Pokemon Legends: Arceus is just a couple of weeks away from launch, and the gaming world will get to experience Pokemon make the transition to a more action-oriented style of gameplay. For anyone looking for a deeper dive into how Pokemon Legends: Arceus will look and operate before deciding to purchase the game, they can check out a 13 minute gameplay video that Nintendo and The Pokemon Company put out earlier this morning.
For anyone unaware, Pokemon Legends: Arceus will feature a more open and action-focused style than the mainline games. While the game initially appeared to be an open world game in the style of Breath of the Wild, it was later announced that Pokemon Legends: Arceus will function more like the Monster Hunter games in terms of its gameplay mechanics. There will be a hub town where players can prepare for their missions before their quests ask them to travel to a specific area where players will be locked in for the duration of that quest.
In the 13 minute trailer, Nintendo goes over a variety of details regarding how the gameplay loop of Pokemon Legends: Arceus works. New features to the series include crafting, material collecting, as well as a new battle mechanic called "styles," which will shake up the traditional turn-based Pokemon battles. The Pokedex has also been expanded to include data about a Pokemon's favorite food, its behaviors in the wild, and more. Players will have to observe Pokemon in the wild to learn more about the Pokemon to fill in the Pokedex. New Pokemon forms will also appear like Alpha Pokemon and Noble Pokemon.
With the game so close to release, this gameplay preview trailer is as much as gamers are going to see of Pokemon Legends: Arceus before it hits store shelves at the end of the month. Nintendo and The Pokemon Company will surely be looking at this title to see if gamers are looking for this to potentially be the future of Pokemon.
This game looks to be a welcome shake-up to the established Pokemon formula that should excite longtime fans who have been looking for something new for a while. Main Pokemon developer Game Freak is working on this title as well, meaning that The Pokemon Company has certain expectations for how this game should perform.
That being said, some are wary of what Pokemon Legends: Arceus is. Some were disappointed that it was not a true open-world game like fans have been clamoring The Pokemon Company to make for a long time, and some have reservations about the game's art style and graphics. Only time will tell how Pokemon Legends: Arceus will do, and that time is quickly approaching.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus will release on January 28th exclusively on Nintendo Switch.