Analysis of Pokémon Legends: Arceus, catch them now! | Digital Trends Spanish

Certainly, the “open world” structure is the main charm of legends. Interacting with Pokémon in their habitat is interesting and makes the world feel alive. I think a good reference would be the feeling it generates pokemon snap compared to a game like pokemon swordalthough with the notable difference that this time you decide where to go.

However, I put the open world in quotes because the structure of legends is to show you large interconnected scenarios in which sooner or later you will go through an invisible wall that will show a loading screen. That is to say, you cannot travel the entire Hisui region riding an Ursaluna. It’s not a disappointing look, but it doesn’t end up quite replicating the feeling of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

The truth is that, unlike breath of the wildthe world of legends feel full of life. If in my opinion it was disappointing just to meet a bandit or a knight in Hyrule from time to time, here you will find pokémon everywhere.

Now, totally forget the school Game Freak taught you in 25 years of gaming canon. There are no Pokémon centers or gyms here. If you want to heal your pokémon, you will have to take a nap or use your items, which, by the way, you have to make when collecting supplies. In addition to being a game of small tasks, legends it’s also one where you constantly have to collect items to craft others. Fortunately, the process is quite simple and there are resources everywhere.

Where I do think some players may feel some regret is in the way items are managed, which feels like Game Freak has gone back to the time of Pokémon Red. Remember how you could only load a few and they were all mixed up in no order at all? Well, more or less that happens in legends. Maybe having them scrambled isn’t a big problem, but the fact that you can only carry a limited number is, especially since the game demands that you spend your time collecting herbs, minerals and whatever supplies are necessary to make potions and pokeballs. It is somewhat annoying and that at the time was due to technical limitations; now there are more ample technological resources, and if in games like Sword you can carry a lot of items, why in legends no?

The item thing would be anecdotal if it weren’t for the fact that going through Hisui has its dangers. I could well say that I have seen my pokémon fall defeated more times in legends than in any other game in the series. And for the first time, pokémon attack you too. You can have your entire team pass out (because no, pokémon don’t die) and keep playing, unless a wild pokémon attacks you and well, you pass out too.

You’ll also find important, not substantive, differences in the way Pokémon are “played.” Yes, pokémon level up the more they fight, but they also level up by collecting items. They still evolve, but now the process is not automatic, but you have to activate it yourself and something similar happens with the movements. And although the items are total, you can’t assign them to a pokémon (you know, like putting a berry on them), something that would definitely feel very useful because wild pokémon are, go the redundancy, true wild ones that will show no mercy to your team. . It is, in short, a mixture of classic elements with a twist and some (bad) decisions that are difficult to justify.

On the other hand, I feel that the implementation of combat styles is somewhat anecdotal. It is appreciated that Game Freak wanted to renew the gameplay of the battles by adding new ways of attacking, but since the combats, even though difficult, are routine, I ended up always opting for the “strong style”.

As of writing this review, I’m about nine hours into the game. Unlike others, I have tried to follow the main story and not get lost in the hundreds of tasks given to you by the game’s characters. The story, at least the way it’s told, seems bland to me (not that I’m a gentleman, I really enjoy Pokémon Generations!), but so far it hasn’t bored me even though I’ve been doing the same thing for hours: walk here, fight this one, take a nap and keep exploring Hisui.

I think so far I enjoy the game for its style and if you’re reading this, you will too: it won’t be the first or the best open world I’ve played, but it is the most beautiful way I’ve seen pokémon . Could it be that we will see an ambitious Pokémon that mixes legends with the canonical elements of a game like Net & Blue? Hmm, sounds as complex as it is desirable.

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