Legends: Arceus - General Speculation/Discussion Thread

[BCVM22]

Story spoiler in case someone is not at this point yet:

Spoiler

If Azelf's fang means we have its tooth and Uxie's claw means we have I presume its nails does Mesprite's plume mean it has feathers?

Spoiler

I assumed it to mean a small tuft of hair or feathers or whatever kind of down Mespirit has, from the pink dreadlock-like appendages on its head. I think "plume" was probably the easiest word to use for that.

 

[Divine Retribution]

Spoiler

I'm not sure any of the lake guardian items are literal. What materializes in front of you when they give them to you appears to just be a letter or seal of some sort. Plus, Azelf and Uxie don't appear to actually have fangs or claws respectively.

 

[Technomage]

After doing some reading on Bulbapedia, I learned that Hisuian Pokemon like Sneasler and Overqwil are actually part of egg groups; does that mean that breeding wwas meant to be a thing before being scrapped?

 

[Sαpphire]

BDSP sold 14 million copies in just seven weeks, and is already on their way to the 20 million mark. In fact, this counters my initial prediction that Legends would outsell it.

I think both titles have the capability of reaching 20 million by the end of March. I do get that sales dwindle over time, but Legends is receiving such great reviews, I don't see it dwindling too much in the first quarter.

It's possible, but IDK. The presence of another Pokemon game releasing 2 months later might cause BDSP's sales to taper off much quicker than usual. You might still be correct about LA outselling it, especially when it's getting a ton of positive press and opinions from fans.

Another factor to keep in mind is the possibility of DLC, and I think LA is more likely to get some since it's a larger project made by Game Freak and they have experience with DLC. If LA does get DLC a few months from now, that could also play a major role in its sales surpassing BDSP's.

While it's incredibly difficult to predict what might happen in the long term, I think it's pretty likely (but not guaranteed, of course) that Legends outsells BDSP - which I think are selling well in part because of how huge the Switch is. I also think it's really interesting that it's totally within the realm of possibility for BDSP to outsell the original Diamond and Pearl! It speaks to the Switch era's influence on the series; for well over a decade, Diamond and Pearl were the highest selling games in the franchise that were released after Gold and Silver. Now, we might have a generation where three distinct releases all outsell them.

Personally, what I'm hoping to see is this scenario:

• The very good reception from critics, and even better reception from fans, inspires sustained interest in Legends such that it crosses the 20 million sales mark - and honestly, I would love to see it eventually outsell Sword and Shield
• Rather than cannibalizing each other's sales, BDSP and Legends being two distinct but related Sinnoh projects released so close together allows them to synergize, boosting sales for both

After doing some reading on Bulbapedia, I learned that Hisuian Pokemon like Sneasler and Overqwil are actually part of egg groups; does that mean that breeding wwas meant to be a thing before being scrapped?

Not necessarily. There are also things like abilities coded into the game behind the scenes. It's likely meant to preserve the data structures that would allow pokemon caught in Legends to be transferred without issue to Home and then other games in the eighth generation, or even future Legends games should they be in the works and include those things once again.

 

[Ophie]

I mean, I was mostly joking, but if I'm being 100% honest there is something about Cynthia that always creeped me out a little. Nobody wears their hair over one eye and isn't secretly an evil supervillain.

Well, there's Rosalina.

And Jessica Rabbit.

And Sanji.

And Lady Gaga (some of the time.)

add 2 more sizes, maybe? Extra small and Humongous, or just turn their smallest and biggest forms into the Alpha and Zeta forms.

Just like how they change up evolution methods every so often

Why Zeta and not "Omega"? Omega is the last letter in the Greek alphabet, whereas Zeta is the sixth.

After doing some reading on Bulbapedia, I learned that Hisuian Pokemon like Sneasler and Overqwil are actually part of egg groups; does that mean that breeding wwas meant to be a thing before being scrapped?

I think it more means that Game Freak has plans to put them into games where you can breed them. Their stats and datamined Abilities sound like they fit right in with all of the other Pokémon. The only one that doesn't really fit in are the new signature moves, but they can be easily changed.

Not necessarily. There are also things like abilities coded into the game behind the scenes. It's likely meant to preserve the data structures that would allow pokemon caught in Legends to be transferred without issue to Home and then other games in the eighth generation, or even future Legends games should they be in the works and include those things once again.

I think there are also plans to put these Pokémon into a competitive format as well. I'm sure there are various competitive battlers who are itching to use some of these Pokémon, in particular Ursaluna, Overqwil, and maybe Hisuian Goodra and Hisuian Arcanine. Certainly, there are some I'd like to use myself, though I'm a Johnny kind of player so I'm going for stuff I expect few others would use, like Kleavor and Hisuian Avalugg.

 

[Zadent]

BDSP sold 14 million copies in just seven weeks, and is already on their way to the 20 million mark. In fact, this counters my initial prediction that Legends would outsell it.

I think both titles have the capability of reaching 20 million by the end of March. I do get that sales dwindle over time, but Legends is receiving such great reviews, I don't see it dwindling too much in the first quarter.

It’ll be curious to see. 2 months is a hard push. It’s hard to estimate given how SwSh’s sales were, but that was the first big title. It’d require outselling Diamond and Pearl’s 2.5m more than the last reported number. Which can probably also be tricky with the possibility of buying 2 games in the traditional split titles over singular title here. Pokemon Switch games in general could just drop past patterns.

Personally, idk if it has the legs to stand that long, but I’m also kinda..bored with it already, and I’m on my way to the last noble? I was never too into the “open world” hype.

 

[PrinceOfFacade]

It’ll be curious to see. 2 months is a hard push. It’s hard to estimate given how SwSh’s sales were, but that was the first big title. It’d require outselling Diamond and Pearl’s 2.5m more than the last reported number. Which can probably also be tricky with the possibility of buying 2 games in the traditional split titles over singular title here. Pokemon Switch games in general could just drop past patterns.

Personally, idk if it has the legs to stand that long, but I’m also kinda..bored with it already, and I’m on my way to the last noble? I was never too into the “open world” hype.

To each their own, ultimately.

I've just beaten the story today, but there is so much I still haven't done, not to mention there are other elements to the story I haven't touched yet. I don't see myself putting the game down for a while.

 

[Sαpphire]

Realistically, this game won't stop selling just because some people aren't into it or don't think it keeps their attention long enough. Word of mouth is already too strongly positive - anecdotes mean nothing in the grand scheme but from personal experience, I went to a local game and hobby shop yesterday and one of my friends ended up talking to a few people who were planning on buying it this week.

I've seen a lot of theories that it won't have legs because it doesn't have online battles, but I think that ultimately, there's a rather tiny niche segment of the fandom that cares about that enough to skip a game. A pretty consistent gameplay loop can be sustained through shiny hunting in this game, so it's not like it doesn't have anything to do after you finish all the quests and missions - not to mention possible future DLC. That, of course, is on top of the fact that it has a super solid play time even for a JRPG; I have at least fifteen quests still outstanding, several more I haven't even unlocked yet, and that's to say nothing of actually completing the Pokedex, and I've already invested fifty hours into this thing. Compare that to games like Shield, for which I finished everything that actually mattered in less than 20 hours, and well...

Anyway, having just finally beat the second-to-last big post-game challenge, I have to say, the only reason I'm putting it down at all yet is to play through a Platinum file with how nostalgic this has made me for Gen 4. In my personal experience, the game hasn't gotten boring or tedious or anything - I'm still as deeply into it as ever. I'm sure there are other fans who feel the same way.

 

[Pikasaur]

Why Zeta and not "Omega"? Omega is the last letter in the Greek alphabet, whereas Zeta is the sixth.

I was just going from A to Z. I don't know much about the Greek Alphabet.

 

[Endless]

Realistically, this game won't stop selling just because some people aren't into it or don't think it keeps their attention long enough. Word of mouth is already too strongly positive - anecdotes mean nothing in the grand scheme but from personal experience, I went to a local game and hobby shop yesterday and one of my friends ended up talking to a few people who were planning on buying it this week.

I've seen a lot of theories that it won't have legs because it doesn't have online battles, but I think that ultimately, there's a rather tiny niche segment of the fandom that cares about that enough to skip a game. A pretty consistent gameplay loop can be sustained through shiny hunting in this game, so it's not like it doesn't have anything to do after you finish all the quests and missions - not to mention possible future DLC. That, of course, is on top of the fact that it has a super solid play time even for a JRPG; I have at least fifteen quests still outstanding, several more I haven't even unlocked yet, and that's to say nothing of actually completing the Pokedex, and I've already invested fifty hours into this thing. Compare that to games like Shield, for which I finished everything that actually mattered in less than 20 hours, and well...

Anyway, having just finally beat the second-to-last big post-game challenge, I have to say, the only reason I'm putting it down at all yet is to play through a Platinum file with how nostalgic this has made me for Gen 4. In my personal experience, the game hasn't gotten boring or tedious or anything - I'm still as deeply into it as ever. I'm sure there are other fans who feel the same way.

I really enjoyed the game but I do wonder about its longevity. I beat Arceus in roughly 60 hours, and have yet to get rank 10 on all Pokémon entries and get all the Unown, but I don't expect that to take more than at most 10 more hours. Afterward there really isn't that much to do unless you're into shiny hunting. I mean you could get perfect entries on all Pokémon, but there really isn't much incentive to do that, beyond slightly better shiny odds.
Your Pokémon also play a much smaller role in this game than in other mainline games, so I'm also a bit concerned about the replay value aside from speedrunning and sequence breaking to get overleveled Pokémon early.

That said, a game giving me enjoyment for 60 hours is still great. In general I value how much fun I have with a game over how long it lasts me.

 

[Divine Retribution]

Wait, you can challenge Arceus without having research rank 10 on all Pokemon...? Cause I've been grinding research tasks for like 4 days now and I've only fully finished one area.

 

[Endless]

Wait, you can challenge Arceus without having research rank 10 on all Pokemon...? Cause I've been grinding research tasks for like 4 days now and I've only fully finished one area.

Yeah, you only need to catch them all to unlock the Arceus fight.

 

[PrinceOfFacade]

Man, I really hope we get distortion events.

It would be dope if Game Freak set up distortions containing certain pokemon every month or something. It would be even crazier if the events included rare Alpha forms as well, like an Alpha Porygon-Z or an Alpha Typhlosion.

 

[Ophie]

I was just going from A to Z. I don't know much about the Greek Alphabet.

Heh, fair enough. Having something upcoming involving "Omega Pokémon" would be fitting too, considering Arceus is a creation deity and God in the Bible is often referred to as "the Alpha and Omega."

Realistically, this game won't stop selling just because some people aren't into it or don't think it keeps their attention long enough. Word of mouth is already too strongly positive - anecdotes mean nothing in the grand scheme but from personal experience, I went to a local game and hobby shop yesterday and one of my friends ended up talking to a few people who were planning on buying it this week.

I've seen a lot of theories that it won't have legs because it doesn't have online battles, but I think that ultimately, there's a rather tiny niche segment of the fandom that cares about that enough to skip a game. A pretty consistent gameplay loop can be sustained through shiny hunting in this game, so it's not like it doesn't have anything to do after you finish all the quests and missions - not to mention possible future DLC. That, of course, is on top of the fact that it has a super solid play time even for a JRPG; I have at least fifteen quests still outstanding, several more I haven't even unlocked yet, and that's to say nothing of actually completing the Pokedex, and I've already invested fifty hours into this thing. Compare that to games like Shield, for which I finished everything that actually mattered in less than 20 hours, and well...

Anyway, having just finally beat the second-to-last big post-game challenge, I have to say, the only reason I'm putting it down at all yet is to play through a Platinum file with how nostalgic this has made me for Gen 4. In my personal experience, the game hasn't gotten boring or tedious or anything - I'm still as deeply into it as ever. I'm sure there are other fans who feel the same way.

As someone for whom the bulk of my Pokémon play is online battling, the value of Pokémon Legends: Arceus after I've cleared it 100% (I won't count filling in every Research Task; Research Level 10 with everything is good enough) is the source of new Pokémon. For that reason, I've been checking each day to see if there are any announcements regarding Pokémon HOME compatibility with this game and with Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, as that's the next step in bringing more options into online battling.

I actually already have plans on what to do with a few of these new Pokémon (and I count Hisuian forms as new Pokémon, as that's what they functionally are). I pretty much like them all, as they have fun character designs that build on previous generations' art styles and trends, and all of them except Sneasler are based on creatures, history, and folklore of the area which furthers my appreciation of them. (For the record, Sneasler is based on mountain climbers.)

Of course, that's what I also said about Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra.

Man, I really hope we get distortion events.

It would be dope if Game Freak set up distortions containing certain pokemon every month or something. It would be even crazier if the events included rare Alpha forms well, like an Alpha Porygon-Z or an Alpha Typhlosion.

Maybe even have Pokémon not yet catchable this generation. Minior is the most logical one, since it's associated with meteor showers, meaning they could pop up in the Coronet Highlands, the idea being that they're warped in time from when there IS a meteor shower from which they'd appear.

Then again, I'm pretty biased towards Minior because it's my favorite Pokémon that has yet to be available this generation.

 

[Sαpphire]

I think it’s interesting to hear how people are thinking about spending their time when they’re done with the whole post-game. Personally, I’m actually just… gonna do it all again! I get why some people may be concerned about replayability but I can’t wait to give it another shot. My experience with the game the first time through has given me a lot to think about. There are legendaries that I want to catch in specific Pokéballs the second time around, which means specific strategies and waiting to catch them until having a reached a certain rank. There are specific Pokémon I want to use to compose my team next time, having learned how much fun it is to use tanks Pokémon in this game (Umbreon has been my ace and my only consistent team member). Thankfully I have a secondary Switch Lite to trade everything important that I’ve caught over to a separate save file, or just use that one to replay so I can preserve my Garchomp kimono set that I redeemed on my first file but never used.

This is all a bit of a moot point since I still have so much to do for my original file anyway, but it’s something I can look forward to soon!

 

[Baggie_Saiyan]

Man this game is phenomenal! Just cleared Avalugg but still exploring the Iceland! A got full odds Shiny Turtwig just randomly exploring the other day which was amazing.

Love all the new forms/ Pokemon seen so far too! Only issue with the game is catching Pokemon in the water is very awkward to do easier to engage in battle and catch that way.

Oh and snowpoint temple was amazing!!

 

[Pikasaur]

Giving People Alpha pokemon for their requests is probably more fun than it should be.

Giving the Mushroom guy an Alpha Parasect that can barely fit in his house is hilarious

 

[Endless]

Speaking of catching legendaries, I do wish they were a little bit harder to capture. I'm not sure if the number of stars you have or some other hidden values increase your catch rate but catching the legendaries in the post-game was a bit too easy for my taste. After having weakened them and T-Wave'd them they were all caught in 1-3 Ultra/Megaton/Jet balls.
Some might say that having to chuck 30+ Ultra balls in the previous games was artificial difficulty, but it was an aspect of the games I enjoyed.
There is also an argument that you have to do some work before you can even get into a fight this time around, but aside from the Forces of Nature I found that aspect pretty trivial.

 

[Technomage]

This talk about DLC events has got me thinking of a DLC for PLA: Creating the Underground. Maybe there could be mechanics that involve digging new pathways?

 

[Ophie]

This talk about DLC events has got me thinking of a DLC for PLA: Creating the Underground. Maybe there could be mechanics that involve digging new pathways?

I could see there being hideaways, but I think Roark pointed out that a relative of his that ne personally knew was involved in its creation, and not a distant one. That implies the Sinnoh Underground/Grand Underground is a relatively recent creation.