Pokémon Legends: Arceus, developed by GAME FREAK for the Nintendo Switch system, presents an adventure in the Hisui region—a land from an age long ago that will one day become known as the Sinnoh region. Exploring the world while catching Pokémon and filling in your Pokédex has always been a core part of the Pokémon series’ gameplay, and Pokémon Legends: Arceus continues that tradition while delivering an experience that goes beyond what has been offered so far. This new journey honors past games’ core gameplay while infusing new action and RPG elements.
As you explore the game’s natural expanses, you’ll encounter the Pokémon that call these grand vistas home. To catch Pokémon, you can observe them to learn their behavior, then carefully sneak up, aim your Poké Ball, and let fly! You can also have your ally Pokémon battle wild Pokémon that you hope to catch. Just throw the Poké Ball holding your ally Pokémon near a wild Pokémon, and you’ll seamlessly enter battle. Once battle begins, you’ll command your Pokémon by choosing from its known moves. This new gameplay approach offers an immersive, personal experience of a world brought to life by Pokémon and humans alike.
Adventure into the Past
The vast Sinnoh region, rich in nature and with Mount Coronet towering at its heart, was the setting for Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl. Pokémon Legends: Arceus brings you to the Sinnoh region as it existed in the past, when it was still known by its original name.
The story unfolds in a long-gone era, before ideas such as being a Pokémon Trainer or having a Pokémon League even existed. All around, you’ll find Pokémon living wild in harsh environments that make for a region unlike what you may remember from the days of Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl.
Near the beginning of your adventure, you’ll meet a professor named Laventon who studies the ecology of Pokémon as a member of the Galaxy Team’s Survey Corps. Before long, you’ll join the team and embark on an adventure to catch, survey, and research wild Pokémon to help create the region’s first Pokédex. During your expedition, you’ll stop by base camps to rest, recover your Pokémon’s health, and craft useful items at the camps’ workbenches.
During your travels, you’ll meet two groups that live in Hisui: the Diamond Clan and the Pearl Clan. Both groups worship a deity long spoken of in the Hisui region, which they call the almighty Sinnoh. However, each clan has their own interpretation of this deity’s true form. These conflicting beliefs have led to strife in the past.
Pokémon at the Heart of the Story
As you set off on your journey, you’ll be able to choose Rowlet, Cyndaquil, or Oshawott as a partner. These three Pokémon arrived with Professor Laventon, who encountered them in other regions he visited in the course of his research. Throughout your adventure, you’ll encounter many more Pokémon, including new forms and new Evolutions of familiar Pokémon that are only just being discovered in the Hisui region.
As in previous Pokémon games, your Pokémon can remember up to four moves to use in battle, but these moves can also be unleashed in two new styles: agile style, which will lower the move’s power but increase your action speed and help make your next turn come sooner, and strong style, which will raise the move’s power at the price of lowering your action speed and potentially delaying your next turn.
The more you study Pokémon of a particular species by observing or evolving them, the more that species’ research level will progress. This will fill in more information in its Pokédex entry, increasing your rank as a member of the Galaxy Team—and the higher your rank, the more areas open up for you to survey. Explore everywhere as you complete your Pokédex!
Holding the key to this Hisui region tale is the Pokémon known as Arceus. Arceus is said to have shaped all there is in this world. Just how is this mighty Mythical Pokémon connected to your journey?
Familiar but New
If you’re a longtime Pokémon fan, you’ll find a lot in Pokémon Legends: Arceus to make you feel right at home. The Hisui region, of course, will one day become the beloved Sinnoh region, giving you a chance to gain a new perspective on a classic Pokémon setting. For example, the hub of your adventure is Jubilife Village, which eventually becomes the bustling Jubilife City that you’ve explored in Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl.
The Galaxy Team is led by the somewhat harsh but altogether trustworthy Commander Kamado, an ancestor of Professor Rowan—the Sinnoh region’s Pokémon Professor. And there’s a good chance you’ll encounter other characters in Pokémon Legends: Arceus with ties to some familiar faces in the modern day Sinnoh region.
Special Pokémon Blessed with a Mysterious Power
There are special Pokémon in the Hisui region that have received some kind of mysterious blessing. Some of these Pokémon are particularly powerful and have come to be known as nobles, while others are said to willingly assist the people of the region. Each one of these Pokémon seems to hold power not present in regular Pokémon. But some strange phenomenon is now causing noble Pokémon to suddenly fly into a frenzy. As part of the Survey Corps, you will be called upon to quell the frenzies of the nobles.
The Wardens of Hisui
The people of the Hisui region hold a great respect for their special, blessed Pokémon and treasure them. Wardens are the ones who are tasked with looking after these Pokémon. The wardens are expected to protect the special Pokémon—such as by making sure their territories remain unviolated or by providing offerings of food and water at times.
The mingling of people and Pokémon is still not the norm in the Hisui region. People who live alongside Pokémon are rare, and people who lead their Pokémon in battle are even rarer. However, some people—such as certain wardens—have forged strong bonds with Pokémon and may challenge you to a battle. If you are faced with such a challenge, be sure to give it your all!
Riding Pokémon in Hisui
Some of the special Pokémon in Hisui will lend you their aid once they accept your worthiness. At a point in your adventure, you’ll be able to summon these special Pokémon wherever you might be, and they will let you ride them. Riding these Pokémon will allow you to move faster on land, cross bodies of water, or even soar through the skies. By expanding the sorts of terrain you can traverse, these Pokémon will help you more freely explore the Hisui region!
Visit the official site for details!
