Pokemon Legends: Arceus Takes Trainers on an Open World Adventure

Game Freak and The Pokemon Company announced Pokemon Legends: Arceus as part of the Pokemon 25th anniversary celebrations. Pokemon Legends is an open-world action RPG set in the feudal past of Gen IV’s Sinnoh region. Its planned release date is on Nintendo Switch in early 2022.

Pokemon Legends follows a young trainer on their journey set in the Sinnoh region as they create the area’s first-ever Pokedex. As with most games in the series, the region’s Pokemon expert sends players on their journey, but that’s where the similarities seem to end.

Legends takes place in a growing village that acts as a hub area set in a never-before-seen area of Sinnoh. Players venture out to various parts of the world from there, and while there’s plenty of Sinnoh Pokemon lurking in the wild, trainers won’t just be finding Bidoof and Starly around every corner.

Pokemon Legends‘ starters pull from multiple generations, offering Gen II’s Cyndaquil, Gen V’s Oshawott, and Gen VII’s Rowlet. Trainers can also ride, run, and fly across the world with their Pokemon.

The open world Pokemon game also seems to combine action elements with turn-based combat. The trailer showed trainers choosing some actions from a menu, while others — including catching Pokemon and dodging attacks — happen in real-time. This comes alongside news of two remakes, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.