The reveal ofPokemon Legends: Arceussent shockwaves through thePokemonfandom. Since the series' inception, RPGs have evolved immensely; many have adopted expansive, detailed open worlds that encourage exploration. However,Pokemonhas never strayed too far from its roots. Even the most recent mainline titles,SwordandShield,adhere to the series' fairly linear structure, save for the incorporation of the Wild Area. WhenPokemon Legends: Arceuslaunches next year, it will be breaking away from several of the series' norms. To best do so, it could stand to learn a lesson from remakes of the games that started it all.
ThePokemon Let’s Gogamesare nostalgic experiences that allow players to relive the start of thePokemonfranchise. They’re largely the same as every other Generation 1Pokemongame, but they still come packed with new features to the Kanto region. One notable addition is the ability to ride Pokemon, which opens up new avenues for exploration. Unfortunately, the feature didn’t make a return inSwordandShield, but withPokemon Legends: Arceusset to feature an expansive open world, the return of rideable Pokemon seems like it would pair well with the game’s setting.
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Pokemon Let’s Go: A New Way To Explore
As far asPokemongamesgo, exploration has always been relatively limited. Generally, players can walk, sprint, and ride a bike, but that’s mostly it. Previous games allowed players to ride water-types across bodies of water thanks to the “Surf” HM, but recent games have introduced gadgets, such as the protagonist’s bike inSwordandShieldthat render water-types' seafaring abilities null and void.
In a world populated by them, the Pokemon themselves typically don’t play a big role in how one gets around, except in a few recent games likePokemon SunandMoon, where rideable Pokemon acted as TMs.Pokemon Let’s Godoesn’t quite defy this convention, but it does seemingly open the door for future games to do so.
Certain Pokemon inLet’s Goare large enough for players to ride, and some even exhibit special properties while being ridden. Mounting the fieryArcanineallows players to get around quicker than simply walking, effectively replacing the bicycle seen in previousPokemongames. Additionally, water-types like Gyrados can be used to maneuver across bodies of water.
Let’s Goalso lets players control a mode of travel they ordinarily can’t: Flight. Most games allow players to “fly” across the world map, but it’s generally limited to selecting a point of interest before loading into that area.Omega RubyandAlpha Sapphireallowed players to fly freely around the Hoenn region, but only in the overworld, not the actual cities players would be flying to. In essence, it was a prettier version of the previous games' flight feature.
InLet’s Go, players can usePokemon like Charizardto fly through cities and routes. One can pass over entire bodies of water, ignore ledges, roadblocks, and also avoid the common Pokemon found throughout the map. Additionally, players can even encounter other flying Pokemon, like Dragonite, in the air.
Riding Pokemon isn’t exactly pivotal toLet’s Go’sgameplay, but it is a thought-provoking mechanic. It seems to lay a foundation for a futurePokemongame to embrace Pokemon as a core part of how players interact with the world around them.
How Pokemon Legends: Arceus Could Expand Upon Let’s Go
There’s a lot that isn’t known about theupcomingPokemon Legends: Arceus, but one thing is certain: It’s going to feature an open world. Based on the scale of the world presented in its reveal trailer, it’s hard to imagine the game forcing players to navigate its world solely on foot, and given its pre-historic setting, it’s likely the fancy traversal gadgets featured in later games won’t be a factor. It’s only natural that Pokemon should be the primary means of transportation.
Medium-to-large-sized, ground-roaming Pokemon could serve a similar purpose to horses, butPokemon Legends: Arceushas a huge opportunity to innovate when it comes to travel via both water and air. For the former, on top of simply allowing players to skim across bodies of water, it would be great to see some form of underwater travel incorporated.
Additionally, expanded air travel could allow forPokemondevelopers to think more vertically than ever before when it comes to the layout of a map. Traditionally, one could only explorePokemon’s various regionsby going to the north, south, east, or west. EvenLet’s Go’s inclusion of flying stuck to this convention, as players couldn’t adjust their altitude; it’s easy to imagine howPokemon Legends: Arceuscould expand on this. Players could have to fly toward a location in the sky, give chase to a shifty, quick Flying-type, or even just take to the skies for a nice view from the highest point they can reach.
The ability to mount Pokemon and control them to explore underwater or fly would literally add whole new dimensions toPokemon’sexploration, and seems like a natural evolution of the ideas presented inPokemon Let’s Go.Part of the protagonist’s goal inPokemon Legends: Arceusinvolves creating the firstPokedex, an encyclopedia documenting every Pokemon and what they’re capable of. One area that seems worth studying is how effective Pokemon are when it comes to traversing the world around them. Hopefully, Game Freak agrees with this assessment and affords players a lot of material to study.
Pokemon Legends: Arceusreleases for Switch on Jun 21, 2025.
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