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[Draugoth]

Opencritic: 88/100 - 88% Recommended
Metacritic: 86/100

Platforms:

• Nintendo Switch (Jan 28, 2022)

Developer: GAME FREAK Inc.

Critic Reviews

Geek Culture - Jake Su - 9 / 10

Great for newcomers, even better for fans, Pokémon Legends: Arceus represents a natural evolution for the series, and it is one hell of a ride from start to end.

---

Nintendo Life - Jordan Middler - 9 / 10

Pokémon Legends: Arceus feels like the result of Game Freak learning lessons for 25 years, refining the formula, and finally taking the franchise in a new, incredible, exciting direction. With its emphasis on extremely rewarding exploration, addictive catching mechanics, a fine roster of Pokémon and a genuine sense of scale that's unlike anything in the series, Pokémon Legends: Arceus is quite simply one of the greatest Pokémon games ever made.

---

Press Start - Harry Kalogirou - 8 / 10

Pokémon has been in dire need of a reinvention for some time now, and while Sword and Shield brought some new ideas to the table, Legends: Arceus serves as a solid jumping off point for future entries in the franchise.
While it might not provide the visual fidelity and exploration we might wish for in an open-world-esque Pokémon game, it does provide a satisfying and addicting gameplay loop, alongside a surprisingly enjoyable narrative to boot.

---

Telegraph - Jack Rear - 5 / 5

By tearing up the rule book and breaking new ground, Game Freak has created the best Pokémon title in decades

 

[SpongebobSquaredance]

I am super surprised. I was convinced that it would end up in the late 60s or early 70s.

 

[Ogbert]

Add another 10 million to Switch sales.

 

[Notabueno]

I am super surprised. I was convinced that it would end up in the late 60s or early 70s.

Reviewers are corrupted disguised advertisers, and if there's one company they're afraid off and has been radical about removing access to review copies at the slight criticism, it's Nintendo.

Let's wait for the actual player reviews...

 

[Kacho]

And so begins another amazing year for Switch.

 

[Punished Miku]

I am super surprised. I was convinced that it would end up in the late 60s or early 70s.

GAF bubble in full effect.

In reality this looks like the most interesting Pokemon game since Pokemon Stadium. I called it. Yes, it looks a little drab graphically, but the gameplay looks substantially improved.

 

[AV]

Reviewers are corrupted disguised advertisers, and if there's one company they're afraid off and has been radical about removing access to review copies at the slight criticism, it's Nintendo.

Let's wait for the actual player reviews...

???

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond Reviews

The adventure through the Sinnoh region has been reborn. Experience the nostalgic story from the Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl games in an adventure reborn on the Nintendo Switch system. Adventures in the Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl games will take place in the Sinnoh...

www.metacritic.com

It's not Game Freak but it's sure as hell Nintendo.

 

[Notabueno]

???

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond Reviews

The adventure through the Sinnoh region has been reborn. Experience the nostalgic story from the Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl games in an adventure reborn on the Nintendo Switch system. Adventures in the Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl games will take place in the Sinnoh...

www.metacritic.com

It's not Game Freak but it's sure as hell Nintendo.

Did you look at the review WHEN it released? Most medias gave it a good rating and guess what...they "adjusted" when the user reviews came in because discrepancy = loss of credibility. Unless they want to push really hard for it like with TLoU2.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[The Cockatrice]

Change the name to anything but Pokemon and have the same game and it would be in low 4's. This is why we will never have quality Pokemon games.

 

[Punished Miku]

GOTY

Best game of 2022

Spoiler

... so far lol

 

[Sean Mirrsen]

Reviewers are corrupted disguised advertisers, and if there's one company they're afraid off and has been radical about removing access to review copies at the slight criticism, it's Nintendo.

Let's wait for the actual player reviews...

The problem is "actual" player reviews are even less reliable in cases like this. On any platform short of Steam, you'll never be able to get an accurate read on the player types and demographics that actually enjoy the game - and especially with an IP such as pokemon, the amount of people that go and loudly complain of any fault they find, or heap on praise for everything they see, will be disproportionately larger. You'll just never know whether the game is actually good, or is just getting praise because it's Pokemon, or because it tries something new, or because it's Nintendo, or because it's on Switch - or if it's just getting bashed because of any or all of those things. Critic reviews will be biased, but they at least have a common bias between them, so it makes for a better point to work from.

 

[Sleepwalker]

Add another 10 million to Switch sales.

30mill seller lol

 

[ANDS]

Only ever played Sword and Shield and this passage from GS tells you all you need to know:

The battle system is possibly the most recognizable aspect from previous Pokemon games, with each Pokemon in Legends: Arceus only being able to equip a total of four moves at a time and all the usual rock-paper-scissors elemental match-ups intact. But needing to know the finer nuances to type matchups is deemphasized in Arceus, to the point where moves are just listed as Effective, Super Effective, Not Very Effective, and No Effect from the start. More recent Pokemon games have included this feature, and I appreciate the help as someone who does not have the brain-space to keep track of every move match-up, but it has previously kept those hints gated behind having completed a Pokedex entry. In Pokemon Legends: Arceus that rough edge is sanded down to be even smoother, since you'll see them listed right away, even the first time you ever encounter a new Pokemon.

So zero innovation in the core gameplay (other than this Strong/Agile style). Just the same gameplay that it has always been, with a bit of iteration on the what leads you to this gameplay.

. . .and yet they'll moan about companies like UBISOFT churning out the same game over and over. Just wild.

 

[IKSTUGA]

First buy of the year . I've always really liked pokemon games and this one seems like a breath of fresh air.

 

[ParaSeoul]

 

[Nikana]

Pokemon has tended to be over-scored imo but still surprised. Maybe I will give it a look after all.

 

[Deerock71]

NeoGAFfers already insulated themselves against positive reviews by stating anything remotely ambitious was going to be rewarded with rave reviews. They can wrap that around themselves and sleep safely at night while I check out this intriguing Pokemon.

 

[AetherZX]

NeoGAFfers already insulated themselves against positive reviews by stating anything remotely ambitious was going to be rewarded with rave reviews. They can wrap that around themselves and sleep safely at night while I check out this intriguing Pokemon.

Spent 20+ hours on it so far, this is definitely the best game in the series and it's not even close imo. The visuals are the worst I'd have to say about it.

Make no mistake, GAF is definitely a bubble when it comes to discussing this game.

 

[Batiman]

Probably the only Pokémon I won’t be getting. The last one finally lost my son on the series. Sad to see him grow out of this. There was nothing in the trailer that interested me or him. I’m not a big graphics guy but I just can’t do it with this. It just looks brutal. The gameplay additions look even worse.

 

[Portugeezer]

GAF bubble in full effect.

In reality this looks like the most interesting Pokemon game since Pokemon Stadium. I called it. Yes, it looks a little drab graphically, but the gameplay looks substantially improved.

Because reviewer bubble doesn't exist.

 

[AV]

Did you look at the review WHEN it released? Most medias gave it a good rating and guess what...they "adjusted" when the user reviews came in because discrepancy = loss of credibility. Unless they want to push really hard for it like with TLoU2.

Metacritic has no control over publications not pushing a review of a game for days/weeks after its release date. For the D/P remakes, Of the first 25 reviews two days prior to release, 11 were mixed already. 10 now because one of them increased their score by 8 points.

If there's a grand conspiracy to only give Nintendo games high scores, it's not working, because of those 10 publications who scored D/P middling on release, 9 already have Arceus reviews up. They were not blacklisted by Nintendo or Metacritic, the scores are higher because the game is better, it's that simple. (hell, one of them just gave Arceus a 70)

 

[Robb]

Sounds like it’s a fun game with poor performance.

I’m having a hard time understanding how this can get a 10/10 though, given how poor the performance is. But I guess that stuff doesn’t bother some people.

I’m skipping this one, but I hope they’ll continue down this route. Would be nice to see more open world/semi-open world Pokémon games.

 

[blacktout]

I think he's right. Something went sideways with the art direction. If you squint, you can almost see the potential for a beautiful game that was bungled somehow. They're clearly trying to mimic the look of classic Japanese watercolors, and some elements (especially the grass, mountains, and trees) really do capture that look, but it doesn't congeal. I'm not sure why. Maybe it is the horrendous ground textures. I wonder if it would have looked better if they went even simpler with the ground, using big single-color swathes instead of trying to make it look kind of like real ground and ending up with some pre-HD era looking shit.

That said, I'm legitimately excited for this game, especially after seeing these reviews, especially since the player's interactions with Pokemon in the wild seem a lot more dynamic and organic than in Sword/Shield (which I didn't hate at all but was definitely disappointed by).

 

[amigastar]

I don't really know anything about Arceus. Is this the successor to Sun/Moon or is it something else?

 

[AetherZX]

I don't really know anything about Arceus. Is this the successor to Sun/Moon or is it something else?

"Prequel" to Diamond and Pearl set about 100 years in the past.

 

[amigastar]

"Prequel" to Diamond and Pearl set about 100 years in the past.

Aha, so it's a mainline pokemon game, right?

 

[AetherZX]

Aha, so it's a mainline pokemon game, right?

Yep.

 

[Punished Miku]

Aha, so it's a mainline pokemon game, right?

It has the subtitle "Legends." Could be a whole new series. It's the first of its kind, so no one really knows. It's not the typical naming of the main series with colors or elements. There's also not two versions.

But it's a console game, so there's that.

 

[Gifmaker]

Well, I was already planning on getting it sooner or later, so these reviews solidified that choice for me. It looked like the most interesting PKMN game in a long while right from the start.

 

[Mozza]

Knew this would bee great after the initial reveal, looks like they have ironed out those performance issues too, but the core Pokemon hunting looks awesome.

 

[AetherZX]

Didn't know this was Gamefaqs.

 

[R6Rider]

Didn't know this was Gamefaqs.

I thought it was NeoGAF. In fact, you literally called it that in the quote.

 

[Hitchyhero]

I'll never trust professional game reviewers when it comes to pokemon games. They said similar things for sword and shield (best pokemon game yet, innovative, gigantimax revolutionary).... And I completely fell for it.

I will trust user reviews much more when they get their hands on it

 

[AetherZX]

I thought it was NeoGAF. In fact, you literally called it that in the quote.

The point was your idiotic avatar quoting like that amounts to anything in forwarding this discussion or finding an apparent bias. It's stuff you see on forums with a userbase that have an appropriate mental age backing that behavior.

That was obvious.

 

[Touch fuzZy. get BizZay]

I'm in. Been a long ass time since I played a pokemanz

 

[R6Rider]

The point was your idiotic avatar quoting like that amounts to anything in forwarding this discussion or finding an apparent bias. It's stuff you see on forums with a userbase that have an appropriate mental age backing that behavior.

That was obvious.

The point was calling out your weak attempt at labeling anyone negative about the game as being inside a bubble (specifically NeoGAF). While yourself defending the the game while brandishing a Pokemon avatar and clearly there are several others here who plan to buy and enjoy it.

Maybe, just maybe, some people think it looks bad and other don't. Crazy.

 

[Sakura]

Game looks good from what I've seen and heard from people playing leaked copies. Definitely a fresh take to the Pokemon formula. Hopefully they expand upon it and make more games like this in the future.
Visually it looks pretty shit though, and I wish there was voice acting. Maybe not full voice but at least in battles and stuff. I'm sure they could afford it considering how many copies these games sell.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Got my copy this morning. It's actually a lot better than I thought it'd be. First one I've enjoyed since X&Y

God is it fuck ugly though

 

[Fbh]

As expected, game getting high scores and praise mostly for getting up to 2006-ish standards.

 

[AetherZX]

The point was calling out your weak attempt at labeling anyone negative about the game as being inside a bubble (specifically NeoGAF). While yourself defending the the game while brandishing a Pokemon avatar and clearly there are several others here who plan to buy and enjoy it.

Maybe, just maybe, some people think it looks bad and other don't. Crazy.

When the complaints themselves are weak and from people who have yet to have touched it, then yes, I can call it out. Reviews seem to check out too, turns out it's actually a good game. Weird.

 

[R6Rider]

Got my copy this morning. It's actually a lot better than I thought it'd be. First one I've enjoyed since X&Y

God is it fuck ugly though

Time to change your avatar to a trainer

 

[Punished Miku]

The point was calling out your weak attempt at labeling anyone negative about the game as being inside a bubble (specifically NeoGAF). While yourself defending the the game while brandishing a Pokemon avatar and clearly there are several others here who plan to buy and enjoy it.

Maybe, just maybe, some people think it looks bad and other don't. Crazy.

No. The point was we're discussing reviews, which is as close as we can get to a flawed and imperfect rating of how the game is. Nearly everyone on GAF claimed this is one of the worst games ever made and will not review well.

It is reviewing well.

That's the bubble. This is the reckoning where the opinion of the site meets reality.

 

[Saber]

Change the name to anything but Pokemon and have the same game and it would be in low 4's. This is why we will never have quality Pokemon games.

And we still have to deal with retard type of coments like "Gaf bubble"(goes to a forum and if the opinion doesn't suit you, just call everybody a hater). Yeah...everybody already knew the game is going to sell gangbusters regardless.

It doesn't make the game looks less uglish. Its a very ugly game. But "Ha! take that Neogaf!"

 

[SpongebobSquaredance]

I'm in too. Even with the ugly visuals, it's still the Pokemon I've always wanted when watching the anime as a child. So whatever. Perhaps it will sell and will get a sequel that improves on the technical and visual shortcomings.

 

[Rran]

I'm glad Game Freak has put some effort into shaking this series up, because I've ignored it for a decade now (and was disappointed with the last Pokemon I bought, X). There are new ideas here that sound like they genuinely work and it just feels like more love was put into this game than usual.

Even so, I think I'm going to hold off. Something tells me if I wait a few years, there'll be a better version of this idea out there. I really wish they'd held off on the "one Pokemon a year" thing for a few years and just hyper-focused on this to make it excellent rather than just good.

Credit where credit is due though, they managed to not arbitrarily make two versions of it.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Pokemon sales say it's the best franchise ever.

 

[AV]

Credit where credit is due though, they managed to not arbitrarily make two versions of it.

I don't think they're treating this as a mainline game, though. It's Pokémon Legends, not Pokémon.

That's not to say this won't become the norm, but you may also see the next game be a return to the tradition that sells so well. Probably depends a lot on how this one does.

 

[Notabueno]

The problem is "actual" player reviews are even less reliable in cases like this. On any platform short of Steam, you'll never be able to get an accurate read on the player types and demographics that actually enjoy the game - and especially with an IP such as pokemon, the amount of people that go and loudly complain of any fault they find, or heap on praise for everything they see, will be disproportionately larger. You'll just never know whether the game is actually good, or is just getting praise because it's Pokemon, or because it tries something new, or because it's Nintendo, or because it's on Switch - or if it's just getting bashed because of any or all of those things. Critic reviews will be biased, but they at least have a common bias between them, so it makes for a better point to work from.

This is not exactly true: I used to work in analytics, and everything you say is true, except you always unbias, cross and ponder the different data to get a clearer picture at otherwise biased and opaque datas. And media critics don't necessary have common biases, they are mostly paid advertisers on one hand, but on the other hand they have to maintain credibility (which for example IGN eventually completely lost and every medias know this).

 

[Notabueno]

Metacritic has no control over publications not pushing a review of a game for days/weeks after its release date. For the D/P remakes, Of the first 25 reviews two days prior to release, 11 were mixed already. 10 now because one of them increased their score by 8 points.

If there's a grand conspiracy to only give Nintendo games high scores, it's not working, because of those 10 publications who scored D/P middling on release, 9 already have Arceus reviews up. They were not blacklisted by Nintendo or Metacritic, the scores are higher because the game is better, it's that simple. (hell, one of them just gave Arceus a 70)

I wish I was as naïve as you, you never hired PR and astroturfing companies I can tell.