Pokémon Pokemon Arceus vs Other Pokemon Games

[Bob Zombie]

As someone who tried (and failed) to get into some of the earlier Pokemon games, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed Arceus. I then could not get into Scarlet/Violet so it got me wondering about what it was, besides some of the mechanics and obviously setting that I enjoyed in Arceus that isn't in the other games.

So for all you folks out there, what are your thoughts? Yay or Nay on the game?

 

[Sheando]

I'm glad they tried something new; I feel like I know a lot of people who were big fans of Arceus precisely because it felt so different.

For me, I struggled to make it through the game. It just didn't work for me. The "open world" felt really samey throughout; I'd get excited to explore a different region but many of them were aesthetically very similar, with similar Pokemon. And even when there were cool areas to explore, there wasn't anything to find. No hidden secrets, no boxes of Pokeballs, no passageways or puzzles or battles or trials. Just . . . land. So it got really tedious traveling from place to place.

Structured Pokemon battles felt too spaced out, so I wasn't really attached to my Pokemon because there wasn't much of a sense of having a Team Of Six traveling through the world with me. That's a critique I'm not sure how to put into words--I just know I didn't feel like my team was a team. Everything felt nebulous and undefined, like I could just switch out team members at random and it wouldn't really matter because they were just shaking trees and bumping into the same handful of Pokemon over and over.

(I'm also really sad that the newest Pokemon games have transitioned to a character customization model where there are only a handful of outfit choices in a dozen different colors instead of unique clothing items, after the wonderland of choices that was Pokemon X/Y and Pokemon Sun/Moon, but that's not Arceus-specific. Just another distinguishing feature of the different cities/towns/areas of the game that has been erased.)

Parts of the world were pretty, and I would find myself getting more engaged with the game every once in a while. I DID like the small challenges around each pokemon--I'm not a super-collector, so it was fun to have a real incentive to catch and battle many of the same type of Pokemon in different ways. I played alongside my partner, who liked the game more than I did and would request to play together, and sometimes I'd be like "Oh yeah, this game is still pretty fun." But whenever I wasn't playing it, I didn't feel any drive to pick it back up. I think I actually prefer the bright, colorful, more campy, themed, well-structured formula of traditional Pokemon games. I would rather not have every single property adopt an open-world format, and if games do choose that route, I'd like the world to feel lived-in, like something I'm motivated to explore for its own sake. Just saying "now you can go wherever you want, whenever you want, but it's all mostly empty" killed the Pokemon vibe for me a little. I'd be curious to hear what you think about how Scarlet/Violet compares--I was planning to give that one a shot in January!

 

[Bob Zombie]

I hear you on the "sameness" of some of the areas in Arceus, there were definitely some times where I wanted to move somewhere else but my quest kept me locked in an area until I was done. I guess for me, I liked the open world concept which gave it kind of a breath of the wild feel... and the space/time anomalies could be both awesome and terrifying as Pokémon randomly generated and kicked off waves of battles.

I honestly can't say why I can't get into the mainline Pokémon games... in the latest series (Scarlet/Violet) I tried to give it more than 30 minutes but I got sidetracked - it's not boredom because the game is certainly not boring, I just struggle to get immersed if that makes sense?

 

[daringred_]

i loved arceus. i've already long dropped violet, but i still regularly shiny hunt in arceus. i even played it all the way through twice! violet was just... very lacking (and buggy) and too open world for me, whereas arceus was just the right amount. could the landscapes have been better filled? sure, but violet is just as barebones and ugly in that regard, so it doesn't make much difference. i preferred the variety of ride pokemon in arceus vs. always being stuck with the legendary, of all pokemon, in violet. the game felt a lot more personable, too, watching jubilife village expand and doing side quests for loads of npcs where there's none (or next to none) of those in violet, which is a big drawback imo. i prefer the catching mechanics in arceus, being able to catch pokemon without engaging in battle, and being able to evolve pokemon without trading -- so you can complete the pokedex without needing online or friends. (which is why i never bothered replaying violet because i wouldn't be able to get the shiny charm on a second profile. no dumb version exclusives either!) i overall preferred the story in arceus, too; i could see most of violet's plot coming a mile away and felt very detached from some of it because of the lack of level-scaling and there being too many threads at once, but not so much arceus', and the premise was way more interesting to me -- of being an outsider and from a completely different time. violet also took away the auburn hair option and made it fire engine red again, so... even the clothes are better in arceus imo!

idk, i enjoyed some of violet, but overall i definitely feel like i got (and still am getting!) more for my money with arceus. maybe that's an unpopular opinion, but i hope they make another game like it with the same catching mechanics. heck, i'd even settle for a new "mainline" game using them.

 

[Croconaw]

I've never actually played Legends Arceus. I did play Pokémon Violet, but I dropped it after defeating the eight gym leaders. There's still some stuff that I have to do in that game but I don't see myself picking it back up, at least anytime soon. I'm not as interested in Pokémon games as I once was and I'm not sure if that's me growing out of them or them changing in general. I know the newer games are a lot different than the ones I used to play. The last Pokémon game I personally had fun with was Black 2/White 2. I haven't enjoyed a game like that since. I'm not even sure I will end up purchasing the next Pokémon game unless it's somehow Johto-based, which I doubt is going to happen. I would love to relive the Johto region with my favorite Pokémon, but it isn't likely. The next game might be based in a new region altogether, so my only hope would be having Totodile as an obtainable Pokémon - which I'm just letting this be known for now - I would pay top TBT to have one on my team as soon as trading is possible in the game, which it usually is after defeating the first gym leader.

 

[Flicky]

Legends Arceus is quite possibly my most favourite Pokémon game of all time, for a lot of reasons. I still come back to shiny hunt on it, even though I've nearly completed the living shiny dex for it.

For me, the mechanic changes are perfect. One of my biggest complaints about the older games are how Pokémon just pop up at the absolute worst times possible. Repels are semi-pointless, since they still break through them a lot of times, even if they're not strong ones like the description states. So being able to specifically target Pokémon you actually want to fight is a huge improvement, as is being able to just throw a ball at the one(s) you want.

Speaking of fights, Arceus has much tougher battles compared to the mainline games. It's extremely difficult to get OHKOs on most later Pokémon, even if you're at a decent level. The addition of the Agile/Strong moves leads to more strategic thinking. Although there aren't many trainer battles in this game compared to others, that works for me, because I'd rather have a handful of difficult battles than a hundred boring easy ones.

Level-wise, I like them. They could be a bit more varied I suppose, but they're already leagues ahead of ScarVio. Characters and story, again, I like them. And of course, shiny hunting. It's so much easier than any other game, but still enough of a challenge that it feels rewarding.

I think the only complaint I really have is that the graphics leave something to be desired. This, however, is a problem with all Pokémon games since they've made their way to HD models.

TLDR; Yay, a hundred times yay.

 

[Sheando]

i preferred the variety of ride pokemon in arceus vs. always being stuck with the legendary, of all pokemon, in violet.

This is a very good point. The ride Pokemon in Scarlet/Violet aren't my favorite, but riding in Sneasler's little basket was genuinely hilarious.

 

[Lancelot]

I think both ScaVio and Arceus suffer from Game freaks lack of flair when it comes to designing 3D worlds, but I think atleast in Arceus there was defined areas. They might’ve all been really similar but in ScVi I feel like the towns and city’s don’t even feel like they suit the areas they’re in half the time. They’re like someone just dropped some houses there imo.

 

[azurill]

I love Pokémon Arceus.I have been having so much fun with it. I did really enjoy the beginning Pokémon games. At some point I started getting bored or grew out of them. So I stopped buying them. Pokémon Arceus and Pokémon Snap were the first two Pokémon games I have bought in a really long time. I like them because they are so different from the original games. I have considered getting Scarlet/Violet but still not sure that I will.

 

[VernalLapin]

I love it, it’s definitely the most engaging of all the games. I love the exploring the map and running and jumping aspect. SV is similar in some aspects which is great but I like that you can sneak up on the pokémon, throw stuff, etc. really makes it come alive and not just feel like an RPG where you’re pressing buttons.

 

[DarthGohan1]

I had mixed feelings about Legends Arceus. At first, thought it was pretty neat they tried a new concept, and it was fun exploring around and catching Pokemon in the wild. Mid-game got pretty boring, felt like a grind with no reward. The lack of battles took some of the fun out of it, and it was just way too easy (this is not a problem unique just to Legends, seems to be the case with most recent Pokemon games). I felt it got a little better towards the end game, there were some different missions to go on and Pokemon to catch. But then again it felt like a total grind to unlock the real endgame.

TLDR: glad they tried something new, enjoyed playing through parts of it, don't really get the urge to pick it back up and play again though. 6/10

 

[Snek]

I really enjoyed Legends Arceus. It was a nice different direction that GameFreak made. I don't think that they will give us another Legends game though so I was glad I could play it. Shiny hunting was very rewarding. I felt that the game even rewarded the player more than most games. For example, the easy way to evolve several trade only mons is a reason why I still use it from time to time. There are some negatives, like the lack of breeding, but its natural in my opinion that GF removes features. I really wished that some of the features in this game like the Linking Cord and overworld shiny signal made its way to SV or future games but I won't be holding my breath. To sum it all up...it was very engaging and encouraged me to complete my dex. Its departure from the standard formula was bold and unique but will won't be repeated unless they make another Legends game in the future.

 

[Halloqueen]

I love Legends: Arceus, the radical change to the standard formula was needed and appreciated. I became quite engrossed with the game, and at an important time, as I was disappointed with the direction taken with Sword & Shield and the Let's Go games. Dexit was a massive blow to my enjoyment of Sword & Shield, but Galar was also the least engaging region for me and Dynamaxing is my least favorite gimmick that they've tried. Meanwhile, the Let's Go games were yet another tired rehash of the first gen games that also required you to use Nintendo's shoddily-made JoyCons and featured ridiculous move names that were seemingly aimed at three-year olds (Baddy Bad and Buzzy Buzz, among others, like...seriously?). While the Pokémon series has been a part of my life since they hit the US when I was a child, I was considering dropping the series around this time because of these sorts of things.

So, Legends: Arceus was a huge breath of fresh air coming off of those. Having to use different catching methods for different species, whether it be sneaking up and throwing food to distract them, obscuring your presence with smoke bombs, and/or stunning them with sticky globs was fun. Completing the tasks per individual Pokémon's Pokédex page was also fun for the most part (save for some particularly annoying ones) and rewarding in that it increases your odds of encountering their shinies out in the wild. Having to fend off and dodge aggressive Pokémon's attacks and having to contend with the status effects like Sleep, Poison or Paralysis on your trainer was cool and, honestly, it took a little bit for me to shake off the urge to do the rolling dodge in Scarlet & Violet since I got so used to it in Legends: Arceus.

It could've done with more Pokémon battles, but considering the setting it made sense that there weren't many. I was also disappointed with the female hairstyles, particularly the lack of longer styles, but hey, the girls tend to get the better trainer customization in the rest of the games so it's fair enough I suppose.

While they might not revisit this type of game in the future, I'd definitely welcome another Legends-style game.

As it compares to mainline games where you go through the Pokémon League, challenging the gyms and eventually taking on the Elite Four and Champion, I feel like these different styles all have their place. I'm open to the classic style, or something like the Alola region's Island Trials and Kahunas, or a Legends game, whatever they want to throw at me. I just want the games to be given sufficient development time. Hopefully the Scarlet & Violet fiasco will allow for that, though who knows, we'll just have to see what happens.

I really wished that some of the features in this game like the Linking Cord and overworld shiny signal made its way to SV or future games but I won't be holding my breath.

Yes please.

While I can understand why they didn't include the Linking Cord in Scarlet & Violet, since part of their philosophy and business strategy is to encourage trading either online or among friends, I'd really love to see them bring it back in the future. Some people don't have wi-fi or ethernet connection to trade with people, or friends don't play the series. I've been that person in the past who stuck with Machoke, Haunter, Kadabra, etc. due to lack of people to trade with and, while it did make me appreciate them more, I'm also glad I'm past that now and would like others to not have to miss out.

The overworld shiny sparkles unquestionably need to make a return though. While I believe Legends: Arceus was made by a separate team and they were using different assets, it's absolutely ludicrous that you just have to know Pokémon well enough to be able to spot shinies in the wild in Scarlet & Violet; I'm pretty good at spotting them as a series veteran, but considering Game Freak obviously wants to target their younger demographic, and considering some shinies are notoriously similar to their normal coloration, not having that extra indication is a massive oversight. Granted, it's glaringly obvious from their many issues that Scarlet & Violet were victims of crunch development, but still.

 

[podunk]

The new gameplay style in this spinoff is really a breath of fresh air. I love roaming and catching pokemon in real time. I love fighting boss pokemon one on one with the player character!
But, I really dislike the pokemon-go-esque encouragement of catching every pokemon you see and having an enormous collection. It makes your team feel a little less special when there are a dozen of each them in the box because you wanted to get the achievement...

 

[CylieDanny]

I definitely like Legends better then the other games, minus Gale of Darkness, and Mystery Dungeon, I'd say it's my favorite in the franchise.

I really like the open world, and how you can go anywhere you want. But one of my favorite parts is catching, and sneaking up on Pokémon. It's really fun, and tense depending on the Pokémon, I mean recording those Kritot, oh my god that took forever xD. I think the whole sneaking mechanic is fun, and hiding because it feels like the Pokémon are like, wild animals. You see them acting, and doing their own thing like in Sword or Shield. But seeing Pokémon behave as a wild animal that goes by fight or flight is just so cool! Especially seeing the Ponyta galloping around, which was just so cute.

I'm not super far in, I'm honestly too occupied filling in Pokedex entries, to progress the story, it could be a game just about that and I would be so into that.

No real complaints, but I'm also not too far in, but from what I've played I adore it. I want more games like it ^^

 

[kilusion2011]

I LOVED Legends Arceus! It's one of my top favorite pokemon games. I loved the story, the characters, the mechanics, the ability to explore everything.. the game is so beautiful too.
I really like being able to catch the Pokemon without actually having to battle them and sneak up on them. It gives you the option to decide if you wanna fight or not. Plus, it makes catching certain pokemon easier.
In general, Legends was a really unique experience that I'm glad I decided to partake in and if I could, I would want to go through it for the first time again.

 

[Asarena]

I really liked Arceus! It's one of my favorite Pokemon games for sure. I liked the Pokemon capturing mechanics a lot. It was amazing to not have to go through a battle every time I wanted to catch a Pokemon. It was also easier to spot shiny Pokemon, which was nice. Overall, it was a very refreshing experience compared to the usual Pokemon games. I spent so much time just wandering around collecting Pokemon and looking for shinies!