Pokémon Legends: Arceus

Pokemon Legends Arceus logo.

Pokémon Legends: Arceus is an action RPG developed by GameFreak for the Nintendo Switch in 2022. It was a major milestone in the Pokémon series, shaking up the formula in favor of a more open world and free flowing design.

The game starts with a disembodied voice, that says she is Arceus, directly adressing the player, welcoming him to his realm, and asking him for his appearance and name, that you can select. He sents him away to the Pokémon world. He says that if the player finds all Pokémon, he shall find Arceus once again.

The protagonist then wake up from a beach, after apparently falling down from a giant rift in the sky on the region of Hisui, being found by a man called Laventon, that says he is a kind of Pokémon Professor. After capturing Laventon's Pokémon, that impresses him since he never saw someone capture so many Pokémon at once, with most people being apprehensive about even approaching one Pokémon due to the danger involved. Laventon brings him to the Galaxy Team, an organization that seems to rule the region around the village near of the beach where the protagonist fell. Laventon wants the protagonist to be part of the Survey Corps, one of the sub-divisions of the Galaxy Team.

Cylenne, captain of the Survey Corps, seem to not be impressed, and requests the protagonist captures three specific Pokémon, otherwise he will be left to fend by himself on Hisui, something she hints to be a deadly fate.

Directed by Kazumasa Iwao. Published by The Pokémon Company in Japan, and by Nintendo in the rest of the world.

Tropes used in Pokémon Legends: Arceus include:

Adult Fear: Discussed, solving the space time rift problems may preclude the player character from going home.
Adventurer Archaeologist: Volo is obsessed with ruins. While less adventurous then most examples of this trope, by setting standards, he’s far more willing to leave the safety of a settlement and explore then most, and he willingly interacts with Pokémon before it’s normalized.
Anime Hair: Volo has this under his hat.
Anyone Can Die: The player is told they may die if they try to survive alone in the wild. Gameplay and Story Segregation stops this from ever happening, though unlike in previous games the player can be targeted by Pokémon attacks when out of battle.
Bubblegloop Swamp: Parts of the Crimson Mirelands are swampy.
Character Customization: Players can purchase clothes and haircuts to alter their character appearance.
Character Select Forcing: Less so than in other mainline Pokémon games: There are not multiple versions of the game, so each copy includes the full regional dex. That said some choices do lock out certain Pokémon from being acquired for a time.
Darker and Edgier: Compared to most Pokemon games. Aside from being more open and up front about the topic of death which has been present in the series before, the NPCs are mostly not comfortable around Pokémon due to their potential for danger. Indeed, many Pokémon can and will attack the player character if they spot them.
Difficulty Spike: A few times
- Noble Pokémon battles test player reflexes far more than the rest of the game.
- By the end game Volo has nearly an identical team as his implied decedent, Cynthia, who is commonly considered to be one of the toughest fights in the series. Then he brings out a legendary Pokémon with two health bars and no chance for the player to heal up, effectively giving him 8 Pokémon of decent to high strength.} Up to this point most Pokémon trainers are fought only sporadically, usually with a chance to rest, heal and save before the next battle, so this comes as a shock to a player who is not well prepared.
Fish Out of Temporal Water: They player character. Ingo is another one, albeit with little memory of their former life.
Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Hisui is similar to some aspects of Meiji era Japan, where old feudal systems and traditions intersect with scientific process and innovations.
Forced Tutorial: Happens at the start of the game. Justified somewhat by being interwoven with the plot, but it can drag on in repeat playthroughs.
Foreshadowing: Volo teaches the player about sneak attacks by surprising them from the rear. Guess who backstabs the player character later?
Gotta Catch Them All: Emphasized more than in traditional Pokémon games, as completing the Pokédex is a plot relevant goal, with significant rewards at major milestones. Not only is the player tasked with meeting all Pokémon by Arceus, this is effectively the in game job the Galaxy Team gives the player.
Heel Face Turn: Volo turns on the player.
Monumental Damage: Happens to the temple at the mountaintop.
Multiple Life Bars: The final battle against Volo
Ninja: Exists as a player outfit, and the player can choose to play like one by using smoke grenades and stealth mechanics. An actual Ninja exists in the game, playing both the historical ninja by pretending to be an ordinary commoner with a lowly post, and the pop culture ninja tropes once revealed.
Noble Bigot: Commander Kamado doesn’t trust most things that come through the Space Time Rift, though he is willing to give what he perceives as fair treatment to the player character.
Olympus Mons: As the title implies, Arceus plays a big role in the story.
Primal Fear: The player character is quickly told their chances of surviving in the wild are low, which is probably an accurate assessment given the player starts with a shirt, shorts, sandals, and a divinely enhanced smartphone, which isn’t a great loadout for long term wilderness survival. Comes to pass when the player is banished from Jubilife Village.
The Professor: Professor Laventon, who writes most of the Pokédex entries and comes up with inventions as the plot demands.
Rage Against the Heavens: Volo wants to draw out Arceus, subjugate it, and then use its power to remake the world into a better one.
Ret-Gone: Volo threatens the player with this, explaining that in a better world he hopes to create, the player character, his companions, and the Hisui region will not be included.
Single-Precept Religion: The Diamond Clan and the Pearl Clan both follow the Allmighty Sinnoh, but have very different ideas about its values. The Diamond Clan focuses exclusively on Time, where the Pearl Clan focuses exclusively on space.
Smoke Out: Used by some characters, including the player if they’re inclined.
Terrible Trio: The Miss Fortune sisters are a group of three bandits, each of whom left a different clan.
Trapped in Another World: The player character is transported to the past.
Traveling Salesman: Volo, Ginter, and other members of the Gingko Guild. In terms of gameplay, Volo is the only guild member the player will see sell anything in different locations, though this is dependent on ongoing story events and is not a recurring gameplay mechanic.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: A few.
- Galaxy Team isn’t above taking cruel actions if they consider something a threat to their village, even if the threat is based on conjecture.
- Volo wants to subjugate Arceus to create a better world.
You Are in Command Now: Captain Cyllene is left in charge of Jubilife Village when the commander leaves.