Pokémon Legends: Arceus Reviews
Every time I think I'm losing interest in Pokémon, Game Freak does something to reinvigorate me. The Pokémon Pearl and Diamond remakes last year were fine, though I ended up spending more time just playing the original Pokémon Pearl again. I needed something like Arceus, I think, to get me to once again drop dozens of hours into a single game. This is a brave, bold game into new frontiers for Game Freak, and it confidently promises a new and revitalised future for the series.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus refreshes the gameplay by offering players a lot of satisfying fun. The developers were not afraid of changes and gameplay can surprise even the biggest IP fans.
Review in Polish | Read full review
It's not without its blemishes, largely in the dreadful visuals, but the foundation laid here is what I hope the Pokémon franchise pivots to more in the future. It twists the focus just enough to make the experience of filling out a Pokédex more engaging, all the while filling battling and catching with way more variety. Legends Arceus doesn't quite catch them all, but it's satisfying the whole way through and makes me thrilled for the future of Pokémon in a way I haven't been in years.
Overall, Pokémon Legends Arceus is a great game. With a new concept being used for this Pokémon series, in my opinion, there might be a chance that this concept will be used for future Pokémon games. I also think that this game could potentially open new heights for more spin offs and open the door to different platforms like PC where Pokémon can find a new audience.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus definitely provides a great experience with a novel take on the classic franchise but I still feel that grinding is not needed in a Pokemon game which I've always felt should primarily be about simply having fun in a laidback world.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus is a video game that has everything to be awarded as one of the best games of the year. But going further, it is an experience made for all those who dreamed of living a journey in the Pokémon world and leaving their mark on the history of this vast world of adventures, which is now possible thanks to this game. A work of art made into a video game.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Pokémon Legends: Arceus takes the Pokémon franchise into the future. Every fan should experience this game at least once.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus tries to do a lot of things differently, and for the most part, it succeeds. It offers a fresh and innovative take on the Pokémon formula, delivering a more open and dynamic experience; something fans have been craving for years. It takes what players adore of the older games and revolutionises them for modern audiences, allowing gamers to catch, battle, and explore with Pokémon in new and exciting ways. The end result is a more immersive and engaging world, even if somewhat bland. It is clear where Game Freak is hoping to take the franchise, as there is a lot of potential and promise on show. Despite not being a perfect game, Pokémon Legends: Arceus is a worthwhile experiment and experience, where the ambition and innovation on offer are welcome, but let down by the execution and over all quality. Even so, Pokémon fans who temper their expectations will find a game worthy of their time.
If you’re someone who’s wanted Pokémon to take the next step as far as gameplay and being different, this one is it.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus is the game Pokemon fans have been waiting for - for a long time now. It introduces so many quality of life improvements, streamlines gameplay and exploration and has great storytelling with an addictive gameplay loop involving capturing and discovering more Pokemon.
Criticized positively by other means as the most ambitious iteration of the franchise, Pokémon Legends: Arceus conveys the feeling of being a cake in the oven for quite some time. It is the adventure that all fans have dreamed of, a departure from all the "gum" already more than chewed by then, and the least tautological. Game Freak has risked every chip in hand, creating one of the most exciting video games on its menu, full of several points for and few against. Granted, the overall performance isn't the best, as well as moving the focus away from battles causes some general inconsistencies but Hisui, with everything associated with it, is so much fun and full of life. It may not be more than perfect, but it is definitely better than imagination.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
It’s new! It’s different! Does that mean it’s good?
Pokémon Legends: Arceus has not been afraid to introduce changes to the series as we know it, and it definitely felt fresh.
Review in Czech | Read full review
Pokemon Legends: Arceus is easily the strongest Pokemon game made in recent memory and should provide unforgettable memories that rival the first time a player first encountered a favorite Pokemon or conquered their first Pokemon Champion fight. It's a must-buy Pokemon game destined to land on many "top games of the year" lists and should bring countless new and lapsed fans to the franchise.
If you've read our entire analysis of Pokémon Legends: Arceus, you won't be surprised by the grade beside it. Game Freak's new production is, as we have repeatedly said, a "diamond in the rough". A very important title for the Pokémon franchise, entrusted with the thankless task of forever changing the canons of the series and guiding them towards a new, more modern direction. A task that, however, clashes with a series of inconsistencies, missed opportunities and not very brave choices, which fail to make Pokémon Legends: Arceus shine as it deserves. The grade we've given it represents exactly the nature of this production: a title that's still far from earning everlasting glory, but also far from that ruinous insufficiency that the indignant people wanted to give it ex officio in recent weeks. We are sure that Pokémon Legends: Arceus will be talked about for a long time, dividing the fan base into those who will adore it as a deity from another dimension and those who will consider it, simply, a good starting point for the franchise. Whether you're a die-hard fan or just an amateur of the creatures created by Game Freak, our advice is only one: don't be misled by that amount of content edited ad hoc to show you only the shortcomings of this production, finding yourself proudly waving the pitchfork for something you don't even know, and play it before taking sides... you might find everything you've always wanted from a Pokémon production.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Pokémon Legends: Arceus gives new reason to catch them all, with the first in what is surely to be a series with unlimited potential.
With this, remakes like Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, gateways ala the Let’s Go! titles, and the core experience of Sword and Shield; the Switch has become the finest home Pokémon ever had. And dare I say, Legends is the new crown jewel of that collective. It has room to grow and doesn’t always impress in terms of performance, but in tightening the focus on research and catching Pokémon rather than battle after battle it’s honed in on the appeal spirit that Professor Oak taught us two and a half decades ago.
Despite some scruffy visuals, Pokémon Legends: Arceus feels like the first game in the series to be designed for a home console platform. It’s a magpie of a game, but every borrowed element comes together to create a coherent and fresh experience that reinvigorates the franchise.
Legends: Arceus is a fascinating culmination of decisions that will either steer the mainline Pokémon series into a new beginning or permanently disrupt its time and space in the gaming industry.
I would go as far as to say Pokémon Legends: Arceus is my all-time favourite Pokémon game. It’s one I’ve already spent an obscene amount of time with, but also a game that has found a smart way to play into familiar tropes, while also evolving and developing them for a newer generation. There’s a more engaging story that opens up exciting possibilites for the wider world, the graphics and animations are beautifully suited and the game feels stable even during heavy conflict and activity. Even the music is something to treasure with tracks you’ll find yourself quickly humming along to. If 2022 is going to be the best year for Switch yet, Nintendo couldn’t have started it any better with this absolute treasure and sure-fire Game of the Year contender.