The Pokemon series has rarely made sense. Players can brush aside these things in favor of enjoying one of the most popular franchises on the planet. Pokemon Legends: Arceus is no different. To enjoy the game at its full strength it is best to ignore some inconsistencies regarding the story and mechanics of the world.
It’s a fun, ambitious title that pushes the franchise forward to new levels. Of course, it's still worth bringing up some senseless things about Pokemon Legends: Arceus. It can be a fun stress relief to point out its obvious or not so obvious flaws. Most of these ideas don’t bring up heavy story beats, so there is no need to worry about spoilers in this lengthy adventure.
8 How Do Rocks And Nuts Make Poke Balls?
The ability to craft is one of the biggest improvements in Pokemon Legends: Arceus. Players no longer have to rely solely on stores to buy their goods from potions to Poke Balls. Crafting a Poke Ball and using it to capture a Pokemon does not make sense though.
How can a seemingly ordinary nut and stone create temporal portals to trap monsters in? Poke Balls in the other games must have chips in them, so it is quite baffling to see them function without them in Pokemon Legends: Arceus.
7 Why Couldn’t We Keep All Three Starters?
Professor Laventon has the player catch all three starter Pokemon since they escaped his sight. In doing so, Professor Laventon rewards the player with one of them. It would have made Pokemon Legends: Arceus a more unique gaming experience if he rewarded all three instead.
There is a reason why players don’t get more in the other games. The Pokemon Professors give them away to other trainers. That’s not the case in this game. So, why do Rowlet, Cyndaquil, and Oshawott have to rot away in a lab instead of joining the adventure?
6 Surviving A Fall From The Sky
Players enter the world of Sinnoh from a portal in the sky. Professor Laventon says he saw them fall, which means players somehow survived a crash and weren’t just teleported there. No damage is seemingly taken. However, if players jump off of cliffs in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, big or small, they will receive damage.
How can this game have it both ways? It is safe to assume Arceus padded the landing in the beginning, but that is just a theory. It is not fun to take falling damage in a game.
5 You Have A Phone But You Can’t Take Photos
Arceus gives the player a phone along with their safe passage into Sinnoh. It doesn’t seem to function as a normal phone though. It will sometimes give players hints but only in story contexts. It’s odd to put a phone, or phone-like device into a game and not have it function as an item.
Players could have used it to take photos for example. That has been a simple enough task for phones since the 2000s. Surely Arceus knew that before creating this phone for the player.
4 Shouldn’t Electricity Hurt Pokemon More In Water?
Environmental effects have been a part of the series for a while now. Pokemon Legends: Arceus puts some new spin on weather effects like foggy areas. Fog will reduce Pokemon attack accuracy. The game doesn’t go far enough with implementing sensible weather effects, though.
For example, if a Pokemon is swimming in the water and then gets zapped by lightning, shouldn’t that Pokemon receive more damage? The reason why it doesn’t work like this is presumably because the Switch isn’t that powerful. More monsters in this game should get affected by the weather even though that may be the case.
3 How Can A 15-Year-Old Not Jump Or Swim?
The player-created character is no longer a pre-pubescent child. They are 15, meaning they should rightly have more knowledge about life. For example, a 15-year-old should know how to swim. They should also know how to jump or climb very basic inclines without falling down.
Exploration is hindered because the main character can’t do either of these things without fumbling after a few seconds. There is an internal stamina bar that players can’t see. Players have to rely instead on cool mounts, but teenagers should also know the basics of traversal.
2 How Do These Legendary Pokemon Have Plates?
Whenever players encounter a new legendary Pokemon, they are gifted special plates. These will tie into the larger narrative at a later point in Pokemon Legends: Arceus which will not be spoiled here.
The question here instead is how can Pokemon carry around plates? They don’t have pockets. Most Pokemon aren’t wearing belts or clothes either. These plates could be stored in their mouths, or maybe they were stuck to their fur before players removed them. That’s the only possible explanation.
1 Is There One Wyrdeer Or Many
While it would have been great to see Pokemon Legends: Arceus implement more traversal options for the main character internally, it’s hard to argue against the idea of mounts. However, there is something that doesn’t make sense about the mechanic.
Wyrdeer is the first mount players acquire in the first area. Players can use a flute to summon it anywhere, and it instantly appears. That’s questionable but okay. How can Wyrdeer appear in other areas though? Is there more than one Wyrdeer? The same question applies to the other mounts.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus is currently available on Switch.