WhenPokemon Legends: Arceuswas first announced, long-time fans of thePokemonseries immediately jumped to the conclusion that the upcoming game would be the “new normal” forPokemonas a whole. Fans assumed that the mainline games would be taking a step back from the traditional gym challenge and formulaic approach thatPokemonhas been known for, and instead be moving to a more open-world style approach starting withPokemon Legends: Arceus. From the marketing material shown so far, the game would be changing thePokemonseries down to its very foundation which could breathe a big breath of fresh air into the franchise.
However, if recent therecentPokemon Legends: Arceusleaksare to be believed, the gamemay be making changes to core features that would imply that it is in fact not the next mainlinePokemongame, but instead just another spin-off while Game Freak continues to work on whatever the next mainlinePokemongame will be. While it is disappointing thatPokemon Legends: Arceusmay not be the future of mainlinePokemongames, that is okay. Just because this title may not carry thePokemonseries forward immediately, it does not mean that the changes that are coming inPokemon Legends: Arceuswill be left behind when the next mainline games come out.
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All About the Leaks
It’s time to talk about some leaks, and with that comes a general warning that this information is not confirmed by Game Freak, and should be taken with a grain of salt. According toPokemonleaker Riddler_Khu on Twitter,Pokemon Legends: Arceusis doing away with long-time features ofPokemonthat have become synonymous with the game - more specifically its competitive battling scene. Considering none of the features listed below appear in thePokemon Legends: Arceusgameplay footageshown so far, there could possibly be some merit to these leaks.
Pokemon Legends: Arceusis allegedly doing away with held items, Pokemonabilities, and Pokemon breeding among other things. In addition to theremoval of these iconicPokemonfeatures,Pokemon Legends: Arceusis allegedly making changes to how raising stats works - shifting from an item and training-based system to purely item-based in the form of candies. In past titles, EV training and raising IVs has been a feature overlooked by casual players but is one of the cornerstones of competitive Pokemon battling.
What the Pokemon Leaks Mean
One of the pillars ofPokemonhas been its competitive scene.PokemonVGC, orPokemonVideo Game Championships, are popular events where trainers from around the world assemble and compete with the teams they have spent countless hours honing to perfection. If the leaks are to be believed, then VGC may not have much of a place inPokemon Legends: Arceusdue to the extremely restricted mechanics that have long since been a large fundamental part of the VGC tournaments. This could mean that eitherPokemon SwordandShieldmay continue to be the vessel for VGC until the next mainlinePokemontitle is released, or thatPokemon Legends: Arceuscould add DLCat a later time to help implement VGC features. The alternative would be that VGC would have to adapt to a more bare-bones structure unlessPokemon Legendshas other competitive features that have yet to be revealed, but odds are that wouldn’t go over too great with the die-hard competitive fans.
To summarize, this alleged lack of key features hints that VGC may not be playing a role inPokemon Legends: Arceus, which means that there would need to be another game that VGC would need to thrive in. This would mean thatPokemon Legends: Arceusis not the next mainlinePokemontitle, but instead simply a fun spin-off that embodies some of themost demanded featuresPokemonplayers have been asking forbut without some of the features that fans have grown accustomed to over the years. Now, this is not necessarily a bad thing, though it may be disappointing for some fans who expectedPokemon Legends: Arceusto be the start of the future mainline games. However, being a spin-off has its own benefits, and it doesn’t mean thatPokemon Legends: Arceus’new features won’t impact the mainline games.
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A Pokemon Spin-Off with Impact
Now even ifPokemon Legends: Arceusis just a spin-off, that does not mean these new strides in game design won’t make it to the main series. This very well could be Game Freak’s way of testing out more open-word inspired ideas before fully committing them to the mainline series. WhilePokemon Legends: Arceusmay not be fully open-world, the idea of wide-open areas to explore and catch Pokemon inwill be on display inPokemon Legends: Arceus. The idea was first toyed with inPokemon SwordandShieldwith the Wild Area, soPokemon Legends: Arceusmay be developing the next iteration of that concept. Perhaps if it does well, the next mainline game might feature something even more refined than what players may see inPokemon Legends: Arceus.
The gameplay loop forPokemon Legends: Arceusis a fair bit different from the mainline games. While battles and wild Pokemon catching are featured, the core systems are considerably different overall.Players will utilize stealth inPokemon Legends: Arceusto sneak up and catch wild Pokemon as the player works towards completing the Pokedex. Wild Pokemon will be wandering around in the overworld, which is another key feature that could make its way into the mainline games. WhilePokemon SwordandShieldfeatured mostly overworld Pokemon, it did also feature random grass encounters. While it is unknown ifPokemon Legends:Arceuswill feature random encounters like this, future titles could learn to adaptPokemon Legends: Arceus' surprise catching format to really make catching wild Pokemon more exciting.
While many fans may be disappointed to learn thatPokemon Legends: Arceusis not the start of a new trend for the mainlinePokemontitles if the leaks are to be believed, it is worth remembering thatPokemon Legends: Arceuscould still influence the future mainline titles in a number of ways. Many of the big features that are coming in the upcoming title could be adapted to fit the mainline down the road.Pokemon Legends: Arceusremains one of themost anticipated games of 2022, so even if it is just a spin-off, fans can still enjoy it for what it is and wait for more news on whatever Game Freak has in store for the mainline series in the future.
