Pokemon Legends: Arceus has been available for about two months now, meaning that plenty of gamers have had time to become familiar with the Hisui region and its inhabitants. However, this has also given players time to come up with theoretical improvements or changes to the game. One fan has put together a concept video showing what Pokemon Legends: Arceus would be like if players took on the role of a Pokemon.
Over the last two and a half decades, there have been a wide variety of Pokemon spin-off games, some of which allow gamers to play as Pokemon. However, mainline Pokemon games generally restrict gamers from playing directly as pocket monsters. Pokemon Legends: Arceus broke many of the standard franchise patterns, but not this one.
Redditor AvatarNick recently shared a short 24-second-long video dedicated to the concept of playing Pokemon Legends: Arceus as a Pokemon. The clip shows a number of different Pokemon walking, running, flying, fighting, and going about their business under player direction. Given how fond Pokemon fans can become of their teams, the decision to let gamers play as their favorite Pokemon in mainline games may seem like a simple one. AvatarNick's proof of concept video appears to be even simpler than that, which would make it an easier build for developers.
The video features short scenes of players seemingly controlling a Lucario, a Charizard, a Cyndaquil, and even Legendaries like Rayquaza, Dialga, and Palkia. All the Pokemon are shown in movement, either running circles around an opponent in a real-time battle, wandering across the in-game environment, or even acting as aerial transport for a human trainer. The final scenes in the video are all dedicated to a battle with Arceus. The fight is shown first from the POV of the other Pokemon shown in the clip so far, then from the POV of Arceus itself, floating in the air and looking down on the translucent battlefield.
The focus on using existing Pokemon Legends: Arceus models and mechanics means that most activities shown are activities Pokemon can do in the game. In other words, the main difference in this video is the focus on the Pokemon performing the tasks with little to no emphasis on the humans involved. The result puts a very different spin on the Hisui region, which seems almost like something out of a particularly dramatic Studio Ghibli movie.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus is available on Nintendo Switch.