Pokemon Legends: Arceus

⭐ 8.5/10

(Originally written by Joseph)

Every year Pokemon is pushing boundaries with their games, testing the limits of the player base. And by testing the limits, I mean that they are testing how bad they can make their games and still get people to play. This year was a wholly new experiment in that they both made their funnest game in fifteen years, but also filled it with THE MOST insufferable story you have ever seen.

The end result? Not bad! Because I could mash B to get through the reems and reems of horrendous, uninspired, lazy writing, the story more felt like a minor inconvenience in an otherwise amazing game rather than a deal-breaker. But my goodness I cannot emphasize how bad and long and annoying the story is. This game took a lot from Zelda BOTW and if they stuck to the same minimalist story (a trend I don't always love), we would have a real winner here.

As far as core gameplay though, this is Pokemon at its best. It's all about catching pokemon again and that feels great. This is the game we have been wishing for. It's quick, rewarding, and totally addicting. The battles are all sped up and less emphasised, again helping with the pace and keeping the dopamine flowing.

The game doesn't look great, but I'm mostly okay with that. The jingles and sound effects are great, just like back in gen 1. The music is almost always good, and occasionally great. The Pokemon wandering around in the open world range from cute to genuinely awesome to see. There are even a few quick cut scenes that are pretty sweet and if they just erased all dialogue surrounding them, could have maybe even been a little interesting.

This is the best pokemon game in a long time, and if they can bring some stuff in for the main series, i think pokemon can get right back on track. Also, if they can make a game just like this, make it look nicer and erase all dialogue, I think they have a genuine game of the year contender.