the defining Pokemon experiences of catching and battling, but is unfortunately set in a drab, empty, and at times tedious world.
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Jan 26, 2022Pokémon Legends: Arceus is a step in the right direction for the aging series, even if its technical limits can't always support its ambitions.
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Jan 26, 2022Pokemon Legends: Arceus isn't the open-world Pokemon game fans have been waiting for, but it's still the most ambitious Pokemon experience yet, and a fun collect-a-thon in its own right.
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Feb 4, 2022A brave and interesting take on the Pokémon universe, but terribly flawed technically. If you can overcome this production's shortcomings, you'll be able to answer the usual call for adventure, still here for players old and new.
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Feb 3, 2022Pokémon Legends: Arceus is the game that many have wanted Pokémon to be for the last ten years. It also looks about that old and runs about that well too. It’s absolutely wonderful to finally have something genuinely new in this amazing series, but I’m also really hoping this is just the first step towards more experimentation with the formula, because now we’ve all been given a taste of what Pokémon could become.
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Mar 21, 2022Pokémon Legends: Arceus is close to being the Pokémon game I’ve always wanted, but falls short of perfection in ways that other games in the franchise have gotten right in the past. The sequel could very well be the best Pokémon game released so far.
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Jan 26, 2022Pokémon Legends Arceus should have been the next new step for the franchise but it turned out to be a disappointing experience.
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| This publication has not posted a final review score yet. | |
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Jan 26, 2022Pokémon Legends: Arceus is nowhere near a masterpiece, but it's definitely Game Freak's biggest and boldest statement to date. One that leans into the very roots of the franchise looking for a more interesting approach to the trainer-monster relationship, all wrapped up in a world that truly lives up to the mystery in its own name. [Recommended]
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Jan 27, 2022A fun playthrough for longtime fans who have gotten bored of the mainline Pokémon games or a good entry point for fans of open-world RPGs who want to build their first Pokémon team.
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Jan 26, 2022Is Arceus sort of like a fusion of what Pokemon Snap was dreaming of, and what Pokemon Go enables with augmented reality on phones, and what Breath of the Wild was to RPGs? Yes. Is it also a more traditionally open-world RPG than I'd prefer? Yes. But I can see where this is going. Whenever Nintendo leaps forward again with a next-gen console, Arceus might be a template for its future game franchises.
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Jan 26, 2022Inspired as much by Pokémon Go as it is Breath of the Wild, Pokémon Legends: Arceus is flimsy and compulsive - and exhilaratingly new. [Eurogamer Recommended]
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Jan 26, 2022It’s filled with excellent ideas aimed at changing a series that has largely grown stale. But some of the execution breeds frustration. Exploring the open world is freeing, but also awkward, until I unlock more travel options later in the game. Legends: Arceus is graphically dreadful, with flat textures and pop-in rampant in every area, but the Pokémon animate wonderfully. Still, I’ll gladly take an imperfect Pokémon game that takes a chance on something different, even if it’s not always successful. I could go on with Pokémon Legends: Arceus’ list of pros and cons for another 1,000 words only to further reinforce that the game is inconsistent. But Legends: Arceus is confident enough in its new direction that its missteps feel more like small annoyances than major issues – like a pebble in my shoe on an otherwise lovely walk.
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Jan 26, 2022The most important thing I can say about Arceus is that it’s a place I want to be in. As much as I loved previous Pokémon games, the worlds were very static and linear. I never really felt like I was exploring a vibrant world while walking back and forth in tall grass trying to level up my squad. Here, though — while it’s not exactly a realistic simulation of nature — it at least gives off the feeling of a real place full of danger and secrets, and all of the joy and excitement those things can bring. And it does all of that while retaining most of the best qualities of its predecessors. It’s still a Pokémon game. But with a changed perspective, it’s also something new.
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Feb 1, 2022I can’t help but feel that the Pearl and Diamond clans already have Jubilife Village’s “how do we coexist with Pokémon?” problem figured out and have for some time: respect their autonomy to be wild animals. The urge to catch them all and the question of “is catching them all really a good idea?” lives both in this game and in myself as a series fan. Game Freak’s answers haven't been great, but asking the question is at least a big step towards a more nuanced Pokémon world.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 2,951 out of 3825
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Mixed: 388 out of 3825
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Negative: 486 out of 3825
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Feb 2, 2022
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Jan 29, 2022This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view.
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Jan 29, 2022