Pokemon Legends: Arceus had a bit of a rough time leading up to its launch. Fans of the Pokemon franchise and its games were naturally chomping at the bit to play the game from the moment the first trailer went live. At the same time though there’s been a lot of arguing going on in the fanbase over the game’s rather “bland” aesthetic and “poor” graphics. There was also a lot of speculation about the actual gameplay being lacklustre and being “more of the same”.



Thankfully, the final release’s ridiculously good core gameplay loop is what makes Pokemon Legends: Arceus the definitive Pokemon adventure game for Nintendo Switch players to enjoy. If you haven’t picked up a Pokemon title yet on Nintendo Switch, this is the one to play.



Now you might be asking yourself, “What about Pokemon Sword and Shield?” and that’s a perfectly valid question whether you’re a newcomer to Pokemon games or a seasoned veteran. You can check out Nexus Hub’s review of Pokemon Sword here. Pokemon Sword and Shield, while quite visually appealing, felt like more of the same old formula which was getting quite stale. Pokemon Legends: Arceus has freshened up the franchise and taken it in a far more enjoyable direction.

The ridiculously good core gameplay loop is what makes Pokemon Legends: Arceus the definitive Pokemon adventure game for Nintendo Switch players to enjoy.

The game features numerous quality of life improvements and doesn’t waste its potential since it introduces new mechanics that are drastically different from previous games. These new features will hopefully set the standard going forward and if it does, Pokemon games will have an even greater future ahead.



Pokemon Legends: Arceus thrusts players into the role of a protagonist that mysteriously appears in the Hisui region through a space-time rift. Hisui is actually the Sinnoh region, albeit in the past. A wild, wild past though. So wild in fact that Pokemon are deeply feared by humans. Yup, that’s right. Pokemon in Pokemon Legends: Arceus are terrifying and they are known to injure and even kill people. Shocking, right?



The game’s onboarding quests drive this point home quite well with Jubilife Village’s townsfolk speaking about Pokemon as if they truly are monstrous beasts out for blood. Life in the past was clearly rough and the game depicts this to you not only through its visuals but through character interactions and text. It’s all incredibly believable and when you encounter a high level Pokemon out in the wild, you’ll remember these conversations and want to hightail it out of there. Especially when you see their red eyes light up.



As a modern-day character thrust into the past, you wake up on an isolated beach and come across Professor Laventon. Laventon needs help with recovering his lost Pokemon and you re-capture them with ease which immediately piques his interest in you. Professor Laventon is a part of the “Survey Corps” branch of the Galaxy Team and soon enough you’re drafted into the Survey Corps too. Once in the Survey Corps, you’ll pick a starter Pokemon and will be tasked with the all-important goal of helping Professor Laventon discover as many Pokemon as possible.



You’re outfitted with a primitive version of a Pokeball that’s been hand-crafted and given a prototype Pokedex too. The way the game sets you up on your adventure is incredibly well done and once you do get going, there’s a certain level of mystery and intrigue that just keeps you coming back for more. Players will be hooked and will want to keep exploring to discover more about the Hisui region and its inhabitants, both human and Pokemon alike.



Adventuring out in the world isn’t as cut and dry as with previous Pokemon games. Pokemon Legends: Arceus is a third-person action adventure title with turn-based battles that play out slightly differently to previous Pokemon games. Players will be able to move around in the game’s overworld and encounter Pokemon out in the wild as if they are living, breathing creatures which naturally inhabit an area.

Pokemon out in the wild have different temperaments and will respond differently to your presence.

There aren’t any gameplay flow breaking random battles in tall grass but instead, actual Pokemon going about their lives in the wild and you can choose to interact with or avoid them. Pokemon out in the wild have different temperaments and will respond differently to your presence. Most of them are aggressive and will want to battle you while others might be docile and will just frolic around peacefully.



Capturing Pokemon still works in a similar manner as before with the main difference being that you can try to capture a Pokemon stealthily by sneaking up on them. Players will have to actively aim and throw their Pokeballs at the Pokemon unless they are fully engaged in a battle. Battles play out in a familiar turn-based manner with the newly introduced “Strong” and “Agile” attack styles being the star of the show.

“Strong” style attacks do more damage at a higher cost while “Agile” style attacks are way quicker and may even let you get off two attacks in a row depending on your Pokemon’s speed statistics. These different styles of attacks are gradually unlocked for certain moves as your Pokemon level up and grow and once available, introduces a whole new level of strategy to battles. They are also so visually pleasing to see in action.



Another major difference to the battle system lies with the fact that Pokemon can directly attack you too. Bite off more than you can chew and you will be knocked out and sent back to the nearest camp. Very reminiscent of Monster Hunter to be quite honest.

Once a move is learned, it will always be accessible and can be swapped in and out when not in battle.

Players will also be able to actively change up their Pokemon’s move list without any worries about forgetting moves and never having access to them again. Once a move is learned, it will always be accessible and can be swapped in and out when not in battle. This is a great change and allows for far, far more strategic gameplay with plenty of Pokemon skill builds now being at your disposal.




Exploring the open-world areas will keep you busy for literally hours and hours on end since the maps are pretty massive in Pokemon Legends: Arceus. There’s also a lot of side quests to do and the Pokedex itself has a checklist which accompanies each Pokemon’s data entry. These checklist tasks are extremely satisfying to complete and involve simple to complex activities such as viewing a specific Pokemon’s attack or capturing them stealthily. Completionists will love this and will definitely want to complete the Pokedex and check off everything.



The side quests in Pokemon Legends: Arceus are handed out to you by villagers and while many involve the standard JRPG fare of fetch quests, battles and more, they are rewarding in that they explain more of the game’s story through character interactions and lore tidbits. Side quests reward you with items for crafting and more so they are definitely worth doing. The game’s main story works in the mystery aspect quite well and without spoiling too much, it will definitely hook you and won’t let go.

Side quests reward you with items for crafting and more so they are definitely worth doing.

The less said about the main story, the better because once it grips you, it doesn’t let up thanks to its excellent cast of colourful characters involved. It’s just extremely unfortunate that there isn’t any character voice acting at all in the game. Character interactions are however very animated with lots of facial expressiveness and movement during conversations and story scenes.



Speaking of animation, while Pokemon Sword and Shield had lacklustre Pokemon animations which seemed rather lifeless, Pokemon Legends: Arceus has rectified this and has made them seemingly come alive. Pokemon movement, their interactions with the environment as well as the battle animations are top notch here. So good in fact that it makes the rest of the game’s “bland” environment seem incredibly jarring by comparison.

The environments aren’t exactly terrible but the Nintendo Switch is an incredibly capable device with some fantastic looking games (Astral Chain, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Monster Hunter Rise, etc). It’s disappointing that Pokemon Legends: Arceus didn’t push the envelope and have the same level of polish as its attack animations and effects have across the board. There’s also a tonne of pop-in and at times, this can be comically bad with trees, grass and Pokemon showing up seemingly out of nowhere while you’re running around the overworld.



The soundtrack of Pokemon Legends: Arceus fits the game perfectly with some truly great tracks that play in each area and in battles. The music contributes heavily to the story and gameplay too. It’s remarkably well done throughout.

Ultimately, Pokemon Legends: Arceus is the game Pokemon fans have been waiting for - for a long time now. It introduces so many quality of life improvements, streamlines gameplay and exploration and has great storytelling with an addictive gameplay loop involving capturing and discovering more Pokemon. If you’re a fan of Pokemon games or even a newcomer, this is a great game to play. And one that we hope will lead to even better future Pokemon titles if this is used as the new standard.