Pokémon Legends: Arceus
The game follows the protagonist, sent back through time, as they travel through the Hisui region based on the island of Hokkaido during early Japanese colonization. Centered around exploration of the region's several open areas populated with Pokémon, the game's objective is to complete a roster of the region's Pokémon, known as the Pokédex. "Pokémon Legends: Arceus" received generally favorable reviews and was a commercial success, selling 6.5 million copies in its first week of release. Gameplay. "Pokémon Legends: Arceus" is an action role-playing game that preserves the core gameplay of past entries  in the main line series. The player is able to roam freely across the game map, divided into five large areas of individual biomes. Each time the player enters such areas, they spawn in a camp, and can fast travel to other camps in the same area. Outside of traversing the landscape on foot, the player can unlock rideable Pokémon which can travel faster, swim across bodies of water, climb cliffs, or fly. In each area, Pokémon wander the landscape, being found in certain habitats and will interact with both the player and their environments. Some will actively avoid the  player while others act aggressively, and some exhibit other specific behaviors. A number of "Alpha" Pokémon - larger, more powerful versions of the Pokémon - can also be found in the areas. The multiple areas and the hub system instead of a fully open world gameplay resulted in reviewers comparing "Legends: Arceus" with the "Monster Hunter" series. Reviewers have also drew comparisons between "Pokémon Legends: Arceus" and "", noting apparent similarities in both gameplay and art style. Unlike in previous titles, the player character themselves can be attacked and harmed by wild Pokémon. If enough damage is taken, he or she will fall  unconscious and reappear at the base camp. Players can capture wild Pokémon in the overworld without engaging in battle, though some must still be battled before being caught. Battles can be initiated by releasing captured Pokémon near a wild Pokémon. While the turn-based battle system of the prior titles are retained in the game, an additional feature is added which allows players to trade attack damage for more turns and vice versa. Outside standard battles, the game also introduces special boss battles where the player character has to dodge and attack powerful Pokémon, regular turn-based battles being included  during the fights as opportunities to stun the bosses. By battling, capturing, or engaging with other interactions with Pokémon, players obtain progress in completing their Pokédex entries. Players can also take on and complete side quests given by NPCs in the game. In total, the game featured 242 Pokémon on release, including 7 new species and 17 new iterations ("forms") of existing Pokémon. At the start of the game, three starter Pokémon are available: Rowlet (from "Sun" and "Moon"), Cyndaquil (from "Gold" and "Silver") and Oshawott (from "Black" and "White"). "Pokémon Legends: Arceus" is the first mainline game to feature  starter Pokémon from different regions together. While players could trade Pokémon online, "Legends: Arceus" does not feature multiplayer battles, unlike previous installments in the series. Plot. Setting. The game is set in a bygone era of the Sinnoh region's history, when it was known as the Hisui region, long before the events of "Pokémon Diamond" and "Pearl" and their remakes take place. Hisui is based off the real-life island of Hokkaido during the Muromachi period, when it was still known as Ezo, with new settlers from other regions interacting with natives in a parallel with the interaction between  Hokkaido's Ainu people and Japanese settlers. Ainu groups are represented in the game by the Diamond and Pearl clans, while new mainland settlers are represented by the Galaxy Expedition Team. The vast majority of the region is covered in sparse, open wilderness populated with wild Pokémon, with only one significant settlement in addition to a number of small campsites. Unlike in the setting of previous Pokémon games, Pokémon are treated as wild animals or forces of nature instead of as companions or partners. Poké Balls in the game are made of "Apricorn" fruit and puff steam when a Pokémon  is caught, instead of being presented as high-tech devices like in previous installations, while the Pokédex is a paper notebook. Story. The game begins with the player speaking with a disembodied voice, identified as Arceus, which tasks the player with encountering all Pokémon in the Hisui region before transporting the player there through a rift in spacetime. The player is found by Pokémon researcher Professor Laventon, who brings the player to a local settlement named Jubilife Village. There, the player is recruited into the Survey Corps of the Galaxy Expedition Team, a group which that has arrived in Hisui  to chart and study the region. After receiving their starter Pokémon, the player proceeds to travel in the Hisui region to complete the Pokédex. Throughout the player's journey, the spacetime rift they had been transported through results in several powerful "noble Pokémon" venerated by the local Diamond and Pearl clans turning berserk through powerful lightning, forcing the player to engage them in battles using 'balms' to calm them down. After the player defeats five noble Pokémon, the spacetime rift begins to worsen rather than calm down as per the Galaxy Team's expectations and the sky becomes a scarlet  colour. Blamed for the instability, the player (who came through the same rift) is banished from Jubilife Village and forced to travel the region again to address the cause of the rift. Working with either the Diamond or Pearl clans and under the care of a researcher of myths called Cogita, the player travels to the three major lakes of the region to encounter legendary Pokémon Azelf, Mesprit and Uxie, the three Pokémon that, once the player pass their trials, provide material to craft the Red Chain needed to stop the rift. After defeating the Galaxy Team's leader, Commander  Kamado at the summit, the player reaches the peak of Mount Coronet: The Temple of Sinnoh, at the centre of the region. Depending on the clan the player worked with, either Dialga (Diamond clan) or Palkia (Pearl clan) appears first, breaks the Red Chain, and is caught by the player before their enraged counterpart emerges. Using the fragments of the Red Chain, a special Poké Ball capable of capturing the other legendary Pokémon is crafted, and the player successfully battles and captures it, sealing the spacetime rift. In the post-game, the player teams up with Volo, a member of  the Gingko Guild merchant group who assisted the player throughout the game, to seek out all of the Plates associated to Arceus. The player can encounter a number of other legendary Pokémon, each one holding a Plate. Going to the Temple of Sinnoh for the last plate, Volo betrays the player and attempts to steal the Plates from the player to draw out Arceus and subjugate it to make a new world, also revealing he allied himself with Giratina to open the spacetime rift in a failed attempt to drive out Arceus, sending the legendary caught at the end of  the game mad. The player defeats both Volo and Giratina, securing the plates and transforming the player's Celestica Flute item into the Azure Flute. Once all other Pokémon (excluding Shaymin and Darkrai, which are only obtainable through other means) have been captured, the player can play the Azure Flute at the Temple of Sinnoh to encounter Arceus. After the player proves themselves in battle, Arceus gifts them with an incarnation of itself, so that it may explore the world that it created by the player's side. Development. "Pokémon Legends: Arceus" is the first known project by Game Freak  in the action role-playing subgenre. It was first revealed in the Pokémon Presents on 26 February 2021 alongside "Pokémon Brilliant Diamond" and "Shining Pearl" as part of the "Pokémon" 25th Anniversary celebration. According to the developer, it serves as a "premake" to "Diamond" and "Pearl". A free content update, "Daybreak", was announced and released on 27 February 2022. Release. The game was released worldwide on 28 January 2022. Exclusive in-game and physical bonuses were given out to those who pre-ordered the game digitally or physically. In Japan, those who pre-ordered "Pokémon Legends: Arceus" received a gold  holographic artbook along with a limited edition Arceus promotional trading card. Reception. Critical reception. "Pokémon Legends: Arceus" received "generally favorable reviews", according to review aggregator Metacritic. Andrew Webster of "The Verge" praised the game's overhaul of the Pokémon formula, particularly the world design and Pokédex challenges, writing that it was "the biggest overhaul to the Pokémon formula since the series debuted". Despite criticizing the battle system, Ryan Gilliam of "Polygon" liked the open world and how simple catching Pokémon was compared to previous entries, saying: "It's so easy and fluid to just grab a Pokémon and add them  to my party while I'm exploring the game's verdant fields or snowy tundra". Jordan Middler of "Nintendo Life" praised "Pokémon Legends: Arceus" for its "rewarding" exploration, "addictive" catching mechanics, quality of the Pokémon roster, and its "genuine sense of scale", while stating that "Pokémon Legends: Arceus is quite simply one of the greatest Pokémon games ever made". Jessica Scharnagle of "Dot Esports" stated that many of the tedious mechanics and forced activities in prior games were better simplified or removed to give the players more freedom in gameplay, while criticizing the game's performance. Chris Tapsell of "Eurogamer  enjoyed the new animations and art for the Pokémon in Arceus", saying "The way wild Pokémon, more vibrantly animated here than in any previous game, are all hops, rolls, lumbers. All splashes, naps, growls, and waddles. The way they exist so unelaborately but with so much personality is such a simple treat". Andrew Cunningham of "Ars Technica" disliked the graphical style and lack of new Pokémon, but felt the battle system and open world exploration mixed well together, saying: "And when the battle is over, you can go right back to exploring or catching other Pokémon, with no pauses for  level-ups or learning moves [...] once you learn the ropes, it's easy to lose yourself in the rhythm of sneaking, catching, battling, and exploring". Tom Regan of "The Guardian" praised the exploration and the changes in gameplay compared to earlier entries in the franchise, saying: "For arguably the first time since the series began, everything feels fresh, and thrillingly unpredictable", but criticized the quality of the game's visuals, comparing it unfavorably to that of "" and "Xenoblade Chronicles 2". Sales. Nintendo reported that the game sold 6.5 million copies worldwide within a week of release, outpacing other Nintendo Switch  Pokémon titles such as "Sword" and "Shield" and "Brilliant Diamond" and "Shining Pearl". In Japan, it sold physical copies within three days, and another 645,000 throughout February to top sales charts in both months. It sold 125,851 units in March, making it the second best-selling game of the month (below "Kirby and the Forgotten Land"). In the United States, "Legends: Arceus" (excluding digital downloads) was the best-selling video game in January 2022. It was the second best-selling game the following month and sixth in March, making it the second best-selling game during the first quarter of  2022 (second only to "Elden Ring").