Julius Posted February 3, 2022 Author Posted February 3, 2022 (edited) The game has had the second best first week of a Switch game in Japan (behind only Animal Crossing). See you all in March where 4 of the 10 best-selling Switch games are Pokémon, then Edited February 3, 2022 by Julius 1
Ashley Posted February 3, 2022 Posted February 3, 2022 1 hour ago, Julius said: The game has had the second best first week of a Switch game in Japan (behind only Animal Crossing). See you all in March where 4 of the 10 best-selling Switch games are Pokémon, then Could just be having a blank moment but what would the 4th be? Was there another new Pokémon game last year I forgot about?
Glen-i Posted February 3, 2022 Posted February 3, 2022 1 minute ago, Ashley said: Could just be having a blank moment but what would the 4th be? Was there another new Pokémon game last year I forgot about? Let's Go/Sword+Shield/Brilliant Diamond+Shining Pearl
Ashley Posted February 3, 2022 Posted February 3, 2022 Just now, Glen-i said: Let's Go/Sword+Shield/Brilliant Diamond+Shining Pearl That is a terrible way of listing those games, who let's you write for the site. I was thinking of them as separate games after the recent 22 best selling games of 2021 but I had forgotten in some instances they combine them and sometimes they don't. 1 2
Glen-i Posted February 3, 2022 Posted February 3, 2022 1 minute ago, Ashley said: That is a terrible way of listing those games, who let's you write for the site. I was thinking of them as separate games after the recent 22 best selling games of 2021 but I had forgotten in some instances they combine them and sometimes they don't. Simply put, if two mainline Pokemon games are released on the same day, they're counted as one title for the purpose of sales figures.
Julius Posted February 3, 2022 Author Posted February 3, 2022 5 minutes ago, Glen-i said: Let's Go/Sword+Shield/Brilliant Diamond+Shining Pearl 2 minutes ago, Glen-i said: Simply put, if two mainline Pokemon games are released on the same day, they're counted as one title for the purpose of sales figures. Interestingly enough, from earlier on in the earnings call, it seems like they might have been concerned about the game's performance due to it being one version rather than two: I don't know how many people Nintendo and TPCi thought were double dipping...
Ashley Posted February 3, 2022 Posted February 3, 2022 "How does 4Q Arceus/Kirby impact 4Q guidance?" Arceus/Kirby would be a great pair of Pokémon games. They're both gods in their own universes after all. Only one doesn't look like a Liberty Christmas tree ornament. 1 1
Glen-i Posted February 3, 2022 Posted February 3, 2022 22 minutes ago, Julius said: I don't know how many people Nintendo and TPCi thought were double dipping... Families with two or more children? I also think Let's Go's very poor reception in Japan (Lowest opening sales in mainline Pokémon history over there) might have caused some concern with Arceus, which is essentially Let's Go 2 in everything but name. 16 minutes ago, Ashley said: Arceus/Kirby would be a great pair of Pokémon games. They're both gods in their own universes after all. Only one doesn't look like a Liberty Christmas tree ornament. The difference is Kirby has the choice to do so. If there was ever an argument for not having the anime voices in Legends, it's Arceus itself. Because the voice is, um, let's go with "interesting". I first heard it in Smash 3DS where it was one of the Pokémon you can get from a Poké Ball, and even in Ultimate, It still makes me laugh whenever it pops up.
Ashley Posted February 3, 2022 Posted February 3, 2022 9 minutes ago, Glen-i said: The difference is Kirby has the choice to do so. Well if he finds the right thing to eat, sure.
Hero-of-Time Posted February 3, 2022 Posted February 3, 2022 Nabbed a couple of more shiny Pokemon. Spoiler I'm just 6 Pokemon away from completing the Pokedex. These last few are taking ages to get. A few of them come from rifts and, as expected, the things just won't spawn for me. Cherubi is also causing me issues. I've loaded the area it is supposed to be in numerous times but the thing just won't spawn. Either the trees aren't shaking or a different Pokemon pops out. Happy to see the game has sold so well. It really is a breath of fresh air compared to the main games. I'm hoping they continue this series or at least implement a lot of the stuff found in into the new mainline games.
bob Posted February 3, 2022 Posted February 3, 2022 The reviews for this are looking really good. I'm definitely tempted...
Glen-i Posted February 3, 2022 Posted February 3, 2022 (edited) 10 minutes ago, bob said: The reviews for this are looking really good. I'm definitely tempted... It's OK. The battling aspect has been kicked to the wayside in order to focus more on having a big (and empty) place to explore. I get bored of it quite quickly though, and can't go on for more then an hour before wanting to play something else. Which, for me, is basically unheard of for a Pokémon game. If you liked Let's Go and BotW, you'll likely enjoy this. The reviews are mostly favourable because it's "open-world" and that's the in thing currently. It's got some cool ideas, but the negatives outweigh the positives. Edited February 3, 2022 by Glen-i 1
bob Posted February 3, 2022 Posted February 3, 2022 It's OK. The battling aspect has been kicked to the wayside in order to focus more on having a big (and empty) place to explore. I get bored of it quite quickly though, and can't go on for more then an hour before wanting to play something else. Which, for me, is basically unheard of for a Pokémon game. If you liked Let's Go and BotW, you'll likely enjoy this. The reviews are mostly favourable because it's "open-world" and that's the in thing currently. It's got some cool ideas, but the negatives outweigh the positives.I've never been that interested in the battling tbh. I like the idea of a free roam Pokémon exploration game.
Hero-of-Time Posted February 3, 2022 Posted February 3, 2022 23 minutes ago, bob said: I've never been that interested in the battling tbh. I like the idea of a free roam Pokémon exploration game. Yeah, I'm the same. I was more interested in seeing the new Pokemon and filling my Pokedex, which is why I love both Let's Go and this game.
darksnowman Posted February 3, 2022 Posted February 3, 2022 48 minutes ago, Glen-i said: It's OK. The battling aspect has been kicked to the wayside in order to focus more on having a big (and empty) place to explore. How's it compare to the Wild Area?
Julius Posted February 3, 2022 Author Posted February 3, 2022 (edited) 27 minutes ago, darksnowman said: How's it compare to the Wild Area? I haven't played through the Sword/Shield Expansion Pass, so can't speak to any improvements they might have made there, but the difference between this and the base game Wild Areas for Sword/Shield is night and day. It's crystal clear in Legends: Arceus that a lot more thought was put into shortening the gaps between groups of Pokémon, the composition of those groups of Pokémon, the terrain and topology of these areas, and they feel much more vast. The addition of shaking trees and resources for you to throw your Pokémon at in order for them to interact with also goes some way to creating a finer and more consistent gameplay loop compared to what I remember of Sword/Shield's Wild Area. You can kind of tell Monolith Soft was consulted by how much of an improvement I feel this is (I also reckon they nabbed some ideas for the targeting/camera too, feels very Breath of the Wild with the way it pulls back at times). There are still some empty spaces, but in my opinion it's nowhere near as barren as it was in the base game of Sword/Shield. And completely unrelated, the ads for this game have been absolutely nutty. Here's another to follow on from the Munchlax one: Edited February 3, 2022 by Julius 1 1
Glen-i Posted February 3, 2022 Posted February 3, 2022 1 hour ago, darksnowman said: How's it compare to the Wild Area? I have played the Sword/Shield Expansion Pass. So I'll chime in with my thoughts as well. But I will also pre-empt those thoughts by clarifying that A: The Crown Tundra is the only area that I think is remotely interesting to explore and B: I've only been in the first two areas in Legends. I've played a lot of Sword/Shield, well over 400 hours. Most of that time is spent in the three Wild Areas, but the thing is, I was certain that I was only there because of Max Raids. A single area in Legends is about 10 times bigger then the Wild Area, but this comes with the caveat of feeling like it takes 10 times as long to get anywhere. Even with riding Pokémon around, the place is just too damn big and it's made even worse by the far fewer places you can warp to. It takes 2 minutes tops to get anywhere in Sword/Shield. You'd be lucky to get anywhere in that time in Legends. To make it even worse, riding a Pokémon limits what you can do. You can't throw items or Pokémon out to interact with things, so if you see some materials you want or a Pokémon you want to battle/capture, you have to dismount. This has led to quite a few moments when a rare Pokémon has unexpectedly spawned for me, only for it to skedaddle because I frightened it by barrelling past on a massive deer. In Sword/Shield, you can do everything while riding a bike. In Legends, it feels like I'm being punished for going fast too often. And I've said it before, but I'll emphasize it. Legends areas are so damn empty. Without the distraction of Max Raids or visiting other people's camps to see their Pokémon and make curry, there's not much in terms of landmarks. The Crown Tundra was a promising sign that a more open Pokémon has potential, as it has a quite a few landmarks, like the Regi Temples, or the complex cave to try and get through in order to get to the top of the mountain where a ruined castle hides. Legends has some such as the Lakes that feature in the Gen 4 games, but they are sparse, considering the size of the place. 1 hour ago, Julius said: It's crystal clear in Legends: Arceus that a lot more thought was put into shortening the gaps between groups of Pokémon I also don't actually agree with this. Each area is kinda split up into sub-areas and you'll see the same group of Pokémon depending on where you are 99% of the time. In Sword/Shield, what you find in the Wild Areas vary much more dramatically and change daily with the weather. This is likely to accommodate the smaller size, Legends has to spread out it's diversity to cover a much wider area, so you'll expect to see the same Pokémon pop up often. 1
Hero-of-Time Posted February 3, 2022 Posted February 3, 2022 After just shy of 60 hours played, it is done. Spoiler The final post game mission was a great fight and it took me a fair few attempts to get everything right. Spoiler The last rift Pokemon I needed took an absolute age to get. The rift just wouldn't spawn at all. There doesn't seem to be any pattern to it and so I just left me character standing idle until one eventually showed up. I nearly missed the thing because by the time I seen it and went over there I only had about a minute to catch anything. Luckily, the pokemon that I was after spawned straight away. The request that has you hunting down all 107 wisps was a bit of a nightmare as well. I thought the game had glitched on me because I just couldn't find one of them. I spent over an hour looking for the thing and I eventually found it hiding on the side of a cliff. I have no idea how I missed the thing! I managed to find one last shiny. I saved the best for last. Spoiler The thing looks exactly the same! What a rip! Hell of a game. It's only Feb and it's certainly going to be in my running for my personal GOTY. I've still got stuff left to do on it as well. I've got a few requests left to mop up and I could even try and get a perfect rating on each of the Pokedex entries. I feel that last part is beyond me, mainly due to some of the entries rely on rift Pokemon. It's too random to make any decent progress on it, 3 hours ago, Glen-i said: A single area in Legends is about 10 times bigger then the Wild Area, but this comes with the caveat of feeling like it takes 10 times as long to get anywhere. Even with riding Pokémon around, the place is just too damn big and it's made even worse by the far fewer places you can warp to. It takes 2 minutes tops to get anywhere in Sword/Shield. You'd be lucky to get anywhere in that time in Legends. I think this is by design. Once you unlock the final mount and extra bases you can zip around the area in no time at all. Without this mount the player is forced to make their way through the areas more organically and at a slow pace. Once the training wheels come off you can easily make your way from one end of the map to the other in no time at all. If you couldn't then you would certainly end up missing rifts opening up. 3
FalcoLombardi Posted February 3, 2022 Posted February 3, 2022 (edited) 6 hours ago, Julius said: And completely unrelated, the ads for this game have been absolutely nutty. Here's another to follow on from the Munchlax one: According to my city's subreddit page, this was filmed locally. And the old guy with the white hair & mustache in the middle is Rick Sebak, a local documentary filmmaker. It is supposedly in the Omni William Penn hotel downtown. No clue why they made this in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Edited February 3, 2022 by FalcoLombardi 2
Julius Posted February 4, 2022 Author Posted February 4, 2022 (edited) Well, holy smokes. Legends: Arceus has sold 6.5 million units within its first week week, giving it the strongest opening week of any Pokémon game to date (a record previously held by Sword/Shield and Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl, which both sold 6 million units in their first weeks). Very deserved in my eyes. Still got a fair way to go until the main story and then Dex are complete, but I'm having a blast! Edited February 4, 2022 by Julius
Glen-i Posted February 4, 2022 Posted February 4, 2022 That means that in a single week, it has already sold more then Pokémon Crystal's entire lifetime sales. I'd be lying if I said that it didn't rub me up the wrong way. I barely make any progress before wanting to do something else.
Mr-Paul Posted February 4, 2022 Posted February 4, 2022 I've been looking to pick this up for my holiday and it's actually been sold out on Amazon, ShopTo and Simply Games. Shame as I had an Amazon voucher to use. Think I'm going to pick it up from Argos today instead.
Dcubed Posted February 4, 2022 Posted February 4, 2022 Well that puts to rest the stupid theory that Pokemon only sold as well as it did because people were buying both versions for themselves. Unless you think that Legends Arceus has sold twice as well as any other Pokemon game. 1
Ashley Posted February 4, 2022 Posted February 4, 2022 That's always seemed spurious because surely most people choose a version and by that. I imagine there's very little double dipping going on. I'd guess 10% of people buy both and that's my high end of estimation.
Glen-i Posted February 4, 2022 Posted February 4, 2022 4 hours ago, Ashley said: That's always seemed spurious because surely most people choose a version and by that. I imagine there's very little double dipping going on. I'd guess 10% of people buy both and that's my high end of estimation. Really, in this day of online trading, there really is no reason to buy both, unless you're a parent with two kids. For one person to get any use out of two versions, they'd need two consoles, just not worth the cost.
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