Pokemon Legends: Arceus

 Switch
User Score
8.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 3825 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,951 out of 3825
  2. Mixed: 388 out of 3825
  3. Negative: 486 out of 3825
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  1. Hastings91
    Jul 29, 2023
    0
    Nintendo se ríe en vuestra cara y os encanta. Por eso y fanboys, un rosco.
  2. SaltyMaud
    Jun 13, 2023
    2
    Core gameplay loop is running from one resource node to the next while capturing each pokemon at least half a dozen times. Sometimes after stuffing their ass with berries first, sometimes after throwing "balls of mud", sometimes doing the same, but stealthily. I don't know who this appeals to, but it's not me. The zones are also void of any landmarks or points of interest, each zone isCore gameplay loop is running from one resource node to the next while capturing each pokemon at least half a dozen times. Sometimes after stuffing their ass with berries first, sometimes after throwing "balls of mud", sometimes doing the same, but stealthily. I don't know who this appeals to, but it's not me. The zones are also void of any landmarks or points of interest, each zone is just a handful of vaguely different biomes littered with materials to gather and pokemon to catch - it's basically a few different wild area zones, and frankly the DLC wild areas in SWSH were more interesting than these. Different pokemon species behave like each other - you got hostile pokemon that seem to spot you from way further than you can even lock on tho them, you got skittish pokemon that run away and despawn when they spot you, and you got neutral pokemon that don't give a sh*t but that's the extent of variation in pokemon behavior. The "boss fights" are ridiculously easy, and the AI is so basic it can get itself stuck in level geometry. There is no way you'll get hit by the telegraphed attack patterns more than once. Side quests are mostly fetch quests. There are literal hours worth of dialogue, none of it voice acted. You'll probably mash B through most of it. Scaling through the story is a bit wonky, there isn't much of a reason to put effort into your team when whatever the next zone offers is usually stronger and higher level anyway. Or you could just bruteforce capture alphas and be way overpowered to anything you'll currently face.

    Battle mechanics have been heavily bastardized for this game. ATB turn order turn order means turns are no longer taken simultaneously, resulting in situations where you may find yourself in a unfavorable matchup against a much faster pokemon, and you don't even get the chance to switch out before the enemy takes one - or more turns. The game is missing like 70%+ of moves, and the remaining moves have been simplified to fit the battle system. The list of missing battle features continues, there are no: priority moves, abilities, held items, weather control, terrain, hazards, speed control, multitarget moves and more. Moves that alter attack or defense now affect both physical and special, stat changes are now limited to a single stage, and they only last for a few turns which is an odd change for sure. Status can also now be overridden by another. There are no pvp battles, but you wouldn't want them with these battle mechanics anyway.

    There are some good quality of life changes, like the ability to swap out learned moves on the go, instead of having to visit the move reminder. On the other hand we have lost mobile access to PC, and we can't fast travel between zones. First you must return to base camp, load into town, leave the gates again, load into the zone and then move to your location - because just flying directly to any point of interest like in any other pokemon game would have been way too convenient.

    The game is pretty poor looking on a technical level, and the artstyle is inconsistent which is a shame, if the game stuck to the artstyle it could have looked decent. Soundscape is also pretty barren and the sparse use of background music doesn't help to hide it.

    PLA is different, I can respect that. But it's also in a lot of ways just straight up worse than previous pokemon games and it doesn't stand on its own as a openworld-esque rpg either. If you want to observe pokemon, play snap. If you want to battle pokemon, play SWSH. If you want a open world RPG, play BotW. PLA has some aspects of them all, but does it very poorly.    … Expand
  3. ScreenS
    Jun 5, 2023
    2
    If you want a great story in the Pokémon world, play anything else

    If you want rewarding gameplay and a fun loop, play anything else If you are a completionist, play anything else If you are competitively focused there’s no multiplayer, if you’re a solo player it’s still the worst main series game as there’s nothing to do beyond catching 50 of each Pokémon. A total waste of time and    If you want a great story in the Pokémon world, play anything else

    If you want rewarding gameplay and a fun loop, play anything else

    If you are a completionist, play anything else

    If you are competitively focused there’s no multiplayer, if you’re a solo player it’s still the worst main series game as there’s nothing to do beyond catching 50 of each Pokémon.

    A total waste of time and resources that tried to appeal to nobody and succeeded.    … Expand
  4. Weidenwiesel
    Apr 20, 2023
    3
    This game is painfully mediocre and boring.
    The only innovation they had with this game is "open world" that's it.
    It's just running around and dumbly throwing pokeballs at everything that moves. There is only one town which acts like a hub and multiple maps which all play in the same way. Go in, go to the quest markers and pray'n'spay pokeballs left and right. Almost no trainer    This game is painfully mediocre and boring.
    The only innovation they had with this game is "open world" that's it.
    It's just running around and dumbly throwing pokeballs at everything that moves.
    There is only one town which acts like a hub and multiple maps which all play in the same way.
    Go in, go to the quest markers and pray'n'spay pokeballs left and right.
    Almost no trainer battles, no multi-battles, stupid search and fetch sidemissions, still no voice-overs, unskippable tedious cutscenes and talks talks talks. Like, shut the f up and let me play the game!

    There is nothing keeping me playing this game.
    After 10hrs, I feel like I've seen everything.
    All of my pokemon are already twice the level of anything I encounter, including the very very few trainers you have to battle. I know the past pokemon games weren't challenging, but this is ridiculously easy. I'm falling asleep. I'ts pointless to continue.

    And when you finally meet one of these new king pokemon, all you do is throw balls at them until they submit. What the f is this?
    Where are the type themed gym battles?
    Where are the puzzles?
    Where are multiplayer battles?
    Where are the dark caves and interesting mountaintops?
    Where is the actual fun?
    Seriously cannot understand all the positive reviews.

    It's so boring. I'm glad I played this on an emulator and did not give these lazy devs any money.    … Expand
  5. Barny
    Mar 9, 2023
    0
    Absolute trash from beginning to nowhere. If you have the courage to pass the unskippable tutorials and dialogues (I gave up at the 3 hours mark), it is a testament to your wilful desire to endure pain.
  6. Elwoodwrap
    Dec 15, 2022
    2
    I gave this game a solid 15 hours before giving up from boredom. I just found the story to be boring and was not a fan of the controls or lay out. I like that Pokémon tried something new, but this did not do it for me.
  7. Lukas10
    Jan 31, 2022
    0
    Good idea for a game but horrible execution. Game is just boring for the most part and story make no sense.
  8. JulienK06
    Dec 11, 2022
    4
    Sadly the game is very repetitive after the first area, still fun but i miss the battles
  9. Redman_07
    Dec 10, 2022
    4
    Remove pokemon and it would be a 4-5. Nothing but hype. Gameplay is awfully repetetive and not demanding at all. Dead and empty landscape. Graphics, please. Holy. Stop celebrating bad games please!!!
  10. TeOne
    Nov 24, 2022
    3
    Dopo aver incassato milioni di dollari, questi ancora fanno giochi con questa grafica... Invece di inverstire questi soldi in programmatori capaci, noi dovremmo comprare sempre giochi che tecnicamente fanno sempre più schifo? Vergognatevi, Game Freak e Nintendo
  11. Shilach
    Nov 24, 2022
    0
    You haven't played it ? you haven't tried it ? You weren't sure about it ? WHAT are you waiting for XD It's such an awesome game! While personal taste, going to a more "old" time setting, is what I love most. So being in a pokemon game that took part in the past is amazing!

    Experience: It's great, interacting with pokemon, catching em without interacting is fun. Being able to craft    You haven't played it ? you haven't tried it ? You weren't sure about it ? WHAT are you waiting for XD It's such an awesome game! While personal taste, going to a more "old" time setting, is what I love most. So being in a pokemon game that took part in the past is amazing!

    Experience: It's great, interacting with pokemon, catching em without interacting is fun. Being able to craft pokebals like sweet! Pokemons being able to attack you, I'll tell you. I wish that there will be another title like this :) Hopefully jhoto in the past!

    Also for you people out there that NEVER got a shiny pokemon, this game will guarantee that you'll enjoy shiny hunting XD    … Expand
  12. SS_Ann96
    Nov 23, 2022
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Boring, repetitive and generally felt more like a proof of concept than an actual fully realised Pokémon game. Hated the battle mechanics and the boss fights. Only saving grace is the catching mechanic is fun for a while and the characters are mostly charming if a bit of a step down from SwSh.… Expand
  13. Be3nj
    Nov 22, 2022
    0
    Apesar de tudo é um bom jogo! A mecanica de captura te faz ficar entrertido por varias horas
  14. Stormsurfer
    Nov 20, 2022
    0
    looks like most reviewers only played the game for 3-4 hours, otherwise i cant explain myself all these good ratings
    game looks like trash and after a relatively short time everything just repeats
  15. gelida
    Nov 20, 2022
    0
    Gamefreak sembra non essere capce di fare giochi 3D, dovrebbe chiedere aiuto e affidare il lavoro grafico a un azienda che lo sa fare.
    Sulla grafica ci posso passare anche sopra, ma durante il giorno stare in un mondo tinto di rossastro/viola è un pugno in un occhio.
  16. Redqueen89
    Nov 18, 2022
    0
    It's boring story line and I don't like it don't have any gyms battles in it or anything
  17. KrillerBomb
    Nov 18, 2022
    0
    The very worst Pokemon game ever made, absolutely rubbish graphics and soulless gameplay, same thing over and over.
  18. MrNeedlemouse
    Nov 15, 2022
    1
    People seems like they need to lick every Pokemon game. This one is a flop. Story is boring, open zone is copy paste, only one town and bugs and glitch everywhere. It is so slow it made me sell it immediately. Graphic is the worst part.
  19. Dangusse
    Nov 14, 2022
    2
    completely rushed. it has some cool aspects to it, especially if you want to use it for shiny hunting, but the boss battles are all terrible, the ride pokemon function worse than 20+ year old games, and the graphics are become laughably bad, down to 1fps 2d sprites at like 30 yards away. the game is extremely imbalanced and has extremely clunky mechanics and slow/boring quests that againcompletely rushed. it has some cool aspects to it, especially if you want to use it for shiny hunting, but the boss battles are all terrible, the ride pokemon function worse than 20+ year old games, and the graphics are become laughably bad, down to 1fps 2d sprites at like 30 yards away. the game is extremely imbalanced and has extremely clunky mechanics and slow/boring quests that again are worse than games from when i was a sperm cell. this is not pokemon botw, it's a cash grab. it's shameful how small and empty the settlements are, as well as general move speed while walking being weird and uncomfortable - i have to click the left stick at all times in order to move faster than a snail? i have to constantly switch ride pokemon every 2 seconds, and if you use the braviary you are more than likely to instantly die on your first try because of how unacceptably bad the controls and it's movement are.

    i can't stress enough that this game has potential, but it barely feels like pokemon. i dont even look at what pokemon im using because the battles are all 1hkos that last 2 seconds, and this plus the extremely broken jet balls made it far too easy to get to max level very fast. critics are lying, fans who say it's good are either highly impressionable or have not made it far enough into the game to see how much of a leaky bucket the mid to late game experience is. also, almost all of the new pokemon variants appear to be trash in combat and many of them have very underwhelming design and backstory.    … Expand
  20. martinho_99
    Feb 20, 2022
    3
    I really really really can't understand how people can give 10 points to a substandard game. This game looks, feels, sounds and plays worse than games that came out 15 years ago. It may be kind of a new start for the franchise (I am a huge fan or at least I was). But the grafics are a disaster, the controlls are bad, there is no voice acting, sound affects are lazy made, animations areI really really really can't understand how people can give 10 points to a substandard game. This game looks, feels, sounds and plays worse than games that came out 15 years ago. It may be kind of a new start for the franchise (I am a huge fan or at least I was). But the grafics are a disaster, the controlls are bad, there is no voice acting, sound affects are lazy made, animations are ridiculously bad or non existing. Please be honest and compare it with games like God of War 4, The Last of Us, RDR2 etc., these are todays 10 points standard. Or even compare it with the level of other Nintendo games: Breath of the Wild, Mario Odyssey, Mario Galaxy, Luigis Mansion... Pokemon became Nintendo's worst games by far and this game is sadly not doing any better.… Expand
  21. Blindman
    Sep 30, 2022
    4
    Open world is nice.
    Catching pokemon is fun but catching the same one over and over not so much.
    Fighting pokemon is fun but fighting the same one over and over...... Boss fights are fairly terrible. English translation is very bad, hopefully better in Japanese but for those that don't have that option well its very sad. I gave it a 4/10 as I did complete it but I wish I had given    Open world is nice.
    Catching pokemon is fun but catching the same one over and over not so much.
    Fighting pokemon is fun but fighting the same one over and over......
    Boss fights are fairly terrible.
    English translation is very bad, hopefully better in Japanese but for those that don't have that option well its very sad.

    I gave it a 4/10 as I did complete it but I wish I had given up earlier.
    I rate this the worst pokemon so far.    … Expand
  22. Riverseagle
    Sep 19, 2022
    2
    This game is fun at it's core. I greatly enjoy running around the world and catching Pokemon.

    That being said, the fun core gameplay is presented in a horrendous low effort package of terrible environment work, awful lighting, hideously blurry and often muddy textures. Barebones animations , one dimensional characters that lack all substance and a story so lazily written it borderline    This game is fun at it's core. I greatly enjoy running around the world and catching Pokemon.

    That being said, the fun core gameplay is presented in a horrendous low effort package of terrible environment work, awful lighting, hideously blurry and often muddy textures. Barebones animations , one dimensional characters that lack all substance and a story so lazily written it borderline makes no sense.

    Pokemon Legends Arceus looks worse than PS2 games from 2004. While graphics don't make or break a game, it is hard to enjoy playing a game when it's hard to look at it. At it's core I don't even mind if a game doesn't look great. My favourite game of all time is a Gamecube port of a Dreamcast game. But Pokemon Legends Arceus, a triple A release from a studio like Nintendo being priced upwards of $90 in some regions, has no right looking and running as poorly as it does. It reeks of a low effort game rushed through to release.

    Some people will argue that it only looks bad because it is on the Switch. This is simply untrue. Beautiful games exist on the Switch. Just look at games like New Pokemon Snap, Breath of the Wild (the game this game tries to emulate), Monster Hunter Rise, Splatoon 3 and more.

    The Nintendo Switch's is not to blame for PLA looking and running as bad as it does.

    Game Freak not putting any effort into it is what's to blame and it's just disappointing.    … Expand
  23. Samuelebi
    Sep 10, 2022
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Gioco molto bello, entusiasmante, divertente ma la mia recensione è 0 perché non è compatibile per ps1… Expand
  24. Unkn0wn_Dev
    Aug 16, 2022
    2
    una porquería jugablemente, visualmente, narrativamente. El mundo está vacio y muerto, parece un apocalipsis, esta lleno de bugs, sus graficos son lamentables y el gameplay es aburrido. se nota que no le han puesto cariño ni empeño, hasta Pokemon espada y escudo (que tambien apestan) son mejores que esta cosa. no lo compren bajo ningún concepto. terrible
  25. Matthii
    Aug 11, 2022
    0
    Pokémon Arceus is a boring fetch quest game with grind mechanics that you can find in almost every mmo up to date. The uninteresting story and lifeless NPC's adds even more dullness to the game. The graphics also suck.
  26. amandra
    Aug 11, 2022
    4
    Exceedingly mediocre linear "fake open world" game. They copied so many great games and failed to deliver even a passable copy of any of them. There's some fun to be had here, but it's a completely skippable game.

    Bought for the kids who are obsessed with pokemon and they both moved on to other games after a few hours of game time. There simply isn't all that much value here. I played to    Exceedingly mediocre linear "fake open world" game. They copied so many great games and failed to deliver even a passable copy of any of them. There's some fun to be had here, but it's a completely skippable game.

    Bought for the kids who are obsessed with pokemon and they both moved on to other games after a few hours of game time. There simply isn't all that much value here. I played to help explain the mechanics and rushed through the second half of an abyssmal story. There's nothing to draw you back in if you aren't a sadistic completionist.    … Expand
  27. gamgam
    Jul 29, 2022
    0
    Can Scarlet and Violet please be a game where I don't have to run all over the map 50 times to finds little purple lights and die 50 times trying to chase down a pokemon that shoots confusion inducing tornadoes at me before I get a shot at the primary legendary in the game? It's just not fun. It's not.
  28. megarock327
    Jul 28, 2022
    4
    To be honest, I really wanted to like this game, but Legends Arceus is lacking in most fundamental elements that makes a good playable in the year 2022. The Pokemon in the game are lifeless NPC that are not cleverly made, and they just do the most basic of movements with no interaction to the surrounding Pokemon. The quests that are given are a chore to do. The open environments are dryTo be honest, I really wanted to like this game, but Legends Arceus is lacking in most fundamental elements that makes a good playable in the year 2022. The Pokemon in the game are lifeless NPC that are not cleverly made, and they just do the most basic of movements with no interaction to the surrounding Pokemon. The quests that are given are a chore to do. The open environments are dry with very little to offer, and the frame rate is atrocious.… Expand
  29. HoliwiUwu
    Jul 26, 2022
    0
    **** game, graphics worse than nintendo 3ds, bored gameplay. Bored characters, bored game.
  30. Phuz
    Jul 24, 2022
    0
    Well lets start with the village. The music, I could literally haul myself out of bed, boot up my PC and knock up a better song in around 30 minutes. And that is on the generous side. The village song is repetetive, not good to listen to and made of about two sounds. Who did you commission for the music? Fisher Price?

    Next the characters, all of them. Dislikeable, annoying and    Well lets start with the village. The music, I could literally haul myself out of bed, boot up my PC and knock up a better song in around 30 minutes. And that is on the generous side. The village song is repetetive, not good to listen to and made of about two sounds. Who did you commission for the music? Fisher Price?

    Next the characters, all of them. Dislikeable, annoying and completely void of personality.

    The visuals I don't care. They're not great but visuals don't make, or break for me. The gameplay loop. I just didn't enjoy it. As with Pokemon Sword this is the same, in that it is very difficult to get in to whilst playing Cybersleuth. I'm not a huge monster collecting fan but it does fascinate me and Digimon is great. Pokemon has just been dire. I mean 2x £40 games and they're **** So just as with Pokemon Sword I am yet again going to lose money trading in some half baked game. I have so many eshop games, some as low as 99p that are better than this.

    I love the music from the old Pokemon games and started playing the new games for that reason. What do I find though, the energetic music replaced with some washed out crap version and on this occasion just crap music.

    If you want to collect monsters and are older than 6 then just but Digimon Cybersleuth/Hackers Memory. Half the price and twice the enjoyment.

    Again I'm going to have to drive when I'm ill, to lose money exchanging a piece of **** game.

    Metacritic really needs minus scores in the system because all this junk has done is cost me time and money and caused boredom.

    At least Digimon Survive will be out soon.    … Expand
  31. Lov3Glov3
    Jul 19, 2022
    2
    I honestly don't understand this game. The point of the original games was to go on an adventure, battling other trainers, collect badges and catch all sorts of different pokemon. Now, you're basically confined to one area, battling rarely happens (it's honestly a second thought), and now you are catching multiple types of the same pokemon. It's almost like the developers looked at PokemonI honestly don't understand this game. The point of the original games was to go on an adventure, battling other trainers, collect badges and catch all sorts of different pokemon. Now, you're basically confined to one area, battling rarely happens (it's honestly a second thought), and now you are catching multiple types of the same pokemon. It's almost like the developers looked at Pokemon GO and thought, "we can make a AAA title for this, minus the bonus of going outside and interacting with others." I honestly don't understand how this is making pokemon fans happy.… Expand
  32. Cou
    Jun 30, 2022
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It is a fun game all in all. But i harshly lower the score immensely due to the post challenges. As a casual game it is a 8 out 10, however when you want to finish all missions or quest. The quest they given is outright time consuming and not worth the effort. This might as well be a rant. The reason is. Who is the right mind want to spent their time grinding a wurole to lvl 100 just to fight a staraptor?? Just to get a badge?? Sure it gives it longevity, but this is so irresponsible for game freak to think this was smart and clever. This is probably why I lost faith in pokemon games... and sadly they are proving that fact firther down the line. I will however say it was a breath of fresh air. But it stop after when the grinding starts.… Expand
  33. lalahand
    Jun 27, 2022
    1
    It has improvements compared to SwSh, but overall still a boring game. Map is very empty. Zero fun for exploring the map. This game ask you to repeatedly catch Pokémon, which is no fine and tiring.
  34. klambert
    Jun 12, 2022
    2
    This game had the potential to be so great. Alpha pokemon, the catching system for land-based pokemon, cyndaquil do be quillin'.

    Unfortunately, that's about where the good stops. The game looks absolutely terrible for an open world game. Damage is whack. Wild pokemon 40 levels below your alpha pokemon will wipe it in 2 1x effective hits. A wild alpha will wipe your entire party,    This game had the potential to be so great. Alpha pokemon, the catching system for land-based pokemon, cyndaquil do be quillin'.

    Unfortunately, that's about where the good stops.

    The game looks absolutely terrible for an open world game.

    Damage is whack.
    Wild pokemon 40 levels below your alpha pokemon will wipe it in 2 1x effective hits.
    A wild alpha will wipe your entire party, 20 levels above it, with one move.

    The maps load/render distance is terrible. They know the hardware of the system they made, do they not?

    Catching pokemon in water is hot garbage.

    Forced exp share is an ass idea that gives waaaaay too much xp, and yet, somehow, you're still *constantly* leveling random pokemon that nobody wants to use for no apparent reason to fill the pokedex information of pokemon you've already caught.

    The story is kind of meh, even for pokemon games.

    The "boss fights" are bad in every aspect, either being absurdly easy or zoning you in a corner for 2 straight minutes for literally no reason.
    All of this, and the game is still about a 7.9.

    So let's talk about the **** satchel.

    For absolutely no reason whatsoever, GameFreak limits your base inventory capacity to about 1/4 of the amount of berries in the game. The only way to get more is from satchel merchant, the single stupidest idea in the history of gaming. By the time you're spending 40k$ on a single inventory space expansion, you still can't hold every berry in the game. This continues, slowly increasing every purchase, up to a million. Why a million? Who knows. Will you ever have a million? No, likely not. Will satchel merchant ever have a million? Oh yes, he'll take it from you so you can hold more berries. Then, you lose items on fainting, and you can faint to a stream out of combat, for no reason other than shoehorning NSO where it doesn't belong.

    Now we're at a 2.5

    They also limit your starting pokemon storage space, despite insisting you catch every pokemon 17 times, though this does eventually start to expand on its own.

    They could have made this game so great. They improved a fair bit, then threw everything out with the baby and the bathwater to shoehorn in nonsensical garbage mechanics just because they could, and certainly not because they should.    … Expand
  35. Estifanos
    May 18, 2022
    0
    It's unnecessary for the heavy (pointless) dialogue and the throw away story. Barely able to play the game without offer of side missions or unskippable cutscenes.
  36. Nestrooo
    May 5, 2022
    0
    the best pokemon game period. It may not be the best representation of the series, but it's sooo good. the catching mechanics are very refreshing, the action focused boss battles are a unique take on the formula of the franchise, the story is actually interesting and the characters are straight up drippin. i also really like when the funny animals go swoosh.
  37. cube2kids
    May 3, 2022
    0
    This game is alright for 2012 wii game. This shouldn't be acceptable in any ways. Public pressure is the only way to get nintendo to understand.
  38. Calabasaloka
    Apr 22, 2022
    0
    Última review que hago sobre pokémon, o que hago, en general. Bueno, ni review voy a hacer, que pereza. Probablemente me crearé cuenta de backloggd, que es el tipo de web que estaba buscando. No perdáis tiempo en mediocridades como pokémon, ni en metacritic. Chao.
  39. Tsosmi
    Apr 8, 2022
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Even with the whole A-team working on something "new", the game is still on 360p. How can it look worse than BOTW? In true GameFreak fashion, they gave 90% of 50% ofw what they could do. The map is laughably small, the "" story"" is worse than anime-level, there's a whole ton of fan service, the design of the pokemon and moves are getting worse and the ghosting is on another level. You look at a landscape with 3 pokemon maximum at a time. Wait until i drops on price, if you are still interested.… Expand
  40. ToxikVermin
    Apr 7, 2022
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Everybody gather up for the latest cash grab release by everybodies favorite punchbag Pokemon. Not only did the trading card game go to **** but the videogames are diving in a lake of garbage. This game is an insult to the braindead fanbase that is slowly approaching the mental territory of your average Sonic that uses Teitter to share hus weird Sonic sexfanfics. PETA was right all along that Gamefreak and Nintendo are both abusers... abusers of their braindead fanbase. This game is also buttugly like that one show about the martians but with the difference that the show was atleast sorta entertaining. This game on the other hand is pretty embarassing. Thats all I can add to trashtalk Pokemon since Gamefreak is doing an better job at it then I do… Expand
  41. Zetav
    Apr 6, 2022
    0
    This game is so ugly words aren't enough to describe. The fact you have to get specific lord pokemon through story to help you and can only use them to fly and swim is annoying. Climbing is completely out if left field, it feels like a cheap version of breath of the wild, i want to play pokemon why is this feature there? It makes no sense and it just forces me look at the ugly graphicsThis game is so ugly words aren't enough to describe. The fact you have to get specific lord pokemon through story to help you and can only use them to fly and swim is annoying. Climbing is completely out if left field, it feels like a cheap version of breath of the wild, i want to play pokemon why is this feature there? It makes no sense and it just forces me look at the ugly graphics even more. I have very few good things to say, the alphas are the only enjoyable thing, like hunting for them and catching them is satisfying. The most important downside for me is the world is so visually ugly, i didn't expect that because previous games like let's go eevee were so beautiful visually, it was definitely a downgrade in that regard, a very glaringly obvious downgrade.… Expand
  42. EddTaz
    Apr 5, 2022
    0
    Parecera un juego de pokémon culaquiera, pero al iniciar partida te das cuenta que no es lo mismo que años anteriores, nueva jugabilidad, historia acertada, diseños decentes y todo es conlleva un maravilloso juego. podrás pasar horas de juego intentando completar la pokédex. es un maravilloso juego
  43. baelrog
    Apr 1, 2022
    0
    This game is absolute trash. Nintendo proves once again how much they try to provide bare minimum experience and then over charge because of the brand name. This game is visceral garbage on every level. The fights are boring, the story is lame, but worst off is the utter and complete waste of time. I swear the game changes spawn rates of certain Pokémon to waste your time. Over 3 hoursThis game is absolute trash. Nintendo proves once again how much they try to provide bare minimum experience and then over charge because of the brand name. This game is visceral garbage on every level. The fights are boring, the story is lame, but worst off is the utter and complete waste of time. I swear the game changes spawn rates of certain Pokémon to waste your time. Over 3 hours looking for one that’s supposed to be in a specific area and nothing. Do not buy this game, it’s trash. If anyone wants a free copy just pay for shipping, I’m never playing this POS game again.… Expand
  44. Ingleberg
    Mar 29, 2022
    4
    subpar graphics, subpar battling, repetitious, very little to say in the way of sound, too much pokemon aggro, makes it hard to do anything in an area sometimes without killing literally every mon in a 100 mile radius who sometimes even see you in the grass, weird system of ganging up on you, unintelligible and uninteresting story, questionable crafting, obnoxious side quests (most of themsubpar graphics, subpar battling, repetitious, very little to say in the way of sound, too much pokemon aggro, makes it hard to do anything in an area sometimes without killing literally every mon in a 100 mile radius who sometimes even see you in the grass, weird system of ganging up on you, unintelligible and uninteresting story, questionable crafting, obnoxious side quests (most of them at least), and a massive map that still some how makes it a pain to traverse. Also the new designs are butt ugly. That isn't to say there's nothing to enjoy about it, but i find it more tedious than fun, more sleep-inducing than exciting, and more discouraging than motivating. And some of the boss battle mechanics are really questionable.… Expand
  45. catdad89
    Mar 20, 2022
    2
    Bad story, boring chore gameplay, bad graphics. I stopped playing after 2-3 hours.
  46. HeraticParadox
    Mar 13, 2022
    4
    To start off with something good, I enjoyed the alpha Pokémon mechanic. I like that any Pokémon has a rare chance to spawn as an alpha, and I enjoyed hunting alpha variants of the Pokémon I wanted to add to my party. It made my party members actually feel special and unique from all the other Pokémon running around in the over-world. That’s pretty much where my praise for the game ends.To start off with something good, I enjoyed the alpha Pokémon mechanic. I like that any Pokémon has a rare chance to spawn as an alpha, and I enjoyed hunting alpha variants of the Pokémon I wanted to add to my party. It made my party members actually feel special and unique from all the other Pokémon running around in the over-world. That’s pretty much where my praise for the game ends. The core game-play loop of catching Pokémon and filling out the Pokédex was acceptable, although the boss fights felt really bland and out of place. I felt just entertained enough to keep playing, but it never really felt great. I often felt that it was just barely enough to let me ignore the game's glaring flaws for long enough to complete the game. Clearly the graphics and performance of the game are some of it’s low points. This game might be the worst AAA title graphically in video game history when compared with other AAA titles releasing within a year. There’s a ton of pop in, especially when flying and there are significant frame rate drops for objects that aren't even that far away from the player. That being said, the poor graphics and performance were hardly what I disliked most about the game. The writing in this game was just painful, which is a shame because the story had so much potential. There were some seriously good story beats there, but the writing just made everything feel flat. None of the characters are relatable, the choices you make feel meaningless, and everything from the main quests to the side quests just feel completely lacking in substance. On top of that, the Arc Phone might be the laziest game mechanic in the history of lazy game mechanics. Why on earth, would a character who is literally a part of the survey corps responsible for SURVEYING the land and Pokémon who live there not just make a map. Instead the Arc Phone just magically gives you maps of new areas, and the other points in the game when the Arc Phone activates is just sheer disrespectful hand-holding on the parts of the developers. They must seriously think their player base is the most unintelligent group of people on the planet earth. This game feels like a bare bones tech demo for a game set to release in a year or two. It’s a shame that more effort was not put into it, because I can see the potential and that, to me, is what makes the failure to give us a solid finished product so much more painful.… Expand
  47. Slmft
    Mar 7, 2022
    4
    The new ideas are fresh and exciting. But the game came out ~2 years too early. And it's bad and lazy developed from technical side. Good graphics are not a must have, but this is garbage. Too bad, that too many people still supporting Game Freak. Can't recommend the game for the people who played pokemon since gen1. Scores above 7 are unbelievable.
  48. piradingdong
    Mar 3, 2022
    4
    Repetitivo, mal diseño, un paso atrás en la saga en muchos sentidos, implementación de mecánicas nuevas completamente absurdas y mal llevadas a cabo, bugs y un sin sentido en cuanto a los combates, da la sensación de que una vez lo hicieron , no lo probaron después
  49. Poochingus
    Mar 3, 2022
    4
    This game is almost average. Gamefreak still has a long way to go to justify their literally biggest media franchise in the world budget.

    What this game did right is being a fun spin off with great out of the box thinking. It was fun to actually find new pokemon and keep coming back to interact with them. The concept was solid as could be. The feeling of pokemon being a genuine danger    This game is almost average. Gamefreak still has a long way to go to justify their literally biggest media franchise in the world budget.

    What this game did right is being a fun spin off with great out of the box thinking. It was fun to actually find new pokemon and keep coming back to interact with them. The concept was solid as could be. The feeling of pokemon being a genuine danger came across quite well, and it was fun to actually focus on how it would be in real life. I also enjoyed the different pokeball types too. I appreciate that for the most part, you are finally just allowed to explore and enjoy the game instead of being stopped every 10 minutes for some exposition. You get to take the story at your own pace. The actions in the game being tied to speed and having two additional combat styles was also a very neat concept that I think was done pretty well.

    That, sadly is about where it all ends. The bad outweighs the good. This is still a game that had the world of money behind it, and it felt more like an indie game than a real AAA game. Overall, the general UX and UI were half baked. I look forward to the day gamefreak realize you can speed up combat by adding a 2x, 4x, 8x speed shift too. Combat may start and end faster, but its slow as ever in the actual fights. Speaking of that, the battles were sparse and boring. They also often pit you against 2 or 3 enemies with your just 1. Why can't I use multiple pokemon per battle? They fell back on being to conservative in that aspect. Combat was sadly easier than any game to date, and I realized I hardly ever needed to fight. The boss fights were all literally the same, and it was boring every time after the first one. Graphics improved, animations improved, but are still sub-par, in time it seems that will be iteratively improving, but I don't excuse it either way in the here and now. The end of the story felt very rushed and messy. Overall the story had me rather bored, and side quests were also a literal waste of my time so I stopped doing them. There are no unique quest rewards, just common items I can craft in low quantities. Crafting, while interesting, was admittedly, rather limited. I'd have liked more than just 3 pokeball types. Also full heals were pointless because after battle you got cured of status conditions. Another weird thing was a glitch that for me at least, %100 accuracy moves would often miss, for both me and the enemy. The only items I ever seemed to use were pokeballs and potions, and then occasionally food to feed to wild pokemon for pokedex goals. The "HM" pokemon were nice here. They were a great idea in sun/moon but the goofy baby safety gear ruined the vibe, so here they looked good. However I did find the way they worked didn't quite make sense. The flying one was especially bad, it was really just slowly falling, not flying. The lack of ability to do anything multiplayer of note outside of trades was also wildly baffling. This could have been a chance to explore and fill out the pokedex together with a friend in the survey corps. and each task you both did together filled out both pokedexes at once. Of course the biggest thing missing is battles. Honestly why not let me battle someone else? Makes no sense except to keep people buying the terrible gen 4 demakes. This would make up for the fact that this game has no satisfying battles in it at all. Also they removed held items and abilites. So there is that.

    Overall I feel this was a promising step forward, but gamefreak still need to learn how to step up to the plate, and they need to stop pumping out games too fast. This will probably be my last pokemon game that I buy for myself. In future I may borrow a game or sail the high seas, but this feels like the last I'll be playing. The franchise is giving out at this point in the videogames department.    … Expand
  50. crispu
    Mar 3, 2022
    3
    Creo que todos estamos contentos con un Pokemon de mundo (semi)abierto con nuevas mecánicas como el sigilo. Sin embargo yo no estoy contenta con el resultado final de este juego, y no me refiero solamente al apartado gráfico.
    El problema aquí es que Pokemon Company es la empresa de videojuegos que más factura del mundo y tiene a GameFreak con 150 empleados sacando un juego de Pokemon al    Creo que todos estamos contentos con un Pokemon de mundo (semi)abierto con nuevas mecánicas como el sigilo. Sin embargo yo no estoy contenta con el resultado final de este juego, y no me refiero solamente al apartado gráfico.
    El problema aquí es que Pokemon Company es la empresa de videojuegos que más factura del mundo y tiene a GameFreak con 150 empleados sacando un juego de Pokemon al año. Juegos tan ambiciosos como este necesitan más tiempo de desarrollo y más cariño. Este juego no esta a la altura de los tiempos que corren, sobre todo viniendo de una empresa multimillonaria. Esto no es un juego indie.
    No voy a hacer incapié en el apartado gráfico porque salta a la vista los defectos que tiene, píxeles y dientes de sierra everywhere, incluso en primeros planos, un popping que asusta y mejor no hablar de los pinos esos.
    Hablando del gameplay, el juego en sí es entretenido, aunque el tutorial es bastante tedioso y al cabo de unas horas el juego se vuelve repetitivo. La exploración y los encantos del mundo abierto están bastante limitados por el mal diseño del mapa, hay veces que puedes escalar colinas a saltos y otras que no puedes sortear la piedra más pequeña, por ejemplo.
    A pesar de todas estas críticas, creo, sin embargo, que este juego marca la dirección correcta que debería seguir la franquicia por que tiene mucho potencial, simplemente me gustaría que Pokemon dejase de vendernos betas.    … Expand
  51. Fer1678
    Feb 28, 2022
    2
    Legends Arceus is a pretty disappointing game.
    The game has solid mechanics, but they have a lot of problems, and it's pretty likely they'll be forgotten for next games.
    It's unacceptable how the game actually limits the player in simple things like swiming, which is a human capability, I get that being helped by Pokémon for every simple task is something that comes all the way from 1st    Legends Arceus is a pretty disappointing game.
    The game has solid mechanics, but they have a lot of problems, and it's pretty likely they'll be forgotten for next games.
    It's unacceptable how the game actually limits the player in simple things like swiming, which is a human capability, I get that being helped by Pokémon for every simple task is something that comes all the way from 1st gen Pokémon games, but this game seemed like the perfect opportunity to change that, making the player interact in more ways with world the player is in, making exploration and catching Pokémon more enjoyable.
    My next point, the Pokémon battles are the same. Trailers hyped a lot of people by showing new refreshing battle mechanics, making it look like it was going to be more than just moving the stick and pressing the A button ... That before seing the reality. Once again, you are limited to a pretty repetitive turn based combat, and once again, I can see why people actually defend this because that is something that... Well, has been in Pokémon games since the very beginning, but I think I can speak for a lot of players when I say I would have liked to see and play with a different battle style.
    Graphic-wise this is mediocre. I can't see why people actually say it doesn't matter or actually say it is Nintendo's hardware fault, just take a look at BOTW, or some pretty heavy ports like Doom, Doom Eternal, The Witcher 3. Seeing forests with the bare minimung account of trees is disappointing, and it affects immersion. Some areas look plain, with almost no Pokémon to be seen until they pop out of nowhere. And no, I don't say this game needed Ray-Tracing or 4K textures, but as I said, just taking BOTW, that game looks much more solid in graphics.
    Once again, Gamefreak reuses 3Ds' Pokémon models, those that have come all the way from XY, and now they can't justify it AGAIN saying they wanted to make Pokémon look "better", because they are lacking animations in the world asides from walking, swimming or moving the 3D model with no additional animations from the ground to a tree... That until the Pokémon disappears. This game has less Pokémon than Sword / Shield, and that is shameful.
    This was the perfect game to add voice acting, and I can't see why they can't do it, it could save immersion, make the game more enjoyable and actually help convey the emotions of the characters, but once again, they didn't, making the game feel plain, literally wasting somewhat of a decent story the game is trying to tell. A lot of games, even f2p games have high quality voice acting.
    Nintendo Switch has shown to be capable of more than this stuttery mess. And I can't believe this game took ALL of Gamefreak's attention, making BDSP as bad as they are. These two recent Pokémon games have made me see that anual releases may not be the way to go if we want to see decent quality again in Pokémon games.    … Expand
  52. 21gramos
    Feb 28, 2022
    3
    Es una lastima para los verdaderos fanáticos de pokemon que en 2021 nintendo tenga los huevos de sacar esta basura
  53. supersaiya
    Feb 28, 2022
    0
    poikemon es un juego rpg, no es un juego de combates de accion,no es un dark souls y los combates contra los jefes con ese nivel brutal de dificultad arruinan totalmente el juego.
  54. RaizSaiyan
    Feb 28, 2022
    1
    Gamefreak gibt sich null Mühe, denn sie wissen das sich jeder Pokémon Fan dieses Game kaufen wird egal wie Sch*isse es aussieht. Und sowas unterstütze ich nicht.
    Arceus sieht aus als hätte es ein 3 Jähriger entwickelt!
  55. iliaszopfi
    Feb 25, 2022
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Schwaches Spiel... (Meiner Meinung nach)
    Grafik
    Gameplay
    Modelle in Dörfern
    Unabwechslungsreiche modelle    … Expand
  56. Ughduty
    Feb 24, 2022
    0
    Boss battles are trash and unfair. The main difficulty here is to jump around fast enough. I don‘t like such sh.. in a strategy RPG.
  57. neizod
    Feb 21, 2022
    2
    The exploration is really bad to the point of unforgivable. Traveling through the world is just not fun since it's hard to press run button (why not B like other games?). And there are too many "vehicles" for the mode of travelling, with the ill design UI to switching between them. Also the company really don't know how encourage players by placing good fast-travel spots; like, there areThe exploration is really bad to the point of unforgivable. Traveling through the world is just not fun since it's hard to press run button (why not B like other games?). And there are too many "vehicles" for the mode of travelling, with the ill design UI to switching between them. Also the company really don't know how encourage players by placing good fast-travel spots; like, there are no fast-travel before bosses or important battles, so you can't adjust team or select items right there and try again. So good luck running around the world again and again with the worst experience.

    On the other hand, the combat system is super screwed. The 3-on-1 is totally cheated... Like they don't know how balance the difficulty for a fair 1-on-1 combat. So hey, lets just **** up the players by let opponent throwing 3 pokemons out at once >:(    … Expand
  58. NickDark
    Feb 21, 2022
    2
    The game might be great but these graphics make me puke. Mario 64 looks more pleasing in my eyes. It's like a beta fan made game made by 1 person.
  59. ZombieNinja_217
    Feb 20, 2022
    0
    not open world and kinda boring. graphics are pretty bad. the beginning of the game has a ton of dialog.
  60. Nikodu
    Feb 19, 2022
    2
    How do you defend a game of this quality?
    The Pokémon franchise is one of the most profitable and people keep justifying Game Freak for this garbage. I'm glad they brought something new, but the quality is really poor, it's about time everyone let them know.
  61. hecatombeZ
    Feb 18, 2022
    2
    Juego desfasado gráficamente en todos los sentidos el único punto bueno la nueva mecánica de atrapar y combate,en todo lo demás muy por debajo de todo lo de hay actualmente.
  62. AK1994556
    Feb 14, 2022
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Boss fights aren’t thought out properly. Too many bugs and sloppy development… Expand
  63. CazzMiei
    Feb 14, 2022
    1
    the actual 8.3 is too much for this, my real rate is 5.9.
    nice game but orrible graphic and my aspettative about the company are higher than this result
  64. Love_mymom96
    Feb 14, 2022
    4
    For a person who has only played Pokémon games for their entire life, who are experiencing an open world game for the first time, this is revolutionary, this is a solid 100. If you play many franchises, or even multi platform, the game is mediocre in every way. It’s a bunch of good ideas terribly executed. The game feels poor (budget) regardless on The Pokémon Company being a 100 billionFor a person who has only played Pokémon games for their entire life, who are experiencing an open world game for the first time, this is revolutionary, this is a solid 100. If you play many franchises, or even multi platform, the game is mediocre in every way. It’s a bunch of good ideas terribly executed. The game feels poor (budget) regardless on The Pokémon Company being a 100 billion dollar empire. Their product doesn’t reflect their power at all.

    If you are just curious to try a Pokémon, this will fell just like what it is, with no fanaticism and biased thoughts, a mediocre basic and rough game.
    Get Pokémon Sword & Shield.    … Expand
  65. CzarSquid
    Feb 13, 2022
    0
    People are suckered into buying an unity asset flip game marketed as AAA game.
  66. luchieh
    Feb 13, 2022
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Final boss is too cheap, that is not fail at all. It’s not beyond type, it insulting.… Expand
  67. ywbote
    Feb 12, 2022
    0
    Нет русского языка. Очень плохая графика.Нет русского языка. Очень плохая графика.Нет русского языка. Очень плохая графика.Нет русского языка. Очень плохая графика.Нет русского языка. Очень плохая графика.Нет русского языка. Очень плохая графика.Нет русского языка. Очень плохая графика.Нет русского языка. Очень плохая графика.Нет русского языка. Очень плохая графика.Нет русского языка.Нет русского языка. Очень плохая графика.Нет русского языка. Очень плохая графика.Нет русского языка. Очень плохая графика.Нет русского языка. Очень плохая графика.Нет русского языка. Очень плохая графика.Нет русского языка. Очень плохая графика.Нет русского языка. Очень плохая графика.Нет русского языка. Очень плохая графика.Нет русского языка. Очень плохая графика.Нет русского языка. Очень плохая графика.… Expand
  68. Premier991
    Feb 12, 2022
    0
    This game has inexcusable graphics. It looks like they pulled the blocky graphics from the original Roller Coaster Tycoon game. I have seen better graphics on GameCube. It looks soooooo bad! I have concluded the devolpers have no graphical talent.
  69. kchewz_official
    Feb 9, 2022
    2
    Lack of polish and horrible graphics don't make up for a few minor gimmicks. The game is still years behind.
  70. Top27-
    Feb 9, 2022
    0
    Uno scandaloso gioco tecnicamente di inizio 2000, gameplay semplice ma non noioso, trovo scandaloso però che un azienda che fattura miliardi e con questi numeri di vendite un prodotto del genere lo trovo inaccetabile.
  71. Cloudywolf
    Feb 9, 2022
    0
    Si este juego lo hace Sony o Microsoft se llevaría un 6 en metacritic, pero como es Nintendo y su nombre es Pokémon....
  72. Soller_101
    Feb 8, 2022
    0
    Круто ловить покемонов в открытом мире, но к сожалению есть графические артефакты и не высокое разрешение. Самый главный минус отсутствует русский язык. Нинтендо пожалуйста добавьте русский язык!
    It's cool to catch Pokemon in the open world, but unfortunately there are graphic artifacts and low resolution. The most important disadvantage is the absence of the Russian language. Nintendo    Круто ловить покемонов в открытом мире, но к сожалению есть графические артефакты и не высокое разрешение. Самый главный минус отсутствует русский язык. Нинтендо пожалуйста добавьте русский язык!
    It's cool to catch Pokemon in the open world, but unfortunately there are graphic artifacts and low resolution. The most important disadvantage is the absence of the Russian language. Nintendo please add Russian!    … Expand
  73. samichsupernova
    Feb 8, 2022
    4
    I wasn’t sure what to make of PL:Arceus when it was first announced. On the one hand, GF and TPC appeared to be changing up the battle mechanics & adding real-time elements. On the other hand, its poor graphics and empty overworld left a lot to be desired. It was also unclear whether the game would be an experimental one-off, or an attempt to change/evolve the series’ core mechanics. AsI wasn’t sure what to make of PL:Arceus when it was first announced. On the one hand, GF and TPC appeared to be changing up the battle mechanics & adding real-time elements. On the other hand, its poor graphics and empty overworld left a lot to be desired. It was also unclear whether the game would be an experimental one-off, or an attempt to change/evolve the series’ core mechanics. As someone who’s played since the very first titles but finds the latest entries to be stale and disappointing, I went in with very low expectations.

    Pokemon Legends: Arceus’ trailers promised a decent story, and while I can attest that the writing receives more focus than usual, the presentation frankly sucks, as there’s still no voice acting, with most interactions consisting of characters awkwardly standing & talking.

    The real draws are the revamped combat and catching systems. The changes to gameplay, while not perfect, make Arceus initially far more captivating than its preceding games. First and most importantly, you can aim Poke Balls to interact directly with Pokemon on the field, & while exploring, you’ll be able to easily shuffle who’s next in line to battle, as well as send them to harvest materials from trees, shrubs, and mineral outcroppings, essential for crafting healing items and Poke Balls.

    Many Pokemon will either run or attack your avatar on sight, so you’ve got options - dodge like it's Dark Souls, sneak around and try to nab them without being spotted, ambush with your Pokemon to start a fight, lure/repel them with food, or run away. You’ll also get multiple Pokemon mounts to ride across the game’s several open areas.

    Combat is tweaked in many minor ways. While you’ll be dodging occasionally, aside from bosses, you don’t fight Pokemon in real-time, so the traditional four-move, turn-based core combat remains. The game introduces Agile and Strong variations to attacks (faster and weaker VS stronger and slower). Best of all, your Pokemon’s moves can now be easily switched outside of battle, making it infinitely more convenient to swap movesets. It really opens up a lot of possibilities - you can have your starter be a sweeper in one battle, and a defensive mon-catching tool in the next. Held items no longer exist. Status effects are tweaked, with most being weaker, and they thankfully disappear after each battle.

    These changes, as well as the limited pool of teachable moves, make certain builds, such as dedicated physical and special sweepers, far more effective. It’ll be in your interest to get battles done as quickly as possible, especially since you’ll often find yourself fighting multiple wild Pokemon at once with just one of your own. For the most part, the changes also help the game to flow smoother, since you’ll be covering a lot of ground in the great outdoors, often atop mounted Pokemon. However, due to the kneecapping of potential builds owing to the removal of breeding, and lack of variety in your foes making fine-tuning an afterthought, I grew bored of the battles halfway in.

    There are no gyms, no breeding, and very few trainer battles. Instead, you’ll spend time gathering/crafting, and on the Pokedex. This time your dex entries don’t end with just catching and trading. You’re also tasked with specific battle tasks. You’ll only need to fulfill ten challenges per Pokemon, so while it isn't daunting, it does feel like busywork.

    That brings me to the game’s biggest weakness - the world itself - and I don’t just mean the fact that there are limited ways to interact with the environments, or that the 242 Pokemon are a mixed bag of species. While the Pokemon models are often well-animated, the day-night and weather cycles add variety, and the game runs smoothly with minimal loading, there’s no sugarcoating the fact that the graphics and environments are subpar, featuring empty worlds, trees & textures that would look bad on the GameCube, pop-in and heavy aliasing, & a bland color palette tempered by muted art direction.

    It's a testament to the strength of Arceus’ core mechanics that the bland environments, lack of trainer battles, and unfinished feel of the game don’t completely sink the experience. Perhaps it’s because my expectations were so low going in, but I can safely say that in spite of its many faults, Arceus is the most fun I’ve had with a Pokemon title since the days of the DS. It also shows that the franchise in general still has potential. That may sound like faint praise from someone who has been critical of the mainline franchise for years, but I think most fans will appreciate the real-time elements, the easily-swappable movesets, and the additions to the world-building and lore. My only hope is that Nintendo is able to build upon what was established in this title and utilize it to take the franchise forward in a bold new direction. Rated 4/10 to balance out all the shills.    … Expand
  74. CloudXz
    Feb 3, 2022
    0
    This Game is absolut bad. One of the worst Games i ever played. Graphics are Trash, the Gameplay is just Awful, the Story is a Joke and the Balance dosen't exists. Worst Game i ever played on the Switch. I hate everything about it.
  75. Clleavage
    Feb 8, 2022
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Things start off fun and exciting but quickly become redundant and monotone. Completing the pokedex is overkill and after completing the game you wonder why you actually even bothered trying to complete any of the side quests giving you nothing but a few additional resources.

    The store is a joke, you'll never actually have to buy a pokeball or potion for the entirety of the game

    The lack of other villages or towns in the game is pretty horrendous. Only another village and yet nothing worthwhile to the storyline to do there.

    As other critics have mentioned, the NPCs are also blatantly empty.

    To me the only worthwhile point to this game is the storyline and even there they could've cut to the chase at the end instead of adding double and triple plot twists!

    Completed the game and tossed it in my completed game section. May or may not take it out for DLCs if any in the future but it really feels like DLCs should have been part of the game in the first place.

    Overall verdict:
    Borrow it from a friend, complete the story and don't bother complete the pokedex, buying stuff or doing side quests. They give little to no addition to the game    … Expand
  76. sinetic
    Feb 8, 2022
    0
    the game is made on the idea that has been made by may fans more than 10 years ago. the graphics are worse than 20yo games.
  77. Pill91
    Feb 8, 2022
    0
    Tiene unos Bugs que hace que el juego sea horrible, no sean idiotas, no compren esa porquería o basura. Y los gráficos, parecieran que lo hicieran niños japoneses de 5 años!
  78. Quart22
    Feb 7, 2022
    0
    Quite the different Pokemon game from the main line series. However, this is one of the best Pokemon gaming experiences I've ever had. 10/10. 100% would recommend to fans of the franchise.
  79. PHE_AT_SL
    Feb 7, 2022
    1
    Legends Arceus is just incredibly ugly. In addition, so much is not ideally thought through and is boring and repetitive. I just don't know how an "established" company like GameFreak has so little attention to detail. I just miss it in too many places. No.. Without me.
  80. nezeeqko
    Feb 7, 2022
    0
    Gameplay is more repetitive than previous games, NPC don't even have voice acting making cutscenes and conversations boring (NPC grunts etc), wild Pokemons are just walking mindlessly with no simple routines making the game feels more lifeless (for example in Monster Hunter Stories 1 and 2 you can see monsters sleeping, eating and in Stories 1 some monsters like Velocipreys are going outGameplay is more repetitive than previous games, NPC don't even have voice acting making cutscenes and conversations boring (NPC grunts etc), wild Pokemons are just walking mindlessly with no simple routines making the game feels more lifeless (for example in Monster Hunter Stories 1 and 2 you can see monsters sleeping, eating and in Stories 1 some monsters like Velocipreys are going out hunting preys, and it was a 3DS game).

    Graphics are horrendous. In a game where 90% of the time you were walking out in the world, at least make the world looks decent (it was worse than a 3DS game). Character models are a total downgrade from Sword and Shield, like HOW? Imagine visual artists working in another game trying to make their game looks as pleasing as possible only for Pokemon re-tarts to say they work doesn't matter because "GrApIcHs ArEn'T eVeRyThInG". I don't say that Pokemon need 4K ultra-realistic visuals, all im saying is at least make it looking better than fecking Wii games.

    My biggest offender in this game is the animations. Monster Hunter Stories 2 and SMT V are proof that a monster collecting game can have good animations. Unsurprisingly, Pokemon continue it trends to make sub-par animations that feel robotic and unnatural. Just try compare MHST 2 animations to PLA.

    TLDR: In my offensive opinion, **** game made by **** developers played by nostalgia blinded fans who never play any other game than Pokemon.    … Expand
  81. navi14
    Feb 7, 2022
    0
    Es una vergüenza para los videojuegos que esta cosa tenga mas de un 2, es un juego simple, fácil y si me dicen que es un juego de ps1 me lo creo.
  82. Merro
    Feb 6, 2022
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game have bad graphics, bad design, boring grind fest loop. This is embarrassing for the most popular franchise in the world. What's the point in growing Pokémon if there aren't any trainers. It's a grind fest in an ugly environment. No music, voice acting or story.
    The best lava and water graphics ever, almost better than sea of THIEVES. GAMEFREAK MADE A MONEY GRAB.    … Expand
  83. SamirMrtnz
    Feb 6, 2022
    0
    Un juego decepcionante, apartado gráfico de risa, jugabilidad la misma por turnos pero al menos ahora es un "mundo abierto", tiene excesivos diálogos que las primeras horas de juego te la pasas más hablando que explorando ese mundo abierto, y aunque la historia nunca a sido el fuerte de pokemón es increíble que hagan algo tan malo; creo que todos tenemos en mente el pokemón perfecto, yUn juego decepcionante, apartado gráfico de risa, jugabilidad la misma por turnos pero al menos ahora es un "mundo abierto", tiene excesivos diálogos que las primeras horas de juego te la pasas más hablando que explorando ese mundo abierto, y aunque la historia nunca a sido el fuerte de pokemón es increíble que hagan algo tan malo; creo que todos tenemos en mente el pokemón perfecto, y este juego quiso hacer eso, pero el resultado a quedado horroroso, por favor Gamefreak ponle ganas… Expand
  84. DbMixolydian
    Feb 6, 2022
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Pokemon Legends was an extreme disappointment for me. I was super hyped for this game as a lifelong Pokemon fan, but also as an RPG fan. This game fell short of my expectations in several different categories.

    Firstly, the combat feels horrible to me. They revamped the stats and combat system for Pokemon Legends, but it doesn't feel good. Every move hits so hard, and you will often lose several Pokemon battling a wild Pokemon. You will almost always lose a few when fighting an Alpha Pokemon or a Noble Pokemon. A lot of people seem to think this makes the game more challenging, but to me it just made it more frustrating. I still never blacked out or lost my entire party, I just had to craft a boatload of revives and potions after each fight.

    In addition to this, they removed abilities from the game and instead added "Agile" and "Strong" style moves. You can use agile to perform and weaker attack, or strong for the opposite. While this seems cool in theory, battles rarely ever last long enough to reward using agile style. I personally feel like abilities made Pokemon more unique and provided for a more interesting combat experience. Overall, I tried to avoid encounters with wild Pokemon and catch them without entering combat if possible.

    Secondly, the story blows. One of the main appeals to most RPGs is their stories. The Witcher, Skyrim, Horizon Zero Dawn, etc. all have deep stories with plenty of twists and turns that keep you engaged. The story in Pokemon Legends is extremely vague and offers very little conclusion even upon full completion. You're basically a kid who fell through a space-time distortion into ancient Sinnoh where Pokemon are going crazy. Upon completion of the story and the entire Pokedex, you still haven't figured out who you are and why you fell through the space-time rift to begin with.

    Third, calling this an "open-world RPG" is laughable. The game is extremely linear and you are bound to certain areas until you complete the main quest. This isn't like Skyrim, Fallout, or Breath of the Wild where you can freely go where you please and complete the story how you like. There are no meaningful choices involved at all. You can explore the areas you've unlocked to your heart's content, but there aren't really any side stories or anything. The world is bland and lacks depth. There aren't any cool puzzles or hidden areas to discover. Ultimately, this just felt like a different take on the existing Pokemon games. It certainly didn't feel like the revolutionary open-world RPG that it was hyped up to be.

    Lastly, I tried not to judge this game too harshly off of graphics and performance, but unfortunately, it is impossible to overlook that aspect of the game. This game plays and looks worse than Skyrim, a 2011 game. There are FPS drops that make the game laggy and feel bad regardless of whether you play handheld or docked. I know the Switch isn't a very powerful system, but it sure ran Breath of the Wild a heck of a lot better.

    Overalll, I think Pokemon Legends is a cool idea with awful execution. While it was enjoyable at times (especially in the beginning) doing the same thing over and over got old pretty fast. This game feels close to being something awesome but falls short in way too many crucial areas for me to warrant giving it more than a 3 or a 4 at best. Unfortunately, due to the shockingly good reviews this game has gotten so far, I don't think Game Freak or TPC will make efforts to improve on these areas in the future, and Pokemon will continue to go downhill as a franchise.    … Expand
  85. sulaco426
    Feb 6, 2022
    0
    its bland, ugly and boring as hell. the worst pokemon game in history. it feels like a bad fangame
  86. igor_velikiy
    Feb 6, 2022
    0
    Spend at least a cent on development. The game is sold in huge numbers, you can afford it.
  87. xXFedericXx
    Feb 6, 2022
    0
    A low quality graphics for a 2006 game. Seems to play Metin 2. rendering problem, purple spots around the world, etc...
  88. BigThomas
    Feb 5, 2022
    0
    Terrible game. Visuals are horrible, the world is barren and dry. People only say this game is good because it’s a step forward but if game freak can’t put in the effort to make a good game there is no point buying any future Pokémon game until they do. They know that anything with Pokémon in the title will sell. Trust me I really wanted to like this game but with all these issues and bugsTerrible game. Visuals are horrible, the world is barren and dry. People only say this game is good because it’s a step forward but if game freak can’t put in the effort to make a good game there is no point buying any future Pokémon game until they do. They know that anything with Pokémon in the title will sell. Trust me I really wanted to like this game but with all these issues and bugs I cannot. To have a game released in 2022 to look worse than games released on launch with switch. I cannot support a game that looks like the world has been through 4 nuclear winters.… Expand
  89. Hbrass23
    Feb 5, 2022
    0
    Between textures running at 240p, horrible white artifact pop-up whenever the game gets dark, bad draw distances and pop up, and distant pokemon often running at 2fps, this game is visually embarrassing. The battles aren't cooler or different. You can just move your character during them which is purely cosmetic. Sometimes you get 1v2 or 1v3 battles, even against trainers but you cantBetween textures running at 240p, horrible white artifact pop-up whenever the game gets dark, bad draw distances and pop up, and distant pokemon often running at 2fps, this game is visually embarrassing. The battles aren't cooler or different. You can just move your character during them which is purely cosmetic. Sometimes you get 1v2 or 1v3 battles, even against trainers but you cant send out another mon and theytook out aoe attacks. This feels like a f2p mmo from the early 2000s minus all of the other people.… Expand
  90. Bondi
    Feb 5, 2022
    0
    Si saliera 20 dólares estaría bien, pero vos estás cobrando un juego a 60 dólares con unas visuales que me dan dolor de ojos literal, una gran basura.
  91. Lartif
    Feb 5, 2022
    0
    Its soo ugly... This game somtimes look like psx 1 game... Its 2022... This game look like 1999 game... Dont buy!
  92. HaraldTheLord
    Feb 5, 2022
    0
    Graphics are unbelievable bad and the gameplay is repedetive, you‘re just running from quest marker Top quest marker.
  93. Ultra_145
    Feb 4, 2022
    0
    Este juego esta muy mal hecho, hay poping en las texturas, las colisiones estan muy mal hechas, puedes interactuar con una puerta desde la pared de al lado, te lo venden como mundo abierto, pero en realidad es un juego estilo monster hunter, es decir, mapas semi abiertos, son abiertos si, pero no es un mundo abierto, y el juego consiste en atrapar el mismo pokemon mil veces para avanzar enEste juego esta muy mal hecho, hay poping en las texturas, las colisiones estan muy mal hechas, puedes interactuar con una puerta desde la pared de al lado, te lo venden como mundo abierto, pero en realidad es un juego estilo monster hunter, es decir, mapas semi abiertos, son abiertos si, pero no es un mundo abierto, y el juego consiste en atrapar el mismo pokemon mil veces para avanzar en la historia, para mi, la saga perdio toda su magia en las entregas de 3DS.… Expand
  94. SammyHauguth
    Feb 4, 2022
    2
    The Noble Arcenine made me hate this game, how in the world could they even consider this being good?! How am I suppose to avoid arcenine? The space is so tiny...
  95. rawwggplat
    Feb 4, 2022
    4
    Es un juego de Pokémon y tenemos sentimientos encontrados, no puede ser que haya un retroceso gráfico en 2022, que prometieran en un primer momento mundo abierto y lo modificaran a mundo encajonado y lo tosco y poco dinámico que son los controles, da la sensación que aceleraron los procesos y el lanzamiento.

    Es cierto que ha supuesto un cambio, nuevas dinámicas, pero tenían que hacerlo    Es un juego de Pokémon y tenemos sentimientos encontrados, no puede ser que haya un retroceso gráfico en 2022, que prometieran en un primer momento mundo abierto y lo modificaran a mundo encajonado y lo tosco y poco dinámico que son los controles, da la sensación que aceleraron los procesos y el lanzamiento.

    Es cierto que ha supuesto un cambio, nuevas dinámicas, pero tenían que hacerlo tan similar a Monster Hunter y no tratar de ver una fórmula propia? Es un juego que cuando lo terminas o lo revendes o lo dejas en un rincón tomando polvo.    … Expand
  96. Turtl3_Speed
    Feb 4, 2022
    0
    Battles are boring and the exploration is very lackluster. Clearly Nintendo had shipped out here and it’s going to be the second version that would probably be worth playing.
  97. Miser_Able
    Feb 4, 2022
    0
    Always trying to make something completely different and sell it by the name they put on it let's break it down if you change everything about something can you still call it the same thing let's say I artificially produce an orange when you see it it looks like an orange but as you begin to peel it you notice that it's green on the inside and instead of being juicy and squishy it's crispAlways trying to make something completely different and sell it by the name they put on it let's break it down if you change everything about something can you still call it the same thing let's say I artificially produce an orange when you see it it looks like an orange but as you begin to peel it you notice that it's green on the inside and instead of being juicy and squishy it's crisp like an apple and taste like a jalapeno, so you assumed it was an orange by the surface without delving deeper in and creating an opinion so now I ask how many of you would still call this monstrosity an orange because I certainly would not. This has been the same scenario with most switch games you people are to skiddish to say you dislike something in today's society or you're just not prone to thinking for yourself and let the media and other outside information strongly influence your opinion… Expand
  98. Jinouga
    Feb 4, 2022
    2
    The absolute minimum. A review.

    With Pokemon Legends: Arceus, Gamefreak has created a game, that is on the one hand loved and praised to heavens and on the other hand, objektively critisesed to bare bones. But how is this even possible? Wouldn't a really good game be critisesed only by haters without any foundational and objektive reasoning? Pokemon Legends: Arceus tries to be and is    The absolute minimum. A review.

    With Pokemon Legends: Arceus, Gamefreak has created a game, that is on the one hand loved and praised to heavens and on the other hand, objektively critisesed to bare bones. But how is this even possible? Wouldn't a really good game be critisesed only by haters without any foundational and objektive reasoning?

    Pokemon Legends: Arceus tries to be and is very different from your classic Pokemon game. The changes in gameplay are refreshing and it's clear, that Gamefreak finally pushes Pokemon to new grounds. The gameplay is very different and very pleasing. You can through a Pokeball to a Pokemon and catch it WHILE you are already on your way to a tree with fruits on it. And you trough a ball to the tree and your Pokemon collects the fruits. Then you have different maps where you go to do quests, like in the Monster Hunter games. This concept on it's own is very nice and can be quite adicting.
    The story is also quite interesting. You get to know the beginning of the Sinnoh area, where only settlers exist and cities are yet to build.
    However, this where the negatives come in...

    1. Grafics/Artstyle/Tech: High and grafics are by all means no necessity. But what Gamefreak delivered here, is a disgrace. A punch into the gamers face and eyes. The world is empty, there literally are 3-4 types of different tree designes that where just copy pasted like in a map editor. The textures are muddy, low res, edgy, polygonal. Some designes unironically look like they copied them from an N64 game (trees). Look at the god damn lava! Like they didn't allow the designers, to give it texture and make it look like actual lava and not pumpkin soup.
    60 FPS are also no requirement for a game. But somewhat stable 30 FPS like in breath of the wild, Xenoblade Chronicles games or Monster Hunter Rise should be the expectable. ESPECIALLY from a BILLION Dollar company, that owns the biggest and most successfull franchise of all time. The framerate constantly is below 30 and in some areas the lags are maddening... Breath of the wild on the WiiU was smooth as **** in comparison. It baffles my mind how reviews credit the game to be "technically faultless".

    2. Pokemon and Charcters: From a game, that want's you to explore a world full of animals (Pokemon), that want's you to study them and build the pokedex, you could expect, that they interact with each other or have some kind of behaviour. But no. Nothing. The Pokemon just stand there and go from point A to point B, without a reason. The don't yawn, scratch their ears, scream at ech other, play around, eat grass/fruits/insects, smell etc. There is no Evoli cuddling with another, or Starly building a nest. They are lifeless creatures. They could very well scarecrows that are mechanically moved between point A and B.
    The Characters in this game have like no gestures. The head looks like a robot when the look from one person to another, eyes don't seem to moved at all apart from the eyelids. And in centuries of RPG developement, earning billions and billions of USD, Pokemon has still no voice acting (s if they wouldn't have an Anime where they could borrow actors from. FOR THEIR OWN FRANCHSIE).
    Also... why the hell can't we fly UPWARDS?

    3. Quests and Progression: The quests... repetitive, boring and uninspired. It's like Gamefreak thought of a way to artificially increase the length of the game. They send you from point A to point B to talk to someone, just to be sent back to point A. And this feels like, they want you to spend time with walking around between speechbubbles, because they just haven't thought of enough content.

    All in all, the game is obviously rushed and needed at least a year if not two, to really be worth a full prized AAA game, from probably the most wealthy gaming company in the world. Every other independent devstudio could have done game that looks appealing to the eye, implement animations to pokemon and characters, think of actual quests and a better way to fill the pokedex (kill or catch 25 of this pokemon to get the pokedexentry). This game, didn't even try to be good to make money, because the pokemon company knew from the very beginning, that it will print them millions and millions of lovely, fresh and green USD. They didn't even try to hide tha fact, that they didn't spend much money on the development, with good visuals, like EA does.

    Pokemon Legends: Arceus is the result of a company who only want's our money, because they already have built up their reputation with the first 6 generations of Pokemon games, the anime and merchandise. They know that they only have to do one thing, to be able to make more money with Pokemon TM : The absolute minimum (and even less than that).    … Expand
  99. Equiixxx
    Feb 4, 2022
    0
    Imperdonable que pokemon saque un juego con cero esfuerzo. Empresas indies de 3 personas hacen juegos con mas cariño, esfuerzo y detalle que una empresa multibillonaria.
  100. Ish90
    Feb 4, 2022
    0
    Es lamentable que una de las franquicias que más dinero genera saque a la venta un juego así. Es inadmisible que solo por ser Pokémon haya que conformarse con un juego mediocre que no aporta nada más allá de un estilo de juego a lo Monster Hunter , que no es realmente un mundo abierto y no están inventando nada que no haya ya , sacrificando un apartado gráfico, lleno de popping, bugs y queEs lamentable que una de las franquicias que más dinero genera saque a la venta un juego así. Es inadmisible que solo por ser Pokémon haya que conformarse con un juego mediocre que no aporta nada más allá de un estilo de juego a lo Monster Hunter , que no es realmente un mundo abierto y no están inventando nada que no haya ya , sacrificando un apartado gráfico, lleno de popping, bugs y que es peor que el de Wii, un apartado sonoro repetitivo e inexistente en algunos casos . La historia flojita con unos diálogos que no llevan a ninguna parte puesto que la elección del diálogo es una falsa ilusión, con personajes inexpresivos y sin gancho. Un juego con poca dificultad y mucho texto, cuyo mundo abierto, resulta vacío con un pueblo lleno de casas copiadas y pegadas, la innovación en el sistema de juego está bien pero no sacrificando todo lo demás .

    El juego es disfrutable, y si es el camino que van a seguir los próximos juegos de Pokémon estará bien siempre y cuando no repitan los errores de este, gráficos, diálogo, dificultad, etc.

    Es un éxito solo porque los fans de Pokémon nos conformamos con cualquier basura. Y no debería ser así, desde el punto de vista de consumidor deberíamos exigir más. It is unfortunate that one of the franchises that generates the most money releases such a game. It is inadmissible that just because it is a Pokémon you have to settle for a mediocre game that does not contribute anything beyond a Monster Hunter-style game, which is not really an open world and they are not inventing anything that does not already exist, sacrificing a section graphic, full of popping, bugs and what is worse than the Wii, a repetitive and non-existent sound section in some cases. The weak story with dialogues that lead nowhere since the choice of dialogue is a false illusion, with inexpressive characters and without a hook. A game with little difficulty and a lot of text, whose open world is empty with a town full of copied and pasted houses, the innovation in the game system is fine but not sacrificing everything else. The game is enjoyable, and if it is the path that the next Pokémon games are going to follow, it will be fine as long as they do not repeat the errors of this one, graphics, dialogue, difficulty, etc. It's a success only because Pokémon fans settle for any garbage. And it shouldn't be like that, from the point of view of the consumer we should demand more.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

41
#41 Best Switch Game of 2022
2
#2 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2022

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
83

Generally favorable reviews - based on 118 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 102 out of 118
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 118
  3. Negative: 0 out of 118
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Jan 30, 2024
    80
    Definitely not a bad game. It handles its mechanics perfectly, and as long as it doesn't try to talk at you, you'll enjoy it. It's the first step on the road to new games with Pokémon on the cover, and the good sales could be the main reason to continue similar work and experimentation. [Issue#317]
  2. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Oct 19, 2022
    85
    Acreus came out just a few months after Diamond & Pearl remake. Isn’t that too soon? Actually, no. Pokémon Legends: Arceus is the most innovative, revolutionary, and maybe simply the best Pokémon game of the last decade. [Issue#259, p.48]
  3. Nintendo Force Magazine
    May 13, 2022
    90
    This really does feel like a big step forward for a series that famously plays things safe, and I'm excited to see where the franchise will go next! [Issue #58 – March/April 2022, p. 72]
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