Pokemon Legends: Arceus

 Switch
User Score
8.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 3825 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,951 out of 3825
  2. Mixed: 388 out of 3825
  3. Negative: 486 out of 3825
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  1. TJD2
    Mar 4, 2023
    9
    Pokemon Legends Arceus is close to being the best Pokemon game I have played. Catching Pokemon and stealthing your way through the various areas of the Hisui region is a blast, and the act of filling your "Pokedex" is fun as always. The new features and gameplay mechanics are a breath of fresh air, and the crafting is a welcome feature that SHOULD have stayed around for Scarlet andPokemon Legends Arceus is close to being the best Pokemon game I have played. Catching Pokemon and stealthing your way through the various areas of the Hisui region is a blast, and the act of filling your "Pokedex" is fun as always. The new features and gameplay mechanics are a breath of fresh air, and the crafting is a welcome feature that SHOULD have stayed around for Scarlet and Violet - as is the case with a lot of features from this game. There are a few snags - the graphics aren't all that appealing but they do their job. Some of the textures feel very dated and the environments are bland but still end up looking better than Scarlet/Violet and BDSP but worse than Sword/Shield. The world isn't truly "open" as advertised but broken up into sections within the region. I think this is to the game's benefit as Scarlet/Violet was a true open world that had to cut many corners to get it out so quickly and out on the Switch. There aren't many corners cut here and Pokemon Legends Arceus comes in right behind Heartgold/Crystal as my favorite Pokemon game of all time.… Expand
  2. tmcov
    Oct 13, 2022
    7
    If GameFreak wasn't so lazy it could be one of the greatest games of this generation and the best Pokemon title ever launched
  3. Phuz
    Jul 24, 2022
    0
    Well lets start with the village. The music, I could literally haul myself out of bed, boot up my PC and knock up a better song in around 30 minutes. And that is on the generous side. The village song is repetetive, not good to listen to and made of about two sounds. Who did you commission for the music? Fisher Price?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    At least Digimon Survive will be out soon.    … Expand
  4. QUANTICDREAM
    Mar 1, 2022
    10
    This is...... amazing ! (This is one of the best pokimon games) :D
  5. Panranch
    Feb 11, 2022
    9
    Definitely one of my favorite Pokémon games. The new battle mechanics are a breath of fresh air and has a sense of similarity to the old battle mechanics, the world a big with lots of different Pokémon to find in certain parts of the region. The visuals are lacking, but the performance on the switch makes up for this and the story is great.
  6. danuffo
    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.
  7. Aaronzamuel
    Jan 31, 2022
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Las primeras 4 horas son un tutorial lleno de texto explicándole mecánicas BÁSICAS que cualquier persona aunque tenga problemas motores serios podría descubrir y ejecutar por si mismos.… Expand
  8. Pazos64
    Jan 31, 2022
    0
    Malo como pegarle a tu madre y feo como una blasfemia, 4 cosas; Un mundo vacío, un desperdicio de mecánicas, ausencia de carisma en sus personajes y un apartado artístico pobre.
  9. jld89
    Feb 2, 2022
    0
    This game is good on paper, as most people say. But the graphics are really lackluster. I am not asking cutting edge graphics and ultra realism no. Breath of the Wild managed to have a beautiful world without getting ultra realism.

    The game is repetitive and sometimes just falls flat. There are too many dialogues without end and sometimes there are no sounds in the game! There are no    This game is good on paper, as most people say. But the graphics are really lackluster. I am not asking cutting edge graphics and ultra realism no. Breath of the Wild managed to have a beautiful world without getting ultra realism.

    The game is repetitive and sometimes just falls flat. There are too many dialogues without end and sometimes there are no sounds in the game! There are no special sound effects for birds or the wind etc... I mean there are some, but they are so rare that it doesn't feel like a world. It feels like a draft videogame. This is a fake openworld with only a few regions. The NPCs feel cloned, there are no voiceovers, the music lacks variety. I was expecting more from a franchise that has had billions from games where they have only done minor changes.

    The changes in Arceus are welcome for the most part, but they NEED to be fleshed out, to be more detailed and finished !!! It's just a good first draft, not a finished game, specially for 60€.    … Expand
  10. Secr3tt
    Feb 2, 2022
    0
    This is the best Pokemon game i have ever played.

    My first pokemon game was Red And Blue and see the evolution is amazing!
  11. AlexLogan2001
    Jan 31, 2022
    0
    Only good thing about this game is the new mechanics for catching Pokémon. .The world is large but completely empty so there is no reward or satisfaction from exploring it
    . The new battle system makes any Pokémon that doesn't have a high speed stat worthless
    . The gameplay is extremely repetitive and tedious, requiring you to grind the same task up to 25 times
  12. Sticker_Chat
    Jan 31, 2022
    0
    It's catastrophic. Graphism is ugly. The gameplay is very boring. The fights are not interesting, it's only throwing a bag of dust on the Pokemon for ten minutes. Really, it's a scam, if this game was not a pokemon game, the rating have been at 50 or less.
  13. Blipjan
    Feb 1, 2022
    0
    El juego definitivamente no es un 0, pero lo hago para nivelar los ridículos 10 y falsificaciones de cuentas de youtubers famosos.
    De igual modo, es decepcionante como una de las compañías más poderosas del mundo no puede dar un producto de calidad a sus fans.
    "Es que es un juego para niños" NO IMPORTA. Si se ponen a dar esas excusas y justificaciones, juegos como Mario odissey, Mario    El juego definitivamente no es un 0, pero lo hago para nivelar los ridículos 10 y falsificaciones de cuentas de youtubers famosos.
    De igual modo, es decepcionante como una de las compañías más poderosas del mundo no puede dar un producto de calidad a sus fans.
    "Es que es un juego para niños" NO IMPORTA. Si se ponen a dar esas excusas y justificaciones, juegos como Mario odissey, Mario kart, animal crossing tendrían una calidad tan deplorable como la de este juego.    … Expand
  14. 2bitplayss
    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    … Expand
  15. ISaacT
    Jan 31, 2022
    0
    Es un gran juego y un paso gigante a la franquicia de pokemon implementando nuevas funciones y mejoras nunca antes vistas en la saga es una maravilla tanto en el aspecto tecnico como grafico.
  16. XopZ
    Feb 1, 2022
    0
    It doesn't have SQUIRTLE, how can a POKEMON game be launched without simply having the best pokemon in the game. This is disrespectful.
  17. TimNotSam
    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
  18. PurifierUnit
    Jan 30, 2022
    5
    IGN Italy's review is the most accurate critic review of this game. That reviewer understands how to analyze game systems and how they interact with one another, instead of just being mindlessly wowed by an open world with a few genuine improvements to the traditional Pokémon formula. And there really are some improvements. They simply seem to have been made without any considerationIGN Italy's review is the most accurate critic review of this game. That reviewer understands how to analyze game systems and how they interact with one another, instead of just being mindlessly wowed by an open world with a few genuine improvements to the traditional Pokémon formula. And there really are some improvements. They simply seem to have been made without any consideration whatsoever for how they affect the rest of the game.

    Let's start with the good. Non-random, seamless battles are great. Want to get into a fight with a wild Pokémon? Toss out one of your own Pokémon near it and bam, you're in battle. No loading screen, no battle transition effect, just instantly in battle mode, and you're still free to move around at will while the battle is going on -- see it from any angle, even get hit by the attacks if you're careless with where you stand.

    Don't feel like battling? You can catch Pokémon without being in battle now, which is great. Not all of them, mind you, but some of them.

    These are the two main alterations Game Freak made to the traditional formula. They're good ideas. Unfortunately they have some noticeably bad knock-on effects, which it seems Game Freak either didn't notice, or compensated for in rather amateur ways.

    Previous Pokémon games had the luxury of hiding all Pokémon in tall grass, and (outside Sword & Shield) never actually showed them in the wild. This means the presence of the Pokémon is part of the player's suspension of disbelief. They're there and they totally have all the behaviors listed in the Pokédex, but you just never see them. Legends Arceus, on the other hand, shows the Pokémon in the wild. And they just...stand there and wander around a bit. They don't live in the world. They have no homes, they have no behaviors, they don't interact with one another -- they simply exist and wait to be caught or fought. This, much more than the obvious visual-fidelity issues, makes the world feel lifeless and oddly empty.

    Out-of-battle catching speeds up the game to an insane extent. If you could catch everything without fighting it, the game would be over extremely quickly, and Game Freak needed to not let that happen because of the large number of people out there who equate Time Spent with Money Value. It seems Game Freak has implemented two "solutions" in order to prevent the game's runtime from being drastically shortened.

    First, Pokémon fall into three categories: friendly, skittish, and aggressive. Friendly Pokémon can be caught out of battle with no special requirements; just throw a ball. Skittish Pokémon can be caught out of battle, as long as they don't see you first (they'll run away). Aggressive Pokémon cannot be caught outside battle whatsoever, and must be fought and captured in the traditional manner. Game Freak has made MOST Pokémon aggressive. They made a super convenient change to the formula and then set things up to force you through the traditional formula anyway, for the most part.

    Secondly and far more damningly, the Pokédex requires multiple catches, multiple victorious battles, multiple observations of Pokémon move use, and other checklist items such as "catch without being seen", before a dex entry for a specific Pokémon will be "complete". There really is no reason or justification provided for what amounts to repetitious busywork; it seems obvious that this is another "solution" to the problem of "we made playing the game faster and more convenient, but we need to keep them playing for roughly the same amount of time as before". Catching is faster now? Require a lot more catches instead of just the traditional one-and-done. Battling is controllable now, and not at all randomized? Require a specific number of battles for each Pokémon so the player HAS to fight them multiple times anyway. And worse, virtually everything in the game revolves around dex completion, which never gets any more interesting or complex over time. Sidequests ask for complete dex entries outright, or for things you do to complete dex entries. The main quest also requires dex entries. It's a one-note game loop.

    Game Freak could have done much more interesting things with its good core changes. Make the Pokémon appear to really live in the world. Require the player to observe and record their behaviors: what they eat, where they live. Use the Switch as if it is the dex itself (similar to how BotW treated the tablet as an actual in-game device), and permit the player to directly record dex info, perhaps with fill-in-the-blank fields and a selection of pre-written answer options. In a game where the dex is so central, interesting things to do with the dex seem like a no-brainer. Unfortunately Game Freak settled for "just make them do the usual stuff, but way more". The end result is a decidedly repetitive, lackluster game. I hope Game Freak figures out where it went wrong here, as it really isn't hard to see the holes.    … Expand
  19. Crownxwhite25
    Jan 31, 2022
    0
    Juego Mediocre, No solo son los malos graficas y su mal diseño artístico, es un juego hecho sin amor
  20. Backe
    Feb 1, 2022
    0
    Si tienes 3 años de edad mental está guay, supongo. Si tienes criterio y algo de amor propio, jugarás a cualquier otra cosa
  21. criticexpert
    Feb 1, 2022
    0
    un juego muy pobre, tutorial innecesariamente largo para explicarte 2 mecánicas, el juego se ve bastante feo en general, opciones a elegir en conversaciones donde si eliges 1 no pasa nada y te obligan a elegir la otra, la gente esperaba un buen juego y se encontró con esta bazofia.
  22. Austinhunter406
    Jan 31, 2022
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Plays like a over price mobile game, not very many pokemon and less battles. Even Sword and shield is better all they did was recycle old pokemon into a game we're ur supposed to research them like there something new. The game is significantly shorter then any of the other pokemon games.… Expand
  23. oscarmenjivar
    Feb 1, 2022
    0
    A 6 but 0 to balance the people giving ten, Game is the best direction for pokemon i believe but need some polish work to do in the future.
  24. Fayble_1887
    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 !    … Expand
  25. SnoLight
    Jan 31, 2022
    0
    Im not gonna lie this Pokémon game looks really bad the graphics are horrible, But i over looked all of that because this is the most fun iv had playing a Pokémon game in a while. This is a amazing step in the right direction and the story is pretty interesting so far its something different, im no longer a 10 yr old going on the same journey im a teenager who is in a new world. Is it theIm not gonna lie this Pokémon game looks really bad the graphics are horrible, But i over looked all of that because this is the most fun iv had playing a Pokémon game in a while. This is a amazing step in the right direction and the story is pretty interesting so far its something different, im no longer a 10 yr old going on the same journey im a teenager who is in a new world. Is it the best story? no but then again i wasn't expecting naughty dog story telling levels i honestly wasn't even expecting to be into the story at all. The last Pokémon games i followed the story with were x and y and black and white 1&2. look at the reviews for a few past Pokémon games (sword and shield brilliant diamond and shining pearl) this has been the best reviewed Pokémon game in a long time. There are plenty of new surprises in this game and i wont spoil anything. if you don't care about graphics at all then this Pokémon game is for you other than the weak weak weak graphics this Pokémon game is a easy 7.5. we need to stop trying to make excuses for game freak this company makes too much money to put out games that look like a launch ps3 game if breath of the wild, Splatoon 2, Mario odyssey, Metroid, new Pokémon snap and pokken can look amazing on switch so can future Pokémon games. Maybe we don't need a new Pokémon game every year, I would be cool waiting a while for another game if it means a more polished better looking experience. also telling me game freak isnt good with making 3-D games isnt a excuse. hire talent that is good at making 3-D games, pokemon is a billion dollar IP. Other than my gripes with the graphics its a fun Pokémon game the most fun iv had in years from a pokemon game. finding new things and seeing new evolutions for is exciting.… Expand
  26. LMD
    Jan 31, 2022
    6
    This new Pokémon game has an interesting concept but the fresh air is not that well executed. Exploration is quite nice, although is not the best in open-world gameplay. Graphics, however, are bland and outdated; it looks like X/Y on 3DS 10 years ago, which is pretty disappointing since the Let's Go games were very good-looking. Better than Sword and Shield but still low in my Pokémon listThis new Pokémon game has an interesting concept but the fresh air is not that well executed. Exploration is quite nice, although is not the best in open-world gameplay. Graphics, however, are bland and outdated; it looks like X/Y on 3DS 10 years ago, which is pretty disappointing since the Let's Go games were very good-looking. Better than Sword and Shield but still low in my Pokémon list and in my Nintendo Switch list. I suggest you to buy it end of year/start of 2023 when its in discount. Bland but still a little bit fun.… Expand
  27. NakedSamusAran
    Jan 31, 2022
    0
    Huge Pokemon Fan here.

    In my opinion this game is one of the worst Pokemon games of all time.
    I like the fact that they finally tried out something new, but Game Freak has failed.
    The music is lame and boring.
    The graphics are from 2004 (Botw is from 2015 and looks thousand times better).
    The world is empty and very generic, some places are just copy-pasted.
  28. Killuina
    Jan 31, 2022
    0
    Despite having good ideas and being the first innovative pokemon game in the last 10 years, its graphics is the least of its problems.

    This game is an insult to the player, it treats u af if u had 3 years old, the dialogues are pathetic, and despite having a very simple and very easy to understand, it has more that 3h of tutorials, without letting u explore the world or do anything    Despite having good ideas and being the first innovative pokemon game in the last 10 years, its graphics is the least of its problems.

    This game is an insult to the player, it treats u af if u had 3 years old, the dialogues are pathetic, and despite having a very simple and very easy to understand, it has more that 3h of tutorials, without letting u explore the world or do anything freely.

    I just hope next pokemon games will do something at least acceptable with the core ideas of this game.    … Expand
  29. MikeGold
    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
  30. Bottons
    Jan 31, 2022
    0
    Technically a ps2 game, also a flat world that doesn’t have a soul, Pokémon are png that walk completely random and also doesn’t interact with them. They are in strage habitats like Hauter in the snow habitat or other stupid things. Probably Game Freak should get helped because this game is completely garbage.
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Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
83

Generally favorable reviews - based on 118 Critic Reviews

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