Published: May 30, 2022 by

A couple of months ago I had a pile of games built up that were ready to trade in. When I took them to the shop I saw a new Pokemon game was out, and my daughter is now at the age were some games are becoming fun for her to play. Reading up on the open world nature of Arceus I thought it might be something fun for us to enjoy together. What I didn’t know was just how much fun we would end up having.

From the moment we got to pick our starter (Cyndaquil) we were having fun. My daughter loves all things monsters, loud and colorful so we were off to a good start. Once we powered through the open dialogue as fast as possible (who needs a story when there are monsters?) we were running through the Obsidian Fieldlands discovering all kinds of new Pokemon along the way. My daughter loved it, I was enjoying the nostalgia of seeing familiar faces from my childhood and we were spending time discovering a new world together.

By this point we’ve logged enough hours to explore the far corners of each map, track down alphas and space time distortions, address the rift and we are left tracking down a few lingering Pokedex entries so that we can meet Arceus. It’s been a fun journey around the world, but for me the best part has been seeing the happiness and discovery that my daughter has enjoyed along the way.

Along the way there have been a few things she discovered early on that have endured and become a constant part of our exploration. Anytime we see a shaking rock or tree we have to find out what’s in it. Often times this is met with “just geodude” or “another burmy”, but occassionaly it’s an excited shout “WHAT IS THAT!” as Heracross or another unexpected Pokemon pops out.

Bubbles (space-time distortions) have become another ongoing source of entertainment. There is a sense of heightened risk as we are constantly being targetted by the Pokemon spawning in the bubble never knowing what will come next. It’s fun to race around picking up the random items while watching for any bubble denizens we might want to engage.

But most of all I love seeing the stories and interactions my daughter imagines with the non aggressive Pokemon interactions. Each map has a variety of Pokemon or locations were the Pokemon don’t become aggressive as you approach. Probably the most notable for us has been the Alabaster Icelands hot spring where there is often a Machop, Machoke and other Pokemon relaxing and enjoying the water. My daughter loves to run and jump into the water, share snacks (berries) and follow the other Pokemon as they hop and run around. The stories she makes in these moments are amazing and I can only imagine transcend what the designers were imagining as they opted to have less aggressive Pokemon scattered throughout the map. These moments have easily become my favorite part of the game. Maybe in a future Legends the Pokemon in your party will be able to join in these interactions or have non combative interactions in the wild.

I hadn’t played many games in the last few years, but Legends has been a really fun way to spend time with my daughter. It’s had us sharing ideas, taking turns navigating the world and finding plenty of surprises on the journey to meet Arceus.

P.S. Outside of the fun these fun interactions I have found the game soundtrack to be great. I don’t have any other Pokemon tracks in my playlist, but I’ve added many from this game and I think I may have to go check out the music from previous entries that I haven’t played.

Photo by Pixa Pexel: https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-shot-of-a-pokemon-toy-10500654/