[Legends: Arceus] I am actually scared to death to get this game...

I recently managed to get Let's Go Pikachu a few weeks ago. You're probably wondering what Pokémon Let's Go has to do with Pokémon Legends Arceus. Well, hear me out. I got that game expecting it to be a great experience reliving Kanto with great up-to-date graphics, all while riding my favorite Pokémon and whatnot, but little did I know how wrong I was. The moment I learned that I could only play with one joy-con when the Switch is docked, along with the absence of wild Pokémon battles, I was instantly disappointed with the game. I also don't like the Pokémon catching system, AVs instead of EVs, terrible controls when the system is docked, or how Pokémon level up mainly from catching them in the wild. I didn't realize that Pokémon Let's Go would be drastically different to the main series Pokémon games. To me, it ruined a potentially great game. (At least having the save file allowed me to get Mew in Brilliant Diamond). I realized that Pokémon Legends Arceus would be drastically different to them as well. Based on my extremely disappointing experience with Pokémon Let's Go, I am legit scared to get this game. I've grown to love the traditional gameplay from the mainline Pokémon games. I am scared that the drastic differences would do a lot to ruin my experience, much like Pokémon Let's Go. I hope I'm able to play it with both joy-cons at least when I dock my Switch. If I do get it, I do hope to get the chance to acquire Arceus. I haven't used him since the 4th generation games and I want to see him 2022 with better graphics. If I do get it, that literally might be my only reason. Sometimes, I wonder if other Pokémon players feel the same way I do about this game.

If you're that scared, wait until the game comes up and read some reviews.
As you've acknowledged yourself, Let's Go and Legends Arceus are two different games, two different situations.

Let's Go was a drastic simplification of an already well-established game world (RGBY, FRLG). They added a half a handful of features from the current generation, stripped away even more, and covered it with a lovely coat of paint.
Legends Arceus is an entirely different ball park. Game Freak have pushed the boundaries of their formula in the past few generations (introducing new battle mechanics, removing Gyms in gen 7, presenting the Pokémon League in a different light in gen 8), but it's never quite been like Legends Arceus. No gyms, no whimsical plot to take over the world (that we know of). Hell, we've never had a single main-series game before that isn't part of a pair.

Legends Arceus gets to focus totally on the story. Ever since Ruby and Sapphire, the two legendary mascots have had to be somewhat interchangeable in the game plot. Groudon threatened to dry up the oceans, Kyogre threatened to flood the lands. Dialga threatened to warp time, Palkia to shatter space. Unova... would've had to deal with a dragon overlord. Kalos was gonna be blown up due to the energy gained from EITHER Xerneas/Yveltal... etc.

My point being, they've always been bound, if mildly so, by the notion of "Play through this story and battle/trade with your friends!", but that doesn't have to be a factor for Legends Arceus whatsoever, and that's intriguing to me. I played the absolute heck out of Yellow, Gold, Ruby, LeafGreen, Platinum... and never really had anyone to trade with in those days where internet wasn't so it was more about single-player, for me. I'd finish the story, and proceed to make myself king of that region. Not really what Game Freak intended, but it's how I played.
Legends Arceus will present us with an opportunity to play the game in this light, only this time it's intentional. I'm not sure if I'm making sense here, but I'm pretty excited to see what it'll be like.

And I'm almost 100% certain they won't pull a LGPE with the controls for LA. I look forward to using my Pro controller to play while the system is docked; I will agree, it was downright jarring in LGPE!

Let's Go and Legends Arceus are two different games, two different situations.

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Absolutely this!

I think it's definitely too early to worry. While Legends is clearly very different, the core gameplay will (imo) feel less jarring than Let's Go since you will continue needing to battle Pokémon to catch them. The feel of battle and certain moves will be different, but when it comes to gameplay I think it'll feel similar to the standard Pokémon game since it still puts focus on the standard 'weaken to catch, do battle against other Pokémon' that is the norm. While I liked Let's Go, they have always felt different because you're in a catching screen 80% of the time when engaged in combat. Legends has strong focus on catching, but battling is also massively important to its style and narrative. The controls will most likely be better, too.

I think that other people already gave you a complete answer. Waiting is good. I do understand your fears and tbh it just makes sense when it comes to a new game like PLA. Like giradialkia said, this game is totally different from the others and probably many players could even dislike it. Honestly when trailers came out I was so worried as well because I was like "can GF handle a game like this?". Because indeed from the premises this game could be either a really good one or a really bad one. It truly just depends on the effort made for this game. If you have seen some leaks you may have an idea, even about gameplay. If you don't want to get spoilers, then waiting is the right thing to do. Many people pre order games just because "it's pokemon" and they expect the game to be like others. Obviously this can't work with PLA. I feel that between all changes and innovations, there might still be a feeling of the other games. Honestly, if I was uncertain about the game, I wouldn't pre order it and I would wait for reviews and maybe watching some other people play it first. Also, pokemon trailers also seem to fill people with expectations, while in the end it may just be as not good as it seemed. But this happens for everything tbh. I pre ordered the game because despite it may be good or not, it's so innovative and different and I like that. I want that to be part of my experience, so I don't care if it turns out to be a bad game, I still want to play it myself.

The catching mechanic and moreso the fact Pokemon can flee and the way you obtain money/poke balls are the main reasons I don't play Lets go or shinyhunt in it.

This game appears to have fixed some of those issues or it hasn't been revealed.


The throwing mechanic was horrendous in lets go. Typically you'd throw towards the Pokemon and the ball would fly sideways off the screen. Wasted quite a few balls.

Then you gained money by battling trainers and received balls from catching I believe. But how do you get money after you've battled the regular trainers early in the game? Hopefully the throwing mechanic isn't that you have to physically fling your arm to throw the ball in this game. I 100% prefer the click a button and the npc throws it. And hopefully wild Pokemon can't flee whenever they want in the catchscreen.

I personally am the opposite. I liked Let's Go Pikachu and just was 50/50 with Sword/Shield. Again, Let's Go and this game are two different beasts. I honestly liked what I saw about this game, nd that 12-13 minute gameplay thing made me feel more excited for this.

Some people even joked that GameFreak went on Reddit and saw the complaints about Sword/Shield, and fixed them for this game.

NipahRika said:

I personally am the opposite. I liked Let's Go Pikachu and just was 50/50 with Sword/Shield. Again, Let's Go and this game are two different beasts. I honestly liked what I saw about this game, nd that 12-13 minute gameplay thing made me feel more excited for this.

Some people even joked that GameFreak went on Reddit and saw the complaints about Sword/Shield, and fixed them for this game.

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I am confident on the fact that we'll see some improvements :)