Stephen "awan" Kurniawan

Reviewer Pokemon background:

1. Started with Fire Red, spent 100 hours in game to catch everything and deleting the save file to redo it twice with different starter pokemon before coming back again to his first choice (Charmander ofc). Even used cheat codes to retrieve Ho-oH, Lugia, and Deoxys.
2. Went to Ruby, fell in love with Mudkip because its superior type, and able to learn surf. Used him to surf across the oceans to find the secrets of unown and Regigigas. (Remember kids, this is the time before there’s good internet in the 3rd world countries).
3. After that went hiatus for a long time until Pokemon XY released and took pokemon Y for Yvetal. Started to do more competitive because the game is not so grindy, that includes breeding and restarting for the perfect IV and nature.

With that being said, here’s my first review of Pokemon Legends Archeus after playing it for 6 hours (after defeating the first boss – Kleavor )

Design

I’ll give a score 4/5. The game design is superb (for switch). Of course, it cannot be compared with Unreal engine game, but for the overall feeling that the game wants us to feel, it is really sufficient. The theme of this game is old Japanese – ninja village and they really deliver it. We can see from the houses and even learn about ninja cultures from our surroundings, like futons, the fireplace, the kimonos, and sandals.

Gameplay

I’ll give the gameplay 5/5 as well. It is more than how I imagine a 3D open-world pokemon would look like. Especially… What I like about this Pokemon is… how good they incorporate tutorials in their game! As usual, you first learn how to catch your own Pokemon. In a 3D world, of course, you would need a bit of aiming at your side, but you’ll get used to it, and even get satisfaction when you did a sick catch!

And after that, they will introduce you to different types of pokemon characteristics when they see you, they either ignore you, run away, or attack you in the wild. And if you want to catch ’em all, the tutorial will teach you how to approach them individually!

The Pokedex system has changed too from just “catching” pokemon and then storing it in the garage, to catch a big one, defeat them using this element, see them use this attack, etc. Not only that they makes it more enjoyable, but it also gives options for different players another way to progress. Additionally, it also helps newbies understand the basics of pokemon since the tasks are guiding them to use a certain element against a pokemon.

What I also like is the different “game” inside pokemon, like there’s alpha pokemon that can’t be caught, there’s also Lords that has to be fought using a specific method. (see video below of me fighting the first boss, Kleavor)

Story

The story is a bit childish I would say just 3 out of 5 ratings. It is mostly because of age, therefore it is harder to please me 😉 . But there are many illogical things in the story that does not make sense. Like why are we the only ones that can catch pokemon that adequately? And if catching pokemon is such an ordeal, why did the professor ask us to catch his pokemon in a nonchalant way?

But on the other hand, I like that they incorporate team Pearl and team Diamond that worship Palkia, the master of space, and Dialga, the master of time respectively.

Summary