Pokémon Legends: Arceus Reviews

Pokémon Legends: Arceus is ranked in the 91st percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
Recommended
Jan 26, 2022

Inspired as much by Pok'mon Go as it is Breath of the Wild, Pok'mon Legends: Arceus is flimsy and compulsive - and exhilaratingly new.

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7 / 10.0
Jan 28, 2022

Pokémon Legends: Arceus is an ambitious revamp that successfully revolutionizes the defining Pokemon experiences of catching and battling, but is unfortunately set in a drab, empty, and at times tedious world.

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Jan 26, 2022

Pokemon Legends: Arceus is a refreshing take on the Pokemon formula, stripping back the game to focus on the titular creatures with such great success. It's just let down by the graphics.

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Metro GameCentral
GameCentral
Top Critic
8 / 10
Jan 26, 2022

There's still a lot of room for improvement but this is easily the best Pokémon game for several years and a positive new direction that the mainline games would be wise to follow.

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8 / 10.0
Feb 13, 2022
Pokémon Legends: Arceus - Easy Allies Review - YouTube video thumbnail
8.8 / 10.0
Jan 26, 2022

Pokémon Legends: Arceus charts an exciting new direction for the series, while still maintaining many of the core tenants that made Game Freak's franchise so beloved in the first place.

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Polygon
Top Critic
Unscored
Jan 26, 2022

Still, Pokémon Legends: Arceus made me care about battling, and I actually wish there were more trainer battles scattered throughout the world. But I missed some of the predictability found in the mainline series. Whenever I'd go to swap out one Pokémon for another mid-battle, I held my breath, never knowing if I'd have to take a hit from the enemy before I could attack. Hours in, I felt like the game didn't give me enough information to make some of the strategic decisions I wanted to. I love the direction in which the battles are going with Legends: Arceus, but a handful of "what the hell" moments killed some of my enthusiasm.

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GameSpot
Top Critic
8 / 10
Jan 26, 2022

Pokemon Legends: Arceus is a significant reimagining of what makes a Pokemon game, with an exciting level of flexibility that's only slightly hampered by a slow early-game grind.

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8 / 10.0
Feb 1, 2022

Impressive efforts with a few noticeable problems holding them back. Won't astound everyone, but is worth your time and cash.

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7 / 10.0
Feb 9, 2022

For its flaws, Pokemon Legends: Arceus does have a decent gameplay loop, even if it is a bit too tight. I hope that with Nintendo’s next console, we can maybe see a game that doesn’t have to make such significant compromises when it comes to graphics vs. performance. For now, let’s just clap our hands and try to forget that any other studio would be roasted alive for releasing a game like this in 2022.

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87 / 100
Jan 26, 2022

‎Pokémon Legends: Arceus is the first game since Red and Blue where we feel like the formula has really changed, and it's done it for the better. There is room for improvement (especially in relation to the graphic section), but we are convinced that this is the way forward in future installments.‎

Review in Spanish | Read full review

9 / 10
Jan 26, 2022

Pokémon Legends Arceus is a must-play game for fans of the franchise. Not only is it the very best Pokémon game yet, but it elegantly takes the formula and flips it on its head, creating a unique new challenge that fans will love. With the nods to the anime and Pokémon games abound, Arceus feels very much like a love letter from Game Freak.

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9.2 / 10.0
Jan 26, 2022

‎"Pokémon Legends: Arceus" is a masterpiece made, not only for fans of the franchise's video games, but for lovers of the Pokémon World in general. That living ecosystem, full of mysterious creatures that are precious and magical in some cases, and terrifying in others. All this is perfectly reflected in the game, which allows us to explore with total freedom an open world composed of different areas while we advance in its interesting story.‎

Review in Spanish | Read full review

8 / 10
Jan 26, 2022

An experience that will appeal to longtime fans, as well as those who may have grown tired of the series’ reliance on the status quo.

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Alex Donaldson
Top Critic
Jan 26, 2022

Technical shortcomings and minor frustrations can’t take away what this game achieves elsewhere; it’s the best main-series Pokemon game in a long, long time.

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5 / 10.0
Jan 26, 2022

Pokémon Legends: Arceus turns out to be a huge missed opportunity, arguably the biggest disappointment within the franchise.

Review in Italian | Read full review

9.5 / 10.0
Jan 26, 2022

If this is the future of the series, I'll be incredibly happy, because this just might be the best Pokemon game ever made.

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Feb 2, 2022

Pokemon Legends: Arceus proves that graphics are not the only factor in what makes a game great. Although it can look very rough around the edges, the package here is an extremely fun one that hopefully outsources the overdone formula from previous titles.

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Feb 4, 2022

Pokémon Legends: Arceus struggles with graphics and certain aspects of gameplay, but its expansive world, endless Pokémon to find, and strong storyline make it worth playing.

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90 / 100
Feb 4, 2022

Pokémon Legends: Arceus still has some lingering flaws from the series' rough transition to 3D, but is still an incredibly fun time from start to finish. Catching and battling Pokémon hasn't been this fun in over a decade, and despite the wealth of things to do in Hisui I'm still hungry for more.

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