Pokemon fans worried about Pokemon Legends: Arceus after “janky” debut trailer
Game Freak / The Pokemon CompanyWill Pokemon Legends be delayed?
Game Freak surprised Pokemon fans when it revealed its next major project, Pokemon Legends: Arceus, to be an open-world action RPG for the Nintendo Switch. However, some fans are worried about the early 2022 title after seeing its debut trailer.
After eight generations of sticking to the same formula, The Pokemon Company is looking to shake things up with Pokemon Legends: Arceus. The Sinnoh origin title was a surprise announcement during the series’ 25th anniversary Presents conference.
Despite fans begging Game Freak for years to make an open-world RPG, many in the community are now worried about the project after seeing its announcement trailer. Players explained why they are worried in a viral thread.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus has some fans worried
When Sword & Shield was revealed in 2019, the Nintendo Switch RPG received backlash after players accused Game Freak of reusing assets and animations for the Gen 8 release. Simply put, fans wanted more.
It came as a surprise then when Pokemon Legends: Arceus – a Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild-style game – was revealed during a special Pokemon Presents conference on February 26. The project marked the franchise’s first major attempt to break from its old design for its mainline titles.
Despite the exciting reveal trailer, some were concerned about Legend’s design. A viral thread on the r/Nintendo subreddit titled “I don’t have high expectations for Pokemon Legends Arceus” had players explaining why they are worried about Game Freak’s attempt at a true open-world release.
“Love what they’re going for but that trailer was janky as hell,” one fan exclaimed. Others agreed, such as one user who wrote, “Exactly. I love the idea. But so far it looks empty and really poorly optimized for something coming out next year. So far it’s vast nothingness with some Pokemon dotted around. It’s a nice tech demo for a game coming in 2024.” Others hit out at the animations shown off in the early footage: “They really need to work on making Pokemon feel like they’re ‘living’. Those lifeless animations just don’t work.”
Not everyone was down on the debut, with many defending criticisms as being unfair since the trailer is early footage for a game still in development.
“I mean it was the first reveal teaser. The fact that we got actual gameplay and not just a prerendered cutscene puts it miles beyond most first reveal teasers. Do you remember the Breath of the Wild reveal?” one user passionately argued. Another simply exclaimed, “Hot f**k people will complain about anything and everything before it’s even done.” One player even hit out at fellow fans: “People b**ch for a decade about Pokemon formulaic issues, they actually make a big jump, and it’s s**t upon. Hmm.”
Only time will tell if the final version of the game will eventually win over those worried, however this wouldn’t be the first time a major Pokemon project has been criticized leading up to its release. Plus to be fair, Legends: Arceus still has a lot to show off, and has over a year left in development.
2019’s Sword & Shield also faced a hurdle of complaints right before its launch in November. Just over a year later, it’s now the third highest-selling title in the entire franchise. One thing is for certain, the RPG series is entering a new era, regardless of how the Sinnoh origins title turns out.
