The Pokemon series has finally received the sort of evolution fans have been clamoring for since it launched on the Game Boy in 1996, in the form of Pokemon Legends: Arceus, the latest game by long-time series developer, Game Freak. The game serves as a chronological prequel and story sequel to Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl – which are remakes of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl on the Nintendo DS.
While it is technically not a mainline game, Pokemon Legends: Arceus still offers a glimpse of what The Pokemon Company might have in store for future games in the core series. This has led to much speculation among fans, many of whom would like to see the kind of shake-up it brings applied to the forthcoming ninth-generation game. But after spending many hours with the new game, we're left with a few unanswered questions pertaining to its story and the future of the series.
Note: There are spoilers for the events in Pokemon Legends: Arceus ahead
5 Who Exactly Is The Player Character?
Like recent mainline Pokemon games, players are asked to choose their appearance and name at the start of Pokemon Legends: Arceus. Based on your choice of playing as either a young boy or girl, the game assigns Rei or Akari as Professor Laventon's assistant, either of whom will also act as a fellow companion throughout the adventure
But unlike previous games, very little is revealed about your chosen character's background, beyond the fact that they are very adept at catching Pokemon. We don't get to watch them leave their house on a journey to become the best Pokemon trainer in the entire region, leaving plenty of room for speculation. Are you a Pokemon champion already, or a mere trainer still trying to rise through the ranks? What about your parents or family back home? Any other teenager's phone would've been buzzing with calls and messages had they disappeared for anywhere near as long as you end up doing in the game.
4 Where Did The Player Character Come From?
Pokemon Legends: Arceus starts with the player falling through a realm that is said to be "located beyond both space and time." And from there you are transported to the region of Hisui by the legendary Pokemon, Arceus, on your mission to seek out all the Pokemon there. While that is enough information to set you off on an adventure, it doesn't address where your character has come from.
The implication is that the player is coming from a future where phones exist (your phone being the only other item shown in the introductory sequence). You are asked by Professor Laventon if you have prior knowledge about Pokemon, so answering yes also implies that you must be from a region where humans already train and battle Pokemon. Game Freak had also made it clear that the Hisui region is the very same landmass where the Sinnoh region is located in Diamond and Pearl. So it is possible that the player is from the Sinnoh region, potentially even a character featured in those games.
3 Are We Going To See Volo Again?
One of the many characters that players meet in Pokemon Legends: Arceus is the Ginko Guild merchant, Volo. From his very first encounter with the player, he not only shows an interest in the lore of the land, but he also displays an open curiosity to the player's presence in Hisui and how they got there.
But as the player comes to find out over the course of the game, he was the one responsible for the space-time rift over Mount Coronet, as he had been trying to bring back the banished Legendary Pokemon, Girantha, in a bid to summon Arceus and create a new world. After both he and Girantha are defeated, he vows to complete his mission someday. This would suggest that the character would be making a future appearance, except whether that would come in the form of DLC or a proper sequel remains to be seen. There is also the fact that he bears a remarkable similarity to Cynthia from Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, implying that we truly haven't seen or heard the last from the eleventh-hour villain.
2 Why Isn't The Player Character Trying To Get Back Home?
Time travel as a narrative device is nothing new. Some of the best science-fiction books, movies, and games in fact feature elements of time travel in their stories. And most of those stories have the main protagonist returning to their respective time once the central conflict has been resolved. In Pokemon Legends: Arceus, however, the player character seems to have no sense of urgency or willingness to return to their own time, even after the bulk of their tasks have been completed.
We understand that from a gameplay perspective this allows the player to continue to exist within the land of Hisui well after the credits have rolled, as they continue to complete their Pokedex or build up their dream team of Pokemon. But storywise, it doesn't quite add up why the player wouldn't want to seek out a way to get back home. Unless they are some kind of criminal on the run from the authorities, or just seeking to strike out a new life in someplace new. But we doubt either of those two things would apply to a 15-year-old.
1 What Comes Next?
As the Pokemon Company wraps up its 25th-anniversary celebration, fans of the series are left wondering what comes next. There's plenty of speculation that we might be getting another Let's Go game for Holiday 2022, set in Johto or one of the other regions. There is also of course the expectation that we will be getting the next mainline game.
There are definitely enough dangling plot threads to suggest that a sequel to Pokemon Legends: Arceus could be in the cards. This is why many would like to know what elements would be carried over onto the next game. Can we expect the exploration of another region's history? Is this just the first of several Pokemon Legends games that will exist separate from the mainline games? Will the series eventually go full-blown open-world like Breath of the Wild? It's unclear what Game Freak and The Pokemon Company currently have planned, but regardless of what they do next, there has never been a better time to be a Pokemon fan.
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