I kinda dropped off Pokemon Legends: Arceus a few months after it originally released. I actually had faith in this game, if you can believe it. I couldn't tell you why I left the game alone for over a year. Perhaps I just wanted to wait for the hype and slander to die off. It's possible that ancient Japan settings were overdone at that time. Maybe I got legitimately bored of it! I guess that's for me to write, and for us to find out.

In this game, Arceus yeets a small child 100 years into the past, gives them a God Phone, and basically tells them to help create the first ever Sinnoh Pokedex. You do this with the assistance of the Galaxy Expedition Team, who research and work with Pokemon for the betterment of mankind. The people of Jubilife Village are, justifiably, cautious and afraid of these monstrosities known as "Pokemon". Moreover, space-time distortions have been sending some of the region's most important 'mons into a frenzied state, and need to be calmed before innocents are hurt. That's a lot of responsibility for one kid, but that's never stopped a Pokemon protagonist. These children are forged in the deepest pits of hell, and can stop damn near any criminal organization if they try.

Hisui is a world that's untamed by human hands, which is a roundabout way of saying that outside of Jubilife Village, it's honestly pretty barren. each of the game's five area maps contain a handful of notable landmarks, but for the most part, it's just big landscapes with different pokemon species and crafting materials strategically sprinkled throughout. The particle effects are really damn good, and the animations are better than they've been previously. Not sure how to feel about the cel-shaded style, as everyone ends up looking like they're made of clay. The game really suffers from textures looking like mud upon close inspection, which is something that Game Freak has an unfortunate tendency to put front-and-center. However, the sound design and music really pick up the slack where the visuals falter. Battle music is often backed by Japanese instruments like shamisens and taiko drums, plus a healthy dose of piano for that Sinnoh feel. Encountering familiar areas like Eterna Forest actually plays arrangements of their themes, but in a more primitive form (this is something that I wish games like Breath of the Wild would do). It helps sell that sense that you're in an ancient version of Sinnoh, not yet moulded by modern civilization.

After 20+ years of walking into tall grass and being ambushed by Pokemon, Game Freak finally gave us the chance to be the ambushee. The name of the game is throwing Pokeballs at Pokemon. It's a simple concept, but in a game with no random encounters, it creates a really involved gameplay loop. Spotting a Pokemon you don't have (or just one you want) dragged me off the beaten path countless times, and different Pokemon react differently to your presence. Some of them are just vibing, some will run away if they spot you, and many, many of them will attack you on sight. That's what really ties the thrill of hiding in tall grass together: wild Pokemon can and will kill you (before a Galaxy Team member drags your unconscious ass back to camp. They're not about to lose their child labor). It's all in the name of research though, which involves attempting to catch basically every Pokemon you see.

Also stalking the map are "Alpha Pokemon", specimens that are significantly larger and stronger than their usual counterparts. You can stealth capture these guys, but more often than not, you'll need to weaken them in battle if you want to catch them. You initiate battle just like how you catch Pokemon: aim and throw your Pokemon's ball at your foe. This game brings so many new and helpful features to the Pokemon series. (Well, they may just be new to me. The last "new" Pokemon game I played was ORAS before dropping the series for years.) Pokemon no longer have severe short-term memory loss; You can re-learn old moves at any time outside of battle. EVs are visible from the start, and are manually raised by using special items. Each area is also capped off with a boss fight where you dodge through the Lord Pokemon's attacks while throwing pocket sand at them to calm them down. All of this game's ideas come together to create something that you don't really get from any other Pokemon game.

Honestly, the part of Pokemon Legends: Arceus that concerns me the most is that "Arceus" is a subtitle, implying they plan on making more games in this side-series. I wouldn't be opposed to that, but I feel like they'd need to go in a completely different, derivative direction with the gameplay. Doing the same thing in a new region is guaranteed to get a completely apathetic response out of me. PLA grabbed my attention because it did something truly unique in a series that has generally had the same gameplay for over two decades. It's been a good while since Game Freak wowed me with a Pokemon game, and PLA only works because I can feel their creative drive behind it. If you asked me a year ago what I thought about this game, I would've given you the whole "I expect more out of the highest-grossing media franchise of all time" spiel. Having finished it now, I can safely say this is the most I've enjoyed a Pokemon game since Black/White 2, my favorite games in the franchise.