I went through hell to make this video. I contracted covid-19 while making it, so please understand if my voice sounds coarse or weak in some parts! Covid is also the reason why this video took long to get out, so sorry for the delay. 0:00 Intro 2:29 Part 1: What Makes a Pokemon Game? 6:28 Part 2: The Catching Mechanic 10:09 Part 3: Breath of the Exploration 17:40 Part 4: Jubdead Village 22:02 Part 5: Story and Ultra Cutscenes PTSD 29:15 Part 6: Farfetch’d Quests 32:17 Part 7: Minor Things 35:06 Conclusion
Biggest issue is that since Pokemon has transitioned to 3D, much of the abstraction from sprite models simply doesn't work anymore because it'll cause the environment to become bland and flat ironically. Much of the world needs npcs, objects to loop or have something more than just standing around. Such world building is not possible with the current timed releases. For a game to be good, the environment has to be damn near GTA levels of intractability
@@charnalk5572 Saying that FRLG (or most classic Pokemon games) as claustrophobic is quite an opinion though, especially compared to Alola and Galar...both must feel like tight spaces, if that's how you see it.
@@charnalk5572 I'm pointing out those 2 regions because I'm quite shocked you think FRLG isn't explorative when it quite is, while Alola and Galar are very linear in map design that I'm surprised you don't see them as claustrophobic.
@@charnalk5572 Because if every Pokemon game is claustrophobic, then why specify? Also I'm not sure how Sevii Island is explorative while the main routes in Kanto aren't, it's made so that you could go to particular paths in all four directions, very rectangular in design.
@@charnalk5572 Because I genuinely don't see how small FRLG is when many had given examples on comparing exploration of pre-Gen 7 games to Alola and Galar, even with player-to-location type ratios. I guess you feel that way as Sevii Island had more IMO areas that are similar (like swathes of water or grass)? Also I'm not counting the DLC of SwSh, that's extra stuff (that IMO should've been part of the base game), while I didn't even had PLA as an example, just Alola and Galar, where PLA's issue is how fewer things to do are there in a vast area (although why do I have a feeling that adding in more settlements and such would make it feel claustrophobic to you...).
Good points in general, but 1 quick correction: The unown side quest *does* take thought. While the whisps are mostly scattered, the unowns have secret clues in the pokedex that reward you for paying attention to the map. It's pretty well implemented in my opinion
They could've used the unknowns for the myth lores in the game like in Emerald. They could've explained that ancient Pokemon used unknowns to communicate with humans in the old times.
I don’t think having a lifeless village is a good thing and I believe they should’ve made the characters move around and interact with each other. However, something I like about the village that wasn’t mentioned in the video was getting the villagers more accustomed to pokemon. Sure, many of the side quests were nothing to write home about, but the thing that a lot of them achieve is introducing people to pokemon. At first, the village is under the impression that many pokemon are dangerous monsters (which, they can be), but when you give people pokemon or show them completed dex entries, they start to understand the pokemon more and start coexisting. Your pokemon help in the farm, a man learns about how to take care of an eevee and have it evolve into umbreon by accident, the 3 bidoofs you helped find sleep on a house at night, the security guard learns of wurmple’s evolutions, and an old lady learns how to accept a chimeco as a friend. There are some more examples I didn’t list, but they all serve the purpose of changing the village’s perspective on pokemon. A place where the idea of interacting with pokemon is dangerous starts becoming similar to the modern pokemon world where people and pokemon learn to help each other. I am in no means defending how lifeless the village can be at times, but I think Gamefreak should be given credit for making the villagers’ relationships with pokemon evolve over time. Also, this has nothing to do with this, but I love how the village theme changes over time. In the beginning, the theme is very plain and forgettable. However, near the end, the village theme evolves and is reminiscent of Jubilife City’s theme. Hearing the tune would always make me happy and is something that made me enjoy the village a lot more.
This is exactly why there aren't that many pokemon battles. Ppl in that Era still don't know what a poke ball let alone are afraid to pet a Starly lol ppl always complaining about there aren't many battles if you actually played the game you will know what's the reason why there aren't that many battles which makes sense to me. Just my opinion on why there aren't many battles.
@@TheDjus18 If you find people that are walking in the wild, filled with scary, big, deadly, Pokémon; I think you would find people with Pokémon as their partners, like the Wardens and the Clan leaders.
@@TheDjus18 You see many NPCs in the wild, sometimes you see Galaxy/Diamond/Pearl members around the different regions of Hisui’s wilderness. And when you need yo complete some of the requests not all of them are found in the Jubilife Village, some are in fact found in the regions (e.g. setting up new base camps in those respective regions). There is also of course the two settlements belonging to the two different clans.
I think it would be cool if after you quell the noble pokemon the area became lively with people, like you explore it once and see the area empty, and then you're encouraged to see how what you did improved the area. Imagine if people started exploring the areas after you, following in your footsteps to explore the lands. You could battle people, have fun interactions, and generally see more actual NPC's while playing the game.
I honestly thought as the story progressed the world would add settlements and other things that kinda start to show how Sinnoh became what it is but of course not. I swear we'd have twice the game (maybe more) if Capcom, Square-Enix or Nintendo in-house made the next mainline Pokemon game.
I had fun playing Shadow the Hedgehog, one of my guiltiest pleasures to date, and even a few parts of 06. Somehow I got like 30(?) of the endings and did each mission at least once.
If we get a Legends: Kyurem I hope it'll keep the catching mechanic and add in stuff for other people. Unova's a pretty interesting region with a lot to explore in the past like the Relic Castle, teh dreamyard, the entralink, the past conflict involving the swords of justice, the buried city on route 4, abyssal ruins, Kyurem's complete form, and the conflict between Unova's twin princes. With old timey Unova being set in a kingdom instead of a frontier we could have more trainer battles, maybe contests in Nimbasa city if people actually want that, and wild areas in between towns with caves and dungeons to explore. I'd be pretty disappointed if they did dragonspiral tower like turnback cave in Legends:Arceus where it is just a boss room.
Another is the main character probably being one of the prince's too. This will also make the rival finally challenging, be like an enemy and not some weak friend, a person you actually wanna beat
I actually liked Volo and the twist. Volo doesn't hate god, if anything he worshipped him, He desired his power to create his new world and used Giratina's hatred of Arceus to tear open a rift and provoke him (Arceus), when that plan failed he sought the plates, he wanted you to get the plates so that he could take them all and summon Arceus. And the thing about Volo is that you know nothing much about him throughout the main story, this Merchant Cynthia followed us without us really knowing much about why, he hardly approached you as a merchant that's for sure, thinking about it he was suspicious and mysterious from the very beginning.
One thing I did like is that they foreshadow his betrayal in the begining. He teaches you to sneak behind Pokémon to have a better shot at catching them, or in other words he teaches you how to backstab Pokémon.
Volo was suspicious right from the beginning. It was obvious that he was the villain given how involved he was in the post game quests when he was just a merchant.
@@ryuudrako86 yeah exactly. I wasnt surprised at all. Only surprised during the battle coz that mf took out Giratina after his 6 mons. Took me more than 20 times to beat him. 😒
14:14 I think you're right about the spiritomb and wrong about the unowns. Unowns are "a collectible" but aren't randomly placed, each one of the unown letters has a hint as to where to find them right in the pokèdex, which is also written in the unown alphabet!
13:05 Those random ruins were built by the ancient peoples that Cogita and Volo claim to belong to. The reason why they are based more off Rome and Greece is due to those civilizations being renowned for their giant super structures and their mystic practices to the old gods. The Ainu didn't really build anything of that grand scale and stuff like Regiggas is directly based of Mediterranean mythology (titans and golems).
Man looking at modern pokemon is just depressing. I WANT to be an avid pokemon fan, because conceptually it is amazing, what with the designs and battle mechanics and all that, but then they churn out these hollow shells that I WANT to like, but can't. Doesn't help that I'm kinda alone in wanting to like pokemon, as almost everyone I know has shallow experience or knowledge with it. I get sad thinking about the franchise sometimes
Exact same case with me man. It's just sad trying to constantly force myself to stay hyped or to like it. I even had the opportunity to buy one on a whim for cheap (shining pearl) but what I heard about the quality turned me away. Loved the series when I was young, want to live it now. Here's to hoping that violet and scarlet are good.
@@theluminousone5883 yes. I hope S/V are good because the series has been needing a 'great' game since gen 5. We've had 'good' titles since then, but the franchise still deserves better.
It makes me sad that Sinnoh of all regions was the experimental ground since it's my favorite. I enjoyed the game but there's definitely a loooot of room for improvement. Great review!
Same! Sinnoh got absolutely shafted with its “Remakes which are just remasters” and a “dissapointing one dimensional tech-demo”. I think thats what hurts me the most. I didnt care about pokemon franchises downfall, sunand moon and sword and shield were trash for me. But i dont mind that, but my baby sinnoh being massacred, that hurts.
@@mihaimercenarul7467 while hgss is great to look at, I think Johto is the second worst region just because of the open-ended map design after ecruteak which makes all the opponent and your Pokemon levels super low. so already I disagree with that part of your comment, so rlly you're saying gen 4 was shit :)
@@lampad4549 honestly that is true I do agree with points here and yea the game is not perfect. But sometimes he expect too much and wanted the game what he envisioned . Still better than verlisfy who trash talk everyone who doesn’t agree with his ego
I don’t think Pokémon should go completely back to the traditional formula. Game Freak needs to blend the best parts of PLA and the traditional formula for Gen 9.
Yeah same here, definitely not the greatest. But it’s at least it’s a step in the right direction. Hopefully they’ll take their time in the future, for their games and their workers sake
@@petergriffin3194 That almost guarantees that they'll trip and fall. I'd much rather them experiment slowly and refine a new formula than jump the gun and miss entirely. I'll buy a fun game, even if the formula has some flaws in it. I won't buy a game that is ruined by a completely shit formula.
@@K2niarDneK There has been a lack of experimentation with the current formula (only until Gen 7 with Trials then Gen 8 with the revamped Gym system), if it's now they decide they're official policy is to "take it slow" then it would be too late.
@@K2niarDneK I think PLA could've experimented a lot more I feel if it's treated more as a side-game...that and not exclude the stuff that works in past Pokemon games that could've been experimented here.
Legends Arceus was initially very fun but I've found myself burned out by the time I arrived at the beach zone. Once you get over seeing wild roaming pokemon in the environment and the joy of catching them it really reveals how little there is to compel the player to keep playing. The world is incredibly hollow and feels like a glorified tech demo. With that being said I'm still hoping they build off of Legends: Arceus for gen 9, which from the latest pokemon presents definitely seems to be the case. I'm just worried they're going to rush it too much as well with a 2022 release date...
Yep, scarlet and violet is a shitty disaster. I played the entire main game and it is boring as hell. The final segment where you explore area zero is just a glorified walking simulator and apart from the path of legends it was all incredibly bland
This is probably a dumb idea but I always thought they should have Pokémon evolve in battle when they reached the required level. I think that would be so fucking cool and it’s something so small.
TemTem interestingly did this, and while PLA has an interesting feature, I'm not sure how I feel about trainers dictating when they evovle, despite I guess you can stop evolution with B-buttoning.
I think why they made it so trainers evolve the Pokemon was for the sake of the Pokedex, you may not complete an entry of a Pokemon since that Pokemon has evolved, and if you don't want it to evolve it becomes less of a hassle than using the B-Button.
@@tldoesntlikebread Yeah, I'd argue it works for this format, although I think would've been preferable that the tasks would be more in line with the evolutionary line, although I could see why research-wise the need of observation for each species.
That's not dumb at all, happens in the anime, and honestly if a Pokemon is ready to evolve, it's not just going to wait for the battle to end. I've always wanted this.
I'm just done with Pokemon after so many mediocre titles. Don't even care about PLA. Switch has a plethora of better RPGs imo and I'm happy to stick with those instead.
I won’t be getting any mainline game until Gamefreak stops with the dexcuts and god knows how long they will decide to stop. Home is scan to use, I would rather have my Pokémon in a game to where I can use them instead of a useless ransomeware storage subscription service to where I can’t do anything with them.
21:20 Oh yeah, i just remembered. Even Pokemon Colosseum and XD Gale of Darkness have moving NPCs that make the cities look a bit more lively (and they don't move in a 4 direction grid, which is bonus points)
Sums up my reasons for not buying the game yet. I really appreciate the new ideas and improvements but it still leaves a lot to be desired. I think Critikal is right about how this game will eventually lead to a good pokemon game five years from now
I agree with everything you’re saying. The world could be more interactive, more settlements and structures. Graphics could be a bit better. But ultimately I had a fun time with this game. No masterpiece but I think it sets up the foundations for a masterpiece in future
@skylight1198 Its not half done, its just focussed around the catching mechanics. If you dont like them that much then its boring, but it doesn't feel unfinished.
@@jazzman5989 Come on man, I like the game but almost everything in the game lacks polish and hence is unfinished. The graphics look half baked and needed more refining. The engine needs a lot of optimization given the piss poor draw distance and frame rate. There is only 1 town in the game and they still could not make every npc unique. There is no voice acting. The world feels empty and needed more monuments, puzzles and sidequests. The earliest they should have released this game was Holiday 22 and then aimed Gen 9 for 2024 to ensure both these games got enough time in the oven.
I can appreciate all of these criticisms, but this game was still enough for me. It finally gave me a reinvigorated reason to care about this franchise. Yeah, maybe, it leans entirely on its catching mechanics, but I'm old enough to remember when _"Gotta Catch'em all!"_ was the slogan and ostensive end goal for these games. So for me at least this is something of a return to form and in a way that is more engaging than ever before.
I also agree with most of the criticisms and did enjoy Legends Arceus, but I enjoyed the noble pokémon fights and how you had to defend yourself against hostile pokémon. Catching alpha pokémon was also really fun too, since even in the more traditional combat format it retains the tension because they can easily wipe a low level and/or unprepared team. The highlights of the game were good enough to make it an enjoyable experience but there was still a lot left to be desired
I personally disagree about the comparison to XY. What made XY incomplete is the fact that everything was left hanging indefinitely. - we found out nothing about the Aura duo - Zygarde has no connection to its home region - no gen-6 Pokemon got a mega evolution of its own All of this including some plot points introduced in Oras got no closure whatsoever and that's what makes the experience incomplete. By definition Legends is the exact opposite because it acts as both a prequel and a sequel to DPP and flushes out ideas that were merely hinted at originally. PLA might not do everything exceptionally well but it's very much a complete experience even if not everybody is a fan of it
I agree w/ what you said, it’s a prequel in the sense that it deals with past events in sinnoh but a sequel in its own way because the protag is an older version of Lucas/Dawn
Not to mention unlike XY, PLA has far more memorable and likeable characters and moments. I still struggle to remember most of the Gym Leaders outside obvious ones. Even then the game failed grab our attention and make like it's characters and region. As much as people dislike SWSH it's cast is (baring a few exceptions like a pair of twins), far more likeable and memorable too! Yes it's narrative was not as great compared to most, but it more fun and was easy to understand despite it's flaws. Not to mention both SWSH & PLA actually tried tie both worldbuilding and lore in various ways. What with the League Cards in SWSH and namely the numerous references, side quests, and premise in PLA. XY...did it haphazardly,l thus failing to broaden it's core cast, and the world they lived in.
Easily the best and most honest feeling review I've seen, far too many reviews downplay the obvious shortcomings of the game and act like just because it's better than most modern pokemon games makes it a good game all around
I'm not sure what review you saw but most have been incredibly nuanced ( Just look at Ign or G4 for example). Nobody is down playing anyting but or just admitting that this is the most fun that they have with the series in quite some time
@@desdar100 But as said, most of the fun comes from the Pokemon, but if that isn't enough for you, it lacks a lot on those aspects. Also, some overrate the story frankly.
@@zjzr08 that's " His" pov. There are people who absolutely adore the side quest, the characters, and the colonial commentary. You can't use another person's opinion as a Smokescreen to explain how to feel about something
Ive every Argument Regarding PLA being bad, and yeah it's a barely finished tech demo, but that's the kind of content pokemon fans praise when GARBAGE like BDSP is much of what we get nowadays. PLA at least tried to be an enjoyable experience and kept up the immersion pretty well most of the time. Not to mention the new pokemon designs, while few in number were pretty good. It pains me to look objectively at how bad PLA is because I genuinely enjoyed it, Didn't buy it because obviously Nintendo still doesn't deserve money for the game in this unfinished a state. SV were another small step in the right direction, but they still haven't address the issue of just not giving Game-freaks developers enough TIME to actually FINISH their games, and it's really sad.
Perhaps what troubled me the most about PLA is the fact that your character is actually a time/space traveler chosen by Arceus. Before release, they went on to make the game about how Sinnoh's lore came to be and then Boom The entire storyline gets flipped on its head before it even begins just to justify the NotSheikahSlate being in the game
It really is odd to have the need for a time travel plot (where Arceus is more responsible of than Palkia interestingly enough) than just have a regular kid in Old Jubilife be taught of extraordinary abilities by Arceus.
@@zjzr08 Because you’re someone Arceus chose to protect it from Volo and Giratina and to introduce the Galaxy Team to Pokémon. The protagonist’s background as a trainer from a world where people and Pokémon work together is their most important aspect.
@@Gafafsg Glad you at least understood the point of the time travel at the beginning. Pokémon fans have a surprising lack of media literacy, I swear. Like, the whole thing was so you could stop an apocalyptic threat where no other people at the time where as experienced with fighting alongside Pokémon to stop it.
@@AedraRising Hence why I said the regular kid could've been "special", the pioneer to open Hisuians to Pokemon being able to bond more with humans kinda like N. Making it a time travel plot creates a paradox IMO, where you need someone from the future who trusts Pokemon because that person was the reason why people trusted Pokemon from the past.
Seeing how Legends Arceus turned out reminds me a lot of what happened to the Sonic franchise. Pokemon releases games that have a lot of potential but ultimately became lacking due to churning out games one after another. I'm hoping in the future they learn from a game with new ideas and make this type of game even better, because as rushed as it was, it's a refreshing take on your typical Pokemon game. The traditional formula needs to go.
The traditional formula (plus gimmick of the Gen) is comparable to Sonic's "Boost" Formula. It's proven that it can be fun, but it's not enough on its own. Could also compare it to the "New Soup" Mario Bros series for when a style does stagnate. Whether a game uses an old or new style, like Gireum said, if it's complete and satisfies it's better than when it misses a good chunk of the experience or delivers part of the experience worse than a previous entry in the series.
@@frobonetic Sonic needs notes but not from Pokemon. Sonic's transition to 3D was fairly impressive. Other series are having a hard time regulating quality whether the pushback came from deadlines, brand-powered laziness, or a change in audience or scope. Mobile/casual markets and models affect this too to the point that entire eras of gaming like N64 or GCN could share many multi-series fans, rather than continuous fans of a longrunning series.
@@raidoukuzonoha883 XY, SM, SWSH, PLA. The 3d games are so decisive but mostly everyone agrees the 2d games were better made. That's just the unfortunate truth that when pokémon became 3d the games took a dip in quality.
it kinda sucks that sinnoh was the test bed for experimentation, I agree I would have much liked a Sinnoh remake that takes SW/SH, polishes it up, and takes the open transversal from PLA. like a overlap of Platinum, SW/SH and PLA.
This is how we get our Sinnoh remakes we asked years for, absolutely butchered with BDSP and Legends which hardly even feels like Sinnoh. All I wanted (and others wanted) was a remake that built upon our favorite region and improved the aspects that made the game great in the first place. Seriously these releases were even more disappointing for me than the last few garbage Pokémon game releases. They’ve pretty much lost me since USUM released; it was literally just the SAME game with a different endgame. Pokémon hasn’t been a good series since BW2, before they took the 3D route that they lazily switched to. They literally put zero thought into developing this series now, but hey- BOTW did well so why don’t we just copy that?
@@TopMiner1 XY might have been pretty meh, but I think ORAS and the Gen 7 games were pretty solid, ill be it gen 7 being plagued with handholding. Overall SM/USUM had interesting a story and characters. And I do agree USUM should have done more to be different. But I'd argue the leap to the switch has really posed a challenge to GF, they arnt willing to face, and why should they if PLA is being praised as a 10/10 masterspiece GOTY for simple just existing.
@@TheWeeabooKid Problem for Gen 7 for me is they made the mistake of making the main story heavier but sacrificed freedom of exploration (Paper Mario TTYD and Super Paper Mario had those issues) - I'd argue Gen 3-5 had given the right balance that is yet to translate in a Pokemon 3D game IMO.
@@TheWeeabooKid I can at least respect ORAS and SM because they were the games I’ve enjoyed most in the series since the 3D switch. But USUM should’ve been marketed as a dlc for SM because it was literally the same experience till the late game. Everything else has just been so mind-numbingly boring and a step backwards.
You’re wrong on a few things. That cave in the water you said nothing was in was tied to a quest. Just because you didn’t manage to find it doesn’t mean it isn’t there.
Oh my gosh… I HAAATE when you criticize anything about a game and suddenly it’s “Well I guess you must hate innovation! Why don’t you go and play RBY, Genwunner?!” Like… People can have legitimate complaints about more innovative games. It’s not impossible. Innovation doesn’t automatically mean flawless.
I agree so much on the cut to black screen thing. I enjoy the game (haven’t finished the story yet) but I can’t not notice the black screen and action sound instead of an actual animation. 🙄
As a pokemon gamer who just catches the 5/6 pokemon that I will use for the whole game, I was realy sad when I realised that the game would by mostly focused in catching pokemon. The thing that I love about pokemon games is the puzzels, exploration, finding new locations. Tho legends is not that good in that field. Edit: omg I loved the Adaman jumpscare
Still havn't bought this game and probably never will. For me, the most fun part of Pokemon is raising a team of 6, battling trainers as I work my way towards the pokemon league, and this game just doesn't have that. I don't like catching pokemon I'll never use, so this game was a HUGE miss for me.
You articulate how this game frustrated me pretty well. I found it boring or annoying in many ways when everyone kept bugging me for not being further in but I couldn’t get into it. I thought i just preferred 8bit or 2d or traditional Pokémon formula but nah it’s kinda the overall lack of content. The graphics and models are great but not enough to be talked to so damn much I want the environment to tell me more than the people.
This feels like the opposite of the coliseum series. Where coliseum was focused on battling and catching took a backseat, this was the reverse. I think that this won't be the norm. I think this game was for the ones who are into the exploring and catching aspect. I know people keep saying this isn't a side game, but I'm seeing it as such that won't replace the norm, they might just take some pieces from this.
It also feels like a side-game to me although they really shouldn't have promoted it as a mainline IMO - still even without the captures I feel Collosseum/XD had a bit better story and I felt the dungeon crawling was much better there (despite being SwSh esque in map design).
@@zjzr08 nah leave kh out of the equation thats a different kinda situation game also only thing I see legends arceus is a pre mainline game not a sidegame if it was we wouldn't have Canon lucas and dawn in it
@@niteriemcfarlane5285 How is it a different situation, everything in-between KH 1, 2 and especially 3 are canon, so PLA can still be canon but also a side-game because of how different the playstyle is.
Great review! Hope someday Gamefreak stops being confident that their games will always have high sales despite how good or bad the game is, and makes actually good game.
Problem is many does agree they're "great games", probably those who liked SwSh probably sees this as the best game Pokemon game ever, so I'm not sure how they'd be encouraged to improve if many seem so content with them.
@@charnalk5572 I mean I didn't say that they are bootlickers, but let's just say Pokemon players that are even vocal online seem easy to please, compared to other franchises that seem to have high standards put on and are rightfully criticized about stuff that if are in the Pokemon games are seemed ignored or minimized IMO.
@@zjzr08 It's amazing for Pokemon fans because they've been glued to their screens with the same ol' formula back when God created the Garden of Eden? As an open-world experience, indie game developers could surely out beat this with their great skills. You can't compare this to BOTW, you just can't. Also, its disgusting graphics would certainly make people puke at it and make fun of the people saying, "graphics don't matter unless you have great gameplay", which for a fact, this game has.
I do agree with you on a lot, however, it does sound like you missed a decent chunk of stuff I the game. I guess you didn't know about the unknown clues and the village side quests? The village actually has a lot of character. But you did mention them, so I guess you just didn't pay attention? The reward for completing the side quests was the story and expansion of the village. And there was build-up to Volo being the villain if you pay attention.
The thing i hate the most about Legends Arceus is hisuian forms not being available in modern sinnoh, and evolutions for older pokemon that are exclusive to this game
19:39 DETAILS!?! WHA- all of the villagers have a name and many of them have side quests. Idk what you mean by missing details. Yeah the not moving thing can be weird but I didn't notice it personally and I think it can be overlooked imo.
None of the recent pokemon games are good and people need to stop praising game freak and nintendo for putting out rushed af games with little effort and love put into them. Like pokemon arceus is fun (sometimes) but it's far from a good game if you compare it to other games from other game company devs with the same price range. ffs game freak in 2022 alone is putting out TWO MAIN SERIES games, when it shouldn't even be yearly releases. the people working on these games are probably heavily overworked and could make a much better game if given more time and resources.
bruh ur just some genwunner bruh the newer pokemon games ain't bad... Well maybe bdsp is but sw/sh and pokemon legends arceus are really good. Not perfect but REALLY amazing. many pokemon fans loved this game..
I already said before, January 2022 wasn't enough time, with BDSP just released (despite of quality, still sold so well), there's no need IMO for PLA to be that early of a release.
yup. they should have released it like 2 or 3 years late so theres actually something other than talking with people for hours, a town full of statues and the only kinda good thing about the game: catching pokemon
While I did have a good time with PLA despite its flaws, I’m shocked you didn’t mention the ending “scene” for the main campaign where instead of showing anything it just rolled the credits then fades to black and afterwards everyone talks about “what an awesome party last night was! Everyone had so much fun!” But showed absolutely none of it to conclude the “story”. There are third party ps2 games that have more detail and animation than PLA.
I had an insane amount of fun (and still am) so I thought it was good. But I’m glad people are voicing concerns cuz yeah, by no means was this a perfect game
I agree. This was a great, big next step but it still has a ways to go. If they keep this format and start adding the gyms and towns and more interactive MPC’s hopefully by Gen 10 we will start getting these marks.
@@ellonayala8430 fuck no... we don't want boring open world games and surely don't want catching simulators... if you want a ubisoft boring open-worlds go play some ubisoft game... or a catching simulator go play pokemon GO or pokemon Snap... POKEMON IS ABOUT BATTLES ! AND DESTRUCTION ! HELL YEAH !
@@ellonayala8430 i hope the next game has a big map which means lots of towns and gyms with the same catching thing that PLA has and maybe some dungeons? also i think it would be good if they make a game that they update every few months with a few new things and make some kind of recommendation page online to get some ideas from fans and it would be good if they are going to release games that arent complete yet
This is a fine review and all, and everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but your criticisms of PLA's map design seem strange. You rip on it for feeling "empty," when in reality BOTW features much, MUCH more empty and unused space than it. Yes, it's true that BOTW's world has far more secrets to find and gets the "exploration" element down much better than PLA does, but that doesn't equate to PLA's map being "poorly designed" or "purposesless." I find PLA's landscapes and environments to be quite varied and interesting in and of themselves, especially lategame. Unlike BOTW, PLA's exploration is centered around moment-to-moment gameplay. You explore to catch and battle Pokémon, rather than simply to find new things. Yes, the exploration of PLA could indeed be a lot MORE interesting with more secrets to discover and dungeons to explore like in the older Pokemon games, but that doesn't mean it's isn't fun, or doesn't give the player a feeling of adventure. The sheer scope and interest of the world and core gameplay loop both ensure that it is and does. The main thing I do agree on you is that the presentation just sucks in this game. Other than the legendary cutscenes and boss battles, as well as the Pokémon battles themselves, literally NOTHING was improved since SwSh. The characters still look fake and artificial. They still black out the screen to avoid animating literally anything (with the exception of the game's finale and the Giratina boss fight, which are mostly just proof that Pokémon games COULD look amazing if the animators were payed more than two bucks a month, but no, we get THIS). It all just completely wrecks the immersion this game otherwise has a lot of. Ever since Pokémon games have made the break away from stylized and abstract visuals, they've just looked so janky and fake. That said, your criticism of the story is basically that it isn't presented well graphically. This is an issue with the visuals, not the story. The plotline itself IS quite boring until lategame, but when it picks up, it gets good. Not BW or Legend of Zelda good, but still, GOOD. there's a lot of great themes and backstories, a lot of clever tie-ins and references to other Pokémon titles, and a lot of characters get fun arcs toward the end as well (especially Volo!) Your criticisms of the story itself aren't really actual criticisms, they're mostly just talking about the story in a manner that's condescending and oversimplified in order to make it SOUND dumb. This is a very common pit people LOOOOVEEE to fall into while making rant videos, but that doesn't make it intelligent or level-headed. Overall, the story is lacking in some areas, but to say it sucks is pretty shortsighted. Oh yeah, and to say there was "zero buildup" to the Volo plot twist almost makes it seem that you never actually payed attention or cared about PLA's plotline. I mean seriously dude. Are ya blind?
I find it hard to say the landscape is varied to me in the sense that there's a sense of repetitiveness especially in the early areas. Maybe sure maybe the areas like Snowpoint City and the like, maybe that area with a lot of puddles too (the ones with Hippopotas). But overall it did feel you had that deja vu feeling at the start. It doesn't help that the pacing IMO is pretty slow especially the start to contribute to that. As he said it here too, if you just focus on the Pokemon itself, then yeah, it is great. But I was expecting dungeon crawling which is also found in classic Pokemon games, where you sometimes get lost and frustrated due to Pokemon just stopping you from time to time. They could've subtituted encounters with say sprawling tunnels with tight spaces as you try to avoid Pokemon. I'd argue Mt. Coronet needed an interior maze badly as it was that infamously known about it. There's no TMs, no held items, which IMO collecting them is one of the more interesting parts of Pokemon exploration. Although apparently Ursaluna does have an ability to search for lore notes, yet I feel that should be more of an overworld search than a hidden item hunt. Still I hope there's still more outside of that.
@@zjzr08 The TM collection was pretty fun, but I actually prefer the crafting system because it makes collectibles more something that the player will find actively useful, rather than something that is only nice to have if they happen to need it.
@@BenjaminAnderson21 I don't see why we can't do both. The crafting system could be an extension to that, and in a way it has been implemented before with examples like making Pokeblocks and Poffins in the main games. Practicality wise it seems easier to just buy items like Pokeballs and Potions through the store. But maybe have that option for special items too like for making certain held items.
Another argument I need to bring up about this video is the Botw comparison and I find it hard to see it sure the game gives you a phone but in terms of Legends Arceus and Botw they are completely different games and are different genres to be fair Legends Arceus feels more like monster hunter than Botw because your going out in a open field catching Pokemon and doing research tasks in order to complete the Pokedex in comparison to Breath of the wild where your exploring, the open world, and doing shrine challenges. Last thing I think he should take a break with Pokemon gamesbecause there are other RPGs that do a better job than Pokemon does even though I had fun with Legends Arceus I would recommend him trying the Nexomon games, Xenoblade, or even some action RPGs like Ys
I understand where you’re coming from, but honestly PL:A is one of my favorite games in the franchise. The few things it doesn’t do well are things I genuinely don’t care about, and the many things I feel it does right really hit home for me. Still, nice video!
Some other things the Pokemon AI is pretty poor, they wonder into walls and walk into water. I don't like how the Pokemon are all very similar in their behaviour. Just walking around not doing much of anything. They should have the pokemon doing things such as eating on their own, fighting on their own, interactions with the enviroment such as digging, also when possible have them doing the things that reflect their pokedex entry. One of the reasons the world is so boring is that it's design to be super flat to allow for easy ride pokemon traversal. If there is less reliance on a traversal system it will allow more interesting maps with less flat surfaces. Allow the player some limited ability to climb to encourage exploration on our own. The way everything freezes when you enter a battle sucks. The pokemon not involved should continue moving, have some run way, some stay and watch but they should be allowed to move just like the player can. When a pokemon runs away it should actually run away and not just disappear into the void. They need to commit more to a real time system.
Which is interesting because apparently the interaction of the Pokemon with the environment is a reason why there's few Pokemon in it despite a lot of behavior being pretty similar (although I think they're acceptable at the very least).
Just found your channel and I'm about to binge-watch everything. It's good to see a Pokémon fan with atual critical views for once because it looks like the rest of the fandom on TH-cam really lacks on that department. I haven't bought a Pokémon game since USUM and I don't regret it, they seem to get lazier and lazier with every new game, it's so bad (not saying that USUM is good, it was when Pokémon actually started going downhill with its cash-grab practices in my opinion). I'd love to see a review of yours on Pokémon Sun and Moon though, I think those games are really good despite the underwhelming graphics (that were kinda good for 3DS standards actually), but I'd love to hear your opinion on them
This game is by no means a perfect game, but I'm honestly confident to say that this game is awesome and fun. Something simple as catching Pokemon is a lot of fun to me, and it always felt exciting to find different Pokemon compared to the older games. Game Freak finally gave Pokemon high quality animations this time with mostly new battle animations, and the animations they bring when you interact with them. Kudos to them for that. I haven't had this much fun with a Pokemon game since ORAS. My only critiques with this game are, like you said, some cut corners, landscapes being barren, not much incentive to explore besides the Pokemon, and only one village. Plus, the graphics are underwhelming for a 2022 AAA title (though I didn't care too much), but for me the positives definitely outweigh the negatives. And I feel like this is the first Pokemon game in a minute where it's actually worth full price.
Im curious how long your "fun" lasted? Because this game made battling pointless when you can get hit up to 4 times in a row, for no reason. Was it the catching mechanic? Cause it's cool, but worth building a whole game around? You can literally throw balls or items, or pokemon, ride a pokemon and dodge roll. That's literally it. Every side quest or mission is one of those 3 things. And I don't count the boss fights, since you can beat all of em without ever throwing out a pokemon. Cause that's what i love about pokemon , chunking stuff at em
I totally agree with you! I spent like 5 hours on the first map (not progressing in the story or anything) just exploring and catching new Pokémon; it felt so refreshing. I know the mechanic is not for everyone, but I think this game has one of the closest approaches to the true spirit of the saga: exploring lands full of secrets to unravel with your partners. Of course, the graphics aren't the best, and at certain times of the day the landscape feels to muddy for my liking, but I am still enjoying this game a lot and u think it's one of best Pokémon experiences we've had in a while
@@hastur_kinginyellow5310 I haven't beaten the game, but my fun with the game is pretty much infinite, lol. Honestly, I've never wanted to put the game down every time I played it.
Real question is, why is the pokemon company allowing an indie game dev to develop what's supposed to be a triple a game? That's like hiring the guy who made the original slender man game, or baldies basics, to develop a new GTA or monster hunter game 🙄
Because Game Freak isn't an indie game developer, but wants to treat its development team as one, at least as of late...doesn't help the latest releases are quick when they desperately need more time (personally I don't think Game Freak is fully excused with scheduling, as despite The Pokemon Company potentially dictating schedules, Game Freak part owns it, and I just think they just agree because people will buy anyway).
It felt weird all my friends praised this game but I didn't like it at all. I don't really care to catch different pokemon often. And catching them multiple times to up your star rating made it feel like a worse grind then leveling up in old pokemon games.
Game was amazing, I played it very aggressively just running up to every Pokémon and dodging their shit, the plots twist on mt coronet with the red sky, volo battle, catching alphas, flying around all the maps, doing all the endless sidequest, youre fuccin tripping I got 100 hours in this game. The new battle system was amazing allowing you to chose an agile or strong move.
did you even watch the review or did you just turn your brain off and only catch some buzzwords he literally praised the alpha catching and everything else he mentioned was completely right. sure, its a great game if you've only ever played gen 6/7/8. but the rest of us remember when the franchise was actually good
@@spidaaahsNot cool man. Other people's opinions are just as valid as your own. You can't just make assumptions about people to discredit their perspective.
Yes at first it feels cool, but then you realise you are screwed because the only thing you can do is collect pokemon for no real reason or goal because there are no gyms of hard battles. It is very time consuming, more than ever but it also has never been this pointless to put in effort…
It's like if Mario Party was all mini-games or mostly borads...which interestingly you could argue they have done now (Mario Party: The Top 100 and MP9 & 10).
I would say is a decent game but it has tons of issues, i thought this was the game that was gonna save pokemon from mediocrity and unfinishness but nope, still an unfinished game but its better than swsh bdsp usum, this pla game has a very good and dinamic catch system but thats it, this needed probably 1 year or 2 more of development
My main problem is that the game has SO MUCH DIALOGUE I don’t ever really read the dialogue that’s why games that don’t have a crap load of dialogue are probably the games that I’ll play
Thank you for pronouncing it Arceus with a soft C. I've been living in Japan for a decade, speak the language, read snd write all three writing systems, own Legends: Arceus and have talked to other Japanese people about it. It is ONLY pronounced with a soft C. The way it's written would literally be written out as A-RU-SE-U-SU. I have no clue where the arkeus pronunciation came from.
10:05 from here this is my main problem with this game and why I didn't bother finishing it. I got bored real quick, nothing interesting in the world, lack of structures to explore, no ancient ruins to help discover the mysteries surrounding Arceus, it's just pokemon tossed in randomly. Such a let down imo because I was really trying to enjoy this game but got bored rather fast.
I agree with a lot of this. While PLA stands out from recent Pokemon games it is still quite hollow. The beginning of the game is quite strong (despite of first 45 minutes being tutorial) but granted it made me quite excited to explore a barren field. By the time I was done with Coastlands and reached the snowy area I felt like I was done with the game. There is simply absolutely nothing to find anymore in map. Honestly once you get Basculegion you can explore most of all the maps and there is barely anything new to find. I think the riding pokemon were quite a missed opportunity to have you return the earlier areas and access new places. I don't know if I'll be completing this game. I know that there won't be anything new for me to find, except maybe legendary and shiny pokemon but nothing of it will result to anything other than few cutscenes.
Well there's an explanation to all the negative points in this video : time. When you work on a pokémon game, it's not just a game it's something that would also sell cards, toys ect...everything than the Pokémon company does. The Pokémon company doesn't really care about the state of the game they only want it to be done before the deadline so they can sell all kind of shit. It's easy to always say it's masuda, it's game freak ! But then you grow up and you understand that they didn't make that choice.
I have yet to see the definite reasoning that TPC is the one forcing GF schedules. True, the mainline games don't sell as well as merch. But GF is still independent, is not owned by TPC, and actually OWNS part of TPC. TPC promotes the BRAND but the games aren't the promotion, it just happens that the promotion sells more. The merch still revolves around promoting the games and the brand in general, but in the past it has shown how the non-game branches of the franchise does its own thing when there's no game to tie it in. TPC has influence, sure, but Masuda himself said neither TPC or Nintendo will make them do what they don't want to do. www.nintendo-insider.com/who-owns-pokemon-junichi-masuda-answers-the-big-question/
@@zjzr08 game freak doesn't own tpc really they have 1/3 on the pokemon franchise but not tpc. TPC is actually mostly owned by creatures. And i don't think that masuda of all people would say that game freak is forced to make games faster than they should.
I don't think it's overrated but I don't think it's an amazing game. I think PLA is a great starting point for a possible spinoff series but if nothing else came of it that'd be disappointing.
I'm totally fine with them getting rid of the gym system for a game. It's been the same for 25 years... If you're going to include a gym system, give the trainers a theme instead of having them be a static type that can all be knocked out with one elemental type.
Yeah. I'm imagining Gyms based on other aspects of battling such as weather, terrain, status conditions, berries, choice items... even X Items that Norman's gym used back in Hoenn. It's been typed because that's what we expect. But there's always been potential there.
Legends Arceus was the first Pokémon since ORAS where I truly felt so excited and interested to play. I couldn’t stop playing it. With more time invested, this game would have looked phenomenal. Very refreshing. The game is also difficult imo. I wiped out so many times
This is the "Trying something new" Pokestans continue to spew about this game.. Sun&Moon was something new, and it was unanimously hated by many, even though it has Less grinding, handholding, and cutscenes compared to Legends. I just Don't see the fun in catching a Starly 6 times because because because.. Now, if the game had trainers to battle, gyms to challenge, other towns to visit and less chores and grinding, it may have got a pass better than LetsGo, and I haven't even played LetsGo but it looks infinitely better. I've accepted that we'll Never get the Pokémon game we deserve since the heights of BW2, and HGSS so I stopped buying after Sun and Moon, which in retrospect doesn't seem so bad now. There aren't many Poketubers who keep it real anymore. And those that do, all seem to dislike eachother anyway. Talk about toxic games and fanbase.
@@zjzr08 same. I rather enjoyed the carefree trials, although they could've been a little more challenging. I enjoyed walking around Alola, using GTS and Wonder Trade for replaying value. I even loved the gat damn clothing and bags you could buy from stores, the island captain's and kahunas. The game wasn't great but it was certainly better than X&Y.
I know this game achieved a lot but your critiques are valid. I wish the price of the game would go down if they refuse to take more time to flush it out or they released downloadable content for updates as much as I hate dlc etc..
I had a good time with the game. The catching mechanics were really fun, the few trainer battles that were around were generally good, and followed a good difficulty curve, as well as the noble battles. The music was also pretty good. That being said, if Gen 9 is just this, but in the modern setting with a few tweaks, I’ll probably give it a pass. If I ever need to scratch the itch that is the catching mechanics, I’ll already have a game to play. No sense in getting another one.
i think the reason that there arent that many cutscenes is cuz the pokemon company was too scared for this game to flop cuz its the first time theyve done something like this so they didnt put all their effort into it
I am really enjoying your content because you are one of the only youtubers that actually tell the rational truth about these games. I bought PLA because I wanted to experience the game because maybe the gameplay and the story will be nice apart from the graphics being trash. After finishing the game (even all sidequests) I have the following to say: pros: -the game really sets itself apart with the new catching mechanic I really enjoyed. -the game has open areas to „explore“ -all Pokémon are walking around in the overworld. -I like hisuian forms -nearly every pokemon can be catched - even pokemon with item trade evolutions -Trade is not necessary anymore to evolve pokemon that previously only evolved that way -through some sidequests, there is much explanation to Pokédex entries we know from previous games (like the one with blissey where it cures people and you actually can see that - even though it isn’t animated and just textboxes saying it heals something but you hopefully get my point) -the wisp collecting is an improved method to obtain spiritomb (even it is time consuming) Cons: - the graphics are horrible for a game costing 60$ and being part of the biggest franchise on the planet with huge financial recourses -the story is bland - I personally just skipped over so many texts because the „Szene“ was just boring - like you said, the dialogue in the galactic building or the restaurant Szene -no towns apart from the hub -the hub is boring - no „actual“ life can be felt when walking around the town because everyone just standing at their place. - the villagers have professions (like the farmers or the mushroom-expert) but you don’t see them ever performing any actions related to that, they just stand at their place -the sidequests in general aren’t diverse enough . The wisps in the spiritomb quest should’ve been marked on the map . there are too many fetch quests . There should’ve been more quests like „Sea Legends, Darkrai or Shaymin with some lore behind, for the player to understand the characteristics and background of the Pokémon better -when you are heading into an invisible wall, fog will be displayed - this fog goes away far too late and you can’t see for a time where you actually go/fly -when you walk against a climbable wall, sneasler will automatically activate - when you climbed the wall the „pokemon-reel“ still stays at sneasler and doesn’t change back to the pokemon you had before (its minor but i noticed that very often) -the battle System Is unpredictable . When the right side shows that you have two turns in a row it happens very often that the opponent moves first . In previous games who moves first was determined by the speed stat - now its just random like you have a pikachu but golduck moves first - why? BUT: I generally appreciate the different approach of the strong and agile system -MP are hard to obtain and not safe to obtain (dependent on if someone has left their satchel - if not you will not be able to obtain these points easily) -Not all Pokémon are catchable - I like that you can catch nearly every pokemon but why are there exceptions like Lilligant - it just seems a random decision -like gireum said, I wished there are more puzzles for the placed where you encounter legendary pokemon -the random ruins scattered around all the environments don’t make sense - what is their purpose?-Are they related to a bigger temple?-Did people live there before?-Was there a village etc. -there is no real character development - like in ORAS you really can see Wally become selfconcious and a brave trainer, trusting his Galade and stuff - I know that there is some development with the clans and so on but its just an unnecessary conflict because at the end they both now they are right but before that you don’t see them fighting against each other to determine who’s right - they just change some arguments here and there and no real tension comes up in terms of this space-time-beef Even if I had listed many cons I enjoyed the new gameplay, but when you look at the entire game it becomes obvious that there are many flaws that probably were easily avoidable or possible to work around or fix at all. Thanks at Gireum for this review. I enjoy your channel and as a person who’s first ever game was Pokémon Diamond I really have a personal connection to these games and how much I enjoyed Gen 4 (main and spin offs). The games we got BDSP+PLA aren’t doing the Gen I love the favour I hoped for.
Most fans are tired of the format. I think that's why people are shitting on the games now. It's also why I think most fans (myself included) really enjoyed Legends Arceus. Game Freak should definitely consider dropping new formatted games more.
I agree, and here is the thing, the purpose of PLA is about build the very first Pokedex, not to mention that, Pokemons used to be considered terrifying creatures, and this is something that many NPCs say in the game quite often, so it is reasonable to not have lots of trainers to battle with. Legends Arceus ISN'T a perfect game in anyway, there are many annoying things IMO, but it is enjoyable enough. I know, it is a low bar that GF gave us, but overal, I say PLA is a game that I don't regret buying, like Sword and Scarlet.
I’m not disagreeing with you, but the biggest thing for me is the replayability value because I have no desire to play that game again lol unless it’s the catch something to trade into another game
Oh sure, let's forget that the map isn't just divided into routes and is entirely open Let's forget that they added actual verticality which was sorely missing from SwSh Towns don't have fixed camera perspectives, full buildings with roofs and walls instead of voids Innovations to the battle system, while it removes abilities and EV's they're replaced by Strong and Agile Style Certain Pokemon are no longer bound exclusively to trade evolutions meaning if Nintendo Online goes away you can still complete your pokedex Random encounters have been done away with completely, all Pokemon are now in the overworld and they will appear in their shiny colors in the overworld In order for your Pokemon to learn new moves you don't need to cast your old ones into the void, all moves can be relearned from the menu Pokemon actually have better animations and will actually make contact with each other when battling Pokemon are also way better scaled here, they aren't all the same size like previous games. Jubilife village is a dynamic town that gradually opens up and changes as they become friendlier and friendlier with Pokemon Good character models with great expressions Ride Pokemon once again make a return, though the Pokemon you can ride aren't as diverse as the Let's Go games, none of them invalidate the other Different weather affects battles meaning certain weather conditions can be advantageous or disadvantageous The music, when you can actually hear it and listen to it is good. All things that weren't mentioned and I'm sure I missed other things, but hey "it's a lazy game"
I'm sorry but the character expressions are a big minus maybe except Akari/Rei, look up Pokemon Masters expressions, the eyes and body language are a lot more dynamic IMO.
Oh, and the constant comparisons to Breath of the Wild is complete conjecture on your part. If anything Legends Arceus has more in common with Monster Hunter World and Monster Hunter Stories 2, than Breath of the Wild.
This was my biggest concern when I watched gameplay and reviews praising this game. While yes the expanded catching system does seem interesting and fun but I found myself asking what else is there to do in this open world other than catching? This is an open world game and usually these kind of games have at least some variety of activities scattered around but literally everyone just talks about catching pokemon and that's it, there's side quests but even that seems to be mostly about catching pokemon while the battling aspect of the game seems to take a backseat.
I remember when this game came out and everyone was saying it's the best Pokemon game of all time. I was thinking it's the most boring Pokemon game of all time
Really enjoyed the review man. I’ll be saving my $60 for sure. But genuine question, do people actually play game like Pokémon or Zelda with hopes of there being puzzles? Puzzles always feel like useless time fillers for “content”. And when I play games I never go “Oh man, I can’t wait to get this new game! I hope there are hours worth of puzzles in it!”
@@ProtoBrown Not really. I borrowed it from a friend that got bored of it after the 3rd day. I tried it, and man this game is god awfully boring. It’s very unpolished. Looks cheap as hell to. Those cutscenes are atrocious. Are we still in the PS2 era? The characters look and move around in a lifeless manner. Kinda looks like a mobile game. I saved $60 + tax fam
Puzzles are the soul of what makes Zelda great. A Zelda game without puzzles would be like a Super Mario game without jumping, or a Pokémon game without Pokémon
No gyms , No E4 , No Champion , No Rivals , No PvP.... No battles in general... makes this game BORING... This game is enjoyable for people who like Pokemon GO or Pokemon Snap.... catching simulators basically...
I know I'm in the minority in disliking BotW outside of the characters (that's not Zelda). Legends, outside of some of the dex entries, felt like the best Pokémon game since Gen 5 with Black/White Black2/White2
Okay, I feel some of that montage was kinda reaching a bit in areas that I have no idea what the comparison is meant to be. Like, the map? They don't even look alike. Did BOTW inspire Pokemon to use maps now? Camping was already a thing in Pokemon games since SW/SH and riding Pokemon to traverse was a thing in Sun and Moon. Like, I get maybe saying that for the climbing mechanics, but c'mon even flying? As if that wasn't a feature in Let's Go? I'd argue even the tribes and leaders stuff is just part of the older Japanese aesthetic they went for. Tribes, villages and factions were a thing way back when, so I can't really ascribe that to BOTW inspo. The game is definitely inspired by BOTW, but some of the examples are just reaches. Stuff like the art direction, compositios and OST should've been the focus. Heck even the enemy battles with the huge life bar thing at the top can be attributed to BOTW.
You make very many great points. I guess I fall into the completionist/catcher camp, hence why I had so much fun filling out the pokedex (not done yet).
I love how people complain how this game lacks polish, when it has more polish than literally the last 4 generations combined.... lol. I'd rather have idle NPCs than NPC's and windmills that move at five frames per second like it does in Scarlet and Violet.
I'd argue Let's Go games have the most polish among the Switch games, but that's mostly because it's small in scope - that being said it's expected to just be like a side game so it did it's job.
It may have more polish than the other recent Pokémon games, but that’s a very very low bar. It should have been polished more and should have had a lot of time to fully bake. What people got was a half-baked game
I went through hell to make this video. I contracted covid-19 while making it, so please understand if my voice sounds coarse or weak in some parts! Covid is also the reason why this video took long to get out, so sorry for the delay.
0:00 Intro
2:29 Part 1: What Makes a Pokemon Game?
6:28 Part 2: The Catching Mechanic
10:09 Part 3: Breath of the Exploration
17:40 Part 4: Jubdead Village
22:02 Part 5: Story and Ultra Cutscenes PTSD
29:15 Part 6: Farfetch’d Quests
32:17 Part 7: Minor Things
35:06 Conclusion
Your efforts much appreciated. Looking forward to seeing it.
The 🐐
I hope you're doing better now. Can't wait for the BW2 review.
You did very well, pointing out the things that needed to be said. Thank you for making this.
halve the video so far and barely any mention on any confusion on arceus battle mechanics.....huh?
Biggest issue is that since Pokemon has transitioned to 3D, much of the abstraction from sprite models simply doesn't work anymore because it'll cause the environment to become bland and flat ironically. Much of the world needs npcs, objects to loop or have something more than just standing around. Such world building is not possible with the current timed releases. For a game to be good, the environment has to be damn near GTA levels of intractability
@@charnalk5572 People rarely comment on uncanniness on the 2D games though, mostly because you are expected to just think of the scenario.
@@charnalk5572 Saying that FRLG (or most classic Pokemon games) as claustrophobic is quite an opinion though, especially compared to Alola and Galar...both must feel like tight spaces, if that's how you see it.
@@charnalk5572 I'm pointing out those 2 regions because I'm quite shocked you think FRLG isn't explorative when it quite is, while Alola and Galar are very linear in map design that I'm surprised you don't see them as claustrophobic.
@@charnalk5572 Because if every Pokemon game is claustrophobic, then why specify? Also I'm not sure how Sevii Island is explorative while the main routes in Kanto aren't, it's made so that you could go to particular paths in all four directions, very rectangular in design.
@@charnalk5572 Because I genuinely don't see how small FRLG is when many had given examples on comparing exploration of pre-Gen 7 games to Alola and Galar, even with player-to-location type ratios. I guess you feel that way as Sevii Island had more IMO areas that are similar (like swathes of water or grass)?
Also I'm not counting the DLC of SwSh, that's extra stuff (that IMO should've been part of the base game), while I didn't even had PLA as an example, just Alola and Galar, where PLA's issue is how fewer things to do are there in a vast area (although why do I have a feeling that adding in more settlements and such would make it feel claustrophobic to you...).
"Why can't we have BOTH?"
I ask myself questions to that effect about Pokémon every day.
Good points in general, but 1 quick correction: The unown side quest *does* take thought. While the whisps are mostly scattered, the unowns have secret clues in the pokedex that reward you for paying attention to the map. It's pretty well implemented in my opinion
I was able to find all the unowns just from their clues. It was actually pretty fun. Except unown O
They could've used the unknowns for the myth lores in the game like in Emerald. They could've explained that ancient Pokemon used unknowns to communicate with humans in the old times.
@@KingTai64 what? Why's that relevant?
@@jackalcoyote8777 Unknown is the topic. Suggesting other ideas that they could've been used for. Not really confusing.
@@KingTai64 Okay I got that part, but then you said something about the myth lores of emerald. What did unown do in emerald?
I don’t think having a lifeless village is a good thing and I believe they should’ve made the characters move around and interact with each other. However, something I like about the village that wasn’t mentioned in the video was getting the villagers more accustomed to pokemon. Sure, many of the side quests were nothing to write home about, but the thing that a lot of them achieve is introducing people to pokemon. At first, the village is under the impression that many pokemon are dangerous monsters (which, they can be), but when you give people pokemon or show them completed dex entries, they start to understand the pokemon more and start coexisting. Your pokemon help in the farm, a man learns about how to take care of an eevee and have it evolve into umbreon by accident, the 3 bidoofs you helped find sleep on a house at night, the security guard learns of wurmple’s evolutions, and an old lady learns how to accept a chimeco as a friend. There are some more examples I didn’t list, but they all serve the purpose of changing the village’s perspective on pokemon.
A place where the idea of interacting with pokemon is dangerous starts becoming similar to the modern pokemon world where people and pokemon learn to help each other. I am in no means defending how lifeless the village can be at times, but I think Gamefreak should be given credit for making the villagers’ relationships with pokemon evolve over time.
Also, this has nothing to do with this, but I love how the village theme changes over time. In the beginning, the theme is very plain and forgettable. However, near the end, the village theme evolves and is reminiscent of Jubilife City’s theme. Hearing the tune would always make me happy and is something that made me enjoy the village a lot more.
This is exactly why there aren't that many pokemon battles. Ppl in that Era still don't know what a poke ball let alone are afraid to pet a Starly lol ppl always complaining about there aren't many battles if you actually played the game you will know what's the reason why there aren't that many battles which makes sense to me. Just my opinion on why there aren't many battles.
the gradual urban growth of the village was nice to see too
@@TheDjus18 If you find people that are walking in the wild, filled with scary, big, deadly, Pokémon; I think you would find people with Pokémon as their partners, like the Wardens and the Clan leaders.
@@petergriffin3194 are there a lot of npc in the wild?
@@TheDjus18 You see many NPCs in the wild, sometimes you see Galaxy/Diamond/Pearl members around the different regions of Hisui’s wilderness. And when you need yo complete some of the requests not all of them are found in the Jubilife Village, some are in fact found in the regions (e.g. setting up new base camps in those respective regions). There is also of course the two settlements belonging to the two different clans.
I think it would be cool if after you quell the noble pokemon the area became lively with people, like you explore it once and see the area empty, and then you're encouraged to see how what you did improved the area. Imagine if people started exploring the areas after you, following in your footsteps to explore the lands. You could battle people, have fun interactions, and generally see more actual NPC's while playing the game.
I honestly thought as the story progressed the world would add settlements and other things that kinda start to show how Sinnoh became what it is but of course not. I swear we'd have twice the game (maybe more) if Capcom, Square-Enix or Nintendo in-house made the next mainline Pokemon game.
That would require time and actual effort from Gamefreak. You're asking way too much lol.
All this does happen, but mostly in Jubilife Village, not in the wilderness.
My brain has been broken down by so many bad Pokémon games that Legends just feels so good. It’ll go down as one of my guiltiest pleasures to date.
I had fun playing Shadow the Hedgehog, one of my guiltiest pleasures to date, and even a few parts of 06.
Somehow I got like 30(?) of the endings and did each mission at least once.
@@runningoncylinders3829
Bruh Shadow was pretty legit despite the extremely edgy themes. We’ll give you a pass.
@@runningoncylinders3829 shadow is fire tho
No guilty pleasure over here, just pure pleasure of hunting shinies.
mediocr egame
If we get a Legends: Kyurem I hope it'll keep the catching mechanic and add in stuff for other people. Unova's a pretty interesting region with a lot to explore in the past like the Relic Castle, teh dreamyard, the entralink, the past conflict involving the swords of justice, the buried city on route 4, abyssal ruins, Kyurem's complete form, and the conflict between Unova's twin princes. With old timey Unova being set in a kingdom instead of a frontier we could have more trainer battles, maybe contests in Nimbasa city if people actually want that, and wild areas in between towns with caves and dungeons to explore. I'd be pretty disappointed if they did dragonspiral tower like turnback cave in Legends:Arceus where it is just a boss room.
I rather have that than an actual Gen. 5 remake.
@@jaretco6423 yes, i don't think we could have a gen 5 remake better than bw2
@@Treety26 that's more a sequel than a remake, but i agree
I'm pretty sure a Gen 5 Legends would be called "Legends: Victini" to keep the trend set by Arceus of mythical Pokemon being the focus
Another is the main character probably being one of the prince's too. This will also make the rival finally challenging, be like an enemy and not some weak friend, a person you actually wanna beat
I actually liked Volo and the twist. Volo doesn't hate god, if anything he worshipped him, He desired his power to create his new world and used Giratina's hatred of Arceus to tear open a rift and provoke him (Arceus), when that plan failed he sought the plates, he wanted you to get the plates so that he could take them all and summon Arceus. And the thing about Volo is that you know nothing much about him throughout the main story, this Merchant Cynthia followed us without us really knowing much about why, he hardly approached you as a merchant that's for sure, thinking about it he was suspicious and mysterious from the very beginning.
One thing I did like is that they foreshadow his betrayal in the begining. He teaches you to sneak behind Pokémon to have a better shot at catching them, or in other words he teaches you how to backstab Pokémon.
I love how you called volo a merchant Cynthia lol
Volo was suspicious right from the beginning. It was obvious that he was the villain given how involved he was in the post game quests when he was just a merchant.
just his character design alone was suspect the second i saw him i was like "that's the villain or at least the heated rival"
@@ryuudrako86 yeah exactly. I wasnt surprised at all. Only surprised during the battle coz that mf took out Giratina after his 6 mons. Took me more than 20 times to beat him. 😒
14:14 I think you're right about the spiritomb and wrong about the unowns.
Unowns are "a collectible" but aren't randomly placed, each one of the unown letters has a hint as to where to find them right in the pokèdex, which is also written in the unown alphabet!
13:05 Those random ruins were built by the ancient peoples that Cogita and Volo claim to belong to. The reason why they are based more off Rome and Greece is due to those civilizations being renowned for their giant super structures and their mystic practices to the old gods.
The Ainu didn't really build anything of that grand scale and stuff like Regiggas is directly based of Mediterranean mythology (titans and golems).
Regardless, it’s still just a decoration, no collectibles or secret item or even a text to read what’s behind the history of that structure
"Your first instinct when seeing a volcano is to jump into the volcano" - Gireum 2022
Man looking at modern pokemon is just depressing. I WANT to be an avid pokemon fan, because conceptually it is amazing, what with the designs and battle mechanics and all that, but then they churn out these hollow shells that I WANT to like, but can't. Doesn't help that I'm kinda alone in wanting to like pokemon, as almost everyone I know has shallow experience or knowledge with it.
I get sad thinking about the franchise sometimes
Exact same case with me man.
It's just sad trying to constantly force myself to stay hyped or to like it. I even had the opportunity to buy one on a whim for cheap (shining pearl) but what I heard about the quality turned me away.
Loved the series when I was young, want to live it now.
Here's to hoping that violet and scarlet are good.
@@theluminousone5883 yes. I hope S/V are good because the series has been needing a 'great' game since gen 5. We've had 'good' titles since then, but the franchise still deserves better.
It makes me sad that Sinnoh of all regions was the experimental ground since it's my favorite. I enjoyed the game but there's definitely a loooot of room for improvement. Great review!
Same! Sinnoh got absolutely shafted with its “Remakes which are just remasters” and a “dissapointing one dimensional tech-demo”. I think thats what hurts me the most. I didnt care about pokemon franchises downfall, sunand moon and sword and shield were trash for me. But i dont mind that, but my baby sinnoh being massacred, that hurts.
Yep with the remasters and this tech demo my favorite region was wasted 🤦🏾♂️
@@fireflamegamer8321 it hurts
@@idrissb9742 sinnoh is overrated anyway. Gen 4 was not that good if it wasn't for heart gold and soul silver.
@@mihaimercenarul7467 while hgss is great to look at, I think Johto is the second worst region just because of the open-ended map design after ecruteak which makes all the opponent and your Pokemon levels super low. so already I disagree with that part of your comment, so rlly you're saying gen 4 was shit :)
the ammount of insanity this guy has probably been driven into by these games is proof he's a real pokemon fan
Not really he is just wants pokemon to be what he wants and doesn't judge for it is .
@@lampad4549 honestly that is true
I do agree with points here and yea the game is not perfect. But sometimes he expect too much and wanted the game what he envisioned .
Still better than verlisfy who trash talk everyone who doesn’t agree with his ego
@@lampad4549 nah but while I agree on his criticisms some of his takes are just dumb sometimes
lam PAd
You don’t want this series to improve
@@lampad4549Like everyone?
I don’t think Pokémon should go completely back to the traditional formula. Game Freak needs to blend the best parts of PLA and the traditional formula for Gen 9.
Good news I have for you
@@aes2621 What good news? Catching Pokémon in Gen 9 feels nothing like PLA.
yeah pretty much what happened, 3 new storylines and PLA like catch system
In short the jump should've been a bigger leap but I still love the game.
Yeah same here, definitely not the greatest. But it’s at least it’s a step in the right direction. Hopefully they’ll take their time in the future, for their games and their workers sake
@@bubbles6893 We need sprints not steps.
@@petergriffin3194 That almost guarantees that they'll trip and fall. I'd much rather them experiment slowly and refine a new formula than jump the gun and miss entirely.
I'll buy a fun game, even if the formula has some flaws in it. I won't buy a game that is ruined by a completely shit formula.
@@K2niarDneK There has been a lack of experimentation with the current formula (only until Gen 7 with Trials then Gen 8 with the revamped Gym system), if it's now they decide they're official policy is to "take it slow" then it would be too late.
@@K2niarDneK I think PLA could've experimented a lot more I feel if it's treated more as a side-game...that and not exclude the stuff that works in past Pokemon games that could've been experimented here.
Legends Arceus was initially very fun but I've found myself burned out by the time I arrived at the beach zone. Once you get over seeing wild roaming pokemon in the environment and the joy of catching them it really reveals how little there is to compel the player to keep playing. The world is incredibly hollow and feels like a glorified tech demo.
With that being said I'm still hoping they build off of Legends: Arceus for gen 9, which from the latest pokemon presents definitely seems to be the case. I'm just worried they're going to rush it too much as well with a 2022 release date...
Yep, scarlet and violet is a shitty disaster. I played the entire main game and it is boring as hell. The final segment where you explore area zero is just a glorified walking simulator and apart from the path of legends it was all incredibly bland
The section where you are out in the open just catching and researching as it felt pretty directionless.
@@manfredfeigt8928 better than Gen 1 to Gen 4's repetitive story
This is probably a dumb idea but I always thought they should have Pokémon evolve in battle when they reached the required level. I think that would be so fucking cool and it’s something so small.
TemTem interestingly did this, and while PLA has an interesting feature, I'm not sure how I feel about trainers dictating when they evovle, despite I guess you can stop evolution with B-buttoning.
I think why they made it so trainers evolve the Pokemon was for the sake of the Pokedex, you may not complete an entry of a Pokemon since that Pokemon has evolved, and if you don't want it to evolve it becomes less of a hassle than using the B-Button.
@@tldoesntlikebread Yeah, I'd argue it works for this format, although I think would've been preferable that the tasks would be more in line with the evolutionary line, although I could see why research-wise the need of observation for each species.
That's not dumb at all, happens in the anime, and honestly if a Pokemon is ready to evolve, it's not just going to wait for the battle to end.
I've always wanted this.
I'm just done with Pokemon after so many mediocre titles. Don't even care about PLA. Switch has a plethora of better RPGs imo and I'm happy to stick with those instead.
only pokemon game I like is explorers of sky
@@jev1620 I haven't played any of the mystery dungeon games but I've heard the DS ones are pretty good.
Listen to this video for another point of view: th-cam.com/video/PNOIe9wvC1E/w-d-xo.html
@@SuperPlacido1 Stop spam advertising the same video that you agree with you shill.
I won’t be getting any mainline game until Gamefreak stops with the dexcuts and god knows how long they will decide to stop. Home is scan to use, I would rather have my Pokémon in a game to where I can use them instead of a useless ransomeware storage subscription service to where I can’t do anything with them.
They should have released the game in fall of 2022 to have another year
Or early 2023 (and use this as base for Gen 9 for 2024, but with the engine if it is the same, maybe it's best to maybe just use a new one).
21:20 Oh yeah, i just remembered. Even Pokemon Colosseum and XD Gale of Darkness have moving NPCs that make the cities look a bit more lively (and they don't move in a 4 direction grid, which is bonus points)
Honesty I wish they stopped trying to sell indie games as full priced triple a games
It made much more Sense when Pokémon games were 40 dollar handheld games
Sums up my reasons for not buying the game yet. I really appreciate the new ideas and improvements but it still leaves a lot to be desired. I think Critikal is right about how this game will eventually lead to a good pokemon game five years from now
I thought that after X&Y and then Sun&Moon...
Still waiting as the games regress.
We all been thinking that since X/Y. It’s been almost a decade and we haven’t gotten that said game
Maybe you all just kinda dislike what Pokemon is which is a turn based rpg
Make that 10 years, no way they make a good one within 5 years dude
@@Cream12345Ice bruh no
I agree with everything you’re saying. The world could be more interactive, more settlements and structures. Graphics could be a bit better.
But ultimately I had a fun time with this game. No masterpiece but I think it sets up the foundations for a masterpiece in future
It will go downhill from here
@@annedrieck7316 you dont know that
@SkyLight119 i think it would have been fine if the price was lower because it is basically half done
@skylight1198 Its not half done, its just focussed around the catching mechanics. If you dont like them that much then its boring, but it doesn't feel unfinished.
@@jazzman5989 Come on man, I like the game but almost everything in the game lacks polish and hence is unfinished. The graphics look half baked and needed more refining. The engine needs a lot of optimization given the piss poor draw distance and frame rate. There is only 1 town in the game and they still could not make every npc unique. There is no voice acting. The world feels empty and needed more monuments, puzzles and sidequests. The earliest they should have released this game was Holiday 22 and then aimed Gen 9 for 2024 to ensure both these games got enough time in the oven.
I can appreciate all of these criticisms, but this game was still enough for me. It finally gave me a reinvigorated reason to care about this franchise.
Yeah, maybe, it leans entirely on its catching mechanics, but I'm old enough to remember when _"Gotta Catch'em all!"_ was the slogan and ostensive end goal for these games. So for me at least this is something of a return to form and in a way that is more engaging than ever before.
You have extremely low standards
cringe
I also agree with most of the criticisms and did enjoy Legends Arceus, but I enjoyed the noble pokémon fights and how you had to defend yourself against hostile pokémon. Catching alpha pokémon was also really fun too, since even in the more traditional combat format it retains the tension because they can easily wipe a low level and/or unprepared team. The highlights of the game were good enough to make it an enjoyable experience but there was still a lot left to be desired
I personally disagree about the comparison to XY.
What made XY incomplete is the fact that everything was left hanging indefinitely.
- we found out nothing about the Aura duo
- Zygarde has no connection to its home region
- no gen-6 Pokemon got a mega evolution of its own
All of this including some plot points introduced in Oras got no closure whatsoever and that's what makes the experience incomplete.
By definition Legends is the exact opposite because it acts as both a prequel and a sequel to DPP and flushes out ideas that were merely hinted at originally.
PLA might not do everything exceptionally well but it's very much a complete experience even if not everybody is a fan of it
I agree w/ what you said, it’s a prequel in the sense that it deals with past events in sinnoh but a sequel in its own way because the protag is an older version of Lucas/Dawn
@@onikasclef8630 Indeed!
Not to mention unlike XY, PLA has far more memorable and likeable characters and moments. I still struggle to remember most of the Gym Leaders outside obvious ones. Even then the game failed grab our attention and make like it's characters and region.
As much as people dislike SWSH it's cast is (baring a few exceptions like a pair of twins), far more likeable and memorable too! Yes it's narrative was not as great compared to most, but it more fun and was easy to understand despite it's flaws.
Not to mention both SWSH & PLA actually tried tie both worldbuilding and lore in various ways. What with the League Cards in SWSH and namely the numerous references, side quests, and premise in PLA. XY...did it haphazardly,l thus failing to broaden it's core cast, and the world they lived in.
Easily the best and most honest feeling review I've seen, far too many reviews downplay the obvious shortcomings of the game and act like just because it's better than most modern pokemon games makes it a good game all around
It’s far from the best dude
I'm not sure what review you saw but most have been incredibly nuanced ( Just look at Ign or G4 for example).
Nobody is down playing anyting but or just admitting that this is the most fun that they have with the series in quite some time
@@desdar100 But as said, most of the fun comes from the Pokemon, but if that isn't enough for you, it lacks a lot on those aspects. Also, some overrate the story frankly.
@@zjzr08 that's " His" pov.
There are people who absolutely adore the side quest, the characters, and the colonial commentary.
You can't use another person's opinion as a Smokescreen to explain how to feel about something
@@charnalk5572 Noone hates Pokemon more than Pokemon fans.
Ive every Argument Regarding PLA being bad, and yeah it's a barely finished tech demo, but that's the kind of content pokemon fans praise when GARBAGE like BDSP is much of what we get nowadays. PLA at least tried to be an enjoyable experience and kept up the immersion pretty well most of the time. Not to mention the new pokemon designs, while few in number were pretty good. It pains me to look objectively at how bad PLA is because I genuinely enjoyed it, Didn't buy it because obviously Nintendo still doesn't deserve money for the game in this unfinished a state. SV were another small step in the right direction, but they still haven't address the issue of just not giving Game-freaks developers enough TIME to actually FINISH their games, and it's really sad.
Perhaps what troubled me the most about PLA is the fact that your character is actually a time/space traveler chosen by Arceus.
Before release, they went on to make the game about how Sinnoh's lore came to be and then
Boom
The entire storyline gets flipped on its head before it even begins just to justify the NotSheikahSlate being in the game
It really is odd to have the need for a time travel plot (where Arceus is more responsible of than Palkia interestingly enough) than just have a regular kid in Old Jubilife be taught of extraordinary abilities by Arceus.
@@zjzr08 Because you’re someone Arceus chose to protect it from Volo and Giratina and to introduce the Galaxy Team to Pokémon. The protagonist’s background as a trainer from a world where people and Pokémon work together is their most important aspect.
Thankfully someone understands this ain't a Isekai but a time travel story. You affect your present so it's time travel lol
@@Gafafsg Glad you at least understood the point of the time travel at the beginning. Pokémon fans have a surprising lack of media literacy, I swear. Like, the whole thing was so you could stop an apocalyptic threat where no other people at the time where as experienced with fighting alongside Pokémon to stop it.
@@AedraRising Hence why I said the regular kid could've been "special", the pioneer to open Hisuians to Pokemon being able to bond more with humans kinda like N. Making it a time travel plot creates a paradox IMO, where you need someone from the future who trusts Pokemon because that person was the reason why people trusted Pokemon from the past.
Seeing how Legends Arceus turned out reminds me a lot of what happened to the Sonic franchise. Pokemon releases games that have a lot of potential but ultimately became lacking due to churning out games one after another. I'm hoping in the future they learn from a game with new ideas and make this type of game even better, because as rushed as it was, it's a refreshing take on your typical Pokemon game. The traditional formula needs to go.
The traditional formula (plus gimmick of the Gen) is comparable to Sonic's "Boost" Formula.
It's proven that it can be fun, but it's not enough on its own.
Could also compare it to the "New Soup" Mario Bros series for when a style does stagnate.
Whether a game uses an old or new style, like Gireum said, if it's complete and satisfies it's better than when it misses a good chunk of the experience or delivers part of the experience worse than a previous entry in the series.
Pokémon had a rough transition into 3d and still is struggling, Sonic needs to take some notes xD
@@frobonetic Sonic needs notes but not from Pokemon. Sonic's transition to 3D was fairly impressive. Other series are having a hard time regulating quality whether the pushback came from deadlines, brand-powered laziness, or a change in audience or scope. Mobile/casual markets and models affect this too to the point that entire eras of gaming like N64 or GCN could share many multi-series fans, rather than continuous fans of a longrunning series.
@@frobonetic haha rough transition joke... so funny... When it isn't even true
@@raidoukuzonoha883 XY, SM, SWSH, PLA.
The 3d games are so decisive but mostly everyone agrees the 2d games were better made. That's just the unfortunate truth that when pokémon became 3d the games took a dip in quality.
it kinda sucks that sinnoh was the test bed for experimentation, I agree I would have much liked a Sinnoh remake that takes SW/SH, polishes it up, and takes the open transversal from PLA. like a overlap of Platinum, SW/SH and PLA.
Kind like that concept video by milennium loops...PLA at times had aspects of that actually but really needed time to flesh out.
This is how we get our Sinnoh remakes we asked years for, absolutely butchered with BDSP and Legends which hardly even feels like Sinnoh. All I wanted (and others wanted) was a remake that built upon our favorite region and improved the aspects that made the game great in the first place. Seriously these releases were even more disappointing for me than the last few garbage Pokémon game releases. They’ve pretty much lost me since USUM released; it was literally just the SAME game with a different endgame. Pokémon hasn’t been a good series since BW2, before they took the 3D route that they lazily switched to. They literally put zero thought into developing this series now, but hey- BOTW did well so why don’t we just copy that?
@@TopMiner1 XY might have been pretty meh, but I think ORAS and the Gen 7 games were pretty solid, ill be it gen 7 being plagued with handholding. Overall SM/USUM had interesting a story and characters. And I do agree USUM should have done more to be different. But I'd argue the leap to the switch has really posed a challenge to GF, they arnt willing to face, and why should they if PLA is being praised as a 10/10 masterspiece GOTY for simple just existing.
@@TheWeeabooKid Problem for Gen 7 for me is they made the mistake of making the main story heavier but sacrificed freedom of exploration (Paper Mario TTYD and Super Paper Mario had those issues) - I'd argue Gen 3-5 had given the right balance that is yet to translate in a Pokemon 3D game IMO.
@@TheWeeabooKid I can at least respect ORAS and SM because they were the games I’ve enjoyed most in the series since the 3D switch. But USUM should’ve been marketed as a dlc for SM because it was literally the same experience till the late game. Everything else has just been so mind-numbingly boring and a step backwards.
You’re wrong on a few things. That cave in the water you said nothing was in was tied to a quest. Just because you didn’t manage to find it doesn’t mean it isn’t there.
Oh my gosh… I HAAATE when you criticize anything about a game and suddenly it’s “Well I guess you must hate innovation! Why don’t you go and play RBY, Genwunner?!” Like… People can have legitimate complaints about more innovative games. It’s not impossible. Innovation doesn’t automatically mean flawless.
He's not a Kanto stan and he hates it when GameFreak uses Kanto elements.
I agree so much on the cut to black screen thing. I enjoy the game (haven’t finished the story yet) but I can’t not notice the black screen and action sound instead of an actual animation. 🙄
As a pokemon gamer who just catches the 5/6 pokemon that I will use for the whole game, I was realy sad when I realised that the game would by mostly focused in catching pokemon. The thing that I love about pokemon games is the puzzels, exploration, finding new locations. Tho legends is not that good in that field.
Edit: omg I loved the Adaman jumpscare
Still havn't bought this game and probably never will. For me, the most fun part of Pokemon is raising a team of 6, battling trainers as I work my way towards the pokemon league, and this game just doesn't have that. I don't like catching pokemon I'll never use, so this game was a HUGE miss for me.
this game ? you play it once, then you'll never play it again.
They did explain why the noble Pokémon got frenzied thon at least in the post game maybe. That is was caused from the distortion giritina slashed open
The drip was lacking in this game. Only a few outfits made me happy.
Volos outfit was the only one that I found impressive
Gamefreak: let me fix that for you. *removes the option to change clothes and gives you different school uniforms instead*
You articulate how this game frustrated me pretty well. I found it boring or annoying in many ways when everyone kept bugging me for not being further in but I couldn’t get into it. I thought i just preferred 8bit or 2d or traditional Pokémon formula but nah it’s kinda the overall lack of content. The graphics and models are great but not enough to be talked to so damn much I want the environment to tell me more than the people.
Two whole years later we get 6th gen legends game being released in 2025.
This feels like the opposite of the coliseum series. Where coliseum was focused on battling and catching took a backseat, this was the reverse. I think that this won't be the norm. I think this game was for the ones who are into the exploring and catching aspect.
I know people keep saying this isn't a side game, but I'm seeing it as such that won't replace the norm, they might just take some pieces from this.
It also feels like a side-game to me although they really shouldn't have promoted it as a mainline IMO - still even without the captures I feel Collosseum/XD had a bit better story and I felt the dungeon crawling was much better there (despite being SwSh esque in map design).
@@zjzr08 I disagree Canon story line in legends arceus disproves that side game argument 🏃♂️
@@niteriemcfarlane5285 Being a side-game doesn't mean it can't be canon, Kingdom Hearts has shown that.
@@zjzr08 nah leave kh out of the equation thats a different kinda situation game also only thing I see legends arceus is a pre mainline game not a sidegame if it was we wouldn't have Canon lucas and dawn in it
@@niteriemcfarlane5285 How is it a different situation, everything in-between KH 1, 2 and especially 3 are canon, so PLA can still be canon but also a side-game because of how different the playstyle is.
Great review! Hope someday Gamefreak stops being confident that their games will always have high sales despite how good or bad the game is, and makes actually good game.
Problem is many does agree they're "great games", probably those who liked SwSh probably sees this as the best game Pokemon game ever, so I'm not sure how they'd be encouraged to improve if many seem so content with them.
Unfortunately if they have no reason to put their all into a game they won’t. It’s a business at the end of the day
@@charnalk5572 I mean I didn't say that they are bootlickers, but let's just say Pokemon players that are even vocal online seem easy to please, compared to other franchises that seem to have high standards put on and are rightfully criticized about stuff that if are in the Pokemon games are seemed ignored or minimized IMO.
@@zjzr08 facts.
Pokémon fans have become used to the bare minimum that a game like Legends explodes their minds.
@@zjzr08 It's amazing for Pokemon fans because they've been glued to their screens with the same ol' formula back when God created the Garden of Eden? As an open-world experience, indie game developers could surely out beat this with their great skills. You can't compare this to BOTW, you just can't. Also, its disgusting graphics would certainly make people puke at it and make fun of the people saying, "graphics don't matter unless you have great gameplay", which for a fact, this game has.
I do agree with you on a lot, however, it does sound like you missed a decent chunk of stuff I the game. I guess you didn't know about the unknown clues and the village side quests? The village actually has a lot of character. But you did mention them, so I guess you just didn't pay attention? The reward for completing the side quests was the story and expansion of the village. And there was build-up to Volo being the villain if you pay attention.
The thing i hate the most about Legends Arceus is hisuian forms not being available in modern sinnoh, and evolutions for older pokemon that are exclusive to this game
19:39 DETAILS!?! WHA- all of the villagers have a name and many of them have side quests. Idk what you mean by missing details. Yeah the not moving thing can be weird but I didn't notice it personally and I think it can be overlooked imo.
None of the recent pokemon games are good and people need to stop praising game freak and nintendo for putting out rushed af games with little effort and love put into them. Like pokemon arceus is fun (sometimes) but it's far from a good game if you compare it to other games from other game company devs with the same price range. ffs game freak in 2022 alone is putting out TWO MAIN SERIES games, when it shouldn't even be yearly releases. the people working on these games are probably heavily overworked and could make a much better game if given more time and resources.
bruh ur just some genwunner bruh the newer pokemon games ain't bad... Well maybe bdsp is but sw/sh and pokemon legends arceus are really good. Not perfect but REALLY amazing. many pokemon fans loved this game..
I already said before, January 2022 wasn't enough time, with BDSP just released (despite of quality, still sold so well), there's no need IMO for PLA to be that early of a release.
yup. they should have released it like 2 or 3 years late so theres actually something other than talking with people for hours, a town full of statues and the only kinda good thing about the game: catching pokemon
Wide as an ocean, deep as a puddle is the best way to describe PLA
While I did have a good time with PLA despite its flaws, I’m shocked you didn’t mention the ending “scene” for the main campaign where instead of showing anything it just rolled the credits then fades to black and afterwards everyone talks about “what an awesome party last night was! Everyone had so much fun!” But showed absolutely none of it to conclude the “story”. There are third party ps2 games that have more detail and animation than PLA.
Do you mean the picture at end of the credits
I had an insane amount of fun (and still am) so I thought it was good. But I’m glad people are voicing concerns cuz yeah, by no means was this a perfect game
I agree. This was a great, big next step but it still has a ways to go. If they keep this format and start adding the gyms and towns and more interactive MPC’s hopefully by Gen 10 we will start getting these marks.
@@ellonayala8430 fuck no... we don't want boring open world games and surely don't want catching simulators... if you want a ubisoft boring open-worlds go play some ubisoft game... or a catching simulator go play pokemon GO or pokemon Snap...
POKEMON IS ABOUT BATTLES ! AND DESTRUCTION ! HELL YEAH !
@@ellonayala8430 i hope the next game has a big map which means lots of towns and gyms with the same catching thing that PLA has and maybe some dungeons? also i think it would be good if they make a game that they update every few months with a few new things and make some kind of recommendation page online to get some ideas from fans and it would be good if they are going to release games that arent complete yet
This is a fine review and all, and everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but your criticisms of PLA's map design seem strange. You rip on it for feeling "empty," when in reality BOTW features much, MUCH more empty and unused space than it.
Yes, it's true that BOTW's world has far more secrets to find and gets the "exploration" element down much better than PLA does, but that doesn't equate to PLA's map being "poorly designed" or "purposesless."
I find PLA's landscapes and environments to be quite varied and interesting in and of themselves, especially lategame. Unlike BOTW, PLA's exploration is centered around moment-to-moment gameplay. You explore to catch and battle Pokémon, rather than simply to find new things. Yes, the exploration of PLA could indeed be a lot MORE interesting with more secrets to discover and dungeons to explore like in the older Pokemon games, but that doesn't mean it's isn't fun, or doesn't give the player a feeling of adventure. The sheer scope and interest of the world and core gameplay loop both ensure that it is and does.
The main thing I do agree on you is that the presentation just sucks in this game. Other than the legendary cutscenes and boss battles, as well as the Pokémon battles themselves, literally NOTHING was improved since SwSh. The characters still look fake and artificial. They still black out the screen to avoid animating literally anything (with the exception of the game's finale and the Giratina boss fight, which are mostly just proof that Pokémon games COULD look amazing if the animators were payed more than two bucks a month, but no, we get THIS). It all just completely wrecks the immersion this game otherwise has a lot of. Ever since Pokémon games have made the break away from stylized and abstract visuals, they've just looked so janky and fake.
That said, your criticism of the story is basically that it isn't presented well graphically. This is an issue with the visuals, not the story. The plotline itself IS quite boring until lategame, but when it picks up, it gets good. Not BW or Legend of Zelda good, but still, GOOD. there's a lot of great themes and backstories, a lot of clever tie-ins and references to other Pokémon titles, and a lot of characters get fun arcs toward the end as well (especially Volo!) Your criticisms of the story itself aren't really actual criticisms, they're mostly just talking about the story in a manner that's condescending and oversimplified in order to make it SOUND dumb. This is a very common pit people LOOOOVEEE to fall into while making rant videos, but that doesn't make it intelligent or level-headed. Overall, the story is lacking in some areas, but to say it sucks is pretty shortsighted.
Oh yeah, and to say there was "zero buildup" to the Volo plot twist almost makes it seem that you never actually payed attention or cared about PLA's plotline. I mean seriously dude. Are ya blind?
I find it hard to say the landscape is varied to me in the sense that there's a sense of repetitiveness especially in the early areas. Maybe sure maybe the areas like Snowpoint City and the like, maybe that area with a lot of puddles too (the ones with Hippopotas). But overall it did feel you had that deja vu feeling at the start. It doesn't help that the pacing IMO is pretty slow especially the start to contribute to that.
As he said it here too, if you just focus on the Pokemon itself, then yeah, it is great. But I was expecting dungeon crawling which is also found in classic Pokemon games, where you sometimes get lost and frustrated due to Pokemon just stopping you from time to time. They could've subtituted encounters with say sprawling tunnels with tight spaces as you try to avoid Pokemon. I'd argue Mt. Coronet needed an interior maze badly as it was that infamously known about it.
There's no TMs, no held items, which IMO collecting them is one of the more interesting parts of Pokemon exploration. Although apparently Ursaluna does have an ability to search for lore notes, yet I feel that should be more of an overworld search than a hidden item hunt. Still I hope there's still more outside of that.
@@zjzr08 The TM collection was pretty fun, but I actually prefer the crafting system because it makes collectibles more something that the player will find actively useful, rather than something that is only nice to have if they happen to need it.
@@BenjaminAnderson21 I don't see why we can't do both. The crafting system could be an extension to that, and in a way it has been implemented before with examples like making Pokeblocks and Poffins in the main games. Practicality wise it seems easier to just buy items like Pokeballs and Potions through the store. But maybe have that option for special items too like for making certain held items.
Another argument I need to bring up about this video is the Botw comparison and I find it hard to see it sure the game gives you a phone but in terms of Legends Arceus and Botw they are completely different games and are different genres to be fair Legends Arceus feels more like monster hunter than Botw because your going out in a open field catching Pokemon and doing research tasks in order to complete the Pokedex in comparison to Breath of the wild where your exploring, the open world, and doing shrine challenges.
Last thing I think he should take a break with Pokemon gamesbecause there are other RPGs that do a better job than Pokemon does even though I had fun with Legends Arceus I would recommend him trying the Nexomon games, Xenoblade, or even some action RPGs like Ys
I understand where you’re coming from, but honestly PL:A is one of my favorite games in the franchise. The few things it doesn’t do well are things I genuinely don’t care about, and the many things I feel it does right really hit home for me. Still, nice video!
Some other things the Pokemon AI is pretty poor, they wonder into walls and walk into water. I don't like how the Pokemon are all very similar in their behaviour. Just walking around not doing much of anything.
They should have the pokemon doing things such as eating on their own, fighting on their own, interactions with the enviroment such as digging, also when possible have them doing the things that reflect their pokedex entry.
One of the reasons the world is so boring is that it's design to be super flat to allow for easy ride pokemon traversal. If there is less reliance on a traversal system it will allow more interesting maps with less flat surfaces. Allow the player some limited ability to climb to encourage exploration on our own.
The way everything freezes when you enter a battle sucks. The pokemon not involved should continue moving, have some run way, some stay and watch but they should be allowed to move just like the player can.
When a pokemon runs away it should actually run away and not just disappear into the void. They need to commit more to a real time system.
Which is interesting because apparently the interaction of the Pokemon with the environment is a reason why there's few Pokemon in it despite a lot of behavior being pretty similar (although I think they're acceptable at the very least).
@ultimateblaze23 100% agreed
Just found your channel and I'm about to binge-watch everything. It's good to see a Pokémon fan with atual critical views for once because it looks like the rest of the fandom on TH-cam really lacks on that department. I haven't bought a Pokémon game since USUM and I don't regret it, they seem to get lazier and lazier with every new game, it's so bad (not saying that USUM is good, it was when Pokémon actually started going downhill with its cash-grab practices in my opinion).
I'd love to see a review of yours on Pokémon Sun and Moon though, I think those games are really good despite the underwhelming graphics (that were kinda good for 3DS standards actually), but I'd love to hear your opinion on them
The skit at beginning of the Modern Pokemon games suck video about the Battle Frontier is some of the best stuff I've seen on youtube.
This game is by no means a perfect game, but I'm honestly confident to say that this game is awesome and fun. Something simple as catching Pokemon is a lot of fun to me, and it always felt exciting to find different Pokemon compared to the older games. Game Freak finally gave Pokemon high quality animations this time with mostly new battle animations, and the animations they bring when you interact with them. Kudos to them for that. I haven't had this much fun with a Pokemon game since ORAS.
My only critiques with this game are, like you said, some cut corners, landscapes being barren, not much incentive to explore besides the Pokemon, and only one village. Plus, the graphics are underwhelming for a 2022 AAA title (though I didn't care too much), but for me the positives definitely outweigh the negatives. And I feel like this is the first Pokemon game in a minute where it's actually worth full price.
Im curious how long your "fun" lasted? Because this game made battling pointless when you can get hit up to 4 times in a row, for no reason. Was it the catching mechanic? Cause it's cool, but worth building a whole game around? You can literally throw balls or items, or pokemon, ride a pokemon and dodge roll. That's literally it. Every side quest or mission is one of those 3 things. And I don't count the boss fights, since you can beat all of em without ever throwing out a pokemon. Cause that's what i love about pokemon , chunking stuff at em
I totally agree with you! I spent like 5 hours on the first map (not progressing in the story or anything) just exploring and catching new Pokémon; it felt so refreshing.
I know the mechanic is not for everyone, but I think this game has one of the closest approaches to the true spirit of the saga: exploring lands full of secrets to unravel with your partners.
Of course, the graphics aren't the best, and at certain times of the day the landscape feels to muddy for my liking, but I am still enjoying this game a lot and u think it's one of best Pokémon experiences we've had in a while
@@hastur_kinginyellow5310 fun lasted until I completed everything including Pokedex and story.
Took me 80 hours
Shiny hunting is fun tho
@@hastur_kinginyellow5310 That's a lot of words to say that nobody's allowed to have fun with things you don't like.
@@hastur_kinginyellow5310 I haven't beaten the game, but my fun with the game is pretty much infinite, lol. Honestly, I've never wanted to put the game down every time I played it.
So many new games seem so unfinished
Why make a complete game when you can put the game on a smaller cartridge and release updates later down the line to make the game complete?
Gamefreak needs to stop with the 3 year dev cycles and yearly releases. This is why we get games that are rushed and half assed.
One of the disadvantages again of having the internet - fixing later is possible.
@@zjzr08yup :/
"i dont understand this system, so this proves its rushed"
Real question is, why is the pokemon company allowing an indie game dev to develop what's supposed to be a triple a game? That's like hiring the guy who made the original slender man game, or baldies basics, to develop a new GTA or monster hunter game 🙄
Because Game Freak isn't an indie game developer, but wants to treat its development team as one, at least as of late...doesn't help the latest releases are quick when they desperately need more time (personally I don't think Game Freak is fully excused with scheduling, as despite The Pokemon Company potentially dictating schedules, Game Freak part owns it, and I just think they just agree because people will buy anyway).
Cuz its cheaper, durr
It felt weird all my friends praised this game but I didn't like it at all. I don't really care to catch different pokemon often. And catching them multiple times to up your star rating made it feel like a worse grind then leveling up in old pokemon games.
Game was amazing, I played it very aggressively just running up to every Pokémon and dodging their shit, the plots twist on mt coronet with the red sky, volo battle, catching alphas, flying around all the maps, doing all the endless sidequest, youre fuccin tripping I got 100 hours in this game. The new battle system was amazing allowing you to chose an agile or strong move.
did you even watch the review or did you just turn your brain off and only catch some buzzwords
he literally praised the alpha catching and everything else he mentioned was completely right. sure, its a great game if you've only ever played gen 6/7/8. but the rest of us remember when the franchise was actually good
@@spidaaahsNot cool man. Other people's opinions are just as valid as your own. You can't just make assumptions about people to discredit their perspective.
Yes at first it feels cool, but then you realise you are screwed because the only thing you can do is collect pokemon for no real reason or goal because there are no gyms of hard battles. It is very time consuming, more than ever but it also has never been this pointless to put in effort…
It's like if Mario Party was all mini-games or mostly borads...which interestingly you could argue they have done now (Mario Party: The Top 100 and MP9 & 10).
I would say is a decent game but it has tons of issues, i thought this was the game that was gonna save pokemon from mediocrity and unfinishness but nope, still an unfinished game but its better than swsh bdsp usum, this pla game has a very good and dinamic catch system but thats it, this needed probably 1 year or 2 more of development
the cutscenes are relentless in this game
My main problem is that the game has SO MUCH DIALOGUE I don’t ever really read the dialogue that’s why games that don’t have a crap load of dialogue are probably the games that I’ll play
I think dialogue is fine if they just had added skip buttons...the text crawl can take a while too.
This is why I don't understand how people like Black and White
Thank you for pronouncing it Arceus with a soft C. I've been living in Japan for a decade, speak the language, read snd write all three writing systems, own Legends: Arceus and have talked to other Japanese people about it. It is ONLY pronounced with a soft C. The way it's written would literally be written out as A-RU-SE-U-SU.
I have no clue where the arkeus pronunciation came from.
10:05 from here this is my main problem with this game and why I didn't bother finishing it. I got bored real quick, nothing interesting in the world, lack of structures to explore, no ancient ruins to help discover the mysteries surrounding Arceus, it's just pokemon tossed in randomly. Such a let down imo because I was really trying to enjoy this game but got bored rather fast.
I agree with a lot of this.
While PLA stands out from recent Pokemon games it is still quite hollow. The beginning of the game is quite strong (despite of first 45 minutes being tutorial) but granted it made me quite excited to explore a barren field. By the time I was done with Coastlands and reached the snowy area I felt like I was done with the game. There is simply absolutely nothing to find anymore in map. Honestly once you get Basculegion you can explore most of all the maps and there is barely anything new to find. I think the riding pokemon were quite a missed opportunity to have you return the earlier areas and access new places.
I don't know if I'll be completing this game. I know that there won't be anything new for me to find, except maybe legendary and shiny pokemon but nothing of it will result to anything other than few cutscenes.
Pokemon peaked during the DS era
Well there's an explanation to all the negative points in this video : time.
When you work on a pokémon game, it's not just a game it's something that would also sell cards, toys ect...everything than the Pokémon company does. The Pokémon company doesn't really care about the state of the game they only want it to be done before the deadline so they can sell all kind of shit. It's easy to always say it's masuda, it's game freak ! But then you grow up and you understand that they didn't make that choice.
It's a giant shame that this is the reason why this is the case. I wish Nintendo would step in and assist Gamefreak
Go blow off Masuda somewhere else. It's everyone in the pokemon company/gamfreaks fault.
@@TheConuresrule Real mature.
I have yet to see the definite reasoning that TPC is the one forcing GF schedules. True, the mainline games don't sell as well as merch. But GF is still independent, is not owned by TPC, and actually OWNS part of TPC. TPC promotes the BRAND but the games aren't the promotion, it just happens that the promotion sells more. The merch still revolves around promoting the games and the brand in general, but in the past it has shown how the non-game branches of the franchise does its own thing when there's no game to tie it in. TPC has influence, sure, but Masuda himself said neither TPC or Nintendo will make them do what they don't want to do.
www.nintendo-insider.com/who-owns-pokemon-junichi-masuda-answers-the-big-question/
@@zjzr08 game freak doesn't own tpc really they have 1/3 on the pokemon franchise but not tpc. TPC is actually mostly owned by creatures. And i don't think that masuda of all people would say that game freak is forced to make games faster than they should.
Guys… I think he doesnt like this game. I have a very tiny feeling he thinks its boring and repetitive
I don't think it's overrated but I don't think it's an amazing game. I think PLA is a great starting point for a possible spinoff series but if nothing else came of it that'd be disappointing.
I'm totally fine with them getting rid of the gym system for a game. It's been the same for 25 years... If you're going to include a gym system, give the trainers a theme instead of having them be a static type that can all be knocked out with one elemental type.
Yeah. I'm imagining Gyms based on other aspects of battling such as weather, terrain, status conditions, berries, choice items... even X Items that Norman's gym used back in Hoenn. It's been typed because that's what we expect. But there's always been potential there.
Legends Arceus was the first Pokémon since ORAS where I truly felt so excited and interested to play. I couldn’t stop playing it. With more time invested, this game would have looked phenomenal. Very refreshing. The game is also difficult imo. I wiped out so many times
Big time youtuber punching down on a small indie studio....tsk tsk!
This is the "Trying something new" Pokestans continue to spew about this game..
Sun&Moon was something new, and it was unanimously hated by many, even though it has Less grinding, handholding, and cutscenes compared to Legends.
I just Don't see the fun in catching a Starly 6 times because because because..
Now, if the game had trainers to battle, gyms to challenge, other towns to visit and less chores and grinding, it may have got a pass better than LetsGo, and I haven't even played LetsGo but it looks infinitely better.
I've accepted that we'll Never get the Pokémon game we deserve since the heights of BW2, and HGSS so I stopped buying after Sun and Moon, which in retrospect doesn't seem so bad now.
There aren't many Poketubers who keep it real anymore. And those that do, all seem to dislike eachother anyway.
Talk about toxic games and fanbase.
I think the Island trials were fine, just hoped as I said it didn't sacrifice the map, and the challenges being more fleshed out.
@@zjzr08 same.
I rather enjoyed the carefree trials, although they could've been a little more challenging.
I enjoyed walking around Alola, using GTS and Wonder Trade for replaying value.
I even loved the gat damn clothing and bags you could buy from stores, the island captain's and kahunas.
The game wasn't great but it was certainly better than X&Y.
That one guy hates Arceus because Arceus stole his hairstyle
I know this game achieved a lot but your critiques are valid. I wish the price of the game would go down if they refuse to take more time to flush it out or they released downloadable content for updates as much as I hate dlc etc..
I had a good time with the game. The catching mechanics were really fun, the few trainer battles that were around were generally good, and followed a good difficulty curve, as well as the noble battles. The music was also pretty good. That being said, if Gen 9 is just this, but in the modern setting with a few tweaks, I’ll probably give it a pass. If I ever need to scratch the itch that is the catching mechanics, I’ll already have a game to play. No sense in getting another one.
i think the reason that there arent that many cutscenes is cuz the pokemon company was too scared for this game to flop cuz its the first time theyve done something like this so they didnt put all their effort into it
I am really enjoying your content because you are one of the only youtubers that actually tell the rational truth about these games.
I bought PLA because I wanted to experience the game because maybe the gameplay and the story will be nice apart from the graphics being trash. After finishing the game (even all sidequests) I have the following to say:
pros:
-the game really sets itself apart with the new catching mechanic I really enjoyed.
-the game has open areas to „explore“
-all Pokémon are walking around in the overworld.
-I like hisuian forms
-nearly every pokemon can be catched - even pokemon with item trade evolutions
-Trade is not necessary anymore to evolve pokemon that previously only evolved that way
-through some sidequests, there is much explanation to Pokédex entries we know from previous games (like the one with blissey where it cures people and you actually can see that - even though it isn’t animated and just textboxes saying it heals something but you hopefully get my point)
-the wisp collecting is an improved method to obtain spiritomb (even it is time consuming)
Cons:
- the graphics are horrible for a game costing 60$ and being part of the biggest franchise on the planet with huge financial recourses
-the story is bland - I personally just skipped over so many texts because the „Szene“ was just boring - like you said, the dialogue in the galactic building or the restaurant Szene
-no towns apart from the hub
-the hub is boring - no „actual“ life can be felt when walking around the town because everyone just standing at their place. - the villagers have professions (like the farmers or the mushroom-expert) but you don’t see them ever performing any actions related to that, they just stand at their place
-the sidequests in general aren’t diverse enough
. The wisps in the spiritomb quest should’ve been marked on the map
. there are too many fetch quests
. There should’ve been more quests like „Sea Legends, Darkrai or Shaymin with some lore behind, for the player to understand the characteristics and background of the Pokémon better
-when you are heading into an invisible wall, fog will be displayed - this fog goes away far too late and you can’t see for a time where you actually go/fly
-when you walk against a climbable wall, sneasler will automatically activate - when you climbed the wall the „pokemon-reel“ still stays at sneasler and doesn’t change back to the pokemon you had before (its minor but i noticed that very often)
-the battle System Is unpredictable
. When the right side shows that you have two turns in a row it happens very often that the opponent moves first
. In previous games who moves first was determined by the speed stat - now its just random like you have a pikachu but golduck moves first - why?
BUT: I generally appreciate the different approach of the strong and agile system
-MP are hard to obtain and not safe to obtain (dependent on if someone has left their satchel - if not you will not be able to obtain these points easily)
-Not all Pokémon are catchable - I like that you can catch nearly every pokemon but why are there exceptions like Lilligant - it just seems a random decision
-like gireum said, I wished there are more puzzles for the placed where you encounter legendary pokemon
-the random ruins scattered around all the environments don’t make sense - what is their purpose?-Are they related to a bigger temple?-Did people live there before?-Was there a village etc.
-there is no real character development - like in ORAS you really can see Wally become selfconcious and a brave trainer, trusting his Galade and stuff - I know that there is some development with the clans and so on but its just an unnecessary conflict because at the end they both now they are right but before that you don’t see them fighting against each other to determine who’s right - they just change some arguments here and there and no real tension comes up in terms of this space-time-beef
Even if I had listed many cons I enjoyed the new gameplay, but when you look at the entire game it becomes obvious that there are many flaws that probably were easily avoidable or possible to work around or fix at all. Thanks at Gireum for this review. I enjoy your channel and as a person who’s first ever game was Pokémon Diamond I really have a personal connection to these games and how much I enjoyed Gen 4 (main and spin offs). The games we got BDSP+PLA aren’t doing the Gen I love the favour I hoped for.
Pokemon LA was good on a 1st playthru.....but imo it has no replay ability....
Most fans are tired of the format. I think that's why people are shitting on the games now. It's also why I think most fans (myself included) really enjoyed Legends Arceus.
Game Freak should definitely consider dropping new formatted games more.
I agree, and here is the thing, the purpose of PLA is about build the very first Pokedex, not to mention that, Pokemons used to be considered terrifying creatures, and this is something that many NPCs say in the game quite often, so it is reasonable to not have lots of trainers to battle with. Legends Arceus ISN'T a perfect game in anyway, there are many annoying things IMO, but it is enjoyable enough. I know, it is a low bar that GF gave us, but overal, I say PLA is a game that I don't regret buying, like Sword and Scarlet.
I’m not disagreeing with you, but the biggest thing for me is the replayability value because I have no desire to play that game again lol unless it’s the catch something to trade into another game
Oh sure, let's forget that the map isn't just divided into routes and is entirely open
Let's forget that they added actual verticality which was sorely missing from SwSh
Towns don't have fixed camera perspectives, full buildings with roofs and walls instead of voids
Innovations to the battle system, while it removes abilities and EV's they're replaced by Strong and Agile Style
Certain Pokemon are no longer bound exclusively to trade evolutions meaning if Nintendo Online goes away you can still complete your pokedex
Random encounters have been done away with completely, all Pokemon are now in the overworld and they will appear in their shiny colors in the overworld
In order for your Pokemon to learn new moves you don't need to cast your old ones into the void, all moves can be relearned from the menu
Pokemon actually have better animations and will actually make contact with each other when battling
Pokemon are also way better scaled here, they aren't all the same size like previous games.
Jubilife village is a dynamic town that gradually opens up and changes as they become friendlier and friendlier with Pokemon
Good character models with great expressions
Ride Pokemon once again make a return, though the Pokemon you can ride aren't as diverse as the Let's Go games, none of them invalidate the other
Different weather affects battles meaning certain weather conditions can be advantageous or disadvantageous
The music, when you can actually hear it and listen to it is good.
All things that weren't mentioned and I'm sure I missed other things, but hey "it's a lazy game"
I'm sorry but the character expressions are a big minus maybe except Akari/Rei, look up Pokemon Masters expressions, the eyes and body language are a lot more dynamic IMO.
Oh, and the constant comparisons to Breath of the Wild is complete conjecture on your part. If anything Legends Arceus has more in common with Monster Hunter World and Monster Hunter Stories 2, than Breath of the Wild.
I can't believe he complained about the story and lore as being "hamfisted" especially with regards to Volo. Jesus
@@ZephyBlaze77 It is quite most talk with no action as more of a consequence - times it can be rambly and repetitive.
This was my biggest concern when I watched gameplay and reviews praising this game. While yes the expanded catching system does seem interesting and fun but I found myself asking what else is there to do in this open world other than catching? This is an open world game and usually these kind of games have at least some variety of activities scattered around but literally everyone just talks about catching pokemon and that's it, there's side quests but even that seems to be mostly about catching pokemon while the battling aspect of the game seems to take a backseat.
I remember when this game came out and everyone was saying it's the best Pokemon game of all time. I was thinking it's the most boring Pokemon game of all time
The aiming hitbox is a bit awful😥I hope the next Legends game is more complete but may expectations are low 😥
Really enjoyed the review man. I’ll be saving my $60 for sure. But genuine question, do people actually play game like Pokémon or Zelda with hopes of there being puzzles? Puzzles always feel like useless time fillers for “content”. And when I play games I never go “Oh man, I can’t wait to get this new game! I hope there are hours worth of puzzles in it!”
You’re shooting yourself in the foot by not getting this game.
It might be "filler" for you, but it still adds variety to the gameplay, which PLA sorely lacks.
@@ProtoBrown I played the game for a few hours and quit because it was just boring for me.
@@ProtoBrown Not really. I borrowed it from a friend that got bored of it after the 3rd day. I tried it, and man this game is god awfully boring. It’s very unpolished. Looks cheap as hell to. Those cutscenes are atrocious. Are we still in the PS2 era? The characters look and move around in a lifeless manner. Kinda looks like a mobile game. I saved $60 + tax fam
Puzzles are the soul of what makes Zelda great. A Zelda game without puzzles would be like a Super Mario game without jumping, or a Pokémon game without Pokémon
Only thing I agree with in this video is the pronunciation of arceus
Same
No gyms , No E4 , No Champion , No Rivals , No PvP.... No battles in general... makes this game BORING...
This game is enjoyable for people who like Pokemon GO or Pokemon Snap.... catching simulators basically...
You want change but when GameFreak of change you cry. Are you never satisfied or what?
@@SuperPlacido1 I don't want changes, I want QoL feature only (like exp.share all, No HM's and better graphics overall) ! you moron !
I know I'm in the minority in disliking BotW outside of the characters (that's not Zelda).
Legends, outside of some of the dex entries, felt like the best Pokémon game since Gen 5 with Black/White Black2/White2
Okay, I feel some of that montage was kinda reaching a bit in areas that I have no idea what the comparison is meant to be. Like, the map? They don't even look alike. Did BOTW inspire Pokemon to use maps now? Camping was already a thing in Pokemon games since SW/SH and riding Pokemon to traverse was a thing in Sun and Moon. Like, I get maybe saying that for the climbing mechanics, but c'mon even flying? As if that wasn't a feature in Let's Go? I'd argue even the tribes and leaders stuff is just part of the older Japanese aesthetic they went for. Tribes, villages and factions were a thing way back when, so I can't really ascribe that to BOTW inspo. The game is definitely inspired by BOTW, but some of the examples are just reaches. Stuff like the art direction, compositios and OST should've been the focus. Heck even the enemy battles with the huge life bar thing at the top can be attributed to BOTW.
Ratio
You make very many great points. I guess I fall into the completionist/catcher camp, hence why I had so much fun filling out the pokedex (not done yet).
I hope there's a raid event in sword and shield for the hisuian joints 🙏 that would be the best ever
Thats gonna cost you $30 bucks
I'm fascinated by the take, really annoyed that you're not saying Ark-e-us, Ark sounds better than Arse you can't change my mind.
I love how people complain how this game lacks polish, when it has more polish than literally the last 4 generations combined.... lol. I'd rather have idle NPCs than NPC's and windmills that move at five frames per second like it does in Scarlet and Violet.
I'd argue Let's Go games have the most polish among the Switch games, but that's mostly because it's small in scope - that being said it's expected to just be like a side game so it did it's job.
It may have more polish than the other recent Pokémon games, but that’s a very very low bar. It should have been polished more and should have had a lot of time to fully bake. What people got was a half-baked game
The pokedex alone is what makes this game addicting, as a completionist.
It's a mediocre game tbh. Played it, finished it and never touched it again, extremely boring and repetitive.