Pokemon: Into the Woods…I mean, Pokemon Legends: Arceus

I am a moderate gamer. Not a closeted one, I’ve nothing to hide…but a moderate one. Why? Because after the age of 25, my time has been sucked up by either full-time work, college, or both. So, you are forced to be picky and to choose where you want to spend those gaming hours on.

I am quite grateful to youtube gamers for providing their own fun clips and enjoyment of just about every game you can think of, because on the days that you really don’t have the time or skills to get past rough game patches, you can at least see them play it out. Or, if you’re tired of the game altogether, spoil yourself by skipping about to see what happens with someone else’s gameplay videos.

I am also lucky to have friends and family with different tastes in games. Some who prefer the laid back Animal Crossing type games, others that are all about action and adventure…rarely do all five of us agree on truly enjoying the same game on the same level…until now.

Yes, 15 year old girl, ride like the wind on that wyrdeer!

Now, I am an old-as-dirt pokemon gamer. I played the original red/blue games on a Nintendo gameboy after my cousins were through with them. I then went into a long lull of not playing any pokemon games until my nephew forced me to play Pokemon X/Y…the gameplay and graphics had changed to the point of being able to customize your character to your liking. My girl had a fedora and suit…as if she had come off the set from Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal music video. (I actually own a blue fedora because of that outfit)

Having once again found the joy of pokemon games, I went back and played them all…Platinum, Black/White, the revamped Sapphire and Ruby…all of the remakes…and I learned the region I loved the most (Sinnoh, ironically the one we’re in right now in Arceus, only it’s 3D and glorious now instead of pixelated and overpopulated with modern day buildings and structures).

My ultimate favorites, even up to the Sword/Shield age, were the Hawaiian themed Pokemon Sun/Moon…mostly because we could do this:

However, despite how they changed things up from game to game, the gameplay was still mostly the same:
You, a 10 year old child, obtain an uncommon pokemon and leave the comfort of your home and your mother to become the Pokemon Champion, having defeated other pokemon trainers, professionals, and the extreme elite for the title.

Gamefreak and the team behind Pokemon Arceus have finally raised the stakes…and the AGE. Thus far (I refuse to watch gameplays to not be spoiled on this one), this game seems more like:
You, a 15 year old teenager glued to your cellphone, encounter GOD (I am so not joking…and, ok, it’s the God Pokemon not the human God…), who FORCES you into another world where you are completely cut off from your home and loved ones and have to FIGHT EVERYTHING THAT COMES AT YOU TO SURVIVE. Good luck trying to get back home, you little loser, cause Arceus isn’t letting you go back until you have fulfilled the mission it has for you.

I love this game, and I’ve only played it for some 8 hours. I’ve never been scared of Pokemon before. But, in Pokemon Legends: Arceus…

The speed of that enraged Snorlax can never be unseen.

MichiTheThird

January 31st, 2022

Edit: I had written this around this time last year and figured that before I write one on Scarlet and Violet Shennanigans, I'd share my thoughts on Arceus fist.