User Score
8.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 3825 Ratings

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  1. 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.
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  2. Jan 30, 2022
    4
    A nice Pokemon game. Is wonderful for milking the brand.
    After all, it looks good, but purely in terms of gameplay, it's all scheme F. Nintendo releases a Pokemon game without really thinking about it. You don't have to be creative anymore because it will be bought anyway.
  3. 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!!!
  4. 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.
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  5. 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.
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  6. Jan 31, 2022
    4
    While the story and new mechanics are truly amazing and mark a great progress in this old franchise, everything is let down by the terrible engine in the game which brings everything down. The amount of details is terribly low, framerates are well below acceptable, resolution is low and the game even in docked mode looks and plays really bad. The world is simply empty and still theWhile the story and new mechanics are truly amazing and mark a great progress in this old franchise, everything is let down by the terrible engine in the game which brings everything down. The amount of details is terribly low, framerates are well below acceptable, resolution is low and the game even in docked mode looks and plays really bad. The world is simply empty and still the framerate dips quite often. It is really sad, because the new story, mechanics and the whole idea for the game is great. We can't even blame Switch for this state of the game. We had the games like BOTW or Xenoblade that had a really well made open world. It's a major disappointment considering that the Pokemon games are always sell like crazy. Expand
  7. Jan 31, 2022
    4
    After completing the game and spending about 25 hours in it, I sadly have to say it is a hard pass on a reply. I wanted to like it....I tried to like it....but the only reason I even beat it at the end was to say I did. A lot of small things overall irritated thought out my time playing this game, that will be excused cause it is not as buggie as other "AAA" titles. I will give it all theAfter completing the game and spending about 25 hours in it, I sadly have to say it is a hard pass on a reply. I wanted to like it....I tried to like it....but the only reason I even beat it at the end was to say I did. A lot of small things overall irritated thought out my time playing this game, that will be excused cause it is not as buggie as other "AAA" titles. I will give it all the credit in the world for being playable, but it's sad were in a age where that is a thing. Expand
  8. Jan 30, 2022
    4
    I was hoping for Pokemon to finally catch up with times but it feels like they only developed a game that should have been released 10 years ago. It even further convinced me that publishers/developers of pokemon games only aim to milk nostalgic players and children who just started their adventure with pokemon. Minimum amount of effort for maximum amount of profits looks like has becameI was hoping for Pokemon to finally catch up with times but it feels like they only developed a game that should have been released 10 years ago. It even further convinced me that publishers/developers of pokemon games only aim to milk nostalgic players and children who just started their adventure with pokemon. Minimum amount of effort for maximum amount of profits looks like has became the motto for a while now. Still, could enjoy bits and pieces but I was falling asleep most of the time. Expand
  9. Jan 29, 2022
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I tried to play Pokemon but I still see a lot of room for improvement.
    I'm looking forward to the next one.
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  10. Jan 30, 2022
    4
    Por fin han dado el paso, mundo abierto, las batallas contra los animales salvajes son muy rápidas, la recolección es muy rápida y agradable, poder completar entradas de la pokedex de diferentes formas es una buena decisión... Ahora bien, el apartado artístico es un desastre, técnicamente no aguanta, constantes popeos de elementos en un mundo vacío y que no insta a la exploración, el juegoPor fin han dado el paso, mundo abierto, las batallas contra los animales salvajes son muy rápidas, la recolección es muy rápida y agradable, poder completar entradas de la pokedex de diferentes formas es una buena decisión... Ahora bien, el apartado artístico es un desastre, técnicamente no aguanta, constantes popeos de elementos en un mundo vacío y que no insta a la exploración, el juego no te para de llevar de la mano evitándote cualquier sensación de libertad, el lore es un desastre, no se sostiene por ningún lado, en fin... Lo hubiese puesto un 6 pero viendo la cantidad de 10's que tiene me parecería que estoy siendo injusto con la industria, a este juego le faltan 2 años de desarrollo para ser un 8. Expand
  11. 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.
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  12. Jan 29, 2022
    4
    No es lo suficientemente bueno. Disfruté el juego pero porque pokemon es la franquicia de mi infancia, por lo que si eres como yo probablemente te lo pases bien. El juego en si es una costra, tiene muchos glitches visuales, se ve como el culo y tiene unas caidas de frames en las animaciones brutales. La historia es la cosa mas horrible y plana que te puedan echar a la cara, creo que me hanNo es lo suficientemente bueno. Disfruté el juego pero porque pokemon es la franquicia de mi infancia, por lo que si eres como yo probablemente te lo pases bien. El juego en si es una costra, tiene muchos glitches visuales, se ve como el culo y tiene unas caidas de frames en las animaciones brutales. La historia es la cosa mas horrible y plana que te puedan echar a la cara, creo que me han repetido minimo 100 veces los mismo puntos principales de la historia, me sentia tonto. Las mecanicas de combate son lo peor de cualquier entrega, lo de los turnos va fatal y esta explicado como el culo, me atacan tantas veces que hay veces que saco un pokemon y no puedo ni seleccionar movimiento porque ya ha muerto, es patetico. Hay algo que te engancha, creo que son las capturas o ver los pokemons en el mundo andar, pero es que eso ya lo hacia y lo hace mejor pixelmon, asi que este juego no tiene nada y esta hecho sin cariño. Me decepciona en que se esta convirtiendo esta franquicia, pero es el mejor juego 3d de toda la saga, por lo que no se que mas decir. Expand
  13. Jan 31, 2022
    4
    Pokémon es la saga más famosa que conocemos, nadie que esté mínimamente metido en el mundillo lo podría negar, el problema es que los que hacen el videojuego también lo saben y aplican la ley del mínimo esfuerzo en cada juego desde hace unos cuantos ya, pero es que en este es una pasada de rosca monstruosa, me explico.

    Vamos a pasar este tema rapidito porque es el que más destaca a
    Pokémon es la saga más famosa que conocemos, nadie que esté mínimamente metido en el mundillo lo podría negar, el problema es que los que hacen el videojuego también lo saben y aplican la ley del mínimo esfuerzo en cada juego desde hace unos cuantos ya, pero es que en este es una pasada de rosca monstruosa, me explico.

    Vamos a pasar este tema rapidito porque es el que más destaca a simple vista, pero no es ni de lejos el mayor de los problemas, los gráficos y la dirección artísitca, los pongo juntos por el simple hecho de que mi opinión sobre los 2 es la misma, lamentable, las texturas están sacadas de un juego de ps2 (y de los mediocres), aun por encima el juego es horrendo visualmente, no es ni bonito de ver, tiene una paleta de colores horrenda, lo único que es decente es el cielo, que está bien, FIN.

    El mundo, Jesús bendito menudo insulto, "mundo abierto" pero que va, llegas al pueblo, que viene siendo el "hub" entre misiones e investigaciones, llegas a la puerta y, sorpresa! Te sale una pantalla la cual seleccionas a la zona de capturar que quieres ir, a lo Monster Hunter, pasémoslo por alto, porque claro, vamos a explorar al menos una zona con detalle e interés, bien, la primera zona es una pradera y puedo contarte lo que encontrarás, 3 tipos de árbol diferentes, montañas que delimitan la zona, una textura de suelo PLANA, mineral al cual le tiras un pokémon y lo recoge, lo mismo con los arboles que dan bayas, rocas de adorno (iguales) y por supuesto los Pokémons, tiene un interés nulo, no hay secretos, no hay zonas que llamen la atención, la distancia de dibujado es ínfima, es que es una cosa que de verdad, lo ves, y jamás dirías que está hecho por una compañia millonaria a todos los niveles, es una falta de respeto a los fans alucinante.

    (Para los que ponen de excusa "es que es la Nintendo Switch que es una patata y los gráficos pues cojean", claro, es que el Monster Hunter Rise o el Zelda salieron para PC y por eso parece que están 2 generaciones por encima, tanto por gráficos, como esfuerzo en hacer un mundo interesante que explorar, este pokémon esta más cerca de un pokemon snap con una mínima historia y quitando los raíles que de cualquier otra cosa.

    Ya he opinado sobre la saga en su momento, y tengo que reconocer que la idea de este juego me gusta, capturar los pokemons de forma más "salvaje" explorar el mundo si este fuera interesante, y los combates iniciándolos sacando tu pokemon al mundo directamente, fluye, pero es que es tenemos que exigir mucho más a una franquicia gigantesca, me encantaría que siguiera por esta línea, esta idea de juego, el problema es que el siguiente será otra aberración porque saben que venderán una locura haciendo lo mínimo posible por los fans que se hartan a soltar 10 y 9 solo por ser Pokémon, a otra compañia no le permitiríamos esto y lo sabemos.

    CONCLUSIÓN:
    Si mañana me dijeran que el juego lo han hecho un estudio desconocido que se dedica a portear juegos de móvil me lo creería sin dudarlo, parece un early access en una versión muy muy temprana, pero no, es la franquicia más grande del mundo riéndose en tu cara.
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  14. Jan 29, 2022
    4
    Don't buy it, if you really like pokemons and want Game Freak to do better, it's the only way we as consumers can make the difference. Don't get me wrong I'm not saying that every thing in there is terrible but we, as players, deserve better than this for 60€ (or what your currency is). If you like gameplay loop play Monster Hunter, if you like open world play Zelda, if you like pokemonDon't buy it, if you really like pokemons and want Game Freak to do better, it's the only way we as consumers can make the difference. Don't get me wrong I'm not saying that every thing in there is terrible but we, as players, deserve better than this for 60€ (or what your currency is). If you like gameplay loop play Monster Hunter, if you like open world play Zelda, if you like pokemon battles play BDSP, what we have here is nothing to be praised. Expand
  15. Jan 30, 2022
    4
    Points positifs : tentative de renouvellement de la Licence honorable, les zones ouvertes, le crafting, les montures, quelques bonnes idées parmi les quêtes secondaires. La DA est plutôt sympa et a un énorme potentiel (la technique & le vide ne lui font pas honneur)

    Points négatifs : la technique très mauvaise (qualité des texture, clipping, aliasing) et pas du tout à la hauteur de ce
    Points positifs : tentative de renouvellement de la Licence honorable, les zones ouvertes, le crafting, les montures, quelques bonnes idées parmi les quêtes secondaires. La DA est plutôt sympa et a un énorme potentiel (la technique & le vide ne lui font pas honneur)

    Points négatifs : la technique très mauvaise (qualité des texture, clipping, aliasing) et pas du tout à la hauteur de ce que devrait proposer une des licences les plus lucratives. Le monde manque cruellement de vie, les Pokemon sont posés là, à attendre qu'on les capture, ce qui ressemble plus à un zoo qu'à des terres sauvages (trop de sentiment de sécurité, et il aurait été appréciable et plus immersif que les Pokemon mènent leur vie, chassent, se battent, se cachent, jouent, ...).
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  16. Jan 30, 2022
    4
    Man the graphics in this game are bad. Looks like a ps2 game. The gameplay is not fun.
  17. Jan 31, 2022
    4
    La verdad la idea es buena, el cambio es algo que rescatar en la jugabilidad para tener en cuenta en futuras entregas, no obstante carece de mucho apartado gráfico, visual, se nota que fue hecho con cero cariño, en muchos pasajes del juego hay escenarios muy cutre, ni hablar del delineado en los personajes en partes oscuras, es un chiste mal contado. No representa un modelo artístico,La verdad la idea es buena, el cambio es algo que rescatar en la jugabilidad para tener en cuenta en futuras entregas, no obstante carece de mucho apartado gráfico, visual, se nota que fue hecho con cero cariño, en muchos pasajes del juego hay escenarios muy cutre, ni hablar del delineado en los personajes en partes oscuras, es un chiste mal contado. No representa un modelo artístico, representa la mediocridad de las desarrolladores para hacer un juego que no tuvo el suficiente tiempo de desarrollo para salir en condiciones decentes. La historia pues.... Cómo siempre deja mucho que desear. Y la cantidad de texto que tiene el juego es una completa locura, tanto que llega a aburrir Expand
  18. 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
  19. Jan 29, 2022
    4
    Un buen intento por innovar en la saga , sin embargo es extremadamente decepcionante que game freak (compañia billonaria) no pueda manejar una buena dirección de arte.
  20. Feb 2, 2022
    4
    as yall already know the graphics are really bad like a unity terrain tutorials look better
    its not really open world and you know that is not the worst problem
    so you have like 5 smaller areas with a hub world but they somehow made this 5 smaller areas really empty and bland battle system is boring cathing pokemon is not the worst thing ever but it gets old after a while couldnt
    as yall already know the graphics are really bad like a unity terrain tutorials look better
    its not really open world and you know that is not the worst problem
    so you have like 5 smaller areas with a hub world but they somehow made this 5 smaller areas really empty and bland
    battle system is boring

    cathing pokemon is not the worst thing ever but it gets old after a while

    couldnt get more than 13 hours in before geting really bored
    and if u like it thats fine but il take a break from all the crappy games that have come out the past 9 years
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  21. Jan 29, 2022
    4
    The maps and the graphics are downright ugly and disappointing. I think the catching mechanic is a lot of fun, but after the first 10-20 hours, my enjoyment dropped off fast. The lack of trainer battles makes leveling up and raising different Pokemon virtually pointless. There are some nice quality of life improvements in this game, such as the move select and evolution menu, and the agileThe maps and the graphics are downright ugly and disappointing. I think the catching mechanic is a lot of fun, but after the first 10-20 hours, my enjoyment dropped off fast. The lack of trainer battles makes leveling up and raising different Pokemon virtually pointless. There are some nice quality of life improvements in this game, such as the move select and evolution menu, and the agile and strong style mechanic is interesting. But again, the lack of trainer battles makes this game have zero replay-ability after you beat the main story. Expand
  22. 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.
  23. Feb 3, 2022
    4
    I wanted a game, not an unpaid job

    ............... Looks average, better than sword & shield, good for kids I guess if you're desperate
  24. 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
  25. Jan 29, 2022
    4
    Here is a game that on paper gets me excited for a Pokemon game. After years and years of the same repeated game with different skins comes a new game that tries to be different. The problem is that each new idea feels cut short and never truly fleshed out. The visuals are boring and flat. People seem to confuse "graphics" with things like ultra realism or RTX but that is not what I amHere is a game that on paper gets me excited for a Pokemon game. After years and years of the same repeated game with different skins comes a new game that tries to be different. The problem is that each new idea feels cut short and never truly fleshed out. The visuals are boring and flat. People seem to confuse "graphics" with things like ultra realism or RTX but that is not what I am speaking about. A game can have simple graphics but still manage to set itself apart and look visually interesting. This game needs voice acting of some kind. The lack of voice acting just feels low budget and boring. Even a grunt would bring it up a point in my book at this point. The game play is fun and I would have enjoyed the open movement to play a bigger part in the battles. I think we are at a point where we can start to move away from the turn base battles. Final fantasy had a great solution in its remake where it could be toggled on for those who enjoy it but was not forced onto the player. Combat could be so much more by doing it real time. Heck even just getting rid of the one Pokemon limit when battling would be an improvement! It feels like they picked this time period so that they could finally do something different with the Pokemon formula but then chose not lean into it fully and we are left with half baked new features that just leave us wanting more. Hopefully this game will lead a future where Pokemon games can be something more than just an advertisement to sell merchandise! Expand
  26. Jan 29, 2022
    4
    alors que dire du jeu, il n est pas mauvais mais il aurai pue être clairement mieux! on ce sent très vite dans un espece d'espace vert simulator ou un no man sky a ces début du vide du vide et rien que du vide zero dresseur a part dans le scenario avec de la cinématiques a ne plus en finir juste pour comblé le manque de contenue voila le jeu ne mérite pas une sale note mais ce n estalors que dire du jeu, il n est pas mauvais mais il aurai pue être clairement mieux! on ce sent très vite dans un espece d'espace vert simulator ou un no man sky a ces début du vide du vide et rien que du vide zero dresseur a part dans le scenario avec de la cinématiques a ne plus en finir juste pour comblé le manque de contenue voila le jeu ne mérite pas une sale note mais ce n est clairement pas le jeu Pokémon révolutionnaire tant attendu espérons que ce jeu soit juste une phase test pour faire patienté et que la 9G sera a la hauteur de nos attente avec ce gameplay Expand
  27. Jan 29, 2022
    4
    The pathfinding work on the map is really painful, and I don't just focus on the graphics.
    come on nintendo..
    the world of Biomutant was more alive...
  28. Jan 30, 2022
    4
    It's an ok pokemon game, but it's not a good game. The world feels empty, graphics are outdated and pretty inconsistent, the story and characters are weak even for a pokemon game and once the novelty wears off the gameplay loop is really repetitive. This game really needed more time in development to create a world worth exploring and to refine all the new ideas, but right now this feelsIt's an ok pokemon game, but it's not a good game. The world feels empty, graphics are outdated and pretty inconsistent, the story and characters are weak even for a pokemon game and once the novelty wears off the gameplay loop is really repetitive. This game really needed more time in development to create a world worth exploring and to refine all the new ideas, but right now this feels like a precursor to a great game and definitely not worth the price tag.

    If you enjoyed the games before or have a strong connection to the franchise you'll likely enjoy it and appreciate the changes, but it's probably not winning over new fans. Hoping they actually take the time with the next one and run with the new ideas because it could make for a genuinely amazing game.
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  29. Jan 30, 2022
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Demasiado Fan Boy, se conforman cada vez con menos, así sólo seguirán fomentando los malos juegos de Pokémon. Expand
  30. Jan 30, 2022
    4
    Better than Pokémon Britian, but could have been way better. There's a whole lot of useless, empty space with nothing around to catch interest. Looks like the environment department took 98% of the texture & modeling budget, b/c while the buildings & such looks good the character models did need more touch up as lighting reveals the models' polygons on occasion, or characters' mouthsBetter than Pokémon Britian, but could have been way better. There's a whole lot of useless, empty space with nothing around to catch interest. Looks like the environment department took 98% of the texture & modeling budget, b/c while the buildings & such looks good the character models did need more touch up as lighting reveals the models' polygons on occasion, or characters' mouths continously open/close like a singing bass on a wall. Completing the pokedex is tedious busy work now more than ever as completion criteria is random & sometimes requires 40+ interactions with a single type of Pokémon. Models visibly appear/disappear when in/out of rendering range. Pokémon animation visibly tanks to 3 frames at a distance.
    The evolution animation is the best, and the music is top notch.
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  31. Jan 31, 2022
    4
    If we are honest in the graphic section it leaves a lot to be desired and is even boring and cancine at times, the Pokémon Legends arceus I understand that it seems very good because of the new fighting mechanics, however they continue to drag certain problems from the sword and shield series I do not deny that the game is fun or that we are facing a great game created by Game freak,If we are honest in the graphic section it leaves a lot to be desired and is even boring and cancine at times, the Pokémon Legends arceus I understand that it seems very good because of the new fighting mechanics, however they continue to drag certain problems from the sword and shield series I do not deny that the game is fun or that we are facing a great game created by Game freak, however I could notice how this game was not made with the love and affection that accompanied the Pokémon games Expand
  32. Feb 1, 2022
    4
    Long and boring tutorial. Poor plot and characters. 2013 graphics and framerate.
    There is only a good thing about the game, it is a Pokemon game.
  33. 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.
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  34. 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.
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  35. 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
  36. 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
  37. Dec 11, 2022
    4
    Sadly the game is very repetitive after the first area, still fun but i miss the battles
  38. Jan 29, 2022
    3
    A game that only Pokemon fans would tolerate.

    No other game could be this much of a technical disaster and still garner so much praise. Only Pokemon. Graphics, sound design, level design, NPCs, and more are so undercooked that I would have guessed this game was a year away from release. The gameplay loop is fun enough: go out into the zones and catch Pokemon. Level them up, evolve
    A game that only Pokemon fans would tolerate.

    No other game could be this much of a technical disaster and still garner so much praise. Only Pokemon. Graphics, sound design, level design, NPCs, and more are so undercooked that I would have guessed this game was a year away from release.

    The gameplay loop is fun enough: go out into the zones and catch Pokemon. Level them up, evolve them. Fill out your Pokedex. The same fun loop that Pokemon is built on, but opened up to larger zones (not open world). I'm happy that many fans are enjoying this. But wow, that is where my praise ends.

    The graphics are well documented as being the worst of any AAA game in recent years. It's hard to overstate how bad they are. This is the ugliest major release of any IP I can remember. There is also no voice overs, or even the typical JRPG grunting. Just silence during conversations.

    The open zone level design is a nice change, but it is marred by the game's ugliness. Not to mention basic, fun features like a following Pokemon or the ability to look at your newly caught Pokemon's stats in the field are absent. NPCs are also copy/pasted across the game, which is sad considering there are maybe 100 of them, if that.

    I just don't understand how this game can be celebrated. Pokemon fans deserve better. There are early access indie games that are better optimized with better technical design than this.

    My last critique is that the first 1-2 hours is incredibly boring, but apparently this is normal for Pokemon games.

    I do not recommend this game.
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  39. Jan 30, 2022
    3
    Pokemon Legends: Arceus is a failed experiment BUT a solid and promising begining for a new era of the franchise.
    Let's start with the good things:
    - The new set-up teams mechanic is pretty good in a way that the movesets are changeable all the time which gives you the oportunity to prepare difficult combats. Note: There are not difficult combats, but for the future is WAY beyond
    Pokemon Legends: Arceus is a failed experiment BUT a solid and promising begining for a new era of the franchise.
    Let's start with the good things:
    - The new set-up teams mechanic is pretty good in a way that the movesets are changeable all the time which gives you the oportunity to prepare difficult combats. Note: There are not difficult combats, but for the future is WAY beyond interesting.
    - I like the idea of introducing new types of attacks (strong and agile).
    - The concept of the pokemon missions is addictive, making the game more enjoyable trying to complete the tasks of your favorite pokemons.
    - Capturing is not my favorite mechanic, because i rather combat, but it's pretty satisfying and well done.
    Bad things:
    - The story and it's narrative is so dumb in a way that the characters are flattering you because you capture a lvl2 pokemon and they couldn't. I mean, you where there for 5min and you did what they couldn't for their entire life, it's just ridiculous. Another dumb thing is the "Professor" character. How in the hell can be someone a professor if you just can't study the pokemons? what can you teach? Ignoring all of this, the story just feels like an anime issekai type of story, which is not necessary that bad.
    - The game design is so generic, pokemon always had a charismatic look and i don't see nothing about it in this game. The trees, the towns and buildings, etc. just looks like a generic f2p chinese game, I expect more from Pokemon Company. The map looks pretty damn good though. Even the music is generic.
    - The new roster of pokemons from Hisui, despite Arcanine, are way worse designed than their original forms. And Arcanine it's not that he's better, just feels different.
    - No online PVP. The stats from the pokemon are no longer needed, and thats pitty.
    - Let's finish with the more obvious of all of them, the game looks really bad, not only talking about the graphics, which are way below from the standard of the Switch console. I'll not compare it with BOTW (a game lauched 4years ago) but if you do a massive open world, it's important that the ambientation and the world itself works as a hole, in order to get inmersed in it.
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  40. 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
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  41. Jan 31, 2022
    3
    It's pretty crazy what Pokemon can get away with. They've switched up the formula which imo is definitely for the best. However, it has been done poorly. It looks like it is still in development and made by a small company with little income. The graphics look so crap. There are so few NPCs. Pokemon just sit idling as if theyre not actually part of the surrounding, but just artificiallyIt's pretty crazy what Pokemon can get away with. They've switched up the formula which imo is definitely for the best. However, it has been done poorly. It looks like it is still in development and made by a small company with little income. The graphics look so crap. There are so few NPCs. Pokemon just sit idling as if theyre not actually part of the surrounding, but just artificially placed there. The gameplay loo Expand
  42. Jan 29, 2022
    3
    Imagine you're working at GameFreak and they tell you "We're gonna completely change the formula and give the fans what they've wanted" and then you hear applauses and screams of joy. But then, your boss tells you "I know this is a huge moment for us and the fans, but you have less than a year to develop this game, because we're greedy and love money" and you start thinking about your lifeImagine you're working at GameFreak and they tell you "We're gonna completely change the formula and give the fans what they've wanted" and then you hear applauses and screams of joy. But then, your boss tells you "I know this is a huge moment for us and the fans, but you have less than a year to develop this game, because we're greedy and love money" and you start thinking about your life choices.

    Well, this game has proven to me that working at GameFreak is like wanting to be a prestige restaurant chef and then I end up flipping burgers at McDonald's.

    How can you release such a boring, repetitive, unoriginal and ugly game in 2022? Unskippable cutscenes, awful story, awful characters, clunky movements, clunky aiming system (made my fingers hurt for the first time since playing on this console for 3 years), repetitive gameplay loop (collect resources -> craft pokéballs -> catch pokémon; repeat) and, worst of all, huge empty maps with nothing to do in them.

    How can you build a fake open world game, with no activities to do besides catching Pokémon and craft items (the most basic craft I've ever seen in my entire life), make it so empty and run at barely 30 fps, in 2022, on a console that has released Xenoblades 2 and BOTW?

    The only reason I don't give this game a 0 is because I appreciate immensely the effort to give the franchise a new direction and a breath of fresh (although smelly) air. THIS is actually a step into the right direction. I also loved the fact that the Pokémon feel alive and the move animations are actually pretty slick - but for me that's it, the game isn't fun at all.

    Pokémon fans need to stop lowering the bar and be amazed at the low effort development this company brings, stop letting them treat you as if you didn't deserve more. You give them millions every year and this is what they do to reward you. Screw that, man.
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  43. Jan 31, 2022
    3
    Absolute garbage, how anyone can rate this higher than a 5 is beyond me, I was already bored after the first 4 hours and never wanted to play it again. I am a pretty decent pokemon fan but this game is so empty and dead and looks like im playing and unfinished PS2 game. Literally no thought was put into the art direction, its as if all they did was raise the terrain in random areas andAbsolute garbage, how anyone can rate this higher than a 5 is beyond me, I was already bored after the first 4 hours and never wanted to play it again. I am a pretty decent pokemon fan but this game is so empty and dead and looks like im playing and unfinished PS2 game. Literally no thought was put into the art direction, its as if all they did was raise the terrain in random areas and splattered on some copy and paste trees and called it a day. The gameplay it fun at least, and its finally something new and fresh and I believe that they can build upon this and make a better game in the future, but this aint it chief. Expand
  44. Jan 31, 2022
    3
    The ingredients are there but combined in an incredibly lazy, low-effort way. Optimistic that they will continue to try new things, but this misses the mark ik polish, story and variation in gameplay.
  45. 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.
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  46. Feb 1, 2022
    3
    the score above 7 are pure fanboy, the textures are terrible, the tutorial is very long, you have to be 2 meters from a pokemon to see why, if not it doesn't load, the sound is broken, you can beat the game without fighting, except for 4 fights. you can beat pokemons that take 20 levels out of you effortlessly...the intention was good, but they have made a low budget Breath of the wildthe score above 7 are pure fanboy, the textures are terrible, the tutorial is very long, you have to be 2 meters from a pokemon to see why, if not it doesn't load, the sound is broken, you can beat the game without fighting, except for 4 fights. you can beat pokemons that take 20 levels out of you effortlessly...the intention was good, but they have made a low budget Breath of the wild impact, sad on the part of nintendo Expand
  47. Jan 31, 2022
    3
    A game that should have looked like this at least 10 years ago. Consider how much money GameFreak is making from the franchise and end up giving the fan such a bad game. The animations have once again been taken over from the 3ds game Ultra Moon and Sword. You work through checklists and have very few trainer fights. If it was an indie game it would get a 7 out of 10 but this is one ofA game that should have looked like this at least 10 years ago. Consider how much money GameFreak is making from the franchise and end up giving the fan such a bad game. The animations have once again been taken over from the 3ds game Ultra Moon and Sword. You work through checklists and have very few trainer fights. If it was an indie game it would get a 7 out of 10 but this is one of the biggest franchises in the world! Expand
  48. Feb 28, 2022
    3
    Es una lastima para los verdaderos fanáticos de pokemon que en 2021 nintendo tenga los huevos de sacar esta basura
  49. 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
  50. Feb 3, 2022
    3
    Pros: Some music; the design of some Pokemon
    Bad: Technically unjustifiable; Pokemon are lifeless puppets wandering in an empty world, without any level design, devoid of ecosystem; unbalanced and unclear combat system; banal and redundant story.
  51. Jan 29, 2022
    3
    Bare bones of a game, decent gameplay mechanics but surrounded by ugly graphics and a bland story, could be far better, and any fan that settles for this it's not helping the franchaise.

    Yes, praise the good things of the game, the new things that they've tried with the capture mechanics, the combat, etc, BUT PLEASE, say the truth, it's an average game at most when you see the full
    Bare bones of a game, decent gameplay mechanics but surrounded by ugly graphics and a bland story, could be far better, and any fan that settles for this it's not helping the franchaise.

    Yes, praise the good things of the game, the new things that they've tried with the capture mechanics, the combat, etc, BUT PLEASE, say the truth, it's an average game at most when you see the full picture. Let's not make a battle of 0's and 10's, we can argue about giving the game from a 3 to a 5.5/6 rating, but anything else it's just unfounded hate or fanboyism.
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  52. Jan 29, 2022
    3
    NO...no. This could not be a game from 2022. It looks like an early Gamecube game at best. Its horrible looking. Why did i buy this trash. The open world gameplay is nice and battling Pokemon is kinda fun but thats all there is thats good oh and a good size amout of pokemon. Again, this is Nintendo putting something out there where ppl playing PS4 or PS5 are rolling off there chairNO...no. This could not be a game from 2022. It looks like an early Gamecube game at best. Its horrible looking. Why did i buy this trash. The open world gameplay is nice and battling Pokemon is kinda fun but thats all there is thats good oh and a good size amout of pokemon. Again, this is Nintendo putting something out there where ppl playing PS4 or PS5 are rolling off there chair laughing at this game. I love Nintendo to death but this is pretty bad, Yes, its bad. Expand
  53. Feb 2, 2022
    3
    It would be a pretty solid Nintendo Gamecube game. As a Nintendo Switch game, it's offensive to the fans
  54. 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
  55. 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.
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  56. Jan 29, 2022
    3
    Leaving aside the pitiful graphics it looks like a game made without desire, unfortunately disappointed in what will be the first pokemon game that I will not complete.
  57. Jan 29, 2022
    3
    It's fun in the short term, but it doesn't have much in the way of replayability, or even story despite the fact that it's supposed to be narrative driven. Most of the game is catching Pokémon until it's time for you to do the same repetitive task of calming the angry lord Pokémon. Pokémon is no stranger to repetition, but it's less challenging than the Pokémon Gyms in previous games.It's fun in the short term, but it doesn't have much in the way of replayability, or even story despite the fact that it's supposed to be narrative driven. Most of the game is catching Pokémon until it's time for you to do the same repetitive task of calming the angry lord Pokémon. Pokémon is no stranger to repetition, but it's less challenging than the Pokémon Gyms in previous games. Those at least had a few trainers each, different puzzles to solve, and Gym Leaders weren't hard to beat, but if you weren't prepared you could lose or just barely win. The lord Pokémon are much easier to beat than Gym Leaders, and it's a much more tedious task. You just throw balm, battle, throw balm, battle again, and throw balms. Or you can skip the battles completely and just throw balms. Even Dialga and Palkia can be cheesed by just throwing balms, and they're some of the final bosses of the game. There's a huge lack of trainer battles in the game. You're lucky to see one every half hour. I'd say it's closer to one an hour unless you're at the few segments in the game where you're forced into back to back battles. There's no post game facility like virtually every other main series game after Crystal, and there are about 240 Pokémon, so very few to choose from in regards to team building. On subsequent playthroughs if you can actually bring yourself to replay the game you'll likely end up using the same Pokémon because there are so few encountered in the first 5 or so areas. There are a decent number of side quests (or "Requests" as the game calls them to differentiate from the main quests or "Missions"), but most of them are simple fetch quests. Bring an NPC x number of y item(s), show them a certain Pokémon or Pokédex entry, etc. and there's virtually no multiplayer besides trading, despite every other main series game having player vs player battles which never detracted from the single player experience. The world is also full of barren fields or mountains that have maybe 2 or 3 Pokémon on screen at best 99% of the time, which is inexcusable because the areas are relatively small compared to other open world games (I'm using that term loosely for this game). Other games of this nature you'll find settlements or structures with characters who will give you quests or you can explore a dungeon. No such luck here, you'll just keep walking seeing the same Pokémon and plants over and over again.

    The game is mediocre at best, bad but not terrible at worst. I know bad games, because I've played the Two Worlds games and Sonic '06.

    I really wanted to like the game and hoped it would be good, but I was thoroughly let down. Pokémon Sword and Shield and Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are miles ahead of this game in terms of content, replayability, and following the concept of the series as a whole.
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  58. Jan 29, 2022
    3
    It's a common point that people make that graphics don't matter, it's all about style and gameplay. Well in this game, you don't have visual quality, but it also looks artistically defunct. The copy-pasted houses in the small village thing, only a few trees spaced out unnaturally using the same model and size, the shiny, flat textures on the ground... And people act like moving in aIt's a common point that people make that graphics don't matter, it's all about style and gameplay. Well in this game, you don't have visual quality, but it also looks artistically defunct. The copy-pasted houses in the small village thing, only a few trees spaced out unnaturally using the same model and size, the shiny, flat textures on the ground... And people act like moving in a somewhat open space is a huge innovation, when that has been a standard thing for more than a decade. They are on a point where they can say "It's a pokemon game, people will buy anything as long as it's a Pokemon game". Expand
  59. Jan 30, 2022
    3
    作为一个新的旁支系列,无论是类比主系列作品,还是横向比较其他RPG,都过于缺乏游戏性,为了机械重复的开放世界投入了大部分资源,却失去了RPG的灵魂。
  60. Jan 30, 2022
    3
    Quick and easy review:

    - The story is not bad at all.

    - Empty and lifeless world.

    - Bad physics, textures and framerate.

    - Rough controls.

    - Terrible typography.

    - The worst open world in an AAA.

    - You have to be a hardcore fan to like it.
  61. Jan 31, 2022
    3
    Es una vergüenza que una de las franquicias que más dinero genera trate con tan poco respeto a sus fans como para cobrar 60 euros por una versión alpha de un sistema de captura. La única razón por la que es entretenido, que lo es, es por ser Pokémon.
  62. Jan 31, 2022
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The first 3 hours have been awesome, but the exact same procedure in ugly environments, which are repeated in the next 4 areas is the worst. The story is bad, as well as the gameplay or the animations of the figures. Actually, its pokemon stadium with better graphics. A shame for this game studio. Expand
  63. Jan 31, 2022
    3
    This game looks like a beta. It is not finished. The technical section is a disaster, it has bugs, it is very flat and the textures are not attractive at all.

    For all the money and support the company receives, it's a game made with very little desire. The new mechanics aren't much, and the combat lacks any appeal. We need the company to get its act together or this saga will go to
    This game looks like a beta. It is not finished. The technical section is a disaster, it has bugs, it is very flat and the textures are not attractive at all.

    For all the money and support the company receives, it's a game made with very little desire. The new mechanics aren't much, and the combat lacks any appeal.

    We need the company to get its act together or this saga will go to waste. Very disappointed.
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  64. Feb 1, 2022
    3
    This game has about an hour of tutorials (if you scream through them), a ton of time of useless dialogue, and the worst offense of all - MMO mechanics. Use a move X times, catch this pokemon Y times, kill this pokemon Z times. You HAVE to do this to progress in the game. If you buy this game, understand that it's a money wasting timesink with some cool mechanics sprinkled in to remind youThis game has about an hour of tutorials (if you scream through them), a ton of time of useless dialogue, and the worst offense of all - MMO mechanics. Use a move X times, catch this pokemon Y times, kill this pokemon Z times. You HAVE to do this to progress in the game. If you buy this game, understand that it's a money wasting timesink with some cool mechanics sprinkled in to remind you of what could've been. Expand
  65. Feb 2, 2022
    3
    Quitando los gráficos penosos o las buenas mecánicas de cazar, es el juego de Pokémon más aburrido y simple que he jugado.
  66. Feb 2, 2022
    3
    Pokemon Legends: Arceus is more of a tech demo that experiences with new mechanics and quality of life features for the pokemon franchise than it is a fully fledged AAA title.

    PLA's main draw is that it attempts to shakeup the pokemon formula by modernizing the pokemon experience to more closely match what pokemon catching would be like in the real world and how it is depicted in the
    Pokemon Legends: Arceus is more of a tech demo that experiences with new mechanics and quality of life features for the pokemon franchise than it is a fully fledged AAA title.

    PLA's main draw is that it attempts to shakeup the pokemon formula by modernizing the pokemon experience to more closely match what pokemon catching would be like in the real world and how it is depicted in the anime series.

    There is clearly some effort put forth here in executing this new formula, but just like almost every other recent iteration of pokemon, there are obvious signs of neglect and corner cutting.

    The most obvious signs of neglect come from its lackluster visuals. Graphics aren't everything sure, but in a semi-open world game where exploring the environment and catching pokemon is the main draw, how the world looks is an important aspect of the overall experience.

    Not only are the graphics sub par when compared to other titles on the same console, it doesn't even match the graphical quality of games from 5+ years ago.

    Now, if sub-par graphics are used to make up for hinderances due to performance that can be more understandable but that is not the case here.

    PLA has much less taking place on screen at any given time than many other open world games and it's also not technically an open world game as each individual area you explore is a restricted sub-set of the overall world based on what mission/objective is chosen from the "Town Hub" which is also the only town you'll be visiting.

    Given the restrictive nature of the "open world" and its sub-par graphics, it could still look better if simply more was taking place on screen. For example, if there were more trees, more grass, more pokemon, etc. even if the textures looked the way they do, there would be better immersion overall.

    Instead, we get poor graphics, a limited world, and barren empty environments. All of that being said, this unfortunately doesn't equate to better performance. The game still suffers from performance issues and pop-in.

    Aside from visuals and performance, the game itself has a repetitive gameplay loop.

    There are no dungeons in PLA, no real puzzles, no interesting caves, there are pokemon and there are more pokemon and your only job is to throw balls at them and/or fight them.

    Not having IVs/EVs, breeding, competitive battling, held items etc. removes a huge aspect of replay-ability and purpose from the game.

    Not having any interesting, nice-looking environments to explore, no puzzles, and no real challenges aside from making your character roll to the side make this overall experience very lack luster.

    Some would probably say that only "hardcore pokemon fans" would like this game but I disagree. I think there are plenty of hardcore pokemon fans who simply recognize this games flaws and are able to acknowledge this is not the definitive edition of pokemon or what we all wanted.

    If you like simply catching pokemon, reading lots of dialogue, exploring empty worlds, not having any real motivation or purpose aside from completing checklists, then you'll likely enjoy this game.

    For everyone else, you're going to be disappointed. I would assume though that the majority of the more critical gamers and pokemon fans already know this.

    I give GameFreak credit for trying something new but this is not the kind of pokemon experience I ultimately wanted. It's scratching the surface, it's getting there so to speak, but it's still lacking a lot of charm and polish.

    Given that this game has, I believe, only been developed for roughly a year or so, what they've managed to achieve in that time isn't bad necessarily but to call this a AAA Nintendo Switch title and to charge full price for it is disappointing.

    Again, if going back on the visuals and limiting the explorable world to small sub-sets at a time were for performance reasons, they didn't achieve their goal.

    The world is a bland, uneventful, empty, barren place. There are pokemon in it so, there's that but after you hide in a bush a few times, dodge roll some attacks, and throw a few pokeballs around, you've literally experienced the entirety of this game.

    There is a story sure, but it's somewhat irrelevant and is largely just tedious and not immersive enough given the state the rest of the game is in.

    Now maybe GameFreak will be able to use this "Tech Demo" as a starting point to create future titles and maybe in doing so we can expect/hope for more polish in the future but the point here is that PLA doesn't really add all that much to the pokemon franchise and the overall experience it offers is very lackluster and generic.

    I think part of the reason PLA is getting as much praise as it has is due to the fact that pokemon fans are literally starving for innovation. Coming from the 1:1 remake that is Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, it makes PLA look revolutionary.

    Dodge rolling and open world exploration are not new ideas.
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  67. 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.
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  68. Feb 4, 2022
    3
    It's interesting and good that Gamefreak finally decided to innovate, but the world is dead and looks very ugly. Art style of the world doesn't match that of the characters, buildings and Pokemon. Whose bright idea was it to create a realistic looking ground and grass with cartoon characters filled in the world? Makes no sense. Art direction is horrible. Want more evidence? Unity freeIt's interesting and good that Gamefreak finally decided to innovate, but the world is dead and looks very ugly. Art style of the world doesn't match that of the characters, buildings and Pokemon. Whose bright idea was it to create a realistic looking ground and grass with cartoon characters filled in the world? Makes no sense. Art direction is horrible. Want more evidence? Unity free asset store water.

    World is empty, nothing happens in it. It used to be that Open World games carried with them some feeling of prestige. There was always something to do in it and the worlds were filled to the brim with content. This game is the opposite and feels like a student project. Completely empty and void of ANY interaction or variety in nature. You literally cannot do anything.
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  69. 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...
  70. 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 >:(
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  71. Feb 2, 2022
    2
    Scandaloso come nel 2022 ci siano persone che non si lamentino del lavoro tecnico fatto con Arceus.

    "Ma l'importante è il gameplay, non la grafica" . Si, ma qui parliamo di una bassezza unica, che neanche ai tempi del DS c'era. Switch può permettersi di far girare una determinata grafica (Zelda ne è la prova), ma qui si parla di pigrizia bella e buona, e non DEVE essere perdonata, dato
    Scandaloso come nel 2022 ci siano persone che non si lamentino del lavoro tecnico fatto con Arceus.

    "Ma l'importante è il gameplay, non la grafica" . Si, ma qui parliamo di una bassezza unica, che neanche ai tempi del DS c'era. Switch può permettersi di far girare una determinata grafica (Zelda ne è la prova), ma qui si parla di pigrizia bella e buona, e non DEVE essere perdonata, dato che la cara Nintendo chiede almeno 60 euro per giocare ai suoi giochi (e non abbassa il prezzo cosi facilmente).
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  72. Feb 3, 2022
    2
    Graphics are awful. There is no excuse for having graphics/player animations worse than windwaker, a gamecube game (it's close, but far away things look far far worse in pokemon legends).

    Can't battle friends. This on it's own is insane. Removed hold items and abilities from pokemon. Absolutely dumbed down system. Getting rid of IVs is fine, but this is rediculous. People's
    Graphics are awful. There is no excuse for having graphics/player animations worse than windwaker, a gamecube game (it's close, but far away things look far far worse in pokemon legends).

    Can't battle friends. This on it's own is insane.

    Removed hold items and abilities from pokemon. Absolutely dumbed down system. Getting rid of IVs is fine, but this is rediculous.

    People's standards for pokemon games are way too low. I don't know how you can play the game and see grass and trees not display from 30 feet away, generally look worse than gamecube-wii games, also just popping into existence when you get close, and flying animations of pokemon going at 2fps off in the distance, while looking at your character run like they pooped themselves and say it's acceptable. Remember that breath of the wild was MADE FOR THE WII U, and think of how that looks...

    I'm sure part of it is them using the ancient engine they used for pokemon x/y and sun/moon on the 3DS, but they still have responsibility for making the choice to use an abysmal in-house engine.
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  73. 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
  74. Jan 29, 2022
    2
    Had to come here and rate this. I thought I would give the game a try given it’s a slight change in formula, and Pokémon games are criminally lazy, conservative, repetitive rip offs. No good, just no good. It makes my mind hurt seeing so many ‘critics’ (aka YouTubers who are afraid of losing their access to early copies / brainwashed super-fans / bribed corrupt gaming media outlets)Had to come here and rate this. I thought I would give the game a try given it’s a slight change in formula, and Pokémon games are criminally lazy, conservative, repetitive rip offs. No good, just no good. It makes my mind hurt seeing so many ‘critics’ (aka YouTubers who are afraid of losing their access to early copies / brainwashed super-fans / bribed corrupt gaming media outlets) rating this game so highly. It sucks! I’m not even going to focus on the graphics but if you think they are acceptable in any way, you have no standards in life. This is a console that runs The Witcher 3. BOTW comparisons really hold merit in this department.

    The gameplay though, blimey… I just can’t fathom how fans are satisfied with this janky mess of gameplay. It’s like one giant wild area from SW/SH in terms of being empty and devoid of any interest except for the Pokémon themselves. The battles have a new gimmick that barely matters or is completely broken. It’s the same rock, paper, scissors fare with crap animations.

    The story is absolute garbage. Surely there has to be a point where even the young kids that seemingly seem to be the audience that holds this series back, get sick of the narratives that they trot out. In 2022 we still have characters just stand there and wave their hands like characters from a 20+ year old Ps2 JRPG exposing about nonsense whilst everyone stands around awkwardly. No one has cared about a Pokémon story for decades, why is there soooo much talking in this game. I can tell you why, to pad it out and make it long. Boss battles are lame. Who thought throwing infinite magic food bags was an inspired choice? That plus half baked dark souls roll dodging, yuck.

    If you’re a player who really, really likes switching your brain off and completing a Pokédex, I can see the appeal. But it’s just soooo bad… Awful graphics and frame rate, awful story, bland repetitive gameplay. If it didn’t have the Pokémon label it would be laughed into oblivion.

    Why, just why, would you invest your time playing this game, and not amazing games like God of War or Disco Elysium, or heck if you’re a kid, BOTW or Mario Odyssey. If you’ve completed all the great games like these, maybe go out to the park instead, just anything but this junk…

    Start being sensible with your money so that this franchise with so much potential can actually make some strides forward.
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  75. Jan 31, 2022
    2
    Don't know where all the good reviews come from ... are the expectations already this low ?

    Gameplay: So first off: the first hours of the game are great. New Experiences, nice ideas and the whole setting is great. But: after the first hours this game is just a grind. Everything is repetitive and it gets boring. World: the world is just boring, no mysteries & nothing to really
    Don't know where all the good reviews come from ... are the expectations already this low ?

    Gameplay:
    So first off: the first hours of the game are great. New Experiences, nice ideas and the whole setting is great.
    But: after the first hours this game is just a grind. Everything is repetitive and it gets boring.

    World: the world is just boring, no mysteries & nothing to really explore. Besides this the graphics are awful. The citys are all just copy and paste and the pokemon in the world are acting like robots.

    Also is the game on the technical level like a N64 game (bad animations, bad rendering, ....)

    So lets sum it up: Pokemon is finally progressing but not nearly enough. This game would be okay for like 30$ but not as a full price title. Of course some players will have fun with the game and they like to just grind the same things over and over again but this game is far away from being good. We shouldn't forget that this is not an Indie-Game (even if it looks like one) - this game is from GameFreak and its one of the most profitable franchises of the industry. So i just recommend everyone to wait for a massive price drop.

    Have fun & stay safe !
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  76. Jan 31, 2022
    2
    NO TIENE TRADUCCIÓN EN ESPAÑOL DE MÉXICO.

    Por eso le doy esa calificación, por la indiferencia de Pokemon Company al país que le ha dado popularidad al idioma español, y en su lugar contrata traductores que adornan el texto con demasiadas expresiones de la calle (de España) que nadie entiende e incluso algunas palabras que contiene son consideradas vulgares para los niños de este país.
  77. 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.
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  78. Mar 20, 2022
    2
    Bad story, boring chore gameplay, bad graphics. I stopped playing after 2-3 hours.
  79. 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.
  80. 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.
  81. Feb 3, 2022
    2
    Pokemon delivers once again a sub-par product that feels as clunky as it is uninspired. It hides itself under the veil of being open world, but in reality it's nothing more than a series of blocked entries and constant hand-holding set in a large map. Hell, it's not even possible to get out of the main village; you hit an invisible wall. You have to warp, with the map, to another point toPokemon delivers once again a sub-par product that feels as clunky as it is uninspired. It hides itself under the veil of being open world, but in reality it's nothing more than a series of blocked entries and constant hand-holding set in a large map. Hell, it's not even possible to get out of the main village; you hit an invisible wall. You have to warp, with the map, to another point to change areas. Open world my @$$.

    The player is once again treated as someone who can't grasp the simplest gameplay concepts, yet the menuing is extremely convoluted. You get interrupted constantly by instructions, directions, and obligatory tasks to perform. This is not a game; it's a tour set on rails.

    I'll end this by saying it also has the worst graphics we've seen in the last 5-6 years. It's not even worth the previous generation of Nintendo console. It would barely be acceptable for a Gamecube title.

    Pokemon must be laughing hard to have so many blind dedicated fans that will buy every kind of minimal effort they're willing to shove down their throat at full price. It's unfathomable to me that some people dare to give this game scores of 9 or 10. Don't they have any standards?
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  82. Feb 2, 2022
    2
    Okay Pokemon offers a slightly different gameplay. Which in itself might appeal to one or the other. However, the game is overrated in my opinion. Technically, it's not just a dress coat, it also looks ugly. Any 20 year old GameCube game looks better. Indi games on Steam without a lot of budget have a much better technique. There is not just one billion dollar company behind the game here,Okay Pokemon offers a slightly different gameplay. Which in itself might appeal to one or the other. However, the game is overrated in my opinion. Technically, it's not just a dress coat, it also looks ugly. Any 20 year old GameCube game looks better. Indi games on Steam without a lot of budget have a much better technique. There is not just one billion dollar company behind the game here, but two. So I can't rate it well. For 60 euros I expect quality in every respect.

    Okay Pokemon bietet ein etwas anderes Gameplay an. Was an sich vllt dem einem oder anderen auch gefallen mag. Allerdings wird das Spiel meiner Meinung nach viel zu hoch angepriesen. Es ist Technisch nicht nur ein Frack sondern sioeht dazu auch noch hässlich aus. Jedes 20 Jahres altes GameCube Spiel sieht besser aus. Indi Spiele auf Steam ohne viel Budget, haben eine viel bessere technik. Hier Steckt nicht nur ein Millardenschweres Unternhmen hinter dem Spiel, sondern gleich zwei. Daher kann ich es nicht gut bewerten. Für 60 euro erwarte ich Qualität in jederlei hinsicht.
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  83. Jan 30, 2022
    2
    2 - 3 cool gameplay mechanics but an ugly game, 20 years late, technically infamous, an inconsistent framerate, an empty game, repetitive and boring quests, a badly written scenario and the least good music from the license. It's good to want to renew the license and congratulations for taking the risk but nothing is going well
  84. 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.
  85. Jan 29, 2022
    2
    Repetitive mechanics, empty scenarios giving the feeling of a dead space, short draw distance provoking popping and poor graphics that will undermine the overall experience. I cant beleive one of the most profitable IPs ever is not able to pull off a mechanics revamp and move to 3D. Time to say goodbye to GameFreak.
  86. Jan 29, 2022
    2
    Just retched. The battle system is the worst since the early generations and nothing is explained at all. Wild Pokemon that are 15 levels lower than my party will randomly take turn after turn after turn and kill me before I get to act during a battle. The crafting mechanics are bad, the areas are too big without convenient traversal, the Pokedex filling is really boring and assumes you'llJust retched. The battle system is the worst since the early generations and nothing is explained at all. Wild Pokemon that are 15 levels lower than my party will randomly take turn after turn after turn and kill me before I get to act during a battle. The crafting mechanics are bad, the areas are too big without convenient traversal, the Pokedex filling is really boring and assumes you'll catch the same Pokemon again and again and again. I don't want to catch the same Pokemon again, I want to catch new ones, but I'm stuck seeing the same 4-5 Pokemon over and over as I throw Pokeballs at bidoofs trying to fill up a meter.
    Just play the mainline generation 8 games instead if you want a Pokemon experience on the Switch, those are much better.
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  87. Jan 30, 2022
    2
    Also sry, ja Pokemon macht mal was neues aber dennoch ist das Spiel nicht fertig. Ich erwarte von einer Millionen Franchise Marke wie Pokemon mehr als nur eine mehr schlecht als rechte Kopie von Monster Hunter Rise Elementen. Das Spiel hat eine Unterirdische Grafik und selbst für die Leistungsschwache Switch ist das nicht ok, siehe MH, BotW, Xenoblade chronicle etc. Ich verstehe auch nichtAlso sry, ja Pokemon macht mal was neues aber dennoch ist das Spiel nicht fertig. Ich erwarte von einer Millionen Franchise Marke wie Pokemon mehr als nur eine mehr schlecht als rechte Kopie von Monster Hunter Rise Elementen. Das Spiel hat eine Unterirdische Grafik und selbst für die Leistungsschwache Switch ist das nicht ok, siehe MH, BotW, Xenoblade chronicle etc. Ich verstehe auch nicht wie der Gameplayloop Spass macht, denn es besteht eigentlich nur aus Rollen und Ball werfen + manchmal etwas Kämpfen auf nem sehr einfachen Schwierigkeitsgrad. Dieses Pokemon hat einfach alles Wegrazionalisiert, was Pokemon ausmacht. Es gibt kein PVP, nur eine Handvoll Trainer kämpfen, keine Ligen oder wirklichen Challenges, keinen richtigen Plot (hatte Pokemon nie aber man hier ist die Story echt flach) usw. Die Gelbcolorierten Boss Pokemon muss man auch nicht bekämpfen, es reicht zu Rollen und dem Vieh ein Säckchen an die Birne zu werfen dabei wirkt es nicht sehr fordernd.
    Das Spiel bietet eigentlich nichts ausser Grind, da du x-mal dieses Pokemon fangen musst, x-Beeren geben sollst und x-mal dieses Pokemon Person A-Z zeigen sollst. Die hohen Wertungen, kann ich nur verstehen, wenn sie von Casual Spielern kommen, welche leider ausser den Mobilegames keine wirkliche Gaming Erfahrung besitzen. Ich sage nicht das Spiel kann einem nicht Spass machen aber für mich jedenfalls ist dieser ewige Grind und die Wiederholenden Aufgaben mit der minimalistischen Grafik und der etwa 20h beschäftigungs Foltertherapie nichts.

    Positiv: - Was neues probiert

    Negativ: - Freche MH Rise Kopie von Mechaniken (Map mit Biomen, Quest Dorf, crafting, etc) in viel schlechter
    - Unterirdische Grafik
    - Wiederholender langweiliger Loop und Grind
    - keine Voice Ausgabe in 2022 (Das wäre doch mal ein Fortschritt)
    - Nur etwas mehr als 200 Pokemon
    - Keine guten Funktionen aus älteren Teilen übernommen (Mega Entwicklung, Schwierigkeitsgrad, Pvp etc)
    - Reduktion der Attackenmovesets auf ein Mimimum
    - Kein Multiplayer
    - Framerate einbrüche aus der Höhle
    - Wird sich verkaufen wie heisse Schokolade weil halt Pokemon drauf steht

    Fazit: Hiesse dieses Spiel nicht Pokemon, dann würde es wohl als schlechter Monster Hunter Rise Wannabe Klon abgestempelt werden. Nostalgie ist echt ein Grausamer „ich Aktzeptiere alles Faktor“.
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  88. Jan 30, 2022
    2
    Low effort slop from the highest grossing franchise in the world. Plays and looks like a unity asset flip
  89. Jan 30, 2022
    2
    after a few hours the same man again and again feels like a bad mobile phone game it's not the full price
  90. Jan 31, 2022
    2
    It is just a disrespect to players to deal with such an outdated graphics, if GF doesn't know how to develop a 3D game they should stick to 2D.
    The game itself could be a nice spin-off from the main series more focused on the grinding and "lore", the main problem with it is that the open-map world feels empty, you can't interact with anything but the small number of pokemon you find along
    It is just a disrespect to players to deal with such an outdated graphics, if GF doesn't know how to develop a 3D game they should stick to 2D.
    The game itself could be a nice spin-off from the main series more focused on the grinding and "lore", the main problem with it is that the open-map world feels empty, you can't interact with anything but the small number of pokemon you find along the way. Overall it kills the immersion and make you feel bored pretty soon.
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  91. 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.
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  92. Jan 31, 2022
    2
    I honestly really disliked legends of Arceus, and I think i'm just done with mainline Pokémon for a while. Aside from the technical issues that we all knew would be coming, the game just isn't fun. The catching got really boring for me after a while. The weaker mons just went in and it felt like a chore to battle everything else. At some point it felt like "why am I just fighting theseI honestly really disliked legends of Arceus, and I think i'm just done with mainline Pokémon for a while. Aside from the technical issues that we all knew would be coming, the game just isn't fun. The catching got really boring for me after a while. The weaker mons just went in and it felt like a chore to battle everything else. At some point it felt like "why am I just fighting these Pokémon, there's no reason my ultra or great balls shouldn't just be able to deal with this", which left me wondering why i was bothering to even engage in the dex.

    The game is also horribly unbalanced. With your ability to catch alpha Pokémon, if you catch one then you basically sweep till the next power up, then you sweep again. Rinse and repeat. The alpha Pokémon are so far ahead of everybody and everyone else it makes the game a massive breeze. Sure you can self inflict rules to not catch them, but honestly, it shouldn't have even been an option. The mons offer good enough rewards defeating them, they should have been uncatchable mini bosses.
    The pokedex honestly feels like padding. I'm glad its more involved, don't get me wrong, its an improvement, but the option to go further than research level 10 is nothing more than an excuse to get you to play the game more, it doesn't offer anything substantial and nothing you can't get going well below research level 10 on every Pokémon in a given zone. Now instead of simply completing the dex, the player for true completion must watch a magicarp use splash 100 times, watch the tackle, ember, fire wheel, and almost every other move's animation dozens if not hundreds of times. You must catch every Pokémon a minimum of 15-25 times, for many more because you need to catch them while they're unaware of you, watch Pokémon eat food who knows how many times, beat Pokémon with a certain type of move a ton of times (which adds to the problem of seeing repeated animations) and this is far worse than other Pokémon games because you can't disable battle animations, and its required to beat the game.

    The world is probably the worst part of the game. I'm not talking about the look (although I also dislike the art style), but the actual play world is just bad. Its so empty. There is nothing to do in each zone other than catch Pokémon. Nothing to look at other than Mt. Coronet, nothing in the world to interact with that's fun. There should be more to do than resource gather or catch, I want to have fun things to do while I'm engaging in the main game. It feels like a parred down version of what it could and honestly should be. Every zone feels the same. While yes, one zone is swampy, another is cold, and one is the sea, they feel the same to explore. The only reason I remember differences between the zones is because Its so fresh in my mind. In a few months its going to all blend together. If I recall correctly, there was a pathway in the first zone that went up and to the left (might have been the 3rd), and that reappeared in the snowy zone. Not a pathway going up and to the left, the exact same pathway. It had the same side, same slope, same geometry, same everything.
    The art also looks bad. I don't mean graphically, I don't care how it looks graphically, I mean the art style. The game is bland, boring, and really uninspired. Its clear they were trying for ancient Japanese art, but it doesn't translate to the game at all. Compared to other games on the swtich with more inventive art styles, and other Pokémon games like unite or xd tournament, the game just feels like a smear of brown with some green and blue mixed in. The fan made stuff looks better than the actual game. I honestly think it should have looked like the end of the reveal trailer, that would have been fantastic.

    The characters are all also super bland. Its the same issue with the zones, in a few months, they're going to blend together again. I'm not expecting a story or characters in Pokémon akin to xenoblade, but I am expecting something more, especially since this Pokémon game is the most story and character driven game since gen 5. I can honestly say I will remember gen 6 characters better than these ones, and its because they had distinctive designs.

    The game did improve on the PC (mass release), moves, seeing the true size of Pokémon on the overworld, and evolutions, I think all of those should stay. I like those.
    I also enjoyed the boss fights. The main draw for me was interacting with Pokémon in the overworld, and they were a fun way of doing that while also showing the destructive might of Pokémon, and showing how truly dangerous they were.

    The final thing I really enjoyed was the time the game was set in, learning about Pokémon with everyone else, and watching as people are afraid because of how little they understand about Pokémon is a really fun thing to experience, I just wish the rest of the game was as good as that.
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  93. Feb 2, 2022
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A livello tecnico credo sia una delle truffe più grosse dai tempi di Cyberpunk. Texture che non si caricano pur essendo ad una qualità infima.
    Frame rate che passa magicamente dai 20 fps ai 5 quando vuole.
    Gameplay ripetitivo, contenuti inesistenti, menù ideati da chi non sa cosa voglia dire fare un menu.
    Ti tiene incollato perché infondo ci si può anche divertire ma non è possibile nel 2022, sulla console che ha fatto girare BOTW ormai anni fa, avere un livello tecnico così infimo.
    Spero si sveglino perché se no siamo messi davvero male…
    Pokemon così non va bene.
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  94. 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.
  95. 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).
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  96. 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.
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  97. 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
  98. 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.
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  99. 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
  100. 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.
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Metascore
83

Generally favorable reviews - based on 118 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. 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]