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, 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 Pokémons, 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 on Japan, and by Nintendo on the rest of the world.

Tropes used in Pokémon Legends: Arceus include:

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.
Difficulty Spike: A few times
- Nobel 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
Foreshadowing: {{Spoiler|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.
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.
Olympus Mons: As the title implies, Arceus plays a big role in the story.
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.