Pokémon Legends: Arceus

Pokémon Legends: Arceus is the most radical experiment in the history of the mainline Pokémon series. Instead of turn-based battles in the grass and linear towns, it offers a semi-open world set in the distant past of the Hisui region, the predecessor of today's Sinnoh, where the player, as a member of the newly founded Survey Corps, maps unexplored wilderness and compiles the first Pokédex. There's also a crucial shift in tone: at this point in time, people don't yet know Pokémon and are afraid of them, so the game tells a story of discovery and the slow building of trust between two worlds instead of a sporting challenge.

Catching Pokémon happens directly in real time without switching to a separate battle screen – the player sneaks through the landscape, throws Poké Balls at unsuspecting creatures or first weakens them in battle, and a botched attempt can spook an entire herd. Additionally, aggressive Pokémon can now attack the player directly, who can then faint and lose some of the items they've collected, adding unusual tension to exploration. The battles themselves remain turn-based, but sped up and supplemented with new Strong and Agile attack styles that change the turn order and damage amount, so even familiar moves are used differently than before.

The world is divided into several vast areas with different biomes, from volcanic plains to snowy mountains, and the player returns between them to the central Jubilife Village, where gear upgrades and missions for the local residents take place. A special chapter belongs to the so-called noble Pokémon, giant enraged creatures the player faces in action battles involving dodging and throwing healing balms. The story escalates with a darker twist involving the mythological Pokémon Arceus, the creator of the universe. Critics praised Game Freak's courage in abandoning decades-old series conventions, despite technical shortcomings in the form of simpler graphics and occasional frame-rate drops. Legends: Arceus became one of the fastest-selling Pokémon games in history and hinted at the direction the series might take next.