Pokemon Legends Arceus fans still aren’t convinced by its “ugly” graphics
Game Freak / The Pokemon CompanyDespite its impressive showing at the August Pokemon Presents, Pokemon Legends Arceus has gone viral for all the wrong reasons. Fans not won over by its graphics have been slamming Game Freak for having an “uglier” game than Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
After months of silence, Game Freak finally unveiled everything about their upcoming open-world title during the August 18th Presents conference. Although many players were initially impressed with what was shown off, the 2022 release has gone viral a week after the Direct due to criticism.
Although Pokemon Legends Arceus is the series most ambitious project to date, many fans were still not sold on the way it looks. The Nintendo Switch game has come under fire again for having “ugly” graphics and failing to look anywhere as good as Zelda: Breath of the Wild which came out in 2017.
Game Freak / The Pokemon CompanyPokemon Legends Arceus graphics fail to impress fans
Pokemon Legends had many new features revealed from flying, ground, and water mounts to the epic new Huisian forms. Despite its jam-packed trailer, some players couldn’t get past what they felt was lackluster graphics from Game Freak.
Over on the popular r/Pokemon forum, threads criticizing the open-world titles graphics flooded the site. “Arceus is held back by its hardware,” a post sarcastically exclaimed while showing a side-by-side comparison of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Pokemon Legends.
The post showed the 2017 title’s vast map filled with trees and wildlife, compared to the 2022 Pokemon project which looks emptier. The thread immediately kicked off a debate, with many Pokemon fans voicing their concerns for the series’ first attempt at the open-world genre.
“What is up with their sh**ty looking trees man. It’s like 80% of what we complain about, Game Freak, get a good treey guy,” one user wrote. Another fan commented, “It’s a combination of poor lighting, plain textures, creating a washed out look with no real sense of style.”
Some fans even called out for another developer to take over the franchise. “I know they can’t fire Game Freak, but they should fire Game Freak. Diamond & Pearl remakes look polished, and finished, especially in contrast to this hot garbage,” one frustrated player exclaimed.
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl graphics gives fans hope
Despite the wave of criticism, not everyone agreed with Legends’ bleak future that some are predicting. Many pointed out the Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl remakes also received backlash in February, but its August trailer had won the community over with its overhauled graphics that look substantially different.
“Hell, Studio ILCA made MASSIVE improvements for BDSP over what the original trailer showed. They addressed pretty much every visual complaint people had other than it being in a chibi style,” a fan posted on the forum. “I was really shocked when I saw the improvement they had done over the last trailer,” a second user agreed.
This isn’t the first time that fans have had doubts about Pokemon Legends and its graphics. Its second trailer and full reveal in August, however, seem to not have won over some players over as many of the same complaints have continued to linger.
It should be pointed out, though, that the Sinnoh remakes saw an insane amount of polish done to its visuals with just three months until release. Whereas Arceus still has over seven months left until its debut in 2022 so Trainers shouldn’t count Game Freak out yet.
