By Dylan Dickson

“Pokémon Legends: Arceus” is an upcoming RPG (Role Playing Game) open world game, releasing on January 28 exclusively on the Nintendo Switch.

Pokémon fans are very excited for this, as stated by Akhil S., ’25.

“It’s a big game coming out on the Nintendo Switch, and when a Pokémon game comes out, especially a brand new one, everybody is super excited about it, and you can’t help but run along with the hype,” he says.

“Pokémon Legends: Arceus” is based on the original Sinnoh games, such as “Diamond”, “Pearl”, “Platinum”, “Brilliant Diamond”, and “Shining Pearl” and will be based in the past of those games. The player will be in the Hisui region, which is what the Sinnoh region was named before Sinnoh.

While exploring through the region, the player can find materials around the area which can be used to craft items to help catch Pokémon, which will also have different temperaments, such as passive, skittish and aggressive. Aggressive Pokémon will attack the player, and if the player takes too much damage, they will black out and lose some items they had.

The player will also have different ways to travel, such as the Pokémon Wyrdeer to help with traversing the land, Hisuian Braviary to help with flying in the skies, and Basculegion to help with swimming in the water.

Along with new ways of traveling, the new town of Jubalife Village can help the player with things such as clothing, crafting items, and trading Pokémon with other players. The player will also be able to get missions and requests from NPC (Non Player Characters).

If you throw a Poké Ball with a Pokémon inside it at another Pokémon, a battle will start with that Pokémon. Battles are now turn-based, and might give you an advantage if the Pokémon you are trying to catch is caught off guard. There are also new battle styles, such as Agile Style and Strong Style. If you use Agile Style, it might make your Pokémon go sooner in battle but make the move weaker. If you use Strong Style, it will increase the Pokémon’s power but might delay the Pokémon’s next turn.

During the player’s adventure, they will be recruited to try and stop frenzied Noble Pokémon, such as the Pokémon Kleavor. The only way to stop them is to throw bags of food at them, until they are subdued enough to battle them.

All in all, “Pokémon Legends: Arceus” is an open world RPG that sounds and looks like a very good game that all Pokémon fans will like.