After being announced as part of thePokemonseries' 25th anniversary this February,Pokemon Legends: Arceusgot a more complete breakdown during the Pokemon Presents on August 18.Legends: Arceusis Game Freak’s attempt to do something new and unique with the series asPokemon Homedeveloper ILCA creates Gen 4 remakesBrilliant DiamondandShining Pearl. The Pokemon Presents revealedLegends: Arceushas a dynamic new speed-based battle systemalongside its greater focus on open-world exploration and stealthily catching wild monsters.
It also revealed more about the world itself, which is a feudal version of the modern-day Sinnoh region called Hisui in which humans have only just begun exploring out of a settlement called Jubilife Village. The player character is part of the Galaxy Expedition Team, sent to study the region as enraged Pokemon lash out. One stand-out part of the game will beHisuian variants of Pokemon like Braviary, which also serves as a flying Ride Pokemon reminiscent of the paraglider inBreath of the Wild. As the game leans into exploration more than previous entries, it would make sense for Game Freak to further develop Hisui by drawing upon a mechanic it briefly introduced over 10 years ago inPokemon BlackandWhite: Seasons.
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Seasons in the Unova Region
For all their praises, and the fact they kicked off a 25-year gaming phenomenon, the originalPokemon Red, Green,andBluewere fairly barebones. The Kanto region was packed with 150 monsters to catch or trade, and in terms of Gym order was a lot more open-ended than any title to follow. However, this first attempt at the creature-collecting RPG struggled to hold together on the Game Boy; any speedruns of the original titles show just how buggy and easy they are to exploit. One thing left by the wayside was any serious attempt to portray a realistic physical world.
Pokemon GoldandSilvertook a big step in the right direction by introducing a day/night cycle, which became standard for the series in Generation 4 onward (Ruby, Sapphire,andEmeraldhad events affected by their internal clocks, but no aesthetic changes). After that,RubyandSapphiremade Pokemon themselves more unique, indivudualized members of their species via theaddition of stat-changing Naturesand Abilities. Among other things,Pokemon DiamondandPearlmade battles more sensible and dynamic by splitting moves into “Physical” and “Special” categories based on their effects rather than their typings.
The Generation 5 games were housed on the DS like their predecessors, but progressed with constant Pokemon animations during battle and the aforementioned seasons. The Unova region fluctuates between winter, spring, summer, and fall - though the cycle advances once every real-world month. Unique visuals and some seasonal Pokemon differentiate Unova each month, and theDeerling evolutionary linewas designed with four variants based on the season during which they were caught.
However, perhaps the most important change is that seasons affected what players could do throughout the region. One of the most clear examples of the changes came from Icirrus City, whereBlackandWhiteversion’s seventh Gym Leader (and future movie star) Brycenis housed. During winter months the town becomes covered in snow, opening up access to new areas such as the top of Brycen’s Gym because snowfall forms a ramp. Similarly, multiple optional paths in the preceeding area Twist Mountain are blocked by snow during the winter.
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How Seasons Could Impact Pokemon Legends: Arceus
Seasons have yet to reappear in any mainline game released followingBlack 2andWhite 2, and there’s probably a good reason for this. Having to design four distinct versions of every environment with optional content is a lot of work in the best of circumstances, but Game Freak also happened to move on to development for the Nintendo 3DS starting withGeneration 6’sPokemon XandY. The team had to get its bearings working on fully 3D environments, and changing times of day was already one variable complicating the process.
The fact that seasons still haven’t come back into the fold as ofPokemon SwordandShieldis somewhat disappointing though, even if there are a diverse range of areas and environmental setpieces across theGalar region and its two DLC expansions.Pokemon Legends: Arceusdoesn’t seem to be incorporating the idea either, as one piece of official art depicts the Hisui region as various distinct biomes separated by mountains. Players will be given assignments by the Galaxy Team and sent out to explore one area at a time, according to the game’s official website.
While this is a fine way to diversify content and ensure players can seek out specific kinds of Pokemon in immutable areas whenever they want, it may have the unfortunate side-effect of making Hisui feel static. One of the best things about seasons inBlackandWhiteis the way they give each area character and reward players coming back to explore. An open-world like inPokemon Legends: Arceuscould benefit from similar tricks on a grander scale; hiding some objects under snowfall during the winter that become unearthed come spring. Should Deerling and Sawsbuck appear in the cast of obtainable Pokemon, like their originally Unovan companion Braviary, it would also be a good opportunity to feature them changing appearance once again.
That being said, if creating multiple versions of each environment is difficult for more basic 3D games likePokemon XandY, it’s understandable why Game Freak might choose to focus its time and energy on other areas of development forLegends: Arceus. The idea is still interesting and feasible though, judging from the way games likeBreath of the Wildimplement smaller-scale weather systems such as rainacross Hyrule. Hopefully futurePokemongames look to the past and reimagine some of the series' bigger ideas before the inevitable Generation 5 remakes.
