Pokemon Legends: Arceus and Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl

[AkshayKumar]

I couldn't find a general Pokemon series thread so I thought I would make one for the recently announced games. I hope it's okay. 

 

First the Sinnoh remakes- Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl

Coming late 2021

 

But what really interests me is this Sinnoh 'premake' so to speak, Pokemon Legends: Arceus

 

 

More info about this new game

Quote

An Adventure in the Sinnoh of Days Gone By

You’ll be brought to the Sinnoh region, the setting for the Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl games. But this story unfolds in a long-gone era, before ideas such as being a Pokémon Trainer or having a Pokémon League even existed.

 

All around, you’ll find Pokémon living wild in harsh environments that make for a Sinnoh unlike the region you may remember from the days of the Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl games

From here

 

Coming early 2022

[Jason]

Took them long enough, but it finally seems like the 3D open world Pokemon game everyone has been waiting for. The setting for the game sounds pretty interesting and different too.

[Space Cowboy]

My first Pokemon title was Shield and I wasn't very impressed by it, and apparently it even lacked some features from Lets Go remake, which I didn't play. I think it was even build for 3DS initially, only later the focus shifted to Switch and 3DS was abandoned.

Legends Arceus looks very interesting though. I'll definitely keep an eye on that one.

[Fake Lilina]

I'm actually excited for those.

 

Considering that Gen 4 is my favorite Generation.

Edited February 27, 2021 by Fake Lilina

[AkshayKumar]

7 hours ago, 0909090 said:

My first Pokemon title was Shield and I wasn't very impressed by it, and apparently it even lacked some features from Lets Go remake, which I didn't play.

Tbf it's not just Sword and Shield, the Pokemon series is notorious for removing features in subsequent games. I'm still wondering why they didn't add the VS Seeker (a feature that let's you rebattle trainers) after gen IV dammit. I guess it makes the games somewhat unique that way, Heartgold/Soulsilver is famous for being the walking with pokemon game (until Let's go) and Gen VI is the mega evolution Gen. 

 

Interesting choice of starters in Pokemon Arceus- Johto's Cyndaquil, Unova's Oshawott and Alola's Rowlett. I like that they've mixed things up, hope they continue to do so with this game so that it could be a breath of fresh air for this franchise. 

[éX-Driver]

Legends is practically everything I want in a dream Pokemon title. It’s extravagantly Japanese in aesthetic, something I’ve desperately wanted ever since I first played Johto. I really hope they go all-in on the traditional Japan setting like the trailer implies they will, it will easily become one of my top 5 games of this generation if they do. If it comes out looking like Ghost of Tsushima but with pokemon, I will suffer a significant emotional event

[Turan]

Looks like they are finally evolving the franchise. They've only been 10 years too late.

 

What's up with that framerate and image quality though? It's such a damn shame they have an exclusivity deal with Nintendo and their underpowered systems. More than Xbox and Playstation I want Nintendo games to come to PC. Those games need the PC the most.  

[Fake Lilina]

10 hours ago, Wayne Kerr said:

I'm still wondering why they didn't add the VS Seeker (a feature that let's you rebattle trainers) after gen IV dammit.

Sometimes I wonder why they removed that item.

 

Other times, I wonder why they removed a lot of Pokémon from Sword & Shield. They managed to fit every Pokémon from Gen 1 to Gen 7 on a 3DS, yet they somehow can't do it on the Switch.

[AkshayKumar]

14 hours ago, Fake Lilina said:

Considering that Gen 4 is my favorite Generation

In general the DS era ( Gen IV and V) was amazing, not only the story and music and great villains in Galactic and Plasma but also features like Battle Frontier in DPPt, two regions in HGSS, Pokemon tournament in B2W2 make this era a strong contender for best era imo. Yeah the new games sounds great for a gen IV fan hehe, my personal favorite is Gen V particularly Black and White. 

 

I think the remakes will stick very closely in story to Diamond and Pearl  but I wish they add in Giratina and the Distortion world in particular in the post game at least. Also would be cool if the Underground returns too! 

[Space Cowboy]

20 minutes ago, Fake Lilina said:

Sometimes I wonder why they removed that item.

 

Other times, I wonder why they removed a lot of Pokémon from Sword & Shield. They managed to fit every Pokémon from Gen 1 to Gen 7 on a 3DS, yet they somehow can't do it on the Switch.

I heard the game was originally developed for 3DS, based on some game files. It does make sense because Pokemon CEO wasn't very confident in Switch's success and it would explain why the game looks the way it looks after so many years of development. 

Dunno if that explains the lack of Pokémon, but the game is a big mess, that's clear. We need a proper Pokemon title made for Switch from ground up.

[Fake Lilina]

55 minutes ago, Wayne Kerr said:

I think the remakes will stick very closely in story to Diamond and Pearl

I hope the slot machines are still there. Even though that I sucked at the Slots, it was my jam at that one town.

 

43 minutes ago, 0909090 said:

I heard the game was originally developed for 3DS, based on some game files.

I guess that's why that Sword and Shield reuses a lot of animations and models from Sun and Moon.

[dieseltech20]

Wish they would put these on PC. I discovered Pokemon through GO and am addicted to it. Finally bought a switch last year but did not like it and returned it once I unlocked the Meltan box, lol.

[RedDagger]

On 2/27/2021 at 6:16 PM, dieseltech20 said:

Wish they would put these on PC.

In a perfect world they would develop the Big Open World Pokemon Game for the latest consoles and PC and make full use of the better hardware compared to nintendo's consoles, and give a wonderful experience most pokemon players have always dreamed of...unfortunately that's not the way nintendo works 

 

I like that they look like they're finally going for an open world game, but boy does it look incredibly rough.

[eejyool]

I don't get why this big request of having Pokémon on PC, to me it doesn't make sense. Pokémon has been associated with Nintendo ever since its conception. Pokémon is Nintendo. Pokémon Legends Arceus is no RDR2, I'm sure Game Freak doesn't need a PS5's hardware to develop what looks to be a game similar, at least in aesthetics and general feel, to Breath of the Wild (which also came out on Wii U!).

 

Many people expressed their disappointment with Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, particularly in regards to the graphics. In my opinion the games' overworld looks beautiful. The actual characters, on the other hand, could definitely use some work. I also don't like much the battle aesthetic, it's a downgrade compared to Sword and Shield, too many colors and too many cartoony shapes. It's fine in the overworld, where everything is disproportioned, but not in battle, where the trainers have the proportions of actual human beings, and yet they look like paper statues.

 

Speaking about the idea of the game itself and its realization, I was a bit disappointed initially in learning that these titles are not remakes à la Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire (which incorporated X and Y's graphics, features and mechanics into the remakes), but more like hard remasters. If you've played The Crown Tundra DLC for Sword and Shield, you know that it would have been cool to have a Mount Coronet similar to that, with roaming Pokémon and a full 360° camera. And in general, in spite of the general consensus, Sword and Shield's graphics are nice, it's just the Wild Area that looks a bit bare, so I wouldn't have minded a reimagined Sinnoh in full 3D if I'm being honest. But of course that would mean changing and reinterpreting most of the geography of the region, aka the level design, to suit this passage from 2D to 3D, and from grid-based movement to free 3D movement, which had a risk of them f*cking things up and making the new games worse than the originals (they came close with ORAS). So maybe it's better this way: simple but effective. As long as there's actual new content besides the graphics, perhaps new Dialga and Palkia forms, or a sort of Giratina episode for the post game? I definitely expect Platinum post-game content, it would be stupid not to include it.

 

Speaking about the development team, this time we have ILCA developing the games, a first in the brand's history, where a mainline title is developed by someone other than Game Freak, which owns the franchise together with Nintendo and Creatures Inc. I'm definitely glad they took this route: they can have more time to dedicate to Legends: Arceus (considering that last year was light too as far as development goes for GF since they only released the Expansion Pass for Sword and Shield with no new games, they're definitely putting as much time and resources as possible for the new project, seeing how ambitious it is). ILCA is also a reputable team, so I trust them. And they've got Junichi Masuda on board as the director (which if you don't know is a veteran at GF, has co-directed the latest titles and directed the original Diamond and Pearl), so I'm sure that these new games will still have that Pokémon feel to them, despite being developed by another studio. And please mr. Masuda don't be a dick and put in that Platinum content thank you.

 

The announcement of Legends: Arceus is HUGE for a dedicated fan. It's like Rockstar announcing that they'll ditch online content for single player DLC, I'm not exaggerating. Since Black and White, adult Pokémon fans have asked for ages about more complex games, both in terms of difficulty and level design, and of lore (if you don't play the games regularly you might not know that they are filled to the brim with lore, yet most of the time in the mainline games it's not explored further than some lines in the Pokédex or some lines of dialogue from an NPC). This is our dream come true, and I think that, even if the games are not out yet and we don't know how good they'll be, we have to appreciate this change of direction, this acknowledgement by the Pokémon Company that we, the mature players, do exist, and we too deserve some love. They've said it themselves, this is a bold new take on the series, and one that longtime fans did not expect at this point, thinking they'd never do it after the half-failure of Black and White, which was another risky title - and after the success of the mediocre Sword and Shield (and I say that with 400+ hours on that game).

 

Also, can we talk about the music in that trailer? This is the game of my dreams.

Edited March 1, 2021 by LodwigRedemption

[Space Cowboy]

2 hours ago, RedDagger said:

In a perfect world they would develop the Big Open World Pokemon Game for the latest consoles and PC and make full use of the better hardware compared to nintendo's consoles, and give a wonderful experience most pokemon players have always dreamed of...unfortunately that's not the way nintendo works 

The problem (or strength in some cases?) with Nintendo is that they integrate their hardware functions into games, which make it very hard to port them to PC, even if they wanted to, but they clearly don't lol. For recent Skyward sword port they had to redo the controls for it to be playable on Switch, and also lots of Mario games that I never played have even more of these controls that are tied to a specific hardware.

In some games like BOTW, I felt it was a bit unnecessary and the game would do just fine without motion controls. It's barely even used there.

[The Shakermaker]

What is it with a young lady commentating on video game trailers, RDR 2, Cyperpunk, Pokemon Legends: Arceus?

Anyway I've always dreamed of an open world Pokemon game, but that doesnt mean this game will be good. It's a step in the right direction for Pokemon. Dont know enough about it yet. 

[WXSTER]

Really after all the wait the short lil midget playmobile characters

 

[AkshayKumar]

while the wait for more news about these titles continue, I felt like sharing these fan made trailers for the Sinnoh remakes that seem to have captured the Pokemon fandom's imagination, by YouTuber milleniumloops

 

 

 

[AkshayKumar]

A month late but the next trailer for Legends: Arceus

 

 

From Bulbapedia

Quote

The game features Rowlet, Cyndaquil, and Oshawott as starter Pokémon, and Rei and Akari as player characters. Other NPCs include the members of the Galaxy Expedition Team.

The game takes place in the Hisui region, a past version of Sinnoh.

All standard wild encounters now appear to be symbol encounters.

 

Pokémon may exhibit different behaviors, such as fleeing, sleeping/waking, emoting, or becoming aggressive. These behaviors may differ depending on the in-game weather or time of day.

The player may catch Pokémon from the overworld directly by throwing a Poké Ball. An aiming reticle appears on-screen during this.

Poké Balls have an "old-fashioned" appearance in this game, with a wooden bottom half, a buckle-shaped metal-colored implement instead of a button, and a valve on top that puffs out steam on a successful catch.
To battle a wild Pokémon, the player must throw one of their own Pokémon's Poké Balls nearby.

A feature similar to Ride Pokémon appears to be present, with Hisuian Braviary shown representing flying/soaring, Basculegion shown representing surfing (and seemingly leaping down a waterfall), and Wyrdeer shown representing fast overworld movement.

Under unknown circumstances, Pokémon with angry red eyes are shown in the overworld and in battle. These Pokémon may still be caught.

Pokémon may attack the player in the overworld, and the player may also take damage by falling from high places. Taking too much damage will cause a black out.
In the overworld, the player has access to action-related elements such as rolling and diving leaps.

The concept of turns in battle has received an overhaul, with the game now presenting an Action Order showing which sides are to get the next six turns. Depending on speed and "other factors", one side may get multiple turns in a row.

Moves may be used in the Strong Style, which increases that move's power but lowers action speed, or in the Agile Style, which decreases that move's power but raises action speed.

Outside of Jubilife Village, Pokémon Centers appear to have been replaced by Base camps, which allow healing, item purchasing, and the new item crafting feature.

Poké Balls require 1 Apricorn and 1 Tumblestone to craft.

Heavy Balls require 1 Apricorn and 1 Black Tumblestone to craft. Heavy Balls are thrown in a shorter arc and work better on Pokémon that have not yet noticed the player.

Smoke Bombs require 1 Sootfoot Root and 1 Caster Fern to craft. In the overworld, throwing one at the ground helps prevent wild Pokémon from noticing the player.

Revives are also shown in the crafting menu, though its requirements are unknown.

The player's Bag is now referred to as a "satchel".

Completing a Pokédex entry now requires more than just catching a certain Pokémon once, with other requirements varying from multiple catches to seeing a Pokémon use certain moves multiple times. 

New Pokémon and forms
Two new Pokémon (Wyrdeer and Basculegion) and two new Hisuian Forms (for Growlithe and Braviary) have been shown.

 

This is giving me Gen V vibes. My favorite generation which felt like a brand new experience almost from the previous generations, this gives me those vibes but even stronger. 

 

An open world Pokemon game it seems, finally. Really hope it takes off. 

 

Releases January 28, 2022

Edited September 27, 2021 by Wayne Kerr