most fun I've had with a pokemon game maybe forever? very fun gameplay loop, checking off research tasks brings me such autistic joy~ most pokemon games lose me by the endgame but I'm still working on fully completing my pokedex, & this is the first one to get me into shiny hunting (a lil bit) with mass outbreaks, flying with braviary & the shiny sparkle & sound making it more accessible for me. I LOVE being able to catch them without battling, something I've always wanted to see~ & so many other quality of life improvements!! no forgetting of moves, nixing of HMs & TMs, fast transitions in battle, agile/strong styles, evolving if/when I want, ride pokemon, just so many. I actually really like the graphical style, and though the game could've been optimized better to reduce pop-in & framerate issues, it didn't rly affect my experience much. if for the next Legends game they did that, hired better writers, did sum voice acting, improved the inventory system a bit, improved accessibility options, and just spent more time working on it, I would be absolutely thrilled! honestly, not even going to bother with mainline games anymore unless they implement lots of arceus quality of life features (or just give their games more customizability options so we can individually tailor our experience), especially considering the complete mess that is Scarlet & Violet...

if u are debating which to get, I wholeheartedly recommend Arceus! finally some actual change & innovation in this tired series. played 100 hrs before moving on from it~