The Pokemon Company have announced Pokemon Legends Arceus, an action RPG game set in the Sinnoh region’s ancient past.

People have traveled to Sinnoh to establish a town, and explore a wild region. You will be creating the first Pokedex. While battles are still turn-based, players can throw Pokeballs at wild Pokemon freely. Players also seem to be able to explore freely, and are able to roll and sneak.

The starters are Rowlet, Cyndaquil, and Oshawott; given to you by a traveling professor. The Pokemon Arceus; said to have created the world, will also be critical to the story. Further, the ninja-like designs of the player character (specifically the scarves) evoke the design of the main characters in Pokemon Platinum. 

You can find the announcement trailer below.

Information about this and the recently announced remakes Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Pokemon Shining Pearl leaked before the Pokemon Presents livestream [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]. While most of the information was correct, those leaks claimed this game would not be turn based.

The leaks also make the claim that the game is open world, feature battles seamlessly transitioning from exploration, and are “energy based” or utilize some form of timer. It also claims that along with traditional Pokemon games, this open world game will become a new series.

As pure speculation, the PC Box system is unlikely to return as the technology would not exist; Pokeballs not withstanding. Combined with how players can catch Pokemon without battling them, it may mean players can only catch wild Pokemon for a short time. Then again, this does not explain the starter Pokemon the player can obtain.

We will keep you informed as we learn more. You can find the abridged rundown (via the official website) below.

A Bold New Direction

The Pokémon Legends: Arceus game honors past Pokémon games’ core gameplay while infusing new action and RPG elements.

You’ll need to catch, survey, and research wild Pokémon in a long-gone era of the Sinnoh region to create and complete the region’s first Pokédex.

Catch Pokémon

To catch Pokémon in the Pokémon Legends: Arceus game, you can observe them to learn their behavior, then carefully sneak up, aim your Poké Ball™, and let fly!

You can also have your ally Pokémon battle wild Pokémon that you hope to catch. Just throw the Poké Ball holding your ally Pokémon near a wild Pokémon, and you’ll seamlessly enter battle and command your Pokémon by choosing from moves it knows.

An Adventure in the Sinnoh of Days Gone By

You’ll be brought to the Sinnoh region, the setting for the Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl games. But this story unfolds in a long-gone era, before ideas such as being a Pokémon Trainer or having a Pokémon League even existed.

All around, you’ll find Pokémon living wild in harsh environments that make for a Sinnoh unlike the region you may remember from the days of the Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl games.

The Poké Balls of old were apparently built a little differently from the ones we know so well. They were made mostly of wood, and steam puffed from their tops when Pokémon were caught.​

Pokemon Legends Arceus launches Early 2022 for Nintendo Switch.

Image: Twitter