I have been playing Pokémon video games since middle school. After I watched “Sword Art Online” and I played the video game, Zelda: Breath of the Wild, I have hoped for a Pokémon virtual reality massive multiplayer online (VRMMO) game with an open world concept such as in Breath of the Wild. I envision that each expansion would unlock a new region with that particular storyline generation’s Pokémon. I would love to play that game and watch it evolve and expand over time.

With the launch of the Pokémon: Let’s Go series and Pokémon: Sword and Shield, I noticed that the Pokémon franchise games have been adding in small open world areas to their games, and although I want the whole game to be open world instead of just a few small zones, it has been a nice gateway into the open world concept for Pokémon. I look forward to when the open world concept takes over the Pokémon franchise games completely.

It appears that Pokémon Legends: Arceus builds upon the somewhat open world concept of Pokémon: Sword and Shield, but it does not quite reach Breath of the Wild status, at least for me. It gives users more open concept zones, made the existing open concept zones bigger, and even provided more diverse terrains, but the gameplay still transitions between the village and the open concept zones. I wish the game developers would have given players a full open world experience, so the gameplay flows more smoothly and feels more connected. It is an evolution in the right direction for the Pokémon games, in my opinion, but I did expect more of it by this point.

That said, I do enjoy having the ability for Pokédex entries, and as a completionist, I really enjoy the more expansive gameplay necessary to fully level up each Pokémon’s entry. This gives players plenty to do, and it is also a lot of fun to learn about each Pokémon’s legend as you play. Most entries require you to play the Pokémon in order to finish its entry into your Pokédex, so I try out different Pokémon that I may not normally utilize in other gameplay.

Pokémon rides, or mounts, are a nice touch compared to the old days of hidden machines (HMs). Personally, I am glad to see HMs disappear the way of the Aerodactyl— and may HMs never find their way into the fossil machine! Using new regional variants as Pokémon mounts makes it feel fresh and unique. I am glad the game developers do not just give us a Tauros or Rapidash and leave it at that. They give us five different mounts!

Overall, I love Pokémon Legends: Arceus. It is definitely a step in the right direction. I look forward to the franchise and its game series evolving even further. Maybe I will get to play a full Pokémon VRMMO one day. Until then, I will keep dreaming— and keep gaming!