Everything we know about Pokemon Legends: Arceus (August 2021)

The latest Pokemon Direct featured a much-needed long segment on Pokemon Legends: Arceus, with much more information on the game.

This new, innovative title was first announced at the Pokemon 25th Anniversary event. It promises to be a prequel to Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, two games that are also getting remakes soon.

The gameplay will have more of an action-adventure feel, along with the RPG elements that Pokemon is known for.

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More information released on new Pokemon game

Pokemon Legends: Arceus will make history as the first open world game in the series. Players will be able to roam around the Hisui region freely, collecting Pokemon and fulfilling various tasks.

One interesting new feature in the game will be the Pokemon catching mechanic.

Players will be able to sneak up behind Pokemon to catch them. It was previously thought that this would replace battles, but it is now confirmed that trainers can also battle wild Pokemon.

The Hisui Region, which will be the setting of the game, is supposed to be a precursor to the Sinnoh region.

While it is unclear how many towns and landmarks from the Generation IV games will be present, it has been confirmed that Mt. Coronet and Jubilife City will be in the game.

A brief glimpse of the map was shown during the direct. It doesn’t completely match up with the Sinnoh map from Generation IV, but it appears as though some areas could potentially be former versions of well known Sinnoh landmarks.

For example, a large amount of snowy terrain is located in the northwest corner. This could be a previous version of Snowpoint City.

The three lakes (Acuity, Verity and Valor) could also be spotted, hinting at the appearance of Mespirit, Unxie and Azelf.

In the game, players will be working for the Galactic Expedition team, which ironically is a reference to the evil team from Generation IV. The goal of the main character is to fill the original Sinnoh Pokedex for Professor Laventon.

This new professor has come to Hisui after traveling from other regions. This is why he’s brought along Cyndaquil, Rowlett and Oshawott for the players to select as starters.

Even though this is an early stage of the Sinnoh version, new regional variants will still be in the game.

A new version of Growlithe with a white head was shown during the event. This Growlithe variant might be Rock-type, as it is described to have a rock hard head.

There are also several other Pokemon that the player can use to travel across the map.

Stantler has received a new evolution in Wyrdeer, said to have grown stronger under the harsh conditions of Hisui. The player can ride Wyrdeer over the terrain, similar to a horse from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

A Hisuian version of Braviary was also shown. This Braviary looks like it will be Psychic-type, and the player can fly around with it.

Basculegion, an evolution of Basculin, can also be ridden to swim across bodies of water.

Pokemon Legends: Arceus is scheduled for release on January 22, 2022.

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Note: The article reflects the writer's own views.