The Pok\u00e9mon Legends: Arceus<\/a> reviews are pouring in now, and fans of Nintendo and Game Freak\u2019s critter-catching franchise are being treated to one of the most unique games the series has ever produced. If the Pok\u00e9mon Legends: Arceus Metacritic<\/a> score is anything to go by (it has an 85 from critics and a 7.7 from users), people generally seemed to be pleased this time out.<\/p>\n One thing that fans of the Pok\u00e9mon<\/a> role-playing games have learned over the years is that the developers tend to move the franchise forward at a gradual, almost glacial pace. But now, after years of minor upgrades, you\u2019re finally able to see the whole picture coming together. It\u2019s all been building to Pok\u00e9mon Legends: Arceus, which represents a bold new frontier for the franchise at large.<\/p>\n Ever since the Pok\u00e9mon series transitioned into 3D graphics with 2013\u2019s X and Y, fans have been wondering what an open-world exploratory game would look like in this franchise. In 2019, the Wild Area at the heart of Pok\u00e9mon Sword and Shield\u2019s map gave us a glimpse of what that could like. And now, in the year 2021, we\u2019ve finally got a Pok\u00e9mon RPG that features a wide-open world and a focus on discovery as opposed to the usual eight-gym grind. But how well does it work? Keep on reading the full RadioTimes.com<\/a> review to find out!<\/p>\n From the very first moment you boot up the game, Pok\u00e9mon Legends: Arceus feels different. For one thing, it\u2019s not a professor who\u2019s asking your name, but instead, an ancient all-powerful Pok\u00e9mon delivers the introductory bumf. You\u2019re soon sent through a space-time rift to the olden days of the Sinnoh region from Diamond and Pearl<\/a>, although it looks very different at this point of history \u2013 civilisation is still developing, with those usual landmarks of Pok\u00e9mon Centres, Marts and Gyms being nowhere to be found.<\/p> That being said, there are still some familiar elements at play. It\u2019s not long before you do meet a Professor, and he does give you a choice of three starter Pok\u00e9mon<\/a> to choose from. But from that point on, you\u2019ll realise that your adventure this time out will be very different to your previous ones.<\/p>\n Although there are still Pok\u00e9mon battles at semi-regular intervals, your goal here does not revolve around becoming the region\u2019s Pok\u00e9mon champion. Instead, you\u2019re tasked with helping the local Survey Corps put together the very first Pok\u00e9dex for this region. And this being an ancient, Feudal Japan-inspired society you\u2019re working within, it\u2019s a pen and paper Pok\u00e9dex as opposed to a digital-era gadget. (You do have a phone with you for plot reasons, though.)<\/p>\n When you first venture out into the open-world area that takes up the bulk of your playtime, it\u2019s easy to feel a sense of awe. Clearly, Game Freak has been listening to fans\u2019 long-held desire for a Pok\u00e9mon game that\u2019s a less on-rails experience, and this game really delivers on that promise. Although the world is split up into a few different regions, the overall experience of wandering this untamed wilderness is nothing short of joyous for long-term fans.<\/p>\n There are heaps of wild Pok\u00e9mon just wandering about \u2013 some that you can catch with just a ball-throw (Pok\u00e9mon Go<\/a>-style), and others that will require a battle to tame them. There are even \u2018alpha\u2019 Pok\u00e9mon with glowing red eyes that will take a great deal of might to bring to heel. This region feels alive and real, and there is even a range of different biomes (from grassy areas to swampy ones and even great big lakes). It is, put simply, the greatest Pok\u00e9mon world that we\u2019ve ever got the chance to explore in video-game form.<\/p>\n Every good open-world game needs a variety of tasks for players to chip away at, and \u200b\u200bPok\u00e9mon Legends: Arceus delivers on that front too. Your Pok\u00e9dex contains a selection of Research Tasks for each creature (another carryover from Pok\u00e9mon Go), which will egg you on to catch the same critters multiple times, battle with them and see their moves in action. It takes the boring old grind of encountering wild Pok\u00e9mon and turns it into a compelling gameplay loop that can suck you in for hours on end.<\/p>\n Pok\u00e9mon Legends: Arceus also has side missions (another element that was tested out somewhat in Sword and Shield), which usually revolve around a local villager needing your help with something \u2013 it could be anything from rounding up some bothersome Bidoof<\/a> to catching a specific creature that someone is desperate to lay eyes on. These little tasks are good fun, and they ensure that you\u2019ve always got a few different activities on your docket. They stop things from getting dull, basically.<\/p>\n And then there\u2019s the main plot of the game, which we won\u2019t spoil too much here. Suffice to say, a number of Pok\u00e9mon have been going into intense \u2018fervour\u2019 states due to the mysterious space-time rift that you came through. It\u2019s down to you to tame them in a series of increasingly tough boss battles, kind of like what you\u2019d experience in the Monster Hunter<\/a> franchise or even The Witcher<\/a> games, where you\u2019ll need to bring a few different skills together in order to successfully nullify each new monster-sized threat.<\/p>\n These different challenges gel together nicely, creating an overall experience that is varied and full of surprises. We expect that many long-term Pok\u00e9mon fans will be impressed, and some newcomers might be tempted in as well. The only problems really are the graphics and the overall production values, which don\u2019t feel like they\u2019ve jumped forward in the same way as the gameplay and world design.<\/p>\n Although there are some new Pok\u00e9mon to be caught here (and even some you can ride around on), many of the character\/creature models look the same as they have done for years. And although battling is a bit more dynamic now (you can try moves with different \u2018styles\u2019, and your human character can run around during bouts instead of being rooted in one place), these matches are still turn-based and fairly easy to outwit (unless you go up against an alpha or fervour Pok\u00e9mon that you\u2019re not ready for).<\/p>\n Plus, there are a few little things that niggle. When someone gives you an item, for example, you still don\u2019t see anything physical changing hands. And when you\u2019re exploring the village rather than the open-world area, if you try to open a door to someone\u2019s house, there is a brief beat while that next area loads up. It\u2019s a small element, but it does break your immersion. Both of these tiny details, along with the graphics that do feel a little outdated, make the overall feel a little less premium than you might expect.<\/p>\n All in all, though, Pok\u00e9mon Legends: Arceus does feel like a breath of fresh air for this franchise, just as Breath of the Wild<\/a> did for Zelda. It is a leap forward and a brave evolution of what this series can do. Even though it\u2019s still a long way off \u2018realistic\u2019 graphics or total seamless immersion, exploring a far freer environment and tackling varied tasks feels consistently fun. Here\u2019s hoping that Game Freak\u2019s next slice of gradual, almost glacial improvement focuses in on the visual and technical side. If the developers can master that, they could make a game even greater than Pok\u00e9mon Legends: Arceus. And that\u2019s saying something.<\/p>\n Pok\u00e9mon Legends Arceus is out now on Nintendo Switch and you can r<\/strong>ead more here:<\/strong><\/p>\n Follow Radio Times Gaming on Twitter<\/a> for all the latest insights. Or if you\u2019re looking for something to watch, see our TV Guide.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Visit our video game release schedule<\/a> for all upcoming games on consoles. Swing by our hubs for more Gaming<\/a> and Technology<\/a>\u00a0news.<\/strong><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n By Rob Leane Published: Monday, 31 January 2022 at 12:00 am 4.0 out of 5 star rating The Pok\u00e9mon Legends: Arceus reviews are pouring in now, and fans of Nintendo and Game Freak\u2019s critter-catching franchise are being treated to one of the most unique games the series has ever produced. If the Pok\u00e9mon Legends: Arceus […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":10568,"template":"","categories":[8],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/01\/pokemon-legends-arceus-review-new-nintendo-switch-game-is-a-brave-evolution.jpg",620,413,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/01\/pokemon-legends-arceus-review-new-nintendo-switch-game-is-a-brave-evolution-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/01\/pokemon-legends-arceus-review-new-nintendo-switch-game-is-a-brave-evolution-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/01\/pokemon-legends-arceus-review-new-nintendo-switch-game-is-a-brave-evolution.jpg",620,413,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/01\/pokemon-legends-arceus-review-new-nintendo-switch-game-is-a-brave-evolution.jpg",620,413,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/01\/pokemon-legends-arceus-review-new-nintendo-switch-game-is-a-brave-evolution.jpg",620,413,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/01\/pokemon-legends-arceus-review-new-nintendo-switch-game-is-a-brave-evolution.jpg",620,413,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Rob Leane Published: Monday, 31 January 2022 at 12:00 am 4.0 out of 5 star rating The Pok\u00e9mon Legends: Arceus reviews are pouring in now, and fans of Nintendo and Game Freak\u2019s critter-catching franchise are being treated to one of the most unique games the series has ever produced. If the Pok\u00e9mon Legends: Arceus…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/10567"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\""There\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/01\/Pokemon-Arceus-review-47b64a4.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"Pokemon-Arceus-review\"\\"\/")
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