Pokémon Legends: Arceus For Beginners

Pokemon Legends: Arceus has the potential to be the Pokemon game of my childhood dreams, and it comes so close to being just that. By shifting the Pokemon formula to focus on enhanced open-world exploration, and the quest to catch 'em all, Pokemon Legends: Arceus has truly revolutionized the series for a more modern audience. But that's not to say that it's perfect, as there are a couple of elements that hold this experimental Pokemon game back from being the very best the series has ever been. What it is able to accomplish is impressive, particularly for a 25-year-old series that's always been a little rigid with its formula.

Release date: January 28, 2022
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Developer: Game Freak
Publisher: Nintendo

Game Freak has cleverly accomplished this long-overdue evolution by essentially starting from scratch, teleporting us back to a point in time long before anything we've seen in the series to date. You're exploring the Hisui region, an early version of Sinnoh where there's just one major settlement. That's Jubilife Village, which acts as the central hub from which you'll head out on expeditions to explore the land, help the residents, and discover new Pokemon. It works well as a base of operations, and as a space that will gently grow and change over time with shops and other facilities. It's also filled with people who are desperate to share in your adventure and learn more about the Pokemon roaming the wilds of Hisui around them.

You are tasked with completing the locale's first Pokedex as part of the Galaxy Team's Survey Corp, which essentially boils down to three different formats – discovering a Pokemon, catching a Pokemon, and completing a Pokemon's Pokedex entry by completing research tasks to move up the knowledge ranks until you max out at 10. This can be accomplished by observing a Pokemon using a certain move, catching or defeating a specific number, or allowing it to evolve. I'm admittedly disappointed to find there aren't more Pokemon Snap-inspired observational research tasks, where watching a Pokemon's behavior becomes as important as catching or battling it, as the tasks you're given in Pokemon Legends: Arceus can feel a little repetitive – particularly if you truly want to complete your 'dex.