On February 27, the Pokémon franchise is celebrating its 25th anniversary, marking the initial release of Pokémon Red and Green in Japan. In celebration of that, The Pokémon Company today held a special Pokémon Presents video presentation, where it announced a couple of upcoming projects. Perhaps the most notable of these is Pokémon Legends: Arceus, which is coming next year.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus is one of the biggest shake-ups the franchise has seen as far as the main series of games goes. Just like previous titles, this one is developed by Game Freak, but it takes a radically different approach to the game"s design, with the company labeling it as an action RPG, rather than a turn-based strategy game like previous titles.
In Pokémon Legends: Arceus, players will be taken back to the Sinnoh region, which is where Pokémon Diamond and Pearl took place, but this time, it will be many years in the past, before people settled in the region as it is known today. The population of Sinnoh in this title will be focused on a single village, and players will travel the wilderness in an attempt to create the first-ever Pokédex.
Arceus, the titular character of the game, is known in the Pokémon world as the creator of the Pokémon universe, and will apparently be at the center of the story, though we don"t yet know how.
One thing that"s notable about the title is that while three starter Pokémon are available, they"re actually from different generations of games. The fire-type starter Cyndaquil hails from Pokémon Gold and Silver, the water-type Oshawott from Pokémon Black and White, and the grass-type Rowlet is from Pokémon Sun and Moon. Apparently, these creatures were brought to the Sinnoh region by a yet-unknown professor.
There are still a few mysteries surrounding this game, but Pokémon Legends: Arceus is slated to release in early 2022 on the Nintendo Switch.