With Pokemon Legends: Arceus, Game Freak proved that the series and its fans are ready for innovation, which most recent releases have started striving for. Pokemon Sun and Moon brought regional variants, which have been a series' staple since, and Pokemon Sword and Shield experimented with somewhat open-world areas in the base game and their DLC expansions. These DLCs were also innovative compared to re-releasing a given generation with a third title, such as Pokemon Emerald or Pokemon Platinum. Similarly, Pokemon Legends: Arceus seems a likely candidate for DLC.
If DLC for Pokemon Legends: Arceus is in the works, there are many things it could add to the game to make it even better, aside from just new and returning Pokemon. Pokemon Legends: Arceus is missing abilities, held items, and breeding, which is something the mainline series has been focused on for a long time. Thus, it's interesting to see what could possibly come to the game with DLC, especially if it's not too focused on the story campaign of Pokemon Legends: Arceus by building on its mysteries.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus' DLC Could Reshape the Game
Any Pokemon game getting DLC is almost guaranteed to have a few new Pokemon, as seen with Pokemon Sword and Shield's Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra. In the case of Pokemon Legends: Arceus, there could be several new Hisuian form, as well as a couple of new Legendary Pokemon, like the base game did with Enamorous from the genie trio of Pokemon Black and White. Currently, there are 63 Pokemon missing from every Switch Pokemon game, including fan-favorite Greninja or the Mythical Pokemon Hoopa and Meloetta.
Pokemon with unique designs and concepts, such as the Delphox line and Oricorio, have been cut from Pokemon Sword and Shield and other Switch games. While there might be valid reasons in terms of a region's biodiversity and ecosystem, it still feels bad to not see some peoples' favorites not make an appearance. Some Pokemon, like the Elektross line, would be a great fit for Pokemon Legends: Arceus and its DLC because a main issue with this Pokemon, competitively speaking, was that it had no weaknesses due to its Electric-typing and Levitate ability. It's unlikely that all 63 missing critters will make their way into a DLC expansion, but seeing just a few of them would still be great.
Still, there are also new and recurring places that a Pokemon Legends: Arceus DLC could explore, such as Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl's Iron Island, which is currently clouded in Legends: Arceus' map, as if it could be explored at some point. The game already does a great job at glorifying the Sinnoh region through Hisui's sub-regions and how well they are rendered, even going to the length of adding Stark Mountain and other landmarks from Gen 4 titles, so having some more would be a huge draw.
One of the most interesting aspects of a possible DLC for Pokemon Legends: Arceus is that it could add a sort of research facility for players to expand their Pokedex and discover more things Pokemon can do. This could include, but not be limited to, discovering abilities, held items, and breeding - possibly expanding the amount of Pokedex tasks one can complete for each critter. Overall, this would be a fantastic way to handle the DLC because it would make sense story-wise, and it would provide players with plenty of content to look forward to with a single release.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus is available now for the Nintendo Switch.
