This seems to be a transitional time for thePokemonseries. Afterthe release ofSwordandShield, fans weren’t satisfied that the games and their mechanics remained essentially unchanged from its early days even when making the jump to more powerful hardware.Pokemon Legends: Arceusseems to be addressing that with its open-world mechanics and a seemingly new take on thePokemonformula.
One change that’s been made for the game outside of its mechanics has some potential major implications for the future of the franchise: there’s only one version ofPokemon Legends: Arceus. While this might seem like a small change to some,Pokemonhas been doing dual releases since its inception, so it’s odd thatLegends Arceuswould be standing on its own as a mainlinePokemongame. If the changes made the mechanics are going to stick around for the foreseeable future of the franchise, then the singular release might as well. This could mean some big changes for thePokemonSeries down the road, both good and bad.
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Pokemon This and That
Given the major changes to the series coming hand-in-hand with the release ofPokemon Legends: Arceusit does make some sense that the game might change the traditional structure of the franchise. Typically, twoPokemongames release at the same time both essentially being the same game, but with slight differences to set them apart such as the selection of Pokemon available and certain other narrative elements. Then, a few years later, another version releases that bundles all the content together with additional story beats and Pokemon such as withCrystal,Yellow,Platinum, andEmerald. That formula hasn’t been used, however, sincePokemon Platinum. Instead, Game Freak has been releasing two updated games of both versions a few years laterlike withUltra SunandMoonandBlackandWhite 2.
While the newer approach certainly has its merits, fans seem to truly revere the stand-alone followups to earlierPokemongames. It’s possible that Game Freak took notice of this and decided to completely cut out the middle man and go for that sort of definitive, quality release inPokemon Legends: Arceuswithout needing two games to precede it. Recent leaks seem to suggest thatmultiple legendary Pokemon traditionally associated with one version of the franchisewill be included in the game together similar to the style of games likePokemon EmeraldorPlatinum.
Based on the fact thatPokemon Legends: Arceusis a mainlinePokemontitle being developed by Game Freak, it seems to suggest that this might be the way of the franchise moving forward: singular releases containingall of the new Pokemon. It’s still to be seen if that’s the case, but if it is, it might be a controversial move among thePokemoncommunity.
While other frequently released gaming franchises opt to release one title featuring all the new content,Pokemonhas always split things between two games. That’s made the excitement of choosing a version to play something that fans look forward to with each subsequent release as they research which monsters will be included in which version. In addition to that, it helped establish the franchise as a social experience as fans looked for other players who bought the opposite version as them to trade over the version exclusive Pokemon in orderto complete the Pokedex. If that were to disappear in favor of singular releases, fans might be disappointed, as the series would lose one element that sets it apart from other franchises.
There haven’t been many conversations surrounding this potential change in the lead up toPokemon Legends: Arceus' release, but if the next game in the series follows its lead, there could be controversy among the community once again.
Pokemon Legends: Arceusis set to launch on Nintendo Switch on January 28.
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