After months of anticipation, Pokemon Legends: Arceus has finally been properly revealed to the public. The game looks to be a new take on the Pokemon formula taking place in the unsettled Sinnoh region, currently known as the Hisui region. Players take control of a member of the Galactic Expedition Team and set out into the region to discover new regions and research Pokemon. In doing so, they will explore what is seemingly the first fully open world of the Pokemon franchise. Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield tried to use Wild Areas to emulate an open-world, but it seems like Game Freak has finally managed to properly transition to the new style.
This is where fans factor into the grand experiment that Game Freak is attempting with Pokemon Legends: Arceus. Legends is deliberately different from all Pokemon games that have come before it. It has changed the way players interact with the world, how they catch Pokemon, and how they fight other Pokemon. This last aspect is especially notable because Pokemon has always held the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," approach as law. Now, not only do Pokemon battles sometimes extend outside of fights themselves to include the trainer, but they are also adding a brand-new turn order system that will radically change how players approach battles.
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Pokemon Legends Battles Start In The Field
In Pokemon Legends: Arceus, Pokemon will behave in different ways depending on their species and circumstance. These Pokemon can walk lazily up to the player, run, fly, or swim away, or even become aggressive and attack. To this end, for the first time in the Pokemon franchise, Pokemon trainers have their own health value separate from their Pokemon. If they get hit by too many Pokemon attacks or take too many risky jumps, then the player will black out instead of whiting out, and will presumably have to return to a checkpoint. Players have always been told that walking into long grass without a Pokemon has been dangerous, but this is the first time that they are able to experience this themselves.
This even extends to boss battles or some sort of equivalent. It seems that in the place of gyms, something akin to the Island Trials from Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon will return. Players will need to maneuver around dangerous Pokemon possessed by some sort of force that turns their eyes red and try to capture them. This has the potential to become quite involved as the game goes on, with battles occurring over long distances as trainers attempt to get near enough to initiate a normal Pokemon battle. This sort of resistance by wild Pokemon is new for the series and could return in a slightly diminished form in the main games, where such bosses would be replaced by normal trainer fights instead.
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A Turn Order System Completely Changes Pokemon
As impressive as this new dynamic in the field is, the main attraction is Pokemon's first major alteration to its turn-based fighting system in 25 years. Pokemon Legends: Arceus is introducing a new method of determining turn order. Similar to Final Fantasy 10's combat system, Pokemon Legends displays a list on the side of the screen, showing when each Pokemon will act for the next few turns. Depending on both Pokemon's stats, stat modifiers, and the attacks they use in battle, the turn order can shift dynamically. It may seem like a small change to how battles are normally handled, but even this one tweak will radically alter how players think about fights.
Furthermore, Legends is also introducing the style system, which allows players to further modify their Pokemon's statistics and turn order on the fly. At the moment, two styles have been revealed. The Strong Style will increase a Pokemon's attack and could end battles quickly by letting them KO opponents in one turn. However, because their speed will go down, surviving enemies can take more than one turn in a row. Comparatively, the Agile Style lowers a Pokemon's attack but allows it to make more than one turn in a row. A lot of specifics about this system are not entirely clear yet, like what the limits are on applying styles during one fight, and if each style can be used consecutively. However, it is known that this system will directly benefit super effective attacks and buff moves, two key components to Pokemon gameplay, so these styles appear to fit in well.
How Future Pokemon Games Can Use Styles
However, the real question on everyone's minds is whether or not this new system will stick around for future Pokemon games. It has a lot of ramifications for competitive play, including making double battles a very complicated juggling act. Each player will be competing to get off specific combos with their Pokemon, as well as hindering those of their opponent. If this sounds like regular competitive play, then that may just mean that the style system is an even better fit for Pokemon than anyone could have imagined. At the moment, Pokemon Legends: Arceus will not be used for competitive Pokemon events. However, as online trading has already been confirmed as a feature, that doesn't mean that online battling can't be done to test the limits of the new mechanics.
This is where Pokemon fans and developers alike are left right now. The style system and turn order could massively shift everything about how Pokemon's combat system has worked up until now. However, it could also be the breath of fresh air that fans have felt Pokemon has needed for the past few entries. It could also provide a lasting impact on competitive fighting, something that Mega Evolutions, Z-Moves, and Dynamaxing have yet to accomplish. As it was apparently meant to do, Pokemon Legends: Arceus has prepared many paths that Pokemon could take for its future games. Hopefully, the plentiful risks Game Freak is taking with this title will pay off, and a new era of open-world Pokemon games with more flexible combat systems can begin.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus will release exclusively on the Nintendo Switch on January 28, 2022.
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