The upcoming Pokémon Legends: Arceus promises a new adventure and new features, including the ability to fly through the skies of Hisui. The game's trailers has shown that players will have the ability to fly through the air on the back of a new Hisuian form of Braviary, which will be a revolutionary new feature for the series. Fans are eagerly looking forward to news on the mechanics of all the Ride Pokémon, and of Braviary in particular, but news has so far been scarce, leaving only speculation.
So far, three Ride Pokémon have been confirmed for Legends: Arceus, and each one will give players a new way to traverse the world: Wyrdeer will let players ride across the land, Basculegion will allow them to swim through the water, and Hisuian Braviary will give them the power to conquer the sky itself. Some rumors also point to a fourth Ride Pokémon for Legends: Arceus that will allow for the scaling of cliffs, although this is unconfirmed. Players have been able to ride Pokémon across the land and sea in several past games, but flying through the air has been rare and underutilized. How each of these modes of transport will work is currently unknown, but Braviary stands out due to the exciting prospect of flight.
Players have always been able to fly from one town or city to another after a certain point in the Pokémon games, but the concept has long been underdeveloped. Since the game has been likened to Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild so often, some theorize that Legends: Arceus will mimic its paraglider, but nothing is confirmed so far. BOTW's paraglider could inspire Pokémon Legends: Arceus, but since it's unlikely that the game will copy it exactly, it has the possibility to let players fly high in the skies of Hisui. Instead of simple teleportation, Hisuian Braviary promises fans the ability to truly soar, which would be a delight as they explore Hisui and study the Pokémon that call it home. How it will do so is a mystery, one that fans eagerly await details on.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus Players Could Master The Sky With Hisuian Braviary
Flight is something that Pokémon has always featured, but in a much smaller form than Legends: Arceus is promising. The move Fly allows players to move from their current location to one of the towns or cities that they've already visited instantaneously, after they've reached a certain point in the game. It's one of many HMs that Pokémon use in the overworld to give players access to new areas. The Gen 3 remakes (Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire) took the mechanic one step further by allowing players to fly on the back of either Latias or Latios, depending on which version they were playing, and the Let's Go games let them ride on several flying Pokémon. Legends: Arceus, on the other hand, offers the opportunity to fly in all three dimensions, if the trailers and gameplay footage shown so far are anything to go by.
Flight in video games is something that's hit or miss. Oftentimes, it's difficult to use and can leave fans frustrated. Many games are able to turn it into an exciting and fun feature, one that's many players' favorite part of the adventure, but some have less success. The robustness of Braviary's flight may all boil down to the controls. Since it's not a fully open world, Legends: Arceus won't be a Pokémon version of BOTW, but that doesn't mean it can't use similar controls to its paraglider. It's possible that flight could be on rails, given the revelations about Legends: Arceus' not-quite-open-world nature, but even limited flight with smooth controls would help players live the dream.
Of course, beyond the controls and mechanics of flying, there are also the features that could come along with it. Omega Ruby, Alpha Sapphire, and Let's Go featured wild Pokémon battles in mid-air, and the former pair made some areas and Pokémon only obtainable by flying. Since Legends: Arceus seems to place a high priority on exploration and traversal, it's possible, perhaps even probable, that these features will return. Flying could be an important part of completing Pokémon Legends: Arceus' Pokédex. Ledges that can't be climbed over, fields blocked off by steep cliffs, and more could block players' ways without Braviary. Pokémon battles in mid-air are also not out of the question, and it's even possible that entirely new flight-only features will be available in the game, such as races or the ability to perform acrobatic feats.
Will Pokémon Legends: Arceus Let Players Fly Or Glide?
Just as it's possible that players will be able to fly to their hearts' content in Legends: Arceus, however, it's also possible that they won't. The game draws heavily from BOTW, and the two have often been compared to one another, so it could mimic the paraglider and only allow players the ability to glide and not actively fly. If so, it still has the potential to be a big hit with fans, perhaps even more so than three-dimensional flight. The confirmed Rideable Pokémon in Legends: Arceus have the potential to feel both familiar and fresh to fans of the series and of BOTW. How they're implemented, how easy the controls are, and how intuitive they are will all play a part in making it feel like players are truly exploring the land, sea, and skies of the Hisui region.
Although it might seem like clues for whether true flight or simple gliding will be the case are none to be found, there is something that just might tip the scales. Braviary's description on the Pokémon Legends: Arceus website states that it is a Northern species that flies into Hisui during wintertime. Since gliding is usually done with the aid of thermal updrafts, which are rare in cold Northern regions, this may mean that Braviary will in fact allow players to fly, instead of just gliding. The Pokémon Presents video released in August shows the main Legends: Arceus character catching Pokémon from Basculegion's back, and Braviary is also shown to be flapping its wings frequently, both of which offer further support that players will be able to ascend and descend at will.
However, it's equally possible that gliding will be players' only option. In the same Pokémon Presents video, the player character is shown flying with Braviary after diving off of a cliff. No other method of takeoff has been revealed so far, which means that, just as in BOTW, players may need to start from a high vantagepoint and slowly descend to the ground, and may only have a limited amount of time to do so before they plummet to the ground uncontrollably. There's also the fact that, instead of riding on Braviary's back, players will lie beneath it in a harness, which means that Pokémon Legends: Arceus could be using BOTW's gliding after all.
Sources: Official Pokémon/YouTube, legends.pokemon.com