The Pokémon Company released disappointing news over the weekend, confirming that Pokémon Legends: Arceus isn’t an open-world game after all. The disappointment of many fans spread throughout social media and appears to have diminished excitement for the 2022 title. Early looks at Pokémon Legends: Arceus showed Breath of the Wild similarities, featuring an open world with varying biomes and elevations. Unfortunately, marketing for the game was apparently misleading to portions of the fanbase, leading to the discouraging announcement.
Early impressions of Pokémon Legends: Arceus showcased open-world exploration of the Hisui region. Pokémon mounts and a prequel story intrigued Pokémon fans, but the most desired feature was a truly open-world Pokémon experience. Though The Pokémon Company never stated Pokémon Legends: Arceus was an open-world game, promotional materials and trailers suggested otherwise. Instead of the Breath of the Wild: Pokémon Edition fans were looking forward to, it appears the game is something more like a Pokémon Monster Hunter instead.
Breath of the Wild is the open-world standard for games in many ways, featuring seamless exploration throughout the landscape with few loading screens of any kind. Though the game’s graphics weren’t as impressive as other open-world titles of recent years, Breath of the Wild offered an exhilarating adventure with hundreds of hours of content. Given the similarities of Pokémon Legends’ appearance and the gameplay showed through various reveal trailers, it appeared Nintendo was continuing its crusade of open-world titles. Unfortunately, Breath of the Wild and Pokémon fans must wait for the latter franchise to truly attempt the open-world experiment.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus Is More Like Monster Hunter Rise Than BOTW
An interview with Kotaku confirmed that Pokémon Legends: Arceus is not going to be an open-world Pokémon game. Instead, Legends: Arceus will function similarly to Monster Hunter, where players frequently return to a hub and embark on survey tasks and side quests for the Galaxy Team. This model is similar to Monster Hunter Rise, which features a similarly styled hub where players rest, resupply, and advance storylines with NPCs in the village before taking other quests. The exact way this may work in gameplay terms is as yet uncertain, and just how many similarities Pokémon Legends: Arceus and Monster Hunter Rise may share is unknown. The Pokémon Company or Game Freak will hopefully be more forthcoming with details in the future.
This news doesn’t bode well for the future of Pokémon Legends: Arceus, as for many, much of the excitement originated from the open-world concept. Some formerly interested users expressed their disappointment on Reddit, pointing to misleading trailers and failure to deliver on the community’s wants. For years, an open-world Pokémon title has been a common request, and Legends: Arceus’ details could turn off formerly interested players. If Legends fails, it’s just as likely Nintendo could return to the usual approach of other mainline Pokémon games rather than risk a new venture. Remakes like Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are just as likely (if not more) to end up as financial successes.
Whether Pokémon Legends: Arceus will find its niche is yet to be seen, but this recent revelation has undoubtedly dealt a blow to the game's prerelease momentum. Though The Pokémon Company never explicitly stated Pokémon Legends: Arceus would be open-world, rumors concerning the game’s nature and genre weren’t squashed quickly. Expectations for Pokémon Legends: Arceus was high, and this latest news may have dealt a permanent blow to the game’s popularity.
Source: Kotaku, PawDojczland/Reddit