So ya know the Safari Zone in the first Pokemon games? Where you couldn't battle any Pokemon, you just had to chuck rocks or food are balls at them? Remember how that was a great idea in concept, not so much in practice, and you gave up before you found that Chansey or Tauros because you wasted all your safari balls on Tangelas?

Or was that just me?

If you share that experience, Legends Arceus is that idea executed perfectly. I've never been one to try and fill up my PokeDex, and its importance has diminished as the years have gone on. There wasn't much motivation to do so until they introduced the Shiny Charm, and even then there were methods of shiny hunting that were just as reliable without it. While this reward is still within LA, the other rewards and methods of hunting Pokemon are wildly satisfying in and of themselves, and you only have to battle when absolutely necessary.

While I've expressed the lack of need for a Pokemon game to have a story if the setting and exploration can pick up the slack, LA's story is genuinely pretty fascinating despite it starting as "what if you were isekai'd into colonial hokkaido". The exploration lends itself to this... but on that note, this is where I did have to dock it down a little.

While reaching new spots in a given area is an engaging goal, the flat open planes and clear pathways ending in clusters of Pokemon do get rather same-y after a while of shiny hunting or item grinding. While I understand why the ability to craft items was implemented, by the end I found the material grind so frustrating that I simply farmed certain battles for cash to buy the pokeballs and sticky globs I needed for my Dex-filling or shiny hunts.

And then there's Arceus itself.

Other Pokemon games have some difficulty spikes. I thought people were exaggerating when they cursed the Pokemon deity for its difficulty. While you have learned the Pokemon partner-less dodge-heavy battle mechanics through the game with the few in each newly unlocked area, nothing prepares you for the onslaught this creature throws your way. I struggled through the first phase of the fight only for each and every one of my fully trained multiple IV'd, Level 100 'mons to bite it thanks to Arceus's garbage unfair type-shifting mechanic. I've seen skilled, veteran players struggle with this fight for ages, and beating it is apparently REQUIRED to ACTUALLY complete the game's Dex. You can't even transfer your own Arceus from the Sinnoh remakes. It, evidently, does not count unless you've let God set you and your pets on fire until he lets you catch him in a ball made of fruit.

If you love Pokemon, play Legends Arceus. If you want to shiny hunt in Legends Arceus, just do the reset trick. Getting the namesake itself is not worth it.