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Pokémon Legends: Arceus Has Released! First Impressions


vanguard333
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I'm really enjoying it! I played for a few hours this morning and have had a good time so far. It's challenging at times, but never too hard. My biggest gripe is more due to the change in priority over the last few games, and that's the emphasis on catching Pokemon. My first "real" Pokemon game was Silver* and ever since then, I always collected a small amount of Pokemon - usually ones new to the generation - and felt happy doing so. My team was built how I wanted it to be built. But ever since Pokemon Go, there's been this renewed emphasis on catching as many Pokemon as possible. I understand why the games have leaned this way, but to me it makes the joy of building a core team of just ones you like pretty hard to do. I don't think the universal EXP share helps either. I honestly don't hate it, and I think it's well-done in PLA, but I don't like its mandatory nature. 

Anyways, this relates to PLA because the goal of the game is to complete the Pokedex, which means switching out members of the team in some cases in order to help complete it. Now, to be fair to the game, there are ways to complete the Dex without switching out every member of one's team, but it's a LOT harder to do. 

PLA is a weird step for the franchise. To say that it's wholly original is like saying the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy had no bluepring or inspiration to take from -  a bold-faced lie. PLA is the fusion of the Let's Go franchise and the Mystery Dungeon franchise, with a little bit of Monster Hunter (from what I can tell) worked in. It's not an open-world game, such much as it is "Hub world and exploration zone" game. These things don't make PLA bad by any means though. In fact, it's by incorporating these aspects of spin-offs that Pokemon has made its very first true step forward in roughly a decade. I really hope we get more games like this, and that they keep improving over time.

To conclude: Pokemon Legends Arceus is the most fun I've had playing a Pokemon game since Sun/Moon, and I can't wait to finish my work today so I can keep playing it. 

 

 

*I had a second-hand Blue version that had a completed game, so I don't count that. 

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@Use the Falchion I see. Just one question:

Spoiler

Is it true that the protagonist is from present-day Sinnoh and gets sent back in time?

I can understand it as a way to make the protagonist a fish-out-of-water and provide an excuse for why the character needs exposition thrown at them, but I thought that the character being a new recruit in an agency that's exploring what is essentially a frontier region would be justification enough for exposition.

 

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Didn't use the "feed berries to lure pokemon" thing until I got to 3rd area, and it REALLY trivializes catching alpha pokemon... my whole team is alphas

Spoiler

(except 1 Porygon Z I got).

, Said pokemon lookig like my only permenant party member at this point (level 50)  Having Special Attack so high that it 2 shots level 10 level higher alphas is a nice quality of life thing.

Besides him, the Starter new alolan-style form is interesting, but I'm honestly benching them.... Having negative special attack nature combined with constant free source of on-level Alphas available made him redundant.

Haven't found a way to do "3 on one" battles other than taking casualties still, but since I have smokescreens now and making new revives isn't that hard I can live with it in the interest of playing the game at fast pace so I can give it away to my niece.

Oh and now that I'm in harder territory I can get huge item rewards from the online "rescue other human player" thing On top of cash rewards basically being multipied when alphas are involved compared to the chump change I got before.

Edited by Reality
request for spoiler
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5 hours ago, Reality said:

Didn't use the "feed berries to lure pokemon" thing until I got to 3rd area, and it REALLY trivializes catching alpha pokemon... my whole team is alphas (except 1 Porygon Z I got). Starter new alolan-style form is interesting, but I'm honestly benching them.... Having negative special attack nature combined with constant free source of on-level Alphas available made him redundant. Porygon Z looking like my only permenant party member at this point (level 50)  Having Special Attack so high that it 2 shots level 10 level higher alphas is a nice quality of life thing. Haven't found a way to do "3 on one" battles other than taking casualties still, but since I have smokescreens now and making new revives isn't that hard I can live with it in the interest of playing the game at fast pace so I can give it away to my niece.

Spoiler

Porygon-Z is in this game?!

1. I'm pretty sure Porygon was never shown in trailers, so I must ask that mention of Porygon be put in a spoiler tag.

2. What's Porygon doing in a game that's set in the Pokémon World's version of the late 19th Century? Porygon is an artificial Pokémon created through software.

 

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@vanguard333 that seems to be the case, although so far the game has left it ambiguous as to whether

 

Spoiler

The character is from a world with Pokemon and/or the future, or if the character is from our world. You have some dialogue choices that can point to the former, but I'm not far enough to confirm either way just yet. 

 

I'll also have more thoughts about the game coming by the end of the week, Lord willing. I'm in the final area AFAIK (but not in the endgame one), and am putting off fighting the final area's boss until I've met some of my other goals in terms of catching and raising Pokemon and completing quests. (Not too many more, but just a few.) A Shiny would also be nice...I saw a video online of someone encountering a Shiny Alpha Zorua, and I spent the next hour Zorua hunting...no Shinies were found, but a couple of Hisuian Zoruas were added to the Dex! But if I can't have a Shiny, the Distortions spitting out other starters for me to raise would be very appreciated...

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On 1/31/2022 at 5:47 AM, Use the Falchion said:

@vanguard333 that seems to be the case, although so far the game has left it ambiguous as to whether

  Reveal hidden contents

The character is from a world with Pokemon and/or the future, or if the character is from our world. You have some dialogue choices that can point to the former, but I'm not far enough to confirm either way just yet. 

 

Spoiler

Interesting. It's probably the former; I doubt a mainline Pokémon game would do something completely out of an Isekai.

 

EDIT: I finally got the game and just started playing it today. My very first impression: this game, at times, looks absolutely gorgeous. Yes, the textures are dated and the pop-in is very noticeable sometimes. But, when you stop and look around, the game looks fantastic.

Edited by vanguard333
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Obsidian Fieldlands > Alabaster Icelands > Crimson Mirelands > Coronet Highlands > Cobalt Coastlands

or in other words

Starting Grassfields > Ice Area > Swamp Area > Mountain Area > Beach Area

Partly based on snow effects being so pretty in this game, but also I think that the high vertically of the later levels doesn't really work out too ell in practice and made them less fun to wander in than a lot of the basic stuff.

I'm in postgame Kinda weird that the first time you get to credits it's basically just 2 trainers with only 4 person teams with tons of fetching things in between . whole end of game sequence feels VERY rushed. I also think that the difficulty of the Frenzied Pokemon  (none is really that hard tbf) is out of order, including the final boss.

Also compared with a family member who had a higher researhcer level than me without EVER leaving the first area. Apparently finishing tasks beyond 10 DOES count for total rank even though the indiviuall research rank for that pokemon stays at 10.

Edited by Reality
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I just beat the Noble Pokémon of the Cobalt Coastlands. I can't tell if it's me failing to learn or the game failing to teach, but even though I have Basculegion, I've been struggling a lot with catching Pokémon that are in the water. There's no cover (obviously, since it's the water), there's no stealthy way to move about in the water that I've found and smoke bombs are basically useless as a result. The only way that I've seen to feasibly catch any water-dwelling Pokémon that isn't Mantyke/Mantine (since they're neither afraid nor aggressive) is to send out one of my Pokémon first to fight them, and I'm not a fan of that; I really like the real-time Pokémon-catching; having to go back to the turn-based method just makes everything slower.

Also, is it just me, or is it really easy to accidentally end up over-leveled in this game? I haven't even come close to finishing all the sidequests I've found so far, and yet, simply because I go out of my way to explore and try to fill in the Pokedex, my team is almost all level 40+ in an area where the non-alphas are level 35 at most.

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11 hours ago, vanguard333 said:

Also, is it just me, or is it really easy to accidentally end up over-leveled in this game? I haven't even come close to finishing all the sidequests I've found so far, and yet, simply because I go out of my way to explore and try to fill in the Pokedex, my team is almost all level 40+ in an area where the non-alphas are level 35 at most.

I haven't played it yet, but I heard that the levels aren't as be-all end-all as they are in the rest of the mainline games? Apparently underlevelled opponents can still hit hard if their moves are supereffective? 

Edited by henrymidfields
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Just now, henrymidfields said:

I haven't played it yet, but I heard that the levels aren't as be-all end-all as they are in the rest of the mainline games? Apparently opponents can still hit hard if their moves are supereffective?

That is true from my experience; enemies can still hit hard, and even when they don't, attrition is a lot more of a concern when exploring than it is in previous Pokémon games.

 

Anyway, one thing I find a bit funny is how... unsubtle the game can sometimes be with getting the player to prepare their team for an upcoming boss fight.

Spoiler

The way to the alpha Kricketune was full of geodudes; it was part of the tutorial, so fair enough. Then the path to the Noble Kleavor was full of psyduck, and you fight the Noble Arcanine (a fire/rock type) on an island in a water-themed location full of water types. I know there's a Noble Avalugg and that Avalugg in this game are Ice/Rock, so I wonder if the location it's in is full of steel types and fighting types.

 

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1 minute ago, vanguard333 said:

That is true from my experience; enemies can still hit hard, and even when they don't, attrition is a lot more of a concern when exploring than it is in previous Pokémon games.

Are there stuff similar to Gen 6-7's horde battles? Or is it more healing items are much harder to come by?

Edited by henrymidfields
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12 minutes ago, henrymidfields said:

Are there stuff similar to Gen 6-7's horde battles? Or is it more healing items are much harder to come by?

You have to craft the healing items yourself using stuff you find while exploring. You can buy healing items from the shop, but that would mean leaving the area & returning to the shop, and you generally don't have as much money in this game since there are few Pokémon battles and the ones that are there don't award the player money.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Played it for a few hours now. The gameplay loop is definitely fun, so at least they nailed the most important thing.

But man...I've never, ever been one to harp on graphics, even in the 2000s when it felt like graphics was all anyone cared about, but this game's graphics are just so bad. Textures constantly popping in, low FPS and still easily visible animations further away, few animations and facial expressions in general, and just overall ugly, drab landscapes. This should not be considered acceptable for a AAA game from the biggest media franchise in the world in 2022. It's an extremely rare instance where the low graphics and animation quality are actually negatively affecting my experience, not to mention the complete lack of voice acting.

For the record, the only reason I bought it all (I knew about all those criticisms beforehand) is because I suddenly found myself with $75 of Target gift cards, so I didn't actually have to spend any of my own money. And I'm glad I didn't.

There are other issues like too many cutscenes and bad menuing but hopefully those won't be as bad in time.

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4 minutes ago, Florete said:

But man...I've never, ever been one to harp on graphics, even in the 2000s when it felt like graphics was all anyone cared about, but this game's graphics are just so bad. Textures constantly popping in, low FPS and still easily visible animations further away, few animations and facial expressions in general, and just overall ugly, drab landscapes. This should not be considered acceptable for a AAA game from the biggest media franchise in the world in 2022. It's an extremely rare instance where the low graphics and animation quality are actually negatively affecting my experience, not to mention the complete lack of voice acting.

Yeah. I'm not one to complain about graphics too much either, and even I notice various issues it has. For me, what saves it is that there's at least a coherent art style holding it all together (I'm not an expert by any means, but it looks like it's trying to mimic Meiji-era art like how Skyward Sword tried to mimic impressionist art).

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  • 2 weeks later...

Finished the game. Completed the Pokedex, did the special final battle, even got to 10 star rank.

Dang...it's so fun, and yet there are so many issues with the game. So while it is really good, it could still be so much better. I really, really hope they continue the Legends series and start taking it more seriously, because a Legends game that fixes the issues with Arceus could just be a flat-out masterpiece.

So, what are those issues? Let's get started...and I won't mention graphics:

  1. The map. Why is there no mini-map, or even a compass? Why aren't collected wisps marked on the map? Specific locations within areas are also not marked very well.
  2. Pasture. Seriously, who fucked this up so badly? How do you have a game about catching Pokemon and no auto-sort feature of any kind? And the search function only highlights those Pokemon, so it's still more work if you want to compare different Pokemon of the same species. Yet inventory and the Pokedex do have auto-sorting, so it's not like auto-sorting just doesn't exist at all.
  3. Speaking of sorting, while the auto-sorting is nice, it would be good to have the option to manually sort my inventory. There are too many items you can throw and with the auto-sort order being balls, berries, stun items, it means that stunning and catching Pokemon requires you to constantly shift past all your berries or get rid of all/most of them beforehand (and other random stuff I never throw comes after stun items). Also, fuck Bagin. Gouging asshole.
  4. Clothing shop. I didn't use this much...because it's nonsensical. Who thought it was a good idea to list every individual color of the same outfit separately?
  5. Draw distance. You can fly around later in the game, but things often won't show up until you're really close. When collecting wisps there were some that literally didn't appear for me until I was practically on top of them. This and the lack of them appearing on the map makes the collection much more tedious than it ought to be. I also occasionally saw Pokemon just pop in and out of existence as they moved around.
  6. No voice acting. I would say this was fine while Pokemon was on handheld systems, but it just feels so awkward and a lot of tension is lost without voice acting in a console game in 2022 at console prices.
  7. The world feels surprisingly small. To be fair, once you play any game a lot and know its world as a result, it will naturally feel smaller...but this game has that effect more than most. For example, I'm very familiar with Breath of the Wild's world, but while it feels a bit smaller now, it still feels pretty big. The reasons for this are two-fold: Arceus isn't really open-world due to it being divided into areas separated by loading zones, and even within those areas there are more parts of the map that are inaccessible than you might expect. In BotW it took forever for me to be told I couldn't proceed and happened rarely even after, but in Arceus it happens all the time.
  8. Pokemon variety. I don't expect them to put all >900 Pokemon in a game like this, but when you get to the final area and half the Pokemon there you've seen before, there's a problem.
  9. Some button choices. The + button not being the main pause button is really weird. Pokedex on d-pad down and map on minus are both fine, but pause being d-pad up is weird and even 50+ hours in I was still occasionally pressing + because it's just natural. What's even weirder here is that + is for ride Pokemon while d-pad left and right are switching ride Pokemon, like...what? Why not just put all of that on the d-pad and have pause where it is in every other game? And crouch and run should be switched as well, both for making sense within the game (B is crouch on foot, but go faster on a ride) and because it's common in other games.
  10. Unskippable cutscenes. Because who replays games, amirite?
  11. Why can't I feed my own Pokemon?

All that out of my system, if anyone reading this is still on the fence about the game...I do recommend it. It's still incredibly fun despite its flaws. I'm typically not good at explaining why I liked something which is why I haven't gone that route, but one noteworthy thing that I do want to mention is that loading times are kept relatively short in the game, which I find is increasingly rare and annoying in many games these days.

Edited by Florete
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16 minutes ago, Florete said:

So, what are those issues? Let's get started...and I won't mention graphics:

  1. The map. Why is there no mini-map, or even a compass? Why aren't collected wisps marked on the map? Specific locations within areas are also not marked very well.
  2. Pasture. Seriously, who fucked this up so badly? How do you have a game about catching Pokemon and no auto-sort feature of any kind? And the search function only highlights those Pokemon, so it's still more work if you want to compare different Pokemon of the same species. Yet inventory and the Pokedex do have auto-sorting, so it's not like auto-sorting just doesn't exist at all.
  3. Speaking of sorting, while the auto-sorting is nice, it would be good to have the option to manually sort my inventory. There are too many items you can throw and with the auto-sort order being balls, berries, stun items, it means that stunning and catching Pokemon requires you to constantly shift past all your berries or get rid of all/most of them beforehand (and other random stuff I never throw comes after stun items). Also, fuck Bagin. Gouging asshole.
  4. Clothing shop. I didn't use this much...because it's nonsensical. Who thought it was a good idea to list every individual color of the same outfit separately?
  5. Draw distance. You can fly around later in the game, but things often won't show up until you're really close. When collecting wisps there were some that literally didn't appear for me until I was practically on top of them. This and the lack of them appearing on the map makes the collection much more tedious than it ought to be. I also occasionally saw Pokemon just pop in and out of existence as they moved around.
  6. No voice acting. I would say this was fine while Pokemon was on handheld systems, but it just feels so awkward and a lot of tension is lost without voice acting in a console game in 2022 at console prices.
  7. The world feels surprisingly small. To be fair, once you play any game a lot and know its world as a result, it will naturally feel smaller...but this game has that effect more than most. For example, I'm very familiar with Breath of the Wild's world, but while it feels a bit smaller now, it still feels pretty big. The reasons for this are two-fold: Arceus isn't really open-world due to it being divided into areas separated by loading zones, and even within those areas there are more parts of the map that are inaccessible than you might expect. In BotW it took forever for me to be told I couldn't proceed and happened rarely even after, but in Arceus it happens all the time.
  8. Pokemon variety. I don't expect them to put all >900 Pokemon in a game like this, but when you get to the final area and half the Pokemon there you've seen before, there's a problem.
  9. Some button choices. The + button not being the main pause button is really weird. Pokedex on d-pad down and map on minus are both fine, but pause being d-pad up is weird and even 50+ hours in I was still occasionally pressing + because it's just natural. What's even weirder here is that + is for ride Pokemon while d-pad left and right are switching ride Pokemon, like...what? Why not just put all of that on the d-pad and have pause where it is in every other game? And crouch and run should be switched as well, both for making sense within the game (B is crouch on foot, but go faster on a ride) and because it's common in other games.
  10. Why can't I feed my own Pokemon?

1. I'm honestly fine with the lack of a mini-map; I find when, when I game has a mini-map, I tend to be drawn to look at it instead of the world. Plus, each area is small enough that I never found myself feeling the need for a mini-map. I agree about marking collected wisps on the map; that would definitely be a help.

2. A sorting feature for the pasture would definitely be a help as well.

3. Yes; being able to manually sort my inventory would be a big help. And f--k Bagin's price-gouging.

4. I wouldn't know; I mainly stuck to the default galaxy team outfit since I thought it looked cooler than the outfits available at the clothing shop.

5. Draw distance is definitely a big issue. 

6. I'm fine with the lack of full voice acting, but it would be good to hear NPCs at least grunt.

7. I agree that the game can feel small at times. I think part of it might be the lack of any elaborate indoor areas. I found myself missing the elaborate caverns of the old games.

8. I was fine with the number of Pokemon in this game; I think it needed to be better at distributing Pokémon to reflect each area section. For example, I thought for certain that the Hisuian Zoruas/Zoruarks would haunt certain parts of the ice area at night; instead, you find one Zorua in a small icy cave, while above ground is filled with electabuzzes. What?

Speaking of which, it would be cool to see the return of swarms: in this case, having certain Pokémon appear in migratory swarms that actually do move across the map. Basically, I want to see the Pokemon better integrated into the areas rather than just being dropped into them.

9. I agree that the button mapping is rather weird.

10. What would be the point to that?

Edited by vanguard333
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2 minutes ago, vanguard333 said:

10. What would be the point to that?

  1. It would be cute.
  2. Some Pokedex entries have it as a research requirement. I occasionally had to go out into the wild to find another of something like Turtwig that I'd already caught because I had to feed it for the Pokedex. Munchlax was especially annoying.
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On 2/25/2022 at 9:33 PM, Florete said:
  1. It would be cute.
  2. Some Pokedex entries have it as a research requirement. I occasionally had to go out into the wild to find another of something like Turtwig that I'd already caught because I had to feed it for the Pokedex. Munchlax was especially annoying.

I see.

Wait; you've found a Munchlax?! Where?!

 

Anyway, I just got to the postgame, and I realized something: while there is definitely some variety when it comes to trying to catch Pokémon in the wild: Zubat has no eyes and relies on hearing so trying to hide in tall grass is actually detrimental rather than beneficial, Chancy and Blissey will approach you to heal you if you're damaged, etc., finding and catching Pokémon can get a bit same-y. I thought hunting the Legendaries would add more variety, but so far, it hasn't.

I thought this game would do a 3D version of the hunt for Mespirit from Diamond/Pearl/Platinum, which was annoying in 2D but could've been a lot better as a proper hunt in 3D, but nope; you just fight Mespirit in the cave, just like Uxie and Azelf. I mean, the Sword & Shield DLC had the player chase the legendary birds in the Wild Area; it would've been cool to have stuff like that in this game.

Something that would be cool to see in an update or DLC (though DLC is unlikely since they're already making the gen 9 game) would be Pokemon that don't just sit there; legendaries that dare you to chase them, migratory swarms that the player has to keep up with, etc., would be really cool to see implemented.

Edited by vanguard333
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  • 1 month later...

I bought the game a few months ago, but I just started playing a couple days ago. Some thoughts:

- Really digging the Meiji-era Japan aesthetic! It's interesting to see the mashup of traditionalism and modernism, in architecture, clothes, technology, etc. That said, the Arc Phone feels weird and unnecessary thus far. Why not just use an actual map? Maybe one that you fill out further as you explore more. The ability to teleport between bases could be linked to a "ride" Pokemon.

- I've wanted a "Pokemon game set in the past" for a long time now, and it mostly satisfies. Using Apricorns to craft Poke Balls is great, as is the crafting system at large. The Pastures are a sensible replacement for the Box. Still not yet convinced that the "Isekai'd" premise is necessary for the storytelling. 

- The presentation feels like the strongest it's ever been in the mainline games, or at least the strongest since Gen V. It's really cool to see realistically-sized Mons in their natural habitats. That said, there are still some disappointing shortcuts. The lack of voice acting gets more disappointing every time. And there are lots of "black cutaways" when they can't depict what's happening.

- i don't like "forced EXP share" in more traditional games, and probably won't buy Gen IX if it does it. That said, I think it's forgivable in this game, with the emphasis on raising many different Pokemon. I'm trying to bring on at least one new partner per mission.

- Not being able to have a Pokemon follow you is disappointing. Yeah, most games don't do it, but it'd feel right at home in PLA. Keep one Pokemon out of the ball most of the time, and they could automatically hit trees, or face wild Pokemon. 

- The battle system feels like a fun mess. I still can't figure out how to use items in wild battles, am I missing something? Anyway, the ability to be "ganged up on" by wild Pokemon is pretty neat, and reminiscent of Gen VII SOS encounters. Agile/Strong is neat in theory, but I've yet to see a use for Agile-style moves. Perhaps instead of turn order, they should've done a "recharge meter"? Taking too long to make a choice would cause the wild Mon's meter to recharge. Using a Strong-style move depletes the meter completely, while an Agile-style move would only cut it by half.

- The Kleavor encounter was fun, if a bit repetitive. It's a really cool Mon design, as well! I'm eager to get one of my own.

- Really liking the character designs! Both those related to Sinnoh characters, and those more original. Zisu, in particular, is an androgynous mood.

- Minor quibble, but why's the Save screen include a picture of me that can't even be updated? The game includes a photo studio, which seems like a perfect context for enabling such an update. Really seems like an oversight in any game with customization. 

Edited by Shanty Pete's 1st Mate
Typo.
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48 minutes ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

I bought the game a few months ago, but I just started playing a couple days ago. Some thoughts:

- Really digging the Meiji-era Japan aesthetic! It's interesting to see the mashup of traditionalism and modernism, in architecture, clothes, technology, etc. That said, the Arc Phone feels weird and unnecessary thus far. Why not just use an actual map? Maybe one that you fill out further as you explore more. The ability to teleport between bases could be linked to a "ride" Pokemon.

- I've wanted a "Pokemon game set in the past" for a long time now, and it mostly satisfies. Using Apricorns to craft Poke Balls is great, as is the crafting system at large. The Pastures are a sensible replacement for the Box. Still not yet convinced that the "Isekai'd" premise is necessary for the storytelling. 

- The battle system feels like a fun mess. I still can't figure out how to use items in wild battles, am I missing something? Anyway, the ability to be "ganged up on" by wild Pokemon is pretty neat, and reminiscent of Gen VII SOS encounters. Agile/Strong is neat in theory, but I've yet to see a use for Agile-style moves. Perhaps instead of turn order, they should've done a "recharge meter"? Taking too long to make a choice would cause the wild Mon's meter to recharge. Using a Strong-style move depletes the meter completely, while an Agile-style move would only cut it by half.

Yeah; the Meiji-era aesthetic is really cool. That, combined with the region being based on the island of Hokkaido, reminds me a lot of Golden Kamuy (a great show that I recommend if you haven't seen it).

I don't want to spoil anything, so please just trust me when I say that the "trapped-in-the-past" premise of it becomes more relevant over the course of the game.

It's been a while since I played the game, but I'm sure you will find the items option if you search around. As for agile-style moves, they're main purpose is to enable the Pokémon to have two turns in a row if they're fast enough, and avoid being attacked twice if they're that slow. You probably aren't far enough in the game for speed differences between Pokémon to start enabling stuff like attacking twice.

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 4/11/2022 at 10:52 AM, vanguard333 said:

It's been a while since I played the game, but I'm sure you will find the items option if you search around. As for agile-style moves, they're main purpose is to enable the Pokémon to have two turns in a row if they're fast enough, and avoid being attacked twice if they're that slow. You probably aren't far enough in the game for speed differences between Pokémon to start enabling stuff like attacking twice.

Re: Items. While I was battling, I saw the "+" key as being used to check Items and Pokemon. Except it wasn't the "+" key, it was supposed to be the D-pad (which isn't even a pad on the Joy-cons). So I was supposed to hit UP for Items, and DOWN for Pokemon.

A moment of stupidity for me? Yes. But it actually ties into my biggest gripe about how the game controls: too many buttons. Three separate "menu" buttons ("-" for the map, DOWN for the Pokedex, and UP for the "everything else" menu). X to switch between Pokemon and Items, L and R to scroll through them, and ZR to select one. LEFT and RIGHT to scroll through Ride Pokemon, "+" to select one. I can recognize the desirability of making everything accessible from one screen, but... I can't possibly remember all of this. Often in battles, I L/R to the Pokemon I want to switch in, and hit "A" (the "Confirm" button, right?), accidentally bringing me into the moves. Or hitting "B" to Zoom Out on the world map, accidentally bumping me out of the "location selection" altogether. Yeah, the game says which button does what, but I honestly miss the days of using just a few buttons whose purpose was obvious. Even if it requires more screens and menu navigation.

What else? Oh, getting to Wayward Cave was hilarious. It's supposed to be this dim, dark cave... but everything is perfectly visible. It's as bright as the outside world. Ingo insisted I stay close to him, which just meant a lot of slow walking. We finally find the torches, and... the place looks entirely the same with them lit. Not to mention, the textures inside, especially in the large cavern area, are really unconvincing. Finally, why must I hit "A" to enter or leave the cave? Why can't I simply walk into the Dark or the Light, as Pokemon has been doing since Gen I?

Setting aside these gripes, I am really loving the "Requests" system. Gives me motivation to do certain tasks, or focus on specific Mons, that I might not otherwise. The rewards are nice, but they also give more characterization to otherwise-generic NPCs. Figuring out how to "flag" a certain mission, so the icon would guide me to it, was an Arceus-send. Still, would it kill them to include a minimap on the main screen? Or at least a compass, so I can know which way I'm facing without pulling out the full map?

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51 minutes ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

Re: Items. While I was battling, I saw the "+" key as being used to check Items and Pokemon. Except it wasn't the "+" key, it was supposed to be the D-pad (which isn't even a pad on the Joy-cons). So I was supposed to hit UP for Items, and DOWN for Pokemon.

A moment of stupidity for me? Yes. But it actually ties into my biggest gripe about how the game controls: too many buttons. Three separate "menu" buttons ("-" for the map, DOWN for the Pokedex, and UP for the "everything else" menu). X to switch between Pokemon and Items, L and R to scroll through them, and ZR to select one. LEFT and RIGHT to scroll through Ride Pokemon, "+" to select one. I can recognize the desirability of making everything accessible from one screen, but... I can't possibly remember all of this. Often in battles, I L/R to the Pokemon I want to switch in, and hit "A" (the "Confirm" button, right?), accidentally bringing me into the moves. Or hitting "B" to Zoom Out on the world map, accidentally bumping me out of the "location selection" altogether. Yeah, the game says which button does what, but I honestly miss the days of using just a few buttons whose purpose was obvious. Even if it requires more screens and menu navigation.

The menus and some of the other controls can definitely be unintuitive; that is definitely an issue with the game.

 

53 minutes ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

Setting aside these gripes, I am really loving the "Requests" system. Gives me motivation to do certain tasks, or focus on specific Mons, that I might not otherwise. The rewards are nice, but they also give more characterization to otherwise-generic NPCs. Figuring out how to "flag" a certain mission, so the icon would guide me to it, was an Arceus-send. Still, would it kill them to include a minimap on the main screen? Or at least a compass, so I can know which way I'm facing without pulling out the full map?

Now I'm picturing an in-game compass that looks like a Nosepass and I can't stop laughing.

In all seriousness, a compass probably would've been a pretty good idea. I'm not normally a fan of mini-maps in exploration games and tend to turn them off since I often find myself looking at the mini-map instead of the environment, but adding one that could be turned on/off would definitely have been a good addition.

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