Pokémon Legends: Arceus Trailer is Creepy Fun

If you’re at all interested in the Pokémon franchise, chances are you’ve heard about one of the most unique entries in the games, Pokémon Legends: Arceus. Running around in an action RPG with wild Pokemon attacking you has been a pipe dream for fans since, well, what feels like forever. If you add to that idea the unique historical setting of the Hisui region (now known as Sinnoh), and a focus on Arceus (AKA PokeGod), you have all the ingredients for a Pokémon game like no other.

Some are a little skeptical that the dream has been made with a monkey’s paw, so to speak. The initial trailers drew immediate comparisons to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and not entirely in the best way. It doesn’t match the visual quality of Breath of the Wild, and it looks a lot less busy as well. The Pokémon Company also recently confirmed that it won’t be an open-world game, which is another nail in the coffin of our dreams (although Monster Hunter-styled areas could still be cool). It still looks interesting and far more ambitious than previous Pokémon-related games that Game Freak has worked on.

With the most recent trailer, it seems the marketing team has decided to stretch into some new areas as well. The trailer is seemingly meant to be lost footage found in a snowy area of the Hisui region. It’s been recorded by some man, using a “strange device,” who encounters some supposedly cute Pokemon until he is potentially attacked by one in a cave.

It can’t all be said for sure because most of the footage is snowy and broken up instead of showing anything. If it wasn’t for being posted and spread on official Pokémon channels, I would have assumed this was a teaser for someone’s Blair Witch-inspired Pokémon fan film. That’s not a dig at it, because I do like this unique trailer! It just seems so far out of left field for anything Pokémon. There have been some really creepy stuff in the series, from human ghosts to certain Pokedex entries, but this is still very different.

It raises a lot of questions too. Who is this adorable Pokemon they’re hinting at? Who is the person we hear narrating? Did the adorable Pokemon kill him? Okay, I don’t think that the last one is too plausible, even if this is a game where Pokemon attack you, and some Pokedex entries would make me think some Pokemon are capable of truly awful things. Then again, I never expected creepy lost footage Pokémon trailers either.

There’s also the question of how someone made a recording when the technology period of the game looks rather old. He did call it a “strange device,” and the player character is supposed to receive an “Arc Phone”, which looks to be an Arceus-related touchscreen phone. Time-related shenanigans may be a big plot point for Pokémon Legends: Arceus.

If you’re interested in seeing the latest about it, the official website has wonderfully consolidated information about the game. The last Pokémon Presents also provided a more recent in-depth look into many of their upcoming games and content, including Pokémon Legends: Arceus. Even though I do wish the visuals looked better, I’m all for the Pokémon series to venture out of the comfort zone, even if it looks much different or ventures out with some stumbling steps.