Pokémon Legends: Arceus is the 369th episode of Fandom Games' comedy series Honest Game Trailers. It was written by Max Song, Andrew Bird, and Spencer Gilbert, and narrated by Jon Bailey as Epic Voice Guy. It parodies the action role-playing video game Pokémon Legends: Arceus. It was published on February 22, 2022. It has been viewed over 50,000 times.
Script[]
In a realistic dystopia, where the Pokémon formula remained stagnant for two decades, and everyone happily ate the same slop while Pikachu held our nostalgia at gunpoint, comes a modern-day miracle: a Pokémon game that isn't just looking at a bunch of menus.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus
Dive into the latest title from the Pocket Monster dynasty, as Arceus defies their usual convention of packing as many anime Neopets to fight as possible like they're in Bloodsport, for a much more interactive and free-roaming environment, where you'll witness Pokémon in their natural habitat, catch them in frankly upsetting quantities, and fight them like they're in Bloodsport, in a surprisingly out-of-character change that still clearly straddles the line between a main title and a spin-off, making it feel like Nintendo dipping their toes to see how sweaty the Pokémon nerds are going to get about anything changing at all, because the most interesting thing to happen to Pokémon in about a decade was watching adults argue about a game for toddlers. (multiple articles pop up detailing Pokémon fans venting their rage at the developers) It's pretty much my favorite thing about the franchise.
"Flintstones" into a world before Gym Leaders, fashionably coordinated gangs, and wanton child endangerment, where Pokémon were more mysterious creatures to be feared and less domestic slaves, then don the bland face of the usual generic protagonist, as they're jettisoned into the past with only their sandals and a cell phone that he pimped out for some reason, tasked with quelling the fury of rampaging Pokémon, all while attempting to make everyone less fearful of the little monsters, which kind of implies that you were sent from the future by their Pokémon god to place them into indentured servitude, in a narrative that really tries to make the whole Pokémon thing seem... "mutually beneficial", until you actually think about it for more than one second. It doesn't look good when most of your missions is to actively convince the indigenous people that Pokémon love living in tiny little wood baaalls and fighting for their owners' pleasure. I know what you're thinking: "This is a Pokémon game! It's fantasy!" But you look at Mr. Mime and tell me he wouldn't eat a person whole. And I'm supposed to believe he's just going to babysit my kids? Ash's mom doesn't count.
Explore the vast untamed wilderness of Arceus, that takes the straight pathways of the cities and highways out entirely, for vast biomes full of frolicking Pokémon, then disrupt the ecosystem entirely as you mine the land for resources, so you can use that material to overcraft items that you'll probably never get through. Then, traverse through land, air, and sea, as you're gifted with Pokémon that don't take up a whole slot as an HM slave, which you'll use to navigate from objective to objective, while catching Pokémon in Costco bulk to pad out your Pokédex, and accumulate points Pokémon Snap-style, which sounds fun enough, but ends with you just camping Bidoofs until you've caught, like, twenty of them, in a much-needed refinement of what it means to navigate a Pokémon game, that, despite its overall simplicity, still feels fresh in this context... and the fact that you don't get jumped by twenty people just going down a walkway helps a lot, too. I'm pretty sure that whole "waiting to battle" thing is just a form of extortion.
Toss your Pokémon into the fray once again, as you contend with the concessions Game Freak made with the mechanics of this title, as you stalk Pokémon in the open, skulking through tall grass, throwing bait and luuuuures, so you can position yourself to get that perfect concussion to the back of the head, that will either lead to a hassle-free catch or a very angry Pokémon that will aggro at you like you owe them money...
"Pokémon Trainer": (while throwing "Pokéballs" at a "Paras") NO!
"Paras": Why are you running? Why are you running?
...as you dodge, cower, or flee from their attacks, which you'll certainly avoid because you've played way too much Dark Souls to not roll out of this baby sh*t, and the biggest challenge will be actually forgetting you don't have a ball equipped and accidentally throwing a Pokémon. Then, jump into the most unchanged portions of Arceus, that will have you playing the same turn-based game of rock paper scissor gun, which is about the usual experience of either wiping out whole swaths of Pokémon, or getting your Pokémon one-shotted because of an incompatible type, that will certainly hurt worse with the introduction of styles, allowing a Pokémon to either hit heavier or hit more often, meaning they might end up taking out two Pokémon before you even have a chance to do anything, if they aren't just straight-up kicking the crap out of you in 3v1, in a design even the developers don't particularly seem fond of that much anymore, since most of the boss battles you'll face can be done without fighting at all, especially now that you can't even fight people online, because can you really call yourself a Pokémon Master if you don't cheese-strat a malding 30-year-old into rage-quitting?
So toss those baaaaalls and get ready to actually catch them all, in a real step forward for the franchise, that feels like a genuine next-gen effort, where hopefully the next main title will be something everyone can agree is an innovation... but I won't hold my breath. Fool me once, shame on me; fool me 35 titles over twenty years, and I'm brand-loyal!
Starring: Sea-fu (Hisuian Samurott); Weeahoot (Hisuian Decidueye); Let Me Tell You About Weed Culture (Hisuian Typhlosion); Axe Body Spraying Mantis (Kleavor); Visual Kei Kei Slider (Hisuian Zoroark); The Leftover Plastic Brackets in Model Kits (Wyrdeer); Sega Bass Fishing (Basculegion); Choking Hazard (Hisuian Electrode); A Cobb Salad (Hisuian Lilligant); Spirit Airlines (Hisuian Braviary); Arcanine Dollar Haircut (Hisuian Arcanine); Aggravated Asphalt (Hisuian Avalugg); Minesweeper (Overqwil); A Thanksgiving Turkey (Ursaluna); Skrillex (Sneasler); Prehistoric Gary (Hisuian Goodra); Gaming PC (Dialga: Origin Forme); Horsing Around (Palkia: Origin Forme); The God of McDonald's Ice Cream Machines (Arceus); and Call Me Big Poppachu (Pikachu).
The bag expansion guy might be the most evil character in all these games, because you have to be Jeff Bezos levels of sociopathic to charge this much. Seriously, this dude makes Tom Nook look like Mother Teresa.
Viewer Comments[]
Please say: "Ma'am, sir, your daughter is a witch, and a powerful one". - Nishido Hellhillsruler
For Jeremy Giambi say "Jason can you spot me some cash". - Neo Duc Two
Say: "Nothing's more romantic than a murder in the second degree." - Russell Michaels
Say "Swing and a miss. Maybe next time slugger." r/DestinyCircleJerk would love it. - Shihai-sha
PLEASE SAY "In the Grimdark future of the 41st Milennium, there is only War" - Eman Flores
Trivia[]
- The second comment on the viewer's comments pays tribute to Jeremy Giambi, a former outfielder and first baseman in the MLB for the Oakland Athletics, who passed away on February 9, 2022 at the age of 47.
Reception[]
Production Credits[]
Written by: Max Song, Andrew Bird and Spencer Gilbert
Edited by: Max Song
Associate Producer: Ryan O'Toole
Post-Production Supervisor: Emin Bassavand
Post-Production Coordinator: Mikołaj Kossakowski
Assistant Editor: Rebecca Castaneda
Director of Video Production: Max Dionne