Following a much-hyped reveal trailer showing story and gameplay, The Pokémon Company has revealed the starter Pokéemon of Pokémon Legends: Arceus: Rowlet, Cyndaquil, and Oshawott. Notably, all of these creatures hail from outside the Sinnoh region, which was introduced in Gen 4's Pokémon Diamond and Pearl.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus was only announced Friday morning after a leak suggested that a both an open-world Pokémon title and remakes of Pokèmon Diamond and Pearl were imminent. The announcement trailer for the game confirmed that it will feature an open-world with RPG gameplay similar to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild's Hyrule. Set during the feudal era of the Sinnoh region, it takes place long before any of the other mainline Pokémon titles. Players will be able to explore the ancient world, battle with trainers and wild Pokémon, and even catch unaware creatures by sneaking up on them from behind.
The Pokémon Company has revealed the starting companions that players will be able to select from in Pokémon Legends: Arceus when it launches next year. According to a series of Tweets from the official account, the three Pokémon won't be native to the Sinnoh region. Instead, they will be brought to the area by a professor who has come across them during his travels. The three starter Pokémon will include Grass/Flying-type Rowlet, Fire-type Cyndaquil, and Water-type Oshawott. This is the first time that a main game from the Pokémon series has included starting Pokémon from different regions together.
During the same Pokémon Presents stream, it was confirmed that Gen 4 remakes are in the works. The upcoming Switch games, known as Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, are set to release later in 2021. Nintendo also revealed that original director Junichi Masuda is also working on the remakes to ensure that they remain faithful to the original 2006 titles. However, the developer leading work on them is not GameFreak but another studio, ILCA. That team had previously been responsible for creating Pokémon Home, so a traditional Pokémon title is doubtlessly a very different project to work on.
Big Pokémon news this week was expected, seeing as though February 27 is the 25th anniversary of the series. However, the ambition and departures in Pokémon Legends: Arceus nonetheless wowed onlookers so far. Not only is the game a big shift away from the rest of the series in terms of its mechanics, it is also breaking tradition with the way starting Pokémon work. Hopefully, this will give players a better opportunity to use a wider variety of Pokémon when the title ships in 2022.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus will be available for Nintendo Switch in 2022.
Source: The Pokémon Company