Developer : Nintendo
Release date : January 28, 2022
Synopsis :
Pokémon Legends: Arceus is a 2022 action role-playing game developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for the Nintendo Switch. It is part of the eighth generation of the Pokémon video game series and serves as a prequel to Pokémon Diamond and Pearl (2006). The game was first announced as part of the Pokémon 25th Anniversary event in February 2021, and was released worldwide on 28 January 2022.
The game follows the protagonist, sent back through time, as they travel through the Hisui region based on the island of Hokkaido during early Japanese colonization. Centered around exploration of the region’s several open areas populated with Pokémon, the game’s objective is to complete a roster of the region’s Pokémon, known as the Pokédex. Pokémon Legends: Arceus received generally favorable reviews and was a commercial success, having sold over 12 million copies.
The game is set in a bygone era of the Sinnoh region’s history, when it was known as the Hisui region, long before the events of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl and their remakes take place. Hisui is based on the real-life island of Hokkaido during the Muromachi period, when it was still known as Ezo, with new settlers from other regions interacting with natives in a parallel with the interaction between Hokkaido’s Ainu people and Japanese settlers. Ainu groups are represented in the game by the Diamond and Pearl clans, while new mainland settlers are represented by the Galaxy Expedition Team.
The vast majority of the region is covered in sparse, open wilderness populated with wild Pokémon, with only one significant settlement in addition to a number of small campsites. Unlike in the setting of previous Pokémon games, Pokémon are treated as wild animals or forces of nature instead of as companions or partners. Poké Balls in the game are made of “Apricorn” fruit and puff steam when a Pokémon is caught, instead of being presented as high-tech devices like in previous installations, while the Pokédex is a paper notebook.
The game begins with the player speaking with a disembodied voice, identified as Arceus, the creator deity of the Pokémon-Universe, which tasks the player with encountering all Pokémon in the Hisui region before transporting the player there through a rift in spacetime. The player is found by Pokémon researcher Professor Laventon, who brings the player to a local settlement named Jubilife Village. There, the player is recruited into the Survey Corps of the Galaxy Expedition Team, a group which that has arrived in Hisui to chart and study the region. After receiving their starter Pokémon, the player proceeds to travel in the Hisui region to complete the Pokédex. Throughout the player’s journey, the spacetime rift they had been transported through results in several powerful “Noble Pokémon” venerated by the local Diamond and Pearl clans turning berserk through powerful lightning, forcing the player to engage them in battles using ‘balms’ to calm them down.
After the player defeats five noble Pokémon, the spacetime rift begins to worsen rather than calm down as per the Galaxy Team’s expectations and the sky turns an ominous red color. Blamed for the instability, the player (who came through the same rift) is banished from Jubilife Village by Commander Kamado, leader of the Galaxy Team, and forced to travel the region again to address the cause of the rift. Working with either the Diamond or Pearl clans and under the care of a researcher of myths called Cogita, the player travels to the three major lakes of the region to encounter the legendary Pokémon Azelf, Mesprit and Uxie, the three beings that embody the mind. Once the player passes their trials, the three provide materials to craft the Red Chain needed to stop the rift. After defeating Commander Kamado at the summit, the player reaches the peak of Mount Coronet: The Temple of Sinnoh, at the center of the region. Depending on the clan the player worked with, either Dialga (Diamond Clan) or Palkia (Pearl Clan) appears first, breaks the Red Chain, and is caught by the player before their enraged counterpart emerges. Using the fragments of the Red Chain, a special Poké Ball capable of capturing the other legendary Pokémon is crafted. The player battles the legendary Pokémon in its Origin Forme and captures it, sealing the spacetime rift.
In the post-game, the player teams up with Volo, a member of the Gingko Guild merchant group who assisted the player throughout the game, to seek out all of the Plates associated with Arceus. Through this journey, the player encounters a number of other legendary Pokémon, each one holding a Plate. Arriving at the Temple of Sinnoh for the last plate, Volo betrays the player and attempts to steal the Plates from the player to draw out Arceus and subjugate it to make a new world. Volo also reveals he allied himself with Giratina to open the spacetime rift in a failed attempt to drive out Arceus, sending the legendary caught at the end of the game mad. The player defeats both Volo and Giratina, securing the final Plate and transforming the player’s Celestica Flute item into the Azure Flute. Once all other Pokémon (excluding Shaymin and Darkrai, which are only obtainable through other means) have been captured, the player can play the Azure Flute at the Temple of Sinnoh to encounter Arceus. After the player proves themselves in battle, Arceus gifts them with an incarnation of itself, so that it may explore the world that it created by the player’s side.
Source : Wikipedia
