It’s time to dive into everything we learned in today’s Pokémon Presents showcase including new details on the upcoming RPG, Pokémon Legends Arceus. We already detailed all of the latest details regarding the iOS launch of Pokémon UNITE, but we also have some new gameplay details on the upcoming Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl remakes and the mainline action-RPG Arceus title set for release in early 2022. Read on for all of the details.
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl
Now at the tail end of the development phase at ILCA – longtime Pokemon developer Game Freak isn’t working on the remakes – Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are set for release on November 19, 2021, and we have information on some of the game’s new features.
While we already knew there was going to be a sort of modernized visual approach taken on the upcoming remakes, there are actually some new gameplay elements at play here is well.
A brand-new area known as the Grand Underground has been added for trainers to explore. Not unlike the wild area in Pokémon Sword and Shield, it is a large, open maze-like space filled with rare Pokémon to catch (including Houndoom) that also houses your personal little secret base. Trainers can collect and display Pokémon statues here, which will in turn alter which creatures appear in the Grand Underground area at any given time.
Like some of the more recent entries in the Pokémon series, players will also be able to customize outfits in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl — a feature not available in the original releases. Player can also change the special effects that occur when their Pokémon are launching out of a Poké Ball.
And lastly, Nintendo is also doing away with the old Battle Tower online portion of the original experience. There aren’t a ton of details available here, but you can expect something much more like proper online battles that allow you to take on trainers all over the world “in real time.”
There’s only a couple months left to wait for the November 19 Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl — both of which are now up for pre-order. But let’s dive into some new Pokémon Legends Arceus details while we’re at it.
Pokémon Legends Arceus details
Legends Arceus is being described as being the Pokémon Breath of the Wild game we have all dreamed about. And that might very well be true, but, as some have pointed out, it also has a ton of similarities to the Monster Hunter series.
Players are part of the Galaxy Expedition Team tasked with exploring the wild Sinnoh region and creating the very first Pokédex for the area. Like in Monster Hunter games, players will see out from a sort of central hub known as Jubalife Village on expeditions across the region while battling Pokémon, crafting new weapons/supplies, and more.
While we aren’t expecting to be ripping those adorable Pokémon up to create armor and the like, you will be mounting them to travel across the open fields the game’s battles take place on — unlike the series’ traditional turn-based RPG style fights on yesteryear.
Legends Arceus seemingly has a much more modern and truly open-world experience that feels like a proper evolution from the wild area in Sword and Shield. You can capture new creatures without battling them and even just launch some of your collected pocket monsters at wild ones to engage in real-time battle.
That’s sounds like a good blend of Breath of the Wild and Monster Hunter to me, and more than enough to get me excited for the January 28, 2020, release date. While there’s just something about these January game releases that scream “delayed until the spring” to me, here’s hoping Nintendo can at least get close. Pre-orders are now live at Amazon and elsewhere.
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