When Pokemon Legends Arceus was first revealed, no one knew what to make of it. There hadn’t been a mainline title of that naming before. But, as we discovered, it would serve as a kind of “prequel” adventure to Gen 4. We’d go to the region known as Hisui, which would later be called Sinnoh, and trainers would be tasked by Arceus himself to collect one of every Pokemon in the region. That was just the start of the changes that the title made. The game embraced a semi-open-world feel to give players a glimpse of what it would be like to live in a world filled with Pokemon.

The capture and battle mechanics of the game were different too. First, you could catch Pokemon easily without battling them. Then, in battles, you could tailor your techniques to be more about speed or power to get the job done. There were new Pokemon evolutions within the Hisui region. We met the Elder Pokemon that guarded over parts of the land and met many characters that would shape the area to come.

The game was well-received and sold incredibly well on the Switch. Then, less than a month later, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet were announced, and the hype for Gen 9 began. Fast forward to now, the reviews of Gen 9 have arrived, and they don’t paint the titles in the best of lights. Mainly, the game is great, but performance issues hinder it from being spectacular.

As a result of this, some trainers out there are saying that Pokemon Legends Arceus should’ve been the only Poke-title released this year: