When Pokemon Legends: Arceus was first revealed, many fans were under the impression that the game was going to be open world. The Pokemon Legends: Arceus gameplay trailers shown after its announcement certainly seemed to point in that direction, with many favorably comparing it to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. It was later clarified by Nintendo that Pokemon Legends: Arceus isn't an open world in the traditional sense, instead separating its major areas and connecting them with a hub.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus players start out in Jubilife Village, and from there they can visit different areas in the Hisui region. Pokemon Legends: Arceus are mostly free to explore these sandboxes once they gain access to them, but some fans may still be curious what the game would have been like had it been completely open world. To that end, one Pokemon Legends: Arceus player has combined all the game's areas into one big world map.
Reddit user Jandromon shared their creation online, showing what Pokemon Legends: Arceus' Hisui region looks like if all the game's separate areas are combined into a single open world. It's interesting to see what could've been had Game Freak and Nintendo decided to make Pokemon Legends: Arceus a completely open world experience.
It's possible that future Pokemon Legends games could more fully embrace an open world structure. Pokemon Legends: Arceus has earned rave reviews and has proven to be a big hit with Pokemon fans, with many now calling for a sequel made in a similar style. Perhaps future Pokemon Legends games could get rid of the segmented areas and let players loose in a large open world with no need for a hub area.
Fans have already started speculating about what region a future Pokemon Legends game could focus on. While Pokemon Legends: Arceus focuses on the Hisui region, itself an ancient version of the Sinnoh region, some fans want to see future games to explore places like the Johto region or the Kalos region.
The incredible sales success of Pokemon Legends: Arceus virtually guarantees that Nintendo will be moving forward with more Pokemon games made in this style, but the question remains when such a game will come. Pokemon Legends: Arceus just released, and so it's likely that fans will have some years to wait before they see a sequel. However, there are some rumors that Pokemon Legends: Arceus DLC is in the works, so maybe fans will still have some new content to look forward to in the near future.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus is out now, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.