This game is fantastic. It's the first time I've felt like I'm really in a world inhabited by Pokémon. While Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee introduced Pokémon actually appearing on the overworld instead of as random encounters, and Sword and Shield lightly introduced the concept of an open area to explore and find wild Pokémon, they had their downsides - namely that Pokémon battles still took you to a new, separate battle screen (and Sword and Shield even stopped overworld Pokémon from revealing their shiny status, which means you aren't REALLY seeing the real Pokémon until you enter the battle screen).

Legends: Arceus perfected the setup for wild Pokémon. Not only are the Pokémon you encounter shown in their exact, real form, the battles also take place right in the world. This goes so far in making it feel like you're really in this world. Add in the fact that Pokémon can attack you directly, and things make a lot more sense.

There's a whole lot more the game does right. From the catching mechanics, to the battle system (which might need some tweaks but it's a nice step in a new direction), the mechanics are refreshingly updated here. But where the game really excels is making you want to explore the areas to find new Pokémon. You're encouraged to sneak up on Pokémon, meaning you'll have to strategize to catch them more than just weakening them as much as you can.

It's pretty clear that this is their first try at this new concept, as some execution does fall short. For one, it'd be nice if the open world areas weren't so segmented from each other. I'd like to be able to at least travel between them more easily, but ideally this game concept would evolve into a larger, entirely connected open world one day. At endgame, I'd like to be able to fly from one end of the map to the other using whatever flying Pokémon the game offers, no matter how long it takes to cross the map. Riding Pokémon could be a little smoother as well, as you're limited from doing things like sending out Pokémon to pick up materials, throwing Pokéballs at other Pokémon, etc. It's an odd limitation that feels a little clunky in execution. Finally, I'd really like to see a fully-orchestrated soundtrack. Some of the songs failed to deliver their full weight because of some of the instrumentation, and I'd like to see more. Pokémon Let's Go's soundtrack comes to mind here.

Overall, many of the ways that the game falls short can be overlooked, given that this is the first time a Pokémon game has gone this far in a new direction, and with that I can say that this is not only one of the best games the series has had in a long time, but it's a direction I hope to see the series continue to pursue.